Mass Prep Sunday Decamber 30th 2018

Sunday December 30^th 2018      Feast of the Holy Family (Cycle C)

Where the Action Is

The tie in between today’s readings: The Answers is: Answers

Psalm 84:1-9, 1 Samuel 1:20-28, 1 John 3:1-2; 21-24, Luke 2:41-52

     Christianity in the United States is declining. Many parishioners have a humdrum view of worship. People who spike the roles around Christmas and Easter are more the tourist type rather the any who would be seeking the face of the Almighty. With all this in view, I read today’s selection in Psalm 84 and I ask myself, “Who is this guy?”  His gushing passion, longing, and devotion for temple worship rivals Freddy Eynsford-Hill’s “On the Street Where You Live” scene in My Fair Lady. Of course, it’s not the street as much as it’s the home of the lovely Eliza Doolittle that elicits such affection. Forget the place, then. It’s all about the one who is there. So, I look at the author of Psalm 84 with a peculiar envy and wonder. How can anyone have such a dynamic love for God and His church…and how can I get it? I study the rest of today’s readings for help and come up with one conclusion: ANSWERS! Even though you can and should pray, seek God, and meditate on His word during your day, church is a particular time and place, almost like a date, that you put away all others distractions and focus on the One with all the answers

     Hannah gets an answer, 1 Samuel 1:1-28. Hannah had a burden; she wanted a baby. Her husband’s other wife, Peninnah, had no problem getting pregnant and enjoyed rubbing it in her face. I have to think that Hannah wanted to be a mom for the sheer joy of motherhood. After a while, people who taunt us like Peninnah just get old. “Yeah, Yeah, Peninnah, whatever!” When the family went to sacrifice at the tabernacle’ she poured out her heart to God so deeply that the ever astute Eli, the High Priest, thought that she was drunk. Finding out the truth, Eli blessed her instead. Hannah asked for a son and vowed to dedicate him to God. Little Samuel was born the next year and when the time was right Hannah fulfilled her vow. God gave her many more children to make up the void. The tabernacle was the “power place” where she met God and shared her burden with another.  Some things to notice: the Almighty answers heartfelt prayers. He doesn’t grant wishes. Think about it. You have to be part of the answer to your petitions if at all possible. God honors community prayer, and is pleased when you stay true to your promises. He will make sure you don’t lose anything. The Lord of the universe is no man’s debtor.

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     Jesus looks for answers.  Imagine you’re a twelve year old boy and sacrificing the Passover at the temple.  By this time in your life, you have at least an inkling of your destiny. You look around and see the sacrificed lambs, and the blood. You eat the Seder meal. The ritual, the smells, the sounds, the prayers, all of it is intimately connected with you somehow. And here you are in of all places: Jerusalem, the fountainhead of Judaism, the Oxford of Rabbinical learning, Ground Zero of all things Jehovah! You have so many questions and you just have to know. He spends three days in a Q & A with the most brilliant minds of His time. When his frantic parents finally locate Him at the temple, God’s lost and found, He tells them that He had to be about His Father’s business. He and His bewildered parents head for home, but I suspect Jesus’ as well as their understanding about who He was took a quantum leap for the experience.  Don’t go looking for God in all the wrong places. Come to church. Find the answers.

     1 John 3:1-2; 21-24: Be the Answer. We need to rethink our worship. God abides in the believer. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. That means we’ve got the same stuff in us that Jesus let out on the Mount of Transfiguration. Respect that! We are the holy ones not the church building. So when the kids are chewing gum in the sanctuary, it’s the sanctuaries that are actually chewing the gum. Understand that church isn’t something that you do; it is the someone that you are! We need to be the tabernacle animated. We come together on Sunday to celebrate what God has done for us, to grow in our faith, and then to launch out again into a world in need. Love your enemy neighbor. Help the unlovely and undeserving. Our greatest challenges of faith could very well live under our roof. We are the sacrifice of Christ to the world and are to sacrifice in the effort. Where else can you get the resources that you need for these God challenges if not in church and worship? Jehovah in His holy temple asked the question “Who will go for Us?” Isaiah answered, “Here am I. Send me.”  What do you say?

Mass Prep Sunday Decamber 23rd 2018

Sunday December 23^rd, 2018      4^th Sunday in Advent (Cycle C)

Despising the Shame

The tie in between today’s readings: Surrender to God’s Will

Psalm 80:1-18, Micah 5:1-4, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45

     “Man is a religious animal. He is the only religious animal. He is the only animal that has the true religion…several of them.” Mark Twain. The basic concept of religion is reconnecting. Man instinctively knows that something is wrong. He doesn’t play well with others, and there’s an uneasy feeling within him and something else that he calls god. He devises many schemes to try to correct this situation:  eastern mysticism, pious observances, and ritualistic performances, to name a few. On the other side of the spectrum, he’ll ignore the whole problem, arrogantly ridicule this “religion nonsense” and make up his own rules. By denying God, he then becomes his own god but fails to live up to the job description. The final result of all these flawed and feckless adventures is a grand case of “hope so”. The God of the Bible looks on the scene. He sees the best that humans can achieve will never be good enough. “I don’t want to lose them” says the Father, “Knowing what’s involved, will You go down and become one of them, Son”? He agrees as illustrated in Hebrews 10, today’s reading. Jesus is to have a body. Now, where to put Him?

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     The betrothed Virgin Mary abandons her plans and submits to the terrifying privilege of giving birth to the Messiah. In a way to ease her fears, the angel Gabriel reminds Mary that nothing is impossible with God, even the miraculous pregnancy of Elizabeth (hint, hint). After the visitation, Mary ups and goes to stay with her cousin (Luke 1:39-45). There’s a lot of Holy Spirit going on at their encounter. Not only does the embryonic John the Baptist leap in Elizabeth’s womb at Mary’s greeting (a favorite verse of all the Pro-Lifers), but Elizabeth also knows she is pregnant with God’s Son even before any double lines would have shown up on the urine stick. Mary launches into her Magnificat, indicating that she is not only a young girl of great faith, but she knows her scripture too. She stays and helps out for three months until her cousin delivers. Elizabeth, “the barren mother”, is no longer despised. It was a needed time of fellowship and preparation for Mary The Blessed Mother who is now showing. She goes home ready to face what’s coming: Joseph’s possible rejection, a “Scarlet Letter” stigma by the villagers if not an outright stoning, a sword coming to pierce her heart, suffering, and the relentless song of the town drunks about Mary and her bastard baby boy (Psalm 69:12).  In fulfillment of Micah 5, Jesus is born in Bethlehem. She lays Him in a manger and the humiliation of the Almighty is laid bare before the universe as the Logos needs to have His diaper changed. It doesn’t matter. God’s love for man and Mary’s love for God makes the indignity irrelevant

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     What do you say to a God who loved you so much that He gave His only begotten Son?  Will you put your ideas and plans aside like Mary and say “yes” to Him? Will you trust your life in faith and obedience to God in this world, which will pass away, to gain an eternal joy with Him in heaven? “Fear not,” the angel said, “For unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Believe in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to pay for your sins and be saved. Make Christmas real and merry.

Mass Prep Sunday December 16th 2018

Sunday December 16^th 2018    3^rd Sunday in Advent (Cycle C)

It’s War!

The tie in between today’s readings: Binding the Strongman

Zephaniah 3:14-18, Isaiah 12:2-6, Phillipians 4:4-7, Luke 3:10-18

     Opening up with today’s reading in Luke we see John the Baptist, as God’s drill sergeant recruiting his way through the Jordan Valley. He’s preparing the nation for the coming conflict. His rallying cry cuts sharp and deep into the heart of the people as he calls them to muster. “The Great One is coming!” “Get ready!” “War will soon be upon us!” John accepts only the committed and sincere. Self-righteous hypocrites are quickly 4-F’d and rejected.  The chosen are initiated by baptism in the Jordan. Their first order in God’s boot camp: REPENT! Life can’t go on as usual. This is a different kind of war. It’s spiritual. Spears and swords are useless. The weapons of choice in this operation are prayer, fasting, and love of neighbor; these are the only things that can overcome evil. Few, if any, realize the seriousness of the situation. “I baptize you with water,” exclaims John, “but the Mighty One is coming. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He will chop down the fruitless trees. His wheat will be gathered into his barn and He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire!” and with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people.

     Then, one day, it happened. He is baptized. The sky opens up. The Father proclaims Jesus’ identity and the Spirit marks Him out. This is it! Sin…Salvation…the whole creation hangs in the balance. All of mankind has a stake in the coming battle. The ax cuts at each of our sinful roots. If Jesus fails then everyone will be kindling. No hope. No Joy. No wheat, only chaff for burning. The Holy Spirit drives Jesus into the desert for the initial engagement. It is bare knuckles against evil, now! The Kingdom of Heaven is advancing on the earth. The Prince of Peace is a mighty warrior with one objective: Bind the Strongman!

 

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     Satan and his demons know Jesus is coming for them. They have all the puzzle pieces of prophesy. God’s battle plan has to do with sin somehow but the rebellious angels just can’t figure it out. Satan sees Jesus in a weakened condition while fasting in the desert and takes a shotgun approach to get the Messiah to stumble.  Jesus fends off three temptation attempts by the Strongman and wins the day. Other evil attacks ensue over time in an attempt to nullify the Son of Man, but to no avail. Finally, crucifixion seems like Jesus’ Achilles’ heel and Satan goes for it. Jesus suffers through His Passion and it appears that evil will win after all; however, something is going wrong. There’s an inkling about it while Jesus is on the cross (Matt 27:42), but when Christ resurrects on Easter Sunday, the total devastation of the Devil is assured. In a demonstration of Devine Jujitsu’ the wisdom of the Almighty deceived the deceivers: “for if they had known the mystery of God, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). Satan is crushed. Jesus plunders his house and the souls of men are set free (Luke 4:18).

     The other three readings today in Zephaniah, Isaiah, and Philippians are passages of joy, salvation, and triumph in Jesus. In this third Sunday of Advent, let us not forget that you cannot separate the cradle from the cross. Had Jesus failed, there would be no tidings of comfort and joy, no celebration of that holy night, only the dismal mockery of God’s grand attempt. It is one thing to take the field but another to leave in triumph. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so by the grace of God, He may taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9). He is victorious! He lives! Alleluia! He now hands over the battle to you. Let us put on the full armor of God and advance God’s Kingdom in this world through the victory of Easter and in the love and joy of Christmas.

Mass Prep Sunday December 9th 2018

Sunday December 9^th, 2018   2^nd Sunday in Advent (Cycle C)

Hitting the Road

The tie in between today’s readings: Things are not always what they seem.

Psalm 126, Baruch 5:1-9, Philippians 1:3-11, Luke 3:1-6

     If you were an eastern monarch in the days of antiquity and wanted to travel to a distant city, it was customary to send out heralds to call on the people in the area to mend the existing roads or create new ones for your route. All along the way rocks had to be moved, holes filled and thoroughfares straightened. A swarm of laborers with rakes, hoes, shovels and buckets converged in one massive human highway project not seen since the building of the Transcontinental Railroad; all to prepare for a king’s convoy. Jesus Christ, The Ruler of the world deserves nothing less. In the spirit of the first Advent, John the Baptist is sent out as such a herald. He is a one man construction crew. His mission is to prepare a road less travelled. He preaches the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins so that the King of Kings could enter their lives through the highway of their hearts. Be ready! Get excited! The King is on the move! Calvary’s road trip has begun. He’s more awesome than anyone can imagine, but not at all what they think. This King is a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

     For John the Baptist:

     16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” (Matthew 3:16-17)

     …2 Meanwhile, John heard in prison about the works of Christ, and he sent two of his disciples 3to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?” 4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see. (Matt 11:2-4)

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     Jesus’ family:

     …5 For even His own brothers did not believe in Him. (John 7:5).

     His town:

     16 Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read, 17the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it was written: 18“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to p…19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20Then He rolled up the scroll, returned it to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him, 21and He began by saying, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)

     …28 On hearing this, all the people in the synagogue were enraged. 29They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.30But Jesus passed through the crowd and went on His way (Luke 4:28-30).

     The crowd:

     …14 When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began to say, “Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself. (John 6:14-15)

     …61 Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? 66From that time on, many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.…(John 6:61-66)

     The nation:

     …7 They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8A massive crowd spreadtheir cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”…(Matt 21:7-9)

     …14 It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about the sixth hour. And Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your King!” 15At this, they shouted, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” “Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” replied the chief priests. 16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified, and the soldiers took Him away.…(John 19:14-16)

     The Apostles:

     16 Meanwhile, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain Jesus had designated. 17When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me (Matt 28: 16-18).

     “But some still doubted.” Really…after all that they went through they’re still not sure?

     Fortunately, faith and Pentecost won out and their gospel message spread throughout the known world. Many people believed in Jesus the Messiah and took Him as their Savior and King. They bear out the reality of the Lordship of Christ by giving up their priorities in this world that will pass away and focusing on the imperatives of the forever Kingdom of Heaven as cited in today’s reading in Philippians. God is still looking for a people to call His own. Despite the advantage of hind sight, many are still conflicted and puzzled about Jesus. Don’t let that be you. God gives you a guarantee if you seek Him you will find Him and you will know the truth. Amazingly, in today’s reading in Baruch, God orders the mountains to be leveled and the valleys to be filled as He gathers His Israel (the true believers) to Jerusalem (His heaven) in a royal procession. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Be saved and you’ll be in that number, when the saints go marching in.