Author: reverendjoannwhite

Climate Change and the Cornerstone

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Sabbath Day Thoughts -“Climate Change and the Cornerstone” Mark 12:1-12

The numbers are in. Worldwide, this February was the warmest February on record. Across Europe, ski resorts closed when snow melted to mud from France to Bosnia to Italy. Wildfires, spurred by record heat, killed 133 people in Chile. In Tokyo, the cherry blossoms were out a full month earlier. When the numbers are confirmed in a couple of weeks by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this February will mark the ninth consecutive month in which the temperature record has been broken. The world is warming.

We don’t need to travel to Bosnia, Chile, or Tokyo, to affirm that climate change is real. Consider Lake Champlain. Matthew Vaughan, chief scientist with the Lake Champlain Basin Program, reports that from 1816 until 1950 the lake froze over almost every winter. Now, the lake freezes about once in four years. By 2050, we can expect the lake to freeze only once in a decade. The last time the lake froze was five years ago in March 2019. That’s bad news for our cold-water fish, like lake trout and Atlantic salmon. It’s bad news for swimmers, boaters, and wildlife, too, as toxic bacterial and algae blooms increase with the warming water.

Here in the Tri-Lakes we are feeling the changes. No snow meant no Winter Fun Day this year. How crummy is that?! Warming winters have brought a surge in ticks and tick-borne illness, like Lyme Disease and anaplasmosis. Heavy rain, characterized by a storm of two inches or more, is falling more frequently. Last year, we saw record-breaking rain in the summer and road closures from flooding in the winter. This past week, we saw hazy skies as smoke swept south from Canada, which in the past year has recorded record-setting wildfires fires in Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec.

If you are like me, you live here because it is glorious. We love our little corner of God’s good earth. In fact, we feel amazingly close to God in all this beauty. But, let’s face it, the good earth is changing, and it has us worried.

Our reading from Mark’s gospel tells the worrisome story of some wicked tenants who occupy a vineyard and refuse to honor the claims of the vineyard owner. As Jesus related this story, he was in Jerusalem for the Passover. Things weren’t going so well. Sure, he had made a triumphal entry to the city, but it got complicated fast. Scandalized by the corruption and greed that he saw in the Temple courts, Jesus had turned over tables and disrupted business. That made him some powerful enemies. Chief priests, scribes, and elders confronted Jesus and challenged his authority. Soon the minions of Herod would try to entrap him with questions about paying taxes, and the religious and economic elite of Jerusalem—the Sadducees—would be in his face with questions about the resurrection.

Jesus answered his critics with this tough, exaggerated story of judgment. A landowner lovingly planted a beautiful vineyard and entrusted his good creation to tenants before going away on a long journey. From the start, there was trouble. The tenants held the absentee landlord in contempt and seemed to think the vineyard existed to serve their own economic interests. Any landowner in his right mind would have evicted the tenants and called in the law to teach them a painful, violent lesson. But Jesus described a landowner who didn’t know when to quit. Merciful to the point of foolishness, he repeatedly sent servants, prophets, messengers—even a beloved son—to confront the tenants with the truth and return them to the right path. But sending those messengers didn’t work in the story any more than it would work that Passover week in Jerusalem. As Jesus spoke about the violence that the beloved son encountered in the vineyard, Jesus was alluding to the violence that he soon would endure: Jesus himself outside the walls of the city, nailed to a cross, and breathing his last. As Jesus concluded his parable, he invited his critics to pass judgment. Mark says that they knew that Jesus was talking about them; they were behaving like wicked, greedy tenants, holding God in contempt, bent on rejecting and murdering the beloved son.

Eric Baretto, who teaches New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, teaches that parables, especially parables of judgment like this one, are meant to shock the conscience—kind of like when your parents used to give you the “Come to Jesus” talk. We listen to this parable and we side with the vineyard owner. We are outraged by the treatment of the messengers and the son. But the shock to our conscience is that we are actually the tenants, profiting from the vineyard, denying and abusing anyone who confronts us with uncomfortable truth, treating God with contempt.

Nowhere does this feel more uncomfortably true than when we consider our warming planet, this glorious vineyard that has been entrusted to our care. It is a scientific fact that we are the cause of the increased greenhouse gas emissions that are warming our planet. NASA reports that the four major gases that contribute to the Greenhouse Effect are all driven by human activity. Carbon dioxide is generated by burning fossil fuels and deforestation. Methane is emitted by the livestock we eat. It comprises seventy to ninety percent of the natural gas we burn, and it leaks from fossil fuel production and transportation. Nitrous oxide is released during fertilizer production and use, as well as in the burning of vegetation. Chlorofluorocarbons do not exist in nature—they are entirely of industrial origin: refrigerants, solvents, and spray-can propellants. We are the problem. We’ve been bad tenants, feeling entitled to profit from the planet. We don’t heed the warning cry of the prophetic voices that call for change. Jesus might caution us that Judgment Day is coming.

Jesus followed his tough parable by quoting Psalm 118: the stone that the builders rejected would become the cornerstone. In other words, even though all those powerful critics would reject Jesus, God would have the last word. The cornerstone is the first stone set during the building process. Every stone in a structure is set in relation to the cornerstone. In the ancient world, it was believed that the position of stars and planets regulated life, fortune, and success; therefore, cornerstones were commonly placed facing the Northeast because it was thought that this location would bring harmony and prosperity to the building and its owners. A ceremonial ritual marked the placement of the cornerstone. Builders would place a sacrifice, such as wine, grain, water, or even blood, atop the cornerstone and dedicate it to their gods. Jesus’ words about the cornerstone tell us that his death would be the offering that would mark the building of something new. He would be the cornerstone, because he had been and would always be aligned with God’s creative intention when the world was first spoken into being.

Jesus’ allusion to the cornerstone was a hard-to-hear invitation to critics to not be so hasty in their rejection of him. It was an uncomfortable reminder that God is the great architect and builder of their world. Not the chief priests, scribes, and elders, not the Herodians or even the Sadducees. God Almighty had a plan that they could either honor or reject, building their lives around the cornerstone or choosing to go their own way at great peril and impending judgment.

Perhaps this morning, Jesus’ words about the vineyard and the cornerstone can serve as an invitation to us. We can continue to exploit our planet for personal profit at great peril to ourselves and our children and grandchildren—and all creation. Or, we can be reoriented in our custody of the vineyard that God has entrusted to our care. We can trade our wicked tenancy for a faithful reverence. We can work to honor the beauty and balance, the vulnerability and limit, of a world created from the very stuff of God.

What might it look like for us to faithfully tend the Lord’s vineyard? Dr. Janel Hanrahan, associate professor of atmospheric sciences at Northern Vermont University, has devoted her professional life to studying the effects of our warming world on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. She says there is plenty to worry about out there. But “the best thing about climate change is that humans are the cause. So that means that we also have a huge role in what happens moving forward.”

Even simple measures taken in our own homes can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and make us better stewards of the planet. Bring your own reusable cup or coffee mug instead of using single use plastics or disposable paper products. Change up the lighting by replacing inefficient bulbs with high quality LEDs that use a fraction of the energy. Turn down the thermostat by two degrees, cutting energy use and saving three to five percent on the heating bill. Wash clothes in cold water. Most of the energy used in doing a load of laundry comes from warming the water itself. Bike more, walk more, and drive less. Eat less meat and dairy. Use your voice. Write, call, or visit government representatives about environmental issues—like Caroline Dodd did this past week, participating in the Adirondack Park Lobby Day in Albany.

This vineyard we inhabit isn’t ours. It belongs to God, who shaped it with great patience and infinite love over billions of years. We can honor that—or reject it at great peril to the planet and all creation. We can choose to adopt simple everyday measures that tread lightly on the earth. We can model this good tenancy for our children. We can share it with our neighbors. We can demand it of our elected officials. We can lay the cornerstone for a future where we fulfill God’s expectation that we will care well for the vineyard. May it be so.

Resources:

Eric Baretto. “Exegetical Commentary on Mark 12:1-12” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.

Chloe Bennett. “First installment of state climate assessment points to a warming Adirondacks” in The Adirondack Explorer, Jan. 18, 2024. Accessed online at https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/state-climate-report-adirondacks

Brianna Borghi. “Why Lake Champlain isn’t freezing over as often as it used to” in NBC 5 News, Feb. 23, 2024. Accessed online at https://www.mynbc5.com/article/why-lake-champlain-isnt-freezing-over-as-often-as-it-used-to/39194456

Jake Spring. “Spring came early: February likely warmest on record amid climate change” in Reuters, Feb. 29, 2024. Accessed online at https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/spring-came-early-february-likely-warmest-record-amid-climate-change-2024-02-29/

Kat Kerlin. “18 Simple Things You Can Do About Climate Change” in Climate Change, Jan. 8, 2019. Accessed online at https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/climate/what-can-i-do/18-simple-things-you-can-do-about-climate-change

NASA. “The Causes of Climate Change: Human activities are driving the global warming trend observed since the mid-20th century.” Accessed online at  https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/#:~:text=Human%20Activity%20Is%20the%20Cause,air%20to%20make%20CO2.

Dean Thompson. “Homiletical Commentary on Mark 12:1-12” in Feasting on the Gospels: Mark. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.

Bill Whittaker. “The Little-Known Purpose of the Cornerstone,” July 24, 2019. Accessed online at https://www.billwarch.com/blog/the-little-known-purpose-of-the-cornerstone/

Mark 12:1-12 [13-17]

12Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 2When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. 5Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. 6He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone that the builders rejectedhas become the cornerstone;
11this was the Lord’s doing,and it is amazing in our eyes’?”

12When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away.

Photo by Centre for Ageing Better on Pexels.com

Give It Your All

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Give It Your All” Mark 10:17-31

Our mission focus during the season of Lent turns to One Great Hour of Sharing. This ecumenical offering was first observed in 1946. In the wake of World War II, the world was hungry and displaced. War had devastated farmland and disrupted supply chains. Hunger had been used as a weapon of war with German occupied lands from Holland to Russia experiencing mass starvation. There were fifty-five million refugees in Europe alone. In response to the global humanitarian crisis, the first One Great Hour of Sharing offering was received in 1946 with a goal of raising $1 million in the one hour, from 11AM until noon, when most American churches gathered for worship.

In 1949, a national radio broadcast on the Saturday evening before Easter promoted One Great Hour of Sharing.  A host of famous people appeared on the program, including President Harry Truman and actors Gregory Peck and Ida Lupino. In his radio address, Truman tugged at the nation’s heartstrings saying, “There are thousands of children in foreign lands today who have no memory of their parents, no knowledge of the meaning of the words ‘home and family,’ and who have forgotten what it feels like to have enough to eat. There are hopeless thousands who wander among the shattered towns seeking a place to rest, seeking security and a chance to begin their lives anew. There are many who pray to God only in secret, fearing persecution if they profess their beliefs openly. It is hard for us to comprehend grief and distress such as this, because we in America are so much more fortunate.” This church participated in that 1949 offering. Members were invited to listen to their radios from 8-9PM on Holy Saturday and come to church to celebrate Easter and make a contribution the following morning.

Seventy-five years later, One Great Hour of Sharing is still going strong. The offering that we collect on Easter will benefit three programs of the denomination—Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self-Development of People, initiatives that make a difference in the lives of vulnerable neighbors in the United States and around the world. Nowadays, we don’t have the President, or the likes of Gregory Peck, encouraging us to give. Instead, we have fish banks that the children, and those of us who feel a little childlike, will fill in the coming weeks to remember our at-risk global neighbors throughout the Lenten season.

In our lesson from Mark’s gospel, Jesus encouraged a “rich man” to consider parting with his affluence to help his hurting neighbors.  We can imagine it. Breathless after his run, kneeling in the dust of the road at Jesus’ feet, the rich man wanted to know what he must do to inherit eternal life.  I bet he was relieved to hear Jesus recite the instructions of the Torah – no murder, adultery, stealing, lying, or defrauding.  Be sure to honor your parents.  This man had been observing all those commandments from his youth, and he must have done so with great earnestness and integrity, because Jesus loved him for it.

There was only one thing lacking.  Although the man was expert in keeping the Torah, he seemed to have fallen short in tzedakah or almsgiving, one of the most essential principles of Jewish piety.  Our Jewish ancestors believed that, ultimately, everything belongs to God.  While God could have created a world where everyone had exactly the same distribution of God’s bounty, God chose not to do so.  Instead, some, like the rich man, were given much, while others had little.  This uneven distribution of resources was how God invited faithful people to join their purpose to God’s purpose. They could live lovingly and generously so that God’s goodness could abound for all.  Faced with Jesus’ invitation to sell what he owned for the blessing of his impoverished neighbors, the rich man balked.  He turned his back on a life with Jesus and went away grieving.

I don’t know if many of us would consider ourselves rich, certainly not rich enough to be labeled by our neighbors “the rich man” or “the rich woman.”  But when we see ourselves through the eyes of the world, we are truly blessed.  The average daily wage for New York state is about $202.  Compare that to the average global daily wage of $7.56.  We earn twenty-seven times what our global neighbors earn. Those who live in the five poorest nations—Burundi, Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan, and Mozambique—survive on less than $1 a day. We earn two-hundred times what the world’s poorest neighbors are able to earn. We are rich!

 Each day we make choices about how we are going to spend our relative affluence.  I’ll share some examples from the Department of Labor’s latest report on consumer expenditures.  The average gross household income in our country for 2022 was $72,961.  We dedicated about 33% of that household income to shelter—paying the mortgage or rent, utilities, home improvements, and furnishings.  We spent about 17% of our household income on transportation—car payments, maintenance, fuel, and insurance. Those seem like pretty essential expenditures to me. We are blessed to have homes and cars.  Aren’t we?

We also choose to spend our household income on some less essential things. Our average household expense for eating meals out was $3,639. That was followed closely by our average annual household expense for entertainment—$3,429 for things like music, movies, apps, games, vacations, and sporting events. We like to look sharp while we are being entertained and eating out because the average household spent $1,970 on clothes, which far outpaced what we spent on reading $117.  How fortunate we are to not only cover our basic expenses but to enrich our lives with vacations, special meals, new clothes, and good books.

We work hard to earn what we have. We may spend long years striving in tough jobs to give our families the sort of home life that we wish them to have.  But I wonder if our spending patterns, especially for discretionary income, might shift if we thought of our relative wealth in the same way that Jesus invited the rich man to think of his money.  Our relative affluence is a generous gift from God to bless our lives and to bless the lives of our impoverished neighbors. I wonder if our spending patterns might alter if we thought it was just as important to care for the well-being of our needy neighbor as it is to honor our fathers and mothers and to keep all those other commandments.  I wonder what our household expenditures might look like if Jesus were writing the checks. 

I think that Jesus would approve of the way our One Great Hour of Sharing Offering was used last year to help those who aren’t quite as blessed as we are. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance provided $3.1 million in grants to twenty-seven communities in the US and thirty-five countries around the world. We helped people like Bernadette, whose home began to crumble beneath her very feet when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Aleppo, Syria a year ago. With help from PDA, her home was stabilized and rehabilitated. Bernadette says, “We offer our thanks to all who have given so generously. Our prayers likewise go out to all who stand by us and receive the Offering to ease our economic burdens and encourage us to stay in our country and continue witnessing to our Christian faith.”

That isn’t the only way our gifts made a difference. Through the Presbyterian Hunger Program, 525,000 pounds of seeds and seedlings were distributed to farmers around the globe. 875 chickens went to households in Guatemala and Colombia to provide an ongoing resource for eggs and meat. 105 women became self-employed in Malawi as they developed a bakery to serve rural communities. One Great Hour of Sharing doesn’t ask us to sell all we have and give the money to the poor, but it does invite us to consider how our thoughtful gifts can make a world-changing difference for our local and global neighbors.

In the last image that Mark’s gospel grants us of the “rich man,” he was shocked. Reeling from what Jesus had asked of him, he turned his back and walked away. We don’t know what happened after that. But I like to imagine that the rich man spent some time thinking about what he possessed, and he began to wonder if what he owned really owned him. He began to notice his neighbors more, especially the ones who suffered, who didn’t have enough food, who couldn’t afford to pay a daughter’s dowry, whose disability forced them to beg, whose hearts trembled every time the tax collector knocked at their door. As the rich man opened his heart to those in need, he saw that Jesus was right. He could help. He opened his hands, he loosened his purse strings, and everyone got blessed.

Resources:

Bureau of Labor and Statistics. “Consumer Expenditures—2022,” USDL-23-1943, September 8, 2023. Accessed online at https://www.bls.gov/cex

Claudio Carvalhaes, “Commentary on Mark 10:17-31” in Preaching This Week, Feb. 18, 2024. Accessed online at Commentary on Mark 10:17-31 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

Pat Cole. “Presbyterians celebrate 70 years of One Great Hour of Sharing” in Presbyterian News Service, March 6, 2019. Accessed online at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/story/presbyterians-celebrate-70-years-of-one-great-hour-of-sharing/

Jack Flynn. “Average Global Income [2023]: What Is the Median Income Worldwide?” in Zippia, April 13, 2023. Accessed online at https://ww.zippia.com.

Gloria Guzman and Melissa Kolar. “Income in the U.S.: 2022.” US Census Bureau, Sept. 12, 2023.

Raquel Lettsome. “Commentary on Mark 10:17-31” in Preaching This Week, Feb. 14, 2016. Accessed online at Commentary on Mark 10:17-31  – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

–. “Living on the Brink of Disaster” in Presbyterian News Service, February 13, 2024. Accessed online at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/weekly-offerings/2024/02/13/oghs-presbyterian-disaster-assistance/

Harry Truman. “Radio Address as Part of Interdenominational Program, ‘One Great Hour’” in the National Archives: Harry S. Truman Library Museum, March 26, 1949. Accessed online at https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/public-papers/62/radio-address-part-interdenominational-program-one-great-hour

Mark 10:17-31

17As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

28Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

By Heinrich Hofmann – Purchased by John D Rockefeller Jr, now residing at Riverside Church, New York, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14265296

Are You Listening?

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Are You Listening?” Mark 9:2-9

No one teaches us how to listen. As children, we are told to listen to our parents, and we are sent off to school with the expectation that we will listen to our teachers. But rarely will anyone sit down with a child and offer some practical wisdom on how to listen. Our expectation for kids is that listening will come naturally, but true listening is a skilled discipline. It takes practice, openness, and commitment.

One of the core class series that I have taught with our deacons over the years is “Listening Skills.” Good listening involves creating the space within ourselves to hear what the other has to say. We follow the person whom we are listening to, giving them our attention and setting aside our desire to talk back and interrupt. Listening also demands that we attend to non-verbal communication: hand gestures, eye contact, tone of voice, even the pace at which something is shared. When we listen, we respond with verbal check-ins, paraphrasing what someone has said to make sure that we got it right. We might also ask some clarifying questions if we feel confused or need more information. A good listener will withhold judgment and refrain from giving advice. They’ll also be willing to sit in silence. Until we master the basics, good listening can feel hard work, but it equips us to be exceptional caregivers, just ask anyone who has been truly listened to by one of our deacons.

There are great relational benefits to listening. We better understand the other person’s point of view and can respond with empathy. We recognize that the conversation is more about the other person than about us. We gain a better understanding of problems and may be able to collaborate to develop solutions. Not only are our relationships strengthened and deepened, those we listen to feel emotionally supported and valued.

On this Transfiguration Sunday, Mark’s gospel tells us that Peter was having a hard time listening. There on the mountaintop, Jesus was revealed in dazzling glory and joined by Elijah and Moses, the greatest prophet and the wisest teacher in scripture. It was an awesome and holy moment. I love reading the story of the Transfiguration in the King James Version of the Bible, which says that the disciples were “sore afraid.”

But Peter’s silence didn’t last long. If the appearance of Moses and Elijah signaled the end of the age, if Jesus was filled with God’s glory, then there was work to do on the mountaintop. There were shelters to build and an advertising campaign to launch. Peter could see it all: those heroes of the faith ensconced in their booths, the mountain thronged with pilgrims, the word of God flowing down the slopes and out into the world. It would be glorious. But all those plans ground to a halt as a cloud swept over them and the voice of God spoke. “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”  C. Clifton Black, who teaches Biblical Theology at Princeton Seminary, likes to point out that this is the only place in the Gospel of Mark where God speaks directly to the disciples. It’s important, both a declaration of love and an imperative to listen.

Perhaps the reason that Peter was having trouble listening was that he didn’t like what he had been hearing. Just six days earlier, while they were on the road to Caesarea Philippi, Jesus disclosed that he would suffer and die a terrible death before being raised. Horrified that the man whom he had rightly identified as the Messiah would make such a prediction, Peter tried to talk Jesus out of it. That didn’t go so well. Jesus silenced him with the words, “Get behind me, Satan.” On the mountaintop, Peter imagined a way out of the coming suffering: building of booths, create of a safe sanctuary where the ways of the Kingdom could be made known and carried down into the world. But according to Jesus, and now God Almighty, there would be no escaping the cross.

Listening! Not only does no one teach us how to listen, it’s also especially hard to listen when we don’t want to hear the message. Let’s be honest, there are teachings of Jesus that we could listen to all day. Love God. Love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But there are plenty of Jesus’s words that we would rather not hear. Follow. Forgive those who have wronged you. Feed the hungry masses. It’s best to be last, not first. Turn the other cheek. Do not be afraid. Only believe. All those teachings are easier said than done, Jesus. This listening business is hard. Jesus sets before us the way of life and the goals of the kingdom, and we don’t want to hear about it.

Our struggle to listen is deeply ingrained in a cultural world that emphasizes doing over being. When we are in “doing” mode, we are goal oriented and achievement motivated. Our credo is “Git Er Done,” the catchphrase of the comedian Larry the Cable Guy. Git Er Done! Take action and get things accomplished. Be proactive and don’t slow down, even when faced with emotional turmoil. Just keep moving forward until you have achieved success!

When we are in “doing mode,” we find ourselves saying, “I have to . . . I must . . . I should . . . I ought . . . I need to. Dr. Zinder Segal, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, says that the problem with “doing” is that we aren’t all there in the present moment. We’re mentally off to what is next. In fact, we may even switch into “doing mode” to escape tough emotions, like grief, sadness, fear, hurt, disappointment, and anger. Does any of this sound familiar? But when we are focused on what to do next, we miss the “full multidimensional splendor” of the moment. We are like Peter on the mountaintop, who couldn’t be present to the awe-inspiring revelation of Jesus in his glory because he was already planning his big building project.

The antidote to our compulsive doing is “being.” The catch phrase here is from Psalm 62, “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” In “being mode,” our attention shifts from what comes next to the present moment. We accept and allow what is, without the pressure to change it. The moment is experienced in its full depth, width, and richness. We truly see, we really hear, we listen. We stop the driven doing. We don’t miss out on the people and places that surround us. We don’t wish away our lives thinking about the next big event. We find the space to listen to God and one another. Pastor and evangelist John Warden teaches that, “Our identity is not in what we do but in who we are as sons and daughters in Christ. To pursue God’s way is to be people of ‘being’ over people of ‘doing.’”

Dominican leader and author Richard Rohr is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in New Mexico. It’s an educational nonprofit that teaches the contemplative Christian path of transformation. Rohr believes that the way of God’s Kingdom is found when we find the right balance of “doing” and “being.” We begin with being, with contemplation the practice of holy listening. We rely on the heart instead of the head. In contemplation, we prayerfully let go of our sense of control and choose instead to cooperate with God and God’s work in the world. From contemplation, God calls us to action. Being leads to doing, leads to our service to God’s Kingdom. In fact, the more we grow in our capacity for listening with the ear of our heart, the greater our capacity for world-changing social action.

If Richard Rohr is right, then Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the mountaintop to listen with their hearts. Jesus took his friends to the mountain to find in that prayerful being the courage to follow Jesus back down into the valley that would lead to the cross. If Richard Rohr is right, then our practice of being can also lead to doing. We can make the time to listen to Jesus and find the holy purpose that God holds for our lives.

No one teaches us to listen, but today’s reading from Mark’s gospel suggests that it’s never too late. If we aren’t sure how to listen to Jesus, we can use the same steps that we practice when we want to truly listen to one another. We’ll stop what we are doing and create the space within ourselves to hear what Jesus has to say. We’ll follow Jesus, attending to his words in scripture, listening in times of quiet prayer, and expressing our devotion in worship, giving him our full attention. We might want to ask clarifying questions, by digging into Bible Study, reading what scholars have to say, talking with spiritual friends, or checking in with a pastor. As good listeners, we’ll withhold judgment and refrain from thinking we know better than Jesus. We’ll be willing to sit in silence and unknowing. We’ll trust that when the time is right, our listening will flow forth in holy action, to the glory of God and for the good of our neighbors. Are we listening? May it be so.

Resources:

C. Clifton Black. “Commentary on Mark 9:2-9 in Preaching This Week, Feb. 11, 2018. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/transfiguration-of-our-lord-2/commentary-on-mark-92-9-4

Arlin Cuncic. “7 Active Listening Techniques for Better Communication” in Verywell Mind, Nov. 9, 2022. Accessed online at https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-active-listening-3024343

Sarah Henrich. “Commentary on Mark 9:2-9 in Preaching This Week, Feb. 19, 2012. Accessed online at Commentary on Mark 9:2-9 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

Zindel Segal. “Being vs Doing: The Difference Between ‘Being’ and ‘Doing,’” in Mindful: Healthy Mind, Healthy Life, Dec. 18, 2022. Accessed online at https://www.mindful.org/difference-between-being-and-doing/

Mark 9:2-9

2Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. 9As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

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Quiet Time

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Quiet Time” Mark 1:29-39

The evidence is in. Prayer is good for us. Dr. Andrew Newberg, the author of How God Changes Our Brains: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist has found that twelve minutes of personal reflection and prayer has a profound impact on our brains. Prayer enhances our neuroplasticity, the brain’s capacity to grow and develop at all ages. It also increases blood flow to the frontal lobes and anterior cingulate cortex, those areas of our brain that are essential for our fundamental cognitive processes, including motivation, decision making, learning, cost-benefit calculation, as well as conflict and error monitoring. You might even say that a robust prayer life boosts brain health and equips us to learn, grow, and develop as people.

Prayer isn’t just good for the brain; it’s good for the whole body. It’s good for our heart and lungs. Prayer reduces our heart rate, synchronizes our breath and heartbeat, and has been clinically proven to reduce blood pressure. Prayer benefits our endocrine system, too. It stimulates the body’s production of helpful hormones, like melatonin to regulate sleep, serotonin to boost our mood, and oxytocin, that feel-good hormone that we experience when we snuggle a child or a puppy. Prayer may also keep us healthy and promote healing. Studies have found a correlation between prayer and an increase in our body’s immune response.

Prayer may even help us in the workplace. It has the power to reduce stress levels and curb anxiety. Prayer can make us less reactive to criticism and the negative moods of others. It enhances our critical thinking and even gives our self-esteem a boost. Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg, says he isn’t sure if God exists. He can’t prove that in a lab, but he can prove that our belief and prayerful engagement with God are fundamentally good for us in body, mind, and spirit.

Jesus didn’t need a neuroscientist to tell him that prayer was good for him. Today’s reading from the first chapter of Mark continues the story that we began last week of a very full day of ministry in Capernaum. First, Jesus wowed worshippers by teaching. He made the scriptures come alive in ways that felt authentic and authoritative. Then, Jesus helped a man who had been troubled by an unclean spirit, healing and restoring him to his right mind.

Jesus had earned an afternoon of sabbath, but as soon as they entered Peter’s house, he learned that someone was sick. Peter’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, an illness that in the first century could be life-threatening at worst and a crisis for sharing hospitality at best. Undeterred by the report of illness, Jesus went to the woman’s bedside and, in a private moment of compassion, lifted her up, a minor miracle that left the woman eager to serve the Lord.

You know how people like to talk. It wasn’t long before word had spread from one side of Capernaum to the other. So, at sunset as the sabbath ended, the door to Peter’s house was thronged by folks in need of every sort of healing and deliverance.

What comes next is important. We might expect Jesus to rest up and sleep late. We might expect him to enjoy a leisurely breakfast with his new disciples, cooked up by that doting mother-in-law. We might expect him to take a victory lap in Capernaum, checking in on all those people he helped. But Jesus doesn’t do any of those things. Rather, we find him in a deserted place, spending some quiet time with God in prayer.

Those prayerful times of retreat would become characteristic of Jesus’ ministry. Even before he preached his first sermon or worked his first miracle, Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, communing with God. Before naming the inner circle of his disciples, Jesus spent an all-nighter in prayerful discernment. After feeding the 5,000, Jesus sent his friends ahead and lagged behind for some private prayer time. On the night of his arrest, Jesus would pray, face down in the garden of Gethsemane, pleading with God for the strength to face the cross. Even while dying, Jesus prayed, asking God to forgive his executioners. Jesus was a man of prayer, and he encouraged his friends to do likewise. He hoped his friends would see that God was with them on the journey and with God they would find the courage and grace to meet each day. He even gave us a simple formula for talking to God that we use every Sunday: the Lord’s Prayer.

We know all this. We know that Jesus was the ultimate prayer warrior. We know that the Lord taught his followers to pray. We probably even know that prayer is good for us. Yet we struggle with cultivating a practice and discipline of prayer. Our spiritual forefather John Calvin taught that this is part of the legacy of our total depravity and original sin – that we are incapable of doing good until the Spirit moves within us.

I’m not so sure about Calvin’s conclusion. I am more inclined to agree with author and prayer expert Richard Foster, who compares our reluctance to find the quiet time to be with God to walking through a shopping mall with a two-year-old, something he did one day with a dear friend. The little boy was in one of those fuming and fussy moods that frustrates every parent. The dad tried everything to quiet the child, but nothing worked. At last, he scooped the boy up and held him close to his heart and began to sing a silly, made-up, off-tune song. “I love you! I’m so glad you are my boy. You make me happy. I like the way you laugh.” On and on he sang. The child relaxed and was soothed. When they got to the car later, the father buckled his son into the car seat and the little boy said, “Sing it to me again, Daddy. Sing it to me again.” Foster says that our resistance and God’s persistence are like this. Prayer is “to be gathered up into the arms of the Father and allow[ing] him to sing his love song over us.”

We need to find that daily time to rest in the arms of God, to listen to the heartbeat of the Almighty, and know that we are beloved. We can do what Jesus did, find the quiet moments that can be carved out of even the busiest and most productive of days. Jesus liked to retreat to his quiet places in the morning, while the world was hushed and the sun was a promise on the horizon. That might be your quiet time, too. Or, you may wish to find a quiet place on your lunchbreak to turn away from the rush of your day and turn to those waiting arms of the Almighty. Perhaps you are a night owl. Your thoughts turn to God as the shadows lengthen and the busy day ends. Morning, noon, or night, we are invited to find the quiet time to pray, listen, and be soothed.

Researchers have found a further benefit to prayer. It’s not only good for us; it’s good for others. Researchers at Florida State University determined that prayer helps our marriages. It shifts us from being at odds with one another and reminds us that we are on the same team. Husbands and wives who pray report greater relationship satisfaction. As someone who is celebrating their eighteenth anniversary today, I say, “Who doesn’t want that?” Just twelve minutes of personal reflection and prayer each day are enough to strengthen the neural circuit in our brain that enhances social awareness and empathy. Prayer grants us a heightened sense of compassion and eases negative emotions that we feel about others. Those who reap the greatest mental and physical benefit from prayer are the people who approach God in prayer like Jesus did, looking to the Almighty as our guide, partner, and collaborator on this life’s journey. With God’s help we find the refreshment and balance that are needed to step back into the world for positive action. Dr. Paul Hokemeyer writes that “prayer is the fuel that lights the fire of action.”

When the disciples finally caught up with Jesus in his quiet place, the Lord was refreshed and ready for action. In his prayerful time with his heavenly Father, he discerned that God was calling him onward. There were other people and places in need of his good news and healing love. One sermon at a time, one miracle at a time, one shared meal at a time, one caring interaction at a time, he would draw this fuming and fussy world into the arms of his heavenly parent, so that others might know that they are beloved. May we do the same.

Resources:

Andrade, Chittaranjan. “Prayer and healing: A medical and scientific perspective on randomized controls” in NIH National Library of Medicine, Oct-Dec 2009. Accessed online at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles.

Beebe, Dr. Gayle D. “How Faith and Prayer Benefit the Brain” in Westmont Magazine, Spring 2012. Accessed online at https://westmont.edu

Bernstein, Elizabeth. “The Science of Prayer” in The Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2020. Accessed online at www.wsj.com

Foster, Richard. Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, San Francisco: Harper, 1992.

Skinner, Matthew. “Commentary on Mark 1:29-39” in Preaching This Week, Feb. 8, 2015. Accessed online at https://www.workingpreacher.org

Spector, Nicole. “This Is Your Brain on Prayer and Meditation” in Today: Wellness, Oct. 20, 2017. Accessed online at https://www.nbcnews.com/

Mark 1:29-39

29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. 32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

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Real Authority

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Real Authority” Mark 1:21-28

“Let’s get out of here! Floor it!” My friend Amy yelled in my ear. She had a death grip on my arm that would leave finger-shaped bruises.

I sat there frozen while Dr. Spahr tapped on my driver’s side window.

Dr. Spahr was the ultimate authority at CB West. At a time when dress codes were changing and administrators wore khakis, button down shirts, and blue blazers, Principal Spahr always wore a suit, black or charcoal. His somber neckties popped against starched white shirts. His thick, black-framed glasses might be considered hipster nowadays, but back then, they were seriously old school and uncool. He rarely smiled. He prowled the hallways with a ninja-like stealth that would catch you unaware. A trip to Dr. Spahr’s office could result in detention, suspension, or worse.

You did not want to run into Dr. Spahr when you were up to mischief, especially when you were on school property on a weekend night like we were. There was a collective gasp of anguish from my friends when I rolled down the car window. We were doomed.

Our reading from Mark’s gospel establishes Jesus as the new authority in Capernaum. Jesus was reading and interpreting scripture as a guest teacher at the synagogue on the sabbath day. The excellence of his words impressed everyone. Then, when an unclean spirit spoke out in the midst of the congregation, Jesus silenced it and demonstrated even more authority, driving the demon out of the afflicted man and setting him free. It was a synagogue assembly that no one would forget – great preaching and a miraculous healing, all thanks to Jesus who demonstrated a new and unprecedented authority.

The amazement of the people of Capernaum seems a little naïve to us. After all, we’ve been reading Mark’s gospel. We know that at Jesus’s baptism God spoke from the heavens saying, “This is my Son the Beloved.” And when Jesus was walking along the lakeshore, all he had to do was invite those fishermen to join him and they left everything behind. We expect great things from Jesus when he enters the synagogue. But those people in Capernaum? Not so much.

Those low expectations may have stemmed from the fact that there were plenty of “authorities” in Jesus’ day, but Jesus wasn’t one of them. There was a Roman garrison at Capernaum, and the centurion in charge controlled his men and the village. He wielded authority that came from the empire, with foreign occupation and the threat of violence.

Regional power was held by Herod Antipas, the Roman-appointed tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. Herod held authority to rule and collect taxes to support his kingdom and his emperor, oppressing and imprisoning those who might ask questions or resist his demands.

When it came to matters of religion, all eyes turned to the Temple in Jerusalem.  There, priests held an authority that passed from father to son through the long generations. Standing in the middle between the people and God Almighty, a priest could pronounce you clean or unclean, offer sacrifices to atone for your sins, exclude you from the community of the righteous, or welcome you back home.

And when it came to scripture, authority was best left to the scribes, scholars who spent a lifetime studying the Hebrew Bible and memorizing the long history of biblical interpretation known as the traditions of the elders. The scribe’s authority derived from their eloquence, encyclopedic knowledge, and the prestige of the rabbis with whom they had apprenticed.

Roman commanders, client kings, priests, and scribes, these were the voices of authority for the people who had gathered for worship on that Sabbath morning in Capernaum. Yet one sermon from Jesus and one act of healing had people buzzing. Here was a new authority that made them sit up and notice. Here was an authority unlike any they had seen before.

Perhaps the buzz was about the big difference between how Jesus used his power and how all those first century authorities exercised their power. Jesus didn’t use his authority to exert control or curry political favor. He didn’t use his power to amass a fortune or build an impressive reputation. He didn’t use his authority to elevate himself above others or establish his unparalleled expertise. Instead, that sabbath day in Capernaum revealed that Jesus would use his power for others. He reminded those worshippers of God’s great love for God’s people. He chose to reach out with compassion in response to suffering.  In God’s Kingdom, these are the hallmarks of real authority: to speak in ways that make the love of God known and to act in ways that bring healing and wholeness to others. This is the heart of the ministry that God would empower Jesus to pursue.

This is the sixth time that I have preached on this passage. That’s the blessing and challenge of years of experience. I often like to focus on the choice we face when we read this story, the same choice that those worshippers in Capernaum faced. Will we recognize Jesus’ authority for our lives? Will we build a life around him, placing the Lord at the center of our families and workplaces, our civic commitments and even the choices we make in the voting booth. It isn’t an easy thing to do, because it requires us to make some tough decisions about all those other authorities out there, the ones that would like to run our show. Year in and year out, I see this congregation making the tough choice to put God at the center, establishing the priorities that Jesus hoped his first listeners would make.

This time through the lectionary cycle, I have been thinking beyond our choice to affirm Jesus as Lord to questions about our own authority. Whether we are parents or grandparents, teachers or managers, community leaders or healthcare providers, elders or deacons, we have each been entrusted with authority. We choose daily how we will use the power that is at our disposal. Will we make God’s love known? Will we act with compassion to ease the suffering of others? I think these are the most essential questions in the life of faithful people. The choice for love, the practice of compassion, I think this is the heart of the ministry that God would empower us to pursue.

At the start of this message, I left myself rolling down the car window to face the authority of the totally terrifying Dr. Spahr. What kind of principal hangs out at school on a Saturday evening just to spoil the shenanigans of high school pranksters? He was even wearing his suit! Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a can of spray paint roll out from under the passenger seat—a fact that the eagle-eyed Dr. Spahr would be sure to notice.

Dr. Spahr recognized me right away. We went to the same church, and my Mom had taught at the high school for a number of years. Once the window was down, the conversation went something like this.

Dr. Spahr: Why, Joann! What are you doing on school property in the middle of a Saturday night?

Everyone in the car: Nothing!

We were busted. There was no getting around it. I saw a future of detentions ahead of me. If the spray paint was brought into evidence, we were talking suspension. If it became known that although I was in the driver’s seat, I did not have a driver’s license, then who knew what horrors awaited me.

I must have looked pretty pitiful. I was an honors student, but things weren’t great at home, and Dr. Spahr knew it. The acrimony between my parents was showing up in some unfortunate ways in us kids. I wasn’t the only case in point. My brother had been in the dreaded office of Dr. Spahr twice that year, once for fighting and another time for setting off a fire extinguisher in a hallway (which was probably also related to fighting). That really did result in a suspension. My goose was cooked.

Dr. Spahr gave me a long hard look. He peered off into the night through those thick black glasses. He was clearly weighing his options. Finally, he sighed and patted the driver’s side door. “You girls go home,” he said. “I don’t want to hear about any more trouble.” He looked pointedly at what had rolled out from under the seat. We wasted no time, dropping the car into gear and driving off into the dark.

I’ve thought about Dr. Spahr over the years, all that authority at CB West. On at least one Saturday night, he helped a teenager know the love of God and the compassion that Jesus would have us extend to one another.

Resources:

Paul S. Berge. “Commentary on Mark 1:21-28” in Preaching This Week, Jan. 29, 2012. Accessed online at Home – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

Matt Skinner. “Commentary on Mark 1:21-28” in Preaching This Week, Feb. 1, 2015. Accessed online at Home – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

Stephen Hultgren. “Commentary on Mark 1:21-28” in Preaching This Week, Feb. 1, 2009. Accessed online at Home – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

David S. Jacobsen. “Commentary on Mark 1:21-28” in Preaching This Week, Jan. 28, 2024. Accessed online at Home – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

Mark 1:21-28

21They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Teambuilding

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Teambuilding” Mark 1:14-20

Teambuilding began in the United States in the early twentieth century. The early behavioral psychologist Elton Mayo conducted a series of experiments to determine if workplaces could be changed to increase productivity and yield greater profits. Dr. Mayo tested his theories at Hawthorne Works, a large factory complex of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois. Hawthorne employed 45,000 workers, mass-producing telephone equipment. The factory had a diverse workforce: Czech immigrants, longtime working-class Chicagoans, and African Americans who had migrated north from the deep south.

Dr. Mayo began his testing by changing the physical environment of workers. He altered lighting and manipulated the humidity of the workplace, but physical changes had little or no affect. Next, he expanded the study to observe social and emotional factors that might have an impact upon workers, like their interactions with managers and co-workers. Dr. Mayo hit paydirt.

Building relationships between leaders and workers inspired feelings of teamwork. Leaders saw their role as providing vital support for teammates. Workers developed a sense of responsibility to colleagues. All that led to positive changes in employee performance. Not only were workers more productive, but they also had a greater sense of satisfaction in the workplace. Bonds nurtured at work also led to diverse, lasting friendships in the community.

The experiments revolutionized industry and launched a century of teambuilding efforts. Today teambuilding is a core concept of organizational development and management. Teambuilding exercises are an integral part of training for the US Army, professional athletics, and corporate, as well as non-profit, workplaces.

Jesus knew the importance of building a team to follow and work alongside him in ministry.  In our reading from Mark’s gospel, Jesus began his own teambuilding.  As Jesus walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee, he noticed brothers Peter and Andrew casting their fishing nets.  Jesus saw something he liked. He called them to follow him. Immediately, they joined him.  Just a little farther along the shoreline, Jesus ran into another set of brothers—James and John, mending nets with their father Zebedee.  Soon they, too, had joined the team, leaving their family and fishing boat behind. There would be other disciples: Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Little James, Thaddeus, Simon, and Judas. Eventually, there would be twelve disciples serving in what scholars call the “inner circle” of Jesus’ ministry.

For sixteen centuries, faithful people described what Jesus did with the disciples as a summoning to vocation—where vocation meant the calling to a consecrated, religious life, as a priest or nun. With the Protestant Reformation, all that changed. First Martin Luther and then John Calvin taught that all Christians have a vocation or calling to use our God-given gifts in our secular workplaces and in the congregations that we affiliate with. The minister who preaches the gospel has a calling, but so do the musicians who enhance our worship and the Sanctus workers who dust the pews. Team Jesus calls us all.

The disciples made a diverse group. Perhaps the only thing they had in common was their shared heritage as Israelites. Peter, Andrew, James, and John earned their living on the Sea of Galilee, casting nets or towing dragnets to yield a harvest of freshwater fish. Matthew was, of course, a tax collector. He straddled the uncomfortable gap between the ruling elite and the everyday people, collecting taxes from his neighbors to finance Herod’s building projects or pay for the Roman occupation. The name Bartholomew means Son of the Furrows (or fields). He was a farmer. Simon, often called Simon the Zealot, was a bit of a radical, affiliated with the resistance group that would eventually revolt against the Roman occupation. Jesus knew it would take a variety of people to build his team and serve the Kingdom.

Our team has diversity, too. We serve (or have served) in schools as teachers, counselors, and administrators. We are healers: nurses, doctors, researchers, and home health aides. We are civil servants who have served the APA, DEC, or our local governments. We are businesspeople, running small businesses, programming computers, or sharing our expertise as consultants. Somehow those differing vocations have found a spiritual home and shared purpose right here.

The disciples on Team Jesus had differing gifts. Peter was a leader: the first to know that Jesus was the Messiah, the first to retreat to Galilee after the crucifixion, and the first to avow his love when the risen Lord found him on the lakeshore a second time. Philip had the gift of reaching out; no sooner had he found Jesus than he was inviting his friend Nathanael to come and see this rabbi who just might be the Messiah. Thomas asked the big questions, but he also had the gift of loyalty: he followed Jesus to Jerusalem, even when he expected the worst. John had the gift of love, laying his head upon the Lord’s breast in companionable silence and standing at the foot of the cross with the women. It would take a variety of gifts to achieve Jesus’ purpose. All were valued and needed.

We, too, are a people of differing gifts. We may be richly blessed with musical gifts. Or, we may we have a passion for learning and studying scripture. We may have the patience to teach and work with children. We have gifts for good cooking, yummy baking, and warm hospitality. We care–our warm sympathy overflows for folks in tough times. We are generous, sharing of our resources and money. In the sharing of our differing gifts, churches like this thrive, and Jesus is known.

Somehow, Jesus forged the diverse and differently gifted disciples into a team that would change the world. There were some teambuilding exercises along the way. They learned to depend upon one another when he sent them out in pairs to teach and heal. They learned to trust in his power and presence when their boat was rocked by a rising storm. They learned that they could feed hungry people by sharing their meager resources and believing that with Jesus just a little could be enough. Jesus built his team to minister at his side, but even more so, he built a team that, in the long years to come, could minister even when he wasn’t right there, telling them what to do.

Team Jesus was wildly successful, with productivity and profits far outpacing the biggest dreams of Dr. Elton Mayo and those early twentieth century captains of industry. Peter would appoint himself chief among apostles to the Hebrew people, but the Holy Spirit had bigger things in mind. From the household of the Roman Centurion Cornelius in Caesarea Maritime to the household of the emperor in Rome, Peter would lead the charge of the early church into new territory. John would plant a church in Israel whose loving bonds would survive terrible persecution. John would successfully lead his congregation into exile, from Israel across the Mediterranean to western Turkey. There he would write at least three letters that we continue to cherish today, and his memories of Jesus would eventually be recorded in the Gospel that bears his name. Bartholomew never went back to farming. He teamed up with his fellow disciple Thaddeus to venture as far as India with the gospel message. Along the way, they planted the seeds of faith in Armenia, which became the first Christian nation in the year 301. Simon the Zealot left behind his political aspirations. He traveled to Egypt and North Africa and planted churches from Cairo to Alexandria to Cyrene. Some traditions say that Simon traveled on to Spain and then Britain where he shared about his life with Jesus until he lost his own life, crucified by the Romans in the year 61CE. What a team! They took the good news from one end of the Roman Empire to the other—and beyond.

Our team may not travel as far afield in the Lord’s purpose, but our differing gifts have been shared in ways that have made a life-changing difference for others. The good news that we share with our children in Sunday School, Youth Group, and confirmation provides a foundation of faith that will sustain them as they go off to school, embark on professional endeavors, and start families of their own. Our passion for feeding hungry people has motivated us to grow bushel upon bushel of beans at the Jubilee Garden, fill the pack basket with monthly food offerings, create a permanent home for the Saranac Lake Food Pantry, and make a dent in global hunger through CROP Walk and Church World Service. Our commitment to caring makes a loving difference. It prompts deacons to reach out to homebound friends, inspires prayer chain warriors to pray fervently, sends us forth with summer bouquets for folks who need love, and equips us to comfort families at the time of death. What a team! We are good news for a world still deeply in need of the love and mercy of Jesus.

As the New Year unfolds, so will the teambuilding efforts of the world around us. The army will build cohesiveness among recruits by inviting them to work together to carry super heavy loads that can’t be handled alone or by dropping units off in the middle of nowhere with orders to return to base forthwith. Athletic managers will build trust and mutual respect among their professional athletes by giving them each a few clues, locking them together in an escape room, and giving them an hour to get out. Titans of industry will hope to unlock productivity and profits by scheduling teambuilding retreats for their employees. Participants will try exchanging warm fuzzies (compliments), meditating, and facing the physical challenge of a ropes course.

I suspect that Jesus will continue to build his team right here at the First Presbyterian Church. He’ll inspire us to welcome diversity. He’ll celebrate our differing gifts. He’ll delight as we get busy in his purpose. Go, Team Jesus!

Resources

Michael Rogness. “Commentary on Mark 1:14-20” in Preaching This Week, Jan. 25, 2015. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Cynthia Briggs Kittredge. “Commentary on Mark 1:14-20” in Preaching This Week, Jan. 21, 2018. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Alicia Vargas. “Commentary on Mark 1:14-20” in Preaching This Week, Jan. 21, 2024. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Feli Oliveros. “What is Team Building? How to Build Stronger, Cohesive Teams in 2023” in Talkshop, July 29, 2023. Accessed online at https://gusto.com

Angela Robinson. “History of Team Building” in teambuilding, Sept. 27, 2022. Accessed online at https://teambuilding.com.

Mark 1:14-20

14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 16As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

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I Am with You

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “I Am with You” Matthew 28:16-20

The world longs for peace.

It’s been 100 days since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas War. On October seventh, Hamas militants swept out of Gaza and into southern Israel, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. 1,200 people were killed and 250 hostages abducted. In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared war. With heavy bombardment and a ground invasion of Gaza, the Israeli Defense Force seeks to root out the Hamas threat and keep Israel safe.

Caught in the crossfire are civilians. Experts say the Israeli bombing of Gaza is among the most intense in modern history. More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed. Two-thirds of those casualties have been women and children. Thousands more remain missing or badly wounded. Half of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed. 80% of the population is displaced. Schools are closed. The healthcare system is near collapse, with only 15 of 36 hospitals still functioning.  One quarter of the people are starving. Halima Abu Daqa, a displaced Palestinian woman, sheltering with her family in a tent camp near the border with Egypt laments, “We have been deprived of everything. Everything has changed and nothing remains.”

On the Israeli side, civilians have contended with 14,000 Hamas missiles lunched against southern cities. Confidence in the Israeli government, which failed to act on a warning about the coming attack, has plummeted. Men and women have been called up to active military duty. 314 soldiers have been killed. Skepticism is growing in Israel about the kind of military victory that can really be achieved. Vigils and public outcry call for action to free the 130 Israelis who remain prisoners of Hamas. Families of hostages are among the voices calling to put combat on hold and strike an immediate deal with Hamas to free the hostages. Udi Goren, whose cousin was killed on October seventh, says, “We’re talking about a war that’s now going on in an urban area that has about 2 million refugees and hostages. The [Israeli military] is fighting with [its] hand tied behind its back. It’s very clear that we need to find a ladder to climb down.”

The world longs for peace this morning. In the face of the world’s warring madness, we have the audacity to celebrate a Sunday that is dedicated to the making of peace. Since 1983, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program has been working with partners around the world to provide humanitarian support and disaster assistance to war plagued people and places. Beyond the war zone, Presbyterian Peacemakers seek an end to human trafficking, racism, and the tragedy of displacement and economic crisis driven by climate change.

This church’s commitment to peacemaking began more than thirty years ago. In 1990, the late Rev. Dick Stone led a Bible Study on peacemaking with this congregation. Dick and the participants in that study convinced the session to make the commitment to peacemaking, inviting us to work for peace in our families, communities, and even in the international arena. The elders voted and made it official. We are peacemakers.

Our calling to be peacemakers is grounded in the teachings of Jesus. Reading Matthew’s gospel is like a master class in peacemaking. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Turn the other cheek. Before you do anything else, go to your alienated neighbor and be reconciled. Forgive seventy times seven, which basically means forgive others without limits. These are the words of Jesus. They are a clear call to peacemaking and an anticipation of the peaceable kingdom that the Lord would have us forge on earth as it is in heaven.

Living into those words isn’t easy. Our whole-hearted commitment to God can get pushed to the margins by the demands of family, work, and civic engagement. In this politically fraught climate, it feels tough to trust our neighbors and love them as ourselves. Do we really have to love our enemies? Jesus, you must not have met them. Be reconciled? We would rather steer clear of our alienated neighbors, friends, or family members and pretend they don’t exist. Limitless forgiveness? It’s a whole lot easier to forgive when we get a public apology, so that the world can know that we are right. Jesus may have taught us the things that make for peace, but putting them into practice, embracing that radical ethic of peacemaking, can feel easier said than done. Help us, Jesus.

In our reading from Matthew’s gospel, the risen Lord gave his friends an assignment that must have felt just as daunting as our calling to be peacemakers. Jesus sent his friends out into the world, not just to their Jewish neighbors but to all the nations—that means gentiles. The gospel of God’s great love for all people needed to be shared and the disciples were the people to do it. They would need to talk about their experience and belief with complete strangers who seemed likely to reject them as religious fanatics. Then, through baptism the disciples were to welcome a growing crowd of people who never mixed into the family of God. I imagine the disciples, especially those who struggled with doubt, found themselves thinking as we might: that great commission sounds easier said than done, Jesus.

Jesus assured his friends that they were more than enough to meet the challenge. It wasn’t that they were gifted public speakers or had access to the halls of power. It wasn’t that they had charismatic personalities or had spent their lives studying the Torah. Rather, Jesus’ friends would be fine because Jesus would be with them always. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus would meet them where they were and as they were. His great love for them would follow them, even to the end of the age. Bible scholars like to call these words of Jesus the “promise of eschatological presence.” Jesus is with us always.

The “promise of eschatological presence”? Those are some fancy theological words, but when we think about it, we know the nearness of Jesus. We feel his presence in times of prayer and contemplation. We sense his wonder in our forays into the beauty of God’s creation. We know he is with us on Sunday mornings as scripture is proclaimed and the Lord’s Supper is shared. We feel Jesus’s love when others love us at our most unlovable. Jesus is there when someone turns the other cheek to our bad behavior. Jesus is there when we find common ground with our alienated friend. Jesus taps us on the shoulder when we find the courage to seek forgiveness and accept the grace of others. The presence of Jesus equipped his disciples to go forth with God’s love; the presence of Jesus equips us to go forth as peacemakers.

Just as we trust that Jesus is with us, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program allows us to be with others around the world who are desperately in need of peace, safety, and love. In November, Presbyterian Peacemaking and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance reported that they were partnering with the Middle East Council of Churches to provide humanitarian assistance amid the Israel-Hamas War. Emergency food and hygiene kits have been distributed to displaced people. Damaged housing is being repaired. Churches and community centers, that have been hosting homeless families, are receiving much-needed support. Medical and hospital supplies have been shared. Counseling help has supported those traumatized by the conflict.

For 2024, the PCUSA is teaming with the ACT Alliance to continue this work on a broader scale. ACT stands for Actions by Churches Together. It is a partnership of 145 church groups in 127 countries who are committed to peace and human security. With ACT, we have pledged $5 million in humanitarian assistance to the conflict in the Middle East with a goal of improving the lives of 50,000 individuals. Our contributions to Peacemaking are a visionary statement that, like Jesus, we are committed to being with others, even when life feels overwhelming and the way forward is hard to see.

The world longs for peace this morning. Jesus has hope for us. He has taught us the things that make for peace and promised to be with us. I trust that the Lord can even be at work in the chaos and pain of the Israel-Hamas War. Jesus is with displaced people, like Halima Abu Daqa, who have lost everything. Jesus is with concerned Israelis, like Udi Goren, who seek a way forward to end the violence. May we be a part of the peace.

Resources

Ephrain Agosto. “Exegetical Perspective on Matthew 28:16-20” in Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, vol. 2, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press), 2013.

Daniel Estrin. “Israelis are increasingly questioning what war in Gaza can achieve” in NPR Special Series: Middle East Crisis Explained, January 11, 2024. Accessed online at https://www.npr.org/2024/01/11/1223636086/israel-hamas-war-gaza-victory

Josel Federman. “In 100 days, the Israel-Hamas war has transformed the region. The fighting shows no signs of ending” in the Associated Press World News, January 13, 2024. Accessed online at https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-100-days-palestinians-takeaways-05422978a87ab52d51df152bc9248a7f

Julia Frankel. “As Israel-Hamas war reaches 100-day mark, here’s the conflict by numbers” in the Associated Press World News, January 13, 2024. Accessed online at https://apnews.com/article/war-gaza-israel-hamas-100-numbers-death-c4d6d42269c3cd6bf74d4e6fc612114e

Martha Moore-Keish. “Theological Perspective on Matthew 28:16-20” in Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, vol. 2, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press), 2013.

Scott O’Neal.  “Presbyterian Mission Agency ministries authorize funds to support relief efforts in Israel-Palestine” in Presbyterian News Service, Nov. 8, 2023. Accessed online at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/

William H. Willimon. “Pastoral Perspective on Matthew 28:16-20” in Feasting on the Gospels: Matthew, vol. 2, (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press), 2013.

Matthew 28:16-20

16Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

attribution: AP Photo, Hatern Ali, accessed online at https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-100-days-palestinians-takeaways-05422978a87ab52d51df152bc9248a7f

Torn Open

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Torn Open” Mark 1:4-11

Elena Bernal was not looking forward to the holidays. The sixty-six-year-old was widowed three years ago in December. Home feels quiet and lonely now, especially at Christmas. Elena breaks down in tears, just thinking about her loss. “We grew up together,” she says of her late husband, “We met in middle school. I miss him so much.”

The world is in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. A Meta-Gallup poll released in October conducted in 142 countries found that one quarter of the world’s population reports feeling very or fairly lonely. The statistics are even higher in the United States. In May, the Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a report indicating that half of Americans report experiencing loneliness.

There are a number of reasons for our national surge in loneliness. In this post-pandemic world, more people are working and learning remotely. We’re communicating more remotely, too, with Facetime and Zoom replacing meetings, visits, and face-to-face gatherings. Larger societal changes further contribute to the problem of loneliness. The social media boom, which presents a distorted, idealized vision of the daily life of others, has us scrolling on our phones rather than picking up our phones to make a call to our friends and family. More of us live alone these days. In 1960, only 13% of Americans lived by themselves. Today that number has more than doubled to 29% of us. We may feel it is tougher to form genuine connections, too. In 1972, 45% of us trusted our neighbors. In the midst of the increasing political and social division of our nation, only about 30% of us now say that our neighbors are trustworthy.

Loneliness is bad for our health. It puts us at increased risk for depression, anxiety, addiction, self-harm, and even suicide. The Surgeon General’s report indicates that loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26%. It’s worse for us than obesity or inactivity. Dr. Murthy compares loneliness to smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. It increases our risk of heart disease by 29%, our risk of stroke by 32%, and among the elderly, the risk of dementia doubles. Feelings of loneliness have seen the greatest increase among those aged 19 to 29. Half of young adults say that in the last week no one had taken more than a few moments to reach out to them or express any sort of genuine care.

If the Meta-Gallup poll and the US Surgeon General are right, then addressing the epidemic of loneliness and isolation is critical to the world’s well-being.

I suspect that there were feelings of loneliness and isolation at play in the crowds who came to hear the fiery preaching of John the Baptist. John spoke boldly of existential loneliness, the alienation and isolation that come when we feel that we are separated from God and our neighbors. In fact, John proclaimed a bold message of repentance, of returning to right relationship with God and community.

Jesus came to the muddy banks of the River Jordan.  He took a seat among the crowds and listened to what John had to say.  Throngs of pilgrims, the whole Judean countryside, had come to gawk at John and listen to his bold exhortation. If we listen up this morning, we can almost hear the rough voice of the Baptizer, the song of the river, and the murmuring of the entranced crowds. Compelled by the power of John’s message, Jesus kicked off his sandals, set aside his staff, bag, and traveling cloak.  He waded into the gritty Jordan to John’s side, and he was baptized. 

We’re told that when Jesus emerged from the river, something extraordinary happened.  The sky was torn open (sxizomenous).  In the Hebrew understanding of the world, the sky was a solid dome, the firmament, established by God at creation.  The Israelites believed that we lived on this side of the firmament while God was on the other. Separate. Holy. Distant. Apart. The Prophet Isaiah gives us a feeling for this separation between God and humanity. When the Israelites lived in exile in Babylon, Isaiah cried out to God, “O, that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” (Isaiah 64:1).  At Jesus’ baptism, God tore open the heavens. God entered into the world to reshape it through this humble carpenter from Galilee.

Jesus went forth from his baptism to live a torn-open life, a life marked by compassion and a willingness to be vulnerable with and for others. He identified with those who lived as outsiders. He called fishermen, tax collectors, and peasants to be his disciples. He broke bread with sinners. Jesus advocated for the powerless – welcoming women to his ministry and blessing the children. Jesus healed, ending the physical, social, and spiritual isolation of lepers, demoniacs, and the disabled. The torn-open Jesus confronted empire and Temple, those who wielded brutal power over others, with the promise of a coming Kingdom where power would be used to help and to heal.

Jesus’s choice for a torn-open life was most clearly revealed in his death on the cross. Even as he underwent unimaginable suffering, he thought of others. He welcomed a repentant thief to paradise. He prayed for God to forgive his executioners. Let’s face it. On the cross, Jesus was literally torn open. Nails brutally pierced his hands and feet. A spear was thrust through his side and into his vital organs.  It’s messy and brutal and awful. And we learn the lengths that God will go for our sake, the limitless love of a torn-open God.

At the moment of Christ’s death, we are reminded of his baptism. The curtain in the Temple that sequestered the holy of holies was torn open from top to bottom. We do not hear God’s voice speaking from the heavens, “This is my Son the Beloved;” rather, a Roman soldier at the foot of the cross, who witnessed the compassion and dignity with which Jesus died, pronounced, “Surely, this man was God’s son.” In living a torn-open life, Jesus granted us a vision of the world that God would have us make. It’s a world where faithful people choose to make a difference by facing head-on all that has separated us from God and one another. It’s world where we trust that on the far side of the world’s worst, new life will rise, and we have a role to play in that new creation.

Michael Rogness, who taught preaching for many years at Luther Seminary, likes to point out that to be baptized is to follow Jesus. We, who were sprinkled as infants, confirmed as teens, or chose baptism as adults, have embarked on a life of discipleship. That doesn’t mean that we are perfect or exceptionally pious, walk on water or know every chapter and verse of scripture. Rather, discipleship is that choice for a torn-open life of compassion and caring. It prompts us to feed hungry neighbors, welcome strangers, embrace those who feel like outsiders, and bless children. The torn-open life is a calling to help, to heal, and to love. Always love.

Our choice to follow Jesus in this torn-open life may be the antidote for the world’s epidemic of loneliness. According to the Surgeon General, social connection is the most important tool in overcoming social isolation. Human beings who are embedded in a web of concerned and caring individuals thrive. Our interest and caring for others are as essential to our well-being—and theirs—as the air we breathe and the food we eat. Medical science confirms that the world becomes healthier, physically and mentally, when people are respected and valued, looked after and look out for. Our loving care and interest in others, our choice to be torn open, changes us and changes others. Loneliness ends. We find meaning, purpose, motivation, and hope. We begin to see the world that Jesus would have us make, where the barriers that separate us from our neighbors and disconnect us from God are torn open.

Elena Bernal’s Christmas was a lot better than she expected. She accepted an invitation to attend Christmas lunch at the Serving Seniors Wellness Center in Cortez Hills where she lives. Serving Seniors is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping low-income seniors. They provide nutritious food, but they believe the social interaction and hospitality that are shared when they break bread together is even more important. Elena ran into an old friend Gwendolyn King at the lunch. The two women visited and shared news as they enjoyed a traditional holiday meal. Alan Busteed, looking dapper in a three-piece suit, moved from table to table playing carols on his violin and taking requests. As Elena left, she was given a Christmas present and a $10 gift card. It was nice, really nice.

The Serving Seniors Wellness Center has a banner that hangs above the buffet. It reads, “Remember, you are a citizen of the world, and everybody needs you. You’ll find happiness in the giving of yourself.” If you ask me, it sounds a lot like a torn-open life.

Resources

Tammy Murga. “Christmas Day can be lonely, quiet for many. Serving Seniors made it a fun one for these San Diegans,” in The San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 25, 2023. Accessed online at https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/

Dr. Vivek Murthy, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, et al. Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community. Washington, DC: Office of the Surgeon General, May 2, 2023. Accessed online at https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf

Paul S. Berge. “Commentary on Mark 1:4-11” in Preaching This Week, January 8, 2012. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Michael Rogness. “Commentary on Mark 1:4-11” in Preaching This Week, January 8, 2012. Accessed online at workingpreacher.org.

Adrianna Rodriguez. “Americans Are Lonely and It’s Killing Them” in USA Today, Dec. 24, 2023. Accessed online at https://www.usatoday.com.

Theresa Coleman. “2023: The Year of the Loneliness Epidemic” in The Week Magazine, December 9, 2023. Accessed online at https://theweek.com.

Mark 1:4-11

4John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 9In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

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Beloved Christmas Hymns and Their Stories

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Beloved Christmas Hymns and Their Stories” Luke 2:22-40

In our scripture lesson this morning, the infant Jesus encounters two people who waited a very long time to greet the Messiah: Simeon and Anna. While Luke records their words, tradition tells us that the two sang their praises for the newborn king. How fitting, then, it is to celebrate this first Sunday of Christmastide with a celebration of some of our most loved Christmas hymns and their stories.

“Good Christian Friends, Rejoice” is one of our oldest Christmas hymns.  This medieval carol dates to the fourteenth century. The words are believed to have been written by Peter of Dresden, who served as the Rector of the Christian School in Dresden.  He may have written it for his students.  Peter was fired from his post and forced to flee to Prague in 1412 because of his religious convictions. He was a follower of the early church Reformer Johann (Jan) Huss, whose work anticipated the 16th century work of church leaders like Luther and Calvin. Huss, however, was burned at the stake for translating the Bible from Latin into the language of the people.  Peter of Dresden died in exile around 1440.  The first printed record of the hymn is found in the University of Leipzig library and dates to 1405. 

The sprightly music, IN DULCI JUBILO, is a German folk tune from the fourteenth century. It has long served as the setting for Peter’s words.

The words of “In the Bleak Midwinter” are a poem, written by Christina Rossetti. Christina (1830-1894) was born in London to an Italian exile family. Her father was a political refugee, classics scholar and poet, who taught at King’s College. She received her education at home with private tutors and her mother, who was also a classics scholar. Her sister and two brothers, like Christina, were poets and writers. Known as one of the great beauties of her day, Rosetti was a model for several artists.  Although admired and beloved by many, Rosetti’s first and lasting love was the Lord.  She rejected three proposals of marriage on religious grounds. She was an abolitionist, early advocate for animal rights, and volunteered for a number of years at the St. Mary Magdalene house of charity, a refuge for former prostitutes. Christina exerted influence and garnered praise from such literary notables as Gerard Manley Hopkins, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Virgina Woolf.

The hymn tune we sing today, CRANHAM, was composed for Rosetti’s poem by Gustav Theodore Holst in 1906. Like Christina, Holst was the child of political refugees who found sanctuary in Britain. Holst is best known for his orchestral suite “The Planets.”

The words of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” were written by one of the most popular preachers of the 19th century Phillips Brooks. On Christmas Eve of 1865, Brooks traveled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem by horseback to attend worship at the Church of the Nativity, built at the site of Jesus’s birth.  Brooks recalled that inspiring evening, saying, “I remember standing in the old church in Bethlehem close to the spot where Jesus was born when the whole church was ringing hour after hour with splendid hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voices I knew well, telling each other of the wonderful night of the Savior’s birth.” Three years later, as Brooks served a church in Philadelphia, he recalled his magical night and wrote these words.

The music was composed for these lyrics by the church organist, Lewis Redner. Brooks requested a new composition to match his lyrics, but Redner struggled to come up with a tune. On the night before the Christmas program, inspiration struck. Redner awoke with this music ringing in his ears.

The words to “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” were written by that most prolific of 18th century British hymnwriters Charles Wesley. Tradition tells us that Wesley wrote constantly, even while riding on horseback. When inspiration struck, Wesley would stop his horse, run to the nearest house, and ask for pen and ink. He was said to have averaged ten poetic lines a day for fifty years. He wrote 8,989 hymns, ten times the number composed by the only other candidate (Isaac Watts) who could conceivably claim to be the world’s greatest hymn writer.

Wesley was notoriously intolerant of anyone changing his words. As originally written by Wesley in 1739, this hymn began, “Hark, how all the welkin rings.” Welkin?! “Welkin” is an Old English word for the firmament or vault of heaven. It was as unfamiliar to singers in the 18th century as it is to us today. Fourteen years later in 1753, Wesley’s friend George Whitefield overcame Wesley’s objections and changed the words to make them more accessible. People have been singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” ever since.

Our next Christmas hymn, “The First Nowell,” originally had eleven verses!  Perhaps we are thankful that only six are preserved in our hymnal. This traditional English carol was first recorded in Cornwall and published in 1823. The carol is believed to be much older, with roots dating to the Middle Ages. 

“Nowell” is derived from the Old French word Nouel, which in turn comes from the Latin word natalis, which means birth.  Some say that there are also overtones of nouvelle (new) in Nowell, giving it a secondary meaning of declaring something newsworthy – like the Medieval version of “Extra!  Extra!  Read all about it!”

Regardless of its true origins, people have been saying and singing “Nowell” for a very long time.  In fact, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest recorded use of Nowell as a Christmas greeting dates to the year 1255 when Chaucer used it in his “Franklin’s Tale,” writing, “and Nowel crieth every lusty man.”

“Go, Tell It on the Mountain” comes to us from the tradition of African American spirituals. The words allude to Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”

The spiritual was first published by African American scholar and musicologist John Wesley Work.  The son of a church choir director, Work grew up in Nashville and taught Latin and music at the historic black college Fisk University. With his wife and his brother, Frederick Jerome Work, he began collecting slave songs and spirituals across the south in the late 19th century, publishing them in two volumes. The latter book, New Jubilee Songs and Folk Songs of the American Negro (1907), included the first publication of “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”

Work directed the “Jubilee Singers,” a select choir of the university which toured extensively, including travel to Europe where they were well received and raised significant funds for their school. Work was forced to resign from his post at Fisk in 1923. The traditional songs that he so loved were considered backwards and unpopular by academics on the Fisk faculty, who sought to leave behind the painful history of slavery. Undaunted by his departure from Fisk, Work then served as president of Roger Williams University in Nashville until his death in 1925.

Luke 2:22-40

22When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

25Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, 29“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; 30for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 33And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 36There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. 39When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

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Christmas Bells

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Poem for a Tuesday — “Christmas Bells” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
    And wild and sweet
    The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
    Had rolled along
    The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
    A voice, a chime,
    A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
    And with the sound
    The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
    And made forlorn
    The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
    “For hate is strong,
    And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The Wrong shall fail,
    The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

in A Christmas Treasury of Yuletide Stories and Poems, ed. James Charlton and Barbara Gilson (New York: Guild America Books, 1976), pp. 302-303.

Luke 2:14

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was the most popular poet of his day. Born in Portland in 1807, his grandfather was the congressman and Revolutionary War hero General Peleg Wadsworth. His father Stephen Longfellow was a lawyer and founder of Bowdoin College, where Henry studied, met his lifelong friend Nathaniel Hawthorn, and graduated in 1825. Henry taught at Bowdoin and later at Harvard College. He was such an admired figure during his life that his seventieth birthday in 1877 was celebrated across the nation with parades, speeches, and the reading of his poetry. “Christmas Bells,” written in 1863, reflects Longfellow’s grief over the Civil War and the death of his wife Frances “Fanny” Appleton.

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