Mind of Christ

Palm Sunday (Year B)

Philippians 2.5-11; Mark 14.1—15.47

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 36:30)

 

Here we are. Palm Sunday. Also sometimes referred to as Passion Sunday. A day that is a bit schizophrenic. Or, at least, that is what it has become over time. The definition of schizophrenic is “of or relating to conflicting or inconsistent elements; characterized by unusual disparity.”[1] On this day, we certainly see conflicting elements and experience great disparity, as we go from celebrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosannah!” to witnessing Jesus’ Passion, with shouts of “Crucify him!” And if “schizophrenic” doesn’t describe what we witness on this day, I don’t know what does.

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Spoiler Alert

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year B)

Jeremiah 31.31-34; John 12.20-33

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 12:30)

 

I don’t know about other clergy, but for me, one of the biggest struggles of preaching during Lent, particularly as we get closer and closer to Holy Week, is figuring out how much to reveal of the story. I mean, we all know how the story unfolds. We all know how the story ends. But I struggle with not wanting to reveal too much. I don’t want to spoil the ending. Not that I can really do that, because, as I said, after 2,000 years of doing Lent and Holy Week, we know the story like the back of our own hands. Rather, I don’t want to spoil the build up to the climactic ending that is Easter. Ideally, I want the events of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday to slowly build in intensity: Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his Last Supper with the disciples, his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial before Pontius Pilate, his conviction and condemnation to death, his crucifixion. All building, only to leave us with that momentary pause—that pregnant pause—called Holy Saturday. That period where we feel abandoned. Where we feel all alone. Where we feel bereft of hope. And then BOOM, Easter! Resurrection! New life!

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For God So Loved the World

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year B)

Numbers 21.4-9; John 3.14-21

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 11:55)

 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3.16. Perhaps one of the best-known Bible verses of all time. So well known that even if you were to ask a non-Christian to recite John 3.16, they probably could. Part of this is likely due to the pervasiveness of the use of this verse, or reference to it, throughout our culture. While obviously part of the canon of scripture for nearly 2,000 years, it was particularly during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s that John 3.16 came to the fore of our collective consciousness, thanks to the rise in evangelicalism in America. This verse almost becoming the motto or the mission statement for American evangelicalism, thanks to Billy Graham, who was particularly active during this time, holding mass rallies or crusades, where he often preached on this verse. The popularity was so pervasive that signs that simply read “John 3:16,” or even the more truncated “3:16” seemed, and still seems, to be everywhere. On T-shirts, on signs and billboards, even graffitied on freeway overpasses. It is so commonplace that references seem to be present at every sporting event, from high school to nationally televised professional games. So, what is it about this one verse, of all the 31,102 verses in the Bible (excluding the Apocrypha), that has captured our collective attention?

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Removing Barriers and Being the Body of Christ

Third Sunday in Lent (Year B)

John 2.13-22

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 14:30)

 

Thus far this year, we have focused on the Gospel According to Mark. But through the rest of our Lenten journey, we switch to the Gospel According to John. Now to be sure, John’s Gospel is a completely different animal compared to the Synoptics Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John’s theological perspectives, his language, how he portrays Jesus, are all very different than the other three Gospels. And even some of the stories and when and how they are told are very different. Case in point: today’s telling of the cleansing of the Temple.

 

All four Gospels contain a version of Jesus cleansing the Temple. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all place the event during Holy Week following Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, just days before his crucifixion. John, on the other hand, places this critical event at the opposite end. At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. This alternative placement and other variations offer a different perspective on what Jesus’ actions in cleaning the Temple mean for us.

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Taking Up Our Cross

Second Sunday in Lent (Year B)

Mark 8.31-38

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 13:40)

 

A couple of weeks ago, when we talked about the Transfiguration, we talked about how that was a pivot point in Jesus’ life and ministry. When his focus changed from being about his ministry of teaching and healing to being about his journey to Jerusalem. The journey we make with him during the season of Lent. Well, the real shift actually took place six days before the Transfiguration, in the events we hear in today’s Gospel. When Jesus tells his disciples for the first time that he will undergo great suffering, be killed, and then rise again. The first of three Passion predictions.

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Do We Really Need To Do Lent This Year?

First Sunday in Lent (Year B)

Mark 1.9-15

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 14:00)

 

Here we are. The start of another Lenten season. The beginning of another Lenten journey. The 40-day period when we specifically focus on repenting of our sins both individual and communal; with the threefold practices of prayer, fasting, and charity; and a time that we often associate with austerity and deprivation. Looking at the last 11 months, is what we have been through so different than what we associate with Lent? Only it did not come to an end after 40 days. No, here we are at Day 340 of the official “lock down” that we have lived through with varying degrees of intensity. What seems to be a never-ending Lenten season. In fact, when we began this pandemic existence, we were in the middle of Lent 2020. Our last in-person worship was March 15^th, the third Sunday in Lent. Sure, we switched to online worship and completed the liturgical season of Lent 2020, doing Holy Week and Easter services in a new way. But it still didn’t quite seem like Lent was over. Even though we celebrated Easter, it still felt like Jesus was in the tomb. Even though we celebrated Pentecost online, there did not seem to be much of a new spirit in the land. Even though we celebrated Advent, preparing for, anticipating, longing for new birth, the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas just was not the same. Throughout it all, there was the specter of COVID. There was the reality of a global pandemic. There was an ongoing sense that we were in a time far more akin to Lent than to Easter or Pentecost or Advent or Christmas.

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Taking Up the Mantle

Last Sunday after the Epiphany (Year B)

2 Kings 2.1-12; 2 Corinthians 4.3-6; Mark 9.2-9

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 12:00)

 

Today we come to the last Sunday in the season after Epiphany. As we noted at the beginning of our Epiphanytide journey, the term Epiphany comes from the Greek, meaning “manifestation” or “appearing.” And in our Christian context, the Feast of the Epiphany and the season that follows focus on how Jesus’ true identity as the Son of God is revealed. Well, what happens today in our Gospel reading is the epitome of those revelations.

 

Just to set the stage, six days before going up the Mount of the Transfiguration, Jesus had revealed to his disciples for the first time that he would “undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mk 8.31). Now, six days later, for some inexplicable reason Jesus takes his inner circle, Peter, James, and John, up a high mountain. As we heard, while there, “he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white . . . and there appeared to them Elijah with Moses” (Mk 9.2b-4). As if Jesus being transfigured and the two greatest prophets in Jewish history appearing out of thin air to chat with Jesus weren’t enough to demonstrate who he was, a voice came from a cloud saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved: listen to him” (Mk 9.7). You can’t get a much more dramatic or definitive revelation of Jesus’ true identity. Well, you can, but we have to wait for Easter for that.

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Healing, Restoration, and Hope

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year B)

1 Corinthians 9.16-23; Mark 1.29-39

St. Gregory's, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 13:55)

 

I can’t help but feel sorry for Jesus. In today’s Gospel reading, we are told that he and his disciples left the synagogue and went to Peter’s house, where they find Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a fever. Jesus heals her. Then, later in the day, he is inundated with those who “brought him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around him.” (Mk 1.32-33). This was obviously going to be a long day. Lest we forget, even as today’s passage begins, Jesus has already put in a long day’s work. Today’s passage is just a continuation of what we heard last week, where Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath and was confronted by a man with an unclean spirit, which Jesus promptly dispatched.

 

And this was literally Jesus’ first day on the job. As I noted last week, the scene at the synagogue was Jesus’ first recorded actions in his public ministry. You’d think Jesus would want to ease into his ministry. Instead, there was so much to be done the poor guy hardly had a chance to catch his breath. And I’m guessing this was all pretty draining on him. Just teaching to a crowd can be pretty draining. Add on top of that having to deal with an unclean spirt, which I assume engaging and casting out demons is also a draining activity. It is certainly implied in other passages of scripture. So, I’m sure that when Jesus left the synagogue after a very busy morning, he just wanted to go back to Peter’s place, relax, and have a nice, quiet Sabbath meal. But no. Instead, he must deal with the sick mother-in-law. Then came the crowds wanting to be healed. They had probably heard about what happened at the synagogue, so came to see if they, too, could be healed by Jesus. Welcome to your public ministry, Jesus. A Messiah’s work is never done. And the way he deals with the events of this, his first day of public ministry, essentially sets the tone for the rest of his ministry.

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With Authority

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year B)

Deuteronomy 18.15-20; 1 Corinthians 8.1-13; Mark 1.21-28

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 14:15)

 

In recent weeks and months, we have become all too familiar with the precarious relationship we have with the concept of authority. And we have become increasingly aware that the recognition of authority—of rightful, duly conferred authority—can be a touchy thing. Particularly in a system that confers authority based on the will of the majority. And even more so on a system where the definition of that majority is open to interpretation. Leading to struggles over authority. We’ve just lived through one of the most contentious elections in our nation’s history, which saw—and still sees—fighting over acknowledgment of who has legitimate authority to lead this nation for the next four years. A fight that was so contentious it resulted in the only instance of our fellow citizens seeking to forcibly take control of the federal government. An act which has far-reaching implications as our government considers actions that will minimize the likelihood of such events in the future. Or, at least, that is the hope. But what about when we have no direct say in who has authority?

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Immediately!

Third Sunday after the Epiphany (Year B)

Jonah 3.1-5, 10; Mark 1.14-20

The Rev. Michael K. Fincher

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 12:35)

 

“And immediately [Simon and Andrew] left their nets and followed [Jesus].” And then, when Jesus and his first two disciples come upon James and John, “Immediately he called them.”

 

Immediately. This is the tone of the call narrative in Mark’s Gospel. Yes, another Sunday of call narratives. Perhaps we hear so many call narratives in this season after Epiphany because Epiphany is about the ways Jesus is revealed to humanity. And while his identity as the Son of God, as God in the flesh, is most fully revealed in such events as his baptism and in some of his miracles, one of the ways that he is revealed is through the work of those whom he calls to be his disciples—of those he calls to follow him. And this side of the Resurrection, he continues to be revealed through those who follow him. Through those who are called to carry on his mission and ministry as the Body of Christ in the world.

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