April 9, 2017  4:00 p.m.

Please join us in the joyful celebration of the Installation of our new pastor, Gerry Johnson.

Pastor Lynn Miller, The Potomac Conference Dean, will officiate. 

Another week in Epiphany. Another week on the mount, listening to Jesus.

Turn the other cheek, give them your cloak, go the second mile, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. And then the kicker – be perfect.

That’s not easy listening. I don’t find the “music” too appealing either.

Be perfect, therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect.  These verses end so much like the last group – with something that catches us by surprise and stops us dead in our tracks. How are we to understand this?

When we in the 21^st century think of perfection, we think of no mistakes, no flaws, no failures – THAT is perfection to us. But, in the Greek , this is not the meaning of “telos” and the translation that this version offers us is not without its defects.

It is so different from our 21^st century understanding of the word, that I made notations in the margins of my bible. Those on that hill the day listening to Jesus would have understood that word much differently.

They would have heard it as having attained the end or purpose, as being complete. They would not have heard it as moral perfectionism. They would have heard it as a goal to be achieved as God has achieved his goal, attained the end, the purpose.

And that purpose and goal is none other than Jesus and the reconciliation that he brings between God and his people. We are salt and light and are God’s blessed and beloved children. That is our identity. And now Jesus calls us to live into that identity.

And, as loved and blessed children of God – salt and light in this world, we take this love that we have been given and give it to others. We have a purpose – a God-given purpose to show the world Christ’s love.

And just how are we to do this? Well, you have heard it said…but JESUS says… It is important to remember that Jesus never called us to do anything that he himself did not do. Jesus walked to Jerusalem, to the cross, enduring the humiliation of the cross so that we might know eternal life.

Jesus was never a doormat and he doesn’t expect us to be one either. Rather than invoke the law of retaliation, Jesus implores us to not oppose the evil doer violently. But yes, oppose the evil doer by doing good and approaching with humiliation so as to shame those in power.

With this thought in mind, again, those who were powerful enough to take someone with absolutely nothing into court, to shame them by not only giving their coat in pay for the debt but the cloak as well. Since the cloak was also used as a blanket, the act was intended to bring shame to the offending party.

Subscription by the Romans was a problem in this 1^st century colony. They thought nothing of showing their power over the colonized by forcing them into some sort of labor, the favorite being making people carry their baggage.

With the intent to shame the powerful, caring it the extra mile, the person has not accepted the intended humiliation. An added benefit is that he has saved his neighbor from degradation as well.

Love of neighbor is of utmost importance to Jesus and again, takes a radical and corrective stance beginning with you have heard it said but JESUS says, not only love your neighbor but enemies – the very same people who seek to shame, humiliate and degrade – as well.

This idea is so counter-intuitive, so intrinsically against the human nature, that it requires prayer. It is so important that Jesus includes it in the Lord’s Prayer when we ask for forgiveness and pray that we forgive as we have been forgiven.

Rain is not selective – it will always rain on everything – not just the portions that “deserve” it. The rain doesn’t discriminate and neither does God’s love – it’s for everyone – friend and enemy alike. And it is consistent, complete, and perfect.

Jesus also knows how difficult it is for us to love rather than hate, to forgive rather than hold a grudge, to be vulnerable rather than seek to protect ourselves at all costs, to give to others rather than make sure that we have more than enough for survival,  to heal rather than to hurt.

These things are so hard because we, too, have been hurt; we have been injured in ways that cannot be seen. God knows those wounds. God knows our emotional afflictions and yet, he calls us salt and light; blessed and beloved – that is our identity.

And yet, there is always something that stops us, something that gets in our way – a grudge, a disappointment, a painful memory – stops us, gets in the way of achieving the goal that God has set before us.

Think about just one thing that prevents you from being what God has set before you as your goal, your purpose, your step towards God’s perfection.

Each Sunday we begin our service with the confession and forgiveness. We celebrate the Eucharist – Christ’s holy meal – communion. A wonderful embrace of God’s love.

As you come up to communion this Sunday, receive the wine and the bread and leave something behind.

As God’s love embraces you at the communion rail, leave behind that which prevents you from perfection. And then know that God’s love embraces you.

We hear so much about living our best life now. The army used to have a commercial that implored us to be all that we can be.

Jesus is inviting us to be all that God wants us to be and to live so that our neighbor’s best life is now.

Love God. Serve the neighbor. Grow in faith.

That’s music to my ears, even if the listening isn’t so easy.

Hey YOU! You there! You ARE salt; You ARE light.

Jesus says YOU are the salt of the earth. YOU are the light of the world.

Jesus doesn’t give us a choice, doesn’t make it conditional, doesn’t give us an option. We are what we are. Right now. Right here. You and me, salt and light.

Jesus tells us like it is.

That is really what the Sermon on the Mount is about. Jesus telling us like it IS, changing hearts and minds for God. And a changed heart for God, for Jesus and for discipleship brings about real transformation of body and soul.

It is all about transformation. And that transformation began last week with the first 12 verses in Matthew 5, which people call the Beatitudes and which Jesus uses to describe his new world order and a whole new way of looking at things.

Jesus is hanging out with a bunch of losers. And by 1^st century Mediterranean standards that is what they are – backing up to verse 23 in Chapter 4, we read that they were sick, afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics and paralytics. Not a priest or a scribe among them.

These are the people that scared them. People were scared of those with disease, demons, epilepsy and with limbs twisted about. Society has pushed them to the margins. It is in the margins that we always find Jesus.

Jesus calls among his closest friends and chosen students a couple of fishermen, a tax collector and zealot – 12 in all – disciples.

Jesus begins the transformation of their hearts, souls and minds when Jesus tells the whole lot – the people living in the margins and the disciples  – you are blessed.

Up until now, no one has told them you are blessed. Because if you were sick, afflicted with various diseases and pains, a demoniac, epileptic and paralytic, you didn’t see yourself blessed.

You are blessed. Those are powerful words. It gives us something that we cannot give ourselves – it is a precious gift.

We talked about blessings in the Old Testament in Genesis where it tells us that Jacob stole the birthright and BLESSING from his brother, Esau, who wept bitterly over the loss.

You are blessed.

We learned last week that was tantamount to God saying to you, “I LIKE you.” Yes, we know we are loved, but Jesus is saying to them and to us – I LIKE you!

Try this  – say to yourself – or better yet – say it aloud “Jesus LIKES me!”

That feels different doesn’t it? Simply verbalizing this reality changes our perceptions of ourselves.

When our perception of reality changes, when we begin to see ourselves differently, then our perspective changes, reflecting the transformed heart.

What Jesus is and will continue to do is to change, to TRANSFORM their perception of their reality.

Here, he didn’t change their reality; he was changed how they THOUGHT about their reality.

They were still on the margins. They were still on the mount listening to Jesus. Others may see and label  them as the sick, the diseased and so on. What important is that they no longer see themselves as “those people”.

Jesus is changing them from the inside out. He is changing their hearts. Simply by changing their identity, calling them blessed and offering an invitation.

Remember all those people that Jesus says are blessed: sick, afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics and paralytics. Those are ones that we are now called to bless as well.

YOU are salt; YOU are light. Without salt and light we cannot live.

So, not only are you blessed, Jesus likes you but you are something in the Kingdom and you have an important role to play. We can’t live without you.

Be in life-giving relationship with others.

Salt and light are not important by themselves. Their importance comes from interaction with other things. They act in relationship to something else.

Salt has many uses – it flavors, it preserves, it cleanses. But it doesn’t do it alone. It is interaction with something else to preserve, clean and flavor.

Alone, it’s just salt but in relationship with something else, it means so much more – good taste, food that can be eaten in a few months and not make you sick, your wound heals.

Likewise, light too, gives illumination to something else. Light functions to help us to see, keep us warm – get the idea? By itself its just light but in relationship with us, it becomes life-giving, and illuminating.

So when Jesus says to us: You are salt; you are light – then he is telling us that we are to be in relationship with others.

Jesus is calling us as he sees us now – his disciples. And with that, comes responsibility. Jesus has given us, along with the disciples, a new identity. What difference does that make in our lives?

Because Jesus calls us salt and light, we are called to live salty, light emitting lives, reflecting God’s love, sharing with our neighbor and growing in faith.

We are called to live into that identity and to act as if that makes some kind of difference in our lives.

So Jesus calls us salt and light and KNOWS that we will be and do just that.

Then there are verses 17-20.

Jesus starts with “Do not think” with “very truly I tell you…” In other words, stop and pay attention – this is important.

Jesus is making it clear that he is not here to change the law in way shape or form HOWEVER; this does not mean that he won’t reinterpret it either. He interprets it in terms of contemporary practice.

And then the punch line – verse 20 – unless your righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees – you’re not getting in the kingdom. What a minute? What is going on here? What about transformation and changing from the inside out gels with this?

Jesus gets into a lot of tangles with the Pharisees but it is important to remember that they shared many basic beliefs with Jesus, including how they interpreted the law, views on resurrection, and angels among other things.  And in this instance, he is holding them up as an example.

What Jesus might have meant by righteousness is laid out in the scriptures that we will encounter next week. Perhaps the best way to understand righteousness is in terms of transformation – that change happens from the inside out and that the outside actions matches the inside transformation.

This is Jesus invitation to complete and total transformation in heart, mind and soul as his disciple and a reminder that the kingdom of heaven is above all a relationship – with God, with Jesus and with others.

Salt and light are always present. Without them there is no life.

You are salt; you are light – it’s not just about us – it’s about everyone else, too. Life just isn’t complete without you!

Two thousand years ago Jesus asked the people who were following him, “What are you seeking?”

The crowds replied: “Where are you staying?”

Jesus bid them, “Come and see.”

Later the disciples would wonder, “Where do I go from here?”

Jesus answered, “Follow me.”

Come and see. Follow me. Imperatives said 2000 years ago. Imperatives said to us today.

We ask, perhaps to ourselves, perhaps out loud, “Come and see what? Follow you where?”

This was the question that that I believe that the disciples were silently asking. They have been on the sidelines, observing Jesus, seeing those crowds following him and increasing in number.

Jesus said that they were going to be fishers of people, but are these people?

The poor, the really sad, the sick and the list goes on and on – there wasn’t a winner in the bunch. Where were the wealthy, the patrons in that society – all the people that anyone would want to be associated with – where were they?

Weren’t they supposed to get some power out of this?

Were they asking themselves, “what have I gotten myself into?” Is that the same question we ask ourselves?

Jesus gathers the 12 in close and begins to teach the disciples what this fishing for people is all about. What following Jesus will mean. What they will see.

In this scripture, commonly called “The Beatitudes” and the start of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, scholars disagree on how to translate the Greek. Is it “blessed”? Or as other translations of the Bible that use the word, “happy”. None of which is entirely accurate much less helpful.

Perhaps a better word to use would be “fortunate” or “how honorable” it is or the giving of special favor, unique standing, permission, empowerment, endowment… or how honor-bringing it is to be poor, humble, meek, mourning, etc.

And this is a complete reversal of what the system of that time and really what our world expects – where is there honor in being poor, humble, meek or mourning?

It might help our understanding if we could come to terms that “blessings” are not something that can be pursued from God but can only be given by God as gifts.

Blessing was a powerful thing in the ancient world. It carried a lot of weight. From the Old Testament, we understand that it was so powerful and so meaningful that it was worth stealing, as in the story of Jacob and Esau.

What makes blessing so important? What does it feel like to be blessed?

For Jacob it meant that he had worth and his father’s unconditional high regard. Jacob would carry that blessing for the rest of his life and pass it on to his offspring.

So the feeling of blessing means not only does someone love you but that they really, really like you, too. So a blessing from God would mean that not only does God love us but that he really, really likes us, too.

Jesus lived in the patronage culture of the Roman empire. You lived by honor and died by shame. Jesus defied these cultural norms of the day by offering blessings to those whom culture pushed to the side.

God’s blessings are gifts and they come to the people that we might not necessarily think of as being particularly blessed.

This is not something that we are used to hearing – that God loves us and blesses us not because we have done something to earn it, not because we deserve it but because he chooses to give it to us. All. Of. Us.

God finds us worthy of his attention and blesses us to be what he has called us to be. God’s blessing will transform us to be his blessing to others in this world.

It is God who has created us, blesses us, redeems us and calls us to be his own. In doing such, he invites, implores and commands us to see the world as God sees the world.

To see culture differently. Measure people by their character rather than possessions. For those who have experienced extreme loss, enter into that pain by holding space for them.

Judge others not by their failings but rather forgive them and remind them that they are blessed by God, even if it doesn’t feel like it just then.

To see vulnerability not as weakness to be exploited but rather recognize it as a place where God can reach each and everyone of us.

This is a God who shows up with the poor, not the rich.

This is a God who hangs out with those who mourn rather than celebrate.

This is a God who loves those who are meek and who seek peace rather than those who are strong and victorious.

This is NOT where the people of the ancient world looked for God and to be very truthful this is not where we expect him to be either. But here is Jesus saying that God is here, blessing the poor, the meek, the mourning.

But that is what God does – he shows up, especially when and where we least expect him to be – right there in the middle of our messes, our brokenness.

And he calls us to do the same. Show up. Be  a blessings to those whom the world refuses to bless, love what the world calls unlovable, redeem that which the world says forget about.

Jesus founded a discipleship community to be different from the world around it. This was a community that saw blessings as God’s gifts. This was a community where forgiveness was found, where God’s grace and love pervaded and where everyone had worth and was worth fighting for.

And what if, we could change those past tense verbs into present tense verbs. Holy Trinity is a community that is different. Holy Trinity is a community that sees God’s blessings as gifts. Holy Trinity is a community where God’s grace and love pervades and where everyone has worth and a life worth fighting for.

This is God’s way of life, God’s way of seeing the world. That is what is meant by Kingdom of God.

May we rejoice and be glad that we are called children of God.

And these beatitudes bear this out – God is meeting us where we are – meek, poor, mourning, hungry – and blesses us where we are, doesn’t leave us there and encourages us to be that which we were made to be – children of God.

Jesus bids us, “Come and see. Follow me.”

Note: At the end of the sermon this past Sunday, I continued and addressed how these scriptures speak to us right where we are and the place that our country is in this day and time. In light of the flurry and aftermath of the presidential executive orders of the past two weeks may these scriptures speak to us and direct us in our action. May we pray and ask God what God would have us to be about in this time and place. And may we have the courage to see what God would have us to see and to follow God. And may God be glorified in all that we do!

What would you answer if someone asked you, “what is your calling in life?” OR “what is your ‘call story’?” What would you answer? How would you answer?

Several years ago Lilly Endowment funded a research team that studied sense of vocation and calling with those preparing for ordained ministry and the communities that they serve. Few of the parishioners felt that the hours spent at work mattered to God or the church much less make a difference in the world or even in their communities.  Many did not see a direct connection between what they do and what they believe. This leads to a feeling of not being called. ¹

 When people say to me, “I wish I could do something like you do” as if what I do is somehow more meaningful than their current profession, I get very sad. Because what you do is no less important than what I do and in many ways what you do is so much more important than what I do. We’re all children of God – and that makes us equally loved, cherished, valuable and called.

 This brings us to our scripture reading from this past week: Matthew 4:12-23. Jesus is responding to his call and also calling others to be a part of the mission that God has given him.

John the Baptist’s call lead to his imprisonment and eventual beheading. Jesus withdraws off of the beaten path, not to run from Herod, but to retreat to listen and respond to God’s call. Then Jesus calls the crowd to repent, to turn around and go the opposite direction, and to be a part of the proclamation of the kingdom.

He then goes on to call the disciples who will be encouraged to fish for people by casting God’s net of love and grace that gathers anyone and everyone on whom it falls.

Not everyone’s calling is the same. Only four in the crowd were called to be part of the Jesus’ closest 12. But that didn’t make all those other calls less important or needed. They were just different.

Perhaps we’ve gotten the cart before the horse. Before there is “doing” there is “being.” ²

Think about Jesus and how he was prepared for the monumental ministry that he was embarking on. Before anything got started, Jesus fully understood who and whose he was. He knew who he was. He knew and understood where he belonged and what he was about to do. He knew what to be before he moved on to “do”.

John, too, knew and understood how he fit into the picture. He knew that he was called to prepare the way for Jesus. He knew what to be before he moved on to “do.”

Peter, Andrew, James and John – did they know fully what they were getting themselves into? Did they have any idea what it meant to be “fishers of men?” What they DID know was that Jesus chose them – these ordinary fishermen – Jesus saw something in them and chose them. They didn’t know exactly what they were to do but they knew what to be at that moment.

First and foremost we are called to be children of God. And when God calls us children of God that means we are valued and honored and loved. We are called to “be” before we move onto to “do.”

So how do we figure out what to “do” after we get our heads around “be.” Does that mean that we will intrinsically know what we called to do? In truth it can take a lifetime to discern. I didn’t get a clear picture until I was well into my 30s.  Add to all of this that there are many ways to respond to God’s call – numerous was to “do”.

We come each week to hear God’s word, to splash in the bath and be reminded of our baptism and to be nourished by the one who love us more than anything – Jesus Christ. Living out our baptismal promises through our words and deed. One of the places that this happens is in our relationships.

However God may use us, it is important to remember that first God calls us to BE. God has called us to BE his children. God has called us to BE his BELOVED children. And this is where we belong. From there, we can trust that God has got this…and that it will be OK.

But what about our communities of faith – what does this mean to all of us? What is God calling us to be and do in this place?

God is calling HTLC to BE a gathering place for those whom God loves. God is calling HTLC is to BE a place that welcomes the least, the last, the lonely, the lost and the left behind. God is calling HTLC to BE a place of acceptance. God is calling HTLC that not only welcomes all – because all means all. And not just welcome all but invite and include.

And God is calling HTLC be a place where God’s word is taught, where the good news of the kingdom is proclaimed, where we splash in the waters of baptism and are nourished at the table, where all can find healing and a peace that passes all understanding.

Jesus heard his identity proclaimed at the River Jordan and then went to work proclaiming the kingdom and inviting all that would hear to turn towards the kingdom.

Dear church, beloved children of God, we too hear our identity. From that moment on, make no mistake, from the youngest to the oldest, God calls us to be at work in his kingdom, right here on earth.

We are the church – not this building, not this place – but us gathered together are the church along with millions of others.

All of us are God’s beloved children, showered in the grace and love of a God who loves so very much, a God who wants us to turn toward the kingdom and proclaim that love and grace to a world that needs to hear it.

¹http://www.davidlose.net/2017/01/epiphany-3-a-being-before-doing

²Ibid.

Have you experienced something so wonderful that you couldn’t wait to tell someone, anyone and everyone? Did you have trouble describing the experience, finally saying, “oh, just come and see what I’m talking about!”

John the Baptist is so excited. Not only did he baptize Jesus but he saw and heard it all! The heavens opening, the voice of God speaking, the spirit of God as a dove descending. He had a front row seat and now he must tell someone, anyone and everyone who would listen that the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is here!

I’m wondering if John’s disciples are tiring of hearing the story and listening to John relive the experience again and again and again. When they are with John, the very next day, John sees Jesus and wastes no time. Look, look here HE IS! Here is the Lamb of God. And so John’s two disciples follow Jesus.

Crowds begin to follow Jesus. And he asks them a question.

Now if a bunch of people were following me, I think that I would ask them, “what do you want?” or “ can I help you” or “why are you following me?” But this is Jesus we’re talking about and he asks, “What are you looking for?”

For me, the answer to that question on most mornings is my keys, my glasses, my cell phone or all three.

For some of us the answer is a job, enough money, peace in our families, quick and easy solutions to a difficult and nagging problem, something to get us through a challenging day, something to make our lives better. Anything to make us feel just a little bit better about ourselves, our lives, our community, our country, our world.

When Jesus asks that question, he is asking the crowd and he is asking us, “what are you seeking?” And the disciples don’t give him a direct answer but rather counter with a question themselves.

Were they avoiding having to answer? Was it too difficult to verbalize? Is it too difficult for us to verbalize what we are looking for because in verbalizing we give voice to something we would rather not acknowledge to ourselves, much less publicly. For in verbalizing it would make the emptiness in our lives all to real?

And so the disciples ask, “where are you staying?’ And that’s a loaded word in the gospel of John – “stay”. It also means remain, stay, live, dwell, last, abide, endure, continue, a place to be.

Isn’t that what we all want? A home, a meaningful relationship, community, a place to be?

And that’s what the disciples wanted as well – to be a part of something larger than themselves, to have meaningful relationships, a place to be.

And so Jesus says to them and says to us, “Come and see.”

This is a wonderful invitation with no strings attached, no probing questions, no expectations, no qualifications, no accusations – just a simple invitation with three words: come and see.

What are we going to come to and see? God?

A common exercise during most VBS programs is to talk about God sightings At first they have a difficult time. And adults are no different. Seeing God is such a foreign concept for everyone.

We’re really good at naming the places that we expect God to be – personal tragedy, anxiety, hurt. But actually seeing him? That’s more difficult. Yes, it’s easier to see him in the large events, but what about the mundane, everyday stuff that goes on?

Then comes the challenging part – sharing those sightings. It feels clumsy, uncomfortable, perhaps even alien. It’s hard work but so crucial to what we are called to do and be in this world. It is in the sharing of where we see God that we give something of ourselves, something that for many of us we find intimate and personal.

It is in this sharing that relationships are forged and connections are made.

To go the next step is even harder – embodying Jesus’ words and inviting someone to “come and see.”

The power of “come and see” – of invitation is before us in this passage from John. From Jesus’ intitial invitation to the first disciples who followed him came the many of the 12 closest disciples of Jesus.

Andrew finds a placet o abide, remain and to be. But before he leaves, he goes and gets his brother, Simon. “We have found the Messiah –come and see.” Simon gets a new name – Peter, the rock on which Jesus builds the church.

It doesn’t stop there – in the verses that follow other disciples are invited to come and see: Phillip, Nathanael, the woman at the well who invites her entire village.

Jesus asks us “what are you looking for?” and we respond, “where are you staying?” Are we really asking can we find a home with you? Are we worthy enough? Does it matter what we have done and where we’ve come from? Can we be in relationship with you?

“Come and see!”

Here at Holy Trinity there is much to be found – a community of acceptance that reflects the love God, a place to grow in faith, a place where together we serve our neighbors. But if we don’t say to others around us, “come and see!” how will they know about what we’ve found here in the 600 block of Market St in Leesburg VA?

In this coming week, may you notice God in big and small ways, share that experience with someone and invite them to come and see all that is going on here in this community at HTLC. And we have a lot going on – Chili Fest, Souper Bowl of Caring and Scout Sunday on Feb. 5.

And what if they say, “no, I don’t think so…” That’s OK!! We’re called to invite and to say, “come and see.” The Holy Spirit will take care of the rest so don’t take it personally. You’ve done what you’ve been called to do. And you’ve planted a seed.

God loves you and will do amazing things through you!

Just come and see!