Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, our strength, and our redeemer. Psalm 19:14
So what do you think of snakes? Do you have any good snake stories? Black water snakes, garter snakes, milk snakes, massasauga rattlesnake Snake in the hen house, snakes warming themselves on the warm tar of the road at night Snakes play a valuable role in the control of rodents, lizards and insects, but we seem to have an instinctive built in aversion to snakes. Look to the Bible, Genesis Chapter 3 has the talking snake who encourages Eve to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Clearly our aversion to snakes goes away back. In today’s reading from Numbers the Israelites encounter poisonous serpents that bite many people and they die. The people assume this is God’s retaliation for all the complaining they are doing against Moses, Aaron and God. The Israelites beg Moses to talk to God and ask him to take away the serpents. God tells Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a stake. Whenever anyone is bitten they should look upon the snake and they will live. I am surprised that we are reading this story today. It sounds like magical thinking to me. And doesn’t God command that they not make graven images? This fear for idol worship is confirmed in 2 Kings when Hezekiah breaks the bronze serpent into many pieces since the people are worshipping it and burning incense to it. Do these fiery flying serpents even exist? One writer on Google thinks that the snake was probably an Israeli Saw-Scale Viper, an irritable, aggressive copper (brown, gray and orange) colored snake that is 1-3 feet in length and its scales produce a hissing sound to warn off predators. It is quick to strike and its bite is deadly and dangerous. It hides in the grass and springs up out of the grass to catch sparrows. Its bite causes a burning sensation at the site of the wound. It does not cause immediate death or paralysis but rather acts as a blood thinner that can result in bleeding to death. Where it is found it probably causes more deaths than all other snakes combined. This sounds like a horrible little snake! So why is this story even in our lectionary! I would totally ignore it except that when we read today’s gospel the first line is a reference to this very story. Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. Really?!? Why didn’t the lectionary committee skip this reference to Moses and the bronze serpent and start the Gospel reading with the beloved passage John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave His Only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” The story of Moses and the bronze serpent is considered a “TYPE” foreshadowing Jesus on the Cross and Jesus in Heaven. The dictionary defines “type” as “a person or thing symbolizing or exemplifying the ideal or defining characteristics of something”. In the story from Numbers, if someone was bitten then if they looked up at the bronze snake they would live. In the Christian story if someone sick from sin looks up to Jesus then they will have not just life, but eternal life, life without end as found in God. This story is a reminder that when you are sick or in distress that you should look up to God for relief and life, eternal life. So the next time you see a snake, perhaps an innocuous garter snake, let it serve as a reminder to look up to God for eternal life. Amen.
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Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, our strength, and our redeemer. Psalm 19:14
Bishop Whayne Hougland visited St. James’ in Albion this past weekend. It was a very busy weekend as we attended the Bishop’s Workshop on Saturday and then he followed us to Albion. The Wardens met with the Bishop for a very nice dinner and conversation. The Bishop led worship and preached on Sunday followed by a lovely salad luncheon. Then the Bishop met with the full Vestry. The Bishop updated us on what is going on in the diocese. Canon Bill Spaid will be our Canon Missioner here in the Southern Region. Can we think of a more engaging name for our region? The Bishop is concerned that the church be more than an exclusive worship club, we are the Kingdom of God. We talked about what it means to be a vital and viable church, not growing in number but growing outward into the communities we live and work in. The Bishop is such a great cheerleader and gave St James’ and myself such warm words of encouragement. We provide leadership for the Albion Community Garden and the Literacy Program for the Albion Peapods Summer Camp. We host a monthly community supper. We extend a welcome to the students at Albion College to join us in worship or for a meal, but they never come. BUT … When we invite them to come and help us with Spring cleanup at the church, they are there. When we invite them to help with a Chili Supper to raise funds for the Albion Community Garden, they are there. When we invite them to help paint containers at the Community Garden or to mentor children at Reading Camp, they are there. This is the church active in the community working with our children, working with our young adults and building lifelong relationships and friendships, building community. This morning’s gospel is the story of Jesus cleansing the temple, turning over tables, coins rolling across the pavement, doves fluttering and livestock bellowing as they are pushed aside. The Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, place this story just before the Passion Story, acting as the last straw that led to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. John has a different purpose in mind and places the story at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has attacked the temple; things cannot stay as they are. Jesus comes disrupting the status quo and demanding change. This is not what God expects from His people. God does not ask for the sacrifice of animals’ blood, but the offering of ourselves, our praise and thanksgiving, our very lives. What does this mean for you, for the worshipers here at Whitcomb? I don’t mean my ministry to you, but your ministry to the community. You have a beautiful home and amenities, staff to provide for your needs, meals, warmth and a beautiful view. But not all seniors are so lucky. Some have their homes but not the resources to maintain it or must choose between medication and food. Some are starved for companionship. Contemplation is the long looking at something and thinking. Do you ever sit and just look at Lake Michigan? Do you reflect on the fact we have one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world just outside our door? And not just that but we can drink it, swim in it, catch salmon and perch and fry them for supper. Do you have access to a computer? Can you write a letter? Speak up on behalf of creation, our waterways, our less fortunate neighbors; be the church in St. Joseph. Amen. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, our strength, and our redeemer. Psalm 19:14
Our Gospel reading for today is again from the first chapter of Mark. The Gospel reading for Epiphany I at the beginning of January was about John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and the baptism of Jesus. Today’s reading for Lent I begins again with the baptism of Jesus followed by forty days in the wilderness before Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee. I find it curious that we have the story of Jesus’ baptism twice in two months. What did the lectionary committee find so important about Jesus’ baptism that they did not want us to miss? And another thing, if Jesus is perfect and without sin then why does Jesus need a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins? Jesus’ public baptism shows Jesus’ support for John’s ministry of baptism for repentance and the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ baptism is also a turning point in Jesus’ life. Mark has no nativity stories, no stories of Jesus’ childhood as found in Matthew and Luke. Jesus steps into the waters of the Jordan a man the son of Mary and Joseph, but when he rises up out of the waters of the Jordan Jesus rises as the Beloved Son of God with whom God is well pleased. If he didn’t know it before, Jesus now knows for sure who he is; he is the Son of God, the Beloved, the Christ. Have you ever wished for such clarity, to know who you are and your purpose in life? I know I have. Mark tells us the heavens were torn apart, the veil which separates heaven from earth has been violently torn open and the divine has entered into space and time. Last week we had the story of the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-9) when almost the same thing happened only it was an affirmation for the disciples Peter, James and John of who Jesus is. Peter has confessed that Jesus is the Messiah and they have it confirmed that this is true with Jesus blinding glory and the appearance of Moses and Elijah; with this experience the veil of doubt has been torn away; Jesus is the Messiah the Son of God the beloved. Jesus knows that he is the Messiah. The disciples know that Jesus is the Son of God. Do we know who Jesus is; do you and I know that Jesus is the Christ, the beloved Son of God? In our worship, prayers and reading of Scripture have we come to know Jesus and who he is? Have we come to know who we are, the Beloved Sons and Daughters of God? Do we believe it? <pause> Continuing with today’s Gospel reading Mark tells us that following his baptism, Jesus is immediately driven out into the wilderness by the Spirit where he is tempted by Satan for forty days. If we want to know how Jesus struggled with hunger, issues of personal safety and power we need to go to Matthew. What is important for us to note in Mark’s story is that Jesus took a long period of time alone, in solitude with God, to pray, to talk, and to listen to God. The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness where Jesus internalized who he was and what his ministry would be before Jesus began his ministry proclaiming the good news of God. This story is appropriate for the beginning of Lent and our forty days leading up to Holy Week and the arrest, torture, death and resurrection of Jesus; a time for prayer, worship, fasting, quiet contemplation, listening for what God is saying to us. I find it fascinating to find out how much Mark tells us with a few well-chosen words. There is the plain reading of the story, but with his careful choice of words he has added a fuller, deeper story to be discovered. With Jesus’ baptism in water does Mark intend for us to recall the story of Noah and the ark, of God’s destruction of evil in the waters of the flood and the new beginning with Noah and the eight surviving people and the pairs of animals they took with them on the ark. As God tears open the heavens and speaks to Jesus, our Old Testament reading tells us that God spoke to Noah and his family and to the animals on the ark and that God promised he would never again destroy the earth with a flood of water and as a reminder to himself and to Noah, God places the rainbow in the sky. Did Mark really intend for us to make this connection between the baptism of Jesus and the story of Noah and the ark and the rainbow? Those who set up our lectionary readings and the author of First Peter certainly thought so. I told you a couple weeks ago how much I enjoyed reading the book “Mark as Story”. Jocelyn has suggested several other books to read on Mark. I am eager to learn more about the idea of Jesus being the thief who binds the Strong Man. What really happened when Jesus went out into the wilderness? Was Jesus one of the wild beasts that Mark refers to, refusing to be bound by the constraints of the accepted understanding of God in the established Synagogue of his time? The idea is that Satan is the Strong Man who rules the earth. When Jesus goes into the wilderness he struggles with Satan and wins. Mark 3:27 tells us “But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.” If Jesus is to cast out demons and illness and all that is evil in the world then he must first bind the ruler of the world Satan. This is a new idea for me. I can barely wait to read more about it and share this idea with you. Today’s story from Mark ends with the arrest of John and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and the inauguration of the Rule of God. Saturday was the vestry retreat led by Canon Bill Spaid. He shared a lot of information with us on our role as the Vestry and Clergy, of what it means to be the leaders of St. James’ and the church in Albion. We spent some time in quiet listening for the word God would give us for ourselves and for St. James’. In order to hear God’s Word we must find a place of quiet solitude away from the noise and distractions of our life and society and listen. In order to build relationships with God and our neighbor we need to be able to quietly LISTEN. I invite you to a Holy Lent a time for prayer, fasting and almsgiving; a time for quiet contemplation, for solitude and silent listening to God and our neighbors. Amen. |
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July 2018
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