January 17, 2011

We humans tend to celebrate, as in party, Martin Luther King Jr. day rather than remember his vision.  In his famous “I had a dream” speech he told us that his hope was for an America which did not have any barriers to the basic freedoms out-lined in the Declaration of Independence.  Specifically, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

King’s dream was truly a calling from God toward action.  In today’s gospel John the Baptist answered a call when he stated publicly that he was not fit to tie the sandal of Jesus.  John’s two disciples immediately left John and followed Jesus answering their call from God.  One of the two, Andrew told his brother Simon that he had found the messiah and Simon felt the call to follow Jesus.  We all know that Jesus welcomed Simon when Jesus renamed him Cephus or Peter.

These callings to John and the three original disciples mark the flowering of the tree which grew from the root of Jessie.  Jesus was the messiah promised in the Old Testament.  This was the beginning of Christianity, our religion which was founded in love.  Christianity grew from this simple beginning to a movement that the world had never seen before. God used humble men and women to accomplish great deeds. Through out history we humans have demonstrated a proclivity to wander away from the basic civility Jesus taught us.

        God incessantly calls on humans to do something to correct wrongs that plague our world. Historically we see individuals answering the call by God.  The Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. We see it again in Jan Hus's defiance against the church in Rome's failure to meet the needs of the common man.  Martin Luther heeded his call when he protested the practice of selling indulgences to raise money. The call of these men to right the wrongs that were being perpetuated by the powers within the world is remarkable.

        Obedience to the call of God comes to all of us, not just the great.  Each of us receives a call to action by God.  Our call may be as simple as helping a neighbor who is in difficulty financially or physically. It is our answer to God’s call that marks us as Christians.

        When answering our call, we are celebrating our remembrance that Christ Jesus died for our sins on the cross.  Christ, God the Son, being obedient to God the Father’s call makes our salvation possible.        

January 3, 2011

A few thoughts concerning love, trust and obedience.

Love, trust, obey, these three simple words sum up the lives of Mary and Joseph.  Both of them were loyal observant Jews who loved God with their whole being.  Out of this love there was an implicit trust in God and, most important, an obedience to the wishes of God.  It is out of this simple trust in God that our savior, Jesus was born and reared by the holy family.

Mary who was to be the mother of Jesus was a teen aged virgin engaged to Joseph a skilled carpenter.  Mary demonstrated love and trust in God when the angel of the Lord came to her and informed her that she was to be the mother of the Son of God.  She trusted God.  Her response to the angelic visit as recorded Luke 1, 41-45 was:

My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.

Joseph was engaged to a Mary whom he loved.  He was distressed when discovered Mary’s pregnancy.  He knew he was not the father of the unborn infant.  His first impulse was to marry her to prevent her being persecuted and possibly killed for having a child out of wedlock.  He resolved to divorce her after an appropriate period of time.  His love and trust in the Lord was put to the test when in a dream an angel of God asked him to fully accept Mary because she was to have God’s son.  Joseph was instructed to name the new born Jesus.  Thereby Joseph and Mary provided a normal home for Jesus.  Mary and Joseph made this possible by their love and trust in God as evidenced in there obedience to God’s will.

Joseph’s love and trust in God was put to the test a second time just 12 day’s after our savior’s birth.  Joseph was once again was told in a dream by an angel of the Lord to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt.  They were to remain there until told they could leave.  Once again Joseph obeyed Gods request out of his love and trust for the almighty.  He took Mary and the new born Jesus to Egypt.  The reason for this visit by the angel of the Lord was Herod’s plan to have all male children under age of two killed.  Herod ordered the killing of infants to prevent the birth of the king of the Jew’s (Jesus) from threatening his throne. 

The third and fourth instances of Joseph’s trust in God and obedience to his will also occurred after visits of angels in his dreams.  An angel of the Lord informed him of Herod’s death and instructed him to leave Egypt and return to Israel.  After the holy family’s return the angel returned in another dream and told him to leave Judea and move his family to Nazareth in the district of Galilee to insure Jesus’ safety .

It was through the love, trust and obedience of both Mary and Joseph that Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, Emmanuel, the Prince of peace came to us to conquer sin and save all of humankind.

Thank you Mary and Joseph for the love, trust and obedience to God that allows us to pray,

“Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.”