Introduction
I think today, I need to back up and admit that I made a mistake last week. Women got the vote in the US in 1920 which was 92 years ago. Even though I had looked it up and had the correct year on the computer at home, I said the wrong date. Sorry about that.

In today’s texts, both in the Old and the New Testament readings, we have people being healed of leprosy. I grew up learning that leprosy was also known as Hansen’s disease which kills the sensory nerves. It results in people hurting themselves because they do not have the feedback from feeling burns or cuts, and when animals bite them, they do not feel it either. Some people in the Bible most likely had Hansen’s disease which is caused by a bacterium, however, when we read of leprosy in the Bible, it could be any of a large number of skin diseases, not just what we now call leprosy. Because it was known that diseases could be passed from person to person, people with certain skin diseases were isolated from their communities in order to protect the other people in the community. They lived on the fringes as outcasts.

Old Testament Lesson
In the Old Testament lesson, we see that a young Hebrew servant girl alerted a powerful family to the healing power of God and encouraged the famous general to seek out the prophet. General Naaman went to Elisha, but was so disappointed at the advise just to wash in the Jordan that he almost did not do it. He was disappointed because it was too easy. And yet when he did it, he was so pleased, he wanted to pay Elisha, but Elisha refused payment.

And, sometimes are there good and healthy things in our lives that are just too easy for us to take seriously? Things like the value of prayer, physical activity, a balanced diet, and gratitude? Things like loving God and loving other people — we’ve heard them all our lives. Things like love and forgiveness, generosity and kindness – so easy, why do we even have to talk about them? I will let you think about what kind of easy things God is asking you to do in order for you be healthier, inside and out.

New Testament

I want to talk about the New Testament lesson. This is even more difficult for us to understand and put into practice. This passage is difficult to translate. It indicates in the Greek that Jesus was upset, perhaps angry, sometimes translated as stern. The word is one that you might use for spitting something out of your mouth. The other time this Greek word is used is when the Spirit drove Jesus out into the dessert.

We have a man who has a skin disease come up to Jesus. We have seen Jesus in the Gospel of Mark begin his ministry in the Synagogue on the Sabbath drive a demon from a young man, then go to Peter’s home and heal his mother-in-law from a fever and later after sunset, heal many people who had come from around the town. He has now gone out to other towns to preach and in the process has healed and thrown out demons.

When this man comes to Jesus, he has great faith in him, saying, if you wanted, you could heal me. And Jesus says he does want to – but then gets angry — so many people have wondered why he was angry or filled with deep emotion. He stretches his hand out to touch this man who is unclean – and in that instant, by law, he becomes unclean himself. He stretches his hand out to touch someone that no one would touch for fear of contagion, a man who was lonely and outcast, not able to live in town or with any people who were not themselves sick.

In compassion, Jesus touches this lonely man and sternly asks him not to tell anyone. Have you ever wondered why Jesus did not want this man to tell people that he had been healed? Why he had not gone back to the people at Peter’s house the morning after he had healed all those people? Perhaps he wanted to preach and share the good news that God loved people. The healing seemed to get in the way. The people loved the miracles more than the message, it seems.

But the man tells. And Jesus becomes lonely. There is a cost to this cure – and the cost was born by Jesus, not by the man who was healed. It cost Jesus the ability to go into the towns and share the message.

Love costs.

Examples

Have you ever found this to be true in your life? When I was in seventh grade, I had a friend, Kimberly, who lived a block away from me. I enjoyed playing with her, walking to and from school with her, and perhaps we did homework together — I don’t exactly remember. But, I do remember that some of my friends that I had known for many years, told me to not be seen talking to her because she didn’t come from the right people. Her father was in the Navy – and we didn’t have anything to do with ‘those’ kind of people. I’m not very brave but I did not give up my friend, Kim, to please those other kids and their parents.

Perhaps, you’ve found the same thing, at one time or another. Perhaps someone you liked and valued was considered less valuable because that person was a different color, or different religion, or some other distinction. We have some silly ways of dividing people – my husband and I are a mixed marriage – I graduated from UT and he from A&M. Not a big problem.

His parents were from different cultures – his dad is Scottish, his mom is Mexican. My mom’s parents were different as well. Her dad was Irish and her mom Swedish – fire and ice. My friend Sara, one of the palest blondes you will meet, married JT who is black. People can see that difference more easily than the difference between the Irish and the Swedes. There are neighborhoods that might not welcome them. Thank goodness there are neighborhoods that will welcome them.

Another of my friends has a gay daughter who works at a company with some very conservative Christians. My bias is that as Christians we take the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves seriously. But, somehow some Christians have become known as hating people or at least being comfortable disliking and being rude, if not mean, to homosexuals. When a friend of mine told me three years ago that he and his wife, also my friend, were divorcing because he had come to realize, at the age of 45, that he was gay. My wish for him was that he stay in the closet. I liked him. I wanted good things for him. I did not want people to hurt him. I have wondered if todays lepers are the homosexuals.

You see, although he is a talented and popular individual, and he is also a Presbyterian minister. After serving in Arkansas, Texas and Tennesee, he has accepted a call to a church in NJ – that knows who he is. He will be installed in March. He has a wonderful preaching style full of wit and wisdom and high energy. And, undoubtedly, he will draw the hate of many good Christians in the church. And in our present form of government, no church will have a minister who is gay unless they want one, unless we return to the ‘Don’t Ask’ and ‘Never Tell’ policies of the past.

A sad thing happened this week. I received a letter that three of our Hispanic churches in the Valley are asking to leave the denomination, the ones in Mercedes, Brownsville and San Benito. The pastors of two of those churches, Tom and Hector are friends of mine that I do not want to let go of . They are leaving because people like Blake are being allowed to continue in ministry. They feel this is not a Biblically pure thing to do. Their leaving makes me very sad but I do not want to let go of their friendship.

Conclusion
After Jesus touched the lonely man, the man was healed, but Jesus could no longer go into any town. Maybe you don’t know any lepers – or blacks – or Muslims – or homosexuals, but maybe you do. Maybe you know people with cancer or a premature infant who needs healing touch. Maybe you know very conservative people who do not want homosexuals in ministry. Can your touch heal them, as Jesus healed the leper? Perhaps being part of a community is a healing in itself.

I am not brave but just as I would not give up Kim, I will not give up Blake. He is one of the finest ministers I know. Maybe that is the cost of loving my neighbor. Blake took this photo of a painting in a Nashville Cafe where he has served as the interim head of staff at Second Presbyterian. Jesus is saying ‘Stop your meanness.’ If we are to follow Jesus, and his example, how will you reach out to others to offer the healing touch of friendship? And, now, I do not want to give up Tom or Hector, either.

Yes, I believe in the Holy Word of God and Biblical principles and living a life of discipline. I hold myself to a very high standard of personal and professional conduct, as I hope you do as well. And part of that standard is that I take seriously Jesus’ teachings and the commandments to love God and love my neighbor. I hope you do as well.

When you reach out and touch – or be seen with – or befriend – or even talk to – people who are lonely and outcast, because they are not like you or me, you may find yourself being the outcast. Perhaps some of you will disown me, just knowing I have a friend who is a gay minister, but perhaps you have friends and family members who are gay as well and need the word that God loves them. Maybe, from this day, you will choose to cast me out because I remain loyal to good people, good friends. Others may want to cast me out because I will not give up my conservative friends Tom and Hector. But – maybe – that is the cost of loving our neighbor.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, February 12, 2012,
the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Gospel Mark 1:40-45
40A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

First Reading 2 Kings 5:1-14
1Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from leprosy. 2Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” 4So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5And the king of Aram said, “Go then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
8But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and halted at the entrance of Elisha”s house. 10Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean.” 11But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy! 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them, and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.

Psalm Psalm 30:1-12
1 I will extol you, O LORD, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. 3 O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.
4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” 7 By your favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.
8 To you, O LORD, I cried, and to the LORD I made supplication: 9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me! O LORD, be my helper!”
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, 12 so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. 26So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Isaiah 40:21-31, Psalm 147:1-11, 20 c, I Corinthians 9: 16-23, Mark 1: 29-39

Introduction
It is important to know what it is you should do. Who are you and what should you be doing with the time you have been given? Our gospel lesson considers that today. We must think of it every day. Perhaps as I examine a few of my experiences in the past week it will help you to see how you can do this in your own life.

This past week, I was up in Austin, listening to some exciting preaching at the Austin Seminary. I heard several lectures on the needs of preaching during this time in history and the evaluation of using the lectionary or series preaching. As you know, I’ve been using the lectionary because it is a discipline for me to have to use the texts chosen from a careful walk through the scriptures so that I do not continue to pick just my favorite scriptures – like those on the front of the newsletter this month. Who am I as a preacher? I am one who takes the scriptures seriously knowing that God is speaking to us through them even when we follow a prescribed path laid down be others.

I also heard a lecture by Lillian Daniel on the reaction of readers to a critique of the spiritual not religious element in society. This segment, along with what are called the ‘nones’ have been growing in popularity in America. I think it may be a symptom of people not wanting to commit. It is so much easier to sample and skim the top of many different traditions than to drill deeply into one in particular. Who am I? I am a Christian rooted in the Reformed Tradition represented in the Presbyterian Church.

I also heard a lecture on the pastor as poet which intrigued me because one of the things I’ve done for early spring is sign up for a poetry on-line course through Story Circle Network. Poetry is difficult. It is boiled down, specially chosen words, evocative phrases and word pictures. I hope to get better at it, especially now that at least one very respected pastor, Craig Barnes has highlighted that it is something that we pastors should be pursuing. The prophets spoke in poetry. The psalms are written in poetry. The rhythm, the cadence, the sparkling words are all things I wish to manage, in order to better convey the life of faith. I am a person who wants to be able to use words well.

I also had my once a month Family Systems class this week. It was on bullies. It might surprise you to know that there can be problems with bullies in the church. Frequently, bullies will believe, just as Lillian Daniel’s critics of her article on “Spiritual but not Religious” told her, that those in the church cannot ask someone to regulate their behavior because, if we are Christian, we cannot be judgmental. Those who like to throw their weight around do not like limits – and yet we all need limits and discipline to order our lives together. There is a concept in Family Systems of self-actualization which basically means knowing yourself, knowing who you are and being able to choose how you respond to people, not just to react to them. I want to be a faithful follower of Christ and know just who I am and what I am supposed to be doing as I imagine you do as well..

And, I think our gospel scripture can also show us something about this.

The Gospel Text
Turning to our reading today, scholars think of this section as having four parts. The first part tells us that this follows ‘immediately’ after Jesus casting a demon out of a man in the synagogue. Jesus goes and heals Peter’s mother-in-law who then, gets up and serves her guests. The second section is when the town comes in the evening for healing. The third is Jesus going out by himself to pray. And the fourth is when he responds to more people asking for healing by leaving to go to another town to share the Gospel and cast out demons. Any one of these four sections can be used for a sermon. There is good news in each one. Let’s look at what happens with Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law and her response.

A Woman’s Response

Some of my women friends become very angry about this healing. While they express disbelief in Jesus casting out demons, they completely believe that a group of men who came home and found the woman of the house ill, would heal her so that she could get up and serve them supper – or snacks for their Superbowl party. That is a somewhat cynical view – that men would heal a woman not out of kindness but because they wanted something from her.

Throughout much of history and even today, women have not been as less than equal in many ways. Working at the same jobs, they might be paid less. That has been true in places that I have worked.

Women in this country did not have the right to vote until 1920 and still cannot vote today in some countries. In contrast, women in Scandinavia were said to have had the vote for a couple of thousand years, but as the new dark trilogy by Steg Larssen, beginning with the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, there are some serious problems with the way that women are treated in Sweden.

In the church, women were not ordained to offices in the Presbyterian church until the second half of the last century. Women have not always been respected or valued. Is this Gospel text just another case of women needing to get up and do women’s work?

Did Jesus heal her because he and the guys were hungry?

Or could there be something else going on in this passage?*

It is my firm belief, based on years of Bible study that Jesus valued both men and women. This is near the beginning of his ministry. He has expelled a demon. And in doing so kept the demon from talking because the demon knew who he was. He finds Peter’s mother-in-law sick with a fever. Fevers were thought to also be caused by demons. He takes her hand and raises her up. The Greek uses the same word her for raising her up as is used for the resurrection. His response to a person with illness is to heal. He heals her as he does so many others because he is a healer, the greatest healer in history. We have no evidence he ever did this for himself but for others. Her response is a desire to serve.

It seems to me that she understands what Jesus’ ministry means, what response is asked of all of us who follow Jesus. Later, Jesus will tell the disciples that they must be servants of all. The amazing thing to me is that she did not have to be told. Immediately, she got up and began to serve them. What a faithful response.

And at sundown, when the Sabbath was over, people gathered to be healed. We do not hear of any of them turning and serving others, but instead, must have gone and told others to come and see, come and ask for healing for yourself as well.

And Peter and the disciples do not seem to understand yet about the service component of being a disciple. In the morning with the next influx of people, they go to find Jesus to tell him to come back and do more miracles. And here we have the most shocking part of the story. Jesus doesn’t do it. He leaves to share the Gospel and cast out demons in other towns. He knows his purpose.

Who are we?

It is a wonderful thing to know who you are, what you are supposed to do. But, it will not always please the ones around you. Sometimes, you will be the servant, like the woman healed, or like Jesus as he healed the group of people outside the house. But other times, you will need to not respond to what is asked of you.

As a parent, you do not always give your children what they want, but instead try to do what is best for them in the long run. As a teacher or friend or elder or deacon or pastor, we need to do the same. We serve others but not by being puppets whose strings are pulled. Jesus came to share the Good News of God’s amazing love with the world. everywhere he went, he preached and healed. Those two things went together. He knew who he was as did the woman he healed.

Conclusion

As you remember this story, I hope you can see the woman’s response as gratitude and as the response of a disciple. In a few more chapters, Mark will remind us that even Jesus came to serve. Jesus as the disciples to be servants.

So, what did it mean that Jesus did not turn back and heal all those people at the house, but went on to the next town? I think it has to do with knowing who he was and what his purpose was. It is just as important for you and me to know that. As we are servants of one another and this world, first and foremost, we serve God. Sometimes that means not doing something that is valuable because we have come out to do something else.

Jesus came out to proclaim the message. We have been asked to do the same.

It is important to know who you are and what you should be doing. What is it that you should be doing?

References
* many of the concepts are thanks to the Feasting on the Word commentary
Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, February 5, 2012,
the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Gospel 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.

First Reading Isaiah 40:21-31
21 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to live in;
23 who brings princes to naught,
and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows upon them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 To whom then will you compare me,
or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who created these?
He who brings out their host and numbers them,
calling them all by name;
because he is great in strength,
mighty in power,
not one is missing.
27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Psalm Psalm 147:1-11, 20c
1 Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
8 He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
20c Praise the Lord!
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 9:16-23
16If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! 17For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. 18What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.
19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

1 Samuel 3:1-20; Psalm 139:1-6,13-18, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, John 1:43-51

Focus – What does the text say?: God is faithful and calls people as leaders.
Function – How does the text influence us today?: We need to listen.

Introduction –
Listening is vital to our faith. The scriptures used to be carried from generation to generation orally. One of the nurses at the hospital remembered Margaret Houseley as the storyteller in the library. Listening to stories is a great pleasure. Societies used to gather round campfires, fireplaces, lamps, or, more recently around radios to listen to stories.

To listen is more than just hearing words. It is constructing images and understanding the meaning behind the words. When I took hospice training, I learned that it is very important to learn how to listen because it acknowledged the speaker. The Biblical narrative reinforces that.

All who have ears, let them listen, says Jesus in the Gospels. And today, we are told that the word of God was rare in Eli and Samuel’s time. Was it rare because God was not speaking, or because people could not hear, or because they did not know how to listen?

Everyone in the Church is Asleep –
Samuel and Eli are asleep in the temple and Samuel hears his name. “Sam-u-el” His nam means “God has heard.” But Samuel hears also but thinks it is Eli. “Sam-u-el” He hears again and thinks it is Eli. The boy was named “God has heard” Samuel because his mother, Hannah had prayed and prayed for a son and promised to dedicate him to God’s service. And she did. He is now an apprentice under Eli. According to rabbinical tradition, he is about twelve or thirteen on this night when he hears what no one else can hear.

“Sam-u-el”

The Word of the Lord is rare – visions are rare – but the light of the Lord has not gone out. “Sam-u-el,” calls the voice for the third time. Each time, the boy goes to Eli and reports, asking what Eli needs. This third time, Eli tells the boy to answer, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

The voice called again, “Sam-u-el” and Samuel answered, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Why could Samuel hear God and the others could not? Was it because he was young and not yet cynical? Because he did not yet know that God was not speaking anymore? Because he was not afraid to hear? Or was there an epidemic of ear wax among the population of Israel?

Hospice Illustration
When I was working hospice, I took cre of a beautiful lady that loved music. Her husband had a favorite photo of her dancing with him at a USO dance during WWII. He was in uniform and she was seventeen and beautiful, looking back over her shoulder at the camera. I would go and talk to her and as she got sicker, I would sit by her and sing some old love songs from the forties. She quit responding. Our nurse realized that it was because she had wax in her ears. The nurse removed the wax. Out of one ear came a crooked tube of wax over an inch long. And then the other ear yielded the same in pieces. Then, she could hear.

Was that what plagued the priests of Israel?

God was still speaking. God is speaking still. Can we hear? Or is anxiety about this world clogging our ears? Are we afraid of the changes taking place in society or can we trust that God continues to be faithful?

Are we brave enough to say, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening?”

Are we afraid of what God might say? Perhaps as in Samuel’s time there will be a change in leadership. God was changing the leadership in Israel during Samuel’s time, during David’s time, and again in Jesus’ time. For each generation, God raises up new leaders – for those who can listen. And perhaps after Nathaniel was face to face with Jesus, after he was told that Jesus saw him from afar, perhaps he listened.
Jesus Christ, Son of God, changed everything. As he taught the crowds, the pharisees did not listen. But some did. And we try to listen.

Conclusion
Perhaps it is fear that makes it hard for us to listen as God speaks.

Perhaps it is fear of what may be asked of us. God’s grace abounds and we are asked to respond. We are given gifts and talents and asked to use them. God remains faithful to us bringing life and hope, even out of places like Nazareth. Eli had the faithful response, no only telling Samuel what to say but also in his reply hearing that God was taking away the leadership from his family. His response was: “It is the Lord; let him do what seems right to him.” This echoes through the centuries as we hear Mary say, ”To me be as it pleases God.”

Being a follower of Jesus Christ, I want to listen. I want to hear where God is leading me next. In a few months, I will be leaving you as a new pastor comes to guide you forward. There is no going backward in life, only forward. I will be open to what God has before me as I hope you are as well.

You have a wonderful history behind you. You are on the crest of a hill. I hope as you go forward that you continue to invite those you know to join you in this faith adventure as together you bring hope to this location of God’s green earth. Whoever comes will have experiences that are different than yours. Those experiences will enrich you as yours will enrich your pastor.

Each generation, God raises up leaders for the day. There is a lot of work to be done for the kingdom. There is a lot of hope to be sown.

The nation celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday tomorrow. King was an amazing prophet who helped this country face its problems with race. Because tomorrow is a national holiday, our office will be closed. I’ll be out of the office this week but Connie will be there from Tuesday through Saturday.

Perhaps today, like in Samuel’s day, visions from God are few. Perhaps we in the church are mostly asleep with a bit of wax in our ears. But, for me, if I hear my name, my plan is to say, “Here I am. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

Let us pray.
Gracious and faithful God, open our ears that we may hear your voice. Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.
Revised Common Lectionary Readings
Sunday, January 15, 2012,
the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
1Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.
2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” 11Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”
19As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.
Psalm Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.
13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 I try to count them — they are more than the sand; I come to the end — I am still with you.
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
Gospel John 1:43-51
43The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael asked him, “Where did you come to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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Public Utilities Building
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Genesis 1:1-5, Psalm 29:1-11, Acts 19:1-7, Mark 1:4-11

Focus – What does the text say?: Jesus’ baptism revealed his identity. The passages from Genesis and Acts reveal that God has been with creation from the beginning, through acknowledging Jesus as son, and after Jesus has died and risen.

Function – How does the text influence us today?: What we do in our life of faith is important. God is calling us onward and will go with us.

I. Introduction
It is good to be back with you after a week away. Last week, our service encompassed the salvation story from creation to the birth of Jesus to the recognition by wise men that Jesus was the Son of God. That is a huge sweep of time that we will again consider today. All three of our scriptures have in common water and the Spirit of God, sometimes called the Holy Spirit.

In both Hebrew and Greek the same word can mean spirit, wind, or breath. In the NRSV translation of Genesis, a wind from God swept over the waters. In other translations, it says that the Spirit of God moved over the waters. It could even say the breath of God blew over the waters. It gives us the image of an active God, a God with us in creation. This is a God who is present with us as the Holy Spirit, as in our two NT passages today.

This year, we will be primarily reading the Gospel of Mark which we think is the first gospel that was written – and the shortest. Some of Paul’s letters to churches were written before Mark. One word you will notice that Mark loves is ‘immediately,’ euthos in Greek. Sometimes, you will need to look at the Greek to find it, as in today’s passage because sometimes the translations will use a different type of sentence structure – such as – “as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw” – in Greek it says immediately he saw.

Mark wants you to connect to the story and feel the excitement of the ministry of Jesus. Immediately, this happened. Immediately, Jesus saw the sky ripped open and the Spirit descending like a dove. It is as if Mark wants to take us by the shoulders, shaking us, and saying, “Wake up! This is important!! This is the Son of God – listen to him. Listen and follow him!”

Mark uses a word for the opening of the skies that is from the Greek word schizo [ meaning to rip open or to tear ] . He uses this word again when he talks about the curtain in the temple being ripped from top to bottom as Jesus dies on the cross. These two events are the beginning and end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. And in both cases, Jesus is proclaimed the Son of God – first by the voice from heaven that only Jesus hears and last by the Roman centurion standing at the foot of the cross.

Both times, the tearing is to tell us that there is no separation between us and God. I read of a pastor explaining this ripping of the heavens in a youth Bible Study. He was explaining how it took away any barrier between God and us. We could go directly to God. One teenaged boy said, “Nope, it means God can get at us now.”

That might sound scary or encouraging, depending on how you are living your life.

II. God’s presence in the World
I saw a documentary this week about one of the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps, you have read of her. Her name is Leymah Gbowee. She mobilized women to pray for and speak for peace in Liberia. The Liberian Civil war raged from 1989-1996 and began again in 1999 and stopped in 2003 due to her efforts. She is a Lutheran woman of great faith. She talked to God about the problems in her country and asked for help.

One night, she had a dream, in which she was told, call your women together and pray for peace. She did. The women of the church came but also a woman who was head of one of the police forces came as well. The second woman was a Muslim woman who went back to her mosque and called on her sisters of faith to join in the prayers. They prayed. Their amazing story is recorded in this video that I would like for everyone to see.

A country’s government is supposed to care for its people, not destroy them. Through prayer and petitions, through sit ins and dedication to peace, not to a political party or movement, peace was finally hammered out. They finally got the right to vote for their representatives. They voted the first woman president of any African nation, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. In watching their journey, I was sure the presence of God was with them through the very hardest of times.

People ask where is God in the midst of war. God is in God’s people. If we are Christians, then God is with and in us. And God is also in and with others such as the Muslim women who devoted themselves to prayer and peace.

Life is not easy. We are confronted with illness, accidents, deaths, and yet we have the assurance that God is with us. If these women could pray and stop the horrible bloodshed that had wracked their country for fourteen years, what could God accomplished in our lives, in our families, communities and country?

V. Conclusion — What does this mean for us today?

The heavens have been ripped open. God can get at us now. And that is a wonderful thing. Each time we come together in worship and prayer we ask for God to be present with us. When I pray the communion liturgy, I, like all other ministers who use the Book of Common Worship, pray that the Holy Spirit be with us making this a true communion in the body and blood of Christ. And IMMEDIATELY God is with us – for the heavens have been ripped open – the separation between God and us has been torn. Be ready for the presence of God in your life.

Today, we ordain our new officers for the coming three years. These are people who are accepting the yoke of service for this community of faith. God will be present with them and with you. There is work and preparation to be done so that we can worship together, pray together and study together. These people have said yes when asked to serve.

Everyone needs to be ready.
First Reading Genesis 1:1-5
1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Psalm Psalm 29:1-11
1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name;worship the LORD in holy splendor.
3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters;the God of glory thunders,the LORD, over mighty waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful;the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD causes the oaks to whirl,and strips the forest bare;and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;the LORD sits enthroned as king for ever. 11 May the LORD give strength to his people!May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Second Reading Acts 19:1-7
1While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. 2He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” 4Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied — 7altogether there were about twelve of them.
Gospel 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.”

Introduction
God changes lives every day. We have the choice to participate in that change. Three people in today’s scriptures have their plans altered: David, Elizabeth, and Mary. In both the Old and New Testament today, we see people who love God, who have plans for their own lives, and yet are redirected in ways that surprise them. David is King and wants to build a temple for God. Elizabeth, has reconciled her life to being barren, but, like Sarah and Hannah before her is surprised by a pregnancy in her advanced years. Mary is engaged and is looking forward to an ordinary life married to the carpenter, Joseph. Gabriel comes and tells her what is planned for her and Mary responds with faith, saying, “let it be with me according to your word,” or as our hymn put it, “to me be as it pleases God,” she said. As it pleases God. Do you allow yourself to entertain that desire for your life?

Old Testament Lesson
Let’s begin with the king who is told no. He has a plan but God stops his plan. It does not please God for David to build God a house. I can imagine that a king other than David would have pooh poohed Nathan’s announcement that God wanted no temple and would have built one anyway. What was stopping him? Only his desire to please God.

David was a great king and is remembered with love by both Jews and Christians, even though as a man and a king he was far from perfect. In spite of his failings, David’s reign represents a golden age. Gabriel tells Mary that her child to come “will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” [Luke 1:31- 33] This will please God.

As powerful as David was, he did not overrule God’s decision that David would not build a temple. Even though temples have been built, we know that God does not need a house made with hands. The temple that God desires in in our hearts, so that we, like David, can be redirected to do what God desires, so that we, like Mary, can say, ‘to me be as it pleases God.’

New Testament – The Annunciation
As Gabriel appears before Mary, I wonder what she could have thought as he appeared. The text says that she is perplexed. Gabriel appeared in Daniel to interpret a dream about the end of the age. And with the end of one age is the beginning of the next.

This time, Gabriel is announcing the beginning of an age – the birth of Jesus. And, surprisingly, God has picked a virgin to bear the Messiah. Imagine for a moment that this is your young daughter – possibly thirteen or fourteen years old. This is a wondrous announcement but I would be concerned for the well-being of the girl. In Mary’s time, the worries would be even greater. Getting pregnant out of wedlock could have resulted in her being stoned to death, or if her fiance was compassionate, she would be put out of the community. And yet, Mary responds with faith. Then, in the Magnificat sings a song of great spiritual maturity, reflecting on God’s love for the poor, God’s mercy to the faithful, and God’s justice in bringing down the mighty. It is an understanding that Jesus will usher in a new way of living.

Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is the third person today who has had her life changed by God. Barren for years, she will be John the Baptist’s mother. John will prepare the world for the coming of the Messiah. He, like Gabriel, will be announcing the end of one age and the beginning of the next.

The Truth About God and Us
Scripture illuminates our lives, showing us the truth about God and the truth about us. God continues to work in lives today. Be open and ready to perhaps be stopped in something you want to do because God has something else in mind, or to have something new come into your life that you never imagined, or to have a lifelong dream fulfilled when you had given up all hope.

The story of Nathan and David is good for us as a church to remember. Sometimes our plans to do things as a community to serve and honor God are good but not yet. Some things we leave for those who follow. The temple was built but by Solomon, not David. Sometimes, we can dream the dreams that others make happen.

The story of Mary and Gabriel can remind us that our plans for our own lives can take unexpected turns. Perhaps we set out thinking we will have one type of life and find out that we are presented with another that surprisingly blesses us and others. Mother Teresa talked of a call within a call when she, already a nun, was directed to serve the poorest of the poor. She encouraged others by saying that we cannot do great things, but we can do small things with great love. Children can change our lives and refocus us. Recently, I heard someone say that the best parents fall in love with their children.

The story of Elizabeth having her dreams fulfilled but much later than she realizes can give us hope. God continues to bless us. Some people find joy and fulfillment late in life much to their surprise. Grandma Moses began painting in her seventies. Many people feel their life changed by grandchildren who are delights in new and wonderful ways.

This is the season to remember how much God loves this world and every person in it. It is the season to celebrate love, kindness, and mercy. God took an amazing risk in choosing a young girl. It was an amazing risk to come into this world as a defenseless baby. This is the sign of God’s love – that God came not in power, not in judgement, but as a weak and helpless infant into this world to redeem it and show us another way to live, another possibility, a way of life built on love, not coercive power, not greed.

We lit the candle of love this morning to remind us of the love of God for us, the love that God pours into us to send out into the world. Fall in love this season. Fall in love with God, with your family, with your neighbors and the world.

“Let it be with me according to your word,” Mary said. May God give us the grace to say the same.

References
————–
On 10 September 1946, Teresa experienced what she later described as “the call within the call” while traveling by train to the Loreto convent in Darjeeling from Calcutta for her annual retreat. “I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith.”

From Wikipedia article on Mother Teresa

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Sunday, December 18, 2011, the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year B)

First Reading 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
1Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.”
4But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: 5Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.
16Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.

Response Luke 1:47-55
46b My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” or alternate Response Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
1 I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. 2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David: 4 ‘I will establish your descendants for ever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah
19 Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said: “I have set the crown on one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people. 20 I have found my servant David; with my holy oil I have anointed him;
21 my hand shall always remain with him; my arm also shall strengthen him. 22 The enemy shall not outwit him,the wicked shall not humble him. 23 I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him. 24 My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him; and in my name his horn shall be exalted. 25 I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers. 26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation!’”

Second Reading Romans 16:25-27
25Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith — 27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
Gospel Luke 1:26-38
26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.