Sermon Notes for January 8th
January 8, 2006
“A Baptism of Repentance”
Mark 1:4-11
1. Are you the kind of person who likes to have things all in a row, clear cut, and straightforward. Or, do you like to have an open mind, keep your options open, and be flexible.
A most famous essay was once written on the subject by the British philosopher Isaiah Berlin. And this is what he said:
There is a line among the fragments of an ancient Greek poet which says: 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing'. Scholars have differed about the correct interpretation of these dark words, which may mean no more than that the fox, for all his cunning, is defeated by the hedgehog's one defense. But, taken figuratively, the words can be made to yield a sense in which they mark one of the deepest differences which divide writers and thinkers, and, it may be, human beings in general.
The idea is this: whereas the fox is very clever … all the hedgehog has to do is find his hole in the ground, jump in it, turn around and face out the whole and the fox will be unable to get at him.
So, here is our question for today: Are you a hedgehog or a fox. Or, are you a fox who wishes he were a hedgehog? Or vice versa…?
To go even further, it is suggested that some people may actually be both. Abraham Lincoln, for instance, was a very clever politician, but he also was very stubborn since it is clear that he knew the one big thing … which was to preserve the Union and he never wavered.
Hedgehog or Fox … think about it!
2. Now back in the year 325, the famous Emperor Constantine called together all the Bishops of the Christian church throughout the Roman Empire … they met at Nicea.
Because it is common to think, nowadays, that the early Christian church had it mostly right about what they believed. We need to realize that this was not really true for there was much controversy and division through the early Christian world about Jesus. Even the Gospels themselves have somewhat differing accounts of exactly who Jesus was and what he said and did.
Now the truth that there were divisions in the church should not really surprise anyone. After all, there still are divisions in the Christian Church today. Not everyone agrees even now. Not everyone even agrees here in Bemidji. If we all did agree …We would, I suppose all be Roman Catholic again. Right? Even today, for all intense and purpose, and despite the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church still thinks they are right and that eventually we will all come around. Which could happen someday, I suppose. But not in the immediate future I can assure you!
However, what I can tell you is that the Methodist Church is definitely getting more interested in the sacrament of communion – in fact, more than a little bit. The end of this month, I will be spending a few days, as I do every year, at the Pastor’s Winter Convocation at Cragan’s resort. The primary speaker this year will be from the General Board of Discipleship and he will be talking about, guess what? Right! He will be talking about Communion. The Book we will be reading is This Holy Mystery. (Sounds kind of Catholic, to me.) Part of the concern nowadays is, I think, that with all the intermarriages of Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists nowadays in our denomination it is likely that at least one partner is used to having communion a part of the church service on a more regular basis.
3. Now, back again to the olden times, where it seems that when Constantine defeated Emperor Licinius in 323 AD he first of all ended the persecutions against the Christian church. Which was a good thing.
Shortly afterwards, however, Christians faced trouble from within when the Arian controversy ultimately threatened to divide the church. The problem began in Greece with a debate between the bishop Alexander and the presbyter (pastor, or priest) Arius. Arius proposed that if the Father begat the Son, the latter must have had a beginning, which meant that there was a time when he was not, and therefore his substance came from nothing like the rest of us.
Well, the Council of Nicea, eventually condemned the beliefs of Arius and wrote the first version of the now famous creed which proclaimed that the Son was "one in being with the Father" by using the Greek word "homoousius."
4. The creed affirmed that Jesus was "from the substance of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, very God from very God, begotten not made, of the same substance as the Father..." In fact, Constantine himself suggested the key word of the creed, homoousius, meaning "of the same substance." Arius preferred the word homoiousius, meaning "of similar substance."
Well, the whole thing is very abstract by today’s standards perhaps but it signaled the beginning of what is now called Christian Orthodoxy. For to be orthodox means to have the correct beliefs. To be unorthodox means to think or believe differently from the accepted doctrine.
For instance, the other day someone came in to talk to me because they were in a discussion about Christian Scientists and Mormons. Were they, she wanted to know, really Christian churches. Sort of … I said. But, I did point out that while they base much of their teachings on the Gospels, they are not truly Orthodox.
Is the Methodist Church orthodox? Generally speaking, yes. But that doesn’t mean we enforce our doctrines too rigidly or even expect everyone who attends this church to agree entirely with Creeds which were written 17 centuries ago in response to issues which are no longer debated today.
There is room, nowadays, I think, for differences of opinion about who Jesus was and is … and, in fact, I would have to say, that my own understanding of Jesus has changed over time. For it is one thing to say you “believe” in the Creeds and another to say that you really “understand” what you believe.
5. On Page 880 in the back of the Red Hymnal is the Entire Nicean Creed. About Jesus it says:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, The only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: Now I ask you … do you actually “understand” what exactly it means to be begotten, not made,of one Being with the with the father …? Actually, this is mostly something that kids usually learn in Confirmation and then mostly forget about. Isn’t that right?
6. At least until recently… when the DaVinci Code book came out. This book, by author Dan Brown, has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 145 weeks. That is almost three years straight! It is not even out in paper back yet. And, now they are making a big blockbuster movie out of it with Tom Hanks and some young attractive French actress. Based on how the book is selling, it will probably be much bigger, even, than Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” which came out last year. Well, now, I am not going to go into the whole thing about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene and all that right now, but if you are interested, I will talk about it again when the movie comes out later this year. What is interesting, however, is that when I attended a Conference on the subject of the Gnostic Gospels and the Da Vinci Code last fall at Hamline University … the religion teacher at Hamline said that despite what may or may not be correct about the book, it did get a lot of students at Hamline to attend her religion class who ordinarily wouldn’t be all that interested. And, to her surprise, it got them even interested in doing research on the Nicean Creed and things like that. Part of the problem, it seems, is that in the Da Vinci Code it says that prior to Nicea in 325 – no one believed that Jesus was divine.” Which is not exactly true. Anybody here interested in doing some research on the Nicean Creed? – I didn’t think so …!
7. So, where does all this get us? Are we hedgehogs or are we foxes? What seems to have happened is that Constantine feared that the theological foxes were getting out of hand … and through the Council of Nicea … the hedgehogs were able to get things back under control. “This is what we all believe” they said and “this is what you should believe … and therefore … you are either in or you are out.” And nowadays, of course, a lot of people are concerned because Ron Howard’s movie is going to stir up a lot of unorthodox ideas. In short, while the movie as fiction is a lot of fun, if you take it seriously as theology -- it is a major form of heresy -- for it goes against the basic Creeds of the church. So, who are we to believe? My response is that it is mostly fiction but fun to enjoy if you like good detective movies. It is absolutely written for Hollywood and will be an exciting action thriller. On the other hand, with regard to the deeper problem of theological orthodoxy, the whole thing is really not an easily resolvable question, actually. This is because, while we admire diversity and open-mindedness, too much diversity creates confusion and chaos. On the other hand, too much orthodoxy causes rigidity and a lack of creativity and can leads to a perverse judgementalism of the worst kind. After all, at one time, heretics were burned at the stake and Martin Luther was excommunicated.
8. Now, as we know, one of the problems faced by the early church was how to account for the Divine Nature of Jesus … (the Christ part). For Jesus’ real earthly name was simply Jesus of Nazareth … the Christ part, which means “Messiah,” comes later. The Christ part is actually the recognition on the part the disciples and on the part of all Christians, that Jesus was and is no mere mortal … but that somehow God was/is present in some way in this person of Jesus. That is what we believe or try to believe. But, how did He get there? How is God a part of Jesus? The first important Christian writings are from Paul. But Paul simply accepts what we already know. He had this religious experience with Jesus … after Jesus had already died … which convinced him that he was the Christ and that he continued to exist in a Spiritual reality. But Paul makes no mention about Jesus birth or any of that. Now, the first written Gospel is pretty much agreed upon to be Mark. However, Mark also makes no mention of the Virgin birth, Jesus parents, or his origins. Instead, Mark makes it clear that, according his account, Jesus receives his Divinity as an adult at the Jordan River. According to Mark, it all started with John the Baptist. And Mark tries to make it clear that John, because of the way he dressed, was no less that the prophet Elijah for, in the Hebrew Bible, it says in 2 Kings:
7 The king asked them, "What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?" 8 They replied, "He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist.” And the king said, "That was Elijah the Tishbite."
9. The comparison of John and Elijah is further enhanced by the prophet Malachi:
1 "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap.
And there you have it … John the Baptist …as Elijah the messenger … who prepares the way for the coming of the Christ…
And then we have Jesus … coming down to the Jordan … to what? … to repent for his sins? … not really …
But, rather, to receive not merely a Baptism by water … but also a Baptism by the Spirit … and so we read in Mark … that the Spirit descended like a dove … upon him … and God announced …
“You are my son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.
10. This then, is the theological explanation, from Mark … of how Jesus receives his Divine Nature … by way of the Holy Spirit … and from then on … he will be of two natures … human (physically) and Divine (spiritually) all in one. Got that? Any Questions???!!!
It is only later … when Luke and Mathew … who were writing most likely with copies of Mark in front of them … added the story of the Virgin Birth … and all the rest.
And, then lastly, John comes along even later and says … In the beginning was the word … and the word became flesh and dwelt among us …and now we have Jesus present with God from the very beginning.
So, is Jesus still around? Well, that’s what we believe …
Last Friday night I watched the new TV series The Book of Daniel. It is really a soap opera about an Episcopal minister and his family - like Days of Our Lives or Desperate Housewives. Execept for one thing: Jesus actually appears on the show and talks to Daniel. At one point, Daniel asks him why more people are not aware of his presence nowadays. And Jesus responds by saying:
“I’m always talking to people … they just aren’t listening.”
Something to think about on this first Sunday after Epiphany!
11. And what Epiphany really means is an unveiling, a revealing, and a manifestation.
Advent, we know, lasts for four Sundays and Lent extends exactly 40 days … but season of Epiphany lasts for as long as it takes to get us to Ash Wednesday … which this year will be quite long because Easter is later in April – the 23rd and Ash Wednesday … is therefore on March 1st.
What we should focus on then in this season of Epiphany is how Jesus can be revealed to us … right now … here in Minnesota … in the midst of the snow and ice … and the long winter days …
Now is a time for an unexpected visit from Jesus … perhaps while driving in your car … while shoveling the walk … while having coffee with a friend … while visiting someone who is ill in the hospital … while sending a email to a relative who is far away … while singing a hymn … or, while even while taking communion as we will do now this morning.
So, now hear what it says … at the beginning of the communion liturgy which will be read today in a few moments:
As if this were the only time, and this the only place, And we the only people, Jesus Christ will meet us. And as if this were the only time, and this the only place, and we the only people, let us worship God.
Shall we pray ….
“A Baptism of Repentance”
Mark 1:4-11
1. Are you the kind of person who likes to have things all in a row, clear cut, and straightforward. Or, do you like to have an open mind, keep your options open, and be flexible.
A most famous essay was once written on the subject by the British philosopher Isaiah Berlin. And this is what he said:
There is a line among the fragments of an ancient Greek poet which says: 'The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing'. Scholars have differed about the correct interpretation of these dark words, which may mean no more than that the fox, for all his cunning, is defeated by the hedgehog's one defense. But, taken figuratively, the words can be made to yield a sense in which they mark one of the deepest differences which divide writers and thinkers, and, it may be, human beings in general.
The idea is this: whereas the fox is very clever … all the hedgehog has to do is find his hole in the ground, jump in it, turn around and face out the whole and the fox will be unable to get at him.
So, here is our question for today: Are you a hedgehog or a fox. Or, are you a fox who wishes he were a hedgehog? Or vice versa…?
To go even further, it is suggested that some people may actually be both. Abraham Lincoln, for instance, was a very clever politician, but he also was very stubborn since it is clear that he knew the one big thing … which was to preserve the Union and he never wavered.
Hedgehog or Fox … think about it!
2. Now back in the year 325, the famous Emperor Constantine called together all the Bishops of the Christian church throughout the Roman Empire … they met at Nicea.
Because it is common to think, nowadays, that the early Christian church had it mostly right about what they believed. We need to realize that this was not really true for there was much controversy and division through the early Christian world about Jesus. Even the Gospels themselves have somewhat differing accounts of exactly who Jesus was and what he said and did.
Now the truth that there were divisions in the church should not really surprise anyone. After all, there still are divisions in the Christian Church today. Not everyone agrees even now. Not everyone even agrees here in Bemidji. If we all did agree …We would, I suppose all be Roman Catholic again. Right? Even today, for all intense and purpose, and despite the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church still thinks they are right and that eventually we will all come around. Which could happen someday, I suppose. But not in the immediate future I can assure you!
However, what I can tell you is that the Methodist Church is definitely getting more interested in the sacrament of communion – in fact, more than a little bit. The end of this month, I will be spending a few days, as I do every year, at the Pastor’s Winter Convocation at Cragan’s resort. The primary speaker this year will be from the General Board of Discipleship and he will be talking about, guess what? Right! He will be talking about Communion. The Book we will be reading is This Holy Mystery. (Sounds kind of Catholic, to me.) Part of the concern nowadays is, I think, that with all the intermarriages of Catholics, Lutherans, and Methodists nowadays in our denomination it is likely that at least one partner is used to having communion a part of the church service on a more regular basis.
3. Now, back again to the olden times, where it seems that when Constantine defeated Emperor Licinius in 323 AD he first of all ended the persecutions against the Christian church. Which was a good thing.
Shortly afterwards, however, Christians faced trouble from within when the Arian controversy ultimately threatened to divide the church. The problem began in Greece with a debate between the bishop Alexander and the presbyter (pastor, or priest) Arius. Arius proposed that if the Father begat the Son, the latter must have had a beginning, which meant that there was a time when he was not, and therefore his substance came from nothing like the rest of us.
Well, the Council of Nicea, eventually condemned the beliefs of Arius and wrote the first version of the now famous creed which proclaimed that the Son was "one in being with the Father" by using the Greek word "homoousius."
4. The creed affirmed that Jesus was "from the substance of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, very God from very God, begotten not made, of the same substance as the Father..." In fact, Constantine himself suggested the key word of the creed, homoousius, meaning "of the same substance." Arius preferred the word homoiousius, meaning "of similar substance."
Well, the whole thing is very abstract by today’s standards perhaps but it signaled the beginning of what is now called Christian Orthodoxy. For to be orthodox means to have the correct beliefs. To be unorthodox means to think or believe differently from the accepted doctrine.
For instance, the other day someone came in to talk to me because they were in a discussion about Christian Scientists and Mormons. Were they, she wanted to know, really Christian churches. Sort of … I said. But, I did point out that while they base much of their teachings on the Gospels, they are not truly Orthodox.
Is the Methodist Church orthodox? Generally speaking, yes. But that doesn’t mean we enforce our doctrines too rigidly or even expect everyone who attends this church to agree entirely with Creeds which were written 17 centuries ago in response to issues which are no longer debated today.
There is room, nowadays, I think, for differences of opinion about who Jesus was and is … and, in fact, I would have to say, that my own understanding of Jesus has changed over time. For it is one thing to say you “believe” in the Creeds and another to say that you really “understand” what you believe.
5. On Page 880 in the back of the Red Hymnal is the Entire Nicean Creed. About Jesus it says:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, The only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: Now I ask you … do you actually “understand” what exactly it means to be begotten, not made,of one Being with the with the father …? Actually, this is mostly something that kids usually learn in Confirmation and then mostly forget about. Isn’t that right?
6. At least until recently… when the DaVinci Code book came out. This book, by author Dan Brown, has been on the New York Times Best Seller list for 145 weeks. That is almost three years straight! It is not even out in paper back yet. And, now they are making a big blockbuster movie out of it with Tom Hanks and some young attractive French actress. Based on how the book is selling, it will probably be much bigger, even, than Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” which came out last year. Well, now, I am not going to go into the whole thing about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene and all that right now, but if you are interested, I will talk about it again when the movie comes out later this year. What is interesting, however, is that when I attended a Conference on the subject of the Gnostic Gospels and the Da Vinci Code last fall at Hamline University … the religion teacher at Hamline said that despite what may or may not be correct about the book, it did get a lot of students at Hamline to attend her religion class who ordinarily wouldn’t be all that interested. And, to her surprise, it got them even interested in doing research on the Nicean Creed and things like that. Part of the problem, it seems, is that in the Da Vinci Code it says that prior to Nicea in 325 – no one believed that Jesus was divine.” Which is not exactly true. Anybody here interested in doing some research on the Nicean Creed? – I didn’t think so …!
7. So, where does all this get us? Are we hedgehogs or are we foxes? What seems to have happened is that Constantine feared that the theological foxes were getting out of hand … and through the Council of Nicea … the hedgehogs were able to get things back under control. “This is what we all believe” they said and “this is what you should believe … and therefore … you are either in or you are out.” And nowadays, of course, a lot of people are concerned because Ron Howard’s movie is going to stir up a lot of unorthodox ideas. In short, while the movie as fiction is a lot of fun, if you take it seriously as theology -- it is a major form of heresy -- for it goes against the basic Creeds of the church. So, who are we to believe? My response is that it is mostly fiction but fun to enjoy if you like good detective movies. It is absolutely written for Hollywood and will be an exciting action thriller. On the other hand, with regard to the deeper problem of theological orthodoxy, the whole thing is really not an easily resolvable question, actually. This is because, while we admire diversity and open-mindedness, too much diversity creates confusion and chaos. On the other hand, too much orthodoxy causes rigidity and a lack of creativity and can leads to a perverse judgementalism of the worst kind. After all, at one time, heretics were burned at the stake and Martin Luther was excommunicated.
8. Now, as we know, one of the problems faced by the early church was how to account for the Divine Nature of Jesus … (the Christ part). For Jesus’ real earthly name was simply Jesus of Nazareth … the Christ part, which means “Messiah,” comes later. The Christ part is actually the recognition on the part the disciples and on the part of all Christians, that Jesus was and is no mere mortal … but that somehow God was/is present in some way in this person of Jesus. That is what we believe or try to believe. But, how did He get there? How is God a part of Jesus? The first important Christian writings are from Paul. But Paul simply accepts what we already know. He had this religious experience with Jesus … after Jesus had already died … which convinced him that he was the Christ and that he continued to exist in a Spiritual reality. But Paul makes no mention about Jesus birth or any of that. Now, the first written Gospel is pretty much agreed upon to be Mark. However, Mark also makes no mention of the Virgin birth, Jesus parents, or his origins. Instead, Mark makes it clear that, according his account, Jesus receives his Divinity as an adult at the Jordan River. According to Mark, it all started with John the Baptist. And Mark tries to make it clear that John, because of the way he dressed, was no less that the prophet Elijah for, in the Hebrew Bible, it says in 2 Kings:
7 The king asked them, "What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?" 8 They replied, "He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist.” And the king said, "That was Elijah the Tishbite."
9. The comparison of John and Elijah is further enhanced by the prophet Malachi:
1 "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap.
And there you have it … John the Baptist …as Elijah the messenger … who prepares the way for the coming of the Christ…
And then we have Jesus … coming down to the Jordan … to what? … to repent for his sins? … not really …
But, rather, to receive not merely a Baptism by water … but also a Baptism by the Spirit … and so we read in Mark … that the Spirit descended like a dove … upon him … and God announced …
“You are my son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.
10. This then, is the theological explanation, from Mark … of how Jesus receives his Divine Nature … by way of the Holy Spirit … and from then on … he will be of two natures … human (physically) and Divine (spiritually) all in one. Got that? Any Questions???!!!
It is only later … when Luke and Mathew … who were writing most likely with copies of Mark in front of them … added the story of the Virgin Birth … and all the rest.
And, then lastly, John comes along even later and says … In the beginning was the word … and the word became flesh and dwelt among us …and now we have Jesus present with God from the very beginning.
So, is Jesus still around? Well, that’s what we believe …
Last Friday night I watched the new TV series The Book of Daniel. It is really a soap opera about an Episcopal minister and his family - like Days of Our Lives or Desperate Housewives. Execept for one thing: Jesus actually appears on the show and talks to Daniel. At one point, Daniel asks him why more people are not aware of his presence nowadays. And Jesus responds by saying:
“I’m always talking to people … they just aren’t listening.”
Something to think about on this first Sunday after Epiphany!
11. And what Epiphany really means is an unveiling, a revealing, and a manifestation.
Advent, we know, lasts for four Sundays and Lent extends exactly 40 days … but season of Epiphany lasts for as long as it takes to get us to Ash Wednesday … which this year will be quite long because Easter is later in April – the 23rd and Ash Wednesday … is therefore on March 1st.
What we should focus on then in this season of Epiphany is how Jesus can be revealed to us … right now … here in Minnesota … in the midst of the snow and ice … and the long winter days …
Now is a time for an unexpected visit from Jesus … perhaps while driving in your car … while shoveling the walk … while having coffee with a friend … while visiting someone who is ill in the hospital … while sending a email to a relative who is far away … while singing a hymn … or, while even while taking communion as we will do now this morning.
So, now hear what it says … at the beginning of the communion liturgy which will be read today in a few moments:
As if this were the only time, and this the only place, And we the only people, Jesus Christ will meet us. And as if this were the only time, and this the only place, and we the only people, let us worship God.
Shall we pray ….
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