FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH of Napa, California
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

31 January 2010

WORDS TO MEDITATE UPON

We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.

William E. Gladstone (1808 -1898)

I Corinthians 13:1-13

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Luke 4:20-24

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’ And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town.

LOVE AND THE LECTIONARY

I think you should all make special note of the day today and remember that it was the day you heard a most unusual sermon.  

But then, different is good -- right?  Being the same is easy -- being different takes work -- builds character.  My parents tried to convince me of that when I was a kid and wanted REAL Levis.  I was told they cost too much and Roebucks were just as good and you didn’t have to pay an extra five bucks just to get that little red tag on the back pocket.   Of course Roebucks were NOT just as good -- any fool could see that.  I suffered.  My parents  told me that when I spent my own money on clothes I could buy whatever I wanted.   So when I did have money that I had earned myself -- all of a sudden that little red tag wasn’t such a big deal any more and I went to Sears to get Roebucks jeans for half the price.  And, you know, they really were just as good and being different actually looked pretty good to me.    

But, being different . . . so, today I don’t intend to preach ON a particular Scripture passage so much as ABOUT Scripture and preaching and connecting the dots to get to God.  

Since we’re talking about being different, we are particularly blessed at this church to have some real variety in preaching styles.  I don’t get a chance to preach all that often but I’m going to presume to include myself in these examples:

There is Doug who constructs his sermons from the ground up.  Check it out on the sermon archive section of the church Web site.  You’ll see footnotes and references and links to references.  My father was a tool and die maker and I’m familiar with precision.   Doug’s sermons fit together with precision.  Very solid.  He starts with the scriptural foundation and then often provides  timely illustrations from life and illuminating passages of poetry to support the points he wishes to make.  His sermons are . . . crafted.

And there’s Roger whose preaching style is to be a conduit for the Holy Spirit.  I had always suspected it -- and Roger confirmed the other day --   that there are times that he opens his mouth without knowing what he going to say next.  He trusts in the Spirit and we get a chance to hear the word just one beat away from its inspiration.  That is a very cool experience.

For me, I have always been uncomfortable with the classical idea of preaching -- that is, telling people what is right -- how to live their lives.   I have no authority for that kind of preaching.  When a United Methodist probationer is ordained, the bishop lays hands upon the candidate and says, “Take thou authority.”  I have license -- permission to preach -- but not authority.  It’s different.  So I’m inclined to “witness.”  To tell stories. To tell how I’ve come to some particular understanding that allowed me to grow closer to God.   I possess a modest intellect, have no extensive theological training, but I have built a relationship with God -- a solid and sustaining relationship -- and if I can do it, so can you.  That’s the message I try to get across.

And of course we have pageants, and dramatic readings, and sermons in song as well.  And next week, a guest preacher.  Really -- on any given Sunday you may be more receptive to one sort of exhortation than another.   Variety is good.

The purpose of the sermon -- I think -- is to open doors to God.  To explore and expand those “thin places” where we brush up against the Holy.  To give the listener something to build on -- a road sign on the spiritual journey.  To offer new and creative ways to experience this covenant relationship that we have with God -- for us to learn about God . . . and for God to learn about us.

I like to follow the lectionary when it comes to preaching.  The Revised Common Lectionary now in use was published in 1992 but the concept of having a calendar of prescribed readings goes back into antiquity.  In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says to the congregation “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  Jesus came to the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth, was handed the scroll, and read the lection for the day from Isaiah -- about bringing good news to the poor . . . .    

John Wesley published a lectionary that was used by Methodist circuit riders.  The current Revised Common Lectionary -- pretty much -- gives for every Sunday a reading from the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures, a Psalm, a reading from the Epistles, and a Gospel reading.  It is on a three-year cycle, each year emphasizing one of the synoptic Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  John is read every Easter and at other specific seasons.  We are currently in the third year of the cycle -- “year C” -- which began with Advent right after this last Thanksgiving.  Year C is Luke’s year. 

The lectionary is constructed not on themes so much as it is writers and  allows us to hear over several weeks the whole of some of the important foundational stories such as the Moses and the exodus, Joseph and his brothers, Abraham and Sarah, the David story . . . good stuff, all of it.

The Revised Common Lectionary was compiled by representatives from nineteen denominations -- reading alphabetically -- from The Anglican Church of Canada to the United Methodist Church -- and includes Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Roman Catholic . . . most of the major Christian denominations except for the Baptists. 

Because the lectionary is the product of a committee there are compromises and conflicts, arcane rules to cover various situations.  It leaves out all the “begats” and the more obscure laws, and includes some readings from the Apocrypha -- which we often ignore.  It is  a very good vehicle for navigating through much of the whole Bible.

It’s not difficult to locate the lectionary readings for the week -- you’ll find them on the back of our Grapevine newsletter and often in the Sunday worship bulletin. 

Why would you care about the lectionary readings, you might well ask.  You’re not going to preach a sermon.   I would propose that the lectionary is an excellent resource for your own personal devotional reading.  I’ve been reading the lectionary passages for years as a part of my prayer and meditation life.

Some years ago the Napa Register used to print the name and address of nearly every church in town along with the worship service time(s), the preacher’s name, and the sermon title.  I used to enjoy looking through the sermon titles and trying to figure out which preachers were using the lectionary.  

Another source of illumination from the lectionary is to see what sort of “hidden messages” might be presented in the way the compilers chose to group certain passages together on particular Sunday.  A few weeks ago the Old Testament and Gospel readings both concerned youth -- Samuel and Jesus as boys -- and even shared some language about each of them “growing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.”  Sometimes Old Testament prophesy will be quoted in the Gospel or the Epistle.  Or, the connection can be more subtle -- that’s the kind of connection I like to explore.

For example, the two lectionary passages we read today.  They might not seem connected.  The first is the very familiar “Love” passage from 1st Corinthians 13.  It has a life of its own outside the biblical context.  It is truly a lovely piece of writing.  It is often read at weddings . . . or funerals.     

I grew up with the King James Version -- my 1948 third-grade Bible is a KJV.  It says, “Faith, Hope, and Charity.”  The Revised Standard Version of the Bible was completed in about 1952 and translated the original “Charity” word as LOVE.  Bingo!  Whole new message.  We weren’t exactly sure what charity had meant here, but we knew -- or thought we knew -- about love.  But, if we read  ahead a little or check the notes in our study Bible, we see that this letter of Paul’s was in answer to a problem he was having with the young church in Corinth.  Some of the members were feeling cocky and disrupting gatherings by speaking in tongues.  That’s what the noisy gong and clanging cymbal references are all about.   So it’s about worship and preaching.

In today’s Gospel passage Jesus has come to Nazareth teaching and healing and he attempts to preach to the people who had known him and his family all his life and they turn on him.  They don’t recognize his authority to preach and run him out of town.  This passage is about preaching too.  Preaching is hard work -- and sometimes dangerous.

And the two lectionary passages that we didn’t read are from Jeremiah and from the Psalms.  The Jeremiah passage is all about a young Jeremiah being called by God to be a prophet -- to be a preacher.  Jeremiah says “I can’t do that -- I’m too young.”  And God says “You WILL do it and I grant you authority.”  You’ll need it.  Preaching is hard work.

The Psalm talks about having found refuge in God’s sanctuary -- in the temple -- another church and worship connection. 

So, all of the passages today can be seen as connected to preaching and worship situations.   Connect the dots.  God is at the center of our worship.  And if God is not at the center of our worship -- then we are the noisy gong or clanging cymbal.   In the class that Barb and I are leading about the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations we just talked about the importance of Passionate Worship and why we need to praise God and come together in community to do it.

So -- what’s my point?  I encourage you all to adopt the spiritual discipline of daily prayer and reflection.  I know I need it to maintain my focus.  Following the prescribed readings in the lectionary is a most excellent way.  I know some of you follow daily devotional guides -- Upper Room, or Alive Now, or Weavings -- and we will provide a Lenten guide again this year.  The guides are good -- and some are based on the lectionary -- but you can go right to the source yourself.  All you need is a good study Bible and the desire to draw closer to God.

The Bible is for me, not an instruction manual for living -- you can’t just check the index on . . . say, child-rearing, for example, and find out what to do.   At one place in Proverbs we are told that to spare the rod spoils the child -- you know, whip them all soundly and send them to bed -- and just a few chapters later we are told to love and nurture our children and that they are their parents most valuable possession.  We need to search out the spirit -- not just the letter of the Book.

The Bible reflects centuries of human experience with God -- people working on relationships and searching for answers.   Prayerfully pondering the lectionary passages is an excellent way for God to be revealed to us.  It requires discipline -- work -- but the rewards are great.  

I believe that to have God at the center of our lives, surrounded and supported by a worshiping community is what God desires for us as cherished children of God.  I think it can’t get any better than that.

AMEN