Christ the True Vine, the Tree of Life

Psalm 80

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who leadest Joseph like a flock! Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before E′phraim and Benjamin and Manas′seh!

Stir up thy might, and come to save us! Restore us, O God; let thy face shine, that we may be saved!

O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry with thy people’s prayers? Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure.

Thou dost make us the scorn of our neighbors; and our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts; let thy face shine, that we may be saved!

Thou didst bring a vine out of Egypt; thou didst drive out the nations and plant it. Thou didst clear the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. the mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.

Why then hast thou broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.

Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock which thy right hand planted.

They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance! But let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, the son of man whom thou hast made strong for thyself! Then we will never turn back from thee; give us life, and we will call on thy name!

Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! let thy face shine, that we may be saved!

John 15:1-11

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

Here is a poem, attributed to various Church Fathers with no clear concensus on who the actual author was. Regardless, it speaks to the image of the cross as the life giving tree.

There is a place, we believe, at the centre of the world, Called Golgotha by the Jews in their native tongue. Here was planted a tree cut from a barren stump:

This tree, I remember hearing, produced wholesome fruits, But it did not bear these fruits for those who had settled there: It was foreigners who picked these lovely fruits.

This is what the tree looked like: it rose from a single stem And then extended its arms into two branches Just like the heavy yardarms on which billowing sails are stretched Or like the yoke beneath which two oxen are put to the plough.

The shoot that sprung from the first ripe seed Germinated in the earth and then, miraculously, On the third day it produced a branch once more, Terrifying to the earth and to those above, but rich in life-giving fruit.

But over the next forty days it increased in strength, Growing into a huge tree which touched the heavens With its topmost branches and then hid its saccred head on high.

In the meantime it produced twelve branches of enormous Weight and stretched forth, spreading them over the whole world: They were to bring nourishment and eternal life to all The nations and to teach them that death can die.

And then after a further fifty days had passed From its top the tree caused a draught of divine nectar To flow into its branches, a breeze of the heavenly spirit.

All over the tree the leaves were dripping with sweet dew. And look! Beneath the branches shady cover There was a spring, with waters bright and clear For there was nothing there to disturb the calm. Around it in the grass A variety of flowers shone forth in bright colors.

Around this spring countless races and peoples gathered, Of different stock, sex, age and rank, Married and unmarried, widows, young married women, Babies, children and men, both young and old.

When they saw the branches here bending down, under the weight Of many sorts of fruit, they gleefully reached out with greedy hands To touch the fruits dripping with heavenly nectar.

But they could not pick them with their eager hands Until they had wiped off the dirt and filthy traces Of their former life, washing their bodies in the holy spring. And so they strolled around on the soft grass for some time And looked up at the fruits hanging from the tall tree.

If they ate the shells that fell from those branches And the sweet greenery dripping with plenty of nectar, Then they were overcome with a desire to pick the real fruit. And when their mouths first experienced the heavenly taste, Their minds were transformed and their greedy impulses Began to disappear; by the sweet taste they knew the man.

We have seen that an unusual taste or the poison of gall Mixed with honey causes annoyance in many: They rejected what tasted good because they were confused And did not like what they had eagerly grabbed at, Finally spitting out the taste of what they had for long drunk unwisely.

But it often happens that many, once their thoughts are set to rights, Find their sick minds restored and achieve what they denied Was possible and so obtain the fruits of their labours.

Many, too, having dared to touch the sacred waters, Have suddenly departed, slipping back again To roll around in the same mixture of mud and filth.

But others, faithfully carrying the truth within them, receive it With their whole soul and store it deep in their hearts. And so the seventh day sets those who can approach The sacred spring beside the waters they longed for, And they dip their bodies that have been fasting.

Only so do they rid themselves of the filth of their thoughts And the stains of their former life, bringing back from death Souls that are pure and shining, destined for heaven’s light.

Bridegroom Matins

Behold the Bridegroom comes at midnight, and blessed is the servant whom He shall find watching; and again ,unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, o my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, lest you be given up to death and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou, O our God!

I was distracted during the service as the priest and choir exchanged turns chanting the Psalms and prayer. My daughter was fussing and kept trying to crawl away. A moments calm, I closed my eyes to soak it in and listen as they sang of God's faithfulness, of his love, of his extreme humility in coming to earth as a man. When I opened my eyes I was caught up in a blur of color and light and movement as the doors of the iconostasis opened and the servers, deacon and priest came through, fanning out in the temple, torches with candles and the priest carrying the icon [pictured above] over his head and I saw him. I felt like I did the first time I saw my bride on our wedding day - it took my breath away: the Bridegroom.

The rest of the service I couldn't take my eyes off of him, staring at his down turned gaze, his soft, humble expression, his gentle hands holding his simple scepter, his exposed ribs, the crown of thorns. This man, scorned and rejected, my Bridegroom, the one who had called me into the fellowship of His Body.

The service finished and I stood still as people began to exit, staring, fixated by his simple, broken beauty, the beauty of the Love that brought mercy to a fallen world, mercy to my fallen soul. I realized there were tears in my eyes, but they weren't tears of sadness, they were the same tears that I shed when I saw my beautiful bride for the first time, tears of love, of joy, of happiness. Beautiful Savior, Beautiful Lord.

Tenderest songs I, though unworthy, offer to Thee, and like the woman of Canaan, I cry to Thee: O Jesus, have mercy on me! For it is not a daughter, but my flesh cruelly possessed with passions and burning with fury. So grant healing to me who cry unto Thee: Alleluia!

I see Thy Bridal Chamber adorned, O my Savior, but have no wedding garment that I may enter. O Giver of Light, enlighten the vesture of my soul, and save me.

The Life Giving Cross of Jesus Christ

This is the sermon I preached at All Saints Anglican Church in Springfield, Mo on Holy Friday (March 29, 2013). I offer it here with humility and prayers that it may minister to some. Glory to Jesus Christ for the Life Giving Cross!

Homily for the Solemnity of Our Lord’s Passion

March 29, 2013 All Saints Anglican Church Springfield, MO

By The Reverend Father Micah Joel Chisholm

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we pray you graciously behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross. We pray, do not rebuke is in anger, but deal with us according to your kindness. Give us eyes to see you, ears to hear you, minds to understand you and hearts to love you as you are revealed to us in your Holy Gospel. Grant Father, that no false words would be allowed to pass through my lips, but only those which you have prepared for us to hear this evening. For yours is the might, and yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

My dear brothers and sisters,

As humans we have been given great gifts by our heavenly Father. We have been created in his image and given the whole world. We have the capacity to see all that is around us and appreciate beauty as it is before us. We understand the power of an image to communicate meaning and emotion. We cling to photographs and portraits to keep our loved ones with us and to hold on to memories of the past. Museums are filled with masterpieces behind glass to keep them from becoming soiled by time. The walls and shelves in our homes are lined with mismatched frames and faded photographs that give us a sense of connectedness of wholeness and familiarity.

We recoil from ugliness, from suffering and from that which is unclean. We work to protect ourselves and our families from seeing blood and brokenness. Yet dear ones, as we observe this most solemn day I invite you to join me in fixing our gaze on Christ as he hangs on the cross and to see in his broken and disfigured body the ultimate expression of beauty and love.

In the passion narrative recorded by Saint John we find quoted the words of the prophet Zechariah “they will look on him whom they have pierced.”1 On this awful and Good Friday we are challenged to come face to face with reality as it is, filled with paradox and mystery because when we look upon Jesus nailed to the cross we are uncomfortably confronted by cruelty and mercy, disfigurement and beauty, death and life.

At first we try to avoid it. We look down or to the right or to the left. We tell ourselves that it is distasteful to look at so much blood, so much suffering, it will only depress us, it will give our children nightmares, and we are really protecting ourselves if we don’t look we say. We try so hard to live such clean and tidy lives, untouched by the blood and dirt swirling around us. So we look away. We put up pictures of a smiling Jesus, Jesus healing a lame man, feeding the five thousand, Jesus with children on his knee. This Jesus is always fully clothed with nicely parted hair and a manicured beard. We feel comfortable around this Jesus. We feel safe. We feel in control.

Eventually, perhaps out of curiosity perhaps out of guilt, we allow ourselves to take just a peek at Jesus as he appears on the cross – just a glance mind you, we aren’t fixated on death–so we give a sideways glance, out of the corner of our eye, and we see him. We quickly look away for we know deep down that if we were to look full on him in all his broken glory then it would be more than we could bear. So we go back to our sweet baby Jesus, our laughing child Jesus, our tender Jesus the Good Shepherd.

We go on like this as long as we can, avoiding the cruel reality of the cross. And each year this day comes and presents us with the beautiful tragedy of the cross. And on this day we are forced, often times against our will, to look upon him who was pierced and to hear him say:

“My people, what have I done to you? Did I not fill Judea with miracles? Did I not raise the dead with just a word? Did I not heal every disease and illness? How then do you repay me?...In place of healings you have given me beatings. In exchange for life, you give me death…the giver of the law like an outlaw, the king of all one condemned.”2

Turn to him now. See him as he labors to take each breath – his breath which filled the lungs of Adam and gave life to all now comes forth as a gasp and with much pain. See the deep lines in his back, each one cut into his tender skin by the whipping ordered by Pilate.3 Recall the words of the Prophet Isaiah: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”4 Though you be tempted to look away in grief and shame hold your gaze on him who for you was nailed to the cross at Calvary. See now the thorns, twisted by the mocking soldiers, an unworthy crown for such a noble head, pressed into the forehead once kissed by his mother, his hair matted and tangled.5 Each drop of blood shed is a fountain of life for those who bathe in it, look on this man and see the source of your cleansing, the physician who can heal you. Hands that held children and healed the sick and blessed bread now curl in pain around the very source of pain, unable to avoid the cross, the cross must be endured. Feet that walked dusty roads with friends from town to town and brought glad tidings of the Kingdom of God now hang limp, stationary, as the King of Life hangs in this moment and the entire universe hangs in the balance.

There he is, do you see him. Stripped of all dignity, naked and alone, the crushed God-man clothes us in mercy and grace, making us fit to enter the banquet of the master.6 Out of love for us “the Lord took us to himself; because he loved us…our Lord Jesus Christ gave his life’s blood for us – he gave his body for our body, his soul for our soul…let us [then] look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world.”7 Let us look to his pierced side, opening wide a fountain of blood deep enough and wide enough to cleanse the sin of the world. His opened side opens to us the doorway to his own heart and to the Kingdom of his Father. His wounds become the very passage through which we pass from death to life, for in his blood is plenteous redemption.8

Brothers and sisters, “Behold your King!”9 Behold your beautiful King. The question has been asked “what beauty will save the world.”10 The answer is found in this man Jesus. Behold this man and see not shame, not ugliness, but beauty, for “In the world there has only been one positively beautiful person – Jesus Christ.”11 Look then upon this beautiful Savior and see in him the salvation of your soul and body. See in his broken state your being put back together, in his disfigurement the likeness of God being restored in you. Hear the Savior as he says “It is finished.”12 Know that the curse of death died on that cross as the Son of God laid down his life. The Fall that occurred in Eden was being undone and Paradise was being opened up for each of us as his body was opened by wounds, wounds which become for you and me the tokens of our redemption. The fruit of the tree in Eden, the eating of which brought death has been replaced by the fruit of another tree, this fruit the very body and blood of the Son of God, life giving fruit from the tree of life. Brothers and sisters know this:

“We see a fearsome and perplexing mystery acted out today…The searcher of hearts and minds is unjustly tried…the one before whom heavenly powers stand trembling stands before Pilate, the Creator is slapped by a creature’s hand. Condemned to the cross is the judge of the living and the dead, enclosed in a tomb is he who overthrows Hades. You bear all of this out of sympathy, to save us from the curse.”13

In Holy Week, we are brought to the foot of the Cross. The sacred dynamic at the heart of this Holiest of Weeks pulls us steadily toward Calvary, where Jesus was tortured and executed as a common criminal by a people unable and unwilling to receive him as anything else. Much as we wish to bypass it all and jump to the joy of Easter, the Cross demands that we pause, that we look, that we contemplate. It is very difficult to do this. It is difficult because “we know — somehow, somewhere down deep — that the Cross tells the truth about us, about our brokenness and sin. This is painful truth to absorb and we dodge it in all kinds of ways.”14

However, the cross will not allow us to avoid it and difficult as it may be, we must learn to give thanks for the truth that the cross speaks, because without it we are left trying to heal ourselves, trying to find our way alone, trying to save lives that only the Author of Life can save. We need to realize that “In bearing the cross, we see Christ submitting to everything each of us fears and out of fear seeks to avoid: rejection, condemnation, humiliation, pain, failure and death. He does so freely, with no motive but love for those with whom he has become one in the flesh.”15

This reflection upon Jesus on the cross is not meant to merely be a cerebral activity but is in fact intended to stir us to action. As we gaze upon Christ as he hangs for us, we are also called to come and join Christ on the cross, as he died once for all for our sin, we are called to die to sin and rise to new life in him. Saint Paul speaks of this in his Epistle to the Colossians saying “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”16 Elsewhere, in his Epistle to the Churches in Rome he writes:

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life…We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin...For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”17

The cross will always be a symbol of pain and suffering and death, but as Christians who have received grace from the Holy Spirit we are able to look upon the cross and see in it tremendous beauty, indeed we can look upon it and see in it the power to heal us and to bring us to new and unending life. For us the cross is the tree of life.18 This day is indeed a day of sadness, but it is a “bright sadness” sadness that already contains within it the rays of hope that will burst forth in the Resurrection. There is healing in the pain, there is redemption in the blood and water that flow from his pierced side. And so “we need not hesitate to add the concluding words of Zechariah’s text: ‘On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness’.”19 In the cross there is forgiveness for all of our sins. In the cross “God forgives, and His forgiveness is in Christ, His Son, whom He sends to us that…we may share in His love and be truly reconciled with God.”20

Let us come to the Tree of Life, let us come to the Fount of Salvation. Let us all together, with hearts full of thanksgiving look upon him who for us was pierced.

And may Christ our true God, who endured dreadful sufferings: the life-giving cross, and voluntary burial for our salvation, have mercy on us and save us for he is good and loves us all. Amen and Amen.

1 John 19:37 cf. Zechariah 12:10 2 Excerpted from The Doxastikon of Great and Holy Friday 3 John 19:1 4 Isaiah 53:5-6 5 John 19:2 6 See the Parable Jesus told about a wedding banquet as recorded in Matthew 22:1-14. 7 Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians. 8 Psalm 103:7, see also Frederick Faber’s beloved hymn, There’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy, 1854. 9 John 19:14 10 Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot, 367. 11 Philokalia: the Bible of Orthodox Spirituality by Anthony Coniaris, pp. 11-18; Light and Life Publishing Company 12 John 19:30 13 Excerpted from The Doxastikon of Great and Holy Friday 14 The Rt Rev'd Chilton R. Knudsen, Retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine, http://diolex.org /blog/bishops-blog/they-will-look-on-him-whom-they-have-pierced-john-1937/. 15 Jim forest, Praying With Icons, (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2008), 118. 16 Colossians 3:5 17 Romans 6:3-4, 6-7, 10-11 18 Theodoret of Cyr, Commentary on Isaiah 20.65.22, in the Ancient Christian Devotional: Year C, (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2011). 19 Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2011), 220. See also Zechariah 13:1 20 This comes from Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann in his wonderful little pamphlet Forgiveness Sunday.

Last night our family experienced something very new to all of us. While we are in a Western Christian Church (Anglican) and are thus nearing the end of the Lenten season, our brothers and sisters in Christ of the Eastern Orthodox Church have just begun their Lenten season. We had an open evening last night so we decided to attend a service where the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete was read. We don't know a whole lot about Orthodoxy, but we knew that this was a very important part of their Lenten observance. We had no idea what we were in for...

When talking about prayer Christians frequently use catchy phrases like "time to hit our knees in prayer" or "offer God some knee mail." The Orthodox mean it when it comes to "hitting their knees in prayer." We began the Canon, which consists of the priest singing a line or two and the choir and people responding with the words

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me

This goes on back and forth dozens and dozens of times. And each time we sang "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me" we hit our knees (literally), kneeling and then touching our heads to the ground before God. This is called a prostration (we read about that in Scripture and sing about it in some of our hymns, but I have never experienced actually doing it). Dozens and dozens of times knelt down and stood up, then knelt down and stood up. about half way through I was exhausted and my legs felt like jello! It was humbling, incredibly humbling. And painful. And it got the point across.

The point is that we all continue to fall short of God's glory, we still rebel, we become lost and in need of rescue, in need of God's mercy. Mercy, over and over, we beg for God's mercy.

Here is how the Canon begins:

How shall I begin to mourn the deeds of my wretched life? What can I offer as first fruits of repentance? In Your compassion, O Christ, forgive my sins.

Come, my wretched soul, and confess your sins in the flesh to the Creator of all. From this moment forsake your former foolishness and offer to God tears of repentance.

My transgressions rival those of first created Adam, and because of my sins I find myself naked of God and of His everlasting kingdom.

Some might object and say that this focus on our sin and brokenness will just make us feel bad and hate ourselves. That is not the goal - this is not focusing in sin just for the sake of focusing on sin. It is about being honest with ourselves about how we are and what we need. We are in need of healing and God is the Healer.

I think Stephanie and I both cried at different times during the service as the meaning of the service hit home for both of us. It's easy to not take our need seriously. It is tragic if we don't take God's mercy seriously.

As I have been reflecting on the experience God reminded me of a few passages from Scripture that deal with repentance and the need to take seriously, with determination, focus and discipline, the work of turning to God again and again, acknowledging our fault and asking for his mercy.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Luke 7:36-45 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.

Even though we in the West are beginning to feel the excitement of Easter approaching and are ready to leave Lent behind and enter into the joyous Resurrection season, I am glad we went last night. I am glad for the reminder. I am glad for the soreness that still lingers in my legs this morning. I am glad for mercy.

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy.

Fifth Week of Lent - Bear Witness to His Reign

Bear Witness to His Reign

We believe that the church is called to proclaim and be a sign of the kingdom of God. Christ ahs commissioned the Church to be his witnesses. ~Article 10, Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective, 1995. http://www.mcusa-archives.org/library/resolutions/1995/1995-10.html

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”~Matthew 28:18-20

The [next] building-block in following Jesus is to be involved in the mission of King Jesus. IT is to let his Spirit guide us outwards – to speak in his name, to show acts of love and compassion which speak deeply of his heart for all, and to do all that we can to bring the world under his just and kindly rule. By our words and actions, we are to bear witness to others that Jesus is the world’s true king; each of us has a part to play in this vital task. Peter Walker, The Jesus Way, (Grand Rapids: Monarch Books, 2009), 89

.

Daily Readings For the Week:

Monday – Matthew 13:1-9

Tuesday – Matthew 13:24-30

Wednesday – Matthew 13:44-52

Thursday – James 2:22-27

Friday – James 2:14-26

Saturday – Acts 1:1-14

Meditation For the Week:

To you is entrusted this demanding responsibility: to bear witness to the kingdom of God, to the truth. This means working to bring out ever more clearly the priority of God and his will over the interests of the world and its powers. Become imitators of Jesus, who, before Pilate, in the humiliating scene described by the Gospel, manifested his glory: that of loving to the utmost, giving his own life for those whom he loves. This is the revelation of the kingdom of Jesus. And for this reason, with one heart and one soul, let us pray: Thy kingdom come. Amen. ~Pope Benedict XVI, Homily on the Solemnity of Christ the King, 2012.

Prayer For the Week:

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen. ~A Collect for the Reign of Christ, 1979 Book of Common Prayer, 254.

Fourth Week of Lent: Participate in His Meal

Participate in His Meal

Vouchsafe to bless and sanctify, with thy Word and Holy Spirit, these thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine; that we, receiving them according to thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ’s holy institution, in remembrance of his death and passion, may be partakers of his most blessed Body and Blood. ~Service of Holy Eucharist, Rite I in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, 335.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. ~ 1 Corinthians 11:26

We should not treat this meal lightly. There is a real sharing in the body and blood of Christ. Even if this is hard to define more exactly, the Lord Jesus is present by his Holy Spirit and he is opposed to anything in our lives that stands against him. Though invisible, Jesus is effectively the true leader or ‘host’ at this meal; we are meeting, not just in his name, but actually in his presence. Peter Walker, The Jesus Way, (Grand Rapids: Monarch Books, 2009), 85.

Daily Readings For the Week:

Monday – John 6:35-51

Tuesday – John 6:52-69

Wednesday – Luke 22:1-14

Thursday – Matthew 26:17-29

Friday – 1 Corinthians 10:1-22

Saturday – 1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Meditation For the Week:

"Our Lord Jesus took in His hands what in the beginning was only bread; and He blessed it, and signed it, and made it holy in the name of the Father and in the name of the Spirit; and He broke it and in His gracious kindness He distributed it to all His disciples one by one. He called the bread His living Body, and did Himself fill it with Himself and the Spirit… After the disciples had eaten the new and holy Bread, and when they understood by faith that they had eaten of Christ's …He took and mixed a cup of wine. The He blessed it, and signed it, and made it holy, declaring that it was His own Blood, which was about to be poured out. ...Christ commanded them to drink, and He explained to them that the cup which they were drinking was His own Blood: 'This is truly My Blood, which is shed for all of you. Take, all of you, drink of this, because it is a new covenant in My Blood, As you have seen Me do, do you also in My memory. Whenever you are gathered together in My name in Churches everywhere, do what I have done, in memory of Me. Eat My Body, and drink My Blood, a covenant new and old.", ~Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Homilies 4.4, ca. A.D. 350.

Prayer For the Week:

May your holy Body and Precious Blood be the food of eternal life for me, O merciful Lord and the healing of all my pains. Though I am unworthy, O Master, grant that with faith and love I may worthily eat your most pure Body and drink your precious Blood. O Lord, grant me to partake without condemnation of your pure Body and your precious Blood that I may glorify your righteousness. ~Prayers Before Communion in A Prayer Book in Accordance With the Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church, (Victoria, Canada: St Arseny Press, 2008), 122-3.

Third Week of Lent - Feed on His Scriptures

Feed on His Scriptures

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. ~Collect for Proper 28, The 1979 Book of Common Prayer, 236.

I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. ~Psalm 119:11-16

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. ~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17

As Jesus’ followers we should commit ourselves to read the Bible (or listen to it) whenever we can. And we should commit ourselves in advance to believe and obey everything that it clearly teaches. Peter Walker, The Jesus Way, (Grand Rapids: Monarch Books, 2009), 70.

Daily Readings For the Week:

Monday – Psalm 119:1-32

Tuesday – Psalm 119:33-48

Wednesday – Psalm 119:49-72

Thursday – Psalm 119:73 - 104

Friday – Psalm 119:105-136

Saturday – Psalm 137 - 176

Meditation For the Week:

Praying the Scripture is a unique way of dealing with the Scripture; it involves both reading and prayer. Turn to the Scripture; choose some passage that is simple and fairly practical. Next, come to the Lord. Come quietly and humbly. There, before him, read a small portion of the passage of Scripture you have opened to. Be careful as you read. Take in fully, gently, and carefully what you are reading. Take and digest it as you read…after you have sensed something of the passage, and after you know the essence of the portion has been extracted…very slowly, gently, and in a calm manner begin to read the next portion of that passage. ~Madam Guyon, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups, (New York: Harper One, 2005), 302-3.

Prayer For the Week:

O Lord Jesus Christ, open Thou the eyes of my heart, that I may hear Thy word and understand and do Thy will, for I am a sojourner upon the earth. Hide not Thy commandments from me, but open mine eyes, that I may perceive the wonders of Thy law. Speak unto me the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom. On Thee do I set my hope, O my God, that Thou shalt enlighten my mind and understanding with the light of Thy knowledge, not only to cherish those things which are written, but to do them; for Thou are the enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, and from Thee cometh every good deed and every gift. Amen. ~From a prayer of Saint John Chrysostom to be prayed before the reading of Holy Scripture

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem

Homily for The Second Sunday of Lent, Year C

February 24, 2013 All Saints Anglican Church Springfield, MO

Father Micah Joel Chisholm

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ~Luke 13:31-35

When conflicting and competing desires collide trouble frequently follows. This past week our daughter Miriam has been actively expressing her independence – especially when it comes to bed time. Stephanie and I, as her parents, have determined the time she needs to be in bed in order to get the rest she needs and we go through the routine of feeding her and changing her and saying her prayers so that she is ready to sleep for the night. Our desire is that she goes to sleep and stays asleep until morning. Miriam has a quite different desire: stay up and play as late as possible and wake up to play some more as often as she can. As a result of these conflicting desires night time can be pretty rough in our household.

The story about Miriam is cute, but it illustrates a reality that is common to each of us and is really no cute matter at all. As human beings we have the capacity to desire – this in and of itself is not a bad thing, in fact it can be quite good. Trouble sets in when we desire things that we shouldn’t or that are in conflict with what others, either people or God, desire from us. Then the battle is on.

At its heart, our gospel lesson this morning is about desire. It may not seem obvious at first, but in the midst of the story that Luke is telling is a head on collision between three conflicting and competing desires. The gospel lesson this morning has three main characters: Jesus, King Herod and the city of Jerusalem. Each of them represents a particular mode of operating. Now, there is something significant in Luke’s record that is lost in our English translations and without going too much into a language lesson I need to draw our attention to it in order for the full weight of the passage to impact us. In the English translation that was read we heard the following statements:

Some Pharisees came and said “Get away from here for Herod wants to kill you”

Jesus said “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I would have gathered your children”

And finally, referring to Jerusalem’s response Jesus said “you would not.”

What is significant is that in each of those statements Luke repeats the exact same word in the original language, while our English Bibles translate it three different ways. The word that Luke uses carries with it a sense of loving desire and delight. With that in mind, let me re-read those verses with the word translated the same in each case:

“Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, ‘Get away from here, for Herod desires and delights in killing you.’”

And Jesus said to them “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I desired and delighted to gather your children”

And Jerusalem responded by “not desiring or delighting in it”

It is now that we can see that what Luke is illustrating is what happens when conflicting desires meet. So let’s look at the essence of each characters desire.

Herod stands as a representative of those whose desire is for worldly power and prestige and wealth. Herod aligned himself with the power structures of the world, namely the Roman Empire, in order to elevate himself, even at the cost of trampling on his kinsmen and those who were powerless to defend themselves. In grasping for his own personal gain, Herod allowed himself to be controlled for his desire and was threatened by anyone who he thought might challenge his power and authority. Jesus was quite popular among the people and Herod saw him as a threat needing to be neutralized. Herod’s desire for power and personal advancement gave birth to a new desire: kill Jesus, and anyone else, who might get in the way. Herod represents for us what we might call the obvious temptation to let wrong desires lead us down destructive paths. We must be careful though to not think that the downfall of Herod is the only thing to be aware of. Yes, sin happens in dark alleys and sinister plans, but it also happens every time we walk away from God’s desires for us, even if we think we are walking in a way that is good and upright on the surface. This leads to our next character study.

Next we have Jerusalem, which stands as the symbol of the nation of Israel, the people of God, chosen and beloved with a special part to play in God’s plan of salvation. The deep desire of a faithful Israelite was to fulfill the Law and thus be righteous before God. On the surface this sounds good – the problem occurs when the means become the end and the Law becomes a heavy burden that man is enslaved to. This is precisely what had happened within the people of Israel at the time of Jesus. Israel had become so preoccupied with things that were not of God – sometimes outright sin and idolatry, sometimes misguided pursuit of good things – that she was no longer able to perceive when God was moving in her midst. Israel was supposed to enjoy a special, privileged relationship with God yet had unwittingly begun desiring things that looked good on the outside but were actually a barrier between Israel and God. Jerusalem stands as a reminder that we can easily slip into a mode of thinking and believing that becomes burdensome and oppressive and are actually damaging to our relationship with God. Jerusalem also serves as a warning to not allow ourselves to claim some sort of superiority or privilege because “we’re the special ones.” Israel was God’s special possession, yet she failed to fulfill her purpose because of her blindness.

Finally, we have Jesus and his deep desire. Jesus employs some of the most tender language in the New Testament when he says “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.” Jesus is displaying the heart of God for a lost and wayward people. The picture is of a hen protectively, lovingly placing her wings around her young. The young are safe from harm beneath the wings, nestled close to the heart of their mother. The mother is susceptible to harm – her wings may be the only barrier between her chicks and the teeth of a fox, but it is a risk she is willing to take for love of her young. Jesus’ deep desire is that the people of Israel would come “under his wings” so to speak and find in him their protection, their provision and their purpose – rather than in the political systems of the world or in legalistic observance of the Law. Both options ultimately bring harm – Jesus’ desire is to bring life – and he will stop at nothing to achieve his desire – something he alludes to when he says “I must go on my way…for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” Jesus is communicating that he is willing to die for those he loves. Luke concludes the passage by writing that Jesus said “I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Ironically that is exactly what the people will shout as they welcome Jesus to Jerusalem days later, only to reject him and hand him over to death later. Seeing Jesus rightly requires coming under his Lordship, under his reign. His desire is that people come to him for he is the source of life, he is the way of entering into the kingdom. In John’s gospel we find Jesus saying “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” But responding to his desire challenges the desires that we have that are contrary to his Lordship. This is the conflict that Luke records, and it is a conflict we still experience in our daily lives.

For all that has changed in the past two thousand years we still find ourselves caught in a struggle between conflicting desires. On the one hand, we still have the same temptation that Herod gave in to. We are told that the way to get ahead in life is to possess power, to seek personal gain, regardless of the cost and who may be harmed in the process. If we wrongly desire power, prestige, money and possessions we become enslaved to them. We center our lives around them and eliminate anything that threatens our personal gain. In the process we may be tempted to lie, to cheat and to cut corners to feed our desire. As a result we often to great damage to ourselves and to those around us.

On the other hand, we also have the same temptation as Jerusalem and the people of Israel – we can get really busy doing all the right things. We can pray more than others, give more, fast more, read our Bibles more and convert more people to the faith. We can have all of the right answers and possess the moral high ground and think pretty highly of ourselves, especially if we compare ourselves to those who don’t believe quite rightly, don’t live quite rightly and quite frankly just aren’t as good as us. We can become enslaved to the things that are supposed to bring us closer to God instead of falling more and more deeply in love with God himself. Jesus weeps when people follow either of these desires because he knows the harm that will come to them. Jesus still stands before us and says to each one of us “How often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her young under her wings and you would not.” Jesus’ deep desire is that we would come under his protection, his provision and his guidance. The wings represent life and safety from the harm that comes from all that opposes life. Jesus desperately desires to be the place where we find life because he knows that he is the only source of true life. Jesus was willing to endure injury and even death in order to spread his wings over us yet so often we refuse to come beneath them. We may say “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” yet so often we refuse to actually come under the lordship of Christ. Our desires come in conflict with his desire for us. This is the great struggle that we are engaged in.

We are now two weeks into our Lenten journey. Last week we began by recalling the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and we are reminded that we are assaulted by temptations, big and small, every day. Jesus’ victory over temptation led to his ultimate victory over sin and death and as a result we are able to share in that victory. We no longer have to be enslaved to sin. This week builds on the previous one as we are called to examine the desires of our hearts. Are we seeking fulfillment in life in the wrong places or in the wrong ways? Are there good things that we are desiring or using wrongly? Are we merely paying lip service to the Lordship of Christ or are we daily allowing ourselves to come under the protection of his wings?

Christ desires you and me. He has paid a high price. When our fleshly desires conflict with his, who will win? Amen.

Second Week of Lent: The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Welcome His Spirit

If you have received Jesus as your Savior…God is living in you. By the Holy Spirit he has joined himself to your spirit. Your spirit, the very inmost part of you, is alive, and not only alive, but filled with all the wonderful joy, and love, and peace, and glory of God himself. ~Dennis Bennett, The Holy Spirit and You, (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1971), 16.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. ~Galatians 5:16

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. ~1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The Holy Spirit is the very life of Jesus himself within us. From now on, we are never alone; following Jesus need never be something we do in our own strength. No, we find we have a new engine inside: his powerful Spirit. Peter Walker, The Jesus Way, (Grand Rapids: Monarch Books, 2009), 48.

Daily Readings For the Week:

Monday – John 16:1-15

Tuesday – Romans 8:1-17

Wednesday – Ephesians 4:1-13

Thursday – Galatians 5:16-26

Friday – 1 Corinthians 12

Saturday – 1 Corinthians 13

Meditation For the Week:

Friend, it is a wonderful thing to witness the power of God as it reaches to the heart and demonstrates to the soul the pure way of life. Surely the person who partakes of this power will be favored by the Lord. Therefore, we ought to wait diligently for the leadings of the Holy Spirit in everything we do. Thus we will be able to travel through all that is contrary to God and into the things that are of God…you must press your spirit to bow daily before God and wait for the breathings to you from his Spirit…by his secret working in your spirit, giving you assistance from time to time, you will advance nearer and nearer towards the kingdom. ~Isaac Penington, Devotional Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups, (New York: Harper One, 2005), 207.

Prayer For the Week:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy Your consolation. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Weekly Lenten Resources

This post is actually a couple of days late...I should have posted it this past Sunday, the First Sunday of Lent. Below are a number of tools to aid you in your Lenten journey toward Pascha.

I will post a new weekly formation resource guide each Sunday for the rest of the season.

God Bless!

Micah+

Accept His Forgiveness

In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while the leader was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. ~John Wesley, Journals – May 24, 1738

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ~ 1 John 1:9

I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. ~Isaiah 43:25

Jesus’ true followers, then, are those who take seriously Jesus’ own teaching about his cross. We accept this vital link between his death and our sins. We do real business with God, repenting of our sins, and asking truly for his forgiveness. And the Good News is that those who ask truly receive. It is a message about forgiveness – in other words, God really does forgive us. God has done everything that is necessary…Jesus himself wants us to enjoy what he died to achieve. Peter Walker, The Jesus Way, (Grand Rapids: Monarch Books, 2009), 35.

Daily Readings For the Week:

Monday – Leviticus 16

Tuesday – Hebrews 9:11-22

Wednesday – Hebrews 10:1-10

Thursday – 1 John 1:1-10

Friday – Matthew 6:5-15

Saturday – Colossians 3:5-17

Meditation For the Week:

[The Apostle] Peter…describes his readers as having been ‘ransomed…with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot’ and even as having been ‘sprinkled’ with his blood(1 Pet 1:2, 18-19). Both expressions allude to the original Passover sacrifice at the time of the Exodus. Each Israelite family took a lamb, killed it and sprinkled its blood on the lintel and side posts of the house. Only so were they safe from the judgment of God…Peter boldly applies the Passover symbolism to Christ. His blood was shed to redeem us from the judgment of God and the bondage of sin. Sin had separated us from God; but Christ desired to bring us back to God. So he suffered for our sins, an innocent Savior dying for guilty sinners. ~John Stott, Basic Christianity, (Downers Grove: IVP, 2006), 121.

Prayer For the Week:

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. ~Collect for Ash Wednesday, 1979 Book of Common Prayer

The Temptation of Jesus

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry.

The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”

And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours.”

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”

And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

~Luke 4:1-13

This past Sunday was the First Sunday in Lent for the Western Church and we were called to meditate upon the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. There are several key themes that emerge from this text, including affirming Jesus' humanity, his ability to understand temptation, and his knowledge of "being in the wilderness." Each of those are important but there is a deeper mystery being revealed in this passage, that reaches back far in time and returns us to the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve were placed by God in the Garden of Eden - lush, beautiful and in it they communed with God and lacked nothing. They experienced Paradise. God placed on them one injunction: do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The evil one came and tempted - at its root the temptation was to reject the rule of God and to be a god unto oneself, to reject Divine authority and take life into one's own hands, to operate outside of the God ordained parameters. Adam and Eve were ensnared by the temptation - they gave into it, they disobeyed, they ate and the result was death because their disobedience severed them from the source of Life, God himself. They were cast out of the garden into the wilderness and humanity has been in a wilderness place ever since: grasping, struggling, diseased and dying.

Enter Jesus.

Jesus was placed into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit (Mark's Gospel actually uses the phrase "was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness"). Jesus entered into the reality of humanity - he went to the place where the sick and dying were in order that he might provide the remedy. Just verses before Luke records the baptism of Jesus - the affirmation both of Jesus' divine Sonship and also of his full participation in human life, his standing with fallen humanity. In the wilderness Jesus experiences an aspect of our humanity we are all to familiar with: temptation.

The temptations that Jesus faced were an attempt by the evil one to get Jesus to trip up in the same way that Adam and Eve had - to grasp at power and authority in a way that was not God pleasing, to operate outside of the parameters ordained by God. At the root of the temptation of Jesus was an attempt to subvert the role of the Messiah, to tempt Jesus to be a different kind of Messiah than he had come to be.

Jesus' time in the battle was truly a time of doing battle with the evil one, the devil. It was a time of undoing the defeat that Adam and Eve experienced in Eden.

Ambrose of Milan comments on this reality when he says:

“It is fitting that it be recorded that the first Adam was cast out of Paradise into the desert, that you may observe how the second Adam [Jesus] returned from the desert to Paradise…Adam brought death through the tree. Christ brought life through the cross... Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, is led into the desert for a purpose, in order to challenge the devil. If he had not fought, he would not have conquered him for me.”

Praise be to God that Jesus, in his battle, was victorious. Jesus did not succumb to the temptations laid before him and this led ultimately to an even greater battle with the evil one, which appeared to end when Jesus was killed on the cross, yet ultimately God was shown to be victorious when he raised Jesus from the dead, defeating the power of sin and death and making victory and new and unending life a reality that is possible for you and for me.

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Grace & Peace to You,

Micah+

Penitential Prayer of St. Ambrose of Milan

O Lord, who hast mercy upon all, take away from me my sins, and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit. Take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, a heart to love and adore Thee, a heart to delight in Thee, to follow and enjoy Thee, for Christ's sake, Amen

Today is the final day before the great fast of Lent for the Western Church (the East will observe this season beginning in mid-March). The season of Lent is a forty day period of preparation for the celebration of Christ's Resurrection, his victory over sin and death, by which he frees us from bondage to sin and death and makes new and unending life in him possible.

The goal of this season is not to beat yourself up for all the wrong things you have done. The purpose of this season is not to win points with God. It IS a time of seeking God and denying oneself - but for the purpose of having our hearts softened and shaped by God. Our awareness of sin and our shortcoming are intended to humble us and draw us closer to the heart of the Father - a heart that is filled with compassion and mercy as revealed in the coming of Jesus Christ into the world to live and die and rise as one of us, giving us hope of freedom, life and the resurrection from the dead.

May we all keep a holy Lent. Lord have mercy.

Grace & Peace to You,

Micah+

Sunday from the Fourth Sunday of Epiphany

Below is a link to the sermon I preached this past Sunday at All Saints Anglican Church in Springfield, MO.

The Gospel lesson was Luke 4:14-32

http://www.allsaintsspringfield.org/sermons-adult-ed-/sermons.html

Grace & Peace,

Micah+

Fixing Our Eyes on Jesus

This past Sunday our lectionary assigned Luke 4:14-21 as the gospel lesson at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

The reading can be found here: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%204:14-21&version=ESV

The verse that really grabbed my attention, and that I want to comment on briefly here is this verse 20, where Saint Luke writes

"The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him"

It is a critical and often overlooked part of the story. Jesus has captivated his audience. He has come into their midst and become the center of their attention. They wait expectantly to see what he will do or say next. They certainly have some ideas about what they would like that to be. Their eyes are fixed on Jesus.

First comment: Beloved in Christ, on what are your eyes fixed?

Too often we fix our eyes on people and programs that will pass away, that are far less beautiful, far less honorable, far less truthful than our Lord and Savior, who is himself Beauty, Truth and Honor. Jesus has come into the world and he presents himself to us daily and yet we frequently do not have eyes to see him, and even when we glimpse him we are so distracted, so undisciplined that we barely give him a moment before we are gazing upon another, yet all in the synagogue fixed their eyes on him. Beloved, we must fix our eyes upon Jesus, gazing upon him with eyes of faith and trust, watching to see what he is doing in the world so that we might join with him in it.

So far in the story the people in the synagogue have served as a good example to us - they have been a people who were captivated by Jesus. Luke continues the narrative however by showing us that though their eyes were fixed on him, they were unable to receive his message and ministry because their own expectations of Jesus clouded their ability to see rightly.

In that regard they serve not as an example to be emulated, but as a warning to us. The salvation that Jesus brought was not the salvation the Jewish nation had been waiting for or desired (at least from their perspective).

Second Comment: Beloved in Christ, what is it you desire from Christ?

If we are a distracted people, if we are a people of wandering eyes and unfocused faith, then we will desire those things that seem best from our personal vantage point, but may actually be far less than or different from God's desires for us. We are the ones settling for less than God wants to give. We must fix our eyes on Jesus, but we must see him rightly, as he is, offering what he is offering: himself, his life for ours.

The Jewish nation desires a political overthrow and Gentile servitude. Jesus announced that he was inaugurating a new era and that his love and mercy extended beyond national and ethnic borders. He was up to far more than people expected, yet their inability to see Jesus rightly was because of their unordered affections and priorities.

Beloved, we must see that our Savior comes to share his life with us, and that frequently he does this in ways that may confuse or disturb us. He desires that we enter into his life, that we abide in him and through this union our hearts and our minds will be transformed and we will have a vision of him as he truly is.

Grace & Peace to You,

Micah+

On Priesthood

On January 17, 2013 the Right Reverend Frank Lyons, Assistant Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh ordained me as a priest in Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

It was a reverent, Spirit infused liturgy. Following my ordination I immediately concelebrated the Holy Eucharist with Bishop Lyons.

Days before the ordination a spiritual father wrote me the following words:

You are being taken up into Christ's own ministry in a new way. All of our life is a being taken up into Christ's life, of course, but ordination is a sharing in Him in a new way for the sake of His Body and the world. All of our life is utterly dependent on God, and how much more so this form of service!

The recognition of this is sobering when I consider the great treasure that has been entrusted to me - the feeding and guidance of Christ's sheep, purchased unto salvation with his own blood. I entered the ordination service soberly, aware that I would leave that place with a great deal of responsibility laid upon me.

In preparation for the ordination I spent days reading, re-reading and meditating upon Saint John Chrysostom's "Six Books on the Priesthood." There he writes the following:

"The shepherd needs great wisdom and a thousand eyes, to examine the soul's condition from every angle. As there are plenty of people who are puffed up into arrogance and then fall into heedlessness of their own salvation because they cannot stand bitter medicine; so there are others who, because they do not pay a proportionate penalty for their sins, are misled into negligence and become far worse, and are led on to commit greater sins. The priest, therefore, must not overlook any of these considerations, but examine them all with care and apply all his remedies appropriately, for fear his care should be in vain...he needs, therefore, a heroic spirit, not to grow despondent or neglect the salvation of the wanderers, but to keep on thinking and saying: 'Peradventure God may give them the knowledge of the truth and they may be freed from the snare of the devil.'"

I also repeatedly read the following prayer which hangs over my office desk:

"The scope of our art is to provide the soul with wings, to rescue it from the world and give it to God and to watch over that which is in his image. To take it by the hand if it is in danger, to restore it if it is ruined. To make Christ dwell in the heart by the Spirit, and in short: to deify and bestow heavenly bliss upon one who belongs to the heavenly host."

~Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 2.22

As I reflected on the above quotations I began more and more to that my sharing in Christ's priesthood has less and less to do with programs, planning and administration (though there are certainly those things!) but that it has more to do with the love and healing of broken lives - touching those who need healing, teaching those who need wisdom, offering myself for the sake of others.

Another of my spiritual fathers, Father John Porter, preached at the ordination. In his sermon he noted that the world is deeply distraught, and filled with suffering and pain. He pointed to the fact that God has taken the needs of the world into his own hands and has provided the remedy with the giving of Jesus as the Savior of the world. He also pointed out that as a priest sharing in Christ's priesthood I have been given instruments of healing for the world around me. He spoke of the "handing over of instruments" that would take place later in the rite, when I would be handed a Bible and a chalice, representing the two aspects of my priestly ministry: to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Word and Sacrament, as the means by which our world can be healed by God's grace.

Above all the experience is humbling and makes me all the more aware of my dependence upon God, who in his mercy has begun a work in me and who has called me and will by his grace sustain me in this ministry.

Grace & Peace,

Father Micah+

O Lord Jesus Christ, enkindle the hearts of all thy priests with the fire of zealous love for Thee, that they may ever seek Thy glory; Give them strength that they may labor unceasingly in Thine earthly vineyard for the salvation of souls and the glory of Thine All Honorable and Majestic Name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

~Saint Gregory of Palamas

Perspective, Ordination and a New Year

Our view of objects changes depending upon the angle and direction we look at it. The same is true of our view of life and our purpose as humans on this earth.

As we begin a new year (I realize we're already a week into it) I think it is important we ask ourselves from whose perspective we view our lives - it is easy when I look at my life from my own perspective to see things in terms of hours, dollars, tasks, etc. And when I look at it from that vantage point it can become depressing: not enough hours, not enough dollars and too many tasks.

This past year was a busy one for our family, and not without difficulties pertaining to each of those three categories I just mentioned. Already the new year we have begun promises to be just as busy and will likely bring the same challenges. In a week I will be ordained a priest in Christ's Church and will assume new responsibilities, spiritually and temporally, as I exercise my ministry in this congregation. My wife and I are expecting another baby, meaning come July we will have a fifteen month old and a newborn. We are planning on expanding some existing ministries and starting some new ministries. We still have a house we are trying to sell in a different state. There are still adjustments to a new city, a new church, etc.

Each of those realities deserves my attention, my care, and my diligence. But they are the only the immediate tasks of life. They are not my ultimate purpose. And if I only focus on the immediate tasks, without any consideration my ultimate purpose I can become terribly misguided and terribly frustrated.

To understand my ultimate purpose however, I need a different perspective, I need God's perspective, for he is the one who created me and everything else and he is the one who gives purpose because he is Life himself.

I don't have a complete question about why I exist, but I think it has something to do with union with the Godhead and living in the Kingdom of God, where Jesus Christ reigns as King.

I don't make lists of new year's resolutions because I lack the discipline to keep them and have (at least temporarily) decided to not discourage myself more by adding to failure. But I have determined that this year I am going to seek to see life from God's perspective more, to get a glimpse of my ultimate purpose and the ultimate purpose of all creation through the eyes of the One who created all things.

My prayer for you this New Year is that you would see all of life from God's perspective.

Grace & Peace to You,

Micah