Crossing Thresholds, When Everything Changes

Scripture: 2 Kings 2:1-12  • Psalm 50:1-6  • 2 Corinthians 4:3-6  • Mark 9:2-9

This is the last Sunday of Epiphany before the season of Lent, and before Ash Wednesday.

Our Scripture gives us accounts of the passing of the mantle from the prophet Elijah to Elisha as Elijah is caught up in the whirlwind in a chariot of fire, and three disciples experience the transfiguration of Jesus on a mountain before they accompany him on his journey off the mountain to the cross.  Both awesome and terrifying.

But the real significance of these events is not in the whirlwind, or fire, or the heavenly glow.  It is the thresholds Elisha,  the disciples, and you and I are called to cross  when everything changes. From comfort, security and certainty, to vulnerability, questions and uncertainty, in the hills and valleys, and sometimes wildernesses, of our lives. How will we respond? Read Debie Thomas' "When Everything Changes." 

Miracles, or More? Healing in Everyday Life

 Scripture: Isaiah 40:21-31  • Psalm 147:1-11, 20c  • 1 Corinthians 9:16-23  • Mark 1:29-39

In this week's gospel, Jesus, without a word, takes her hand, and "lifts up" Dorcas, Peter's mother-in-law, who has been ill. Immediately she gets up, and without a demand or request, begins serving others. She understands Jesus, his mission, and call to discipleship when the crowds, his disciples, and yes, us, misunderstand what Jesus is about.

What is Jesus all about? What are we called to do, as a church, and as individuals, all beloved of God? What about our seemingly mundane lives. See Debie Thomas' "A Day in the Life."

Is healing miraculous, to be expected as popular prosperity preachers profess? Is it, and Jesus' healing presence, something more? What if the miracles we pray for do not happen? See The Rev. Debie Thomas' "Mystery, Not Magic." Where is Jesus in all of this? What should we pray for? What are we, as Christians, called to do, to be?

Can we be healed without being cured? See The Rev. Danàe Ashley's sermon.

Authority, Rules, Principles and Freedom

 Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:15-20  • Psalm 111  • 1 Corinthians 8:1-13  • Mark 1:21-28

 Paul's first letter to the Christians in Corinth instructs them on why they should not eat the meat offered to idols. His reason is nuanced, offering insight into the responsible exercise of Christian freedom, considering rules, rights, responsibilities, principles, and people.  See The Rev. Machrina Blasdell's "What's the Question."

Remember our discussion of the authority and power exercised by Jesus, ἐξουσία,  authority associated with freedom instead of domination. An authority which when exercised and recognizes us frees us from powers which bind us, to do God's will, to love with God's love, to serve rather than be served. That is the authority recognized in Jesus' exorcism of the man from Capernaum  possessed of an unclean Spirit. Can you think of teachings and practices of Jesus concerning eating, food, and banquets? How does that relate to Paul's instructions to the Christians of Corinth concerning eating the food offered to idols? Think about how Jesus used his authority. How should we, as the body of Christ, act in Jesus' name? Read what Sister Kym Harris says about the authority of Jesus in her Exposition.

In "Astounded," Debie Thomas wants us to be open to be astonished at the healing freedom Jesus offers as he speaks with authority so that even unclean spirits submit to him. What has he do do with us? Everything.

 

Why did the disciples answer Jesus' call?

 Scripture: Jonah 3:1-5, 10  • Psalm 62:5-12  • 1 Corinthians 7:29-31  • Mark 1:14-20

The gospel this week is about Jesus calling his disciples, particularly, Andrew, Peter, James and John, to become fishers of men. How is it that they dropped what they were doing, their livelihood, and family and way of life to follow Jesus? 

Our authors this week look through the lens of the writer of the gospel of Mark, Paul's letter to the Corinthians, and even the Jonah's mission to the Assyrians, as well as the times in which they were written, to give us insight into why, and how, the disciples answered Jesus' call.

There is more to the term "evangelical," which comes from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion), or "good news, although "good news" it is! See Dan Clendenin's "Evangelicals: When Labels are Libels." The urgency of getting the good news out, in God's time (καιρός - kairos) is viewed in the urgency of the time ( Χρόνος - chronos) Paul's letter and the gospel of Mark were written. The challenge is to see, believe, and act in God's time, with the love, forgiveness and compassion God showed the Ninevites in Jonah's story, and which is recognized in this week's Psalm. As this week's gospel begins, "The time is fulfilled, the  kingdom of God has come near, repent (turn around - renew your minds and thoughts and hearts), and believe in the good news. That's what grabbed the disciples, and that is what can grab you and me.

See also, Beth Scibienski's "Irresistible Grace," Sister Kim Harris' Commentary,  Exposition, and Reflection (all separate short articles), and Fr. Rick Morley's "time fulfilled - a reflection on Mark 1:14-20."

In "I Will Make," Debie Thomas explores the urgency of Jesus' call, and what we are called to do as people Jesus calls us to be, authentic, and something more than our own pride and egos make it out to be.

What Do You See? What Does God See?

 Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20)  • Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18  • 1 Corinthians 6:12-20  • John 1:43-51

The lessons this week are about knowing, recognizing the truth, and recognizing the presence of God in our lives. Samuel recognized God's presence and truth with Eli's help, overcame his own reservations, and told Eli God's truth, as hard as it was. 

Beautiful Psalm 139 is a confession and hymn of gratitude to God who knows us all  our days, knit us together in our mothers' wombs, and is still with us. 

Jesus knew Nathanael before Philip called him, as an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.

Professor Alyce M. Mackenzie helps us be aware of God's presence in our lives in "Recognizing Jesus: Reflections on John 1:43-51." Debie Thomas, in "What Do You See?" asks what we see, and discusses how much seeing truth matters, especially in the darkness of alternative facts" and "fake news," in the wake of the consequences insurrection, loss, and instability. What do you see? What does God see?

Wild Water

 Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5  • Psalm 29  • Acts 19:1-7  •  Mark 1:4-11

This week, as last week, we visit Jesus' baptism. Click here for last week's lesson. 

I recall the story Methodist minister Howard Mumma told of one of my heroes, a freedom fighter against man's inhumanity to man, the author, Albert Camus, who once asked to be baptized, but privately. I love and struggle reading Camus' novels asking questions which wrench the soul in The Fall and The Plague. He asks the same questions Job asks, as does Christ on the cross when it seems like "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

I find not just comfort, but meaning in the life, words, and example in Jesus of Nazareth. Mumma told Camus to wait for baptism until later for reasons they both knew and understood. If you want, you can read Mumma's account of their conversations here.  

In his godblog article, "On Two Plagues: Bishop N.T Wright and Albert Camus," C. Fred Alford discusses the different, but also solidarity of the responses of Bishop N.T. Wright and Albert Camus to "the plague. " This followed Alford's article, "Did Camus want to be baptized?"

Why did Jesus ask John the Baptist to baptise him? Why should we be baptized and confirmed? I like, and agree, with the reasoning of Debie Thomas in her "Wild Water."

What, or Who, will we follow in these uncertain times?

 Scripture: Genesis 1:1-5  • Psalm 29  • Acts 19:1-7  •  Mark 1:4-11

Every Epiphany we read about the Baptism of Jesus. In "The 'Great Wind' of God," Dan Clendenin provides a good exegesis of the term for "breath" or Spirit of God, considering one of the two creation stories in Genesis, the baptism of repentance by water by John the Baptist, and baptism of the "Spirit" which descended on Jesus, and later on a group of Ephesians baptized by Paul in the name of Jesus. 

The Rev. Danae M. Ashley asks "Will You  Follow?" the star the Magi followed in this time of pandemic, loss, uncertainty, and uprootedness? She says we are not lost, that God is as close as our breath. Will we follow the star? Will we follow the Spirit?