“That Trash from Nazareth”
John 1:43-51
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 18 January, 2009
Second Sunday after Epiphany
----
 I have four things coming together for me this week. Tomorrow our nation will commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. On Tuesday we will inaugurate our first African-American president. I have been reading about American slavery in John Michener’s book Chesapeake. And this morning our gospel lesson tells us that one of Jesus’ potential disciples had a hard time trusting anyone from Nazareth.
Let’s deal with the thing about Jesus first. Jesus had just begun his ministry and was in the first stages of gathering disciples. It seems Philip was already on board -- he already believed that Jesus was someone really special and was beginning to tell other people about him. So, Philip approached Nathanael to spread the news. We’re not told here who Nathanael is, only that Philip finds him and tells him about Jesus. “Look, Nathanael, we found the guy about whom the prophets wrote, Jesus, son of Joseph in Nazareth!”
Nathanael, however, is not impressed. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Can anything good come out of that hick town? If he’s truly what you say he is -- really great and all that -- shouldn’t he come out of some real place...like Jerusalem?!” Nathanael’s prejudice is sort of like a snobbish celebrity wondering how anything good can come out of, say, North Dakota. All the good stuff’s in New York City or Los Angeles. But here we have it: something good did come out of that hick town, Nazareth. God works in surprising ways, and Jesus is proof of that.
I am reminded of God’s surprising works this morning as our nation prepares to welcome its first African-American president the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Just a few short decades ago -- well within some of your lifetimes -- African Americans were relegated to the very bottom rungs of society. They -- and it was always “they” because “they” were so different from “us” -- could not drink from the same water fountains. I think of this when I grab a sip to drink at Lexington Market. They could not sit at the front of the bus. I think of this when I choose a seat at the back of the bus. They were relegated to innumerable other humiliations that I, as a young white person, cannot imagine. And these humiliations were viewed (by many whites, at least) simply as the cost of freedom. I am currently reading about the 19th century practice of slavery in the United States -- in Maryland, in fact -- and I realize that Jim Crow laws were nothing compared to the indignities and horrors endured by slaves. It boggles my mind that human beings were considered the property of other human beings. They were chained and whipped and raped and killed, and while not all of this abuse was technically legal the authorities would look the other way if it was punishment for a slave’s “misbehavior.”
This was really not that long ago. I read a new story recently about a woman who is 114 years old. Her parents were former slaves, and yet she herself had the opportunity to vote for an African American for president. In her case, she is only one generation removed from slavery. Granted, she is very, very old -- one of the oldest people in the world -- but it still shocks me that the child of former slaves could have the opportunity to vote for an African American president. I cannot begin to imagine what went through her mind as she cast that vote.
Just a few decades ago many people would have said, “Can an African American really be president?” (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”) Sadly, there are still people who doubt that a person of color can hold that position, regardless of politics. There is still a great deal of racism in this country, and I’ve seen it in the city of Baltimore. But the majority of American citizens voted their confidence that color does not matter in the White House. And I have hope that a majority of people who did not vote for Barack Obama cast their vote because they did not like his politics, not because they cared about the color of his skin. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., I am willing to hope that Barack Obama was not “judged by the color of [his] skin but by the content of [his] character.”
Something surprising is happening in our nation this week. The American people -- black and white and every color in between -- are rallying behind an African American and upholding him as the leader of our nation. I have heard people say that they did not vote for him because they never vote for a Democrat, but that they are excited nonetheless at this historic moment. I have heard more expressions of hope about this presidency than I have heard in a long time. It really does seem like our nation is coming together for this, across party lines, across political beliefs.
Something good did come out of Nazareth, and a surprising thing is happening here too. People of all colors, from all backgrounds, with all beliefs, are celebrating an historic moment in our nation’s history: the inauguration of our first African American president.
I have made some comparisons here between Jesus’ ministry in Nazareth and Barack Obama’s election as the first black president of the United States, but I want to be careful not to compare them too closely. Barack Obama is not Jesus by any means. He is not perfect, he is not a messiah, and I pray to God that he will not be a martyr. His election as an African American is not the same as Jesus coming out of that country bumpkin town of Nazareth either. It really shouldn’t be surprising that America voted for an African American. What should be surprising (and sad) is that is took so darn long.
These are important points to make in a nation that has a history of lifting its leaders to Christ-like status. There are those who said that President Bush was “ordained by God” to be our president. The role of president of the United States has been and always should be a secular role, and saying that a president is “ordained by God” is dangerous. While I believe that God guides all people who believe in God, including the president, I do not believe that God says, “Here. This person must be the next president or else.”
In recent history there have also been those who have believed the president of the United States to be infallible -- completely perfect. We do a disservice to our country when we assume that our leader is perfect. It is fine to expect him to be better than the rest of us, but President Obama will make mistakes, just as every president before him has done. We work as a better unified country when we understand this. Believe it or not, we are better unified when we have the free speech to say that we disagree with something the president has done. Barack Obama did not wear a hat when he was in Baltimore yesterday. I think that was stupid.
A surprisingly good thing came out of Nazareth and something surprisingly good is happening in our nation this week. Regardless of our politics or of how we voted in November, let us gather together this week as Christians and as Americans and celebrate the fact that an African American is finally in the White House. Our forebears in the United Church of Christ were among the first to fight slavery and were also quite active in the Civil Rights Movement, and we can be proud that our ancestors just might have had a hand in what is happening this Tuesday. May God guide us and give us strength to fight slavery and oppression as it continues today.
Now let us pray.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sermon 01/04/09 (Matthew 2:1-12)
“The Journey to Christ”
Matthew 2:1-12
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 4 January, 2009
Second Sunday after Christmas - Epiphany Sunday
----
 Sometimes I think that the name I chose for my newsletter column is rather presumptuous. “An Offering of Gold?!” I realize that some of my articles are better than others -- and this month I don’t have even have an article! That said, I wanted something that corresponded with my name and something that was also scriptural. The word “gold” appears 548 times in the Bible, and upon looking through the places in which it appears, this phrase seemed to be most fitting for the name of a newsletter column: “They offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” The gifts of the magi are presented in a humble manner, because they are gifts to the Christ child, and it is in that spirit of humility that I hope to present my newsletter column to you each month (well, most months).
Now here we are, on Epiphany Sunday, encountering those Wise Men as they follow the star to Bethlehem to meet the Christ Child for the first time. The story of the Wise Men -- remember, nowhere does the scripture tell us that there were three of them -- is lumped into our consciousness with the Christmas story. Nativity scenes on front lawns frequently include the Wise Men gathered around the manger, along with the shepherds and the donkeys. When shopping for Christmas cards this year, I had a hard time finding ones that didn’t include the Wise Men -- in fact, some Christmas card designs show only the Wise Men (and there are always three of them).
It is understandable why we do this -- why we lump the Epiphany in with Christmas. Less than two weeks ago, we were gathered in this church to celebrate the birth of Jesus, reading the birth narratives from the Gospel of Luke. Last week I insisted to you that it was still Christmas (which it still technically is today), and our Gospel reading detailed the circumcision of the baby Jesus. Jewish babies are circumcised when they are only a few days old. Our Gospel today begins with the words, “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?’”
We seem to be following a straight trajectory here -- birth, circumcision, visit from the Wise Men, otherwise known as Magi. But, in fact, many scholars believe that Jesus was a toddler by the time the Magi visited. In any case, he was certainly not still a tiny baby in a manger.
And who were these “Wise Men from the East”? Tradition has given them many forms throughout the centuries. Matthew’s gospel calls them simply “magoi,” a word that could mean several different things: magicians, priests of some sort, or astrologers. The role of astrologer seems likely, since they follow a star in order to find Jesus. Sometimes, however, tradition has referred to them as “kings,” probably because of the expensive gifts they brought. One tradition even gives them names: Melchior, king of Persia; Gaspar, king of India; and Balthasar, king of Arabia. But nowhere in our scriptures are they designated as kings, nor given names, nor specified as three in number. We know only that they were Wise Men -- of some sort -- from the East, who followed a star to find “the child who has been born king of the Jews,” and brought that child expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
What of those gifts? We know what gold is, of course. Both myrrh and frankincense were fragrant scents that were frequently given to royalty in various forms. Frankincense was part of the holy perfume used in the sanctuary and nowhere else. Myrrh was sometimes used as an anointing oil for priests. Myrrh was also used as an embalming ointment after death, and in the Gospel of John we read that “Nicodemus brought ‘a mixture of myrrh and aloes, a hundred pounds’ weight,” for the preparation of Jesus’ body” after his crucifixion. For this reason, some people have ascribed symbolic meaning to the myrrh Jesus was given by the Magi, to tie the birth of the Messiah to his death. Again, symbolism has been added that does not appear in the scripture itself. All we know is that the gifts brought by the Magi were befitting of a king.
What, then, is the point of all this, now that we have unpacked it? What is Epiphany, and why do we celebrate it? In one sense, Epiphany does connect to Christmas Eve, in that it is an extension of the light we celebrated on that holy night. It is actually epiphanies, plural, one of many such manifestations of the Christ-light coming into the world. It is also about the search for the Messiah, and by extension, our own search. The Magi went to great lengths to find the Christ child. They traveled to Jerusalem, sought out King Herod there to ask him where the child might be, and went to Bethlehem. These were long journeys in a time when travel was uncomfortable and time-consuming. Once they had found this young Messiah and offered him their gifts, they went out of their way to avoid King Herod, because a dream had told them to do so. In other words, they went to great effort, both to seek the Christ and to return home from their visit with him.
Where are we willing to go to find the Christ? What are we willing to do in our search for Jesus? Perhaps we do not need to travel from country to country looking for him. We may not need to go anywhere physically at all. But where do our thoughts need to go, where do our hearts need to go in order for us to truly worship the Christ? What in our lives do we need to set aside in order for us to be able to focus on our spiritual journey? What things do we need to forget before we can do what we need to do as Christ-followers?
May the Christ be revealed to you during this season of Epiphany. And may this revelation rededicate you to your mission as a Christian, a follower of Christ.
Now let us pray.
Matthew 2:1-12
Rev. Désirée H. Gold
St. Mark’s United Church of Christ, Baltimore, MD
Sunday, 4 January, 2009
Second Sunday after Christmas - Epiphany Sunday
----
 Sometimes I think that the name I chose for my newsletter column is rather presumptuous. “An Offering of Gold?!” I realize that some of my articles are better than others -- and this month I don’t have even have an article! That said, I wanted something that corresponded with my name and something that was also scriptural. The word “gold” appears 548 times in the Bible, and upon looking through the places in which it appears, this phrase seemed to be most fitting for the name of a newsletter column: “They offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” The gifts of the magi are presented in a humble manner, because they are gifts to the Christ child, and it is in that spirit of humility that I hope to present my newsletter column to you each month (well, most months).
Now here we are, on Epiphany Sunday, encountering those Wise Men as they follow the star to Bethlehem to meet the Christ Child for the first time. The story of the Wise Men -- remember, nowhere does the scripture tell us that there were three of them -- is lumped into our consciousness with the Christmas story. Nativity scenes on front lawns frequently include the Wise Men gathered around the manger, along with the shepherds and the donkeys. When shopping for Christmas cards this year, I had a hard time finding ones that didn’t include the Wise Men -- in fact, some Christmas card designs show only the Wise Men (and there are always three of them).
It is understandable why we do this -- why we lump the Epiphany in with Christmas. Less than two weeks ago, we were gathered in this church to celebrate the birth of Jesus, reading the birth narratives from the Gospel of Luke. Last week I insisted to you that it was still Christmas (which it still technically is today), and our Gospel reading detailed the circumcision of the baby Jesus. Jewish babies are circumcised when they are only a few days old. Our Gospel today begins with the words, “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?’”
We seem to be following a straight trajectory here -- birth, circumcision, visit from the Wise Men, otherwise known as Magi. But, in fact, many scholars believe that Jesus was a toddler by the time the Magi visited. In any case, he was certainly not still a tiny baby in a manger.
And who were these “Wise Men from the East”? Tradition has given them many forms throughout the centuries. Matthew’s gospel calls them simply “magoi,” a word that could mean several different things: magicians, priests of some sort, or astrologers. The role of astrologer seems likely, since they follow a star in order to find Jesus. Sometimes, however, tradition has referred to them as “kings,” probably because of the expensive gifts they brought. One tradition even gives them names: Melchior, king of Persia; Gaspar, king of India; and Balthasar, king of Arabia. But nowhere in our scriptures are they designated as kings, nor given names, nor specified as three in number. We know only that they were Wise Men -- of some sort -- from the East, who followed a star to find “the child who has been born king of the Jews,” and brought that child expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
What of those gifts? We know what gold is, of course. Both myrrh and frankincense were fragrant scents that were frequently given to royalty in various forms. Frankincense was part of the holy perfume used in the sanctuary and nowhere else. Myrrh was sometimes used as an anointing oil for priests. Myrrh was also used as an embalming ointment after death, and in the Gospel of John we read that “Nicodemus brought ‘a mixture of myrrh and aloes, a hundred pounds’ weight,” for the preparation of Jesus’ body” after his crucifixion. For this reason, some people have ascribed symbolic meaning to the myrrh Jesus was given by the Magi, to tie the birth of the Messiah to his death. Again, symbolism has been added that does not appear in the scripture itself. All we know is that the gifts brought by the Magi were befitting of a king.
What, then, is the point of all this, now that we have unpacked it? What is Epiphany, and why do we celebrate it? In one sense, Epiphany does connect to Christmas Eve, in that it is an extension of the light we celebrated on that holy night. It is actually epiphanies, plural, one of many such manifestations of the Christ-light coming into the world. It is also about the search for the Messiah, and by extension, our own search. The Magi went to great lengths to find the Christ child. They traveled to Jerusalem, sought out King Herod there to ask him where the child might be, and went to Bethlehem. These were long journeys in a time when travel was uncomfortable and time-consuming. Once they had found this young Messiah and offered him their gifts, they went out of their way to avoid King Herod, because a dream had told them to do so. In other words, they went to great effort, both to seek the Christ and to return home from their visit with him.
Where are we willing to go to find the Christ? What are we willing to do in our search for Jesus? Perhaps we do not need to travel from country to country looking for him. We may not need to go anywhere physically at all. But where do our thoughts need to go, where do our hearts need to go in order for us to truly worship the Christ? What in our lives do we need to set aside in order for us to be able to focus on our spiritual journey? What things do we need to forget before we can do what we need to do as Christ-followers?
May the Christ be revealed to you during this season of Epiphany. And may this revelation rededicate you to your mission as a Christian, a follower of Christ.
Now let us pray.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
