My 2017 Christmas Tree

As this year becomes the past and God’s light gives way to hope’s new dawning light:

O

Christ,

Our gift of

Mercy great, of grace,

God’s love we richly undeserve,

We give you thanks and praise

For foreshortening the time of your deliverance,

Of entering into our darkness, shining bright,

Illumining the way and teaching us new ways to go.

Forgive us for our waywardness, our lack of vision,

Our inattentive hard-of-hearing, our tongue-tied witness,

And our careless treatment of your creation.

In the midst of Advent waiting, thinking of our world affairs,

Help us who, like shepherds long ago, tend only to our business

To know that there are more than our concerns only.

Shock us with your holy greeting. Call us to your manger, eating place,

To be fed, to know Your presence now among us

In the wine and in the bread. As we come before you, reaching out on bended knee,

May we know your love that comes from Cross, the tree,

For Us,

Our hope;

Wonderful

Counselor,

Mighty God, Prince of Peace.

NEW TAX DEMANDS STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

THE SON TIMES

The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

NEW TAX DEMANDS STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

by Luke A. Possil

Dateline: Bethlehem, December 24, 2017, 02:01:20--In what is being touted as the greatest gift of the emperor, a new tax reform bill is introduced. First a census will determine equitable taxation rates for the many regions of the burgeoning empyreal Roman global economy. Increased revenues will provide funds for distribution and development of goods and infrastructure of all Roman citizens.

Senator Brute Pompisassi announced today, “This new taxation program will benefit Roman citizens everywhere. This census will define, once and for all, just who is a Roman citizen because we do not want our resources to be wasted on those who want to benefit from our great empire but do so without becoming Roman citizens. All residents must return to their places of familial origin in order to determine how many resources are necessary to meet the needs of the true Roman deserving and to find ways of limiting those great resources for Roman citizens alone. It is time to recognize the greatness that is Rome and to rebuild the status of Roman citizenship. We must make Rome great again.”

In attempting to determine the effects of this “great gift” on the common person, this reporter followed a couple on their journey from the hill country of Nazareth back to their Davidic homeland of Bethlehem. As a way to protect their identity, they have asked to be known only as Joe and Mary.

Until beginning this journey to the family home, Joe, a journeyman carpenter, was working as a daily laborer on any project he could find. He is engaged to Mary and was trying to make a home for the two of them in Nazareth. Most of his work has been for Roman landlords who sometimes shorted his pay or even neglected it entirely. Joe continues to work in hopes of making ends meet, but, because he is not a Roman citizen, he has no recourse when this happens.

Now, because of the census, Joe has not worked for some time, and he is using his meager savings for expenses on the road. His family roots are in Bethlehem so to Bethlehem he had to come. It makes no difference to the government that he has lived in Nazareth for the greater part of his life.

Mary, Joe’s bride-to-be, seems too young to take on the burdens of the world. She is a dreamer who looks to the day when the hungry will be filled; when the lowly will be lifted up; when health care is available to all people; when the value of a person is recognized by virtue of their being, not whether they carry the right papers declaring them to be a citizen of Rome. She looks for the day of real equality, where the hoity-toity will get their hands dirty in the work of life. She is one of the disaffected and kindles a fire of rebellion within herself. Mary says that it is her hope for the future of the world that she carried this baby.

Transportation is always a challenge for Joe but especially when he began this trip with a pregnant fiancée and desiring to bring his tools with him on the chance that he might find a short job along the way. He is thankful he was able to borrow a Kawasaki Mule pickup truck. While unreliable, it got them here.

When they finally arrived in Bethlehem, No Vacancy signs adorned the facade of every motel and inn that was within their limited budget. At the last motel they were told of hobo camps and abandoned caves outside of town. Joe and Mary headed into the countryside and found a somewhat suitable cave. It had obviously been used by nomads in the past because there was an empty feeding trough.

Joe was able to find wood for a fire, and they lived rough hoping the official day of counting would be soon. While they waited, Mary went into labor and delivered a fine, healthy boy. With grasses and a shawl, Mary made a bed in the feeding trough that protected the young child from drafts and wildlife intruders.

The Son Times has not learned definitively how the news got around (some claim divine intervention), but the attorneys from Shepherd, Shepherd, & Shepherd, whose corporate motto is, “We fleece no one”, came to offer their professional services after hearing about the newborn. Their opinion is that, although the child will be able to claim Roman citizenship because he was born on solely-owned Roman land, Joe and Mary were technically trespassing and are liable to legal sanctions.

One Abel Shepherd claimed that because of the influx of so many people at this time and the blatant disregard of property rights that there is likely to be no forgiveness of trespassers. He was concerned little when Joe mentioned to him that there isn’t even forgiveness among the trespassers for those who trespass against them, but in Shepherd’s capable hands, he was certain that a mutually amicable settlement could be reached if Joe and Mary would be willing to retain his firm for a very modest amount that should not exceed more than 10% of Joe’s amortized annual earnings for the next twelve years.

One of the other Abel Shepherds thought that a case might be made for naturalizing the whole family based on the need for carpenters at this time and the long history of Roman contracts that Joe had already worked on. Was Joe able to show check stubs or other receipts to validate his work history?

The youngest Abel Shepherd offered to file tax papers for Joe and Mary with their newest deduction, alleviating part of their tax burden for the year because Mary had clearly given birth to the child before 1 A.D. He also thought that they might be able to get a child care credit if they could prove that the child was enrolled in a certified Roman childcare center. He could bring those forms on the following day.

Somewhat dazed, Joe signed papers. The Shepherds returned to their offices rejoicing in their newest contract, quickly reporting to the courts all that they had seen and heard, notifying the court of cases yet to be filed as soon as they were Abel.

Although these brilliantly conceived government programs start out promulgating benefits for the common people, it is that very population that suffers most from the emperor’s “magnanimity”. We live in a time when the emperor is gathering more tax money than ever before, and the personal wealth of those who administer the resources of the empire continue to grow substantially while the poorest of the empire are relegated to financial indenture or imprisonment and abject slavery without social safeguards. The needs of the government always trump the need of the common people.

The tax plan of Rome already allows senators and other governmental-essentials tax free status because they have devoted their lives to the work of the public good. This newest taxation program will only increase the wealth of those who administer the funds of the nation.

Pompisassi defended the situation, “Of course the greatest benefit will come to the wealthiest of the empire. We started out with the most, and therefore we will receive a greater share. Then of course, if we are to build a greater Rome, more money will need to go to the manufacturing of military weaponry, equipment and salaries. We intend to let the world know, not only are we the best, but we will continue to have the best equipment money can buy. After the salaries of the military are paid, then there are the needs of civil infrastructure. Roads need to be built, aqueducts need to be constructed, in order for governmental travel to be expedited and the Roman bath houses to have enough water for Roman citizens. There is a great need for sending the plumbers to build the Watergates, diverting water to where it is most needed. When all of that is accomplished, we will be able to again consider the needs and welfare of those undocumented in our midst. In the meantime, their labor is appreciated as we rebuild the greatness that is Rome.”

The Voice John 1:6-8, 19-28

This week’s Gospel challenges us to think about who this John might be. Is it possible to confuse him with Elijah or with the prophet who was Moses? Is it possible to think that he might be the messiah? To all of these questions, John says, “No”. He is not Elijah; he is not the prophet; and he is certainly not Christ. In what I think is one of the most wonderful identifiers in Scripture, John says, “I am the voice.”

As a blind person, I often think that the world gets too involved in the visual trappings of presentation. It’s about the clothes we wear, the makeup, the lipstick. We live in a world that is obsessed with physical appearance and beauty. Somehow life acceptability is about the right fabric in the right season, the right shoes, the right haircut, and the right color of skin.

As a blind person, it seems really unimportant, so I am somewhat amused to hear people talk about having a “blind faith” while we use symbols important to us. We know that Christmas will come even if we don’t light the Advent Candles, but lighting the candles helps us measure the time. Most weeks I put on the alb, the symbol of baptism and the shroud of death, which helps us remember that, whether we live or we die, we are in Christ. I put on the stole signifying that I am an ordained pastor of the Church, that I have put on the yoke of Christ. I wear my cross that reminds me that I am a public minister of the Church who is marked with the cross and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever. They are important symbols for me personally, but they are important for you to see as well.

In this technological world we live in, we now bring still more symbols into our worship space; some that might not be as clear. We project the worship service on giant screens and provide pleasant pictures of children playing, mountain rivers flowing through rapids, of artifacts from Bible times, in part, because, by themselves, the banners and the paraments, the altar and the cross are not enough to keep our attention any more.

Here, in the Gospel of John, we encounter a witness. There is no mention of clothing, no mention of diet, no mention of haranguing condemnation and a call to repentance. Here we discover a faceless witness whose job it is to bear witness to the one we do not and cannot see in our midst. We are engaged by, “The Voice.” This voice of witness directs our attention to the one we do not see, to the one we do not know—to the one who comes into the world, but the world does not know him—but this is the one whose light cannot be swallowed up in darkness.

As Jesus is described as the Word, John is now identified as the voice that speaks to and of the Word. John is the one who makes it possible for us to know the Word. In the midst of darkness, John points to the Word, to the Light, to Life itself, and to the hope of Life to come. John points to the Light and puts our feet on the path that leads to knowing the One in our midst is the salvation of the world.

John’s voice is so confident and persuasive that, when his disciples meet Christ, they immediately abandon John and follow the One who is greater. Certainly, Jesus will have much to say about himself, but it is this witness of John, not John himself, but his testimony, that gives initial legitimacy to who Jesus is.

In the midst of the priests and the Levites questioning John this week, asking him, “Who are you?”, I have been led to ponder the question, “Who am I?” When I was in catechism one of the most important things I learned was, “I am a person, born and living, uniquely created in the image of God, saved by God’s gracious love.” This is an important identifier for myself, but I am not sure what that means to other people. So, how should I respond to others when they want to know my authority when speaking of Christ?

While I led an adult study at a congregation where I was a member as I was awaiting a new call, a woman once asked, “When you say these things, what authority do you have when you challenge the way I have been brought up?”

Somewhat stunned, I searched for something to say, and, after a longer pause than I was comfortable with, I finally said, “Well, I am ordained; I have served congregations as pastor; and I have spent a fair amount of time with both Greek and Hebrew.”

The woman replied, “Oh, I didn’t know that you were ordained.” I wasn’t wearing a collar, but somehow, I thought that the subject I was teaching made it self-evident.

Yes, when we say things that challenge the world around us, people want to know, “Just who the heck do we think we are?” Are we Elijah, challenging the powers of Ahab and Jezebel, then fleeing for our lives in the wilderness? Are we the prophet leading the people of God out of slavery, pointing the way to the promised land but not able to enter therein? Do we think that we are the ones who are sent to save the people of the world?

When we speak out about our faith, and people look at us, asking, “Who the heck are you to speak to me?”, this text calls us to think about what our response might be. When people ask us who we are as we proclaim our faith in daily life, what is our response? Do we attempt to claim our place as judge, or are we able to respond with God’s loving presence among us? Do we try to justify ourselves, or are we able to point to Christ? If we are going to strive to point to Christ, then how are we going to say and do that?

Unlike John, when I answered this woman in class, I was not able to point away from myself to Christ. I immediately tried to justify myself and my privilege as leader. I was not able to point to Christ in our midst because the answer is not something to be done on the fly. It is something that we need to think about and prepare beforehand in anticipation of the occasion when we are called to bear witness.

Let us prepare for Christ’s coming, bearing witness to Christ’s first coming in history and anticipating Christ’s coming again. Do we need all kinds of trappings in order to bear witness to Christ or are we able to be “The Voice”? The voice of compassion and hope? The voice of reason in a world of tumultuous uncertainty? The voice of crying in the wilderness to show the way of God’s activity in the world? The voice that rejoices in the Lord always for all God has done and continues to do in our midst? With John, can we be “The Voice” bearing witness to the one who is greater than us—to the way, the truth and the life of all people—praying without ceasing, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”?

Whatever our circumstances, let it be known that the One whom we do not see in our midst is the one who comes and is coming for the sake of the world: In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Come. Let us worship the Lord.

FANS WANT TO KNOW: WHO IS THE VOICE?

THE SON TIMES
The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

FANS WANT TO KNOW--WHO IS THE VOICE?

by Jack D. Sypal
Dateline: Bethany, December 17, 2017, 01:06:08:19:28--No beach party/
fashion show/wine tasting contest would be complete without entertainment, so this gala affair concluded with a blues band review. From down in the tunnels, Johnny Dunker brought some bands that covered some of the oldies, goldies and delivered their own cutting-edge sick compositions. Elijah and the Golden Chariots, Old Mose and the Israelites, Alvin Tostig and the Levites, Errol Priest and the Temple Scribes, and Perry C and the Fringe all performed to the crowd’s appreciation.

Throughout the night, band followed band, each seeming to surpass the performance of those who had come before. At the end of the evening, amid resounding applause, all of the lights went out, and the crowd was held in utter darkness. In the midst of the darkness, a solo voice began to sing an old blues tune with new words.

The lights slowly rose, the bands remained on stage looking at one another in confusion. “It was eerie,” Perry C said describing the moment. “We were all on stage taking our bows when the lights went out. We went from total light to total darkness just like that, and then this voice started singing. It was just this voice coming out of nowhere.”

An Israelite said, “At first we thought it was one of us on stage singing. You know, just a song to keep people calm, but when we looked around no one was singing. We just stood there and listened for a while, and then we heard the refrain coming ‘round again.”

One of the Fringe singers chimed in, “Yeah, it took a couple of verses of the song, but we finally started to get it, so a few of us started joining in. Eventually the guys picked up their instruments, and everybody started playing. It was amazing.”

A Levite continued, “It was really strange. We all knew the tune, and the words sounded familiar, but they were different. Then when the refrain, ‘Life is the blues/And the blues is the walk of life’ came around that second or third time, we knew we had to join in. It was compelling.”

When the song was done, the audience started chanting “Who are you? Who are you?” trying to determine if it was one of the band members, but all the band members were on the stage. Among those interviewed later, most agreed that there is likely a new voice with a new song that just appeared in the darkness and saved the day until the lights came on. Whether it was planned or an accident, most reported that it was a truly moving, life-changing experience.

Correction SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER by Marc Yul Angelou, December 10, 2017, 01:01:08 dateline should be Jordan River not Chicago. 

It's Good News Week Mark 1:1-8

In 1965 (I know, I’m old.) a group named Hedgehoppers Anonymous came out with a song that has twisted my brain for 52 years now. In the first place, because I never actually saw their name, I heard the name as Head Choppers Anonymous. It was not until a few years ago that I got that straightened out, so the group and the song were even more twisted than it needed to be. It sounded like this happy song that had just awful words. Yet it was the disconnect between this happy music and the dismal depressing words that have shaped me.

It's good news week

It's good news week
Someone's dropped a bomb somewhere
Contaminating atmosphere
And blackening the sky

It's good news week
Someone's found a way to give
The rotting dead a will to live
Go on and never die

Have you heard the news
What did it say?
Who's won that race?
What's the weather like today?
What's the weather like today?

It's good news week
Families shake the need for gold
By stimulating birth control
We're wanting less to eat

It's good news week
Doctors finding many ways
Of wrapping brains on metal trays
To keep us from the heat
To keep us from the heat
To keep us from the heat

I have got to tell you that this group from the 60’s captured part of what the Gospel of Mark is addressing. We may not really feel the dissonance and the challenge of these words today like the people did almost 2000 years ago because we don’t live in a world of gathering our news through the use of street criers as the people did then.

International news, even national news, was relatively unknown unless the laws and the policies of the country directly impacted your life personally. It’s good news week! Nothing bad is going on in your life this week. In this system, no news, really was good news.

Every day blurred into the next. Season followed season, years followed years. The only thing that really interrupted you in your life was the invasion of your country by another; or maybe the tax burden had risen to the point where you couldn’t afford it, and you might have to sell yourself into slavery in order to pay what was due. But really not much changed from time to time. If you lived out in the country, where the city folk didn’t tend to travel, you might not even know that the governmental leadership had changed from one emperor to another.

Yet, in the cities, there would have been a greater awareness of the political times. Criers would be sent out from the sources of power to announce when important events had taken place. “It’s good news week,” the crier might say. “The armies of Rome have conquered the Goths and our northern boundaries are secure. We give thanks to our emperor, the son of god.” Of course, those who heard this news may have been thinking, “Thousands die repelling the invasion.”

Or, “It’s good news week,” the crier might say. “Grain from Egypt is bountiful this year. The emperor has increased the allotment for every family in the city. God be praised!” And the masses may have heard, “Taxes will be higher in order to pay for the grain, and it doesn’t matter how much the allotment gets increased there still won’t be enough to feed all of the people in Rome.”

Or, “It’s good news week,” the crier might say. “The rebellion of the Maccabees has been crushed. Peace reigns in the empire again. The arm of our emperor is strong.” Those who were unhappy may have understood, “Toe the line or die.”

In the midst of these many messages from the criers of “good news”, we hear Mark’s opening words of the Gospel. In these words, we encounter something familiar but new, something that is comforting and revolutionary at the same time. They sound like the words of the street, and yet, Mark shifts our thoughts from the worldly to the divine in this opening sentence.

In the struggle for power between heaven and earth, heaven has won. In the great cosmic battle between goodness and evil, goodness has won. If there can be a contest between God and the devil, then God has won. And, in that battle of life over death, life is victorious. Yet, let us not be so overwhelmed that we do not notice that this victory includes relationships with outsiders, a humiliating trial, and an excruciating crucifixion, before Jesus is raised up from death and the grave and shows the world the way to everlasting life. Only when we bear witness to ALL of this news are we able to say, “It truly IS a good news week.”

Mark’s statement of good news meets us where we are. It meets us in the middle of time for we have entered into the story after Christ’s first rising from the tomb while awaiting his coming again, in glory, “to judge the living and the dead, …the resurrection of the body, and the life of the world to come.” In this middle time, Mark comes to us with amazing, hope-filled news that speaks of God’s activity in the world in a way that surpasses the worldly news of empires and those who would rule over us.

Mark does not talk about an emperor, a king, a president, or a governor. This Good News declares the divine character and authority of Jesus Christ himself. “It’s good news week.” Today we hear those words of joy and hope that lead to faithful living with God and one another.

Where do these words first come to us? Are they from the city? Not necessarily. We hear these words for us wherever we are, even in the wilderness places of our lives. Therefore, we hear the proclamation of victory over death and the grave and enter into new ways of understanding the world. It is not the world of day after day, season after season, year after year, with little or no relief. This is a new world with new ways for a new life in the presence of the resurrected one of God, so we begin where all things begin, at the beginning: “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the son of God.”

What does this new life look like? Well, Mark tells us that this new world begins with repentance and forgiveness. It begins with naming our short comings and failings that separate us and alienate us from one another. It begins with the waters of baptism and the sealing of the Holy Spirit. It begins with an understanding that the world of hospitality and holy ground are gifts from God that have been given to us since the beginning of our creation and continue to come to us in new beginnings each and every day.

We do not begin this new life in ourselves, but in this new relationship with Christ, in the new world of possibility and hope. In this new beginning we will walk with Christ into the wilderness where we will be tempted by the devil and overcome the power of those temptations. We will walk with the sick, the poor, the grieving, and the disabled. We will encounter people who are outside the boundaries of our society and find value and faith in their living. And at the end of our Gospel, we will witness what God’s son, this Jesus Christ, has done for us so that we can freely enter into this new way of living.

It’s good news week. And this week we are able to say that good news is not about warfare and the fear of bombs blackening the skies but about advocating and working for peace based on relationships of trust. It’s good news week, and we can say that it is not about ways of living and medical advances that only postpone death but about abundant life and new ways of living. It’s good news week, and that good news is not about mundane conversations about who won the game or what the weather is like. The good news for us today and this week is about God’s continued presence and activity in our world and our relationships with one another.

From the words of Isaiah, we hear that this is the time of delivering: our term is due, our suffering and labor is ended. It’s time to live into the future with hope. From 2 Peter, we hear that the time of God’s work and presence among us may not always be apparent, but, God’s time is not our time, and we need to continue to keep the faith. This new way of living will require persistence.

To live into the future with hope with persistence means we need to continue in faith in Christ to stand up and speak out, being the criers of God’s victory and hope in the streets and paths where we are called to serve. We do not do this in order to be saved. We do this because we are saved, in the good news of Jesus Christ.

SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER

THE SON TIMES
The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER

by Marc Yul Angelou

Dateline: Jordan River, December 10, 2017, 01:01:08--The good news for people everywhere is that the Son Times Sports’ Swim Suit photo edition is out. Thousands gathered from the Judean countryside and many fled from the capital city, Jerusalem, to be at the Jordan River for a great beach party. Throughout the weekend, there were many opportunities for being in the water and a great holiday spirit prevailed.

An added attraction to this year’s swimwear show included a wine tasting competition of world class vintners. As they gathered at the river, most confessed that their Zins were outrageously great this year.

Sporting a camel’s hair jacket, honey gold shirt, and locust gray-brown slacks accessorized with a wide leather belt, John Dunker emceed this gala affair. He called upon vintners to bring out their best for the crowds while fashion models displaying the new swimwear designs casually sauntered through the gathering.

This year’s fashion included the latest in burkini-wear from established fashion houses in France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Scandinavia, South Africa, Florida, and California. New competitors this year came from Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, and South Korea.

The wines were the best unfortified wines from each country’s vineyards. Many were disappointed because officials needed to deny the Russian entries this year when they uncovered widespread fortifying processes of the wine casks.

The winning wines will receive advertising rights for the televised account of the swimwear competition to be aired on ESPN 144,000 in January. The losing vintages will be sold for communion wines throughout the U.S.A.

Dunker enthralled the whole crowd as he highlighted the fashions and wines entered by each country during the competition hours. Many were impressed with this year’s winter competition. The latest phenom among the male models, Jesse, turned all heads when he appeared wearing a swim thong and sandals. Dunker was heard to say, “it’s a greater man than I who can get away with wearing that. I’d be in the water all day. I can’t believe that there will be a tie in that category.”

Note: Dateline corrected 12/14/17.

COFFEE AND AMPHETAMINE SALES UP

THE SON TIMES
The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

COFFEE AND AMPHETAMINE SALES UP

by Marc Yul Angelou

Chicago, December 3, 2017, 13:24:37--Recent world events and the prognostications of hypercritical, religious pundits have led to record high pharma sales as the fervor of the latest in religious zealotry promotes what they are calling, “The Final Waiting.”

The latest reports of earthquakes, hurricanes, decimation of the vineyards of California from fire, the potential nuclear conflict with North Korea, increasing temperatures of climate change, and the apparent disregard of one nation’s concerns by another seem to have triggered global vigilance by the World Advent Temple Congregations of Holy Evangelistic Revelation, most often known as the WATCHERS. Their motto “Keep ALERT!” has led to global reports of world-ending desolation.

It also appears that what this newest cult is keeping is vast amounts of pharma produce. Keeping ALERT is synonymous with alcohol, LSD, ecstasy, rocket fuel, and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Using these pharmacological entheogens, the WATCHERs believe that they are able to enter what they call the met’atmosphere where they are able to encounter the cosmic forces that are caustically polluting our sacred biosphere establishing a virulent, viral environment.

As these days and the news gets darker, the WATCHERs, while keeping ALERT, are planning to meet on an undesignated down somewhere in Great Britain on Solstice Eve in a ritual event to raise the Great King who will save the world from all evils. It is expected that the Arthurian Pendragon realm with the attending roundtable knighthood will conquer Mordred and all other evils to bring in the New Camelot. They are also hoping to resurrect the Brooks Stevens Excalibur thus withdrawing it from its obscurity of stone-cold auto history.

“We are the doorkeepers of the world with important work to do,” said Otto O’Dules, a local Watcher. “Because the WATCHERs are committed to hyper vigilance, you can most often find us at local coffee shops where double shot espressos are being sold. We are the nervous shakers who are simply trying to keep alert and sober too.”

They’ll be watching you! They watch when you are sleeping. They know when you’re awake. They know the cosmic bad and good; so be good, and good news make.

Happy New Year! Mark 13:24-37

Happy New Year!

I know that the days are getting shorter and the news is looking dark. I know that Christmas hasn’t gotten here yet—there are still 21 days of shopping before Christmas, and the rest of our country will be celebrating New Year’s about a month from now—but today is the beginning of the Church’s new liturgical year. Today, as in every year, we gather to say that God’s time is not always the world’s time.

Today we proudly and loudly bear witness to God’s saving work among us and for us as we begin telling the story of our faith using the Gospel of Mark as the predominant narrative for this year. Mark is the first gospel to be written and, as such, the Gospel of Mark has special authority. For instance, did you know that almost 90% of the material in Mark is included in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke?

You would think that since this is the year we tell the story of our faith through the Gospel of Mark that we would start at the beginning with those towering words of faith--“In the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God”—but those words are saved for us until next week.

Today we hear the words of the end of chapter 13 of Mark. This chapter is known in pastor-speak as the Little Apocalypse in which Jesus speaks to his disciples as they are coming out of the Temple. In chapter 12 they have just witnessed the widow giving her only two coins which displays the extreme taxation of the poorest people compared to the wealthy putting in as little as they can. This is not a headline article from the newspaper today—it is the account of what was happening 2000 years ago. It just sounds like today.

Earlier in 13 the disciples are amazed at the beautiful construction of the temple which is built of large stones. It is magnificent, and so the news Jesus gives, that the temple will be destroyed and that the world as they know it will no longer exist, is a little …… shocking.

Here early in the Little Apocalypse, Jesus confronts the disciples, and us, by describing a world gone awry. There are earthquakes (the sun will not shine) and solar eclipses (the moon will not give off light). There are wars and rumors of war, consuming fires that destroy valued crops; stars are falling. Public voices are telling us that the way to save the world is over here or over there--this person has the right answers for the world we live in; that person has the right answer for us. If Jesus had known the tune, he may have even sung, “Here a savior, there a savior, everyone is claiming to be a savior. Old McDonald rules this farm, ee-I, ee-i-oh.” It is a time of chaos, and, frankly, the world looks a little scary just like it does today.

But before I get too far ahead of myself, I also have words of hope for you today from my professor, Gwen Sayler, “All apocalyptic literature is predicated on hope. We are assured that we should keep the faith because the battle has already been won.” That’s right; the battle has already been won!

As we read today’s gospel, we need to keep in mind that, although these images may be talking about what our world is like today, this cosmic battle, the battle of God vs evil, has already been won. Mark is recounting these words to us with sure and certain hope that can only be stated because Christ has already been crucified. Christ is already raised up from the tomb. And, although there are times when the world is going to look really dark, the sure and certain hope comes to us, is given to us, is shown to us, in the light of Easter morning with the women at the empty tomb.

Indeed, not only has the cosmic battle of death and the grave already been won, Jesus has gone ahead of his disciples then and before us today into Galilee, that world of ministry where we will meet him. Therefore, we are told that we need to be engaged in our world, that is, we are to be vigilant, keeping our eyes wide open, so that we see what is going on around us, maintaining our post as doorkeeper, for Christ is coming to us here.

Let us understand that these images Jesus uses are real. As we read to the end of this first Gospel of the New Testament, we will see the Star of Heaven fall. We will see Jesus die on the cross and be taken down and buried. At that time, we will hear of how the world becomes dark, the sun does not shine, the people do not see the moon, for darkness covers the earth. The heavens will shake; the temple curtain will be torn in two; and the division between heaven and earth, between God and God’s people, will be permanently destroyed. It will pass away. Those are just the cosmic signs.

After celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples, it will be evening when Jesus is arrested, midnight when he is first tried, cock’s crow when Peter will deny him, and early morning when the women will flee in terror and in fear telling no one. As dark and dismal as this all sounds, remember, “Keep the faith! The battle has already been won.”

So, on this New Year’s Day, it is appropriate that our attention is focused on the problems of the world. It is indeed right, our duty and our joy, to acknowledge our need for vigilance, to keep alert, and watch for Christ’s presence among us, remembering that the purpose of the doorkeeper is not to keep people out of the kingdom but, as the first person met, to be the voice of welcome to those who would enter into the midst of Christ’s ministry with us; in the words of Martin Luther, “to be Christ to one another.”

“For it is like a man who has gone on a journey (‘And on the third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven …, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead’), when he comes again at an unexpected time.” The world and Jesus’ disciples were not able to read the signs of the time even though Jesus told them everything beforehand, but we have the opportunity to do better. Therefore, let us continue to watch. With a little twist to a well-known ad, we watch and hope to hear, “Can you see me now?” I give thanks for all of you who join me on the ramparts of this watch tower, this place we call Albany Lutheran Church, with all of the spiritual gifts we need to succeed, while waiting for the place and time of Christ’s coming again to be with us.

In the meantime, we are given this amazing Gospel as a narrative journal recounting where Christ can be found. On this journey, we will encounter the leper, the sick, the lame, the maimed, the deaf, the blind, the grieving, and outsiders who have spiritual gifts for the whole community of faith. We will meet women, men, and children as we discuss and learn what it means to be faithful in a disruptive and chaotic world. And we are always remembering that Christ has already won the battle for us, that Christ was crucified; Christ is risen!; Christ will come again.

Therefore, in our moments of despair, when we are tempted to shout out, “O, that you would tear open the heavens and come down,” we remember, “Oh, yeah, you already did that. Thanks be to God.”

Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Happy New Year!

Matthew 25:31-46 World on Trial

This is the last day of the liturgical year, Christ the King Sunday. And so, I suppose that it is truly right and salutary that we should end the year with a statement of Christ’s authority over the world through the victory of our Lord over death and the grave. In our final reading from Matthew for this year, and, as a tribute to Matthew’s Gospel, we witness the great apocalyptic courtroom with the great judge of the world coming in glory with his angels separating the nations, sheep on the right and goats on the left.

As we come to this ending of Matthew, it may be helpful to review where we have been and where we are going. As I was preparing for the sermon this week, it felt like déjà vu. Then I realized this is the text we used New Year’s Day. It is fitting, therefore, that we end this liturgical year with the words of divine judgment we encountered at the beginning of 2017.

I know that this feels a little odd, but it shows how the Church is out of step with the world when it comes to telling time. So, in this last reading we have from Matthew, we mark the end of this year and prepare to enter into the year of Mark in 2018. Liturgically, next week is the first Sunday in Advent, the beginning of our new year, and we will begin reading the book of Mark. Today is sort of the New Year’s Eve of the liturgical year.

As the year changes, it is appropriate that we look at where we have been and where we are going. You will remember that the first reading we had after this judgment text of the sheep and the goats in January was the baptism of Jesus. There we saw John and Jesus at the Jordan debating who should be baptizing whom. Jesus, speaking his first words in Matthew, claims that John should be the one who baptizes. “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” With these words, Jesus sets forth this whole concept of righteousness and challenges us to discern what righteousness means in Matthew’s Gospel and in our lives.

Today we are presented with the cosmic courtroom. The Son of Man has come with his angels and is sitting on his throne of glory and judgment. This is the image described as Moses’ seat, the mercy seat, in Exodus and Hebrews. The Ark of the Covenant is not only the place where the commandments and the jar of manna is stored; it is also the symbol of God’s presence as Moses judges the people. On either side of the ark cover is an angel with its wings spread over the one sitting on the ark like a divine canopy protecting the one who will judge.

So now, Jesus comes with his angels, to sit on his throne in glory to judge the nations. We are told that he separates them like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, the sheep on his right hand and the goats at his left. But in today’s reading in Ezekiel, God says, “I will separate the sheep from the sheep.” The reason Ezekiel doesn’t separate goats from sheep is, in Hebrew, the word for sheep and goats is the same word. And not only is there no distinction between them in vocabulary, in the first century world, it would be much more difficult to physically distinguish between the two than it is today. These two animals were so interchangeable that even in the rules for the Passover meal, either a yearling lamb or goat without blemish can be used.

When we think about sheep and goats, we most oftentimes think of the modern merino sheep with its thick fleece of wool, but this variety of sheep is a modern breeding accomplishment. It was not the sheep of the first century world. While there were differences between the sheep and the goats of the day, they were not always obvious. It would take a shepherd, someone who knew these animals well, to make the separation then.

As we hear these words of judgment we are not surprised, because we have been hearing about the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. We have seen them as early as the people gathering in the wilderness with John and with Jesus when he preaches his Sermon on the Mount, where they brought to him the sick, those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, and paralytics, from various parts of the world. We see this again at the mountainside feeding of the 4000 where Jesus heals and feeds the lame, the maimed, the blind, the muted, and many others. Here again Jesus heals them and feeds them.

We have witnessed that, when Jesus came down from the Mountain of Transfiguration, the first thing he does is heal the young boy who is an epileptic. Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus has been talking with us about welcoming the stranger and caring for the sick in all kinds of ways. We have even taken a little side trip into Samaria where we met the woman at the well with the water of everlasting life, and most recently we have been challenged to define what the kingdom of heaven might be. Is it that palace of perfection beyond this world or is it the world we live in where Christ is Lord of all?

Now we come to this cosmic courtroom where judgment is being made over the nations. It is important for us to see that this is the judgment of the nations and that this judgment is based on worldly benchmarks. For this judgment scene comes as the culmination of a series of parables that have been challenging us to discern between what is the kingdom of heaven and what is the kingdom of the world, to discern between God’s rule and man’s rule:

   We have talked about the extravagant sower who casts seed everywhere (even in places where the seed has little chance of growing).

   We have seen the weeds sown among the wheat and the workers who are ready to tear up the good with the bad. We have witnessed those who would challenge whether or not we should pay taxes.

   We have seen the coin of the empire and learned that we should give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

   We have witnessed Jesus asking the people for input into the decision-making judgment of the behavior of the servants in various parables and heard them ask for harsher and more violent judgments.

   We have seen in the 10 bridesmaids and in the 3 slaves who were given talents that our worldly scales of judgment are not always adequate for understanding God’s extravagant love—that we should always be engaged in our world, watchful and alert to what it means to be faithful at any given time because we will not know the day nor the hour when we might see Christ in our midst.

Today we are told where we can begin looking for Christ’s presence among us when the son of man comes. This coming is not necessarily the coming of the messiah, but a court scene that is based on the culmination of all of the people’s decisions of those judgments in the parables that have led to this moment.

In this courtroom, there will be those, the righteous, who will be rewarded in the Father’s kingdom prepared for them since the foundation of the world, and there will be eternal punishment for those who don’t measure up (the accursed). This punishment will be with the devil and his angels. This is the judgment the people have expected the messiah to bring, but it is not the final judgment that Christ makes. Still, it is the judgment we witness now.

How well have the followers of Jesus done and how are the nations doing based on the treatment of the most disenfranchised of the nations, the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked (today we would probably say the homeless), the sick, and the imprisoned?

What continues to surprise me the most is that whether or not these disenfranchised have been cared for, the peoples have not been able to see Christ among them or in their neighbor. Both the righteous and the accursed respond, “When was it Lord that we saw you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, naked, sick, or imprisoned?” These peoples, the nations, have not been able to see Christ in what they do.

It is important for us to see that, in the judging of the nations, this is not the end. The final judgment and full righteousness will not be known until the end of the Gospel when Jesus is again on the mountainside with his disciples sending them out into the world to baptize all nations into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Today’s judgment scene is not the end nor last chance for the world. Full righteousness will not be known until we see Christ on his throne, the cross. We will not know the final judgment until we have seen Jesus laid in the tomb. Even then, the final words of judgment are not heard until the stone is rolled away in the morning of the resurrection.

Last January we talked about what Elizabeth Achtemeier has to say about righteousness. She says, “Righteousness throughout the Bible has to do with the fulfillment of the demands of a relationship.”

The demands for us to fulfill in our relationship with God today seem to be caring for those who are without—the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. In this catalog, we are reminded that we have seen Jesus hungry in the wilderness. We have seen him treated as a stranger in the courtyard of the Gentiles. We will see him sick in the garden of Gethsemane seeking another cure for the world. We will witness his trial and imprisonment, his nakedness and thirst on the cross, and we will also witness how his disciples abandon him during this time. In the words of Douglas John Hall, “Though sinless himself, Jesus suffers the consequences of sin in that he suffers temptation, alienation, anxiety, and limitation,” the condition and state of those who are outside the inner social circle.

For us, this judgment is not always about our treatment of one another (although it includes that), but it has to do with the treatment of the one we have faith in, in the treatment of the one who is able to fulfill the demands of the relationship we have with God that leads to our salvation, that is with, Jesus Christ himself. So, it is that we come to this day, this day of judgment remembering what Jesus has already done for us. We do not pretend that we have not already celebrated Easter, that we do not already know the end of the Gospel. We are not pretending that this is somehow the new end of Matthew’s Gospel.

We know it is only the end of our liturgical year. We know that next week we will again begin to tell the story of Jesus’ coming to us, anticipating his coming again to judge the living and the dead. Knowing this, we go out into the world, “seeing Christ in our neighbor”, in the words of Martin Luther. Seeing Christ in our neighbors, we walk with those around us, serving one another, being present with words of hope in a world of despair.

In the midst of a world that cries out for judgment and division between sheep and goats, Christ comes to fulfill the demands of the relationship for our salvation, that we may be freed to live openly with one another, caring for the needs of all: for the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. This judgment scene is not a catalog of requirements in order to receive salvation, for Christ has already accomplished that for us. Yet it stands as a challenge for us in the future and a guide for where we are going and how we will be engaged with the world around us.

As we walk out into our world, may we always see Christ in those around us. May we rise up in concern and caring when we hear the needs of those we meet in ways that raise them up into the new life we share in Christ.