This week is the last of the “A Disciple Like…”  posts from Matthew 2:1-12. Beginning next week I will be expanding on a theme introduced this week, “What’s Next?” As the wise man says at the end of the post this week, if we come to Christmas, remember and recall the birth of the Babe, and then return to our daily lives unchanged, it is too bad.

It may be a good thing that I have come to visit you just after your Christmas holidays. In my day and time, most people never took a vacation. From the day you were old enough to work until the day you died, you worked. During a substantial part of your American history, it was true of your nation as well. People who are born on farms, and consume almost all of what they grow, work all their lives.

One reason I think you are such lucky people is that you have the freedom to travel. Many of you traveled during the Christmas holidays. You went to the beach or went on a cruise or went to New York City, or went to visit relatives. Hopefully, you had a good time. One reason people travel is to relax.

Some people travel because it’s their business to travel. Such people travel because they have to in order to make a living. This kind of travel is not relaxing. It’s also not very likely to make a big difference in your life. Your pastor, when he was in business, liked to tell his wife that conference rooms in Houston or Dallas, Texas, or New York all look exactly the same. The ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch taste exactly the same.

Finally, there are those who travel to broaden their horizons. In my day, very few people could travel just to learn something new. Fortunately, I was one of those people. My name is “Casper,” and I was one of the Wise Men. I’ve come to tell you about the most amazing journey of my life; and, I’ve had a number of amazing journeys.

In my day, we traveled by foot or by camel. This means that we saw from the ground every foot of ground and every city along our journey’s path. I sometimes think it’s too bad that you modern people can get up in the morning and fly in a day to someplace like the Grand Bahamas. We would have walked down to the Gulf Coast, traveled across the Gulf Coast to Florida, and then taken a boat to the Bahamas. My trip would have taken months or a year. By the time I had returned to Memphis, I would’ve seen and heard a lot more than you ever see or hear on a trip. We had more time to think than you do.

The Biblical Story

Here is my story the way it appears in your Bible:

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route (Matt. 2:1-12).

Prayer: God of Wisdom, Come to us with your Holy Spirit so that we may become wise in the ways of Jesus, what Paul called “Wise unto salvation.” In. In Jesus name, Amen

 The Story of the Wise Men

As I mentioned a moment ago, my name is “Casper,” and I was one of the Wise Men. [1] Most people think we Wise Men came from the East, somewhere near modern Babylon or Persia. Many scholars believe we were Medes (what have become the modern “Kurds”), because the Medes were a warlike people who, after the Persians defeated them, became scholars and counselors to the Persian kings. They studied the stars just as we Wise Men did. The Greek term is “Magoi” or “Magi,” which has become “magic” in your language. We however were completely opposed to magic. We were mystics, scientists and mathematicians, we studied the stars, and we counseled kings and rulers in the ancient Middle East.

Your tradition holds that there were three of us, Melchior, our leader, who was Persian, Balthazar, who came from Babylon, and myself, Casper, who came from India.  [2] So you see, I came the greatest distance of all to see Jesus. I traveled from India, through what you call “Pakistan” and “Afghanistan,” into Iran (what we called “Persia”), on to Babylon (in what you know as “Iraq”), and then all the way to Jerusalem in Judea. Along the way, Melchior and Balthazar joined me in the journey, for they too had seen the unusual star in the East. [3] Our journey took a long, long time.

When we began our journey, we assumed it would end in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the capital city of Palestine, the seat of the Jewish King Herod, and the city founded by Israel’s greatest king, David. When we arrived in Jerusalem, we made inquiries concerning the birth of a prince to King Herod (Matt. 2:1). It turned out, however, that Herod had no new child.

When Herod heard that we were asking about a child king of the Jews, he summoned us! I can tell you we were very scared when this happened. Herod had a bad reputation for killing anyone who threatened him. We were afraid that he might even kill us. Nevertheless, he welcomed us as if he were glad to see us. He called a conference to which we were invited. His chief priests, the teachers of the Jewish law, who were expert Bible students, Herod, and the three of us all sat down to discuss our story and its meaning.

You might think everyone knew that the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem. Just ask yourself just how much knowledge do most of your presidents have about your Bible? Herod was a king not a scholar. In addition, in our day we didn’t have search engines on computers or libraries full of books indexed by chapter and verse. It took a while, but eventually Herod’s advisors determined that your Old Testament says that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem in Judea (Matt. 2:3-6; Micah 5:2).

That very evening, we received another request to come and see the King. He asked us when the star appeared, and then requested that we  go to Bethlehem and see if there was a child there meeting the requirements to be a Messiah (Matt. 2:7-8). Finally, he asked that we might report back to him if we found such a child, so that he could come and worship him as well (Matt. 2:8) Quite frankly, we didn’t believe that King Herod had any intention of worshiping anyone but himself.

After meeting with the king, we began our journey towards Bethlehem. The star seemed to move and guide us until it came to rest over a place where we found a woman and a small child (Matt. 2:9). [4] We met the child’s mother, Mary, and bent over looking at the child sitting in her lap. I cannot explain to you what we felt in that instant. We immediately bowed down and worshiped the child. Then, we gave him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

You Christians believe that these gifts were prophetic. Gold is a symbol of wealth and power, for the Messiah was to be a king. Incense is burned in some of your churches even today as a symbol of God. The Messiah was to be the Son of God. Finally, myrrh was a spice used in the ancient world for embalming. It is often a symbol of suffering and affliction. It turned out that the Messiah was a “man of sorrows, acquainted with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3). It’s funny, we might have brought the first two gifts as a part of some kind of a plan; however, that final gift was such that we had no idea what we were doing. It was only years later, after Jesus died on the Cross, that people understood the significance of the myrrh. [5] Jesus we learned was the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

We stayed in the little town for a few days. One night, we had a dream that we should not go back to Herod and tell him where the child was (Matt. 2:11). I’ve already told you that Herod had a bad reputation and we were afraid for the child. [6] We didn’t believe that a carpenter, his young wife, and a newborn baby were a big threat to Herod, but Herod might. Finally, our business was not to change the future but to observe, discern, and report. We had no interest in whether Herod the Great or Jesus bar Joseph was the king of Judah, though we hoped that this Jesus would be the long awaited Messiah and the Great King for whom many others and we longed. [7]

Therefore, when the time came for us to leave, we sent no message to Herod and returned home by a way that avoided Jerusalem (Matt. 2:12). I have sometimes regretted this, because Herod became worried about our failure to notify him of the whereabouts of the baby.  Therefore, Herod, because he did not know who the child was, ordered every young male child under two years old in the city of Bethlehem killed (vv. 13-18). [8] If we had just sent a message that the child was not in Bethlehem, we might have saved a few young lives.

What’s Next?

Well, that’s my story, or at least the part of the story that appears in your Bible. There are lots of traditions about we three wise men. One tradition holds that we became Christians, and our bones were eventually taken by Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, to Constantinople and from there our bones were taken to Milan, Italy, and then to a church in Cologne, Germany, where you can see them today. Another tradition reported by Marco Polo holds that we were buried in Persia. My favorite tradition, about me, is that I returned to India and became a king. I was visited there by Doubting Thomas, who founded the church of India. I was baptized and became a Christian. The question behind all of these legends is a question you need to ask yourselves: were we changed by our visit to see the baby Jesus? [9]

If you’ve traveled, I’m sure you know this: it is easy to go on a trip, see a strange and unusual site, feel that your life ought to be changed, but return home unchanged until the feeling is only a memory. I traveled throughout the ancient world. I saw great poverty and human suffering. But, when I got home, other business was pressing, and I did nothing. I’ve seen great palaces and temples like the palace of Herod and the Temple he built in Jerusalem. They were magnificent. But my life was not changed.

The journeys that really matter in life are not vacations. A week at the beach, a week in the mountains, or week in a cabin doing nothing, rarely fundamentally changes anyone’s life. When vacation is over, we go back to our daily life, doing what we normally do, and occasionally wish we were back at the beach, or in the mountains, or in our little cabin. But we do not really change. The journeys that matter are those that change our lives.

You’ve just finished your Christmas season. In your country, Christmas comes just before New Year’s, when you ponder resolutions about the year to come. I am sure that many of you have already made New Year’s resolutions. (Since ten days have past, I’m sure you’ve already broken some of them!) Your pastors told me that your theme for 2016 is “What is Next?” I can’t tell you what to do because of Christmas and your annual trip to the manger in Bethlehem, but if I were you I think I’d ask myself, “Should I really leave the manger in Bethlehem for another year and not be changed?” and “If I am going to change, how?”

[1] The Greek text uses the term “Magoi.” Historically, the Greek word “Magoi” referred to Median wise men. Although Magi became associated with Zorastrianism, they emerged before that religion was founded. In Latin, the word is “Magus,” from which the English word “Magic” comes. The wise men were not, however, astrologers. I am partially reliant upon William Barclay, “The Gospel of Matthew” in The Daily Bible Study Series, Rev. Ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1932, 1975) for this and other of the information contained herein.

[2] There is no assurance there were three wise men. The tradition that there were three relates to the three gifts (Matt. 2:11). In Eastern Orthodoxy, the number is twelve, and art has rendered three, four, eight and twelve. The Bible does not say. The names of the three are also not scriptural. There are variants of these names mentioned in ancient writings—and from the variants some have discerned nationalities. I have arbitrarily chosen a tradition that holds they came from Persia, India, and Babylon. However, because of the connection with the cult of the Magoi, it is likely that they were all Median (Kurds).

[3] The exact explanation for the star is impossible to determine. The best explanation may be that this was not a natural but a supernatural star. Some hold it was a comet, perhaps Halley’s comet. Others hold that it was a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. Finally, around 5-2 B.C. “Mesori,” Sirius, the Dog Star, rose with unusual brilliance. “Mesori” means, “Birth of a Prince.” In my view it is interesting to speculate concerning the identity of the star, but we can never really know for sure.

[4] The Bible does not say that Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem when the Wise Men found the child. It is inferred from the rest of the story. Other suggestions have been made as to where they may have been, but the story indicates Bethlehem, which makes the most sense.

[5] The Biblical text records that the gifts were gold and frankincense and myrrh (Matt 2:11). The three gifts had a spiritual meaning: gold (a symbol of wealth and kingship), frankincense (a symbol of the divine), and myrrh (an embalming oil) as a symbol of death. www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=meaning%20of%20gold%20frankincense%20 and %20n myrrh&esth=1 (downloaded January 7, 2016)

[6] My use of the word “might” is probably an understatement. Herod was notoriously cruel and paranoid. He murdered even members of his own family out of the fear that they would supplant him. Although the “Murder of the Innocents” is not mentioned outside of Matthew, it is consistent with all that is known about Herod.

[7] In the ancient would at the time Jesus was born, there were many people who believed in the coming of a great king would bring a Kingdom of Peace in which war and other curses of the Roman world would disappear. It is likely that the Wise Men would have had such hopes. This explains their motivation to make the long trip. It was about more than a Jewish king, but about a universal, King of Kings, which Jesus was.

[8] See note 6 above. This is the slaying of the Innocents recorded in Matthew 2:13-18. Because of the small size of Bethlehem, and the fact that Herod only killed males two and under, it is no surprise that there is no secular record of this event. That Herod had already decided to kill the children of Bethlehem is indicated by his question concerning when the star appeared. He was trying to fix the approximate time of the child’s birth.

[9] Neither the Bible nor secular history contains any clear answer to the question of what happened to the Magi. We have only tradition to go by. One tradition holds that St. Thomas met, converted and baptized them and that they are buried in what is now Iran. I have adapted the ending to give a bit of this information to the congregation and reader.

As we begin a new year, I am publishing a poem I began in 1991 and only completed this last year. A friend who is a poet inspired me to finish what I began long ago. Next week, the subject will be the wise men, so I thought that this post might introduce the subject matter.

Not two weeks ago, we all read these words,

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son” (Luke 2:1-7).

The poem is a meditation on what might Quirinius have thought if the Wise Men had stopped and visited him first. Happy New Year to all of you!! Chris

When Quirinius Was Governor of Syria

A bright day for traveling, but foreboding warns—

The transit of Magi may be a vile omen.

I sent them on to Herod, confident his fear and paranoia

Will unravel the mystery of a messianic child-king.

 

Octavian: Friendship did not send me here

To oversee an unpopular tax at your empire’s edge,

With Varus barely competent, and Herod “the Great,”

Your lap dog perched upon his throne by a razor’s edge.

 

With no legitimate claim to rule, only convenient friendship,

Force of arms, and a conniving mind, devious and twisted,

A man lacking any genuine principles or honor,

Herod rules because he flatters Rome and enlisted our aid.

 

We can trust Herod no further than our leash extends:

The Arabian revolt, and his actions then, shows

He will honor us, then another, then us again

If it serves his dark purpose or strategy.

 

Nicholas of Alexandria defended his most recent

Scheme—and if death does not interfere,

There will be another duplicity, another scheme,

Intrigue upon intrigue, until he lives no more.

 

Worse, his “people” loath and hate him, for his blood

Is only half Jewish, and that half open to question.

Therefore, this visit of Wise Men sparks my fear

That to overthrow this usurper may be Heaven’s plan.

 

(Not that this would be too cruel a fate—

That this Idumean upstart, a vassal king

Who treats his pigs better than wives or children

Should be replaced is not too terrible a thing.)

 

I warned our “friend” and “king” by a secret message,

Sent with the Star Followers from Chaldea far to the east,

Knowing full well Herod’s mad cruelty

Will cause the death of at least one small child.

 

These Median wanderers and their speculation

Concerning a Jewish King born in the Palestine, the home

Of Rome’s most stiff-necked subjects, easily moved to insurrection

Assures some child will die when Herod hears their reading of the stars.

 

Someday, I fear, Herod’s “friendship” notwithstanding,

We will raze their temple, disbursing Jews among the nations–

These Jews with their One God, making of them and example

Of our powers of domination and willingness to subdue revolt.

 

Octavian: I watch these Wise Men fade into the autumn sun

As I watch my life fade into that autumn which leads

All men to another world, deep beneath earth where Hades

Rules, and we are but slaves and shadows of the night.

 

My heart is desperate within me, and wishes it were not so,

But I see no place for light beyond this darkness we inhabit.

How could any light of Olympus follow this life of maintaining

An empire doomed to fall, only when we cannot know.

 

My career, our friendship, even this empire Rome created

And I serve, is founded on power, deceit, and force of arms.

I am honored for my defeat of the Homonadenses—

A victory no one will recall within a generation of my death.

 

I have served as commander, governor, tutor, counselor,

Friend of Caesar and loyal servant of Rome,

All this is but a cloud, a spider’s web of fate

My glory and honor will last no longer than my life.

 

All this for you, Octavian, Augustus, Son of Caesar (that

Child of ambition that broke our Republic and left

Us with this “empire,” vast, unstable, and expensive,

Certain to doom our ancient character though endless war).

 

Old friend, we are not the powers we think we are,

Only servants, I think, of silent powers of the air,

Powers we believe we control, but which in fact

Control us, and our destinies, and wish us death in the end.

 

No, I cannot write this to you old friend;

It would be my certain death now and not tomorrow.

Yet, how I wish I might write to you this word of my heart

That together we might find our way out of history’s trap.

 

Now, they are gone, these pilgrims, gone to seek a God/Man,

This anointed Messiah for which the Jews so anxiously wait.

Would it be, I wonder, such a bad thing if this King of Kings

Came in fact, and we all gave up our pride and bowed down?

 

Gone our wars, gone intrigue, gone the lies of diplomacy—

All that I have spent my life doing and achieving

Swallowed up in a victory of a King of Peace:

Foolishness, of course, but if true, then what?

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

Notes:

1. I suppose this poem may have been inspired by some memory of T. S. Eliot’s poem, “Journey of the Magi.” It began in a November day of 1991 as I sat in the Union Theological Seminary library studying for final exams. It was cold and the leaves were swirling outside. Suddenly, I was overcome with the transience of empires. The first lines were written that day. About six or so years later, in Brownsville, Tennessee I worked on it again, recognizing that it needed much work. Recently, inspired by a friend, I began again. That day in Richmond, I did some research on the figure Quirinius, who Luke says was governor of Syria, when Jesus was born (Luke 2:1).
2. Pubilius Sulpicius Quirinius (51 B.C.- 21 A.D.) was a friend of Caesar Augustus. Born of an aristocratic family, he was a good administrator and daring military leader. Luke has been questioned as to the veracity of his account because Quirinius did not actually become governor until 6 A.D. However, he held official posts in the region from 10 B.C. until about 7 B.C., which puts him in the region at or about the time of Jesus’ birth. He was an excellent soldier, capable administrator, and friend of Caesar. Census’ were taken about every fourteen years, and scholars believe that one might have been taken in the year 8 B.C.—a time when Quirinius was present. His role during this period was probably that of an extraordinary legetate with Quinctilius Varus as the Governor, who was not as capable as Quirinius. Varus appears in the poem as a figure Quirinius does not think capable. Quirinius ended his political career during the reign of Tiberius and died a trusted advisor and friend to Caesar. I have completely made up the notion that the Wise Men met him in Syria, though the trade routes might have taken them in that way. I have also made up the notion that by this time, Quirinius was a world-weary servant who knows only too well the vagaries of history.
3. Herod the Great (74 B.C.-4 B.C.) was a friend of Octavian and the Roman government, to whom he owed his power. He was capable, brilliant, ambitious, and over time, cruel and mad. The title “Great” comes from his great building projects, which included the Second Temple, Caesarea Maritima, Masada, and Herodium, where he died. Herod was of both Jewish and Idumean descent. Because of this, he had no real claim to the Jewish throne and was hated by the Jews. He was viewed as a half-breed. His cruelty and murder of his wife, mother-in-law, and three sons caused Augustus to famously say, “It is better to be a pig in Herod’s household than a son.” Although Herod was a client king of Rome and generally loyal, he was not above minor challenges to Rome’s authority. One of these minor disloyalties is referenced in the poem.
4. The Magi were probably historically of Median origin. Babylon and the region of Chaldea were famous for its wise men. The Medes were a warlike people, but after their conquest by the Persians, the ceased to have military power, they turned to scholarship and wisdom. Thus, the term “Wise Men” is not entirely without foundation. These Magi studied the stars and believed in the powers of their astrology. They were sought after as advisors.
5. As Rome grew, it became increasingly unstable militarily and economically. The empire founded by Julius Caesar and solidified by Augustus Caesar ended the Roman Republic and the virtues of the early Roman State. It’s stable years did not last for long, and by 64 A.D. when Nero allowed the burning of Rome, it was on a long slide towards is fall, which is ordinarily placed around 410 A.D. The idea of the poem is that Quirinius could already see the problem with the Empire and its likely fall. Historically, this is probably not accurate, but poetically, it is sound. In any case, if he could have seen this future, he would have been correct.

 

I wish everyone who reads my blog a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Most of the time this blog is dedicated to advancing an understanding of the wisdom and love of God for ordinary life. First John tells us both that “God is Light” and “God is Love”. In Centered Leading/Centered Living, I call these twin qualities,  “Deep Light” and “Deep Love”. God’s wisdom is beyond our created wisdom, and God’s love is beyond any human love. Instead, God’s Divine Love is the deep ground of all truth and truly unselfish, self-giving love. Next year, for at least part of the year, I will be centering attention on this wisdom and love as it might impact our citizenship, at least that is the plan. With that, here is the next installment of the “A Disciple Like….” series. For now, let us listen again to a familiar story of how the Wisdom and Love of God came to dwell with us full of Grace and Truth…..

Good evening. My name is Jacob Ben Jesse. I don’t appear in your Bible, at least by name. However, I was one of the shepherds present on the night the Lord Jesus was born. My story begins in around the year 4 to 6 BC. Way off in Rome, the greatest of the Roman emperors, Caesar Augustus, was the ruler of a vast empire. The village of Bethlehem was a small and insignificant part of that empire, just as my nation, which was known as “Israel,” was also a small part of Augustus’s empire.

Some things never change. You have a saying that, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” We’re all going to die someday, and governments never seem to have enough money. As the Roman Empire grew, its need for taxes grew and grew and grew. In my day, just as in your day, many people tried to avoid taxes. I think you have a saying called, “Flying Under the Radar,” and another phrase called, “The Underground Economy.” In my time, a lot of people try to avoid paying taxes.

Eventually, Caesar Augustus declared that the entire Roman Empire would be taxed. In order to be certain that Rome collected all of the money it was entitled to collect, Augustus had a census taken. The idea was that if the tax collectors knew the name of each and every individual and where they lived, they would be able to collect all of the taxes due. Therefore, Caesar decreed that everyone should go to his or her own hometown and register to be taxed (Luke 2:1). [i]

I don’t know whether or not Caesar’s plan was successful, but I can tell you was one of the best things that ever happened in our little city of Bethlehem! Hundreds of people had to come to our town! The inns were filled to the brim. People had to be turned away. Every restaurant was filled. People like my landlord, whose sheep I tended, were able to sell all of the mutton and milk they could produce for weeks and weeks and weeks. I don’t know whether Caesar had all the money he needed, but in our little town of Bethlehem times were really good.

You’ve already heard that on the first Christmas, a man named Joseph and his betrothed wife, Mary, came to our little town so that Joseph, who was of the house and lineage of King David, might be registered in David’s hometown. When they arrived, there was no place for them to stay. One innkeeper, who could see that Mary was about to have a baby, took pity on them and allowed them to stay in a little cave in the side of the hill that he had turned into a kind of barn. It was there in his barn, on a cold winter night, that Jesus was born. [ii]

Here is how Dr. Luke records my story in his gospel:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told (Luke 2:8-20).

Prayer: God of Wonders: Take us now to the greatest wonder of all, to the night you came to be one of us. Allow us to sense the majesty of your decision to come and take on human flesh, that we might see and know how to live a divine life. Amen.

 The Story of a Shepherd.

Well as I said, my name is Jacob, and I was a shepherd boy in Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. As a boy, I was proud of being shepherd in Bethlehem. Actually, as a little boy I didn’t just dream of being a shepherd; I dreamt of being a shepherd who became a king! Every little boy in my village knew the story of King David. Just like your little boys play cowboys and Indians or soldiers, we played being King David! Our favorite story was about the time he took his slingshot and defeated the giant Goliath (I Sam. 17:1-58). We practiced for hours and hours slinging rocks at trees and boulders and wild animals, hoping we would grow up to be just like David.

Like my friends, however, I did not grow up to be a king. I grew up to be a shepherd. You would think that in my day being a shepherd would be an honored profession. After all, our great ancestor, Abraham, was a shepherd. His sons and their children: Isaac, Jacob, Jacob’s twelve sons, and all those who went into captivity in Egypt, were shepherds. However, in my time people looked down on shepherds as common working people. That is too bad.

Perhaps it was in Egypt when being a shepherd fell into disrepute. You see, the Egyptians did not like the smell of sheep. (Many people in your society today have the same experience.) Therefore, no Egyptian wanted to be a shepherd. One reason the Egyptians allowed my family to settle there during a great famine was that we were shepherds and could meet their need for mutton, goat’s milk, and wool.  I think perhaps that old Egyptian prejudice wore off on my people over the 400 years they were in captivity.

When we returned to the Promised Land, and after we captured it, the great warriors and lords of my people divided the land of Israel among themselves and became farmers, what you could call “Landed Gentry.” Over the years, they too began looking down upon shepherds. By the time Jesus was born, mostly, we shepherds didn’t own the land nor did we own the sheep. We tended sheep for a landlord.

Nevertheless, my job was not unimportant. Today, there are not many wild animals in the land of Israel. In my day there were lions, bears, wolves, and wild dogs. All of them preyed upon sheep. Our job was to watch over the sheep and to be sure that they were safe. In addition, because sheep are not very bright, we were responsible to move the sheep safely from place to place so they could eat fresh grass. Finally, sheep are domesticated animals, and they sensed that we cared about them. [iii]

Your pastor once worked for a farmer way down in Texas on the weekends. The man who owned the property, and the hired men, actually named the cows and sheep and could tell them by sight! We shepherds could do the same thing in my day. Like any good shepherd, we knew our sheep. The Lord Jesus was not a shepherd, at least not a professional shepherd. He was the Good Shepherd who takes care of his flock (John 10:1-16). Perhaps he learned what it meant to be a Good Shepherd by watching shepherds just like me.

One night, as we were watching our sheep, singing songs together, and telling stories, the most amazing thing you can imagine happened (Luke 2:8-20). It was one of those beautiful dark, dark nights in which the sky is perfectly clear. The moon had not risen, but the stars shone in the sky like tinkling white Christmas tree lights in your day. In my day and time we thought of the stars as being alive. (In fact, we thought of them as angels.)

We were sitting looking at the sky when all of a sudden it was as if the sky opened and one of the stars came to us as an angel of the Lord (v. 9). Naturally, just like everyone else who sees an angel, we were afraid. But the angel said to us, “Do not be afraid, for I bring you good news of great joy that will be for the world. Today in the city of David a savior is been born. He is Christ, the LORD” (v. 10-11). [iv] The angel then told us that, if we were to go into the town of Bethlehem, we would find a baby lying in a manger, which would be a sign that the Messiah had come (v. 12).

Suddenly, it was as if the sky was torn apart again, and heaven itself came to earth! A great company of angels suddenly appeared praising God and singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those upon whom his favor rests” (v. 13-14).

Just as Mary and Joseph were obedient to the message they received from an angel, so were we shepherds. We decided to go off to Bethlehem and find this manger and see for ourselves whether what the angel had said was true (v. 15). When we arrived at the little cave in Bethlehem where Jesus was born, we saw a child lying in a manger just as we were told (v. 16). Immediately, we began to go throughout the village of Bethlehem and spread the Good News about this child (v. 17). Everyone who heard us was amazed. No one expected such news to be communicated through a bunch of shepherds! I don’t know why, because David was Shepherd, and a Prophet, and a King—just like the man Jesus of Nazareth. Who better to reveal to people the Son of David and Good Shepherd than a group of Shepherds?

Being a Disciple Like the Shepherds Today.

When our night of excitement was over, we returned home giving glory to God for all that we had seen and heard (v. 20). In fact, for the rest of my life I was willing to tell everyone I met about this boy, Jesus of Nazareth, whom an angel proclaim to be God’s Good News to us and to the entire world. I understand that almost no Christians in your society ever share that Good News with their friends. I know that a lot of years have passed, but people in your day, I think, have the same kinds of problems people had in my day. They need to hear the Good News just as much as we did.

There are still uncaring emperors far away in Rome, or whatever you call your capital city. I am sure there are still taxes, and they are still too high. There are certainly still evil people like my nation’s king at the time, Herod the Great, who care about nothing but money and power. There are still people who grow up in dysfunctional families. There are still people who are deeply disturbed and even mad. There are still criminals and highway robbers. There still wars and rumors of wars. I think people in your day need to know about this Son of David, who is a Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace just as much as we did (Isaiah 9:6-70).

That first Christmas, we didn’t go home and pour ourselves a glass of wine, eat too much, and open presents. Instead, we shared the Good News that Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One of God had come! I was young that night, so I lived to see that boy Jesus do miracles, teach with the power of God, cast out demons, be rejected by his own people, die a terrible death, and rise from the dead. All that I’ve seen in all that I know has not changed what I know and believe: One night more than 2000 years ago I went and saw a baby in a manger, and it changed my life forever.

Amen

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[i] Critical scholars have sometimes doubted Luke’s account. This is another instance when careful study and giving Luke a bit of grace shows he is accurately recording the facts as he knew them. First of all, while no record exists of this particular census/registration, there are Roman records of censuses taken in the way Luke records. While Quirinius was the legal governor somewhat later than the Luke indicates, he was in the region at a time when a son of Caesar was governor. History indicates that Quirinius, a friend of Augustus, successful soldier, and good administrator, was present and probably “governed,” meaning he did the day-to-day work. Later, he was appointed governor after Herod’s son, Archelaeus, was removed. Likely as not, Caesar appointed Quirinius because he was experienced in the job and understood Jewish politics from his earlier stint in Syria. http://www.biblehistory.net/newsletter/quirinius.htm (downloaded December 21, 2015). See also, William Barclay, “Luke’ in The Daily Bible Study Series Rev. Ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1975), 20-21.

[ii] Once again, there is no historical information to put the time of Jesus’ actual birth in winter, though as I noted in an earlier sermon, taking the stories of Elizabeth and Mary together, a winter birth is not impossible. Christmas was first celebrated on December 25 in 336 A.D., a long time after Jesus was born. Pope Julius I officially set December 25th as the date for Christmas. There was a winter holiday celebrated during this period of time, and many people think that this winter solstice celebration is the cause of the date. The Jewish festival, Hanukkah, also occurs at this time of year. No one can know for sure, and the Bible does not say. It is not important. What is important is who the man Jesus was and what he did and taught.

[iii] See, “Shepherds” in Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary Ronald F. Youngblood, ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1986, 1995), 1164-1165). When I was young, I had a good friend who kept sheep near Cisco, Texas. He was a wonderful person. His hired men often named the animals and recognized them by sight. I could never accomplish this feat.

[iv] This phrase would be “Messiah God” in Hebrew. The term “Christ” is the Greek term for “Messiah,” or “Anointed One,” in Hebrew. The two accounts, Mary’s in Luke and Joseph’s in Matthew are remarkably similar in their common details. Both agree that the boy was to be named “Jesus,” would be a savior, and would be known as the “Son of God.” (For a human being “Son of God” and “God with us” have similar meanings.)

Good morning! My name is Joseph. I was the husband of Mary and the earthly father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not surprising that my story was left until the last Sunday before Christmas. Scholars know more about many other characters in the Bible than about me. There are even people, like Herod the Great, who plays a part in my story, about whom we know a great deal more because they are historical figures. There are only a few references to me in the Bible. In my opinion, that is as it should be, for I am one of those people who are satisfied to work behind the scenes.

I was a carpenter (Matthew 13:33; Mark 6:3). [i] The first chapter of Matthew is written to show that Jesus was descended from Abraham, and thus a true Jew, and from David, our greatest king. I am the last person mentioned in that genealogy. It is from my line that Jesus was legally qualified to be the Messiah. [ii]

David lived 1000 years before my time. He had thousands of descendants, many of them more prominent than me. The fact that I lived in Nazareth in Galilee, far from Jerusalem, the center of Jewish culture, indicates that I was of an obscure branch of David’s the line. So many years had passed, and there were so many descendants of David, that, although my family was proud of its history, no one expected anything special to come from me or almost any other member of my family. We were a bit like Americans who can trace their family history to someone like Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. It was a matter of family pride, but most family members did not behave anything like David, just like most people descendent of your great families don’t necessarily continue on their values, their character, or their strengths.

The Situation.

Here is the way my story is told by the apostle Matthew:

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife (Matthew 1:18-24).

Prayer: Eternal God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, please come today that we might learn from the example of Joseph to be better disciples of you today and every day of our lives. In the Name of the Word Made Flesh we pray, Amen.

A Kind Reaction

In order to understand my story you need to know something about my world. In your day, couples marry for love. In my time, marriages were arranged. Generally speaking, the parents of a young man approached the parents of young woman and contracted for a marriage. If a man were older, and perhaps married before, he might contract for a bride himself. A contract was reached specifying a dowry price to be paid to the woman’s parents, among other matters. Sometimes, it took as long as seven years for a husband to earn enough money to pay the dowry and marry his wife. As many of you may remember, in the Old Testament, Jacob worked seven years to marry Rachel (Gen. 29:20)!

Most young people had marriages contracted long before they actually married. Men in my culture waited to marry until they could pay the dowry and support a wife. Most women in my time were contracted to be married about the time they were able to have children. In other words, they were quite young—in their teens. Once a marriage was contracted, the couple was “Betrothed.” [iii] This could last a long time.

I was, therefore, considerably older than Mary. [iv] Before we could be married I had to save enough money to have the right to marry her. Now here’s a funny fact about our system: once a marriage contract was signed, the couple was actually legally married. If a couple were to begin living together during this period, the husband had no right of divorce. However, if a husband found a character defect in his wife during the period of betrothal, he could divorce her (Exodus 22:13-19).

This is the exact situation I faced. During our time of betrothal, Mary came and told me she was pregnant. She explained that she had been faithful to me; however, an angel had appeared to her and explained that she was to have a child by the power of the Holy Spirit who would be the Messiah of Israel (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:35). What the angels said, had come true!

Being a practical man, I didn’t believe a word she said. As a devout Jew, what my people called “a righteous man,” I knew my rights under the Law of Moses. I had the right to divorce Mary. Nevertheless, I loved Mary and did not want to publicly humiliate her. I wanted a divorce, but I did not want to hurt Mary (Matt. 1:19).

Supernatural Intervention.

I have always thought of myself as a kind man and a careful thinker. I don’t make decisions easily. Most of the time, I pray long and hard before doing anything that I think might hurt another person. Day after day, night after night, over and over again, I went over in my mind my options until I finally decided that I would “put her away privately” (v. 19). That is a fancy way of saying that I decided to divorce her without publically disclosing her infidelity. I didn’t want to be married to Mary; but I didn’t want to hurt her.

One night, as on so many nights, I fell asleep pondering the problem. That night I had a dream in which an angel of the Lord appeared and told me that I should not be afraid to take Mary as my wife because her story was true. The angel told me that Mary was carrying a child by the power of the Holy Spirit (v. 20). I was to name the child “Jesus,” which, as you learned last week, is the Greek term for “Joshua” which means “God our Savior” (v. 21-22). In addition, the angel told me that this was happening to fulfill a prophecy, and that my son was to be known as “Immanuel,” which in my language means “God with Us” (v. 22-23). In other words the angel told me almost exactly what the angel told Mary: our son was to be the Savior of Israel and God present in our history—the Son of God (Luke 1:35).

Mary had spoken the truth: Our child was conceived of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I did not divorce her. Instead, I brought Mary home as my wife (v 24-25). As I look back upon my life, I realize that from my very birth God had been acting to do something special. Mary was the virgin who would conceive and bear a deliverer for my people (Isaiah 7:14). Jesus, my son, was to be the fulfillment of all the prophecies and promises of a coming Messiah.

The Rest of My Story.

In due course, I had to go to Bethlehem to register to pay my taxes to Caesar. Because of the rumors surrounding Mary, I took her with me. It was in Bethlehem, the home of King David, that our son was born (Luke 2:1-7). This also fulfilled a prophesy of our prophet Micah (Micah 5:2). You will hear that story later on this week. Next Sunday, you’ll hear the story of how we presented our child to be circumcised after he was born (Luke 2:21-39). Right now, I want to continue with the way Matthew tells the story.

The birth of Jesus was not the only time the Lord spoke to me. I had several visions that impacted my life and the life of Jesus. One day, three Wise Men appeared where we were living. They had seen a special star, a star associated with the birth of the King of the Jews (Matt. 2:1) and gone to Jerusalem to see King Herod, but he had no new child. His advisors had told Herod and the Wise Men that a King of the Jews, the Messiah, was to be born in Bethlehem in Judea (vv. 2-10). After bowing before Jesus and giving him gifts, the Wise Men returned home.

When the Wise Men told me they had visited King Herod, my blood ran cold. I knew Herod would certainly try to kill anyone he felt might threaten his kingship. It wouldn’t matter that I was an obscure carpenter married a common country girl. The Wise Men were also concerned: They had a dream in which they were told not to return through Jerusalem, but instead to go home by “another route” (v. 12). [v]

After they were gone as I worried and wondered what to do, once again, an angel of the Lord appeared to me. This time I was told to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt (v. 13). I was obedient to the angel, and for some years we lived in Egypt (v. 14). It is a good thing too, because Herod killed all the children of Bethlehem around my son’s age (vv. 16-18). [vi] This event is known to you as the “Slaughter of the Innocents,” one of Herod’s worst crimes.

Then, after Herod died, an angel appeared and told me to go back to Israel (v. 20). My intention was to take my son, who was to be known as the “Son of David,” to Judea, King David’s homeland. However, I was warned by God in a dream not to go there because Herod’s son was ruler in Judea—and just as mad as Herod himself and just as likely to harm Jesus. Therefore, we went to Nazareth in Galilee (vv. 22). This also fulfilled a prophesy of the Old Testament. [vii]

When Jesus was twelve years old, we took him up to the Temple in Jerusalem, as was our custom (Luke 2:41-42). Jerusalem is a crowded and busy place during festival times. Mary and I had already left Jerusalem when we discovered he was not with our traveling party (v. 43). We thought he was with relatives, but he was not.

It took us three whole days to find him! We were frantic. When we found him he was in the temple courts talking with the teachers of the law. When we rebuked him, he looked puzzled as if we should know that he should be in the Temple. To be quite frank, we thought our son was going to be some kind of the king, and we didn’t expect to find in the Temple courts talking with the religious leaders of our people. When we complained about his behavior, he looked at us with puzzlement and said something like, “Did you not expect to find me in my father’s house?” (v. 49). Actually, we did not expect to find him in the Temple. We expected to find him running around in the streets playing! When we brought him home once again he was our son, Jesus, a person everyone loved and respected because he was such a fine boy (v. 52).

The Measure of the Man.

I did not live to see my son’s public career as a teacher, Rabbi, healer, and Messiah. I died before my son. Frankly, I’m glad I was spared seeing his final moments. While alive, I early on realized that my first job was to be a father to Jesus. Jesus worked beside me from the time he was able. He ran errands. He did odd jobs. He grew up strong. I like to think that in watching me, and how I treated other people, he learned to be honest, straightforward, kind, and gentle. I hope I modeled for him a kind of discipleship that is diligent, kind, and honest.

That is not so say that I was not religious. My dreams show that I had a mystical bent even though I was a practical person. I was diligent to dedicate Jesus, to take him to the synagogue, to attend religious festivals in Jerusalem, and to model for Jesus what it meant to truly worship the God of Israel. I prayed often in front of my son, and he knew what it was to be a man of prayer. I read the Law of Moses, and I taught it to my son. In fact, I think that this is the most important contribution I made to his life.

I hope as you think about me you’ll remember me as a simple, good, thoughtful, ordinary man trying to raise a family and provide for them. I hope you will remember that I was first and foremost a workingman, but that I did not ignore spiritual things. Most of all, I hope you will remember that I was obedient to God when he spoke to me. Not all disciples are called to be pastors and prophets. In fact, most people are called to be an everyday disciple just like me.

Amen

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs

[i] In Jesus’s time, this could mean that Joseph was a workman who built homes, framing and acting as a stonemason, or, perhaps I owned my own business and had a small carpenter’s shop. The Bible doesn’t say.

[ii] Under Jewish law, inheritance was through the father. Thus, Jesus’ legal claim to the Messiah and King of Israel was through his father’s line, even though he was not the biological son of Joseph. Under Roman law, this was similar. For example, Caesar Augustus (born “Gaius Octavius”) was the heir of Julius Caesar. Although he was not his son Augustus was made heir to Caesar under Roman law. Augustus was the Son of Julius Caesar’s sister. Like Julius Caesar adopted Octavius, Joseph adopted Jesus as his son, making Jesus, technically, only the adopted son of David.

[iii] Most marriages in Biblical times were arranged between the parents of the bride and groom. In fact, on occasion the bride and groom might not even know one another. A betrothal could occur at any time, even years before the marriage, since the bride and groom would have to be of marital age before the actual marriage could occur. Betrothal occurred once a marriage contract was signed. In this contract, among other matters, a dowry would be agreed upon. This amount would have to be paid by the groom or the groom’s family to the bride’s parents. Once the betrothal contract was signed, the bride and groom were legally married and only death or divorce could end the marriage. When the dowry was paid, the groom would come and consummate the marriage in the bride’s home. A special cloth would provide proof that the bride was a virgin. If she was not, the groom did not have to accept the bride and could divorce her. After consummation, the bride was then taken to the wedding feast, and the couple celebrated their marriage. The bride’s parents kept the “proof of virginity” in case of a later dispute.

[iv] Scripture does not say whether Joseph was older than Mary. It is an inference both from Jewish marriage customs (grooms were almost always older than brides) and from the fact that Joseph is not mentioned in the Gospels after the events of Luke 2:41-52. When Mary and Jesus’ sisters and brothers come to see Jesus in the Gospels, Joseph is not mentioned (Matthew 12:46-50). The theory that Joseph had died by the time Jesus was an adult is given further credibility by the fact that Jesus, when He was on the cross, made arrangements for His mother to be cared for by the apostle John (John 19:26-27). Joseph must have been dead by the time of the crucifixion, or Jesus would never have committed Mary to John.

[v] Most scholars believe that the Wise Men were from what is today Iraq. In my view, the Wise Men probably took a northern route from what is today Iraq through northern Syria, then down to Jerusalem and then south to Bethlehem. In the ancient world, this route through the “Fertile Crescent” was the most traveled trade route From Mesopotamia to the Holy Land. I think going home, in order to bypass Jerusalem, they the southern route from Bethlehem to the Jordan River (Jericho) then north up the Jordan Valley to Syria, and back into Mesopotamia.

[vi] What is known as the “Slaughter of the Innocents” is recorded in Matthew 2:16-18). This event is only mentioned in Matthew; however, Bethlehem was so small that the murder of a few children under two years old is unlikely to have caused much contemporary comment. Herod was guilty of worse crimes.

[vii] There is no specific Old Testament prophecy that is fulfilled. This may refer to the use of the term “Branch” (“Nazor” in Hebrew). If so, then it fulfills Isaiah 11:1. It might also be that this refers to Jesus being a Nazarite, who abstains from drinking wine and cutting his hair, though I think this unlikely. See, The Harper Collins Study Bible (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 1993), note on Matthew 2:23b.

By now, I’m sure most of you are confused over who is actually preaching this series of sermons! Therefore, let me introduce myself: my name is “Luke” and I am a physician. I never met the Lord Jesus during his time on earth. Instead, I was introduced to Jesus by the apostle Paul. The book of Acts indicates that, on his second missionary journey, I joined Paul is one of his helpers. [1] I am the only non-Jewish writer of the New Testament. I’m pretty proud of this.

Some people think that I grew up in the city of Antioch and became acquainted with Paul when he ministered in that city. No one really knows, and I cannot remember. I was a medical doctor (Colossians 4:14), and many interpreters of your Bible have noticed that I have a great interest in medical matters. In addition, it’s been noted that I have a great interest in the miracles of Jesus, in his concern for the poor, and in his ministry and interest in Gentiles. My gospel, Luke, is filled with illustrations of my interest. [2]

At the beginning of my gospel, I indicate that, although many other people wrote Gospels, I decided to make a careful investigation of the life of Jesus and the birth of the church and to record this for a gentleman named “Theophilus,” which in Greek means “lover of God.” My gospel is for every person who loves God (Acts 1:1-5). In my gospel, I also indicate that I was relying upon eyewitness testimony (Acts 1:2). I don’t remember exactly whom I interviewed in writing my book. It may have been Mary, Zechariah, or Elizabeth, or all three, although many people believe that I interviewed Mary.

The Visitation.

Once again, because in your church it’s customary to read Scripture before a sermon, I want to read you just a little bit from my book beginning with chapter 1:26:

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her (Luke 1:26-38).

Prayer: God Who Speaks in His Word and Mighty Deeds: we come to you today asking that you would be with us by the power of your Holy Spirit that we might be filled with your spirit as was Mary in be the source of blessings for others.

Mary of Nazareth.

As I said a few minutes ago, I was a medical doctor, so naturally I was  interested in the stories that passed around among early Christians concerning the circumstances of Jesus’s birth. I have delivered a lot of babies in my day and knew a good bit about what you call gynecology, so I wanted to understand the way in which Jesus ws conceived and was born.

Many of you know that Paul was, for a time, imprisoned in Caesarea by the sea. Your pastor had a chance to visit Caesarea this summer. It is still a beautiful place. In my day, however, it was even more beautiful than it is today. Herod the Great, who you have heard many bad things about, was a complicated person. One of his good qualities was that he was one of the great builders of the ancient world. He built the last Temple in Jerusalem. Masada, Herodium, and Caesarea were among the most beautiful cities ever built. Caesarea was a seaport because it had a wonderful harbor. In addition, it was the headquarters of the Roman government during the time of Jesus and for many years thereafter. The apostle Paul was imprisoned at Caesarea for a time before he was sent to Rome (Acts 23:23ff).

While Paul was imprisoned in Caesarea, I had a great deal of time to begin work on what would become my gospel, Luke, and my story of the early church, Acts. Caesarea is close to the Galilee, where Nazareth is located. And so during this time I interviewed people who remembered the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. One of those stories, which many people believe I received from Mary herself, is the story of the visitation of the angel Gabriel.

It goes like this: In the spring of year in which Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel went to Nazareth, which was a town in the Galilee to a young woman, a virgin, who was pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, who was himself a descendent of King David. The virgin’s name was Mary. [3]

The angel began by telling her that she was “highly favored” (Luke 1:28). When Mary showed the same signs of trouble and fear that often accompany the coming of an angel, the angel reassured her telling her not to be afraid (v. 29). Then, he gave her amazing news: Mary was to be the mother of a child she was to call “Jesus” (v. 30-31). The name Jesus is the Greek form for Jesus’ name in Hebrew, which was “Joshua.” The name “Joshua” is important in Hebrew. “Joshua” literally means “The God Who Saves.” Joshua was the name of Moses his assistant, who was the greatest military leader of his day and led the Jews in conquering Israel after their wandering in the desert. [4]

Even more amazingly, the angel told Mary that this child would be called, “the Son of the Most High,” which was a Hebrew name for God (v. 32). He was also to receive the throne of his ancestor David and reign over the house of Jacob, or Israel, forever (V. 32-33). Mary’s son was to commence a kingdom that would never end! To any Jew, this would mean that he was to be their long awaited Messiah.

Just as Zechariah had a hard time understanding how he was to be a father, Mary had a hard time understanding how she could be a mother since she was a virgin (v. 34). The angel explained that the power of God was going to overshadow her and she would be with child (v. 35). A short time later, Mary discovered that she was pregnant.

You can imagine that this event was not without its problems. (Next week, Joseph is going to be here to tell you about his problems with the announcement. I was never able to interview Joseph because he was dead by the time I wrote my gospel.) This particular announcement, and the reality of her pregnancy, resulted in a substantial amount of gossip in the little town of Nazareth. Under Jewish law she might even have been stoned. Therefore, after a short while she made arrangements to visit her relative, Elizabeth, whose story you heard last week.

Mary and Elizabeth.

Last week, you heard the story of Elizabeth. As Zachariah told the story, you learned that, when Mary arrived at his home, John the Baptist leapt in the womb of Elizabeth, recognizing the power of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the child Mary was carrying. Then, suddenly, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and shouted out a blessing to Mary. The end of that blessing is important in understanding the character of Mary the mother of Jesus: “Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (v.45). Everyone I spoke to in writing my gospel emphasized that Mary’s defining characteristic was her humble faith in the God.

In response to this blessing, Mary spoke the words that Christians call the “Magnificat.” [5] Here is how I recorded it:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him,  from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things  but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,  remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors” (Luke 1:46-55).

I am not a Jew, and so I copied this particular passage, exactly as it was given to me. Scholars note that, while it is written in Greek, it bears the signs of having been spoken in Aramaic, the language of Jesus’s day. It is extremely Jewish. [6] The entire passage is designed to show how, through generation and generations of Jews, God was faithful to Abraham and his descendants (v. 55). It speaks of God as a Savior, a reference both to the Jewish notion that God will send a Savior, and to the name, “Yeshua,” the name of Jesus (v. 47). Mary also repeats that God has blessed her in her humiliation (v. 48). She recognizes that God, the Mighty One, does miracles (v. 51). And then she prophesies that the coming of Jesus will bring with it a change in the world. Those who ruled by force of the sword will be cast down. Those who are hungry will be fed. Those who are humble will be lifted up. God is doing a new thing in Jesus (vv. 51-54).

At this point, I’m going to stop my story of Mary and the birth of Jesus. On Christmas Eve, you will hear from one of the shepherds. He will tell you the rest of Mary’s story.

The Life of Mary Was Not Easy.

Many of you know, that in the Gospel of John, Jesus gives “the disciple Jesus loved,” or John, his mother to take care of after he was gone (John 19:25-27). There is a tradition in the Catholic Church that John made good on his promise. Tradition holds that Mary lived in Ephesus while John was the bishop there. There is also a tradition that Mary was buried near the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, as we all know, Mary’s life was not always easy. All of her life people gossiped about her and about her son and about the circumstances of his birth. We know from the Gospels that she was alive during Jesus’s ministry, and that Jesus’ family did not always understand who he was or what he was doing (Mark 3:31-35). Like us, she had to maintain her faith in the midst of her doubt and the doubt of others.

Mary lived to see both her husband and her son die. To lose a husband is a terrible thing, and to lose her firstborn son worse yet. In addition, her son did not die peaceful death but a terrible, torturous, painful death. Then, at an age when most women want to settle down into the home where they raised their children, surrounded by family, friends, and memories, Mary had to leave her home. Remember, that in Acts we learned that after the new church was formed there was a time of persecution and the church was scattered (Acts 8:1). Perhaps it was at this time that Mary left Israel with John and began her life as a pilgrim. Many people think she did not die in Nazareth surrounded by family and friends, but far away in Ephesus, where John was a bishop.

The Life of Faith.

The story of Mary teaches us a lesson that American Christians, and really all Christians, need to remember: The life of faith is a blessed life—but that does not mean that it’s always an easy life. So often we look at times of stress and discouragement as times when we are not being blessed. Often, that is true; however, sometimes our hard times are the source of blessing for others. Mary’s life was not easy; but it was blessed. Her humble faith blessed her family, her son, her church, and even the entire world. Wouldn’t it be great if we all had that kind of faith? Amen

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] In Acts 16, Paul has a vision while on this missionary trip. Up until Acts 19:10, the narrative is in the third person plural (“his companions”). Then suddenly the narrative shifts to the first person plural (“we”). Most scholars believe this indicates the point at which Luke is relying on his memory and journals for the narrative and not third person accounts. Therefore, it was at this time Luke probably joined Paul.

[2] The major source for the historical information in this sermon comes from William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke” in The Daily Bible Study Series, Rev. Ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1932, 1975), 1-16. See also, Robert H. Stein, “Luke” in the New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992), 35-88.

[3] Jesus birth cannot be exactly determined. Luke states that is was while Augustus was Caesar and Quirinius was Governor of Syria, during a census of that time (Luke 2:1). Though there are problems, somewhere around 6-4 B.C. fits these dates. One tradition is that Jesus was conceived in our March, “The sixth month” of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, which would comport with a December birth. No one knows.

[4] Joshua means “Jehovah Saves” (or YHWH saves). When Moses was near death, he chose Joshua to lead the people of Israel, which he did until his death according to the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament.

[5] In Latin, the first words of the poem are “Magnificat Anima me Dominum” or “My soul magnifies the Lord.” Since St. Ambrose translated Luke from Greek to Latin, the passage has been known by this name. The song is part of the Liturgy of the Hours in the Roman Catholic tradition and is sung and said in Protestant churches as well.

[6] See for an example, John Noland, “Luke 1:9:20” in The Word Bible Commentary Vol. 35A (Waco, TX: Word Press, 1989), 74-77. The terms, “Most High,” “Lord,” “God my Savior,” and the reference to David, as well as the form and the theology of the passage, point to an Aramaic/Jewish basis for the text.

Once again, I am embarrassed to say that, for the second week in a row I have been too lazy to write a blog. Fortunately, Zechariah, the Father of John the Baptist, who spoke at our Arlington campus last week, came to Cordova this past Sunday and I asked him to be a guest speaker. Here is approximately what he said:

Good morning! Let me introduce myself. My name is “Zachariah.” Last week, I was in Arlington, and your pastors asked me to come again to Cordova and talk about my wife Elizabeth. As you learned last week, I lived during the reign of Herod the Great, King of Judea (Luke 1:5). I was a priest and a descendent of Aaron (v. 5) As a priest, my job was to offer sacrifices and perform Jewish religious ceremonies. We priests maintained the Temple as the center of the Jewish religion.

My wife, Elizabeth, and I lived a few miles out of Jerusalem in a small place, where I had a plot of land and also worked growing food for our family. Elizabeth and I were both raised as devout Jews. We tried as best we could to obey the laws of Moses (v. 6), which is why we are referred to as “righteous” in your Bible. We were not perfect, but we tried to obey the instructions of Moses.

Unfortunately, we were childless (v. 7). As was common in our society, our friends and neighbors considered us to be cursed by God. Perhaps it was because our neighbors sometimes spoke of our parents or us as having committed some sin deserving punishment that we were so anxious to fulfill the law. Your pastors have told me of well meaning Christians who feel that serious disease is connected to sin and judgments. Unfortunately, as I have learned, the world is not that simple.

I cannot tell you how much I loved and respected my wife. She was always a source of help to me. Both of us had grown up in priestly families, and therefore, she understood my job and its demands (v. 5). She bore the gossip of our neighbors with fortitude and hid the sorrow in her heart from everyone but me. She was always diligent in prayer for our nation and looked forward to the day when God would send his Messiah to save us.

Elizabeth Meets Mary—and John Leaps in the Womb.

Most of you know a little bit of her story, and it is the most well known part of the story that I want to read to you this morning. Hear the Word of God as it comes from the Gospel according to Luke:

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:39-45).

 

Let us pray: God of Miracles, who can bring life from death and barrenness, come with your Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Life, that we may grow into your image. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

 

What Happened.

As was mentioned last week, on one occasion when I was on duty in the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared to me and told me that my wife and I would have a child whose name would be John. You would think that, as a priest, I would have received the message with faith. Instead, I doubted. I was old and beyond the age when I expected to have children, and Elizabeth was barren and also beyond the age where she could have children. There seemed to be no hope.

The angel did not appreciate my lack of trust in God; therefore, he told me that I would not be able to speak until the child was born. I went home speechless and unable to communicate. Fairly soon thereafter, Elizabeth told me that we were going to have a baby! At that point I knew that the message of the angel was true.

It was at this time that I realized the importance of faith and trust in God. I also realized that mere religiosity is not enough in the life of faith. Going to church, going to the temple, attending Bible studies, going to youth group, and the like, are no substitute for the adventure of the life of faith. During all this time, my respect for Elizabeth grew and grew. Unlike me, she never doubted the message of the Angel. She also never tried to impress our neighbors by holding over them miraculous circumstances of her conception.

For five months, she stayed indoors. During those months and months thereafter, I had a lot of time to watch Elizabeth and think about my life. To tell you to the truth, I had come to feel sorry for myself. I came from a prominent family, had an enviable job, and was a property owner. I loved Elizabeth and chose her. Nevertheless, as the years went by and I realized I might never have a son and heir, I was sometimes filled with regret. I’m not sure that God appreciated my feelings.

Who Elizabeth was Like: Sarah and Hannah

 One reason I feel ashamed of my lack of faith when the angel Gabriel announced the birth of our son is that I should have known better. As I mentioned earlier, I was a religious professional. I knew the story of Abraham and his wife Sarah, who though they were old and beyond the age of having children believed the promises of God and received Isaac after 25 years of waiting (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-1-6; 18:1-16; 21:1-7). I also knew the story of Elkanah and Hannah, who were barren and could not have children, and yet received the child Samuel, who became a great prophet and judge over Israel, in answer to their prayers (I Samuel 1:1-2:11).

I think that like many people, I assumed that answered prayers happen to someone else, not to me. I never thought of myself as a hero of the faith like Abraham. I thought of myself as an average Temple functionary who went to work in the morning and came home at night living out his days in relative obscurity. I wasn’t ready when God called me to experience the adventure of faith. Elizabeth, on the other hand, believed the promise and quietly went about her business until God fulfilled the prophecy that we would have a child. She was the real hero faith in our family.

The Great Meeting.

Without any question, the greatest event in my wife’s life, and the birth of our son John, was a meeting she had with Mary, her relative, when both were pregnant. After Elizabeth’s seclusion, when she was able to have guests, she received a note from Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph the carpenter in Nazareth, asking if she could come for a visit. Her note contained a most amazing story. Mary believed that she was with child by the Holy Spirit! Elizabeth promptly responded, inviting Mary to come to our house for a visit. Immediately, Mary made plans to visit us (v. 38).

When Mary arrived, she called out to Elizabeth as she was entering our home (v. 40).  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, she felt John the Baptist leap in her womb (v. 41). Suddenly, she was filled with the Holy Spirit! (v. 41). In a loud voice, which was unlike Elizabeth, she cried out, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child that you will bear!” (v. 42). Elizabeth could hardly believe that Mary was the mother of the Messiah and that the mother the Messiah had come to visit her! (v. 43). Elizabeth went on to tell Mary that God would bless her because she had believed the voice of the angel and agreed to be the mother of the Messiah (v. 45). You see, faith is an essential part of receiving God’s blessings.

Mary was so encouraged by these words that she began to speak a song that you Christians call, “The Magnificat.” Here is some of what Mary said that day:

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his Name. (Luke 1:46-49).

In this great song of praise, Mary worships and thanks God for blessing her.

Mary stayed with us about three more months, after which she returned to Nazareth. At this point, all that was left of our story was the birth of our son, John, which you heard about last week. The most amazing part of that story is the fact that I, who am not a prophet nor a poet, was able to sing what is been called the “Song of Zechariah” praising God for the birth of John, who would fulfill the role of Elijah in the coming of the Messiah, and for the deliverance of my people that would come to the hands of the Son of David, who I now believed would be the child of my wife’s relatives, Mary!

Lessons we Can Learn.

I have been in heaven for many years now, but I lived long enough to know that many other strange things happened surrounding the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. By watching my wife, and thinking about all that I have learned during these years, I’ve come to some conclusions about what it means to be a disciple of God:

• First of all, I have learned that it is important to be open to God. If we do not open our hearts to the voice of God we will never hear the voice of Angels or, more commonly, the quiet voice of God speaking in our hearts.
• When we hear the voice of God speaking in our hearts, whether in words or in silence, it is important to obey. God honors us when we respond to his voice, sometimes even if we don’t really understand what he’s saying.
• When I watched my wife so filled with the Holy Spirit upon her meeting with Mary, I realized I had not placed much emphasis on asking the Spirit of God to come in to my life and transform me. Elizabeth was able to recognize the Messiah because she was filled with the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t able to recognize the voice of God in the message of Gabriel because I was only religious.
•  Finally, the reason you have this story is because Mary, Elizabeth or I (I can’t remember which on of us now) told and retold the story. Eventually, a man named Luke interviewed one of us, or someone to whom we told the story, and wrote it down in your Bible. That is why my story is in your scripture today. It is important to pass along the stories of our faith.

Conclusion.

 I understand your church desires to share gospel from generation to generation. I am sure you can achieve this because throughout the more than 2000 years since my story occurred, people have told what happened to Zachariah and Elizabeth to their children. Of course, we are only a small part of the Big Story God has been telling ever since he called Abraham and Sarah to leave their home and go to a land he would show them. It is a story of how God blesses those who trust and obey him. None of us is completely obedient. The only one who was completely obedient was Jesus who went to the cross so that we might be restored to fellowship with God. My story is over; but your story is still being written. I hope you will tell it to others. They need to hear it. Amen

Copyright, 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserv ed

Normally, there is a difference between the sermon of the week and the blog posted for the week. This week, this was not possible due to Thanksgiving and the fact that I was at Advent @ Arlington, where there was a guest speaker, Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary the mother of Jesus. I tried to take good notes, and here is approximately what was said:

Good morning! Let me introduce myself. My name is “Zachariah.” Many of you have never heard of me, for I am primarily known as the father of John the Baptist. I’ve come here this morning to help you understand a little bit more about my walk as a disciple of God, which I hope will help you in your discipleship walk.

Your pastor told me that you have the custom of reading scripture before the sermon, and so I am going to read you my story before I tell it to you. Here is how the Gospel of Luke tells the first part of my story:

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time” (Luke 1:5-20).

Prayer: God of Miracles: Come to us today and open our hearts as we hear the story of the birth of John the Baptist. Convict us. Convert us. Make is wholly your people. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Zechariah: A Committed Disciple

On the surface, you may not think that we have much in common. I lived long time ago during the reign of Herod the Great, King of Judea (Luke 1:5). I was a priest and a descendent of Aaron (v. 5) As a priest, my job was partially to serve in the temple courts. I offered sacrifices and performed Jewish ceremonies. We priests maintained the Temple as the center of the Jewish religion.

My wife and I lived a few miles out of Jerusalem in a small place, where I had a plot of land and also worked growing food for our family. My wife’s name was Elizabeth. Elizabeth and I were both raised as devout Jews. We tried as best we could to obey the laws of Moses (v. 6), which is why we are referred to as “righteous” in your Bible. We were not perfect, but we tried to obey the instructions of Moses. Unfortunately, we were childless (v. 7). As was common in our society, our friends and neighbors considered us to be cursed by God.

Encountering an Angel

One day, when my team of priests was on duty at the temple, I went in to burn incense on the altar of God (vv. 9-10). [1] Outside, there were a number of worshipers praying (v. 10). As I began to burn the incense, an angel from God appeared to me, standing right beside the altar upon which I was burning incense (v. 11). When I saw this magnificent being, unlike anything on earth, I was filled with fear (v. 12). The angel, recognize my fear and said, “Do not be afraid Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give you a son and you are to name him John” (v. 13). The angel went on to tell me that this son of mine was going to be a joy not just to me, but all the people of our country (14-15)

By the time the angel finished, it was obvious to me that he was talking about a mighty prophet, because he said that my son was to never drink wine or any fermented drink and would be filled with the Holy Spirit of God (v. 15). My son was to go before the Lord God in the spirit and power of our Prophet Elijah, and turn, the hearts of children to their fathers and the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of righteousness (v. 17). [2] My son was to prepare the way of the Lord, which I took to mean that he would be the one to announce the Messiah in the Spirit of Elijah as foretold by our prophets.

Human Unbelief

This is where you and I may have more in common than you suppose. As a Jew, I knew all about the miraculous birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah in their old age (Gen. 16:1, 17: 1-21; 18:9-15; 21:1-8). I also knew about the birth of the Prophet Samuel, despite the infertility of his mother, Hannah (I Samuel 1:1-20). Therefore, you would think that I would understand the power of God to open a barren womb. Nevertheless, I replied to the angel indicating that this was not possible, since I was an old man and Elizabeth was beyond the childbearing years (v. 18).

The angel must have realized my wavering faith. He announced to me that his name was “Gabriel,” which means “one who stands in the presence of God” (v. 19). He told me that he had been sent specifically to me, and since I did not accept the promise of God as it had been given to me, I would be silent until the day my child was born (v. 20). Then, the angel disappeared.

Outside the temple, the crowd was amazed. They realized that something had happened in the temple, because I kept trying to tell them about the angel by making signs but I couldn’t speak (vv. 21-22). When I returned home I stayed there for a time, since my time of service in the Temple was completed that very day. Elizabeth became pregnant just as the angel had foretold, and she was very happy (23-24). For five months after she became pregnant, Elizabeth remained in the house (v. 24). Mary, the mother of Jesus, visited her during the time of her pregnancy (vv. 39-56). Since I could not speak, we learned to communicate through signs and writing. Eventually, I was able to let her know that our son should be named John.

God is Faithful to His Promise

When the day came for our child to be born, sure enough, we had a son (v. 57)! Everyone in the community was glad for us, because they realized that God had opened up Elizabeth’s barren womb and showed mercy to us, removing the curse that left us childless (v. 58). It was a miracle and everyone knew it.

On the eighth day, as is customary among my people, friends and family gathered to circumcise our child. All of our friends and relatives wanted to name him “Zechariah” after me and over thirteen important people in our nation’s history, including the prophet Zechariah, who wrote one of the most important books in your Bible (v. 59). [3] However, Elizabeth spoke up and said, “No, he is to be called John’” (v. 60). No one in our family had ever been named John before. After arguing for a while, they came to me and asked what I wanted to name the child. I wrote down “His name is John” (v. 63). At that very moment, I was able to speak and began to praise God. Our neighbors and family were filled with awe (vv. 64-5) and people talked for days about what happened in our household. It was obvious to everyone that this was going to be a special child (v. 66).

Song of Zechariah

As I began to speak, I was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to prophesy (v. 67). This surprised everyone. I was not a prophet; I was a priest. I was never gifted with the ability to foresee the future or speak inspired words. I sacrificed animals and performed religious rites. Yet, in that moment I was able to speak the very words of God to those around me. I began to praise God and thank Him, because I knew that in my son, John, was someone special. I knew that John, being a Levite like his parents, would not be the Messiah. But I did believe that John was to announce that God had provided for the salvation of our people in the birth of a son of David, someone from the house and linage of King David. I eventually came to believe that Messiah was Jesus, who was the son of Elizabeth’s cousin, Mary.

I had no way to speak about the coming of the Messiah except that for me it meant my people would be saved from all of our enemies and God’s kingdom would be established, a kingdom of holiness and righteousness. As I looked down my son, I began to praise and prophesy about him. Here are the exact words that I said:

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us  in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies  and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear  in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death,to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:68-79).

These words of mine have become famous as “The Song of Zechariah.” Priests, monks, nuns, and others repeat these words every day all over the world. Although I did not believe Gabriel when he first appeared to me, God was gracious and showed mercy to me and, through Elizabeth and me, to all of my people—and even to you.

My Closing Words

As I said in the beginning, I am more like you than you might imagine. Although I was a religious leader and trained to serve God in his temple, I still had to learn what it really means to have faith. Like many of you, I thought faith was an idea or some belief I accepted as true. Like some of you, my faith was something I believed I had inherited from my parents and their parents. It was not until the angel appeared to me, not to Abraham or to someone else who would have to have faith, but to me, did I come to understand what faith is.

During those long months of silence, I had plenty of time to ponder what it means to have faith. I realize that faith was not about what we know but about trusting in God, so that what we believe in becomes present to us in our hearts even though we may not yet have received what faith promises (Hebrews 11:1-2). I can’t tell you how many times during the nine months Elizabeth was pregnant I could hardly believe that the promises of God were true. However, in my silence, and in my thinking, I came to trust God.

There was a second thing I realized as a result of what happened to me. I was a priest. Naturally, as a priest I spent a lot of time at the Temple. In addition, I knew all of the liturgies, the customs, the sacrifices, and the holidays of my people. When the Bible describes me as a “righteous person” part of what they mean is that I was able to live as Moses had asked that priests live. However, in my moment of testing, when an angel of the Lord appeared to me personally, all of that did not help me believe. I have come to understand that rites and rituals, as important as they are, are no substitute for faith. It’s important that we bring our children to church, or in my day the Temple, but Temple or church attendance is no substitute for faith. It’s important that we try to do the right thing in life, but moral behavior is no substitute for faith. Faith is a living relationship with the living God. It changes everything. It certainly changed my life.

Amen

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] After many generations of descendants of Aaron, there were too many priests to have all of them working in the temple at the same time. Therefore, there were twenty-four “divisions” or teams of priests who took turns serving in the temple. It was a great honor to burn incense during this service, so this was a day of honor for Zechariah. See, William Barclay, “Luke” in The Daily Bible Study Series Rev. Ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1975), 9-10.

[2] The phrase “wisdom of righteousness” is important, for it is one of the places in Scripture were it can be seen that the ancient Jews did not see the teaching of Moses as something different (religious truth) and separate from the kind of wisdom that brings success in life. True wisdom is found in the “Torah,” or “instruction,” “teachings,” or “law” of God.

[3] See, Harper’s Bible Dictionary Revised and Updated (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins, 2011), among other sources.

A great quality we can develop as Christians is thankfulness. In one of his earliest letters to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote, “We always give thanks to God for you and pray to God for you” (I Thessalonians 1:3). In his last letter, he writes to Timothy, “How I thank God for you, Timothy” (2 Timothy 1:3). In between, Paul often—almost always—gives thanks to God. In Ephesians, he says, “Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). Paul learned to be thankful in all situations and conditions of life (Philippians 4:11-12). We live in a land of unbelievable prosperity; but few are thankful, truly thankful, to the One who made it all possible. This is too bad because thankfulness is a virtue and a gift of the Spirit of God.

Thankfulness in All Circumstances

Our text for this blog is from Second Timothy. Second Timothy is not a book many of us read; however, it is a surprisingly important letter. While researching this passage, I came upon the following quote from John Calvin:

“This book has been more profitable to me than any other book of Scripture—and it is more profitable to me every day. If anyone examines this book carefully, there can be no doubt they will experience the same effect.”  [1]

 

Second Timothy is very likely Paul’s last letter.  He was in prison, probably in Rome, where he would soon be martyred. [2]  Almost alone and nearing the end of his life, he wrote this letter to Timothy. Timothy was an important person in the New Testament Church. He is listed as the co-writer with Paul of Second Corinthians, Philippians, First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, and Philemon. In addition, two letters, First and Second Timothy are addressed to Timothy. These two pastoral letters contain Paul’s most intimate conversation about the church and its leadership.

Many Christians believe Paul converted Timothy’s family.  At least be discipled Timothy. Timothy joined Paul during his Second Missionary Journey (Acts 16:1-3) and was a partner of Paul’s from that time foreword. During the Third Missionary Journey, Timothy was active in helping the Macedonian church (Acts 17:14). When Paul went on to Athens, Timothy later joined him there (18:5). Timothy was with Paul at least a part of the time he was imprisoned in Rome (Col.1: 1; Phil. 1:1; Phile. 1). At the end of Second Timothy, Paul gives his most touching personal invitation for Timothy to come quickly before winter (4:21). Paul seems to foresee that his death is immanent, and most scholars believe Second Timothy to be his last letter. Timothy was like a son to Paul, a son in Jesus Christ.

Here is how Paul begins the letter:

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God (2 Timothy 1:1-8, NIV).

Paul: An Apostle of Thankfulness

Second Timothy really is a wonderful book. Throughout the book, it is obvious that Paul is suffering. He is a prisoner in Rome, and many people he knew and loved have deserted him (4:9), betrayed and harmed him (4:14), and are ashamed of him (1:8). He is so beaten down that he believes that his life is being poured out like a drink offering  (4:6). He knows that he will soon die (4:17). Nevertheless, Paul is thankful for Timothy, for Christ, for the church, and for what he has been given to do by Christ.

This thankfulness of Paul is not a new thing. Paul is almost always thankful. I read the beginning of First Thessalonians at the beginning of this sermon. Most scholars believe that First Thessalonians is the earliest of Paul’s letters. In between First Thessalonians and Second Timothy, we have thirteen or so letters of Paul. Of those letters, Paul expresses thanksgiving in some way in all but three. [3] Most often, Paul ties thanksgiving with his prayers for the people of the church, as if Paul’s thankfulness derives from his prayer life—something we might emulate. [4] Prayer almost always results in thankfulness.

Paul is thankful in prison, in times of stress, when he is abandoned, when the Gospel has been betrayed, and because he has developed this quality he can say, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Philippians 4:12). We need to develop this kind of thankfulness.

Real Blessings

There are things that may appear to be blessings that are not really blessings at all. So much time in our culture is spent on thinking that blessings are things or accomplishments, or pleasurable experiences. It is a blessing to have some things, but there are things that are not blessings at all—food is a blessing, but too much food is not, wine is a blessing, but too much wine is not, physical health and the ability to exercise is a blessing, but too much exercise is not. Money, possessions, pleasure—all the things that our society worships—are not necessarily blessings. In fact they can be the reverse.

In connection with Salt & Light, I’ve been doing a study of blessings and what constitutes the blessed life. I think almost everyone wants to live the blessed life, but few people in our day and time have any idea what it means to be blessed or to live the blessed life. Blessings and the blessed life have their root in God. Over and over again in the Old Testament fellowship with God, following God, and imitating God are connected to blessing and the blessed life. Listen to how Psalms begins:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers (Psalm 1:1-3, ESV).

 

God is the source of blessings, which is why we have a hymn entitled, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” [5] God is the author not just of some of our blessings, or of our spiritual blessings, God is the fount of every blessing. It is God who created the world, gave us the gift of life, sustained us until today, sent his Son to show us the way to fellowship with the Father, and gave himself for us on the Cross.

We live the blessed life when we live out the life of a disciples and are thankful for God, for the Good News that God loves all human beings and wants them to live with him forever, for the gift of life, for our families and loved ones, for our faith, for the fellowship we have in our church and in the Christian community, for the sense of purpose in life, for the hope we have because of the cross of Christ and for the promise of the resurrection. The blessed life is a thankful life!

Consequences of Losing our Thankfulness

One of the saddest things about our nation is the loss of thankfulness for our ancestors, for the faith that sustained them, and for the blessings we have even though we do not have everything we could each imagine having. Recent disregard for our Constitution and for the sacrifices others made for our freedoms because of perceived flaws in their beliefs or behavior are symptoms of this lack of thankfulness for the past achievements of our ancestors, as we have the capacity to do better, which it is likely we do not!

As we have become increasingly secular, increasingly materialistic, increasingly hedonistic, and increasing therapeutic as a society, we have become obsessively self-centered and increasingly unbalanced. During a conversation this week the pastors were talking about our increasingly narcissistic society—a society in which everyone is focused on themselves and they desires. A narcissistic, self-centered society cannot possibly be a happy, blessed, our even stable society. [6]

You might ask what would a narcissistic society look like? The answer is, “It would look a lot like our society.” The consequence of losing our humility and our sense that our blessings come from God results in a culture of self-centeredness, in which people seek their own happiness at the expense of others. A narcissistic society is a society alienated from God and from others. A narcissistic society is one in which there are many broken relationships as people focus on themselves. A narcissistic society is a society in which there is discord caused by various class and social conflicts as each part of society feels “entitled” to more. A narcissistic society is a society in which there is violence, both domestic and social, caused by the anger at not having others recognize our “right” to money, power, and pleasure. A narcissistic society is a society very much like the one we are creating and have been busy creating for many years.

Conclusion: Salt & Light

When I was writing this month’s church newsletter I mentioned that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I have unusually fond memories of Thanksgivings as a child, a youth, and an adult. It so happens that my most vivid memory is of Thanksgiving 2000, my father’s last Thanksgiving. It was not a perfect day, but we had a nice meal, talking, and played our traditional hard fought game of World Domination. My brother, as usual, won.

I mentioned another memory in the newsletter. This is a memory of a picture I saw at a family reunion many years ago of my Shepherd uncles and part of my Mother’s family celebrating Thanksgiving 1945. The picture was taken of my mother and her cousins. It is an old black and white photo. The men are still in their uniforms. It was a cloudy day. The farmland is cold, dark, and bleak. However, the smiles on their faces say it all—they are just so thankful that the war is over and the family is together again.

My mother was born in 1921. She grew up in a home in which she was abused by her mother. By the time she was eight, our nation was in the midst of the Great Depression. By the time she turned twenty-one, America was in World War II. When the boys got home, that is by Thanksgiving 1945, it was pretty obvious that the world was not going back to the way it once was. Of the six young people in the picture, exactly one would be able to survive on the family farms. The rest would leave and start over.

The suffering was not over: there would be Korea, health issues, accidents, Vietnam, several recessions, the drug culture, and children who fell into bad habits. Nevertheless, I cannot remember a Thanksgiving in which both my parents were not thankful. At the end of Mom’s life, she was still thankful despite all the bad things she endured.

My mother and father were not overtly religious most of the time, but inside they had a deep and abiding faith that kept them thankful and going on. We need to develop these same qualities in our day. Like Paul, we need to develop a thankfulness that is not dependent upon current circumstances. We need to remember that true blessings may take a generation or more, even many generations, to fully emerge. We need to remember that we are only tenants of this good earth, not its permanent owners. We need to remember that our hope is with God, who we will enjoy forever. In remembering our blessings, we will become a truly thankful people.

Copyright, 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

I’ve mentioned before in this blog that this summer we returned home only to find that lightning had struck our house! In the end, we replaced a number of appliances. However, before we replaced the appliances we tried to have them fixed. In order to have them fixed, we called repairmen. My father was pretty handy around the house, and fixed almost everything that was broken. Unfortunately, I did not inherit his talent. Therefore, whenever anything breaks we have to call the repairman. Whenever we call the repairman, he or she will say something like, “He’ll be there sometime between 8 AM and Noon Monday or Tuesday of next week.” Most of the time, this doesn’t bother me because Kathy stays home and waits for the repairman to come; however, that is not always the case. After hours of waiting hoping the repairmen will come early, there’s always the temptation to run an errand, or walk around the pond, or do something to eliminate the boredom. Sure enough, if I ever fall victim to these temptations and do something besides wait, that is the exact time the repairman comes and I miss him.

This weekend, we had a men’s retreat that focused on what we do in the “dash” of our lives. The dash metaphor is taken from the fact that tombstones list our day of birth and our day of death with a dash in between. Yet, those two dates matter much less than what we do in the meantime—in the dash so to speak. [1] The life of a disciple is similar: from time to time, and at the end of our lives, we do experience the presence and power of God. There are times of great spiritual excitement and growth. They are great. However, we also spend time waiting—and that time makes up most of our lives, indeed the most important part of our lives are spent in the dash. A part of the difficulty of the “dash” is that we must remain faithful at times when God may seem absent or uninterested.

Are you Ready?

Luke 12:35-48 is a difficult passage. The first five verses are about servants generally. The second seven versus are a response to a question asked by Peter (v. 41). Both passages emphasize the importance of diligence in a servant, though the second part deals with leaders as much as with disciples. With that background, here is our text for the week:

Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?” The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Luke 12:35-48).

The Importance of Wise Diligence

Downton Abbey is not as popular as once it was, but for the time it was necessary for me to schedule my Sunday night Bible study so that we could be home in time to see each episode! As you probably know, Downton Abbey is the story of the wealthy Crawley family through several generations in the early 20^th Century. My two favorite characters are Mr. Carson, who is the head Butler, and Mrs. Hughes, who is the head housekeeper. The two of them symbolize the dignity and efficiency of British butlers and housekeepers at the height of the British Empire. Their quiet love for each other, diligence, and loyalty to their employers have been my favorite part of the story. [2]

Jesus told many parables in which he speaks of good and wise servants, comparing them wicked and foolish servants. For example, Jesus tells parables that are designed to show us that scribes and Pharisees, who claimed to be serving God, were not good servants. He told parables in which wicked servants kill the master’s son (Luke 20:9-19). He told parables in which wise servants faithfully invest the master’s money (Matthew 25:14-30). Today’s text is a parable about what it means to be a faithful disciple of Jesus, and to take seriously our responsibilities for other disciples.

In the ancient world, for a man do physical work, he had to grab the edge of his robe and tie it around his waist. This was known as, “girding your waist.” In the New International Version, this idea is translated, “Be dressed and ready for service.” I happen to like the older translation better, but the idea is the same. In order to do any kind of work, we need to be dressed and ready to work. A wise servant is ready at all times to meet any legitimate request from his or her employer, or in Jesus’ day, “Master.” In this particular story, like the Parable of the Ten Virgins, we are reminded that Jesus may need us and come to us at any time (Matthew 25:1-13). Therefore, we should be about our masters business and ready to serve him at any time. Spiritually speaking, this means that we need to be filled with God’s Wisdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we will not be properly equipped to serve Christ.

The Importance of Being Filled with the Spirit

In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, and in today’s parable, Jesus urges believers to keep their lamps burning. In the ancient world, lamps were often shallow bowls made of pottery. (Our church’s Salt & Light logo incorporates that ancient symbol in its flame.) Because lamps were small and shallow, it was necessary to keep them filled with oil. Without oil, a lamp would go out and leave a person in the darkness at an inopportune time.

From ancient times, oil has been a symbol for the Holy Spirit. In other words, this parable begins by teaching us that a servant is diligent and wise because he or she remains filled with the Holy Spirit. Discipleship is not a matter of works, although it involves doing good works. Discipleship is a matter of grace as God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, works in our lives empowering us to live the Christian life.

There is an element of discipline in discipleship; however, more important than discipline is a disciple’s continued attachment to the master by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 13:5). Our attachment to God is through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit that comes into our lives as we believe in God and open our lives to the enlightening and empowering grace of his love and wisdom. We simply cannot live out the Christian life without the Spirit of God helping us. When we attempt to do otherwise, we always fail.

The power to live out the Christian life comes from God by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am sure that we’ve all had the experience of beginning a Christian work by the power of the Holy Spirit but ending up trying to do it our own power. It never works. We always burn out. It is only when we come back to God and allow God to fill us again so that we find the ability to continue. This week, we had another retreat. A member and I went to Alabama to spend two days at a convent. My special prayer was that God fill me with his Spirit again because you cannot live the Christian life successfully on your own.

The Reality of Accountability

The hardest part of this text for modern ears involves the passages relating to the master’s judgment. [3] Jesus describes the faithful and wise manager as one the master finds diligently serving his fellow servants when he returns. Jesus also describes two other kinds of servants:

1. First, he describes a servant who notes that the master has taken a long time in returning, concludes the master will not return, beats the other servants, and eats their food (Luke 12:45). In very harsh language, Jesus says the master will simply cut such a person to pieces in the judgment (v. 46).
2. There is a second kind of servant, however. This servant is simply clueless. This kind of servant never bothered to learn what the master wanted and so does not fulfill the master’s bidding. The servant is also punished, though not as harshly (v. 48).

It is not a good idea to focus on the punishments. Jesus is using a form of hyperbola common in Scripture to emphasize that unfaithful, harsh, lazy, and foolish servants will not be rewarded for their behavior. This passage, like the passage in which Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven should not be taken literally, but should be taken as a way of Jesus emphasizing the importance of what he is saying and the dangers of disobedience.

Not long ago, Kathy shared with me a graphic that describes what are sometimes called, “Carnal Christians.” On throne of the Carnal Christian’s life is him or herself. Jesus is present only on the periphery of the Carnal Christian’s life. He or she may attend church or Bible studies, they may be active in some areas of service, but their faith is not central to their life. It is simply one among many ways such a person finds fulfillment. In many ways, the Carnal Christian is no better off than an unbeliever: out of fellowship with God, such a person is also out of fellowship with other human beings and with nature. They are even out of fellowship with their own deepest needs. The result is discord, frustration, alienation, and broken relationships. The random dots in the illustration represent the disorder of the Self-Directed Life.

There is a natural accountability in life. If we do not put Christ at the center of our lives, inevitably we put our selfish desires and ourselves on the throne. When we do this, we suffer the consequences. It is not that God is judging us, like a harsh unfeeling human judge. Instead, we are simply receiving the consequences of our own decisions. The judgments of the unfaithful servants are just what happen when we do not really and truly follow Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Blessing of Wise Disciples

The element of God’s grace, and the blessing of wise and faithful servants, is emphasized in two places in today’s reading. In the first half of our parable, when the master returns and finds his servants waiting for him, instead of asking them to serve him, he has them recline at the table for a banquet, and then unexpectedly serves them (Luke 12:37)! We would imagine that the reason the servants were awake late when the master returned from the wedding banquet was to serve the master! It turns out, however, that God, after returning from the wedding banquet of his church, blesses his servants, the members of that church and serves them.

In the first part of the parable, Jesus returns to a metaphor he often uses. The Kingdom of God is like a Great Banquet in which a master invites everyone to attend and blesses everyone who attends, rich or poor, deserving or undeserving, socially acceptable or not socially acceptable (Matthew 22:1-14; Luke 14:15-24). All those who respond to the master’s invitation are invited to the banquet and the master serves them.

In the second half of the teaching, when the master returns and finds his servant faithfully serving others, he blesses such a servant and puts him or her in charge of everything that he possesses (Luke 12:44). This is reminiscent of the Parable of the Talents, where the faithful servants are put in charge of even greater things because of their faithfulness in smaller things (Matthew 25:14-30).

On a basic level, our text is about disciples, and especially Christian leaders, faithfully living out the task of being a disciple, bringing others to Christ, and discipling them—undertaking the task of feeding God sheep. Historically, it is about the failure of the scribes, the Pharisees, and the priests to properly feed the people of God (Matthew 21:33-46). Christ desires his servants, the Church, to do a better job. [4]

The Christian church has always seen today’s text as concerning the return of Christ and the final judgment. However, on a deeper spiritual level, this parable is about the coming of Christ into our lives at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. It is about the little judgments that we all receive due to our unfaithfulness. It is about always being ready to give account of ourselves in every circumstance.

Once again, there is a counterpart to the little graphic that I mentioned earlier. In this graphic Christ is on the throne of our lives. As a result, our lives are well ordered spiritually, and we are filled with the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, self-control, and the other gifts of the Spirit (See, Galatians 5:22-25). Just as the judgments of life are the natural result of unfaithfulness to God, the blessings of life are the natural result of our faithfulness to God. When we are filled with God’s spirit and living wisely on the basis of God’s love shown to us in Christ, we are blessed and we will naturally share this blessing with others.

There are two endings to today’s parable: The first half ends with Jesus saying, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Luke 12:40). The entire teaching is with Jesus saying, “From everyone who is been given much, much will be demanded; and from one who has been entrusted with much more will be asked” (v. 48). Both of these our reminders of what God will do for us if we faithfully live out our calling to be Spirit empowered followers of Christ.

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] See, Linda Ellis, “The Dash” (1996). The key part of this text goes like this:

“For If our hearts are full of love/throughout our journey here,/we’ll be loved by all who knew us/and our memory they’ll hold dear./And when we die, these memories/will bring grateful, loving tears,/to all whose lives were touched/by the dash between our years.”

This is a poem I recommend everyone read. it can be found in numerous places on the internet. The founder of our church often reads this poem at funerals, which is where I first heard it.

[2] See, Downton Abbey, Masterpiece Theatre, BBC J. Fellows, R Eaton, N. Marchant, & G. Neame (Executive Producers (New York: PBS, 2010- Present).

[3] The second half of the parable, involves Jesus responding to Peter’s question, Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?” (v. 41). In response, Jesus turns his focus to a chief steward who is left in charge of the household and is responsible to feed the other servants.

[4] In other words, those who have received the forgiveness of sins, been baptized, received the Holy Spirit and been instructed in the ways of God ought to faithfully proclaim that Gospel and help others receive the benefits of God’s wisdom and love.

As I was preparing this blog, I read a story about a young boy. His mother made a special dessert for a party the family was giving. She told her son not to eat the desert because it was for dinner later. When he was discovered, he explained that his teeth accidentally got caught in the desert while he was smelling it! [1]

Human beings are pretty much alike. We get similar kinds of trouble. The story of the little boy and the dessert is cute. The trouble we adults get into is not so cute. In fact, the results of our falling into temptation can be devastating for ourselves and everyone around us.

Not long ago, someone sent me a prayer request that was almost identical to a prayer request many years ago. Some years ago, a Houston magazine ran a story about a young executive. She was pretty, bright, and professional. She worked long hours. Naturally, there was a lot of tension. She began to drink to unwind. Over the course of time, the drinking got worse. Her marriage ended. Her drinking got worse. Her job performance suffered. Her drinking got worse. She lost her job, and her new job was not nearly so good as her last job. Her drinking got worse. She drifted from job to job and relationship to relationship. One day, she hit someone and killed them driving while intoxicated. She was indicted for manslaughter, convicted, and a promising career was over.

This blog is about temptation and how a serious Christian lifestyle can protect us from temptation and its results. We should pray, “Deliver us from evil;” however, we should also live in such a way that we are likely to be delivered. Too many of us are like the young Augustine who is said to have prayed that God would deliver him from temptation, but not yet.” [2] We want to see Heaven if there is one, but we don’t want to give up our secret sins. We want to be seen as Christians by our friends and family, bet we don’t want to take the steps that will truly change us deep in our hearts.

Life After Baptism

In Luke chapter 3 Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came upon him like a dove and a voice from heaven verified that he was God’s Son, with whom God was well pleased (Luke 3:21-22). Then, immediately, the Holy Spirit led him into the wilderness for a time of tempting (4:1). Our text today is from Luke, chapter 4, and I will begin reading with the first verse:

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.” The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him (Luke 4: 1-15).

The Temptations of Life

All of us some of the time (and some of us a lot of the time!) face temptations. These temptations can be great, like the story with which I began, or small. They can have significant impact on our lives or the impact can be pretty insignificant. However, the impact is never without its dangers: The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the story of temptation, self-centered action, and consequences. It’s also a story that illustrates how serious consequences can be from seemingly small actions.

Hopefully, today’s story is one with which we can relate. We are tempted, and Jesus was tempted. Unfortunately, this is also a story we can avoid applying to our lives. When we read of Jesus’ temptations, we can mistakenly believe that these temptations were for Jesus alone, and we will never be faced with anything like them because we are not the Christ, the Son of God. We could not be more wrong.

There are three temptations set out it the story of Jesus’ temptation:

1. The temptation to turn rocks into bread;
2. The temptation to worship the devil to receive the kingdoms in the world; and
3. The temptation to cast himself off the top of the Temple, and allow angels to catch him as he fell.

Although these three temptations may seem far from us, they involve three kinds of temptation we all fall into. I would describe them like this:

1. The temptation to live solely on the basis of our physical and emotional needs;
2. The temptation to worship success or accomplishment; and
3. The temptation to put God to the test.

You may think you don’t do these things; however, in one way or another, we all do.

Jesus was human just like we are. After 40 days of fasting, he was hungry. It would’ve been easy to see this first temptation as harmless—kind of like Samantha in Bewitched. [3] If you remember the show, then you remember that Samantha was forever swearing that she would never use her magical powers again, only to do so whenever she got herself in trouble. When faced with temptation, we can be like Samantha. We say we will never do it again, but we can’t resist the temptation to take a shortcut. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts in the life of a discipleship.

This temptation is about more than bread. It’s about our human tendency to do almost anything, moral or immoral, to meet our physical and emotional needs. Psychologists who have studied human behavior have seen that our fundamental drives are so powerful that they can cause us to do things we believe immoral or which we otherwise would never do.

Bread can be more than just physical bread. It can be our normal desire for friendship, for marriage, for intimacy, for relaxation, for a sense of well-being. There is nothing wrong with any of these things except when we ignore the spiritual and moral side of our character in seeking to fulfill our natural desire.

The second temptation is the temptation to make an idol of success, power, or money. Once again there’s nothing wrong with success, power, or money; however, we are often tempted to corners just to get ahead. We say to ourselves, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” We have a natural tendency to make an idol of success and slowly but surely fall to the temptations we face. Those of us who are naturally competitive or desire success are especially vulnerable to this temptation.

Finally, there is the temptation to throw ourselves off the temple walls to see if God will save us. This is one many people may at first denied applies to them. However,  we’ve all known people who disregarded common sense, saying, “I’m just trusting God.”  Often, these are spiritual people who want to be seen as spiritual and in contact with God in a special way.

Whenever we take a dangerous or foolish  course of action—a course we know is not advisable—and then say to ourselves, “I’ll just trust God,” we are putting God to the test. If my doctor tells me that I have diabetes and I should not eat sugar or drink again, and I ignore him, I am throwing myself off the temple walls. If you sit down and think about it, there are many ways we put God to the test.

A Temptation Killing Lifestyle

The best place to begin in thinking about how we, like Jesus, can resist the temptations of our culture and live balanced, wise lives is to  remember and understand this story. When Jesus was confronted by the devil, He was in the wilderness fasting and praying, driven there by the Holy Spirit. In other words, Jesus was in a time of deep fellowship with God. If we are to avoid temptation we also need  to be in a deep, constant fellowship with God.

The first  habit of the balanced life we can develop is the habit of prayer, even the habit of prayer combined with fasting. We can begin and end our days in prayer. We can pray regularly during the day. We can take special times to pray. Prayer is always the first and best line of defense against temptation.

The second thing we can do to protect ourselves against temptation is to read and memorize Holy Scripture. Three times the devil tempted Jesus, and three times he responded by quoting from the Old Testament. When tempted to turn stones into bread, he remembered that human beings do not live by bread alone (Deut. 8:3). When tempted to worship the devil and receive all the kingdoms of the world, he remembered that we are commanded to worship God alone (Deut. 6:13). When tempted to perform a miraculous sign and have angels rescue him, he remembered that we are not to test God (Deut. 6:16). Jesus was saturated in Scripture. He had memorized it, and even more importantly, he had lived it until it had become a part of his whole being. [4]

Third thing we can do is center our days and weeks in worship. Scripture assures us that Jesus was in the habit of worship. He worshiped in the Temple in Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-52; Matthew, 21:12; Luke 21:37; John 2:13-22). He worshiped in the synagogue of his hometown (Luke 4:16). In Acts, we are told that the early disciples continued the practice of worship in the temple, in synagogues, and in homes. [5] The apostle Paul was accustomed to worshiping in local synagogues. [6] Public, communal worship is a time of fellowship, of song, of learning, of prayer, and of strengthening so that we can meet the pressures of life. We should not develop the habit of skipping church and find other times to worship in our homes and in special times of retreat.

A Way of Life that Ends in Eternal Life

 I almost entitled this blog “Sacramental Living.” Our text today begins just after Jesus institutes the first sacrament, baptism. In baptism, we remember the mystery of the new life we have in Christ and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit we receive because of our faith in Christ. Our lives should be a constant act of worship, not just on Sunday morning, but every day (Romans 12:1-4).

This Sunday in our church, we  celebrated the Lord’s Supper. Jesus instituted a second mystery by which we celebrate his continuing presence with us by the power of the Holy Spirit. In a way, the Christian life should be lived from mystery (Baptism) to mystery (the Lord’s Supper), to mystery (eternal life)

As we gather around the Lord’s Table to have our faith fed, as we pray together, as we sing together, as we hear the word together, and as we share our lives together, we are gathered into the mystery of God. This mystery feeds our faith and endows us with the courage and fortitude to continue to walk the way of Jesus. It is a way that does not end with a tomb, but in the glorious light of eternal life.

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer faced the gallows, he said to those who would kill him, “This is the end–for me, the beginning of life.” [7] The way of resisting temptation is not always easy; however, it is the way to life.

Amen

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Jerry Shirley, The Gospel of Jesus: Swordfight in the Desert (Grace Baptist Church, March 2006). I have changed the story, but the inspiration for the story was this sermon.

[2] Lex Loizides, “Augustine’s wayward prayer!” at www.lexloiz.wordpress.com (October 15, 2008). The actual quote from the Confessions is “Make me chaste but not yet.” Augustine led a promiscuous,pagan life before his conversion. He had a mistress by whom he had a child. His mistress became a Christian before his conversion. The Son died at the age of sixteen after himself being converted.

[3] Bewitched, created by Sol Saks, starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York and Dick Sargent, and Agnes Morehead (1964-1972). More recently, a movie was made from the television show. Nora Epron, et all, wr, Bewitched dir. Nora Ephron, starring, Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley McLaine (2005).

[4] In the book, Path of Life: The Way of Light and Love (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2014) and in a book on discipleship I am writing, I emphasize the notion of tacit understanding and indwelling practical knowledge in daily life, in the search for wisdom and in the life of a disciple. I am, of course, indebted to Michael Polanyi for this concept, which he outlines in many of his works. See for example, Tacit Understanding (Glouchester, MA: Peter Smith, 1983). The life of a disciple is one of constantly indwelling the story of Christ until one  becomes like Jesus.

[5] See, Acts 2:45; 2:46; 3:1; 3:11; 5:12; 5:42; 6:9; 6:42; 9:20; 9:11; 9:36-4; 10:1-8; 12:12; 13:14-15; 14:1; 17:1; 17:10; 18:4; 18:19; 18:26; 19:8; 20:17.

[6] Id.

[7] History.Com, April 8, 1945:www.history.com/this-day-in-history/defiant-theologian-dietrich-bonhoeffer-is-hanged (Downloaded October 29, 2015). One might see in Bonhoeffer’s resistance to Hitler and refusal to stay in the United States near the beginning of World War II and teach at Union Theological Seminary in New York a resistance to temptation that ended in a kind of sacramental life lived in service to his fellow Germans. For Bonhoeffer, the temptation was to put his safety and career above what God called him to do.

Jason Brown, a 29-year-old center for the St. Louis Rams, had a five-year, $37 million contract to play football. At one point, he decided that playing football was not giving meaning to his life. He resigned and gave up the balance of his contract. His agent told him he was making the biggest mistake of his life. Brown disagreed. He bought 1000 acres in North Carolina and is now a farmer. He believes that God has called him to be a farmer, and gives the first fruits of what he produces to the poor. The sacrifice he made financially is somewhere around $12 million. [1]

It was interesting to read the article and the comments that were posted. Some people felt Brown made a mistake. In their mind, he could have given away 10 percent or more of $12 million and helped a lot of people. On the other hand, a good number of people agreed with Brown’s decision. Many of them focused on the lifestyle of an NFL football player and lifestyle of a farmer, who can be closer to his family and children. In fact, spending time with his family, was one of the reasons Brown made his decision. Very few people focused on the fact that Brown felt called to change his lifestyle and be generous to the poor.

Over the years, I’ve listened to thirty or so stewardship sermons, and I’ve preached about twenty-five or thirty such sermons over the years. From being a layman, I think I know how difficult it is to listen to stewardship sermons, and I know how difficult it is to preach them from being a pastor. Nevertheless, we do need to talk about money and stewardship, because the financial decisions we make are also spiritual decisions. Money is not all there is to the spiritual life, but it is an important part of growing as a disciple. The spiritual gift of generosity is a gift God wants us all to have.

Paul’s Teachings on Stewardship

Around the middle of the First Century, there was a famine in Israel. The Jewish people, and especially Christians, fell into poverty. The Apostle Paul decided to take up an offering to be given to the church in Jerusalem. Therefore, he began raising the money among the churches of Greece. [2] Paul put Titus, a trusted associate, in charge (2 Corinthians 8:6, 16-17). He also associated with Titus and unnamed brother who was respected by all the churches (v. 18). Paul desired for the church in Corinth to support this offering. He therefore devoted a portion of the letter we call “Second Corinthians” to encouraging the Corinthians in developing the grace of generosity. Our text today comes from Second Corinthians Chapter Nine, verses 6-15.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor;

their righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:6-15).

Let us pray: Generous God: You sent us your Only Begotten Son, though he was rich, dwelling in truth and love as part of the Holy Trinity. He came and dwelt among us that we might see in this act of generosity what it means to be truly and fully human. Come now and fill us with your spirit so that we might become a fully human, generous people. Amen.

A Generous Fellowship

From the very beginning, the Christian church has been characterized by a supernatural generosity. Here is how the early church is described in Acts:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).

Although scholars not are in agreement, it’s a mistake to see in these verses, and similar descriptions and acts, a kind of communism. [3] It is evident from the book of Acts that people who were able sold some of their property in order to help the poor and needy (Acts 2:43). However, it is equally evident both from the New Testament and from other sources that the early church was a generous church. The generosity of the early church was not a natural generosity, but his supernatural generosity. The generosity described in Acts is a generosity born of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This kind of generosity does not spring from any human source; it springs from the love and grace of God.

The generosity of the early church was so different from the generosity evident in the Roman world generally that people took notice. Even during times when Christians were being persecuted, the people of the Roman Empire saw Christians carrying for the homeless, the poor, those in need, orphans, the sick, and others. In our own day and time, one of the greatest witnesses the church can give to the Grace of God is to receive the grace of generosity among ourselves and show our culture a better way of life.

The World’s Needs

As I mentioned earlier, Paul’s collection for the church at Jerusalem resulted from a terrible famine that engulfed Palestine somewhere in the middle of the First Century. We can only imagine that the apostle, being a Jew and having friends in Jerusalem, was concerned for the people of Jerusalem and the Christians who remained there. Because of the persecutions that had scattered the early church, it is likely that many of the Christians living in Jerusalem who had financial resources had earlier left for greener pastures. Therefore, the need was great.

My parents grew up in the Great Depression. Kathy’s parents also grew up in the Great Depression. We cannot remember a time of hunger, but our parents and grandparents could remember such a time. Most of us, however, remember the downturn of 2008, what is sometimes called the “Great Recession.” There is nothing more unnerving to parents, those who are responsible for the livelihood of other people, and those jobs are in danger, the elderly, and others, than an economic downturn. Almost every week, we have to help someone in our community who is in economic distress.

Economic suffering is not the only kind of suffering with which Christians are concerned. We live in a world with economic needs. However, in our nation need is more likely to be the result of a pervasive sense of meaninglessness, loneliness, and isolation. Many people in our society lack a loving and supporting fellowship they can rely upon for spiritual and emotional support in time of need. Many people in our society grow up in homes where they were deprived of love and care, and they reach adulthood with deep needs. All human beings, whatever kind of home we grew up in, need that fellowship that we call the household of God, or the family of God, or the church. The need today may be different than the need of the first century, but need exists.

The Grace of Giving

As Paul confronted the need to raise money for the church in Jerusalem, he faced the same quandary pastors face on Stewardship Sundays: He needs to raise funds, but he does not want to undermine the Gospel in doing so. [4] In chapter 8, Paul tells the Corinthians that, “… just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving” (8:7). Paul teaches the Corinthians that they should not give reluctantly or under compulsion but freely and cheerfully because of the grace of generosity welling up inside of them (9:7). As important as the offering was for Jerusalem, and as important as stewardship is for our church, there is something more important: We must not allow giving to become a matter of law or of compulsion.

God desires that our giving be the result of what God is doing in us by the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. This is why Paul goes on to say that God is able to make all grace abound so that the Corinthians have all that they need (v. 8). Notice that Paul doesn’t say that if you give you’ll get rich. He simply says that we will have what we need to continue to be generous (v. 8). In addition, he goes on to say that God who supplies the seed will provide a harvest of righteousness. In other words, the most important results of our giving are not financial—they are spiritual and moral.

Let’s face it: most of us are not going to get rich. There is no magic formula I can give you that provides that you will always be blessed financially because you given generously. If there were such a formula, we would not need a Stewardship Sunday. Even non-Christians would be giving so generously that all needs would be met if it were true that every time we give we received back in material possessions what we gave.

Hearts Restored by Generosity

What we receive as we experience generosity is a spiritual restoration of our souls. This is why Paul says that we will be made rich in every way (v. 11). “Richness in every way” means being emotionally rich and spiritually rich, as well as having our physical needs met. I just wrote the article for our church newsletter this week. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. There is something about sitting around the dining room table on Thanksgiving and remembering not just the thanksgivings of my lifetime but the Thanksgiving of my parent’s lifetimes, and my grandparent’s lifetimes, and my great-grandparents lifetimes, and on and on that helps me to remember the goodness of God. The goodness of God, and the faithfulness of God, is evident not just in one life, or the life of one family, but in the life of God’s people as a whole.

This week we were talking about the Garden of Eden and the Fall in one of our classes. One result of the Fall is that we human beings no longer natively trust God and accept what God gives us without fear. Financially, this means we are inclined to grasp and grab all that we can so that we can experience security separate from God. It is, of course, impossible. [5] One reason there is so much anxiety in our culture is that we have taken responsibility upon ourselves to secure a future that is in the hands of God.

When we develop the virtue of generosity, when the Holy Spirit fills us in such a way that we become generous, we are restored spiritually. We become a thankful people, able to trust God for our future and for the future of our families. As we let go and let God in this very important part of our lives, we experience a restoration of our hearts. Our grasping, fearful, anxious human hearts are filled with the love of the God who loved us enough to send his son to save us.

Jason Brown, the ex-football player, probably knows something Paul knew: If a farmer does not sow any seeds, or if a farmer does not sow enough seed, there is a small harvest. There is a correlation between what is sowed and what is reaped. This principle of physical farming is also a principle of the spiritual life: The one who sows generously reaps generously.

One things Jason Brown did learn as a result of his experience in becoming a farmer is that, as he plants the seeds of a future harvest, he stands almost helpless until the plants sprout from the ground. He says that when you see seeds pop out of the ground, it is the most beautiful thing you could ever see. [6] This is also true of the spiritual life. When you see a heart changed, when you see heart filled with the love of God sharing generously, you see one of the most beautiful things you could ever see.

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Steve Hartman, “Why a Star Football Player Traded and NFL Career for a Tractor” (CBS News online, December 26, 2014). There have been several articles about this decision Brown made. This story was brought to my attention by Cindy Schwartz of our staff.

[2] David E. Garland, “2 Corinthians” in The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadmans, 1999), 363-415. Much of the historical detail comes from this commentary.

[3] Calvin, who is always alert to what he calls “fantastical” interpretations, believed that the love of the early church was so great that those who had means sold some of what they had to meet the needs of the poor. John Calvin, “Commentary on Acts” in Calvin’s Commentaries Vol. XVIII (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 1993), 130. I agree.

[4] If one reads chapter 8-9 closely, you can see that Paul does not want to force the Corinthians to give or undermine the role of Grace in the Christian life. He restates this several times. He constantly moves from urging that they support the offering to reminding them that it is a matter of grace what they give.

[5] The parable of the rich man, who builds many barns in anticipation of retirement only to die on the night of his retirement, reflects the understanding of wisdom that there is no security outside of God (see Luke 12:13-21).

[6] See Note 1 above. Jason says, “When you see them pop up out of the ground, man, it’s the most beautiful thing you could ever see.”

 

Just before the Second World War, a young German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, published a book, “The Cost of Discipleship.” [1] At the very beginning, Bonhoeffer stated his thesis in a way that was prophetic as to his own life and as the the course of 20^th Century discipleship. “Cheap Grace,” he says, “is the deadly enemy of our Church.” [2] Bonhoeffer went on to compare “Cheap Grace” with “Costly Grace.” Costly Grace is that grace which Christ speaks of when he says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Bonhoeffer took up his own cross and followed Jesus to martyrdom near the end of the war.

Bonhoeffer’s book has become famous. Like many famous books, it often spoken of, a few of its most famous quotes find their way into sermons and religious books, but Cost of Discipleship is seldom read and even more seldom followed. Part of the problem is that the book was written in German, and German is a hard language to translate into English, especially for the modern reader that prefers short sentences and simple words. The book is not easy to read or digest. Part of the problem is its message and the message of Bonhoeffer’s life. In a culture addicted to “Cheap Grace” easy religion, Cost of Discipleship is very hard to read. An honest reader stands condemned in almost every word. This summer, I read the entire book again and found it as difficult and challenging as when I first read it in college more years ago than I like to admit.

If in Bonhoeffer’s day there was a crisis of discipleship, and “cheap grace” was a problem for the church, the problem is exponentially greater today in the Post-Modern, Western world. Today, the church faces a crisis of discipleship which would have been unimaginable to Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer lived at the end of an era. In Europe, Christendom was fading, but not dead. Today, we live in a truly post-Christian world. Both Europe and America are deeply troubled. We call the culture “Postmodern” because we know what scholars call “Enlightenment Modernity” is over. However, what we experience in the West today is the dying remnants of an age that has come to a the end of its capacity to give meaning and purpose to life.

This is not the first time the West has been at such a point. When St. Augustine wrote “City of God” the ancient world had come to the end of its capacity to give meaning and purpose to life. Rome was decaying. In fact, as the old Augustine wrote City of God, the barbarians were sacking Rome. Augustine did not save Rome. He laid the foundations of the renewal of Western Culture. Men and women built on those foundations a society of great wisdom, beauty, and power.

The radical individualism of Western Culture has created a culture in which everyone and anyone decides for him or herself what they will believe and not believe. [3] In such a culture, it is not surprising that a good many people deny by word or deed those parts of the Gospel which they find difficult to obey or hard to understand. The tremendous growth of media ministries has not helped the problem. When there is a lot of money to be made watering down the Gospel, it is not surprising that some people do. Further, it is in the nature of discipleship that it cannot be accomplished sitting on a couch listening to a televangelist. One must get up and follow Jesus.

Jesus gave the Church a commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, emphasis added). Making disciples is God’s supreme goal Christ has set for his believers and for his church. Making disciples involves being a good disciple yourself, going to where people are, helping them enter the fellowship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them the things of God, and helping them live a life pleasing to God. Discipleship is not something for a few incredibly dedicated believers. It is for every Christian. We are all called to be disciples and go and make disciples.

Every so often something happens that reenforces the point that we live in a dark time. This week began with my being confronted with the darkness that infects and harms so many lives. We live in a time in which our nation is experiencing a kind of moral, intellectual, and practical darkness unlike anything we have ever experienced. I began this blog a while ago to celebrate the belief that in following the God of Light and Love we find wisdom for living and a community of love and grace within which to grow in the likeness of God. However, what may be said in a blog touches only a few. The darkness will lift if and when innumerable unnamed and unheralded Christians live lives of simple wisdom and love, shining like a light into the gathering darkness.

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship Rev. Ed. (New York, NY: Collier Books, 1963).

[2] Id, at 45.

[3] See, Peter Berger, The Heretical Imperative (Garden City, NY: Anchor Press, 1979).

We have a lady’s book club that meets in our church. Some years ago, they asked me for a suggestion concerning what book they should study. I recommended a novel called The Lamb’s War by Jean de Hartog. [1] When I was a new Christian, this book had a profound influence upon my Christian pilgrimage. The book tells the story of the Dutch girl, Laura Martens. Her father, a Quaker, became an adversary of the commandant of a Nazi concentration camp in Holland, where they lived during the Second World War. One day, Laura came to the camp seeking out her father. The Commandant tied her to a radiator and physically abused her in front of her father. The father was then killed. Deeply traumatized, Laura became the unwitting mistress of a German doctor.

When the camp was liberated, Laura was in danger. In particular, so far as the other residents of the camp were concerned, Laura was a collaborator with the hated Germans. Eventually, she was stripped, tarred, and beaten. She was left an even greater emotional wreck than before. Fortunately, a young American, Boniface Baker, who was also a Quaker, had befriended Laura. The story is about their relationship, and her subsequent life from the Second World War until Laura’s death many years later as a mission doctor in Africa

The book is about salvation and healing. It is also starkly realistic: for many, there are limits to the healing we experience in this life. Laura never fully recovered emotionally from her experiences during the war. She became a very difficult person.

It’s been more than 30 years since I read The Lambs War, but it continues to impact my life and ministry today. To her campmates, Laura was a collaborator, and no one likes a collaborator. Yet, Laura had a story that very few people knew, including her fellow prisoners who saw her only as the mistress of Nazi war criminal. Readers, of course, know the whole story; and therefore can have compassion on Laura. Laura was a broken person fighting the Lamb’s War—the the War of the Lamb of God, Jesus, in a harsh and difficult world. [2] Life is often much like this.

The story of Zacheaus

Our text is from Luke chapter 19, verses one through 10. It is a familiar story, one many of us have known since we were children. Here the word of God as it comes to us today from Luke, the traveling companion of the apostle Paul.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:1-10).

Lord God: When you came to live among us, you were an outsider. We did not recognize you. We rejected you. Finally, we allowed you to die for our sins. Come so our hearts with your spirit that we might share the love you have for the world. In Jesus name Amen

Zacheaus the Outsider

There is a similarity between the story of Laura Martens and the story of Zacchaeus. Laura was an outsider because she was seen as a collaborator with the hated Germans. Zacchaeus was also hated because he was seen as a collaborator with the hated Romans. Tax collectors were hated by the Jews. Under Roman law, a tax collector was responsible to forward a set amount to Rome. Anything he collected in excess of that amount, he was free to keep. Therefore, a tax collector could become an extremely wealthy person. [3] Nowhere in the Roman Empire were tax collectors loved. Palestine was no exception. However, the fierce nationalism of the Jews made tax collectors especially hated. [4]

I have called Zacchaeus an “outsider” because he stood outside the socially acceptable occupations and behaviors of his society. In every culture, there are outsiders. In some cultures, it is demeaning to engage in certain business activities. For example, the ancient Jews were shepherds. The Egyptians detested shepherds because they smelled like sheep. No good Egyptian wanted to be a shepherd. One reason why it was possible for the Egyptians to treat the Jews so badly was that they practiced an occupation that the Egyptians despised.

We would like to think that we live in enlightened times, and that we are beyond persecuting those were different or outsiders. However, it’s not true. All cultures have norms that children learn from the time they are her a born. Our culture is no exception. Subconsciously, we all shy away from relationships with people who we feel to be dangerous or different in an unhealthy way. Last weekend, I had to travel. Airports are places where we have to rub elbows with people who are very different than we are. Most of the time, I don’t pay much attention to coupon passing as I hurry through the halls of a busy airport. Saturday, I was walking from my gate to the car when I passed two women wearing Afghani Burka’s. I hardly noticed anyone as I walked down the airport corridor trying to get home as fast as I could; but, I noticed those two women immediately and wondered what they were doing. I had no reason except that they were different and come from the nation I regard as threatening.

Jesus Welcomes Outsiders

Jericho was one of the wealthiest and most important cities in the ancient world. It sits near the Jordan River. There is abundant water and the land is fertile. Today, the city is not so lovely as it once was. In the ancient world and was known for its beauty. It had famous groves of fragrant Balsam trees. Just as ancient Babylon was known for its Hanging Gardens, ancient Jericho was also known for its lovely rose gardens. It is said that the Balsam Groves and the rose gardens perfumed the air for miles around. As a visitor entered the lovely city, he or she was surrounded by lovely trees, lovely buildings, lovely gardens, and a lovely fragrance.

Zacchaeus, the tax collector, wanted to see Jesus. He wanted to know more about this Rabbi about which he had heard. Perhaps, he had heard that one of his disciples, Levi or “Matthew” as we know him, was a tax collector. As an outcast, Zacchaeus wanted to see this Rabbi who might even welcome him and seemed to love sinners.

Unfortunately, Zacchaeus had two problems: He was short and people hated him. When he arrived at the city gates to see Jesus, he could not see the road. He would have to stand in the front row near the road to see Jesus. However, the people of Jericho hated Zacchaeus. Therefore, no one moved over so that Zacchaeus could see Jesus enter the city and judge for himself what kind of a person Jesus was. In fact, scholars believe that people probably hit Zacchaeus from behind and pushed back against him, just to prevent him from being able to see. Like tarring and feathering the body of a young girl, this was a way to see that a hated collaborator got exactly what he deserved.

Unable to get to the front row near the road where he could see Jesus, Zacchaeus did the next best thing: He found a sycamore-fig tree (Luke 19:4). Sycamore-fig trees are relatively short. They have low lying limbs and are easy to climb. Zacchaeus would have no trouble climbing such a tree, so he did. Just about this time, Jesus passed by. We are told that Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today” (19:5). Zacchaeus came down and welcomed Jesus into his home (v. 6). Jesus was not afraid to be seen with the outsider. Jesus was not afraid to have fellowship with a man no one else liked or respected. Jesus was pure—purer than any of us—but he was not afraid to be in contact with those less pure. Not everyone was so generous or open-minded. In fact, we are told that the majority of the people looking at what was happening were upset! (v. 7). They could not believe that a rabbi, a man of God, would be the guest of a tax collector and collaborator with the Romans.

This is, perhaps, a part of the story 21st-century Christians have a hard time understanding. In the ancient Middle East, and even in the Middle East today, hospitality is an important virtue. However, like all virtues, it was to be practiced at the right place and the right time. In Jesus’s culture, when a person accepted hospitality from another, he became indebted to that person. Table fellowship implied a relationship which could not easily be broken and created a reciprocal obligation. [5] For Jesus to accept the hospitality Zacchaeus, was for Jesus to in some way become indebted to Zacchaeus, to owe him hospitality in return and tacitly to approve of Zacchaeus in some way. As a rabbi, as a leader of the people, and as a devout Jew, Jesus should not accept the hospitality of a sinner, a tax collector, a collaborator, an exploiter, an evil man. Nevertheless, Jesus did.

We live in a different world, and in some ways it is easier socially for us to reach out our own comfort zone and have fellowship with those who are outsiders. However, at the deepest level, we are no different than the ancient Jews. We find a difficult to make friendships with those who come from other nations, some of whom we secretly fear. We find it difficult to have social relationships with people who are of a different race, a different culture, a different religion, a different social background. It doesn’t have to be the case that we perceive people as dangerous to have difficulty accepting them. It is interesting that our text notes that Zacchaeus was rich, as if his wealth was also a barrier to him having relationships with his fellow residents of Jericho. We can be prejudiced against those who we feel have accomplished more than we have accomplished or have more money than we have just as easily as we can be prejudiced against those who we perceive as immoral or dangerous.

Jesus was not Afraid

Jesus showed us a different and better way. I mentioned my experience in an airport terminal for a reason. Why did I notice two women dressed in Burka’s and no one else on the long walk from the last gate to the parking garage? Was it simply because they were different? Or, was it because I was afraid? When people belong to a race or religion or creed that has threatened or harmed us or our nation or our loved ones, we are afraid. When people are different, we are also naturally afraid. This is part of human nature. It was true in the ancient world; and it is true today. Subconsciously, we all fear or suspect those who are different from us. We also sometimes fear and/or resist relationships with those who we feel inferior to or whom we find challenging.

Jesus did not fear or shy away from those who were different. He was not afraid of the outsider. In fact, he viewed Zacchaeus as an outsider who needed to become an insider. Jesus viewed Zacchaeus as a person outside of the kingdom of God, outside of the People of God, outside of the church of God, who needed to be inside. Jesus also knew that the surest way to bring Zacchaeus from the outside to the inside was too become his friend. Therefore, Jesus accepted an offer of hospitality – in fact he created an opportunity for hospitality – and developed a relationship with Zacchaeus.

We live in a culture in which many people are afraid of the church. They may never have been inside a church building. In some cases, they been inside a church building but the experience was not favorable. Such people have little or no understanding of Christians or Christianity. To such people, we can seem a bit dangerous.

Years ago, in Houston, I had to go to a prominent black church and make a small presentation. In order to attend this church, I had to drive through an area of Houston I normally would not have entered. When I got to the church, it’s customs and style of worship were very different than I was accustomed to. Although when I left the church I felt welcome, when I entered the church everyone looked at me because I was the only person in the church wearing a three-piece suit, a white oxford shirt, and a Brooks Brothers tie. My discomfort didn’t last long because the pastor and elders of the church almost immediately recognized who I was and why I was there. They came, welcomed me, and took me to where I should sit. They talked with me, and pretty soon I felt at home.

Christians are now often seen as different and perhaps dangerous. If we do not reach out and give hospitality to strangers, strangers are very unlikely to reach out and seek hospitality with us. This is not the first sermon over the last few years on the subject matter of hospitality at Advent. This is not the first sermon about reaching out to those who are different. I think, perhaps, the reason this sermon was placed in this series was to remind us to take seriously the call of Christ to go to the outsider and invite the outsider inside so that the outsider can become a Christian and be a disciple of Jesus and experience the joys of being inside the kingdom of God.

The Outsider Becomes an Insider

Zacchaeus, touched by Jesus’s warmth and friendship, had a change of heart. This man who was known for his greed and his grasping looked at the crowd and said to them, “Look, Lord here and now I give half my possessions to the poor, and if I cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (Luke 19:8). Then, Jesus looked at Zacchaeus, and said “Today, salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham” (v. 9). And then, I think, Jesus continued on, after glancing at the crowd to be sure they were listening, and said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save what is lost” (v. 10).

God saved us when we were outsiders. He asks us to go into our world and there to invite outsiders to come in and be a part of the family of God. Sometimes, it’s not easy or comfortable. This may not always be true, but in my experience it’s always been true: There is no joy quite as great as as welcoming an outsider into the Kingdom of God.

It’s almost winter. When it’s cold, and when the wind is biting, there is that moment when we opened the door and welcome a friend inside. As they passed the threshold of the door and clap their hands together, they almost always smile and say, “It’s great to be inside.”

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Jan de Hartog, The Lamb’s War (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1980). Hartog eventually moved to the United States. While living in Houston, Texas, he wrote a book, “The Hospital” that became a well known critique of the state of indigent care in Houston and provoked many changes. He was a Quaker by the end of his life.  He died in Houston a few years ago.

[2] The Quakers have an entire theology of peace which they sometimes call by the name, “The Lamb’s War.”

[3] Ronald F. Youngblood, ed., “Tax Collector” in The New Illustrated Bible Dictionary Rev. Ed. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publisher, 1883), 1227-1228.

[4] See, William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke in “The Daily Bible Study Series Rev. Ed. (Philadelphia, PA: 1975), 233ff. The historical narrative is based upon his commentary.

[5] This is at root why it was difficult for Peter to imagine that he should have table fellowship with Gentiles and why he and Paul had an argument in Galatia. See Galatians 2:11-14).

August 6^th of this year the New York Times published an editorial that caused quite a stir. Howard Shultz, the Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times entitled, “America Deserves a Servant Leader.” [1] I recommend the entire article, but just want to read a quote from the beginning:

“From the earliest days of Starbucks, I’ve been captivated by the art of leadership. I was mentored over three decades by Warren Bennis, the eminent professor and scholar on leadership. I’ve gathered insights from peers, and I’ve drawn inspiration from our 300,000 employees. But nothing I’ve read or heard in the past few years has rivaled the power of the image I viewed on my cellphone a few years ago: Pope Francis, shortly after his election, kneeling and washing the feet of a dozen prisoners in Rome, one of them a young Muslim woman, in a pre-Easter ritual.”

Shultz went on to reflect on the poor current state of leadership in America, and especially on the poor political leadership we are receiving from both parties. People immediately thought Shultz would run for President, but he did not feel the call to do that. He felt called to lead Starbucks.

One negative force impacting America is the loss of confidence in leaders. In fact, there is an overwhelming sense that the majority of our political leadership of each party is in some way incompetent or corrupt. Our business leaders are not held in any better esteem. The well-known events of the collapse of the mortgage back security industry and the lack of accountability in the banking community has left a generation of young people alienated from business. Even the church is suspect, primarily because of a few well-known incidents involving celebrity preachers. The result is a lack of confidence in almost all sources of leadership for our nation: Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, government, academia, business, the media, and even non profits and the church. [2]

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

What are we do do? First and foremost, we should look to Jesus and to the leadership of the People of God. Our text this morning is from the Gospel of John, chapter 13, beginning with verse 1:

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.    He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:1-17).

 Let us pray: God of Love, who served us at our greatest point of need, our need for your grace, come and illumine our darkened hearts  so that we may be transformed into the form of the one who came to save us and show us the Way everlasting. Amen.

Jesus: Our Ultimate Leadership Role Model

Our text is from the end of Jesus’ active ministry. In the Upper Room, Jesus came to the end of his last week of life on this earth. His public ministry of teaching and healing was complete.  Jesus would now do the one, last great work for which he came. Knowing that his time with the disciples was short, Jesus arranged to have one last meal with them before the Passover Celebration during which he was to die. During this meal, he demonstrated to them what true leadership will be like in his church by washing everyone’s feet.

In the ancient world, men and women wore sandals, and roads were primarily dirt paths. As a person walked, and especially as a traveler completed a journey, there was dirt on his or her ankles and feet. It was the custom for homeowners to keep a large pot of water at the front door of a home for the washing of feet. Normally, if available, a servant would do the foot washing. Jesus had no servants. Therefore, it might be expected that one of the Twelve, perhaps John, the youngest, would wash the feet of the disciples on this night of the Passover Meal. But, not one of the disciples, not even the youngest, was willing to undertake the menial task. [3]

Seeing that no one else was willing wash his feet and the feet of the other disciples, Jesus striped off his outer clothing, bound his loins like a common servant, and began to wash their feet. The disciples could not have missed the meaning of this event: Of all those present, Jesus was the last person who should have performed the task. He was an adult male – not a child. He was a Rabbi – and Rabbi’s were hesitant to be seen less than fully clothed. He was the leader of the group, and as the leader one would expect that he should have had his feet washed, not be the one to wash the feet of the others. Nevertheless, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.

Peter, who had probably not undertaken the task himself because he was the “leader of the Twelve” and “the Rock” upon which Jesus was to build the Church, attempted to stop Jesus, but it was too late (see, Matthew 16:18; John 13:6-9). Jesus had already determined to wash the feet of the disciples and teach them a lesson in humility. It is as if Jesus was saying, “If you want to be one of my followers, you must be willing to serve one another just like this.” Just to be sure that the disciples got the point, he taught them saying:

You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:12-17).

In Jesus’ new paradigm of leadership, servanthood is primary, for it is in serving one another that we fulfill the commandment to “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). [4]

The Perennial Lack of Servant Leaders

We often talk about the lack of servant leaders today, as if there were a time in human history when people were naturally inclined to serve one another. The Gospels argue against such an interpretation. In Matthew and Mark, a story is told of the ambition of James and John to sit on the right and left of Jesus (Matt, 20:17-19; Mark 10:32-34). In Luke, the story is of the jockeying of the disciples for preeminence. [5] Jesus warned his disciples that among the Gentiles (that is us) leaders are to be known by their position, power, and right to use the executive jet and have the best offices. In the Kingdom of Heaven, leaders are known by humble service.

The world has always lacked humble servant leaders. In the West and in the East, leaders have usurped power and served their own ambition. [6] That is human nature. In our own day and time, we have seen the great need that exists for leaders that put the interests of others above themselves. But, we cannot expect our leaders to put our interests above theirs if we are unwilling to serve the needs of our friends and neighbors. That is why, as Jesus knew, the solution to the deep problem of human pride and ambition is humble service.

This is why the Christians and the Church are so crucial: Without the example of Jesus and the Church, there is little basis in our society for anyone to engage in servant leadership. Jesus invented Servant Leadership. Before Jesus and the growth of the Christian religion, the world had not almost no idea of servant leadership. There was no example of what servant leadership might look like. It is not surprising that in Post-Christian America our leaders are seldom, if ever, servant leaders. If power is all there is, servant leadership makes little sense. [7]

Requirements for True Servanthood

How can we develop servant leaders at Advent, in our community, and in our nation?

1. First, Servant Leadership begins with Caring Deeply for People. Scripture tell us that we should “serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13). No one will ever serve another person until they unconditionally care about them. We will never serve another person; really serve them, until their needs are just as important to us as are our own. Love is sacrificing what I want for the benefit of another person because that other person is important to me. Servanthood begins with love, because love is what draws me out of my selfish self-centeredness.
2. Second, Servant Leadership requires the Humility to Serve Others. Jesus says, “a servant is not greater than his or her master” (John 13:16). We will never serve one another until we have the servant “mind of Christ” (Philippians 2:5). The reason no disciple washed the feet of the others was because each felt that someone else should undertake this menial task. Hey all lacked humility. It is humility that teaches us that we are all human, all made of the dust of the earth, and in the eyes of God, no one of us is better than another.
3. Third, Servant Leadership requires Commitment. Jesus was willing to pay the cost of loving his disciples and us. He was willing to serve, to do menial tasks, ultimately to go to the Cross. We won’t be humble servants of one another until we are so committed to another person, to our children, our spouse, our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors, our fellow Christians, our community and nation, that we are willing to pay the cost in time, in energy, in self-denial in order to meet their needs. [8]

The Church as a Source of Servant Leadership

More than thirty years ago, Robert K. Greenleaf published the most important book in leadership written in the 20^th Century, Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. [9] Greenleaf anticipated our current crisis and understood that people are starved for a deeper sense of relationship and community, and that a servant-oriented leaders are essential. [10] Greenleaf also emphasized the importance of the church and religious institutions in creating servant leaders. If the Church does not engage our culture and train up the next generation of servant leaders, it is hard to believe that any other institution or group will.

Earlier this year, our church had a “leadership summit”. No institution, not even a church, can grow and prosper beyond their servant leadership capacity. This is, at root, the problem our nation faces. What we want to do over the next few years is to train more leaders—and not just any kind of leader. We want to train servant leaders. As our church and other churches train servant leaders for our homes and congregations, everywhere our members work, play, or serve will be inevitably changed.

There is no quick fix for the lack of servant leaders in our society. In fact, the problem may well grow worse if there is no spiritual and moral renewal of our culture. A culture mad about power, influence, affluence, and the search for personal pleasure is not fertile ground for the growth of servant leaders. Nor is such a culture likely to take seriously concern for the poor, the middle class, or those who have little political or economic power. Only those who follow the God who loves the poor, cares for families, lifts up the powerless, and gives grace to the humble, only the kind of God who would die on a cross, can create the kind of servant leaders we need.

The exclusion of Christianity and faith from business, politics, government, and the rest of the “public square,” and the relentless attempt to exclude Christian values from public debate, is a great mistake. It cuts our culture off from one of the most potent sources of respect for truth, of respect for people, of a love of beauty and goodness. A culture that cuts itself off from the spiritual values that give rise to servant leaders cannot expect them to grow in the dry and arid spiritual soil such a culture inevitably creates.

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] Howard Schultz, America Deserves a Servant Leader” in New Your Times, August 6, 2015.

[2] See Gallup Pole, “Lack of Confidence in System” (June 2-7, 2015).

[3] See, Charles Barclay, “The Gospel of John” in The Daily Bible Study Series Vol. 2. Rev. Ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1975):138-139.

[4] See also, John 13:34; 14:15; 15:17.

[5] The story is told in approximately the same way in Mark 10:35-45 and in Matthew 20:20-28. In Luke, the story is told in form of a dispute among the disciples. Luke puts the point in these words: “Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.” (Luke 22:24-26).

[6] Exhortations to servant leadership and avoiding selfish, self-centered, power centered leadership occur in the Tao Te Ching and in the Bible, in the East and in the West, among wise leaders in differing cultures, because all cultures have their Napoleon’s and their Attila the Huns.

[7] It is interesting that Howard Shultz was impacted by the example of Pope Francis. It is only a Christian leader that would have had a foot washing ceremony. Our culture seems to want something it cannot have without Christianity and Christ.

[8] In a book entitled, Centered Living/Centered Leading: The Way of Light and Love Rev. Ed. (Memphis, TN: BookSurge, 2014), I have looked at the commitment of a servant leader through the lens of the Tao.

[9] Greenleaf, Robert K., Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness Mahwah, NY: Paulist Press, 1977.

[10] See, Greenleaf, “Community: The Lost Knowledge of these Times,” 37-39 and “Servant Leadership in Churches,” 218-248.

When I was in college, a friend of mine gave me a copy of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. [1] It sat, unread, on my bookshelf for three or four years until in a moment of need, it fell off that shelf at my feet. I picked it up, read the book cover-to-cover, and began a spiritual and intellectual pilgrimage towards faith, happiness, community, and all the blessings I now enjoy. It was a gift that changed my life in many, important, wonderful ways. Without that gift, my life might be very different, and a lot less happy.

In this world, there are gifts and then there are gifts. When our children were young, they got a lot of toys at Christmas time. Some of them are still in our attic. Interestingly, they never ask for them, use them, or even mention them unless Kathy or I mention them first. Of all the Christmas gifts I have ever received, I only remember a very few: my first bike, a set of tinker toys, an erector set, etc. On the other hand, there are gifts that you will never forget. Gifts that changed your life, like my copy of Mere Christianity.

Today, we are going to visit about spiritual gifts. Right at the beginning, we need to remember a few facts about Spiritual Gifts. First, they are gifts of God—which means that they are gifts of faith, hope, and love: with the greatest of these being love (1 Corinthians 13). All the gifts of the spirit are gifts by which God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the God we proclaim to be perfect, self-giving love, dwells in us so that we may participate in the Love that God Is. Because Spiritual Gifts are gifts of an All Wise All Loving God, they are gifts that we can never forget, and God forbid that we should misuse them.

Growing in Christ

Our text is from Ephesians.  Ephesians has been called the greatest of all of Paul’s letters. In Ephesians, Paul sets out his views concerning both the Supremacy of Christ as the image of the invisible God and the power of Christ to reconcile and unify the world in a reign of peace and unity. In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, Paul sets out what the Christian life should be like in view of all that Christ is and has done. [2]

Paul begins by asking Christians to live worthily of their calling (Ephesians 4:1). He asks Christians to be completely humble, gentle, and forbearing (v. 2). He asks Christians to live in the peace and unity of the Spirit of Christ, because there is one Spirit which the Spirit of the One God revealed by Christ (v. 3-4). Then, Paul says the following:

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. … So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:7, 11-16). [3]

Prayer: God the Giver of Every Good and Perfect Gift, please come as we listen to your word and convict us, convert us, and make us wholly Yours. Send your Spirit of Truth upon every one here today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

The Giver

I don’t know about you, but Christmas and birthdays become harder and harder as the years go by. Frankly, there is almost nothing I really need that I don’t already possess. (It gets really hard to appreciate the 100^th tie that you don’t need!). It takes a really special person to be a good giver. Kathy is a really good gift giver. This summer, wherever we were, she would be in some shop buying something for someone we know, often a child. Kathy is a good gift giver because she cares about people and wants to give them something they need and will like.

Every gift has a giver, and the best gifts are gifts of God. God is the ultimate giver of gifts.

One of my favorite verses is James 1:17-18: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.” In this passage from James, the Apostle says almost exactly what Paul says in Ephesians: God is a giver of wonderful gifts through the Holy Spirit. All that we are and all that we have are ultimately gifts from God– in some mysterious way even our troubles are gifts from God (James 1:12). God gives us the gift of New Life in Christ and he continues to give gifts to us during our walk of discipleship!

In Ephesians, Paul extends the concept of God as the Great Giver to Christ. When Jesus came among us, when the Word of God (God’s rational presence) became human, Jesus represented the wisdom, love, and power of God on earth. This is supremely shown by his sacrificial death on the cross (Romans 5:8). The act of God offering up himself in human form for a world that rejects love and embraces darkness and violence is a supreme act of love. When Jesus ascended into heaven, this love was still present for us in the Person of the Holy Spirit, who is God and God’s love present with us always until the end of time (Matthew 28:20). Jesus by the Spirit is now the Giver of gifts to God’s people.

Spirit Inspired Gifts

Paul teaches that each one of us, as disciples of Christ, are the recipient of gifts from the Perfect Giver.  One kind of gift we receive are what the New Testament calls “Gifts of the Spirit.” When we open our hearts to God, the Spirit of God operates in a new way in our lives, and that new way results in our having talents, abilities, and gifts that we never possessed before in quite the same way. I have always been able to teach, but when I became a Christian that natural gift took on a new, spiritual dimension.

In Romans, I Corinthians, Ephesians, and I Peter, there are similar but somewhat different lists of gifts that God gives to those who open their hearts to receive them. [4] Today, we are not talking about the lists and the separate gifts so much as we are talking about the gifts as a whole. The specific gifts, such as preaching, teaching, pastoring, prayer, helping, healing, miracles, evangelism, prophesy, wisdom, leadership, administration, and the like are not so important to Paul in Ephesians as it is to make a point: All these gifts are not meant to divide people or create a hierarchy of Christians. The gifts are not meant to induce pride or selfishness, but love and humility.

Growth of the Body

Some gifts are just gifts. They really do not have a purpose. On the other hand, some gifts we give have a definite purpose in mind. If I give Kathy a piece of jewelry, I probably have no purpose other than hoping that she will be happy. If I give Kathy a new financial program to budget with, I probably have some purpose, like getting a better handle on our expenses. God’s gifts are of both kinds. When God gives us spiritual gifts, he both wants us to experience personal joy and he wants us to grow together as a body of believers with each person using their own personal gifts and abilities to make all of our lives better.

God’s gifts have a purpose. The Gifts of the Spirit are designed to allow us to experience joy and blessedness as individuals, as a congregation, and as the church world-wide.  The Gifts of the Spirit are gifts of God’s divine wisdom, love and power so that we can grow to maturity both as individuals and as a Christian community. Paul says that these gifts are given to prepare us so that we can mature as individuals and so that the body of Christ can become unified in faith, in knowledge of God, and in maturity. As we experience the gifts, we grow and mature and so does the church. This implies that we cannot really be who God wants us to be, nor can our church be all that God intends it to be, unless we all use our gifts, whatever they may be.

Going back to parenting for a moment, after four children, I  understand that the most difficult gifts for children to learn to use are those that are not the private property of one child, like a doll or a truck, but those that have to be shared. The spiritual gifts are similar. They were not meant to be hogged by one individual or a group of individuals. They were meant to be shared. They were not meant to puff us up or make us proud of who we are and what we can do. They were made to be used in humility to build up the entire Body of Christ. This means that they are sometimes hard to share and use properly.

A Goal of Maturity

One joy of watching children grow up is watching them stop fighting, stop irritating each other, stop fussing, and enjoy one another. Today, when our children are together, they just enjoy being together. (They hardly ever throw food at each other anymore unless they are remembering some funny incident from their childhood!) In other words, they are all grown up. I am sure that many of you have had the same experience.

The Apostle Paul emphasizes that what God has in mind by giving us Spiritual Gifts is reaching spiritual maturity, which God defines as being equipped for sharing our gifts with others (service), unity of faith and community in the body of Christ (love), and deeper knowledge of God (truth). God wants us to experience the kind of unity that happens when everyone is working together without friction and ego battles. God wants us to experience the kind of wisdom that happens when we know Christ not just intellectually but in our hearts. God wants us to share and serve one another, experiencing the same kind of love God has, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Maturity involves a process. First, we accept Christ, what our slide calls “meeting Christ.” This is our moment of faith, when we meet Christ, hear his voice calling, “Come and Follow me,” and then respond.

After we accept, there is a period of during which we follow Christ. We may not be learning much, but at least we follow, attend church, and learn a bit. During this period of time, we may experience times when God answers our prayers and we grow unexpectedly as a result. Our faith may not show much, but it is being strengthened and deepened.

In the next stage, like the disciples, we are learning, watching, and imitating Christ. Now, we are growing as we imitate Christ. It may not take too much for us to backslide, just as Peter does from time to time in the Gospels. Nevertheless we are growing. We begin to imitate Christ. We begin to carry a cross or two voluntarily because we know a friend, fellow church member, or family member needs us. At this stage it may not feel quite right, but we are trying.

From mere imitation, we begin to actually become like Christ. We begin to be transformed into someone we would not have recognized years before. We don’t just act different, we are different. Finally, we serve gladly as little Christ’s in our churches, families, neighborhoods, and communities.

When I was preparing this sermon, I visualized this as a kind of ladder or set of steps. Of course, we are all on more than one step at a time. Sometimes we take steps backwards! However, all of us are somewhere on the path of growing in Christ. Spiritual gifts are a big part of this growing in Christ. That is why it is so important that we use our Spiritual Gifts at every stage of growth.

I am sure that all of us remember childhood fads. When I was in junior high, Indian madras shirts were all the rage. When they were made, they had what we called “fruit loops” on the back, colored pieces of cloth that could be used for hanging them. For a time, it was a fad to tear or snip off those loops. Kids made fun of each other for wearing shirts without the “fruit loop” removed. It was silliness. It was a fad. It was easy to tear a shirt removing the fruit loop.  The only reason we all did this, was because we were immature.

When we begin our Christian walk, we are inevitably immature. We often become faddish, following the latest silly or wrong Christian idea anyone promotes. We are, as Paul says, tossed by the wind of various teachings and fads (Ephesians 4:14). Gradually, ever so gradually, however, we mature and grow. We become more stable. We are not so easily led astray. We are not so vulnerable to bad teachings. We are growing up into Christ, becoming more in tune with what Christ has to say to us in Scripture.

One of our congregation’s hopes for this year, and especially for next year,  is that we begin to move as a church from growing by listening, reading and learning to growing as we put to work in our lives and in the lives of the people we meet and the places we live and work the gifts that God has and will give each one of us.

The copy of Mere Christianity my friend gave me so many years ago is a gift that has never stopped giving not just to me, but to others as well. What ever you have been given by Christ, sharing is the best way to grow and enjoy that gift. Let’s use our gifts!!!

Copyright 2015, G. Christopher Scruggs, All Rights Reserved

[1] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York, NY: McMillan Publishing, 1943, 1945, 1952).

[2] William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians in “The Daily Bible Study Series” (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster, 1958); Archibald M. Hunter, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians in “The Layman’s Bible Commentary” (Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1959).

[3] Ephesians 4:8-9, which is not included, contains a quote from Psalms 68:18, which was meaningful for Paul and his readers, but perhaps not as easy for modern people to appreciate. The idea is that Christ, when he ascended into heaven, became the giver of gifts to the people of God, the gifts of the Holy Spirit Paul is about to delineate.

[4] See Romans 12:6-8; I Corinthians 12:7-11, 28; Ephesians 4:11; I Peter 4:11. First Peter really just references the gifts, but does not really give us a list.