The Rev. Deacon Bette Kauffman's homily for January 23, 2022, Christ Episcopal, Saint Joseph

"The Jesus Method" by The Rev. Deacon Bette Kauffman

Every Sunday in Episcopal churches across the country and around the world, people—ordinary people like you and me—stand and read Holy Scripture. 

Typically a passage from the Old Testament is read first. The Christian Old Testament is, of course, one and the same as Hebrew Scripture, the bible of the Jewish people.

The second reading is called “the Epistle” because it is taken from one of the many “epistles” or “letters” written by Paul or one of the other apostles that make up the bulk of the New Testament.

Then finally, and just before the sermon, we hear a passage from one of the four Gospels—that is, from the “good news” of the story of Jesus the Christ—each one written with a slightly different emphasis by a person who knew Jesus on his earthly journey.

I mention what might seem obvious to you in these Episcopal pews this morning—especially you cradle Episcopalians—that the history of the scripture-reading portion of our worship—the “liturgy of the Word,” we call it—goes way, way back. We are participating in a centuries-old pattern every time we do it.

Look at the story we have this morning in Nehemiah. It’s one of my favorites of the Old Testament. Why? Because the people are so moved and so captivated by hearing Holy Scripture read out loud that they stand for hours listening, heads bowed. Indeed, they are ultimately moved to tears by it—so much so that a few verses farther on from the ending of today’s lesson Nehemiah instructs them to not be sad but go celebrate and rejoice.

The context of the story is that the Israelites have fallen away from the teachings of the law. Nehemiah was leading them in the process of restoring Jerusalem, fending off Israel’s enemies all the while. The Torah scrolls were found in a forgotten recess of temple rubble.

Nehemiah had them dusted off and a platform built. The people assembled. The scribe Ezra was called to read—and not just to read but with interpretation. He gave the sense, so that the people understood.

And the people stood with heads bowed and listened, from early morning until midday, we are told. Wow! Could you do that?

In fact, today’s lectionary passage consists of excerpts.., because we have to keep it short…! But in one of the verses missing from what we just read, the people are so moved by hearing again the words of their Holy Scriptures that they begin to weep. That is why, at the close of our passage today, Nehemiah is instructing the Israelites to not mourn what is past, but eat, drink, share with those who have nothing and celebrate being reunited with their Holy Scripture.

So, when we read and interpret holy scripture as an act of worship, we stand in the midst of an ancient and ongoing lineage of people of faith. Jesus was part of that lineage as well.

In today’s Gospel story, Jesus is reading and interpreting Holy Scripture as part of temple worship. And I think we can learn some things about how to read and interpret Holy Scripture by paying attention to how Jesus did it.

So let’s look at it again. Jesus stands to read and is handed the Isaiah scroll. I’ve always been curious: Did Jesus ask for that scroll specifically? Or was the temple using some kind of schedule or rotation like our lectionary? Or did the scribe who handed it to him choose it, maybe because Isaiah is so full of hell fire and brimstone preaching and prophecies? We don’t know.

Whatever the case, Jesus knows what he wants to read. He knows his Holy Scripture and he turns straight to Isaiah 61 and reads…

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

   to bind up the broken-hearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

   and release to the prisoners; 

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,"

And he rolls up the scroll and sits down. Now, do you know what the very next line in Isaiah chapter 61 says? I didn’t either until Fr. Richard Rohr directed my attention to this.

It says this: "and the day of vengeance of our God." Hear both lines again. The last one Jesus reads is "to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor", and the next line is, "and the day of vengeance of our God."

Kind of changes the tone, doesn’t it? Right away, I’m thinking, am I going to be one of the ones who receive good news, be liberated in the year of the Lord’s favor? Or am I going to feel the fire of God’s vengeful wrath?

See, here’s what you’ll see if you put together all of Jesus’ quotes from Hebrew Scripture: He never quotes the many passages that appear to legitimate violence or that paint God as vengeful and judgmental. Never.

Rather he quotes passages that paint God as loving and merciful. Here’s another interesting tidbit from Fr. Rohr’s analysis: The book of Leviticus is a book of rules. I believe the official count is 603—603 rules, most of which are negative. Don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t eat whatever, the punishment for such and such is thus.., and on and on it goes.

Jesus quotes the book of Leviticus exactly once. And on that one occasion, what did he choose to quote?

He quoted the one clearly, unequivocally positive law in the book: Leviticus 19:18b, "…you shall love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord."

In other words, in stark contrast to so many Christians today who love to pick a verse, especially from the Hebrew Scripture, to tell people how wrong or sinful or unworthy they are, Jesus.. never.. does that! Jesus always picked and quoted biblical passages that comforted people, that turned people in a merciful and loving direction.

That’s “The Jesus Method.” And it’s a bit of a struggle because it is pretty human to want to make the world behave according to our standards and morality. How convenient it is when we can find a passage in the Bible we can use to beat up on people. Make them behave. Justify our judgment of them.

But that’s not what Jesus did. Jesus used Holy Scripture to build people up, to heal them, to show God’s love in the world. Let us follow Jesus.

In the name of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, AMEN.

[Year C, 3 Epiphany, Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21]

The Rev. Deacon Bette Kauffman will lead us in Morning Prayer with distribution of communion Sunday, Jan 23, 2022

 

The Rev. Deacon Bette Kauffman will lead Christ Episcopal, Saint Joseph, in prayers and offer distribution of communion this Sunday, January 23, 2022.  10am as usual.  Deacon Bette noted she will be wearing a mask except when proclaiming the Gospel and preaching.

The Epiphany 2022: Chalking the Door--Did you know?

 

Did you know?  Chalking the door?

Mark your calendar: Epiphany is on January 6th, twelve days after Christmas. In Great Britain, chalking the door takes place on Twelfth-Night, January 5th, the eve of Epiphany. Many families gather in their homes to celebrate with friends, food, singing, and gifts… and to chalk the door.

Find some chalk: Any color will do!

Gather your household: Everyone should be involved. For those who live alone, consider inviting a friend or neighbor. Or gather at your church to chalk the church entrance.

Pray: Use the prayers and liturgy below. Go to:

Chalking the Door: An Epiphany Tradition (buildfaith.org)

Write the inscription: Using the chalk, and taking turns, make the following inscription above the outside of your door.

20 + C + M + B + 22

 Prayer option from Book of Occasional Services:

The Blessing of a Home at Epiphany

 V. God shall watch over your going out and your coming in.

R. From this time forth for ever more.

Let us pray. O God of and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the nations and the Glory of your people, bless (N &N) who dwell in this house. May it be for them a place of peace and health, that they may rejoice in the gifts and graces you have bestowed upon them and dedicate their talents for the good of those for whom your Christ came and gave his life, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen

People may mark the doorway with symbols in chalk blessed with this prayer:

Loving God, bless this chalk which you have created, that it may be helpful to your people; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name that we who use it in faith to write upon the door of our home the names of your holy ones Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in or visit our home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Traditionally, the chalking is done above the lintel and takes this form: 20+C+M+B+22 - The letters are the abbreviation for the Latin phrase "Christus mansionem benedicat" - "Christ bless this house" (A second meaning and mnemonic device is Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar traditional names for the Magi). The + signs represent the cross, and 20-18 is the year

The Rev. Deacon Bette Kauffman's homily from January 2, 2022 at Christ Episcopal, Saint Joseph, LA

 Two Ways to Know

So…. are you a shepherd-like person? Or more a “wise man” type person?

Would you prefer the dark night sky to dissolve over your head, from deep black into blazing light in an instant, with a choir of angels singing and playing harps… a display so sudden and bright that you fall to the ground and raise your arm to shield your eyes from the dazzle?

Or would you prefer to pore over maps and charts and esoteric scrolls? And struggle to understand ancient predictions and cyphers and symbols? Then spend days planning and packing for a trek from who knows where across deserts, mountains and plains, encountering who knows what along the way… toward a single star in a vast heaven of stars?

I don’t know about you, but I’m an academic. I kind of “get” the wise men. I’m afraid if I had been one of the shepherds, I’d have dismissed what was happening as a crazy dream, perhaps brought on by that greasy pizza I had for dinner! Or some odd but natural phenomenon caused by the earth’s movement through a meteor shower…

In short, I’m not particularly open to encounters of the miraculous kind. I tend to believe in studying and planning and testing theories. I love maps and charts and telescopes—extensions of the human brain. 

Yet the journey of the wise men was also a journey of faith. 

Study, planning and preparation give an illusion of control, yet the wise men embarked into the unknown, across uncharted territory, from one watering site to another, encountering travelers of unknown origins and intentions along the way. 

It took something other than wisdom to overcome fatigue, boredom and second thoughts on such a journey. We call them wise men, but given the hazards of travel in ancient times and the fact of a guiding star that must have been invisible in the daytime, how “wise” could they have been? Not very, if you ask me!

But here’s a startling thought: If it weren’t for the wise men, Christmas might mean nothing to us!

Today we celebrate Epiphany. We have all heard many times that “epiphany” means “to show forth” or “to bring to light” or “to manifest.”

Being a visual thinker myself, I just imagine what we all have seen in hundreds of cartoons: a light bulb going on over someone’s head! 

Today, the light bulb going on over our heads is an important step in our journey from the manger to a more grown-up understanding of Incarnation. 

In Matthew’s Gospel, that more grown-up understanding is represented by the wise men from the east, who show up in Nazareth to worship the baby Jesus and give him gifts. 

Tradition has it.., and this is important because we actually know very little about this event from an historical point of view! So, tradition has it that one of these gentlemen was Asian, one African and one Caucasian, and that is how they are depicted in countless artistic renditions of the story.

All Matthew tells us is that they were gentiles from “the East,” a general reference to all those mysterious, far off lands and peoples known primarily to Jews like Matthew as “not Jews.”  And that of course is central to their importance to us. 

We Christians have a strong tendency to want to forget that Jesus was born, lived and died a devout Jew, never once giving any indication he intended to or thought he was starting a new religion.

Thankfully, Matthew, and only Matthew, for this story does not appear in the other Gospels. Thankfully Matthew tells us with this story that Jesus is for us, too. And not just for us, but also for all the peoples of the world, and equally so.

We tend to think the concept of “diversity” was invented in the 20th Century as a tool of “political correctness.” We would be wrong. Matthew and early Christians who interpreted these stories about Jesus were there way ahead of us.

Here’s another slightly shocking thing about this story. Matthew calls these guys “wise men,” which we often translate to “kings,” as in the hymn, or “Magi,” as in the story, but in fact a better translation might well be “nerd or “psychic”!

We know they were people who believed that the positions and alignments of stars and planets at the moment of a person’s birth were important indicators of who that person was and how they mattered. Today we call such people astrologers and they write horoscopes for mass media!

Of course, today we also have astronomers—the academic and scientific descendants of the wise men. But the distinction between astrology and astronomy is pretty much a modern invention. Two thousand years ago, they were largely indistinguishable.

My point is that the meaning of these stories of the shepherds and the wise men are the meanings given them by humans struggling to express and explain the miracle that God loves us enough to live and die with us. That’s Incarnation.

And all of us need to learn what the shepherds have to teach about being present to the moment, open to the miracle, willing to be struck down in wonder at the presence of God in all of creation, in each other, even in the least lovable, the most impossible to like person, the most radically different-from-ourselves person we can think of.

And we also need to learn what the wise men have to teach about daring to march into unknown territory, outside of our social and cultural and religious comfort zones. We need to learn from them to go the distance and keep the faith, beyond what is “perfectly safe” and makes “perfect sense.”

On any given day, we can allow ourselves to be struck down in wonder, as the shepherds were, if we are but open and present to God’s presence within and around us.

Or we can wake up in the morning and choose—even when we don’t particularly feel like it and when the world seems devoid of goodness, not to mention angels and dazzling light—to journey toward God that day.

And Jesus used his short time on earth to show us how. He was “the Incarnation.” But let us not trap incarnation in history. Jesus showed us how to practice incarnation, how to live the love that put him here.

And there’s only one way to do that, and that’s to spread it around—back to God and our neighbors—all of our neighbors, without condition—as ourselves.

In the name of God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, AMEN.

[5 January 2014, Christ Episcopal Church, St. Joseph, LA, Year C, Epiphany, Matthew 2:1-12]