Epiphany is a season
celebrating how God touches our lives. The season begins with the celebration
of the kings visiting Jesus at Bethlehem, next we heard about Jesus’ baptism
where the voice of God proclaimed that Jesus was God’s son, last week we heard
about the calling of the fishermen to be disciples. Epiphany is about big
moments that point to Jesus’ divine significance all of which involve people
making steps to follow his example. It is about expressing God’s mission to all
corners of the world.
But as we hear today’s
gospel lesson, we get a glimpse of Jesus’ authority with the common people he
encountered. When telling stories like this one, I struggle with not knowing
what Jesus said. For some reason the gospel writer didn’t include his amazing
words, a surprisingly unjust oversight. There are times when I wish I had the words
he spoke because they were so powerfully persuasive about the way God is
involved in human life and they provided the purpose of existence, so strongly,
that the people who heard them knew it without question.
They knew it, even
though Jesus didn’t come to them as an authority (at least not one chosen by
the society). Here was this stranger who appeared in the gathered community, a
place where people gathered to listen and interpret God’s Word (a place similar
to this one), and after speaking these amazing words, he was deemed to be the
ultimate authority. So much so that the real authorities, the ones who made a
good living doing that work, were scared of losing their power and influence in
that community.
We often look to authority
figures, in our church the deacons, priests, and bishops but there are
authorities in other parts of our lives, as well, (we look to these authorities) to tell us what
we are to believe and how we are supposed to live. But Jesus didn’t fit into
that category. He wasn’t a member of the Sanhedrin, he wasn’t a scribe, he
wasn’t a customary religious authority. But when he spoke, he attracted all the
attention and people intuitively knew that what he said was truth.
And because of that,
people began to follow him. That is the reason that the disciples dropped their
nets, as we heard in last week’s gospel, to follow Jesus. It wasn’t because he
was a celebrity but about what he said and how he said it. Who does that today?
To whom do we listen?
Of course that is a
personal question. Next week, for instance, there is a certain sporting event
which grabs the attention of a good number of Americans (and even people from
other countries). The Super Bowl, this year, pairs the New England Patriots
against the New York Giants. According to an online survey, 53% of the
respondents believe that the Patriots will win, but in the northeast which
includes both Boston and New York, the Giants are favored 52% to 48%. Yes, the
game may be exciting (it could come down to a last second field goal or even
overtime), but it also might be a blowout. No matter what happens on the field,
there will be another competition taking place, a competition that will attempt
to sway our choices. Of course, I am talking about the commercials.
I’ve mentioned
commercials before in other sermons because I see in the covert manipulations
of our minds, hints of what is at the heart of human interaction. And, the
Super Bowl is the premier showcase of our marketing geniuses. Anheuser-Busch,
Coke, Pepsi, Monster.com, Volkswagen, and even Century 21 have purchased 30 second
spots for approximately $3.5 million each. Marketers are the present day
authorities on the inner desires of the masses. Every image and every word in
an ad is tested to ensure maximum persuasive power. And no matter how much we
deny their influence on us, they will work. If they didn’t, companies wouldn’t
spend their money.
Advertisements change
our minds, but there are other things that have authority in our lives. Whether
it is family, money, prestige, cars, fun, art, music, or any number of other
things. Consider what it is for you. Then consider if that is what you want
your true top priority to be. I could stand up here and tell you to prioritize
God (it would be good if you did), but the question is how does setting God at
the top help us develop into a deeper and more fulfilled people?
That is a good question
and one that gets to the ‘why’ of faith. Being God centered doesn’t mean that
we can’t have other interests, but prioritizing God grounds us in how we
balance the human desires, the fun of life, with a commitment to serve and be dedicated
givers to community. God helps us find ways to make those two become one, a
reorganization of our many priorities in a way that makes them fulfilling.
Fulfillment through God
is a long-term commitment. It doesn’t happen overnight or by making two
payments of $19.99. It is not made by showing up to church once in a while, but
by carving out regular time in every day and every week to pray and seek God.
We have learned the secrets of deepening our spiritual lives throughout the
centuries and one of the most important things to do is to practice it in
community. Following God is not something that you can do alone, or by just
reading a book. By its nature, spiritual life begins in our hearts, but to grow
must be made manifest in a community of believers who provide the basis for
continued growth. This kind of interaction is a promise we make in baptism.
We can see this in the
example of Jesus from today’s gospel lesson when he visited the synagogue. We
are not just responsible for your own faith journey, but we are also committed
to support the spiritual growth of the people around us. And that means that we
must not only come to worship, we must also live it when we walk out those
doors in our relationships and our vocations. We must become teachers and
authorities to the people around us. This can be tiring work. It is a lifelong
journey and there will be times when we want to get off the path because our
priorities have changed. When we forget about centering our lives on God and
instead are consumed by various other desires.
It is an appropriate
time of year to talk about reprioritizing. This week (on Thursday, February 2) is
the day we remember Jesus’ Presentation at the Temple, when Mary and Joseph
dedicated Jesus to God’s mission and when Simeon and Anna recognized Jesus as
the fulfillment of long ago prophecies. Most of you probably didn’t don’t know
that. You may have thought that I was going to mention that it was Ground Hog
Day: The cross quarter day between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox,
the moment when light/warmth gradually begin to make a marked rebound. Ground
Hog Day is a big deal when the winter has been harsh (not so much this year).
No matter what we call
it, the beginning of February is the time of year when we are reminded that
things we were once excited about, have gotten to be old hat. It has been four
weeks since we made New Year’s resolutions. I noticed it in schools, it is the
point in the year when students can’t remember the enthusiasm of the first day
but also can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. How often do we start
something with great enthusiasm only to find ourselves days/months/years later
wondering to ourselves if it will ever end?
This is nothing new.
Take for instance the Israelites in our Old Testament lesson. They spent a
lengthy time at Mount Horeb (otherwise known as Sinai). It was such a long time
that they were tired of hearing God’s voice. Instead, they wanted assurance
that there was going to be an authority, like Moses, to lead them to the land
promised to them at the time of Abraham. Getting to that destination was one of
the main reasons that they followed Moses out of Egypt, but in the passage we
heard, they felt like they were wasting their time in the presence of God. The
story of Moses and the Israelites at Horeb is one of the most amazing encounters
with God recorded in Biblical history. But even with that kind of encounter,
the people were bored and impatient. They wanted someone to point them in the
right direction but were concerned with how long it was taking.
They were unwilling to
acknowledge the extraordinary, but instead wanted to know when and with whom. We
hear these rumblings today with those who seek God and certainly from those who
don’t. The benefits of a spiritual existence and the practice of it are hard to
make tangible, they take time (it isn’t like learning trivia, it is harder to
grasp), and often demands of us a transformation of our routines. What we want,
no matter how much we deny it, is to be told where to go and how to get there
to our greatest benefit expending the least amount of time and effort. And when
there are conflicting paths on that journey, we struggle to determine who is
the ultimate authority in the game (in other words who can get us there most
efficiently and at the greatest benefit).
Making that evaluation
is a difficult task. Essentially, you can determine authenticity if what the
prophet says comes true. Of course then it is too late. What we have determined
and learned through Jesus is that we have to take a leap of faith in
determining our authorities. Just like the people in the synagogue, the
disciples called by Jesus from their nets, the wise men from the east, Simeon
and Anna at the Temple, we have got to know who our authority is and we have to
take steps to listen and follow. We must make a similar leap of faith to
discern the true and rightful authorities in our lives.
There is no room for
“just following orders.” God tells us to know God’s commands, listen carefully
to the needs around us, listen to authorities, and then take a leap of faith,
discern the truth using God’s gift of reason and listening to God’s voice in
our hearts.
Evaluate priorities and
determine ways to realign life around God. That will often mean taking new leaps
of understanding and recognizing the authentic prophets who are present in our
lives. It is about taking a risk that may take us further away from our goal or
closer to it. That kind of wandering is normal as we progress deeper in our
spiritual lives. When we change ourselves, we not only build our own spiritual
life but because we are in a community, we also share God’s light with the
people around us.
During this season of
Epiphany, remember to share the light of God with everyone you encounter.
Listen carefully to how you might reorient and reprioritize your choices in the
shifting landscape of the journey, a scenic journey leading to a deeper faith
and understanding. Carve out moments in every day to center in prayer on how
all of our choices can reflect who we are in faith. Open your heart to hear
God’s voice and expect that to transform your life.
The Rev. Dr. Kurt
Gerhard (kurt@stpatrickschurchdc.org)
St. Patrick’s Episcopal
Church (www.stpatrickschurchdc.org)
January 29, 2012
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