Epiphany 3
I Corinthians 1:10-18
“Perfect Unity through the Cross of Christ”
Vicar Darren Harbaugh
If you think about it, church is a unique place compared to the rest of our society. Where else do a bunch of people get together and sing songs, listen to some one talk to them, and speak the same words out loud together? We say the creed, dozens of us speaking the same thing in unison. Well, then there are those awkward times like when I accidentally start saying the Nicene Creed instead of the Apostles’ Creed. Or I skip a line and sing the wrong stanza of a hymn. I’m sure none of you have ever done that though. I think a couple weeks ago I sang a whole verse before I realized that I was he only one singing those words. Ever notice how, in church, when one person is off, it can throw off the unity of everyone around them? It can even disrupt the unity of the whole group.
In our Epistle reading St. Paul says in verse 10: “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.”
I. “Speaking the same thing” (I Corinthians 1:10)
Notice the phrase “that all of you agree.” This literally means “that all of you speak the same thing.” When we recite the creed it is a sign that we agree; that we are on the same page, speaking the same thing
A. A Schizo-Phrenic Church (I Corinthians 1:12-13)
Unfortunately, the church in Corinth was not on the same page. Paul appealed to them to be united in the same mind, with no divisions. But they were schismatic or literally schizophrenic: “schizo” meaning split; and “phrenic” meaning mind. They had a split mind. They each claimed to follow a different leader. There were divisions and cliques. It was a divided church body.
B Perfectly- united
It was Paul’s desire that this church - with a split mind - would be united in mind and judgment. The word “united” that Paul uses was, at that time, a household word used to describe completeness from blending different parts into a whole; becoming perfectly united. For example, someone may perfectly unite pieces of cloth by sewing them together, making an article of clothing or a quilt. A cook perfectly unites ingredients in a dish of food by properly blending them to make the dish perfect and tasty to eat. Paul wanted the household of faith to be perfectly united as well.
C. The Number One Answer to Any Question.
Notice in the very beginning of our reading that Paul’s appeals to them in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is key. He brings it back to the basics. For those of you who teach Sunday School, what is the number one answer to any question? Jesus. Doesn’t matter what the question is, you gotta know that Jesus is gonna be the answer sooner of later. This has also proved to be true for me in the seminary studies as well.
1. All to the Service of Christ.
No matter was happens in church life, the answer is Jesus. Everything must be to the service of Christ. Whatever the issue: the color of the carpet, the Christmas decorations, the church sign, the coffee and snacks for fellowship, the music, children’s programs, the bulletins, the newsletter, the budget, committees and meetings, whatever it is, it must all be to the service of Christ.
2. Our Own Opinions and Agendas Come Before Christ
But if we truly examine ourselves, it seems that all too often, our own opinions and agendas come before Christ. We are reluctant to serve and strive for unity in our life together as the body of Christ. Instead of “speaking the same thing”, we often resemble the Corinthians, the church with a split mind. We all have the selfish tendency to want ourselves and our ideas to take center stage. We do not all speak the same thing. We do not all perfectly blend as ingredients. With us, it is as if each ingredient of a recipe began telling the cook how to prepare his meal. Needless to say, too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup.
II. The Cross Crucifies Our Pride and the Sinful Desire for Glory (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:4)
A. God’s mercy heals all our bodily disease (physically and congregationally)
But we don’t just spoil the soup. We’ve spoiled everything because of our disease called sin. Our gospel reading mentions the amazing healing ministry of Jesus and we indeed pray for God’s mercy to heal us from our physical sickness and disease, but we should also pray that God may heal our spiritual diseases - division, disunity and the split mind of the body of Christ – internationally, nationally, and locally right here in our own congregation. Each of us is infected with the “me-first” disease. We want everything to be about us, Isn’t it amazing how our sinful mind wants to take the focus off of God and other and place it on ourselves and what we do?
What are our ideas and opinions in comparison to Christ? We honestly sabotage the work of Christ, for what? Self glorification. How easy is it to sit here and think, “Oh yeah, there are a lot of people I know that need to stop thinking of themselves.” Or “It’s too bad that so-and-so isn’t here now to hear this message. It is you. It is me. It is everyone of us. We all need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves, what am I doing, or not doing, that is spreading the disease of division and disunity?
B. The Christian life is Christ-centered and cross- focused. (I Corinthians 1:23)
What is the cure for our disease? It’s ok, you can pretend that you are in Sunday school again. What’s the cure for our disease? Jesus! Correct! Jesus! We are Lutherans, and dog gone it, we’ve got to get this right. We preach Christ crucified. Or as they say on my favorite radio program, Issues etc: We are Christ-centered and cross- focused.
1. We’ve got the cure (1 Corinthians 1:18, Isaiah 9:6-7)
We’re got the cure. But Jesus is an different like of doctor than we are used to. You are not healed because of how much we love Jesus. You are not healed because Jesus is your friend. The cure of Christ? Death. He was crucified on a cross and you are crucified with him, your sin is nailed to that cross, nevertheless you live because Christ lives in you. You live by faith in the son of God who loves you and gave His life for you. What if you were sick and a doctor told you, “I got just the perscription. You’re going to die. Then…” Hold up. Excuse me? It sounds foolish.
St Paul says, “The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” We are the ones being saved. We’ve got the medicine that will heal the entire world! We are not like the people sitting in darkness. We want the spotlight to shine on us, but God has a different idea, through the word of the cross, Christ’s wisdom has broken forth in power, shining upon us and it continues to shine upon us. Through the word of the cross, Christ unites all those who wander and walk apart. It is only through Christ and that unity is achieved. Only he can heal our split mind and our me-first disease. Our Old Testament reading reminds us that it is only the Prince of Peace who brings true peace and unity.
2. We have seen the light (Psalm 27:1) (Matthew 4:17)
Often, our path becomes darkened or confused or troubled because Satan works to cause disunity. When this happens, we remember that we are children of the light, and we follow the one true light. Has anyone ever taken your picture with a blinding flash in a dark room? Afterwards, that flash remains in your vision like an imprint upon your retnas. As it says in our Gospel reading, we have seen a great light. The imprint of Christ and his cross is ever before us. We see the world through the eyes of faith, through Jesus-colored glasses.
With Christ and his cross ever before us, we respond to Christ’s call to live lives of repentance. Perfect unity requires repentance; Repentance of our sinful desire to cling to our own personal opinions and agenda. You came here and repented and were forgiven by the pastor who is here as the “Jesus Guy”, in the stead and by the command of Christ, announcing the grace of God to all of you. The pastor delivers Christ’s healing medicine of forgiveness to his church.
C. One Lord, One faith, One Baptism (Eph 4:3-6)
And we are the church. There is one body, one spirit, one hope, one mind. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all. This is the gracious reality of Christ’s true church. Thanks be to God that through baptism He has crucified and buried our sinful desires that cause disunity, so that through the Gospel we might rise to new life in perfect unity in Christ. Enlightened by the word of the cross - the life, death and resurrection of Christ - we at West Portal Lutheran Church strive to speak the same thing together, to receive restoration of our split mind, to be healed of our “me-first” disease, and to be perfectly united together in Christ who grants us forgiveness of our sins, salvation, and eternal life together. Amen.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Epiphany of our lord. Matthew 2:1-12
“God-In-Man Made Manifest” – Matthew 2:1-12 – Epiphany of Our Lord
Vicar Darren Harbaugh
Today we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord. We focus on God’s revelation of himself to the entire world through Christ, “God in man made manifest,” as we sing in one of our hymns. However, to us Christians to whom God has revealed himself, it seems that our God is more hidden and mysterious in this world than ever.
For example, it was not a Happy New Year for Christians in Egypt. There was a bombing at a church in Alexandria that killed 21and injured 90. This is the most recent in a number attacks on Christians throughout the Middle East. Because of this violence there has been a mass exodus of Christians from the area. Is this God in man made manifest? He appears more hidden and mysterious than ever.
Perhaps the idea of a mass exodus of Christians sounds familiar. We do not need to travel to the Middle East to see the evidence of this. Without threat of violence, the church in America has been on a steady decline. If you are in the mood to be depressed, get on your computer and read a few of the recent polls or surveys about Christianity in America. The findings are, well, not so promising. The broad theme is that we are apart of the incredible shrinking church. By the millions, people are electing to declare themselves not bound to Christianity.
I have not crunched the numbers but I do not believe that San Francisco is posed to become a shining beacon for the Christian faith anytime soon.
Is this God in Man made manifest? He appears more hidden and mysterious than ever.
Personally, for each one of us, things don’t appear to get much better. Despite all we’ve been taught, certain questions and mysteries plague us; “Why am I here?,” “Why do I even exist?,” “What is life all about?” No matter who you are, questions and doubts linger.
We desire to know God’s secret will. We want to unmask the mystery. This is the universal human condition. We are aware that there is something bigger than us out there and it makes us feel…insignificant.
I remember the first time that I really felt insignificant. I was just a little kid and I imagined that there was a video camera above me and that I could see myself lying in bed. Then the camera zoomed out to show my entire room, then my house, then my neighborhood, then my town, then the state, then the country, then the world, then the universe and my mind almost exploded! I felt like a tiny nothing speck in the grand scheme of things. I imagine that most of us have felt this way at one time or another. We want meaning and purpose and significance. Otherwise we can feel very troubled, like our head is going to explode. We want the mysteries of life to be revealed.
Some people go on great spiritual quests to Tibet or India. They climb mountains and talk to gurus to solve the mysteries of life as they search for meaning. But you don’t have to climb a mountain to see this, go to a bookstore and check out the self-help and spiritual section. This can even get to us as Christians. Look at the Christian section in a bookstore and you will find book after book about “finding yourself”,” discovering your purpose in life”, tips to help you on your own “personal spiritual journey”.
Spiritual journeys aren’t all that bad, I suppose, depending on what you mean. Our Gospel reading tells about a spiritual journey of sorts involving some pretty mysterious characters who follow a pretty mysterious star which leads them to a pretty mysterious child who they worship as King.
At first glance this appears to be kind of an odd reading for Epiphany, which as I said is when we focus on God’s revelation of himself to the entire world through Christ - God in man made manifest. The God-Man in this story still seems mysterious and hidden in a small child. This King seems hidden to everyone but the Magi.
So we ask ourselves on this celebration of the Epiphany of Our Lord: “Is our God hidden and mysterious or manifest and revealed?”
Look at the gifts that the wise men bring to the Christ Child. Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Hidden in these gifts was the revelation of who this child was. -Gold is a fitting gift for a king. Jesus is the king of the universe. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He is the King of Kings
-Frankincense is a fitting gift for God. It was burned as a fragrant offering to God in Temple worship. Jesus is indeed God, the Word made flesh.
-Myrrh is a fitting gift for a dead man. It was used to embalm dead bodies. Jesus was born to die. He died so that we may live.
This boy was the King of the Jews, but was born in a stable. This boy was God, but revealed in flesh. This boy was a priest who would not only offer, but would become the sacrifice for all mankind. But he was hidden in plain sight to most people.
Herod and the religious leaders did not recognize what was right in front of them. Can you imagine God in the flesh appearing, yet failing to honor and worship him? It should not be too difficult to imagine because we do it all the time. We have had Christ revealed to us. But we, like Herod, do not like when this King interrupts our plans. We want to rule our own lives. We, like Herod, and the chief priests and scribes know that God reveals himself in his Word, but we prefer to ignore it. We want to reveal the hiddenness of God for our own purposes, yet ignore the mystery that God has revealed in Christ.
It is true; sometimes God appears hidden and mysterious. Why does God allow tragedy? I don’t know. Why is there violence against God’s people? Why is the Church in the Western World shrinking? What is going to happen in each one of our lives? We experience pain and suffering and sorrow. There are lots of questions that we do not have the answers to. And that one question remains: “Is our God hidden and mysterious or manifest and revealed? The answer is: Yes.
Our God is hidden where he needs to be hidden but our God is indeed manifest and revealed where he needs to be revealed. He is revealed in Christ. When God seems hidden and mysterious, look to Christ. When you are plagued by doubts and insignificance, look to the manifest and revealed Son of God.
In the midst of doubts and questions and the mysteries of life, God’s promises are still true. We have THE answer. God-in-man was made manifest in Christ, revealed to the world at the first Epiphany. As St Paul says, the plan of the mystery that was hidden for ages was revealed in Christ.
In Christ, God is revealed to the entire World. The cat has been let out of the bag. God is not found in your personal spiritual quest high on a mountain or within your own consciousness. God is found in the person of Jesus. That God who the Wise men fell down and worshiped is found hanging on a cross for you. That God is found in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper for you, in the water of Baptism for you, in the ink and paper of Holy Scripture for you, in the sound waves of the gospel proclaimed in the absolution and in the sermon for you. Right now, you receive forgiveness
The hidden and mysterious God is revealed and made manifest to you today. Here the greatest mystery of the universe is not just revealed to you but is delivered to you. In the midst of your questions and struggles, the Holy Spirit has enlightened you and guided you like the star that guided the Wise Men. The Spirit has guided you on a spiritual journey from your house to this church to join your brothers and sisters in Christ in life together worshiping our God, the suffering King, just as the Wise men did, and receiving from him amazing gifts: true life, true peace, and true salvation. Have a blessed Epiphany! Amen.
Vicar Darren Harbaugh
Today we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord. We focus on God’s revelation of himself to the entire world through Christ, “God in man made manifest,” as we sing in one of our hymns. However, to us Christians to whom God has revealed himself, it seems that our God is more hidden and mysterious in this world than ever.
For example, it was not a Happy New Year for Christians in Egypt. There was a bombing at a church in Alexandria that killed 21and injured 90. This is the most recent in a number attacks on Christians throughout the Middle East. Because of this violence there has been a mass exodus of Christians from the area. Is this God in man made manifest? He appears more hidden and mysterious than ever.
Perhaps the idea of a mass exodus of Christians sounds familiar. We do not need to travel to the Middle East to see the evidence of this. Without threat of violence, the church in America has been on a steady decline. If you are in the mood to be depressed, get on your computer and read a few of the recent polls or surveys about Christianity in America. The findings are, well, not so promising. The broad theme is that we are apart of the incredible shrinking church. By the millions, people are electing to declare themselves not bound to Christianity.
I have not crunched the numbers but I do not believe that San Francisco is posed to become a shining beacon for the Christian faith anytime soon.
Is this God in Man made manifest? He appears more hidden and mysterious than ever.
Personally, for each one of us, things don’t appear to get much better. Despite all we’ve been taught, certain questions and mysteries plague us; “Why am I here?,” “Why do I even exist?,” “What is life all about?” No matter who you are, questions and doubts linger.
We desire to know God’s secret will. We want to unmask the mystery. This is the universal human condition. We are aware that there is something bigger than us out there and it makes us feel…insignificant.
I remember the first time that I really felt insignificant. I was just a little kid and I imagined that there was a video camera above me and that I could see myself lying in bed. Then the camera zoomed out to show my entire room, then my house, then my neighborhood, then my town, then the state, then the country, then the world, then the universe and my mind almost exploded! I felt like a tiny nothing speck in the grand scheme of things. I imagine that most of us have felt this way at one time or another. We want meaning and purpose and significance. Otherwise we can feel very troubled, like our head is going to explode. We want the mysteries of life to be revealed.
Some people go on great spiritual quests to Tibet or India. They climb mountains and talk to gurus to solve the mysteries of life as they search for meaning. But you don’t have to climb a mountain to see this, go to a bookstore and check out the self-help and spiritual section. This can even get to us as Christians. Look at the Christian section in a bookstore and you will find book after book about “finding yourself”,” discovering your purpose in life”, tips to help you on your own “personal spiritual journey”.
Spiritual journeys aren’t all that bad, I suppose, depending on what you mean. Our Gospel reading tells about a spiritual journey of sorts involving some pretty mysterious characters who follow a pretty mysterious star which leads them to a pretty mysterious child who they worship as King.
At first glance this appears to be kind of an odd reading for Epiphany, which as I said is when we focus on God’s revelation of himself to the entire world through Christ - God in man made manifest. The God-Man in this story still seems mysterious and hidden in a small child. This King seems hidden to everyone but the Magi.
So we ask ourselves on this celebration of the Epiphany of Our Lord: “Is our God hidden and mysterious or manifest and revealed?”
Look at the gifts that the wise men bring to the Christ Child. Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Hidden in these gifts was the revelation of who this child was. -Gold is a fitting gift for a king. Jesus is the king of the universe. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He is the King of Kings
-Frankincense is a fitting gift for God. It was burned as a fragrant offering to God in Temple worship. Jesus is indeed God, the Word made flesh.
-Myrrh is a fitting gift for a dead man. It was used to embalm dead bodies. Jesus was born to die. He died so that we may live.
This boy was the King of the Jews, but was born in a stable. This boy was God, but revealed in flesh. This boy was a priest who would not only offer, but would become the sacrifice for all mankind. But he was hidden in plain sight to most people.
Herod and the religious leaders did not recognize what was right in front of them. Can you imagine God in the flesh appearing, yet failing to honor and worship him? It should not be too difficult to imagine because we do it all the time. We have had Christ revealed to us. But we, like Herod, do not like when this King interrupts our plans. We want to rule our own lives. We, like Herod, and the chief priests and scribes know that God reveals himself in his Word, but we prefer to ignore it. We want to reveal the hiddenness of God for our own purposes, yet ignore the mystery that God has revealed in Christ.
It is true; sometimes God appears hidden and mysterious. Why does God allow tragedy? I don’t know. Why is there violence against God’s people? Why is the Church in the Western World shrinking? What is going to happen in each one of our lives? We experience pain and suffering and sorrow. There are lots of questions that we do not have the answers to. And that one question remains: “Is our God hidden and mysterious or manifest and revealed? The answer is: Yes.
Our God is hidden where he needs to be hidden but our God is indeed manifest and revealed where he needs to be revealed. He is revealed in Christ. When God seems hidden and mysterious, look to Christ. When you are plagued by doubts and insignificance, look to the manifest and revealed Son of God.
In the midst of doubts and questions and the mysteries of life, God’s promises are still true. We have THE answer. God-in-man was made manifest in Christ, revealed to the world at the first Epiphany. As St Paul says, the plan of the mystery that was hidden for ages was revealed in Christ.
In Christ, God is revealed to the entire World. The cat has been let out of the bag. God is not found in your personal spiritual quest high on a mountain or within your own consciousness. God is found in the person of Jesus. That God who the Wise men fell down and worshiped is found hanging on a cross for you. That God is found in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper for you, in the water of Baptism for you, in the ink and paper of Holy Scripture for you, in the sound waves of the gospel proclaimed in the absolution and in the sermon for you. Right now, you receive forgiveness
The hidden and mysterious God is revealed and made manifest to you today. Here the greatest mystery of the universe is not just revealed to you but is delivered to you. In the midst of your questions and struggles, the Holy Spirit has enlightened you and guided you like the star that guided the Wise Men. The Spirit has guided you on a spiritual journey from your house to this church to join your brothers and sisters in Christ in life together worshiping our God, the suffering King, just as the Wise men did, and receiving from him amazing gifts: true life, true peace, and true salvation. Have a blessed Epiphany! Amen.
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