You are Heir to Jesus’ Mission – 31 December 2017 – First Sunday after Christmas

Preachers might begin thinking about today’s sermon by asking themselves the pointed questions put to us all by Ron Anderson:

As Mary models for us, what now does it mean to let this word “dwell in us richly”? How does it take up residence in our lives? Have we provided the word only with the “guest room” and assumed its residence is temporary rather than permanent? –– Ron Anderson

Luke 2:22-40

The Holy Family arrives at the temple for Jesus’ dedication. The prophets Samuel and Anna greet them and recognize the identity of the child. But even while rejoicing, Samuel speaks of the child’s mission to reveal to the world the truth about God’s power. The rest of Jesus’ life expresses this mission.

If by “Holy Family” we mean good old-fashioned values, such as honoring elders, not rocking the boat, and love of mother and apple pie, we are going to be disappointed. Jesus doesn't have much time for such things. He is about a greater mission—to set captives free, to liberate the oppressed. Later he will declare: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear God's word and do it” (8:21).

Jesus' family values do not focus on the preservation of the nuclear family but on the doing of justice. He spends much more time reaching out to those on the margins of his society—those who neither come from nor seek to establish a stable, two-parent home—than the decent and upright. His community is full of those who have abandoned steady livelihoods, spouses, children, even dying parents. “Let the dead bury their own dead” (Lk. 9:60). He welcomes the rejected and embraces the stranger. –– Scott Haldeman

Isaiah 61:10––62:3

The second part of this chapter, following the mission to Zion to bring hope to the exiled and oppressed, rejoices in the salvation of Zion. The confidence in God's righteousness leads to praise of the vindication of Israel with metaphors of beauty and power. –– Sara Webb Phillips

Galatians 4:4-7

The Holy Family now includes all the baptized.

Paul describes the mechanism by which we are brought into the family of God—baptism. Both those who were born into the covenant (the circumcised) and those who heard and believed (the uncircumcised) are made heirs—not servants of God but daughters and sons. Circumcision is no longer requisite for joining the church; in Paul's eyes, it is an act of obedience to the law from which we have been set free. Jew and Greek, then, are equal and equally members of the Body.

So, too, equality not hierarchy is established along other lines of social differentiation: whether one is a slave or free out in the world, here we are equal; whether one is granted greater deference out in the world because one is male, here male and female are equal.

We are to live differently than the world lives—with the confidence of those who have been adopted and so who are guaranteed a great inheritance, with the liberty of those who are no longer subject to the law but free to indulge in acts of radical service. As Paul concludes, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal. 5:13–14). –– Scott Haldeman

E. Byron [Ron] Anderson is the Ernest and Bernice Styberg Professor of Worship and the Director of the Nellie B. Ebersole Program in Music Ministry at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

W. Scott Haldeman is associate professor of worship at Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.

Sara Webb Phillips is a United Methodist minister serving North Springs UMC in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

Homily Service 40, no. 1 (2007): 73-84.

Light in the Darkness –– 4th Sunday in Lent, Year A –– 26 March 2017

Today we hear of Jesus healing a man born blind and Samuel choosing a king from an unlikely source. Both stories confront conventional belief. A blind man must be at fault for his disability and a king cannot come from a lowly position.

John 9:1-41

Biblical scholars see this situation. . . as a radical outrage to religious authorities. The claim that Jesus heals is deeply offensive. Why? What is the real problem here? Was it the Sabbath? No, not when only three verses mention this. Is it Jesus' status as outsider, whose origin and credentials are unknown? Maybe. Is it in the argument, shared by both sides, that “God does not listen to sinners” (v 31)? Therefore, “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (v 33) So, a miraculous healing proves Jesus' credentials. Since the opponents accept this argument, they have no recourse but to attack the facts of the healing and the credibility of the witness.

To the best of my knowledge, the church down through the ages accepted this logic, as do most Christians today. Heretics can't do genuine miracles, the orthodox can. False or deceptive miracles are fakes by definition, because the people who are behind them are “sinners” to whom God does not listen. I have read this argument in stories from the eighth century, and have heard it in the church in the twenty-first. . . .

One response to this is to discount and shun miracles altogether, and insist that the real power of the Gospel is entirely independent of these. Unfortunately, this snobbish disdain for what was indeed a real part of Jesus' ministry leads to a diminished and rationalized moral/ethical reduction of his person and his message. A better alternative is to say that miracles are not proof, but signs. –– Lucy Bregman

1 Samuel 16:1-13

God's choice is unexpected because there were so many other possibilities, but it's not all that unexpected based on God's track record. God always picks unlikely or unworthy heroes: second-born Jacob rather than first-born Esau; the slaves of Egypt rather than the mighty Pharaoh and his powerful kingdom; a dresser of sycamore trees rather than a priest of the temple establishment. I could go on for pages, including of course, the illegitimate son of an unwed teenager whose life showed to the entire world God's plan for salvation. All of this is part of God's pattern of calling the world's ratings systems into question.–– Jennifer Copeland

Ephesians 5:8-14

This passage contrasts existence prior to acceptance of Christ and present Christian existence. It identifies the past as darkness and the present as light in the Lord. It calls Christians to live as children of light so that their behavior would be characterized as good, righteous, true and pleasing to God. It calls Christians to take no part in fruitless works of darkness, but to expose them, and it claims that shameful deeds done in secret should not even be mentioned. However, this passage follows a vice list that emphasized fornication and impurity, which would indicate that what the Pauline author suggests should not be mentioned consists of sexual deviance. The selection seeks to foster mature discernment that recognizes what is to be condemned as sinfulness. The passage concludes with a verse considered an early Christian baptismal hymn. (See Rom. 6:4–13.) –– Regina Boisclair

  

Regina Boisclair, a Roman Catholic biblical scholar, teaches at Alaska Pacific University, Anchorage, Alaska.

Lucy Bregman, professor of religion at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, is the author of several books including Beyond Silence and Denial: Death and Dying Reconsidered (WJK, 1999) and Preaching Death (Baylor Univ., 2011).

Jennifer Copeland, a United Methodist ordained minister, served for 16 years as chaplain at Duke University and as director of the Duke Wesley Fellowship. She is currently executive director at North Carolina Council of Churches in Raleigh-Durham.

Homily Service 41, no. 2 (2007): 42-53.

Let the Children Come – 27 December 2015 – First Sunday after Christmas

The readings for this week are liturgically suggestive as we encounter the child Samuel performing priestly functions at Shiloh and the young Jesus in the temple among the teachers. Indeed, the Septuagint uses the root word for liturgy to describe Samuel's ministry. Are there children at work in the liturgies of our churches or is this seen as an exclusively adult occupation?

The presence of children in the liturgy blesses the whole community by reminding us of the joy and pleasure that accompanies being received into the presence of the living God. . . .  All of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus can say with our Lord that we must be in our Father's house, especially our children. – Ben Sharpe

Luke 2:41-52

It can be slightly shocking to think of Jesus not paying heed to his parents, not letting them know where he was going, giving them reason for worry. But in his bond with the synagogue and the community there, we might find a way to consider how we welcome children into our worship.

[I]n a church that sees itself first as the gathered household of God, children are not merely the concern of their parents, but are the responsibility of all the baptized. Especially in churches that baptize small children, congregations have made solemn promises to be involved in their formation as Christian disciples. Parents need to be reminded that they have forfeited the right to shield their baptized children from a word of correction that comes from person sitting beside them in the pew! . . .  Jesus said to receive a child in his name was to receive him (cf. Matthew 18:5).

One still sees this modeled occasionally in small churches in the rural South and in African American churches: infants are passed among the eager hands of relatives and friends during worship. Crying babies are taken out and brought back into the sanctuary when they quiet down. Young children easily move from sitting among their immediate family to sitting with family friends. . . .

This same atmosphere of communal responsibility for children probably accounts for the young Jesus being left behind in Jerusalem. The expectation was that if Jesus was not with his parents, then he must be with friends or family who had also come up from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the Passover. – Ben Sharpe

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Several commentators note that the stories told in our readings today of the young Samuel and young Jesus portray a “natural” interaction of home and temple, of family and religious life. While it is easy to either bemoan the separation of church and home so visible today, or to nostalgically yearn for some (imagined) golden age of their unity, we can rightly ask about and explore the ways church and home interact to cultivate holy wisdom in persons of all ages. Where and how is this happening in your community? – Ron Anderson

Colossians 3:12-17

Especially at this harried time of year, this admonition to the Colossians can serve to help us all find our bearings again so that we can “let the peace of Christ rule” in our hearts.

Perhaps connected to the garment Hannah provided Samuel, this text speaks of putting on the garments Christ has given, so that the world may see “compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” and concern for others; forgiveness, tolerance, love and the peace of Christ are to govern all actions. Lastly, be thankful for the salvation that has come through God in Christ. – Sara Webb Phillips

E. Byron (Ron) Anderson is the Ernest and Bernice Styberg Professor of Worship and the Director of the Nellie B. Ebersole Program in Music Ministry at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

Sara Webb Phillips is a United Methodist minister serving North Springs UMC in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

Ben Sharpe is Rector of Christ Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Homily Service 40, no. 1 (2006): 73-84.