I Will Not Keep Silent: A Sermon for the 2nd Sunday After Epiphany

Grace, peace, and mercy are yours from the Triune God. Amen.

 

The Book of Isaiah is an amazing piece of religious literature. It is a huge 66-chapter book and uses both prose and poetry to tell the story of the peoples’ life with God and the unrelenting insistence that the foundation of that life is God’s commitment to Jerusalem. The Book of Isaiah is part of the Hebrew Scriptures, but the writers of the New Testament gospels often quote the prophet Isaiah, so it is also an important piece of literature for us as Christians.

 

Scholars have determined that Isaiah can be broken into three sections: chapters 1-39 were written in the 8^th and 7^th centuries BCE, chapters 40-55 concern the Babylonian exile, and chapters 56-66 were written in the postexilic period of Judah. As you read through the book, you can see the shift in writers because of the shift in literary style.

 

Today’s reading comes in the middle of that third section, where the community has just come out of exile, and they have lost vision and focus. They are looking for the extravagant promises that God made to God’s exiled people. Earlier in the book of Isaiah, God promised to build up the barren and forsaken city of Jerusalem with foundations of sapphires, ruby towers, gates and walls of precious jewels. God promised to bring the exiled people home and promised them the richest of feasts. However, the reality people returned to was far from glorious. The land seemed to them like a desert. when the exiles returned, it was all they could do to secure homesteads for themselves and try to grow crops to feed their families. Times were difficult, and people were hungry.

 

Jerusalem seemed forsaken, bereft of God’s sustaining presence. But as we begin chapter 62 today, there is a proclamation of God’s radical hope and the rebuilding of God’s community. Unlike the silence of God, often understood as God’s anger, abandonment, or disinterest, Isaiah 62:1 opens with the words “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,” declaring an end to the time of silence.

 

Silence is a double-edged sword. It can be equally beautiful and comforting, and dangerous and scary. There are moments in life where being silent or sitting in quiet can be important. In church liturgy, there are various periods of silence strategically placed throughout a worship service so that a person has time to reflect on what has been said, to meditate and pray, and to open their heart to God.

 

Sitting in a silent vigil next to a dying friend’s bed can be quite powerful, for both people. While it may take time to acclimate yourself to simply sitting in silence with another person (plenty of people find silent pauses uncomfortable), allowing for that quiet to permeate the room can bring moments of reflection, meditation, and prayer similar to those found in a worship service.

 

Jonathan Bartels, a registered nurse in the US, created the Medical Pause. This event is a moment of silence taken by medical staff and friends and family of the patient immediately after death. This sacred moment of silence “allows individuals to personalize their practice while not imposing onto others and is a means of honouring a person’s last rite of passage.”

 

These silent moments are precious, beautiful, and comforting. They break up our busy lives, give us time to hear our own thoughts, and they can reconnect us to God. These golden moments can be tranquil and healing and are sometimes so rare that when they do happen, one needs to take hold of them and cherish them.

 

However, silence has a dark side to it, as well. While there are times in our lives when silence is required, an imposed silence has a very different feeling. When a silence is imposed, it means there is a voice that has been silenced. Perhaps someone is making decisions for another person without consulting with them. Perhaps a voice is silenced by passive aggressive comments. More than likely, this imposed silence means that not all voices are being heard. Who is it that we are listening to and who is it we are silencing?

 

Being unable to tell your story could mean life or death. A person being abused, especially a woman being sexually abused, is often silenced by dismissing comments or outright declarations of denial by others. The abusee’s voice gets lost in the noise generated to protect the abuser.

A transgender person living stealth will be in constant fear that their secret will be discovered. It only takes one slip of the tongue or one tiny rumour to destroy a person’s life and possibly cause death, whether by their own hand or another’s. These are only two examples of people are being silenced in one way or another. The only thing worse than voices being silenced are the bystanders who remain silent.

 

Desmond Tutu is attributed with the quote, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” and Martin Luther King, Jr said, “In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” By silencing your own voice in situations of abuse or intolerance, you are encouraging harassment, bullying, dismissal, and humiliation. Whose voice is being labelled as more important? Who is it that is being silenced?

 

We need to break the silence and change the course of history. Breaking the silence can change laws and as a result change a person’s life. Maybe even save a life. It brings to mind Simon and Garfunkel’s song “Sound of Silence”, particularly this verse:

            “And in the naked light, I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never shared

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence”

 

We have become accustomed to the evil around us, desensitized to the point that we no longer raise our voices against cruelty and injustice. No longer do we dare “disturb the sound of silence.” Instead, it’s become easier to turn the other cheek and allow the voices around us to be silenced. If we ignore a problem, it will simply go away, right?

 

Clinical Pastoral Care students are taught that a silent listener is important for voices to be heard. That is what we need to be today – silent listeners. Space needs to be given to all the voices who have been silenced over the years. To do this, we need to shed our indifference and stand beside those who have been silenced, historically and presently. What would happen if we stood up for others? Poet and activist Audre Loudre once proclaimed that our silence will not save us.

 

God in the Old Testament, and especially in today’s passage from Isaiah, only sides with the oppressed, the marginalized, and those who do not have power. As we witness often in the Hebrew Bible, God is the God of the poor, afflicted, and the marginalized. For those who experience rejection because of their social-political identities, excommunication due to their gender identities, or marginalization and discrimination of any form, God promises that they have a place in God’s plan and that God will never abandon them but, rather, will find delight in them, seek them out, and call them “holy people.”

 

We can no longer be bystanders as victims of harassment, abuse, and violence are placated with half-promises and told to keep silent about events that have unfolded. We can longer be indifferent as death tolls rise from murder and suicide, or as laws are written that bring an end to a person’s right to live. It is long past the time for silent voices to be given the space they need to speak up against cruelty and injustice. It is time for those of us who have a voice, to speak up for those who have been silenced. It could mean the difference between life and death.

 

Amen.

Resources

"New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament" edited by Daniel Durken

"Feasting on the Word" edited by David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor

workingpreacher.org

pulpitfiction.com

thepause.me/2015/10/01/about-the-medical-pause

A Review of the Book "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

Title: The Girl on the Train

Author: Paula Hawkins

Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada

Year: 2015

395 pages

From the Back: Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She's even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

    And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. Now everything's changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

Personal Thoughts: Suspense stories like these are probably one of my favorite genres. While it got off to a slow start, it didn't take too long for me to get invested in the character stories - which turned out there were three, not just one! It was a fun book that only took me a few days to read. A good start to my reading challenge of 2025!

A Year-Long Journey Through the Sermon on the Mount: Week 1

One of the challenges I’ve decided to put on myself this year is to write blog posts that go beyond book reviews and sermons. To help me do so, I’ve picked up a book called “Following the Call”. This book is a collection of 52 essays by various theologians and prophetic voices, creating a year-long exploration of Jesus’ most famous teaching, the Sermon on the Mount. My goal is to read the essay at the beginning of the week, ponder what I’ve read, and then reflect on it on my blog. I hope that you will join me on this journey. Time to take that first step!

 

Chapter 1 – Master Teacher

 

“The whole message of the gospel is this: become like Jesus.” ~Henri Nouwen

 

Well, isn’t that the whole thing summed up quite nicely? Become like Jesus. What would Jesus do? Be more like Jesus.

 

As we read through the gospels, we are meant to take away lessons from Jesus’ journey. Throughout his ministry, Jesus is trying to teach us all how to be better human beings, both to ourselves and to each other. The Sermon on the Mount contains some of those biggest lessons.

 

In the first portion of this week’s essay, E Stanley Jones talks about a “beyondness” found in the Sermon on the Mount, as in Jesus goes “above and beyond.” If someone needs a coat and you have a coat, give up your coat. Love your friends and your enemies. If you can go one mile, go two. Jesus teaches that it is our duty to do more than the bare minimum for our fellow human beings. But sometimes these requests seem impossible, as if they are hard commands rather than pieces of good news. However, we can find comfort in the words that through God, all things are possible.

 

Henri Nouwen contributes this week and gives us a warning – “When we want to become more like Jesus, we cannot expect always to be like and admired. We have to be prepared to be rejected.” The “beyondness” that Stanly discusses goes against the grain of society; it goes against everything that we know to be important for people today – status, money, material things, individualism, etc. Putting another person ahead of yourself is not the default reaction. It is for this reason that the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount are so important. And we need to be aware that if we are going to live in the ways of Jesus’ teachings, we will be a threat to societal norms, we will be the voices that stick out in the din, and people aren’t going to like it.

 

But we know that we have God’s strength at our backs, Jesus’ faith on our side and, and the Holy Spirit’s support behind our words and actions. With all that in mind, there isn’t anything we can’t do.

 

So get out there and become like Jesus!

It All Starts with a Baptism: A Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord

Grace, peace, and mercy are yours from the Triune God. Amen.

"Epiphany" is a word that means "to appear" or "to make known." Last week I spoke about it being a mystery revealed. The First Sunday after the Epiphany is always the Baptism of Our Lord – a time when the voice from heaven "makes it known" or “reveals” that Jesus is "my son, the Beloved."

Baptism is naming and identifying someone as “beloved.” Baptism reminds us that we discover who we are in relation to whose we are, God’s beloved children. We belong to God’s family, and baptism is a tangible sign of that. Baptism is wholly God’s work that we may have confidence that no matter how often we fall short or fail, nothing that we do, or fail to do, can remove the identity that God conveys as a gift.

Our relationship with God is the one relationship in life we can’t screw up precisely because we did not establish it. And it is in God, not the church, that we are baptized. Has baptism lost its meaning and purpose in today’s society?

When the gospel writers tell Jesus’ story, his baptism is a crucial piece of that story. Everything starts at the river where Jesus entered the waters and placed himself in the arms of his cousin John.

“And the heavens were opened. And the Spirit descended upon him as a dove. And a Voice came from heaven saying, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Despite the beauties and sentiment of the birth narratives, in truth, the ministry and teachings and trials and triumphs and almost all that make us remember Jesus took place after his baptism. It was at the moment of Baptism that Jesus was claimed and called.

Jesus’ baptism is a way of understanding our own baptism. For some people, baptism is “just joining the Jesus club.” Everyone knows what it means to join a club such as the Scouts, Air Cadets, or Kiwanis. We have all joined clubs and every club has its rules and regulations. Baptism is joining the “Jesus club” and we now have to follow the “Jesus rules”.

For others, baptism is like “hell insurance”, though it’s not what I believe. I remember when my oldest was born and I went to my priest to talk baptism and she emphatically said to me, “you know baptism isn’t a ‘get out of hell free’ card, right?”

Baptism is a key part of the Christian faith, but the Bible really says little about it other than Jesus was baptized, and that apostles were told to do it too. Most of our traditions, however, have a lot to say. Here are some of the questions asked and answered in Luther’s Small Catechism:

What is baptism? Baptism is not simply plain water. Instead, it is water used according to God’s command and connected with God’s word.

What then is this word of God? Where Jesus says in Matthew 28, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

What gifts or benefits does baptism grant? It brings about forgiveness of sin, redeems from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe it, as the words and promise of God declare.

What are these words and promise of God? Where Jesus says in Mark 16, “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.”

How can water do such great things? Clearly the water does not do it, but the word of God, which is with and alongside the water, and faith, which trusts this word of God in the water.

For without the word of God, the water is plain water and not a baptism, but with the word of God, it is a baptism, that is, a grace-filled water of life and a “bath of the new birth in the Holy Spirit”, as Paul says to Titus in chapter 3.

“Through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

So, in the sacrament of baptism, the triune God delivers us from the forces of evil, puts our sinful self to death, gives us new birth, adopts us as children, and makes us members of the body of Christ.

That is a lot to take in, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to studying the theology and ritual behind baptism. It is why, for some, infant baptism is unimportant. They want to let the child grow up until they are old enough to make a decision for themselves.

Which brings up an interesting question – is there such thing as a second baptism?

There are many people I have met who were baptized as a baby into one denomination or another. But then they didn’t go to church, or had a falling out at the church, or simply found a different church or denomination that connected more with them than the one in which they were baptized.

I am no exception to this story. I was baptized Roman Catholic but left that denomination a long time ago. When I found my faith again, I had a discussion about a “rebaptism” into the Anglican Church.

But whether we are baptized as a baby or a child or a young adult, we are baptized into God, not into a church or a denomination. That is why we have things like renewal of baptism, or redeclaration of faith, or, in my case, Confirmation, which is the route I took to reaffirm my faith in God and in Jesus.

Another situation I have come across with regards to “second baptism” is for those who are transgender and want to be rebaptized in their new name and identity. Theologically, that person is still a baptized child of God, thus there is no need for a second baptism.

The Anglican Church now has an approved set of liturgies that includes a renaming ceremony. The goal being that a person can have a special reaffirmation of faith as they are now, as opposed to who they were before.

I am going off on tangents here but what I want to say is that with our baptism, we are fully and wholly children of God, with all the gifts and benefits that come with it. And each week we reaffirm our baptism with either the Apostles’ or Nicene creed. We also do so during baptisms when we join the baptism candidates, parents, and sponsors during the profession of faith.

So today, on this the day of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, I give you these statements of thanksgiving for our baptism:

Holy God, mighty Lord, gracious Father: We give you thanks, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and you created heaven and earth. By the gift of water, you nourish and sustain us and all living things.

By the waters of the flood, you condemned the wicked and saved those whom you had chosen, Noah and his family. You led Israel by the pillar of cloud and fire through the sea, out of slavery into the freedom of the promised land.

In the waters of the Jordan, your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Spirit. By the baptism of his own death and resurrection your beloved Son has set us free from the bandage to sin and death and has opened the way to the joy and freedom of everlasting life. He made water as sign of the kingdom and of cleansing and rebirth. In obedience to his command, we make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit.

For some people, baptism has lost its importance, becoming just sprinkling of water on a baby’s head. Baptism is often considered hell insurance and protects you from the fiery wrath of God. Baptism is joining the Jesus Club with all its rules and regulations.

But what happened in Jesus’ baptism? The Spirit of God came upon him. He was declared to be the Son of God in whom God delighted. He was called to be the Suffering Servant who carried the whole sins of the world.

In our baptism, similar things happen to us as happened to Jesus when he was baptized: The Spirit of God comes into us and remains in us. We are declared to be a child of God. We hear that God is well pleased with us.

And so, on this Baptism of Our Lord Sunday, remember your Baptism and live into your calling.

Let us pray.

Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit, so that those who are here baptized may be given new life. Wash away the sin of all those who are cleansed by this water and bring them forth as inheritors of your glorious kingdom.

To you be given praise and honour and worship through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

Amen.

The Mystery of Christ: A Sermon for the Epiphany of Our Lord

Grace, peace, and mercy are yours from the Triune God. Amen.

 

Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season for the church calendar. By the sixth day in January, the wider society has long moved past the celebrations of Christmas. Radio stations are back to their usual music, employees have returned to work, children have returned to school, and stores are beginning to set out Valentine’s merchandise. The church, on the other hand, persists a full 12 days after Christmas Day to remember the visit of the wise men to the young Jesus as recorded in Matthew’s gospel (2:1–12). The celebration of the Feast of Epiphany focuses on the revelation of God to humanity – the incarnation of God in Christ, where God becomes human, where divinity and humanity become united. And where, as it turns out, this unity belongs to everyone, not just the Israelites. It is the revelation of this last mystery that Paul proclaims in today’s reading from Ephesians.

 

The word mystery appears several times in this text – verses 3, 4, 5, and 9. Why is this word so important to Paul? In contemporary language, a mystery is something to be solved. Like a puzzle. Or a whodunnit story. It’s something that has an answer at the end and the joy is solving the mystery. However, for Paul and the Ephesians, a mystery is a treasure to be revealed. So, what is the mystery that Paul is trying to reveal to the Ephesian community?

 

Part of the mystery is actually revealed in the chapter 2 when Paul states,

“but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (v.4-8)

 

“By grace you have been saved.” What an amazing gift that God has given to…well…all of us! And therein lies the mystery that Paul alludes to in chapter 3. The revelation that has been made to the Ephesians is that this gift from God of grace, and of salvation, has been given not only to the Israelites, but also to the Gentiles. How do we know this?

 

We know this because of the 3 Magi. I know the song goes “We Three Kings”, but these men weren’t kings. They were wise men, scientists, following the stars to see this baby that had been born. These 3 men from the East who were three of the first witnesses of God made human in this baby boy. And because men who were not from Israel were witness to this unity of divine and human meant that the revelation of this mystery was not for Israelite eyes only.

 

God’s grace and salvation are universal, and this mystery is revealed through Jesus Christ. And for Paul, it is to this mystery that he has become a servant. For Paul, Epiphany isn’t just a single day on the calendar, it’s a lifelong calling, one that he was imprisoned for. In this letter, Paul is telling the Ephesians that the gospel, the good news, is that

“the gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus” (v. 6)

and that he, Paul, the lowly servant of God, has been tasked in sharing this gospel with the Ephesians and with anyone else who will listen.

 

But God doesn’t call only on Paul to share this good news. God calls on Paul, on Jews, on Gentiles…God calls on all of us! We are all to share in this mystery of Christ, in this secret that has been revealed through the combined humanity and divinity of the baby born to be God’s representative on earth. The birth of Jesus is a magnificent celebration of the extraordinary plan of God – the loving intention that all peoples should be invited and included in God’s kindness and love.

 

The mystery of Christ is that God became human, the two natures of humanity and divinity being neither confused nor divided, and the arrival of Jesus on earth prepares the way for the unity of Jew and Gentile. It is God’s plan to overcome the divide: Gentiles are to become full heirs of the kingdom, not just second-class members, those who have ben estranged will be drawn together, and this will all be done through creation, reconciliation, and peace.

 

Now if this is God’s plan, if we are united in Christ through the actions of God sending the divine to be human, then how do we explain the world we live in that is full of war and strife, hate and discrimination, exclusiveness and pettiness…? It is our job as reconcilers in Christ to be deliverers of God’s message of grace, salvation, and unity through Christ Jesus. Radical inclusiveness of all people is not a new thing. It is embedded in God’s eternal purpose for God’s creation and is being revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Radical inclusiveness is created by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it is up to us to spread that good news with everyone we meet.

 

The work of sharing this news won’t be easy, Paul can attest to that, as he writes to the Ephesians from a jail cell. It will be scary; it may even be dangerous. Revealing the mystery found in Jesus means we will need to stand out in a crowd because we won’t always be voicing the popular opinion. But we must be the voices that declare God’s love, kindness, grace, mercy, and salvation is for everyone, not the select few. To seek unity in a fallen world, striving to overcome distinctions of all inequalities that hinder God’s love, that is the work we are called to do.

 

As we exhibit unity – of different races, classes, and genders – we display the mystery of God who brings all God’s creation together in the unity of the divine and human baby witnessed by the men from the East.

 

Amen.

Resources:

"Feasting on the Word" edited by David Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor

pulpitfiction.com

workingpreacher.com

A Review of the Book "It" by Stephen King

Title: It

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Inc

Year: 1986

1153 pages

From the Back: To the children, the town was their whole world. To the adults, knowing better, Derry, Maine, was just their home town: familiar, well-ordered, a good place to live. It was the children who saw - and felt - what made Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, It lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each person's deepest dread. Sometimes It reached up, seizing, tearing, killing...

    The adults, knowing better, knew nothing. Time passed and the children grew up, moved away. The horror of It was deep-buried, wrapped in forgetfulness. Until the grown-up children were called back, once more to confront It as it stirred and coiled in the sullen depths of their memories, reaching up again to make their past nightmares a terrible present reality.

Personal Thoughts: This is one of those books I've always wanted to read but never thought I'd get around to it or make it through it. First, it's the longest book, by far, that I have ever read. It's also the scariest. But it sure was good! My adventure through King's works has been daunting but has yet to disappoint. This was a very entertaining book, so much so that I often forgot how big it was! Well, except when I tried to hold it. I'm glad that I took on the challenge of reading It because it was well worth the read. I just hope it doesn't take me 3 months to read all of King's book, otherwise I may never make it through his writings!

A Review of the Book "It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah

Title: It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime

Author: Trevor Noah

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Year: 2016

280 pages

From the Back: Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, shares his remarkable story of growing up in South Africa with a black South African mother and a white European father at a time when it was against the law for a mixed-race child to exist. But he did exist - and from the beginning, the often-misbehaved Trevor used his keen smarts and humour to navigate a harsh life under a racist government. In a country where racism barred blacks from social, educational, and economic opportunity, Trevor surmounted staggering obstacles and created a promising future for himself thanks to his mom's unwavering love and indomitable will. This honest and poignant memoir will astound and inspire readers as well as offer a fascinating perspective on South Africa's tumultuous racial history.

Personal Thoughts: First, I want to admit that buying the young reader edition of this book was entirely accidental. However, there was nothing "young reader" about the writing. Maybe the language is different in the adult version? In any case, the young reader version didn't hamper the story, in my opinion.

    No matter which version of the book you read, the narrative is a hard one. Trevor Noah does an excellent job at telling his story in these pages, giving readers an exclusive on what it was like growing up poor, not belonging to either the black or the white community, and being at risk for bullying, racism, or arrest no matter what he did.

    It is a heart-wrenching story that shows how the public view of the end of apartheid didn't match what was actually happening on the ground in South Africa. It also brings to light what living in between two worlds is like - not white enough and not black enough to be accepted by either communities.