Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany: 30 January 2012

Those of you who were subscribers to Homily Service during its (sadly now ended) years of publication will recall that it contained, for each Lord’s Day and major feast, an article consisting of:

• Exegesis (“Studying the Lectionary”)
• Reflection upon the texts (“Healing Word”)
• Sermon illustrations, poems and hymn texts (“Ideas and Illustrations”)
• The full text of a sermon (“Serving the Word”)
• A set of provocative and inspirational questions about the texts (“Welcoming the Word”)

In the "Serving the Word" section of the 2009 issue of Homily Service, Aaron J. Couch offered the full text of an absolutely luminous sermon on this week’s Gospel lesson. Here is a short excerpt.

... Jesus invites us to make our requests known to God, because God loves us and cares for us. And we may or may not receive a cure for our disease, but God’s power for healing is always available. It is God’s power for healing that takes away our fear of the unknown and makes us able to trust that our future is safe in God’s care. It is God’s power for healing that weeps away our guilt and shame, so that we can embrace the forgiveness that God gives, and know that we are God’s beloved children. It is God’s power for healing that overcomes our hurt and mistrust so that we can forgive others. It is God’s power for healing that makes us know that our lives are not some random accident. Our lives have meaning because God has made us a part of God’s great work of love to bring a new world to birth. We are not lost and alone in some insignificant corner of a cold and immense cosmos, because God fills the entire universe - including right here. And we are God’s beloved creatures, known and held in love by our Creator.

Now doesn’t that just make you want to purchase the back issue so that you can read the whole thing?

Aaron J. Couch (2008): 8 February 2009 - Epiphany 5 - Ordinary 5. Homily Service 42:1, 134.

Aaron J. Couch is co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.

Worship, especially in its ritual acts and its musical expressions, is one of the most culturally determined aspects of human life. As such, attempting to construct and perform Christian worship in the context of a multicultural worshipping community can constitute a situation of permanent crisis. In the current issue of Liturgy, Linnea Carnes describes what her congregation has learned as they journey together through this permanent crisis.

Giving a voice to people of differing perspectives is the beginning of achieving unity in diversity. When we invite people to share their experiences and needs in various areas of liturgy we demonstrate that their traditions and practices are valued. When God’s people are willing to listen to one another, trust is established. The openness to something that is foreign to us provides a healthy atmosphere for growth—not just growth toward a greater open- mindedness, but a growth toward a greater Christ-mindedness.

Resistance or reluctance to accept some new idea or practice in liturgy challenges us to reassess our own liturgical practices. People may continue to prefer the liturgical practices that are specific to their culture or their tradition. However, a growing understanding of the liturgical practices of others can result in a growing spirit of unity among the people. There is a place in the church of Jesus Christ for individual believers to express their faith and love for God in ways that are most meaningful to them. God accepts the offerings of praise and worship from each person. Opening our minds and hearts to hear and embrace our differences brings a sense of oneness.

Rev. Carnes’ account of her congregation’s experiences in creating multicultural Christian worship is stirring and inspirational. However, the fact that most Christian worship takes place within a monocultural context seems to indicate that the people of God do not feel called to take up the challenge. It may be the case that this is purely a case of human sin causing division in the Body of Christ. Conversely, might it be possible to make the argument that God’s gift of diversity in human culture, reflected in a vast multitude of separate culturally-bounded services of worship being lifted up simultaneously, is equally pleasing to the One who is Three, yet One?

Linnea Carnes (2012): "Liturgy in Crisis: The Dilemma of Diversity," Liturgy, 27:1, 10-18.

Linnea Carnes is the pastor of Immanuel Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois, a member church of the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany: 23 January 2012

The scriptural accounts of Jesus’ driving out demons are exceptionally difficult to deal with in this materialistic age. Though most Christian preachers are willing to admit of the possibility of certain spiritually realities, such as healing, faith, eternal life and the “call” of God in our lives, the possibility of the existence of demons seems somehow out of bounds.

In the 2009 issue of Homily Service, Virginia Wendel gave readers some useful alternative means of thinking and preaching about Jesus’ ministry of exorcism, and how to apply it to the lives of modern Christians.

It seems to me that we can all be considered to have unclean spirits when we let blocks to our faith take over and we fail to recognize Jesus in our midst. What do we allow to get between God and us?

Consider racism. When we make judgments about others based on race, we have an unclean spirit. Consider sexism. When we discriminate based on gender, we have an unclean spirit. Consider heterosexism. When we deny basic rights based on sexual orientation, we have an unclean spirit. Consider agism. When we stereotype based on age, we have an unclean spirit. Consider consumerism. When we are greedy and focus our energy on material goods, we have an unclean spirit. Consider addiction. When we are controlled by addictions to substances or process, we have an unclean spirit. Consider violence. When we are hurtful physically, psychologically, and spiritually to others or ourselves, we have an unclean spirit.

There are many other unclean spirits that may get in our way of acknowledging the Holy One of God in our presence. The unclean spirits that we are aware of and those that we are unaware of but are part of us keep us from the relationship that is rightfully ours through baptism.

What other ways of thinking about Jesus casting out demons do you utilize in your preaching ministry? What would it do to your preaching (to say nothing of your worldview) if you were to take the scriptural accounts at face value?

Virginia S. Wendel (2008): 1 February 2009 - Epiphany 4 - Ordinary 4. Homily Service, 42: 1, 118-119.

Virginia S. Wendel is director of Mission Integration and Pastoral Care at St. Joseph Village in Chicago.

Preaching during a crisis of faith

Lectionary preaching has often been celebrated for its formative power, its ecumenical integrity and its ability to work against the hubris of the preacher. However, there are occasional times in the lives of preachers and christian communities when experiences of faith crisis seem to call for other texts and themes than those which are offered by the lectionary.

In the current issue of Liturgy, Jocelyn Carita Thornton writes about just such a period of faith crisis, and her experience of preaching her own and her congregation’s way through it.

I tried to put into practice what I had gleaned from the resources cited above, and attempted to ‘‘preach my way through’’ my faith crisis over a period of several months. Using the suggestions for crisis preaching given by Jeter, I also incorporated lament that evolved into celebration in these sermons. My goal was to give hope to others in faith crisis, moving my listeners and myself from crisis to healing and wholeness. These messages drew their life from ‘‘desperation texts’’ in the Gospels: Mark 7:24–30, Mark 2:1–12, Mark 10:46–52, and so on.

Each of these pericopes depicts a person moving from brokenness and neediness to wholeness and restoration through the gracious word=act of Jesus Christ. A lay committee in my congregation met with me before and after each crisis-related sermon to plan and evaluate. One important lesson we learned is that a sound sermon structure along with celebration and lament will help listeners to find strength and regain confidence in the trustworthiness of God’s Word. Lament has often been undervalued in contemporary preaching, but it is part of a larger journey toward healing, wholeness, and joy.

What are your thoughts about departing from the lectionary in order to meet the needs of congregations experiencing faith crisis?

Jocelyn Carita Thornton (2012): "Preaching through a Faith Crisis," Liturgy, 27:1, 19-27.

Jocelyn Carita Thornton is a church planter and pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Third Sunday after the Epiphany: 16 January 2012

In the 2009 issue of Homily Service, Denise Thorpe compared and contrasted Jonah’s refusal to jettison his ethnically exclusive ideas about the calling of God with the Disciples’ decision to “drop everything” to follow Jesus.

We all face those moments, don’t we? We encourage our children to do the best they an and use the gifts God has given them, then they follow their passions for art and music or run off to teach in a poor school desperately in need of good instructors and we go crazy wondering how they will ever support themselves. We are so very sure that our political party is right and that God is blessing the way we vote, then some senator from across the aisle implements a vision or initiates a program that actually addresses some need, concern, or social ill in a better way than anyone on our team could have imagined. And how about the church? We insist on frugality and wise stewardship as we deem a new vision frivolous, excessive, or too expensive for our limited means. Leaders trust the vision and forge ahead, hearts are strangely warmed, and money and people appear as sheer, undeserved, unearned gift.

The call to the disciples is to drop everything and follow. Sometimes we have a hard time identifying the “everything.”

...This is a Sunday to examine foundations.To what do we cling? What are we able to hold loosely?

Where does your vision of the catholicity of God’s redemptive work break down? Who is “outside the pale” for you? Followers of other religions? Followers of non-Abrahamic religions? Unrepentant alcoholics? Professional sex workers? Comic book fanatics?

In addition to the above, I cannot help but note that none of the writers for this week in the 2009 issue of Homily Service chose to deal with the reading from I Corinthians in any way. It is an exceptionally challenging text, especially in this age where serving one's own happiness and "follow your bliss" have come to be seen as the highest good. Will you comment upon the Epistle lesson this week? If so, what will you say about it.

Denise Thorpe (2008): 25 January 2009 - Epiphany 3 - Ordinary 3 - Conversion of St. Paul. Homily Service, 42:1, 111-112.

Denise Thorpe is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)

God has a lot to answer for

For quite some time now, those who study liturgy have noted the deplorable lack of liturgical resources for the use of those who need to voice their lament before God. In the current issue of Liturgy, David Bjorlin analyzes the paucity of hymns of lament in three current denominational hymnals, and calls the church to provide what is lacking in our resources for congregational song.

If we as liturgists and hymn writers desire to provide pastoral care for those who grieve and bring ourselves fully to God in spirit and truth, if we desire people that will be agents of healing and hope, we must provide the liturgical resources for people to speak honestly to God not only in praise but in anger, not only in faith but in doubt. We must reclaim the heritage of the Psalms of lament and have the courage to delve into our own darkness and speak to God in all of this darkness’s doubt, anguish, and fear. For when we give voice to our deepest fears, when we express our unbridled anger, we discover a God who transforms our mourning into dancing and our sackcloth into garments of joy (Ps. 30:11). It is then we may even look in the face of death itself, even the most tragic and untimely, and find a true and earnest hope. Thanks be to God!

Have you ever tried writing a hymn of lament? If you have, how does your composition fare when judged by Bjorlin’s criteria concerning musical key, address to God, divine agency, and the honest expression of human anger?

David Bjorlin is a recent graduate of North Park Theological Seminary. He plans to do further graduate study in liturgics.

David Bjorlin (2012): "The Courage to Lament: An Analysis of Mainline Hymnody,"Liturgy, 27:1, 28-37

Second Sunday after the Epiphany 9 January 2012

In all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary, the first couple of weeks after the Baptism of the Lord are devoted to stories of God calling people. This year, the first lesson concerns the calling of Samuel, and the Gospel lesson recounts the calling of five of Jesus’ disciples. In 2008, Virginia Wendel invited readers of Homily Service to connect the scriptural call accounts with God’s calling of other persons throughout history, including St. Francis Assisi, Rev. Marie Fortune, Rev. Roy Bourgeois, Edwina Gately and Cesar Chavez.

There is no doubt in my mind that there are more people than can be counted who have been called by God and have responded to that call sooner or later. Let there be no confusion about being called by God. The response does not have to be like that of Francis or Marie or Roy or Edwina. The response to the call of God can be joining the church choir, being a liturgist or lector, becoming a Eucharistic minister/minister of care, working in the local food pantry, teaching a Sunday school class or helping with a youth group work trip.

If we truly believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world, and we consider ourselves to be disciples, then we open ourselves to God’s call on a daily basis. In responding to God’s call, we also bring followers to Jesus and to the Good News of the reality of Jesus’ power in our lives. Daily consider saying out loud to God, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Churches often spend so much time working out a coherent theology of “call” or “vocation” that they neglect to emphasize the call of Christ in the life of every Christian. How can we resurrect the concept of the vocation of daily life?

Virginia S. Wendel (2008): 18 January 2009. Homily Service, 42:1, 100.

Virginia S. Wendel is director of Mission Integration and Pastoral Care at St. Joseph Village of Chicago.

Final rites

It really isn’t possible to rank the degree of poignancy or intensity of the different sorts of liturgies of crisis covered in the current issue of Liturgy. However, the image, offered by Isabel “Bunny” Hughes, of the Ukrainian Holocaust survivor making his deathbed confession exposes the beating heart of the Good Word that the Church offers to a suffering world.

‘‘Do you believe, Petra, in God’s holy word? Do you believe that Jesus is the Word?What happened in your baptism, Petra, and what happens in holy communion? What will happen when you die? Who do you say that Jesus is?’’ A word or two in answer, his eyes were troubled and huge. I readied anointing oil and the communion elements and called Walter back into the room.

‘‘We stand here today, O God, as the church: Petra, Walter, pastor, and all the cloud of witnesses alive and gone before us. We know that you, our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are truly and wonderfully present. With this oil, we beg that you will open our eyes to see you, our ears to hear you, our hearts to receive your love and peace.

‘‘Are you, Petra, sorry for all your sins?’’ ‘‘I am sorry.’’ ‘‘Do you believe that your sins are forgiven by the cross of Jesus? Taken away as if they never happened?’’ Petra grabbed my hand and placed it on his forehead. He moved it to form a cross across his brow and whispered, ‘‘Forgive me all.’’ And Jesus did.

Most of the mainline denominations have developed texts and liturgies for use with the dying. Isabel “Bunny” Hughes writes of an instance in which the liturgy was extemporized in the moment. In your times of ministry with the dying, how have your managed the intersection between approved liturgies and the particularity of the situation in which you were ministering?

Rev. Isabel “Bunny” Hughes was an educator and hospice profession for many years prior to entering denominational ministry.

Isabel "Bunny" Hughes (2012): "It Is No Small Thing," Liturgy, 27:1, 38-43.