(no subject)
Prayer of the Day
Gracious God, during Epiphany as the sun begins to reach further into each day, we recall how
your love reaches further into each life, often beyond what we imagine. From the tale of Jonah
to the life of Jesus-to the ministry of this congregation, may your love reach further yet. Amen.
An Epiphany Litany from the belly of a whale to a boat on the beach.
Too often, O God, we want your grace all to ourselves;
Like Jonah, we imagine that we know better than you the extent of your love.
Too often, O Lord, we see only what we want to see
Until, like Jonah, our sight finds clarity in the belly of a whale.
Teach us, O God, to see all persons as worthy of your love;
Teach us to see the image of you in every life we meet.
Call us, O Christ, from our nets and boats, from the busyness of our lives;
Call us - and move us to answer your call.
Call us, O Christ, not someday, but this day - in this very moment,
To work with you now in the claiming of kin.
Lord, Epiphany is always inconvenient, too immediate for our comfort.
But bless us nevertheless, we pray, with the uncomfortable, immediate, epiphany of your love.
Petitions for the Prayers of the Church.
• For those whom we find it easier to name “enemy” than “child of God”-
• For our ELCA Church, that like the people of Nineveh, it might be swift and complete in
repenting of policies and positions that wound the Body of Christ-
• For those in our midst and beyond who are Allies of GLBT persons, that they might see that
“the appointed time has grown short,” and that their voices of witness are needed now more
than ever in church and society-
• For those whose self-understanding is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, that they
might know that Jesus’ call comes also to them, in the midst of their lives and in the midst of
their loves-
• For all persons and every church-especially our own ELCA, that they might respond with
the same immediacy as the first disciples in answering the call to join Christ in proclaiming
the full kinship of God-
• For the Reconciling in Christ program and its member parishes and organizations, that
these kin-making communities of welcome and affirmation might flourish and that their
numbers increase-
The Jonah text has both promise and peril for use on RIC Sunday. As a book Jonah is not so
much about a miraculous whale as a miraculous welcome. The whole point of the tale is to see
Jonah as an incarnate lesson about Israel’s stubborn resistance to sharing the graciousness of
“their” God with anyone else. Jonah explains his reluctance to go to Nineveh by saying that he
was precisely afraid that God would extend to them (his enemies) the same forbearance shown
to Israel. This theme (not especially evident in our text) is a theme of deep welcome. Jonah is
one of the first biblical texts to announce that God’s love includes - passionately - all of God’s
children, not just those part of the “in group.” And yet, the danger here is that Jonah’s
proclamation of welcome is couched within a call to repent from wickedness. And repenting
from “wickedness” is clearly NOT the stance of welcome we extend in the RIC program.
What is most noteworthy in the Jonah passage before us (3:1-5, 10) is the immediacy of the
city’s response to Jonah’s preaching. (Of all Israel’s prophets, Jonah is most recalcitrant, most
successful, and indeed most begrudging of his success!-leading most scholars to conclude
that this short book is satirical fiction rather than accurate history.) In the omitted verses (6-9)
we read also of the extent of the city’s repentance, which runs from their king to all of his
subjects, both great and small, and even to their livestock. For those who dare, this text invites
us to imagine the ELCA as Nineveh-as an organization still committed to policies and attitudes
that can only be described as “wicked” in their impact on the lives of GLBT people. One
question we may bring to voice is this: if the ELCA does not repent of these things, how much
longer can a church exist-and pretend at faithfulness-when it remains intent on lopping off
members of the Body of Christ?! This is God’s question poised to Nineveh.
That message will be too harsh in many settings, though it does have roots in both ancient text
and present context. Still, the theme running through all three texts is one of urgency and
immediacy. In Jonah it is the urgency of repentance; in Mark, the urgency of vocation; in 1st
Corinthians, the urgency of transformation. In each case the primary actor is God, and the
immediacy of response rests with people.
For Reconciling in Christ Sunday the resonant images are many. Regardless of how stridently it
is framed, this is surely a moment in which the ELCA as a whole is called to repent of its hurtful
ways of encountering GLBT persons in general, but in particular those who are trying to answer
the call of Jesus that we read about in Mark. RIC churches have been and continue to be the
first movement of that repentance, the first incarnation of churches willing to turn around and
move in a new direction.
The urgency of personal vocation and social transformation applies to all of us. On RIC Sunday
they apply specifically to the challenge of changing our lives, our church, and our society to a
way of being that is defined by radical welcome. Vocation for some persons is, as portrayed in
the gospel lesson, a call to ministry. For GLBT persons it is a call that the church smothers,
sometimes to death. And yet it is a call that longs to be honored, so there is real urgency for all
of us to work toward transformation in the church to enable those calls to be answered by
individuals and affirmed by the community. In RIC churches where the possibility of enabling
such a call (e.g., having an intern or including a call candidate from the Extraordinary Candidacy
Project) is on the horizon, this text invites that visioning from the pulpit.
But the urgency of vocation and transformation, while including nothing less than opening the
doors to ordination, includes much more. Luther’s understanding of the priesthood of all
believers is that Christ’s call comes to each of us in our diverse interests, passions, and talents,
bidding us to set our lives into the simple service of proclaiming God’s kinship with all. This
work needs no clergy collar, but is rather present in all our workplaces-in all our living places.
(For instance, in states where GLBT partner rights are under assault, the urgency of social
transformation is particularly keen.)
Jesus calls the first disciples because “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Hence, my observations
from last year’s sermon notes remain relevant:
Two things must be said. First, in Aramaic “kingdom” does not name a place, whether
heavenly or earthly, where God sits on a throne and rules as king, but rather refers to an
activity. Most literally, it names “the activity of God reigning as king.”
Second, God’s
kingly activity looks nothing like the kingly forces that shape our world. As Jesus
says-and shows-when God is king lepers get touched, enemies are friends, the least
are honored, outcasts are welcomed in. No king has ever acted like this! Jesus uses
the image of kingdom to subvert it. It is not that God is like a king, but that earthly kings
(and other earthly expressions of power) are so little like God. One might say that
Jesus’ ministry proclaims and embodies “the activity of God reigning as king in a way
that looks nothing like any earthly king and can’t really be described as reigning at all.”
Or we might say more simply that Jesus speaks, feasts, heals, and keep company in
such a way to proclaim and embody the “kin-dom of God”-the activity of God making all
things kin.
Finally, Jesus’ message about the goodness of God’s kin-making is not a promise for the
future; it is a reality for the present. Some bible translations describe this nearness of
the kingdom by saying that it is “at hand” - close enough to touch. It’s a useful metaphor
because kin-making is always good news that sits at our fingertips. It is the cup of water
offered to the thirsty, the clothing held out to the naked, the hand-holding with the sick. It
is the passing of the peace to everyone within reach, and making certain that the
welcome of God has a long reach in your community.
This is the “fishing for people” into which Simon and Andrew, James and John, are called. It is
equally the calling that sounds with urgency in our ears and hearts today.
Gracious God, during Epiphany as the sun begins to reach further into each day, we recall how
your love reaches further into each life, often beyond what we imagine. From the tale of Jonah
to the life of Jesus-to the ministry of this congregation, may your love reach further yet. Amen.
An Epiphany Litany from the belly of a whale to a boat on the beach.
Too often, O God, we want your grace all to ourselves;
Like Jonah, we imagine that we know better than you the extent of your love.
Too often, O Lord, we see only what we want to see
Until, like Jonah, our sight finds clarity in the belly of a whale.
Teach us, O God, to see all persons as worthy of your love;
Teach us to see the image of you in every life we meet.
Call us, O Christ, from our nets and boats, from the busyness of our lives;
Call us - and move us to answer your call.
Call us, O Christ, not someday, but this day - in this very moment,
To work with you now in the claiming of kin.
Lord, Epiphany is always inconvenient, too immediate for our comfort.
But bless us nevertheless, we pray, with the uncomfortable, immediate, epiphany of your love.
Petitions for the Prayers of the Church.
• For those whom we find it easier to name “enemy” than “child of God”-
• For our ELCA Church, that like the people of Nineveh, it might be swift and complete in
repenting of policies and positions that wound the Body of Christ-
• For those in our midst and beyond who are Allies of GLBT persons, that they might see that
“the appointed time has grown short,” and that their voices of witness are needed now more
than ever in church and society-
• For those whose self-understanding is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, that they
might know that Jesus’ call comes also to them, in the midst of their lives and in the midst of
their loves-
• For all persons and every church-especially our own ELCA, that they might respond with
the same immediacy as the first disciples in answering the call to join Christ in proclaiming
the full kinship of God-
• For the Reconciling in Christ program and its member parishes and organizations, that
these kin-making communities of welcome and affirmation might flourish and that their
numbers increase-
The Jonah text has both promise and peril for use on RIC Sunday. As a book Jonah is not so
much about a miraculous whale as a miraculous welcome. The whole point of the tale is to see
Jonah as an incarnate lesson about Israel’s stubborn resistance to sharing the graciousness of
“their” God with anyone else. Jonah explains his reluctance to go to Nineveh by saying that he
was precisely afraid that God would extend to them (his enemies) the same forbearance shown
to Israel. This theme (not especially evident in our text) is a theme of deep welcome. Jonah is
one of the first biblical texts to announce that God’s love includes - passionately - all of God’s
children, not just those part of the “in group.” And yet, the danger here is that Jonah’s
proclamation of welcome is couched within a call to repent from wickedness. And repenting
from “wickedness” is clearly NOT the stance of welcome we extend in the RIC program.
What is most noteworthy in the Jonah passage before us (3:1-5, 10) is the immediacy of the
city’s response to Jonah’s preaching. (Of all Israel’s prophets, Jonah is most recalcitrant, most
successful, and indeed most begrudging of his success!-leading most scholars to conclude
that this short book is satirical fiction rather than accurate history.) In the omitted verses (6-9)
we read also of the extent of the city’s repentance, which runs from their king to all of his
subjects, both great and small, and even to their livestock. For those who dare, this text invites
us to imagine the ELCA as Nineveh-as an organization still committed to policies and attitudes
that can only be described as “wicked” in their impact on the lives of GLBT people. One
question we may bring to voice is this: if the ELCA does not repent of these things, how much
longer can a church exist-and pretend at faithfulness-when it remains intent on lopping off
members of the Body of Christ?! This is God’s question poised to Nineveh.
That message will be too harsh in many settings, though it does have roots in both ancient text
and present context. Still, the theme running through all three texts is one of urgency and
immediacy. In Jonah it is the urgency of repentance; in Mark, the urgency of vocation; in 1st
Corinthians, the urgency of transformation. In each case the primary actor is God, and the
immediacy of response rests with people.
For Reconciling in Christ Sunday the resonant images are many. Regardless of how stridently it
is framed, this is surely a moment in which the ELCA as a whole is called to repent of its hurtful
ways of encountering GLBT persons in general, but in particular those who are trying to answer
the call of Jesus that we read about in Mark. RIC churches have been and continue to be the
first movement of that repentance, the first incarnation of churches willing to turn around and
move in a new direction.
The urgency of personal vocation and social transformation applies to all of us. On RIC Sunday
they apply specifically to the challenge of changing our lives, our church, and our society to a
way of being that is defined by radical welcome. Vocation for some persons is, as portrayed in
the gospel lesson, a call to ministry. For GLBT persons it is a call that the church smothers,
sometimes to death. And yet it is a call that longs to be honored, so there is real urgency for all
of us to work toward transformation in the church to enable those calls to be answered by
individuals and affirmed by the community. In RIC churches where the possibility of enabling
such a call (e.g., having an intern or including a call candidate from the Extraordinary Candidacy
Project) is on the horizon, this text invites that visioning from the pulpit.
But the urgency of vocation and transformation, while including nothing less than opening the
doors to ordination, includes much more. Luther’s understanding of the priesthood of all
believers is that Christ’s call comes to each of us in our diverse interests, passions, and talents,
bidding us to set our lives into the simple service of proclaiming God’s kinship with all. This
work needs no clergy collar, but is rather present in all our workplaces-in all our living places.
(For instance, in states where GLBT partner rights are under assault, the urgency of social
transformation is particularly keen.)
Jesus calls the first disciples because “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Hence, my observations
from last year’s sermon notes remain relevant:
Two things must be said. First, in Aramaic “kingdom” does not name a place, whether
heavenly or earthly, where God sits on a throne and rules as king, but rather refers to an
activity. Most literally, it names “the activity of God reigning as king.”
Second, God’s
kingly activity looks nothing like the kingly forces that shape our world. As Jesus
says-and shows-when God is king lepers get touched, enemies are friends, the least
are honored, outcasts are welcomed in. No king has ever acted like this! Jesus uses
the image of kingdom to subvert it. It is not that God is like a king, but that earthly kings
(and other earthly expressions of power) are so little like God. One might say that
Jesus’ ministry proclaims and embodies “the activity of God reigning as king in a way
that looks nothing like any earthly king and can’t really be described as reigning at all.”
Or we might say more simply that Jesus speaks, feasts, heals, and keep company in
such a way to proclaim and embody the “kin-dom of God”-the activity of God making all
things kin.
Finally, Jesus’ message about the goodness of God’s kin-making is not a promise for the
future; it is a reality for the present. Some bible translations describe this nearness of
the kingdom by saying that it is “at hand” - close enough to touch. It’s a useful metaphor
because kin-making is always good news that sits at our fingertips. It is the cup of water
offered to the thirsty, the clothing held out to the naked, the hand-holding with the sick. It
is the passing of the peace to everyone within reach, and making certain that the
welcome of God has a long reach in your community.
This is the “fishing for people” into which Simon and Andrew, James and John, are called. It is
equally the calling that sounds with urgency in our ears and hearts today.