Paul's Song, Paul's Letter and Paul's World

“Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea and frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honali.” I open with these words for two reasons. First, Cindy and I recently celebrated five years of marriage by travelling to Hawaii, and one of the sites we visited was Hanalei on the north shore of the island of Kauai.

Fewer than 500 people live in Hanalei, a village smaller than one square mile. As a backdrop of South Pacific, it is often associated with the song popularized by Peter, Paul and Mary.[1]

Second, one member of the trio who sang Puff the Magic Dragon also wrote a song we requested for our wedding. Paul Stookey wrote Wedding Song in 1969 and performed it at the wedding of Peter Yarrow, the other male singer of the trio.

Shortly after his Christian conversion, Yarrow asked Stookey to “bless our wedding with a song.” According to Stookey, “the melody and the words arrived simultaneously and in response to a direct prayer asking God how the divine could be present at Peter’s wedding.” Drawing almost verbatim from Matthew 18:20, the original lyric is “I am now to be among you at the calling of your hearts; rest assured this troubadour is acting on My part. The union of your spirits here has caused Me to remain for whenever two or more of you are gathered in My name, There am I...There is Love.”

Concerned that the wedding guests might misinterpret his intention, Stookey changed “I” to “He” until 1990 when he ‘officially’ restored the original lyric.

The first two lines of the second verse, “A man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home. And they shall travel on to where the two shall be as one,” paraphrased Genesis 2:24: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."

Believing he could not take personal credit for composing "The Wedding Song", Stookey set up the Public Domain Foundation, which since 1971 received the song's royalties for charitable distribution. … If you have time this week, listen to Paul’s song. You will enjoy it.

Couples request many songs and readings for their weddings. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians is one of the most popular. As a pastor preparing to write a sermon for their wedding, I ask couples why they choose their readings. Often, they reply, “Because we like them.” If couples knew the background of Paul’s Letter, they might choose another passage.

Corinth’s Christians were a mix of Jews and Gentiles from various economic strata. That the rich were shameless and the poor were wretched led to ethical and liturgical problems.

Although not the founding pastor of their church, Paul made several trips to Corinth. In essence, he fathered the community and took great interest in its well-being. The experience of Paul’s second trip, however, left him heart-broken.

Sexual immorality, legal disputes, Eucharistic abuses and controversies about the resurrection of the dead were some of the problems Paul encountered. Yet, the real problem was two-fold: Gnosticism and behavior. The Gnostics were people who thought that they were wiser than everyone. The others thought they could do whatever they wanted.

Chapter 13 concerned itself with behavior that caused serious dissension within the community. While the people causing this dissension were spirit-people or charismatics, Paul addressed the entire church. Paul based his ecclesiology, his teaching of Church, on his Christology, his teaching of Christ. To be Church, Christians were to imitate Christ in their relations with one another. They could not see themselves as wiser nor could they do whatever they wanted.

In chapter 13, Paul pointed out how the Corinthian Christians did not reflect Christ’s love. In verses 4-8, Paul listed what love is and is not. It is not about personal preference. C.S. Lewis said that to love and to like are not the same. I can like some people more than others, but I am to love all people.

To illustrate that love, Paul used the term agape, one of three Greek words for love. Eros is passionate love that desires the other for itself. Philos is love of the gods or good friends. Agape has neither the magic of eros nor the warmth of philos, but is an unmotivated, active love.

Paul understood the differences among the three types of love. After all, he grew up as a typical Hellenistic Jewish student, and as a Christian, understood Jesus’ teaching of love of God, neighbor and enemy. We find all of this in chapter 13, but rather than define love, Paul personified it. He chose verbs that involved another person in order to highlight the virtues that the Corinthians neglected. They were not patient and kind. Some insisted on their own way. The community rejoiced at wrongdoing.

Citing himself as an example, Paul spelled out the characteristics of love in such a way that the Corinthians could recognize it for what it was – the foundation of the Church. In a community where jealousy and rivalry ruled their hearts, hearing that love is not jealous, pompous, inflated, rude, self-seeking, quick-tempered, calculating or joyful in lawlessness or wrongdoing was imperative.

For Paul, love was not a gift from God like other virtues. Love was not a legal command to be fulfilled. The love of which Paul wrote was beyond compare because it was the Spirit of God at work in the Church. As he wrote in chapter one, the Corinthians lacked no skills, but skills without love matter not in a faith community awaiting salvation from their Lord.

At the time Paul visited Corinth, there were about 50 Christians. Gathering 50 adults into one house church would have been difficult, awkward and uncommon. More likely, families, servants and a few friends met in smaller groups fostering an intimate family atmosphere that tended to promote divisions within the wider community.

When these smaller groups came together, divisions were played out. The host group sat in the innermost rooms, while the visitors gathered on the porch. The host group gathered for an early meal, while hungry visitors arrived later. Such liturgical abuses fostered resentment among church members.

While the love of the Trinity should have bonded and energized the Body of Christ, the Church, family ties and friendships tore it apart. That said, why do couples choose Paul’s Letter? That leads me from Paul’s Letter to Paul’s world.

By Paul’s world, I mean, my world, your world. Your world and mine share a common denominator. Each is populated by people. A vast array of people we know and love, know and do not love, and do not know or love populates our worlds. The population is so vast that we cannot consider everyone in a short sermon or a lengthy dissertation; however, we can draw a sampling. Allow me to relate one group of people to our reading: friends and family.

Starry-eyed lovers preparing for marriage relate well to Paul’s song and Paul’s letter as their wedding day approaches. Newlyweds love one another, as they should. The world of newlyweds often consists of one other person – the person they love. In love with one another, they – like we – learn that love for one another may not last, may not suffice. For that reason, couples and families must also love the Other (with a capital O).

The Other – God – gets along perfectly well without us. Can we get along without God? Some argue that we can. They say we can get along without God when our needs are met. They have money and all that it can buy. They have a strong body and healthy mind. They are independent and self-reliant, and have someone to love, and family and friends.

However, what happens when friends get busy or distracted? When family members move away, get sick or die? What happens when loved one contract cancer or Alzheimer’s? When they lose their job or health? Can they get along without God at those moments? Personally speaking, when my dad died suddenly and when my mom contracted cancer, suffered for a year and then died, I needed God more than ever during those moments for my world suffered from the faults of sin and death.

Personally, I am learning more than I ever have the importance of Paul’s Letter as it relates to how I view and treat people. Paul’s song is about children who outgrow their imaginary friends. Paul’s Letter is about adults who have yet to grow into Christian maturity and their relationships with one another as Church. Paul’s world is about how we – beloved children of God – personify Christ in terms of First Corinthians 13.

In my relationships with the people I love, am I patient and kind, benevolent and modest, humble and polite, calm and joyful? Do family and friends see Christ in me? Do people see in me someone childish or mature? Do they see a person of faith, hope and love?

Friends, no simple ditty or wedding song will transform us into mature, thoughtful, loving Christian men and women. But as we ponder the meaning of God’s Word and the importance of God’s Sacrament, may we put away childish ways and see in a mirror who God has called us to be. May Word and Sacrament embodied in us transform us into God’s sons and daughters who see and treat one another as Christ’s brothers and sisters. As we do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanalei,_Hawaii

Composers, Anglers and Astros

‘The Three Bs’ is a phrase used in discussions of classical music to refer to the supposed primacy of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. Although ‘the three Bs’ is associated with classical music, it is found in other disciplines. There are ‘the 3 Bs’ of bass fishing (bait, bottom and bass), and the Houston Astros used it when their lineup included Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman.[1]

My sermon has nothing to do with classical composers, bass fishing or baseball players, but Baptist, Baptism and Basics. John the Baptist, the Baptism of Jesus, and the Basics of our Belief.

First, Baptist. I grew up in St. John the Baptist Church. The building depicts three scenes from his life. To the left of the transept a stained glass window depicts John preaching in the wilderness. Opposite it, a soldier clutches the hair of the decapitated Baptist. In between, a mural shows John baptizing Jesus.

Prior to Jesus’ public ministry, John attempted to change Judaism. In citing Malachi (“Behold, I send my messenger. He will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.”[2]) and Isaiah (“A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’”[3]), the evangelists told their original readers that this messenger would be found not in the Jerusalem Temple, as they expected, but in the wilderness.

The setting of the wilderness was important because this was the staging area for the formation of Israel, and now the staging area for John’s reformation. It was where God’s people learned to trust in God’s providence and protection. This new Exodus was a new beginning – a symbol of hope and fulfillment. At the same time, it dismissed Israel’s institutional life.

Because John prepared people in the wilderness and not in Jerusalem, through baptism and not sacrifice, he shifted the center of authority. This shift explains why chief priests and elders refused to recognize his authority, and why he was expendable.

John’s radical message was forgiveness without sacrifice. For him, baptism was not a way but the only way to achieve repentance. By baptizing, John sought to call together the repentant and restored people of God for the imminent eschatological crisis – the end.

John’s prophetic activity raised questions of his personal identity. He assured people that he was not the Messiah and directed their expectations to another who would be far mightier. His baptism would be in fire and the Holy Spirit. This Lukan language drew attention to not only the fiery judgment for the unrepentant, but also the Spirit-life of the Church. Such preaching led Herod to incarcerate John.[4]

As Herod slammed the prison door on John, Luke opened the next door on the Baptism of Jesus, my second point.

Unlike Mark and Matthew, Luke included two details that separated his Gospel. First, he made no mention of John baptizing Jesus.[5] Second, he included an action not found in the other synoptic Gospels. For Luke, Jesus’ baptism was not the springboard for his mission. He simply noted that the baptism occurred and focused attention on a post-baptismal moment: Jesus was praying.

Mark integrated into his baptismal account the opening of the heavens, the descent of the Holy Spirit and a heavenly word. Luke incorporated these three into the moment after Jesus’ baptism when he was praying. That is because for Luke, the Holy Spirit, not Jesus’ baptism, was the creative source of his mission.

Why is that important for us? Because the Church is born out of a baptism of the Holy Spirit. We read Jesus’ words to his apostles before he ascended, “You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”[6]

When Pentecost arrived, the apostles were together, when a sound like a mighty, rushing wind came from heaven. It filled the house and tongues of fire rested on each one of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.[7]

That moment was the birth of the Church. That moment was the Church’s baptism by the Holy Spirit. Likewise, the descent of the Holy Spirit in our Gospel today, is Jesus’ true baptism.[8]

Before I move to my third point, the Basics, one more word about baptism. John’s baptism was not the same as other Jewish ceremonial washings, nor was it the same as later Christian baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ. Jewish washings were performed repeatedly. Christian baptism is performed only once.

You should also know that many non-Christians do not distinguish between Christian denominations. To them, churches that define themselves as Lutheran, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist or a myriad of micro-denominations that embrace the term nondenominational are all the same. We may have trouble sorting out other religious denominations, but we must certainly understand what we believe. So, periodically, we re-visit the basics.

Today, we look at two basics – baptism and Lord’s Supper. Lutherans believe the Bible teaches a person is saved by God’s grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Bible tells us that such ‘faith comes by hearing.’ Jesus commands Baptism, and Scripture tells us that Baptism is water used together with the Word of God.[9] Because of this, we believe that Baptism is one of the miraculous means of grace through which God creates and/or strengthens the gift of faith in a person’s heart.[10]

Now, some denominations do not recognize infant baptism. We baptize infants because of what the Bible teaches regarding God's command to baptize. There is not a single passage in Scripture that instructs us not to baptize for reasons of age, race, or gender. On the contrary, the divine commands to baptize in Scripture are all universal in nature. Based on these commands, the Christian church has baptized infants from the earliest days of its history. Since those baptized are also to be instructed in the Christian faith, our church baptizes infants only where there is the assurance that parents or spiritual guardians will nurture the faith of the one baptized through continued teaching of God's Word.[11]

Baptism, along with the Lord’s Supper, are the two sacraments we recognize. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the two sacraments clearly instituted by Christ’s teaching.

When we take communion, we receive – in, with and under the bread and wine – the body and blood of Christ shed on the cross, Jesus Christ, who is now risen and ascended and sits at the right hand of God the Father. He is the same Christ, and when he gave us the Sacrament, as the Lutheran Confessions affirm, ‘he was speaking of his true, essential body, which he gave into death for us, and of his true, essential blood, which was poured out for us on the tree of the cross for the forgiveness of sins.’[12]

In this Sacrament, our Confessions teach the same Jesus who died is present, although not in exactly the same way he was corporeally present when he walked bodily on earth. Luther and the Formula of Concord speak of ‘the incomprehensible, spiritual mode of presence according to which he neither occupies nor yields space but passes through everything created as he wills ... He employed this mode of presence when he left the closed grave and came through closed doors, and in the bread and wine in the Supper.’[13]

The Good News or Gospel for us is that God comes to us in Word and Sacrament to free us from Satan, sin and death. The Good News is that Christ is not simply present in some symbolic way or represented in Word and Sacrament, but truly present. And where the Second Person of the Trinity is present, so are the Father and Holy Spirit.

I close with words St. Gregory of Nazianzus wrote in a 4^th-century sermon on the Baptism of Christ.[14] “Today let us do honor to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received … a ray of its splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.”

My friends, God wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. Be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ. Enjoy the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, and may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Bs

[2] Malachi 3:1

[3] Isaiah 40:3

[4] Eugene LaVerdiere, Luke. Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, Inc. (1986), 49.

[5] Arthur A. Just, Luke 1:1-9:50. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House (1996), 160.

[6] Acts 1:5

[7] Acts 2:1-4 paraphrased

[8] LaVerdiere, 50.

[9] Ephesians 5:26; 1 Peter 3:21

[10] http://www.lcms.org/faqs/doctrine#baptism

[11] Ibid

[12] Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration VII, 49 or http://lcms.org/faqs/doctrine#lordssupper

[13] Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration VII, 100

[14] His commemoration is listed on January 10 in the Lutheran Service Book.

Door to the Year

January, from ianua, Latin for door, since January is the door to the year, and from Janus, Roman god of beginnings and transitions, depicted with two faces, looking to the future and past. January is a time to reflect and treasure all things in your heart.

January’s first Gospel offers an opportunity to look to the past and future, an opportunity to treasure things in our hearts and a reminder to seize the moment. Hence, we look at the past – Luke and our Lutheran tradition, the future – our legacy, and the present – our lives today.

First, Luke and our Lutheran tradition. Luke included the only boyhood story of Jesus to complete his infancy narrative. This was the second of three trips Jesus made to Jerusalem’s Temple.

In the first trip, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to fulfill the Law. Two Old Testament saints, Simeon and Anna, greeted them. Simeon caused confusion and anxiety with his somber words to Mary, “This child is why many people in Israel will be condemned and others will be saved. He will be a sign that will expose the thoughts of those who reject him. And a sword will pierce your heart.”[1]

The other feature of that first story is that wisdom came from the parents observing the Law.

In the second story we heard today, Jesus again accompanied his family to Jerusalem’s Temple. This time Jesus himself caused confusion and anxiety when he was lost. His somber words to Mary compounded the situation when he said, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”[2] … Talk about a sword piercing your heart!

This time wisdom came from Jesus as a teacher of the Law. He could not remain with his family because it was necessary to be with his Father.

The third journey to Jerusalem was with Jesus’ new family, his disciples. Again, he went there to celebrate the Passover. His journey began in chapter 9 where we read, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face towards Jerusalem.”[3] During this journey, Jesus celebrated the Passover, was lost – that is, dead and buried – and was found after three days. This loss also caused confusion and anxiety.

And again, wisdom came from Jesus who explained to his new family members who were searching for and found him that it was necessary to be with his Father.

Our Lutheran tradition cited our Gospel in The Formula of Concord regarding the Person of Christ. It focused on the majesty Christ possessed, and yet dispensed with, in the state of his humiliation. I quote, “’For this reason he grew in stature, wisdom, and grace before God and other people.’ Therefore, he did not reveal his majesty at all times but only when it pleased him, until he completely laid aside the form of a servant – but not his human nature – after his resurrection.”[4]

Centuries later, Francis Pieper wrote that Scripture clearly taught that Christ is God and Man, knew himself to be God and Man, and had a divine consciousness.

I quote: “The very first recorded utterance of Jesus when He was twelve years old, clearly reveals Him as being conscious of His divine estate: ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ And his subjection to His earthly parents shows that He was conscious at the same time of His human estate.”[5]

From Luke and our Lutheran tradition to our future, our legacy. … A lesson I learned in fundraising was to show people how to leave a legacy that outlives them. Whether you love art, education, medicine or religion, you can leave a legacy. You need not be a Carnegie, Ford, Mellon or Rockefeller. You can leave as much or as little as your estate can afford.

People leave legacies based on what they love, and people remember them for what they love. Who will remember you? Guaranteed your parents, spouse and children will remember you. Periodically, your siblings, grandchildren, nieces and nephews will think of you. Realistically, no one else will remember you fondly unless you leave a legacy of love.

Jesus’ disciples remembered him because his love led him to the cross and grave. The loving Father raised him from the dead and they imparted the Holy Spirit on the first Christians. That Holy Spirit is with us today as we remember Jesus and how he loved. Our legacy will be remembered in how we love. Whether or not our love leads to martyrdom or old age is not our choosing, but we should pray – as I do each time I open a sermon – that we love deeply as Jesus loved.

We love deeply as Jesus loved because we believe what he taught. We believe in his wisdom and that led us to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. If we love deeply as Jesus loved, people will know our legacy. More importantly, the Trinity will know.

If you want to leave a legacy of love, know this: Satan will do his best to foil you. Satan exploits your weakness. … Now, let us move from our legacy to our lives today. From the future to the present.

With sympathy to football widows, we are in the playoffs, and January 5^th is the birthday of the only NFL coach ever to win four Superbowls. Here is how Steeler Running Back Rocky Bleier remembered Chuck Noll, who passed away in 2014.

Bleier said, “I remember in 1974 … we went out to Kansas City to play the Chiefs. They had the main players from their recent Super Bowl team, including Lenny Dawson. We ran the ball well, we sacked Dawson three times, and we beat them. On Monday we’re going over the game film, and I was expecting Chuck to congratulate us on a great game. But not Chuck. Chuck said the reason we won this game was because of the lack of good habits formed by one person.

Chuck had a theory that we all eventually subscribed to: Habits are created every day in practice, and they carry over to the game—whether it’s 102 degrees on the field or 30, whether it’s raining or snowing, whether you have a 300-pound defensive tackle in front of you … or no one at all. In the third and fourth quarter, you don’t think; you react.

Chuck said, “The reason we won this game, gentlemen, is because of the lack of habits formed by Kansas City’s left guard. The reason why we had the sacks and forced passes and why they had no running game was because of the habits formed by the left guard.”

I was dumbfounded. For a man to lead a team, the players have to accept and buy into what he’s teaching. I thought, this man has that whole game broken down to one player. He must know everything. I bought in.”[6]

I bought in. Are you buying in? Did you buy in to Jesus and his teaching? I believe you did. I also believe Satan exploits your weaknesses and poor habits.

Folks, if a coach can detect and exploit the poor habits a player forms, think how easily Satan exploits your weaknesses and poor habits.

Friends, you are sinners saved by Christ, but Satan can exploit saved sinners. That is why you must form good habits.

We are no better Christians than those Paul addressed in Corinth when he wrote of the need to forgive so “that we may not be exploited by Satan for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”[7] They formed good habits.

We are no better Christians than those Peter addressed when he wrote, “Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. Resist him, and be strong in your faith.”[8] They formed good habits.

We are no better Christians than those James addressed when he wrote, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. … Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.”[9] They formed good habits.

Beginning today, buy in to what Jesus taught. Treasure in your heart what he taught and how he lived and died for you. And as we begin 2016, form good habits.

Pray daily. Read scripture. Meditate. Read the Small Catechism. Listen to the Lutheran Hour and Daily Devotions. Attend Sunday School. Ask friends to point out your weaknesses so Satan cannot exploit you easily. Leave a legacy. Love.

Your legacy will not be that you read Scripture and prayed daily. But the grace of God leads you to the Word and to prayer. The grace of God changes you, and because you know God loves you – and you love God – you form good habits that make it difficult for Satan to exploit you.

When you allow God’s grace to enter your heart; when you treasure in your heart Jesus’ teaching; when you open yourself to God’s Word and Sacrament, you do not win Superbowls, you win the crown of life.

It is January, a time to reflect on the past to see how God’s grace has been poured forth into your heart and has washed away your sins through the blood of Christ on the Cross. It is time to look to the future – eternal life with Christ. It is time to start living for Christ and his Kingdom today. Beginning today, resolve to treasure deeply God’s love in your heart, and when you do may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.[10] Amen. …

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[1] Luke 2:34-35 (GOD'S WORD® Translation)

[2] Luke 2:49

[3] Luke 9:51

[4] Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Minneapolis: Fortress Press  (2000), p. 511.

[5] Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House (1951), pp. 89f.

[6] Rocky Bleier as told to Robert Klemko. “The Chuck Noll I Remember,” Sports Illustrated, June 23, 2014. pp. 50-51. http://mmqb.si.com/2014/06/16/chuck-noll-remembered-rocky-bleier-pittsburgh-steelers/#

[7] 2 Corinthians 2:11 NET

[8] 1 Peter 5:8-9 NET

[9] James 4:7-8, 10 NET

[10] Philippians 4:7