Read, Mark, Learn: March 2013

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Bible Challenge: Week 11

***General questions to keep in mind while reading:
1. What did this passage mean for those for whom it was first written?
2. How does this passage apply to my life today?

Seven members of Christ Episcopal Church gathered tonight to continue The Bible Challenge (http://thecenterforbiblicalstudies.org/what-is-the-bible-challenge/). If you are joining us, here are the readings for this week. Remember, you can choose Track 1 (All The Readings), Track 2 (Just the New Testament), Track 3 (The Psalms), or any combination thereof:

Monday, March 18th: Day 71 – Deuteronomy 19-21, Psalm 59, Luke 17
Tuesday, March 19th: Day 72 – Deuteronomy 22-24, Psalm 60, Luke 18
Wednesday, March 20th: Day 73 – Deuteronomy 25-27, Psalm 61, Luke 19
Thursday, March 21st: Day 74 – Deuteronomy 28-30, Psalm 62, Luke 20
Friday, March 22nd: Day 75 – Deuteronomy 31-33, Psalm 63, Luke 21
Saturday, March 23rd: Day 76 – Deuteronomy 34, Psalm 64, Luke 22Sunday, March 24th: Day 77 – Enjoy hearing the Scriptures read aloud in church
On Monday, March 25th, the group will meet in the Sunday School building at 7:30 p.m. to discuss what we've read this week. In the mean time, or if you cannot join us this week, feel free to comment on this post with questions, thoughts, or whatever strikes you from this week's readings. If you comment, please remember to include your name in your comment.

Peace,

Nick Szobota +

Sermon for March 17th, 2013: "Previews of Coming Attractions"

Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 126
Philippians 3:4b-14
John 12:1-8

USA

, with the exception of the Psalms, which come from The Book of Common Prayer, 1979. Not all scripture passages from the lectionary may be quoted or referenced in a given Sunday's sermon. For more information on the lectionary used in The Episcopal Church, please visit http://www.lectionarypage.net/.

“Previews of Coming Attractions”

The Rev. Nicholas S. Szobota

March 17, 2013
Christ Church, West River, Maryland

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Anyone who goes to a movie knows about the previews that come before the feature film. For years, the number of previews has grown. We now see previews for movies that will appear in theaters more than a year from now, not just movies coming in the next few months. Some enjoy seeing what’s to come, and some people find these previews an inconvenience.

Today’s gospel reading from John includes foreshadowing that gives us a preview of coming attractions. We learn that Judas Iscariot is about to betray Jesus. When Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with costly ointment and wipes the feet with her hair, Jesus responds to Judas’ complaint by saying she had purchased this ointment to prepare him for burial. This hints at Jesus’ death and burial, to come later in the gospel.

The beginning of today’s passage makes reference to Lazarus, Mary and Martha’s brother whom Jesus had raised from the dead. In John 11, Mary and Martha send a message to Jesus to tell him Lazarus is ill. Jesus does not come to Bethany in time to cure Lazarus, and he dies. When Jesus arrives, Lazarus has already been dead four days. He has been dead long enough for the stench of decomposition to emerge from his tomb. Still, Jesus tells the people to take away the stone covering the grave. He shouts, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man emerges, not as zombie or a shambling mummy, but whole and alive.

Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead provides a preview of Jesus’ own Resurrection. In John 20, Jesus appears to his disciples after he rises from the grave. Thomas is not there, and he does not believe his friends when they tell him that Jesus is alive. Perhaps he would have found believing possible if he thought about how Jesus had already demonstrated power over life and death by raising Lazarus from the grave.

These stories of new life provide a preview of coming attractions for God’s plan for each of us and for the world. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, each one of us will not disappear after the end of our mortal life. God has more planned for us than oblivion or non-existence. God will draw each of us into new, deeper life with God. Some suggest that God will not simply provide us with new life, but that God will also bring about a new creation for the entire world. This will conform the world more closely with what God intended in the first place.

Resurrection does not only occur at the end, though. Previews of coming attractions appear for communities and people as life progresses. The Roman Catholic Church elected a new Pope this week. For Roman Catholics, this represents a time of new life for their church. I have seen the same in The Episcopal Church when a new bishop gets consecrated, new people join a parish, or a new priest gets called to lead a congregation.

Resurrection can occur for us as we live our individual lives, too. Perhaps this will look different for each person, but Resurrection can provide new life in the places that seem most dead or most dark in our lives. One way to approach this involves looking at the places that seem most dead or dark and us and believing that something new can emerge from their, that God promises to transform what is dead into some kind of new life. This kind of hope connects us with what God intends, but of course some hopes do not match what God wants to do. I could hope that each one of us will receive one billion dollars after we leave church today, and if it is God’s will may that happen, but more likely God has some other way in mind for us to address financial difficulties. Perhaps this means taking better care with the resources we already possess, or perhaps it means seeking other ways to produce income.

Likewise, a person facing sickness might hope for a cure. If no cure comes, despite fervent prayer and the work of medical science, Resurrection can still happen. New life might emerge as a person learns to live with a chronic condition or illness and experience the fullest life possible under those circumstances.

We can also gain hope for new life in our lives by looking at the world around us. In the northern hemisphere, natural occurrences match with the anticipation of Resurrection in this season of the church year. The flowers emerge from the ground, birdsongs remind us that birds have returned after a time away, and other animals that have been absent become more active.

We might also see signs of new life in people who change their habits so that they live a more humane lifestyle. Sometimes this change brings these people to live a more content and hopeful life. When someone shows us this kind of change, part of us might react with envy or hatred that things go well for them. If that temptation comes, one might pay attention to an alternative way of feeling: We might see these changes in others’ lives as reasons to celebrate with them and as previews of coming attractions for change and Resurrection that can occur in our lives.

God gives us preview of coming attractions for God’s plan for the world and for us. Resurrection awaits us at the end of our mortal lives, but we see previews even now in the world, in the Church, in our communities, and in one another. One can greet these previews as inconveniences along the way toward final Resurrection, or one can greet them with hope and joy. May God grant us the grace to watch and experiences these previews with growing hope for the main feature yet to come. Amen.

Monday, March 11, 2013

The Bible Challenge: Week 10

***General questions to keep in mind while reading:
1. What did this passage mean for those for whom it was first written?
2. How does this passage apply to my life today?

Eight members of Christ Episcopal Church gathered tonight to continue The Bible Challenge (http://thecenterforbiblicalstudies.org/what-is-the-bible-challenge/). If you are joining us, here are the readings for this week. Remember, you can choose Track 1 (All The Readings), Track 2 (Just the New Testament), Track 3 (The Psalms), or any combination thereof:

Monday, March 11th: Day 64 – Deuteronomy 1-3, Psalm 53, Luke 11
Tuesday, March 12th: Day 65 – Deuteronomy 4-6, Psalm 54, Luke 12
Wednesday, March 13th: Day 66 – Deuteronomy 7-9, Psalm 55, Luke 13
Thursday, March 14th: Day 67 – Deuteronomy 10-12, Psalm 56, Luke 14
Friday, March 15th: Day 68 – Deuteronomy 13-15, Psalm 57, Luke 15
Saturday, March 16th: Day 69 – Deuteronomy 16-18, Psalm 58, Luke 16
Sunday, March 17th: Day 70 – Enjoy hearing the Scriptures read aloud in church

On Monday, March 18th, the group will meet in the Sunday School building at 7:30 p.m. to discuss what we've read this week. In the mean time, or if you cannot join us this week, feel free to comment on this post with questions, thoughts, or whatever strikes you from this week's readings. If you comment, please remember to include your name in your comment.

Peace,

Nick Szobota +

Sermon for March 10, 2013: "The Father's Example"

Joshua 5:9-12 Psalm 32 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

USA

“The Father’s Example”

The Rev. Nicholas S. Szobota

March 10, 2013
Christ Church, West River, Maryland

Fourth Sunday in Lent

People spend significant resources to avoid pain. Sometimes this happens in healthy ways. People exercise, play music, or engage in other hobbies that take their minds off of suffering. At appropriate times, people might use over-the-counter or prescription medications to handle pain. When one has painful invasive surgery, one receives anesthesia. Of course, sometimes people misuse legal or illegal substances because they cannot handle pain.

Today’s Old Testament reading marks a way the lectionary tries to avoid some pain. Staring with verse 9 of Joshua’s fifth chapter, we hear the good news that God has “rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” Starting with verse 2 of Joshua 5, though, gives a more complete picture:

2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, "Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites a second time." 3 So Joshua made flint knives, and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath-haaraloth. 4 This is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the warriors, had died during the journey through the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt. 5 Although all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people born on the journey through the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the Israelites traveled forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the warriors who came out of

Egypt

, perished, not having listened to the voice of the Lord. To them the Lord swore that he would not let them see the land that he had sworn to their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way. 8 When the circumcising of all the nation was done, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed. 9 The Lord said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of

Egypt

." And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. (Joshua 5:2-9, NRSV)

This passage describes how God has rolled away the disgrace from the Israelites: by the Israelites keeping of God’s covenant, which includes keeping the rites of circumcision. Some commentators suggest that this painful surgery, applying only to males, had to involve flint knives due to tradition, even though the Israelites may have had access to metal knives. In any case, this represents a clear example of how sometimes doing what God wants us to do can hurt.

Today’s reading from Luke represents a case of some severe hurt in people’s lives, although the story here involves emotional hurt. The parable of the Prodigal Son, with “prodigal” meaning “wasteful,” involves the hurts of a dysfunctional family. The first hurt comes when the younger son asks his father to divide the property, so that the son can have his share of the inheritance. The inheritance should have only come after the father’s death. In effect, the son says, “Dad, I wish you were dead and I had your money.” No matter how hurtful this must have been, the father gives his son his share of the inheritance.

The prodigal son goes away, wastes the money in partying, and finds himself in a foreign country during a famine without any means to survive. He goes to work tending to pigs, and he realizes how much he hurts. The son thinks that he would feel much better returning to his father’s house, even as a slave, than he would living amongst the pigs. The son decides to admit his guilt to the father, saying, “I have sinned before heaven and against you.” He heads home, only to discover that his father comes running to embrace him before he can reach the house. His father welcomes him not as a slave, but as a son. He cleans him, gives him the best robe in the house, has the servants prepare a valuable calf for a feast, and throws a party.

Despite the reconciliation, more hurt follows. The older son, who remained home to dutifully tend to the family fields, comes to the house after his labor. He hears the sounds of music and dancing and wonders what’s happening. When he learns that his brother has returned to this kind of welcome from their father, he won’t even enter the house. The father comes out, and the older brother won’t even acknowledge his younger brother in conversation with their father, referring to him as “this son of yours.” This older son may very well wonder if, after wasting half of the family wealth, the younger brother will now get half again. In other words, the younger brother will have had seventy-five percent of the wealth while the older brother gets only twenty-five percent! In this, the older brother reveals how much like his younger brother he is. He is only thinking of the father’s wealth, too, even if he hasn’t specifically asked for it!

In this parable, the only character seems truly happy throughout: the father. He does not let the behavior of either son get to him. He forgives both sons for their failings and sins, the younger for his wastefulness, the older for his judgmental anger, and both for their greed. In Jesus’ parables, a father character usually represents God. We can be grateful that God forgives each of us, even as this father forgives each of his sons. At the same time, the father serves as an example for us to follow. When I look at my life, I can find many times when I have behaved like either son, but too few when I have behaved like their father. I’m not suggesting that the father wasn’t hurt, but rather that he looked beyond his hurt to find forgiveness for each of his sons.

When others sin against us and come with a desire to reconcile, let us follow the father’s example. Let us also thank God for meeting us with open arms when we confess our sins, and be thankful he’s not holding a flint knife. Amen.

Monday, March 4, 2013

The Bible Challenge: Week 9

***General questions to keep in mind while reading:
1. What did this passage mean for those for whom it was first written?
2. How does this passage apply to my life today?

Six members of Christ Episcopal Church gathered tonight to continue The Bible Challenge (http://thecenterforbiblicalstudies.org/what-is-the-bible-challenge/). If you are joining us, here are the readings for this week. Remember, you can choose Track 1 (All The Readings), Track 2 (Just the New Testament), Track 3 (The Psalms), or any combination thereof:

Monday, March 4th: Day 57 – Numbers 21-23, Psalm 47, Luke 5
Tuesday, March 5th: Day 58 – Numbers 24-26, Psalm 48, Luke 6
Wednesday, March 6th: Day 59 – Numbers 27-29, Psalm 49, Luke 7
Thursday, March 7th: Day 60 – Numbers 30-32, Psalm 50, Luke 8
Friday, March 8th: Day 61 – Numbers 33-35, Psalm 51, Luke 9
Saturday, March 9th: Day 62 – Numbers 36, Psalm 52, Luke 10
Sunday, March 10th: Day 63 – Enjoy hearing the Scriptures read aloud in church
On Monday, March 11th, the group will meet in the Sunday School building at 7:30 p.m. to discuss what we've read this week. In the mean time, or if you cannot join us this week, feel free to comment on this post with questions, thoughts, or whatever strikes you from this week's readings. If you comment, please remember to include your name in your comment.

Peace,

Nick Szobota +

Sermon for March 3, 2013: "Worth the Wait"

Exodus 3:1-15 Psalm 63:1-8 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9

All quotations from scripture come from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the

USA

“Worth the Wait”

The Rev. Nicholas S. Szobota

March 3, 2013
Christ Church, West River, Maryland

Third Sunday in Lent

Many of us have heard the cliche, "Money doesn't grow on trees." Perhaps a parent told this to us as a child, when we begged for something outside of the family budget or that wasn't an appropriate use of resources. Perhaps some of us have said this to our own children.

In today's gospel reading, figs don't grow on trees, at least not when they're supposed to grow. Jesus tells a parable, a story using symbols to get a point across, about a man who owned some land and had planted a fig tree in his vineyard. The landowner complains to his gardener that the fig tree has not produced any fruit in three years. He wants to gardener to cut down the tree, so that the good soil can be used for better purposes.

The gardener pleads with the landowner to give him another year to dig around the roots and fertilize the soil. If the tree bears fruit then, that's great. If not, then the gardener will cut down the tree. This fig tree story contrasts with passage involving a similar tree in Matthew and Mark (Matthew 21:18-22, Mark 11:12-24). In these passages, Jesus actually encounters a fig tree instead of telling a story about one. He goes up to the fig tree looking for something to eat, but finds only leaves. Both Matthew and Mark clearly state that this is because it's not the right season for figs. In each case, Jesus curses the fig tree and says, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." In Matthew's version, the fig tree withers immediately. In Mark's telling, Jesus and his disciples return the next day to find the fig tree withered over night.

In each case, there's probably something more than figs of importance here. Jesus tells his disciples in each case that whatever they ask and believe they will receive will come to pass. If that were the case, and he really wanted figs, he could have asked for the fig tree to produce some fruit. Instead, Jesus uses the fig tree as a lesson. Perhaps he intends to make a comment on the state of the temple, from which he drives out people buying and selling around the time of his incident with the fig tree. The temple should produce spiritual fruit all the time. There's no season for that. Yet, Jesus asserts that the temple has become corrupt. If a fig tree withers even when it's not supposed to bear fruit, what will happen to the temple that doesn't produce fruit when it should?

The fig tree story in Luke takes a reverse point of view from the stories in Matthew and Mark. Here, the gardener appeals for the fig tree to be spared. We don't get the landowner's response and, if the gardener gets his year with the tree, we don't hear what happens a year later. Nevertheless, the parable implies that the fig tree may be worth saving. There's hope.

Some suggest that the landowner doesn't represent God in this story, but that the gardener represents God instead. In this case, God has hope for those of us not yet bearing fruit. God has hope to transform the challenges and difficulties in our lives. Sometimes, God causes instantaneous miracles that change things, but God may also work miracles overtime. Just because no fruit has appeared now, it doesn't mean God won't cause some to appear later. May God give us patience to wait for this fruit, for it will be sweet indeed. Amen.