1 From Glory to Rejection: Keep Your Chin Up Sermon by W. Dreyman Epiphany 3-B 01-25-2015 Holy Trinity Church, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ One of the many reasons I became a Lutheran was the denomination s use of the Church Year; that is, the appointed readings for each Sunday of the year according to various Days of the Lord, Saint s Days, festivals and seasons. The season we are in this morning is the Epiphany. It is a season during which the scripture readings unveil the meaning of the life of Jesus. Epiphany means manifestation or revelation. So, each week we read from the scriptures, especially the Gospels, and the person of Jesus is revealed to the listener. We see Jesus as a man whose presence inspired a sense of glory. We also see how the experience of glory is ultimately rejected by the people around Jesus. In the Church Year, through the appointed scriptures, we see signs of glory during the season of Advent. Take for example the Song of Mary (the Magnificat) that speaks of her humble estate and her willingness to be the one chosen to bear the Christ child; Glory. But on Christmas we read that Joseph and Mary find no room in the inn, and Mary delivers Jesus among the animals and places his swaddled body in the feed trough in the barn; Rejection. The shepherds come to see this child and hear the voices of angels singing and the Magi make their appearance; Glory. Yet, one of the gifts the Magi bring is myrrh, a burial spice which foreshadows
2 the cross that lay ahead; Rejection. At the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the prophet Simeon is overwhelmed with joy and sings a song that basically says, Now I can die, because I have seen this child come into the world ; Glory. Joseph leads Mary and Jesus to Egypt to protect the child from Herod Antipas; Rejection. Upon their return Jesus, as a young child, goes to the Temple and blows the religious leaders minds. The scripture describes their amazement at all he knows; Glory. The Gospels are a depiction of glory and rejection that is the response to Jesus way of life. Think of the passages we have read on Sundays this Epiphany: As Jesus comes to the Jordan to be baptized, the voice of God is heard declaring God s blessing on his beloved son. Last Sunday, but for the ice storm, we would have heard John s story of Philip and Nathaniel and Philip s words in the face of Nathaniel s skepticism, Come and see. (Isn t that something we do each Sunday as we gather to worship in keeping with the Epiphany: Come and see. ) Today, we are back to Mark and his story of the arrest of John the Baptizer and Jesus proclamation of the good news, the gospel to all who repent and believe. Jesus goes on to call a group of fishermen as his first disciples. The next two Sundays we see that the battle Jesus encounters is deeper and more profound than we may have imagined. Jesus meets evil in the conditions and illnesses he heals.
3 And, finally, as the season of manifestation, or the Epiphany concludes, we will hear the story of Jesus experience on the mountaintop where he is transfigured with Moses and Elijah. Peter wants to stay and bathe in the glory of the Lord. Jesus takes the disciples to the people they are called to serve. On the First Sunday in Lent, we will remember his temptations in the wilderness and the strength he exhibits against the forces of evil to lure him away from God. The rest of our Lenten biblical journey reveals moments of glory interrupted by rejection all the way to Holy Week and the experience of Jesus on Good Friday. Through it all, we see a picture of Jesus as one who reveals God s glory but who is regularly met with resistance and rejection all the way to the cross. We repeat these, or similar readings every Church Year. It is a way of marking time. It is important for the train conductor to check his watch of course, because we function with clocks and calendars. But it is important for followers of the way to remember there is another kind of keeping time; a way in which the life of Jesus seeps into our lives, into the church s life and in that way into the life of the world. There is chronological time (chronos) by which we organize our lives according the spinning of the earth and it s revolution around the sun. But there is also baptismal time
4 (kairos): the experience of God s time in which the life of all of us is marked by our longing for forgiveness; our engagement with the source of love; our willingness to sacrifice for others; our ability to remain faithful even when we experience resistance or defeat. Seeing the life of Jesus, we can embrace the way and understand the experience of glory and resistance, of success and rejection, and choose to live similarly. That is what it means to live out our baptism. That is what it means to put on Christ. That is what it means to keep our chins up in the face of defeat, just as Jesus did. I have mixed reactions to Rick Warren, the pastor of Saddleback Church in California. (Do you remember when he prayed for the daughters of the President at the first inauguration?) He wrote The Purpose Driven Life 1, a book that I m guessing some of you have read. The author is a Baptist minister. He does not believe in infant baptism and reads the scriptures literally, so there is much that I just can t agree with. But, he is right about the direction of this book. It has to do with God s glory. People in America today understand life as about the things we possess, whether that is material goods or knowledge or whatever. If I want to pursue the meaning of life, then I ll ask self-centered questions: What do I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, what are the dreams for my future? Rick 1 Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life. Zondervan, 1997.
5 Warren is right to say that, while these questions may lead to success they miss the point of true meaning in life. We can travel through life happily, but miss the essence of meaning. The purpose of life, including my own life, is not about me. It has a different beginning; a biblical beginning. Humanity is driven by culture to look within. We act for a variety of reasons, but here are the top five according to Warren: People are driven by guilt. In the midst of guilt, many people spend their entire life running from regrets; hiding from shame. People are driven by resentment and anger: They hold on to hurts and never get over them. Instead of releasing pain through forgiveness, they rehearse it over and over in their minds. People are driven by fear: Their fears may be from a traumatic experience or unrealistic expectations, from genetic predispositions or bad habits. Whatever the cause, people play it safe and avoid risks. People are driven by materialism: Their desire to acquire things becomes the goal of their life. Yet, they discover, or should I say we discover, that possessions only provide temporary happiness.
6 People are driven by the need for approval: These folks allow the expectations of parents, spouses, children, teachers or bosses to control their lives. They try to please everyone. We each view life in a way that causes us to find value in something. If life is a party, we will do whatever it takes to have fun. If it s a race, we value speed and find ourselves rushing around. If it s a marathon, we value endurance. If it s a battle or a game, winning means everything. Sometimes it is just getting noticed. The goal of life, says Warren, is to glorify God. To live as we were intended to live, gives our Creator glory. We do this through worship, by loving and serving others, and by telling people the story of our lives that begins with the biblical story. So, if you are experiencing difficulty today, keep your chin up! If your experience of glory in life has led to rejection, keep your chin up! Take a look at what you mean by glory and compare it to the life of Jesus. Maybe you are searching for the wrong things in life? If your experience of joblessness or financial difficulties has got you down, keep your chin up! It may be tough, but it could be worse. There is no shame in the House of the Lord! Jesus wipes away all shame. There is no reason to be downcast, because here in this place we hear the word of hope: That despite any rejection, even the shadow of death, we hear the words of
7 Jesus final victory. Jesus moved from glory to rejection to the Resurrection of the dead. This is our belief! This is our faith! So, keep your chin up! Amen.