Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Psalm 22:23-31

Romans 4:13-25

Mark 8:31-38

Have you ever said something and wished you could take it back? For me, it is too many times to count. Like our words, our sin is like a cat out of the bag: once out, it is impossible to get it back in. If we try to make a bad situation better, we seem to mess it up. Paul says in Romans that the law cannot make us righteous. Once the cat of sin is out, no amount of effort can correct the situation. We keep messing it up.

Into this mess that we created, God comes through Jesus and offers a gift of righteousness by faith. How does faith appropriate righteousness? What does faith change? How does it clean up our mess? I can come up with endless anecdotes of people of faith changing the world through good deeds. But the mechanism of faith being our righteousness is harder to describe.

Into this difficult description, Paul proposes a simple, yet profound, answer: Jesus. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can regain the righteousness and wholeness that was intended for humanity. Somehow in the acceptance of what Jesus did, we come back to life. In some ways life is not what we put into it but what we receive from God. True humanity is found in receiving. Living in faith and gratitude releases the power of heaven to change our mess.

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2 Kings 5:1-14

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Mark 1:40-45

“If you are willing…”

These words ring strongly with me right now. There are people in need of healing, comfort, strength and help. They are looking for someone to be willing. He knows that Jesus is capable of healing but he is not sure that Jesus wants to heal him. Perhaps he has seen others that he thought were capable but unwilling to do anything. I would not be surprised if that were true.

My parents came back from Haiti at the end of January. They said that many people said, “Thank you for leaving your comfortable homes to come help our people”. There is a certain surprise and gratefulness in that comment. The Haitians see the great comfort of Americans and our relative inaction. They see people who are capable but who are unwilling to help.

“I am willing…”

This statement almost slips right by us. Of course, Jesus is willing. But in human experience, finding someone willing to help is rare and surprising. Jesus shows the heart of God to heal and help those in need. How much do we need to have this kind of heart to help others!

Then after stating His willingness, Jesus does the unthinkable – He touches the leper. He enters into the suffering at the risk of religious scrutiny. He does what it takes to bring healing, no matter how it looks. He knows that He has come to bring a change in our thinking – sin does not stain righteousness, righteousness changes sin. The power of healing is greater than the power of disease.

Jesus heals this man out of compassion. Yet He knew that this man would help spread the news too quickly. Love is inconvenient. Love requires willingness, bravery, confidence, and flexibility.

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Jonah 3:1-5, 10

1 Corinthians 7:1-31

Mark 1:14-20

Growing up Mennonite and continuing with some of their doctrinal beliefs, the Scripture in 1 Corinthians gives  me some special problems. Please note that I expanded this from the RCL text for the sake of my sermon series on sexuality.

First the issue of sexuality was verbotten. There was no talk about marriage relations more than “women submit” and that was in general and not sexual. But Paul here gives a wonderful picture here, although sparse, about the mutual pleasure that sex is supposed to give. Paul is not talking about procreation; he is talking about passion and hormones.

Next there is the issue of the infallibility of Scripture. “All Scripture is God-breathed…” Now, I don’t disagree with that but there is a unique quandary in this passage. In 1 Corinthians 7:6, Paul says that this is not a command but a concession. Then in verse 10, Paul affirms that he is speaking the words of God, not himself. “Pay attention, God is speaking.” Then again in verse 12, Paul does not blame God for what he is saying, he says that these are only Paul’s words. Again in verse 25, Paul speaks, not God, but Paul feels that his counsel is trustworthy. So my question is: when Paul says that he is speaking, not God, is this the Word of God? Do we grey out these sections like the Jesus Seminar? What does it mean that Scripture is inspired by God? How are these passages Scripture and how should they be applied?

The last one is the deepest struggle for me. Growing up Mennonite, I was “submerged” in Anabaptist theology about the nature of baptism and communion. Both are symbolic and baptism is for believers. Since infants cannot make a profession of faith, they should not be baptized. Then as I came to faith through the Catholic church, I had to deal with the issue of infant baptism for the first time. How do I deal with my brothers and sisters in Christ who were baptized as infants? It has been a growing experience for me and hopefully will continue to be.

I have searched the Bible and the early church fathers for examples of infant baptism and have not found an explicit reference (I’m still looking). I know that there is the story of the Philippian jailer and his family being baptized. What if there was an infant or small child who was baptized? What if there wasn’t? We just don’t know. But in the middle of Paul’s sex talk in 1 Corinthians 7, there is an interesting sidelight: children of a Christian parent are holy.  What does that mean? How is holiness transferred from believing parent to child (let alone to the unbelieving spouse)? If the children are holy, why shouldn’t they be baptized? What about that unbelieving spouse? Is this holiness related to salvation? There are many questions in this passage but verse 14 is the most direct and convincing argument for infant baptism in the Bible for this Anabaptist.

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Isaiah 60:1-6

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

I failed to mention last week that I will be posting some thoughts on the Lectionary texts for the upcoming week. My hope is to spur thought and comment that will be helpful to pastors (myself included). For years I have wanted some forum to discuss the text: Let’s start here. Also, as I begin this, I start with an exception: I will be using the Epiphany texts from January 6 instead of the Baptism of Jesus texts.

Why are the Magi mentioned in the Gospel story? There were other visitors to Jesus – shepherds. Sure they serve to explain the circumstances of the Slaughter of the Innocents. But that could have been done with a simple sentence: “Herod heard that the Messiah was born in Bethlehem and so he went and killed all the babies”. Matthew found it important to mention these astrologers and their story about worshipping Jesus.

First, the Magi show that all humans are welcome to join in worshipping Jesus: not just Jews, not just the poor, not just the theologically correct. This story begins the scandal of Jesus. All are welcome to come.

Second, I wonder if this story has a connection to Jesus later speaking of being a door or the way to God. Could it be that all can come to Jesus from wherever they originate?  God uses astrology to lead these men to worship Jesus. God will use any part of who we are to lead us to Jesus. All paths lead to Jesus but only Jesus leads to the Father.

Third, once we worship/ experience Jesus, we cannot remain the same. The Magi return home a different way. An experience with Jesus will change your life forever. Somehow home is no longer home and your life is impacted by the encounter with Jesus.

Lastly, I wonder what happened to the Magi after they returned to their homeland. Did they remain astrologers? How would they tell the story to their family? Did they adopt the Jewish faith? I wish I knew. Perhaps we are not supposed to know or we are to assume the ending to this story. Is this more important to me because of my interpretation of the story?

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Jeremiah 31:7-14

Ephesians 1:3-14

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

If you had a plan for the future, what would it be? Would it be world peace? A comfortable life? World domination (Like Pinky and the Brain)?
God has a plan for the future. It begins with our redemption through the blood of Christ. But that is the beginning, a mere foretaste of what He wants from the future. The goal God has is that the world is united in Him. We are the first fruits in that plan.
Side note: As I read this passage, there seems to be an intermingling of God the Father and the Son. Or that the Christ is more of an action than a person. Basically, what raises the issue is that "his blood" seems to be a reference to God the Father.  What does that mean?

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Growing up in a Mennonite church in NE Ohio formed me in ways that I am yet to understand completely. I greatly appreciate the heritage and spirituality of my youth. Yet it was at a Catholic youth renewal that my spiritual life began. Together this has created in me a great love of Christian mystics, justice and peace issues, and healing ministries. But likewise it has created in me a theology that must embrace paradox and ambiguity.

In my late teens and early 20’s, as I grew spiritually, I longed for the depth of spirituality that I saw in monastic life. Thus I fashioned my desire to be a “Mennonite monk”. Later I would marry a wonderful lady who fashioned herself a “Lutheran nun”. The monk and nun live in marital bliss.

My hopes for the blog are to reflect my spiritual journey, anticipate my future journey and provide a forum for others’ spiritual growth. May we grow into Christ as we grow together. I hope to cover a wide range of subjects such as: theology, philosophy, music, and books. Subject matter will range from Mennonite thought, Amish life, Catholic faith, the missional church, small church issues and the RC Lectionary. I’m sure there will other subjects that will come up but for now it is all I can think of.

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