CONFRONTATION IN CAPERNAUM

THE SON TIMES
The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

CONFRONTATION IN CAPERNAUM

by Marc Yul Angelou
Dateline: Capernaum, January 28, 2018, 01:21:28--Popularity of Jesse Benjo has been on the rise ever since the beach party held six weeks ago. Today his notoriety gave way to open debate in a confrontation of rhetorical powers. In a Capernaum synagogue, Jesse was teaching about new ways of living in a world of discontent.

Suddenly a man, who was noticeably agitated, stood up to challenge him crying “What do you know about our lives? You come here as an outsider claiming that you have a better way to live and then when you are done you move on leaving us to fend for ourselves. Are you trying to destroy us? Are you trying to overthrow the government? Are you going to give us a better tax plan? Will you make our world safer than it’s been? I’ve seen your kind many times before. You come and raise Cain, and then, when the times get tough, you walk away.”

Jesse responded to the challenge by saying, “I have listened to you, now it is your turn to listen to me. You can’t do that listening when you are talking.

“I have not come to talk and leave you in the lurch. I am prepared to go to the mat for you.

“We need better health care, higher wages, a way to care for the widows, the orphans, who dream of a better life, and a comprehensive plan to welcome the strangers. This is what I stand for, and, although I am not sure that we will get it immediately, I am saying, we will ultimately prevail, or I will die trying.

“I have not come to overthrow the government, I hope to reform it. I can’t give you higher wages, but together we can work for higher wages. Taxes are always going to be levied by those who have the least trouble paying them, but there are some things we can do together to let those in power know how we feel.

“And safety? We will only know greater safety and peace in the world when we learn to make more friends than enemies. The only ones who profit from a show of weapons are the companies that manufacture the weapons. No one considers the sacrifice of lives that these weapons will demand. Once the weapons are used, the result is death and destruction. I am about life, not death.

“And so, my friend, I invite you to join me in finding a better way to live.”

That man promptly got up and left.

It is not known at this time what the long-range effects of this debate will be, but it would appear that future confrontations are bound to occur. For the fullest coverage of this and other issues in our world today, visit us on the street with the Son Times or on the web for instant news.

HE SELLS SEA SHELLS BY THE SEA SHORE

THE SON TIMES
The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

HE SELLS SEA SHELLS BY THE SEA SHORE

by Marc Yul Angelou
Dateline: Sea of Galilee, January 21, 2018, 01:14:20

Jesse came walking down the beach along the sea,
And through his megaphone he cried out, “Come follow me.
God’s good news has suddenly drawn near for all to see
Repent, then come. But leave your father.”

At first, I did not know exactly what to say.
A fisherman I was and thought to be alway;
Then, I threw my net away.
There must be fifty ways to leave your father—
Fifty ways to leave your father.

And then my brother, whose name it is Andrew,
Said to me, “I see you are through.”
And, as he looked out on the waves,
He said, “Could you please explain about the fifty ways?”

“Walk a new track, Jack. Build a new ark, Mark.
It’s not a fluke, Luke. Come, follow me.
Matthew, it’s brand new; it’s not the old shoe.
Hear the new call, Saul. Come, follow me.”

And so, we walked a ways down along the shore.
Then Jesse saw two brothers more.
He said, “Come and join the corp.
Come follow me and leave your father—
Follow me and leave your father.”

James and John looked up while mending net.
James said, “Our job is not quite done yet,
But, if your call means this drudge we can forget,
There must be fifty ways to leave your father—
Fifty ways to leave your father.”

“Walk a new track, Jack. Build a new ark, Mark.
It’s not a fluke, Luke. Come, follow me.
Take your shoulder from the wheel, Neal. It’s time for the new deal.
Leave the old skiff, Cliff. Come, follow me.”

And so, they said goodbye to father Zebedee,
To walk with Jesse and to learn at Jesse’s knee
About God’s plan to set God’s people free
And the fifty ways to leave your father—
Fifty ways to leave your father.

Jesse said, “My way is to the cross,
And, though you’ll suffer great pain and loss,
My disciples, the journey’s worth the cost.
Come follow me and leave your father—
Follow me and leave your father.

Walk a new track, Jack. Build a new ark, Mark.
It’s not a fluke, Luke. Come, follow me.
Matthew, it’s brand new. It’s not the old shoe.
Hear the new call, Saul. Come, follow me.

Walk a new track, Jack. Build a new ark, Mark.
It’s not a fluke, Luke. Come, follow me.
Matthew, it’s brand new. It’s not the old shoe.
Take your shoulder from the wheel, Neal. It’s time for a new deal,
Leave the old skiff, Cliff, and get yourself free.”

The Gift Under the Tree John 1:43-51

When I was much younger, I loved to read adventure books about pirates and buried treasure. I loved Sinbad the sailor and Treasure Island with X marks the spot. I read Westerns where the bad guys would rob banks and then hide the loot near a landmark, like a tree or some rock formation. They thought that their hiding place was in some permanent site that could never be forgotten only to discover that when they came back for the treasure some years later that the tree had been cut down, somebody built a house over the site where they buried the money, or somebody had dynamited the rock formation in order to build a road.

In some books landslides covered the hiding place or maybe an earthquake had destroyed all of the landmarks. In one book, I remember that the water hole had dried up and all of the cacti had died and disappeared. In every case their treasure was lost to them forever.

The text this week has a number of interesting echoes of other Bible stories, not just the calling, but the types of landmarks that are presented. The first real landmark we get is Peter. In the verses leading up to this lesson, we hear that when Andrew brings his brother Simon to Jesus, Jesus says to him that his name shall be Cephas (which means rock). Simon’s other name, Peter, also means rock. No matter how you think about it, if your name is Peter, you’re just dense.

Now one of the big topics of philosophy that the people of the time would have been aware of was Aristotle’s ordering of the world. It was called the Great Chain of Being. At the top of this chain were the gods. In descending order from the gods were the cherubim and the seraphim, archangels, angels, principalities, powers, and so on down the chain until you get to man and below that woman.

After humanity, you get the higher animals and then the lesser animals, reptiles, insects, and when you get all the way to the bottom of the chain, the very lowest form of life in Aristotle’s world is the rock. How encouraging it must have been for Cephas, Peter, to know that henceforth he would be known as Rock.

So it is that Peter is not just a person, he is a landmark as well. Peter is the foundation stone of the church, the anchor that will hold us in faith to bear witness to who this Jesus is, although, in the course of the story, this has not been revealed to us yet.

Next, we are given this wonderful image of Nathaniel sitting under the fig tree. Maybe he’s casually chilling with a glass of lemonade and a book. This fig tree initially looks like any old fig tree, but, in the context of the Gospel of John, in this story of new creation, of new ways of living, this fig tree is to remind us of the Tree of Knowledge way back in the story of the Garden of Eden.

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Tree of Knowledge is not just any tree, nor is it an apple tree, it is a fig tree. The fruit of the forbidden tree was a common food, a mainstay of the diet. It was not just a fruit that the people ate once, but a fruit that they continued to eat every day, a fruit reminding them of their continued sinfulness and their broken relationship with God.

So, alongside this rock, Cephas, or Peter, under the fig tree, we find Nathaniel. Now John is very intentional about telling us that Cephas means rock, but he is not as helpful in letting us know that Nathaniel means “gift of God” so we are tempted to think that Nathaniel is just one of Jesus’ disciples, but when we consider what Nathaniel means, we find a treasure under the tree. It is like an X that marks the spot of where this hidden treasure can be found. When we come to this fig tree, instead of finding the tree of sin, we discover, not a tree of condemnation but Nathaniel, a gift from God.

So why is it important to us today that Philip calls us to this Gift of God, this Nathaniel, in the midst of a new community? I think, in the life of Albany Lutheran Church there are lots of ways of coming to this fig tree today and seeing a fig tree of death and condemnation not a gift of life and hope. I want to challenge you today to hear these words of Jesus’ calling, calling the Church together, creating a new community of faith with new disciples.

Jesus continues to create new communities of faith, calling his people to search for and find this gift of God that lies at the foot of the fig tree for us. For, my brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a gift under the tree for us today. It may not be a gift that calls us to be here, but it is a gift that calls us into the world.

Not so many days ago, many of us found gifts under the Christmas tree. We gathered them to ourselves and carefully unwrapped them. Okay, maybe we tore into the wrapping and liberated our presents from the prison of wrapping paper. We were curious, we were excited; we were overjoyed to discover the gifts we received from our loved ones. Now, we receive a gift from God who loves us enough to give his only son for our sake, this Jesus of Nazareth, this son of Joseph, the son of God, the king of Israel.

When Philip comes to Nathaniel, he says, “Hey, you’ve got to come with us because we have found the one, the messiah.” To this, Nathaniel responds, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” To hear this in Scripture seemed incredibly timely after listening to the news this week and hearing “Can anything good come from Haiti or El Salvador or Africa, from Muslim countries?”

In our hearts, we intrinsically know from the gospels that goodness can come from the worst parts of the world. As Christians, we bear witness to that. For Jesus came from Nazareth, which was, by the way, sort of a hole. It was out of the way, under-developed, a small gathering of huts on the edge of a cliff. We have no idea what the population of Nazareth was then, but we do know that the town disappeared at one time and was then rebuilt in the 1950’s. Today it is still not a big city. Yet in the midst of this out-of-the-way place, Mary and Joseph raised a child who changed the world.

We are challenged by this text to remember the value of all of God’s people in the world, to look for God’s gift under the tree. When we look under the tree do we find death and condemnation? Or, do we discover life and hope ahead of us?

Philip answers Nathaniel, “If you don’t know whether good can come out of Nazareth, then come and see. Come and be in relationship with, come and know, Jesus. Come and see who this person is, this one we acknowledge as the son of God, the king of Israel, the one who sees us where we are and knows us in the places where we live, the one who calls us to follow, the one who is also a gift from God.”

If we can come today and see the gift that is under the tree for us, then we will also see greater things. We will see angels ascending and descending on the son of man. We will be witnesses that the boundaries between heaven and earth have been eliminated so that we can be in a new relationship with God and life in a whole new way, that life is no longer limited by the time of this world.

One afternoon I was sitting in the living room of the Lutheran Campus Center eating lunch with friends. A man came in from the street and sat down with us. From his accent, he was clearly a foreign student. He sat there for a while, and then he said, “I have a question for you.”

I was expecting him to ask where the Chemistry building was, or how to open a checking account, or maybe where to buy something, or where he could get help with something, but he asked, “Do you think that God has planned out all of our lives and knows everything we are going to do before we do it?”

I was about 20 at the time. I was trying to figure out life for myself. I certainly was not ready to start discussing the omnipresence of God with a total stranger. I was not ready to discuss who God is and whether God makes plans for the world. I was not ready to speculate on how it is that Jesus might be able to see Nathaniel under the fig tree before Philip called him.

Yet the man’s question was sincere. The answer I came up with that day, I continue to hold. God who exists outside of time, beyond our understanding of time, is able to see all of world history as it unfolds. It is not that God controls our actions, but rather that God knows what we do before we do it because God is not limited to the time we live in, and therefore God is able to be there for us to forgive us when we go astray. God is there to call us back to Godself, to walk with Christ in the world in ways that bring healing and wholeness.

God is not dictating what we do, but God is able to witness what we do from beyond ourselves and beyond our time. God is not some puppeteer pulling strings but the one who is able to always be with us in that unique relationship of love that transcends time and space. In this relationship with God, God knows us and knows our lives completely. God is not determining our every action, only that all should be saved when we fall short. In the gift of God’s redeeming forgiveness, we continue to live and grow, being witnesses of that gift of salvation we receive.

How can we know that gift of redemption? We know that gift of redemption because we have a relationship with God’s only son who was raised up on the cross, and died for the sake of the world, who descended into the world of the forgotten, into hell itself, where he remembered and claimed those there, only to rise up from the dead, and, in so doing, Christ raised up all of creation.

There is this gift that sits at the foot of the fig tree and at the foot of the cross, a gift that continues to call to us to follow, to follow Christ out into the world. It is not a landmark that can be moved, cut down, blown up or destroyed. It is not a landmark that will shrivel up or fade away. This gift is solid and constant. It is as solid as a rock and available at every tree we see. This Nathaniel, this gift of God for us, is God’s love and forgiveness freely given by Christ himself, and, for Christ’s sake, God forgives us all of our sins. Today we can confidently say our treasure is here. It is not hidden but visible, above ground, and available for all. Come, see, and follow the one in whom there is abundant life.

What I have said today is more than what I was able to say that day in the Campus Center. When I was done that day, the man looked at me for a while nodding as he thought, and then he left. I never saw him again. Yet his question was for me a gift. It is a gift that has challenged me to look under the tree to more fully discover God’s gift to the world. Come and see that the Lord is good, and then follow where he leads.

THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION

THE SON TIMES
The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION

by Jack D. Sypal
Dateline: Bethsaida, January 14, 2018, 01:43:51--Whether you call him a psychic, a seer, or a fortune teller, Jesse has been gaining fans. Following the great Sun and Fun Swim Suit event, Jesse has had a growing fan base. On the day after the great Beach Party, John Dunker was noted as seeing Jesse and saying, “There goes the ham of odd.” Two of the roadies heard him say that and followed Jesse just to see what Dunker was talking about.

One of these two was Drew who texted his brother Simon. They networked Phil, and Phil tweeted Nate. These young people joined a growing number of other fans who are attracted to Jesse Benjo’s popularity.

Nate (he preferred that his last name not be used), described his first contact with Jesse, “It was kind of weird. I got this tweet from my friend Phil. He tweeted, ‘We found the one. It’s Jesse Benjo from Nazareth.’

“'You know the rep of Nazareth, it’s kind of a hole, if you know what I mean. It’s right up there with the Lateran councils. I mean really, who cares.' So, I said, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Let me chill under my favorite fig tree. I’m working on this new concept of gravity. Did you know that once a fig starts dropping it continues to drop in a straight line until my head stops it? I’m thinking that for every motion there are other consequences. I’ve got some other things I’m trying to think through too. Do you really need me?'

"So, when I showed, Jesse said 'Now, there’s a live one.'

“I wasn’t sure I liked his sarcasm, and then he said, ‘I saw you first under the fig tree before Phil tweeted you. You don’t need to worry about the gravity of the situation now. A guy named Newton will worry that one out in a couple hundred years. In the meantime, chill with me and the boys. It should be a trip. Do you know anything about ladders?’”

Baptism of our Lord Mark 1: 4-11

Scene 1: It was one of those days, not anything really exciting; people were doing what they always did. In the morning, the joggers were out jogging; and Mr. Feldman, who had retired last fall and hadn’t figured out what to do with his life yet, was out with his lawn mower at 6:30 because that was the time he always went to work. It was just one of those days.

And then, the first shockwave hit. The floor started to vibrate; Emma, our Australian shepherd, started barking and just about turned herself inside out trying to get under the dining room table. The pictures on the walls shifted and some fell, the coffee in the pot was sloshing around, and I quickly moved into the archway we had reinforced for occasions just like this.

Scene 2: It had been one of those sultry days. The heat and the humidity had been hanging heavy on our work. You know the kind of day I am talking about. It was one of those days when you feel like you have to swallow the air rather than inhale. Just the thought of work makes you sweat, and yet there is work that must be done, and so you go out and do it.

I got into my truck and headed out to the new road site to set the roadbed for the highway bypass, to sweat in the dust of the road and the gravel and the exhaust. Thank God, we weren’t rolling asphalt today.

Just about 3 in the afternoon the sky suddenly turned an ominous greenish yellow, and then the clouds started building. We tried to work faster, to get the last loads of gravel down and packed before the storm. But then, the wind picked up and huge drops of rain started to slant across the worksite, and we knew we were in for it. We looked to the southwest, and there it was. One of the biggest funnel clouds I have ever seen was barreling down on us.

The Sermon

If you think that you have heard this Markan text before, you have, or at least part of it. We just read the first four verses during Advent. But today, we are told what this baptism stuff that John is doing is all about.

The passage begins with John gathering the people of the Judean countryside and the people from Jerusalem to take stock of their lives and to commit themselves again to the Lord. They are to be baptized.

The people are drawn to John’s message and apparently many are coming to hear what he has to say. John is probably one of a long line of prophets who have told the people to recommit their lives. As such, his message is just another in a long line of everyday novelties.

Then this Jesus person comes from Nazareth and is baptized by John in the Jordan river. After that, nothing is the same again. We are told that the heavens were torn apart. Just take a few moments to think about what that might sound or feel like. (pause)

As a child, one of my Sunday School rooms had a picture of Jesus’ baptism. It showed Jesus in the water with John. They were smiling at one another like they were best friends. Neither Jesus nor John were wet above the waterline, but there was this dove coming down from a puffy white cloud. The sun was shining and there were some people on the shore, actually a beach, who were looking on. It was just one of those days.

But, if we are to take Mark seriously, we have got to understand that the day was anything but normal. This day, the entire relationship between heaven and earth has changed. The heavens have been torn apart, and the dividing barrier between heaven and earth has been removed. Our understanding of the relationship between heaven and earth has shifted, it may have actually fallen and lays broken on the floor. It is time to repair or replace that image we have as we stand in the reinforced embrace of God’s love.

After this Baptismal event, the world cannot be the same. A new creation relationship between heaven and earth has begun. A new light is shining; a new way of living has come for Jesus has come to the waters of Baptism, not for his own repentance but for the sake of the world. Today, in the Gospel of Mark we witness Jesus taking on the ministry that has been set before him. He begins the work of bringing healing and wholeness to God’s people. Jesus begins his ministry of teaching that will lead us to the cross.

Later this year, we will hear of the temple curtain being torn in two, but what we don’t often pay attention to is that there are two veils that separate the temple from the Holy of Holies. First, there is the temple curtain that would have had all the symbols of creation on it, but secondly, there was another curtain that protected the very presence of God from the outer world. It is this second veil or curtain that we see torn apart today.

And in the midst of the storm, in the midst of the earth-shaking changes, we see a dove, coming down from heaven—this sacrificial offering, a symbol of peace, coming down on Jesus—and we, with Jesus, hear the words, “You are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased.”

In this new Heaven and earth relationship, in this beginning of understanding the importance and power of Baptismal living, we begin to have greater understanding and appreciation of those words of prayer Jesus taught us: Father in heaven, let your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.

From our reading in Acts, we hear that the baptism of John was not enough, that a baptism of water began the new relationship with Christ, but that the gift of the Holy Spirit was also needed so Paul blesses these people with the Holy Spirit.

In our Lutheran Baptism liturgy, we recognize that we die in the waters of baptism and are raised up to new living (our new faith life beginning). In this new life, we are marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever.

A baptismal day can look like any other day of our lives, but there is something amazing and wonderful that takes place at the same time. It is earth shaking because in this baptismal moment we are brought into a new relationship with God and all of God’s people. It is not something that promises sunny days ahead. On the contrary what Baptism prepares us for is the knowledge that, in the struggles of life, in the midst of the storm, when we encounter whirlwinds of destruction and loss, we do not go into the world alone. In the waters of baptism, we are given wholeness in Christ; we are clothed in Christ; we are given the assurance that Christ will always be with us.

This new life is not limited by the world; it is given to us for all of eternity. These clothes will not wear out; they will continue to protect us to the final day of judgment and beyond. This new relationship of love, care, and blessing is not something that can be taken away from us; it is ours forever.

We know that this new life relationship will not always be easy, because the very next verse of Mark says, “And immediately the holy Spirit drove him into the wilderness.” Yet even in the midst of the wilderness, this new life relationship will prevail.

Today is just another day, not anything really exciting; people are doing what they always do and yet, this day is not like any other. In the midst of earth shaking events, in the midst of the winds of change and rolling thunder, Jesus enters into our lives in a way that brings new heaven and earth relationships of hope and possibility to the world through the driving force of the holy Spirit.

ON THE WINGS OF A DOVE

THE SON TIMES
The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

ON THE WINGS OF A DOVE

by Marc Yul Angelou
Dateline: Jordan River, January 7, 2018, 01:04:12--As the beach party came to a close this last week, many swim suit models took a dip in the Jordan River. Most just went in and then came out shortly. Some of the suits were definitely more for sun bathing than for actual swimming. Revelers who had stayed the course throughout the day and the night’s concert also joined the dippers to relieve some of the party’s effects. At the end, only Jesse remained in the river while most of the crowd packed up and left.

MC John Dunker went down to the river to get Jesse before they tore down everything and discovered that a thong swim suit may look daring, even exotic, on the beach, but fell short of functionality when swimming. Jesse believes the thong may have trapped water because it suddenly slipped off him all together. Dunker eventually took off his coat and walked out into the river in order to give Jesse something to cover himself as he came out of the water.

At that moment, a Holy Spirit plane with a very loud engine split the skies as it flew over the site of the event and dropped dozens of pigeons. Some call them doves. Dunker explained, “The plane was supposed to come over the party much earlier in the day, but it developed engine trouble. By the time they got the thing running again, the party was all but over. But you know how these things go, Holy Spirit Airlines was contracted to drop the doves, and they were finally able to make the drop, but the impact of the drop was pretty much lost.”

The plane did allow Jesse to get out of the river without much notice. Most of the people left were distracted from looking up at the birds coming out of the plane. One of the “doves” actually perched on his head by the time Jesse had pulled on some shorts.

The last anyone saw him, Jesse was running between the dressing room trailers into the parking lot. He might have been embarrassed by the situation, or he may have been trying to avoid the pigeon (dove) seemingly in attack mode that was chasing him. Dunker shouted after him, “Jesse, the organizers are really pleased with this Son and Fun event.”

What Day Is This Luke 2:21-40

This text is really out of place in time. Today is December 31, which is neither eight days after Jesus’ birth when he would have been circumcised nor is it time for Mary’s purification and the presentation of Jesus. Those acts would have taken place forty days after Jesus was born. During this in-between-time between Jesus’ birth and the day of presentation and purification, Mary would have been ritually unclean and would not have been able to be out in public.

To us, living in the 21st century, this may seem harsh and demeaning for Mary. After all, Mary has just given birth to the Messiah. How can she be thought of as unclean? Beyond the whole messiah thing, why should any woman be thought of as unclean after giving birth?

But, when I have talked theologically with Jewish friends, they tell me that these forty days of seclusion are a Godsend, and may just be the beginning of what we now call maternity leave. During these days of seclusion, the new mother was held away from men and their entertainments. She was cared for by other women who were also in their time of unclean confinement. The new mother was in charge of caring for herself and her newborn only and was able to involve herself in the activities of the others as she chose. No, it wasn’t a vacation, but it was a time when normal social pressures were relieved.

At the end of confinement, as required by Mosaic law, the new mother would present herself to the local priest or go to the temple to be purified. She would pay the sacrificial ransom, and, if her child were a first-born boy, present her child. This sacrifice goes all the way back to the first Passover in Egypt, when every first-born male, human and animal, died except for the houses that had the blood of a sheep or goat spread on the door post of the house. The sacrifice would have only been required for the first-born, male child, and, as such, Jesus’ other brothers and sisters would not have had this presentation done for them.

Oddly enough, Christians still recognize this 40th day after the birth of Jesus. On the liturgical calendar it is known as Candlemas. In many churches, people on this day bring candles to worship and light them from the Christ candle during worship. They then take this flame from the Christ candle home with them to bless and sanctify their homes for God’s work in the coming year. This was common practice for almost 1500 years until the Reformation came along and this day of reverence was excluded from many faith traditions.

The end of this forty-day period after Christmas, February 2nd, marks the halfway point between Winter solstice and the Spring equinox, when the lengthening days can be markedly appreciated. Fortunately, Punxsutawney Phil and Jimmy the Groundhog thought that forty days after Christmas was a good time to crawl out of their holes to check out the weather. So, although we do not usually celebrate Candlemas, as Lutherans here in the United States and Canada, we do get to celebrate Groundhog’s Day.

So here we are really out of place in time, observing the 40th day after Jesus’ birth, when the days of cabin fever are about to end, ready for a wonderful time of celebration. What better way to celebrate than with the presentation of Christ and Mary’s purification. In Simeon’s words, one can almost feel the death of winter and the dawning promise of the new ways of living in Christ. Indeed, there seems to be a real need to celebrate something.

Whether we have the day right, or even the month right, this text is for us a time of transition from what was to what is going to be. This day marks a time of transition for us as we move from one year to the next, and it shows us how others have dealt with changing times as we live through our days of change. Indeed, this text raises some real changes.

First, Simeon enters into the temple at the time of the presentation. He takes Jesus in his arms and makes this amazing statement of who Jesus is: the salvation of the world for all nations and the glory of God’s people, Israel. Then, just when all is well, Simeon blesses Mary with words of struggle and spiritual torment: her child will be the cause of the falling and rising of many; people will oppose him; their inner thoughts will be revealed; and Mary’s heart will be pierced with the sword of sorrow.

With these words, our understanding of who this child is, this messiah, the Christ, who is the salvation of the world, is turned upside down. This salvation will not be an easy thing. Salvation will be the cause of struggle and pain, of falling into the depths of death and being raised up into new ways of living; it will be a time of discomfort and delight, repentance and redemption.

If that is not enough, Anna enters and begins to talk about the glory of the one who will redeem Jerusalem. Again, for our 21st century world, this doesn’t seem to be such a big deal, but, while there is a long tradition of women as prophets in the Old Testament, this is the first public proclamation of the Gospel made by a woman in the New Testament.

This unusual woman is one of the models of women in God’s service and has been used as an example for the ordination of women in the Church today. Women were welcomed into the public ministry of the ALC and LCA Lutheran churches in 1970. Some other denominations made that decision earlier, and some have made that decision later. More conservative Lutheran churches and the Roman Catholic church continue to wrestle with this question, but, for us in the ELCA today, this question of public proclamation begins with these words of Anna.

This text is also one of several pondering texts Mary has received. Elizabeth, when Mary came to visit while pregnant, was the first person to recognize the beginnings of change. The angel from heaven and the choir of angels have announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds, and the shepherds have come to tell Mary and Joseph what they have heard. Now Simeon declares Jesus as the savior, and Anna amplifies the message. She praises God and speaks “about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

If this were your child, wouldn’t you be just a little shocked? We, with Mary, are called upon to ponder the meaning of this child’s life—to consider what it means to us and how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus affects what we say and do today. With Mary and Joseph, we marvel or are astounded at what is happening.

Into this time of transitioning change, where God demonstrates God’s intent for all of humanity to be saved and the proclamation of the word is not reserved only for men, comes the last layer of meaning for us. How does the life of this child change the way we know and worship God?

One of my professors always started his class with a poem. Some of them were nice nature poems; some were challenging image poems; and some really hit me in the midst of my pondering heart. As we consider all that is going on in this passage today—of naming and circumcision, presentation and purification; of who has the authority to publicly proclaim God’s good news to the world—I want to share with you one poem that particularly struck me.

Did the Woman Say?
Frances Croake Frank
Did the woman say,
When she held him for the first time in the dark of a stable,
After the pain and the bleeding and the crying,
‘This is my body, this is my blood’?

Did the woman say,
When she held him for the last time in the dark rain on a hilltop,
After the pain and the bleeding and the dying,
‘This is my body, this is my blood’?

Well that she said it to him then,
For dry old men,
brocaded robes belying barrenness
Ordain that she not say it for him now.*

There is much to be pondered in the words we have heard both today and in the past weeks, of who this Jesus is and who the Gospel claims him to be. He is the one who continues to carry us forward, to instruct us, to heal us, to model for us the ways of God’s intentions for the salvation of the world. May we also ponder those words Mary pondered as we come forward and again hear, “This is my body. This is my blood.”

* From the essay Mary, the Virgin Priest? by Dr. Tina Beattie, on the website Women Priests - the Case for Ordaining Women in the Roman Catholic Church

TWO TURTLE DOVES AND A GROUNDHOG UNDER THE TREE CONFUSE MANY

THE SON TIMES

The Gateway Gospel of Destiny

Happenings Around Town

by Luke A. Possil

TWO TURTLE DOVES AND

A GROUNDHOG UNDER THE TREE

CONFUSE MANY

Dateline: Jerusalem, December 31, 2017, 02:01:40--Delivery of the invitations to attend Jesse Benjo’s bris was inadvertently delayed at the Post Office leaving Mary and Joe and their friends and relatives confused. It created an embarrassing moment for many patrons at the Temple Tea Shoppe (TTS) when people showed up for the ceremony more than a month late.

When Mary and Joe later sent out invitations for Jesse’s first public outing to a few close friends and family members to celebrate Groundhog’s day in February at the TTS, they envisioned a small group. When Mary presented herself in public for the first time after the birth of her son and presented Jesse for all to see, she and Joe were shocked at the huge turn-out which included those who had been invited to the bris.

The post office discovered the delay last week causing invitations for both events to arrive at the same time. The wording on both invited people to “Join us in celebrating Saturday afternoon at the Temple Tea Shoppe.” Only a few people received both invitations.

“The bris was to be a gathering of guys I knew on the job,” Joe said. “It was going to be a time to show off my boy, have a couple glasses of wine and a light supper, and then go home. I was really disappointed when nobody showed.”

However, this last week, Mary and Joe were overwhelmed when all of Joe’s friends joined their close friends and family at TTS and turned what was going to be a sedate occasion into something more like an affair of state.

Simeon, one of our elder statesmen, arrived and proclaimed Jesse nothing short of presidential timber. Then to cover himself, he also claimed the child would become a true delinquent.

Not to be out done, Anna, TTS’s octogenarian waitress, made claims of prosperity for TTS and encouraged more people to combine family occasions and celebrate them at the Temple Tea Shoppe. She said that all people of Jerusalem are welcome to redeem and use their Groupoff savings but hoped people would please try to give a little more advanced warning so that TTS might serve everyone better.

Anna reminded everyone, “Please remember we have a wide selection of affordable wines for salutary occasions as well as an exhaustive listing of teas for the discerning palate. We also carry proper sandwiches, biscuits, scones, and other pastries for a modest price. Cakes and pies are available with reservations made seven days in advance.”

In the end all was well, and a fine time was had by all.

And There Was Evening, And There Was Morning

And There Was Evening, And There Was Morning

Peter T. Heide

In the darkness of forming world creation,

God spoke and speaks.

Even that most valued, cherished work of life,

Ta-da!, and voilà!,

The light of life, of revelation meaning,

Comes out of darkness;

And, in the holy division of dark and light,

God’s worktime is hidden from us.

In this world of gratification need of things surrounding

(See my stuff?),

Comes an arrogance, an entitlement, presumed superiority

Of enlightened light,

Of being served, catered to, coddled, by God, deservedly

For dominating dominion,

Receiving the division of light as better, eschewing dark:

God’s worktime hidden which is for us.

Into this always forming world creation,

Walk the blind,

Listening for, and longing to hear, those relationship words:

“It is good”,

To be a part of the conversation concerning God’s handiwork;

Two halves a whole—

Of yin and yang, death and life; polar compliments revealing life for all—

God’s worktime, hidden, with us, voici!