Mark 8:27-38 / Lent 2B / 4 March 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Jesus and His band of disciples enter the region of Caesaria Philippi, a Roman city sitting on the southwestern base if Mt. Hermon on what today is known as the Golan Heights. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. The region was known to the Greeks as “Panion,” named after the Greek god Pan. The city was dedicated to Caesar Augustus and had a large temple dedicated to him where Caesar was acclaimed “Kaiser Kyrios” - Lord Caesar.
And so it’s fitting that Jesus should spring two big questions on His disciples. The first question is the question of popular opinion - Who do men say that I am? What’s the buzz on the street? What are people saying about me? Jesus asks them this not because He wants to know, but because He wants them to see and say the difference between the world’s perspective on Jesus and the disciples’ perspective. It’s the difference between faith and unbelief, between confessing Jesus and denying Him. It is ultimately the difference between life and death.
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Mark 1:9-15 / Lent 1B / 26 February 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
One can only imagine what was going through Father Abraham’s mind and heart that day he trudged up the mountain with a knife, wood, a fire, and his son Isaac, the son of the promise. One can only imagine the heartache, the grief, the anguish when he heard his son Isaac ask his father innocently, “Where is the lamb? Here is fire and wood but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham knew what God had said, he knew what he was prepared to do. And yet Abraham is faithful, full of faith, and says, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for burnt offering my son.” One can only imagine how those words must have rung in his ears with each step up the mountain. “God will provide. God will provide. God will provide.”
Mark 9:2-9 / Transfiguration B / 19 February 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
And Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God having come with power.” (Mark 9:1)
The some “some standing here” were Peter and James and John. Sorry, no Andrew. He got left out. Three is more symbolic than four, so three disciples it is. Not four and certainly not six. Seven would be the next acceptable number. Or all twelve, but one of them was rotten. Andrew and the others would see the kingdom of God having come with power in Jesus’ death and resurrection. But for now, here in what is almost the exact middle of Mark’s Gospel, it is given only to Peter and James and John to see this “sneak peek” of Jesus’ glory as the Son of God.
Mark 1:40-45 / Epiphany 6B / 12 February 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Leprosy was a dreaded disease. Don’t think necessarily of the specific disease we call “Hanson’s Disease” but it could be any of a family of skin diseases. Leprosy isolated people. It forced them to live in isolated colonies. It rendered them “unclean” and cut them off from access to the temple and their families and communities. The leper was forced to warn others who approached by shouting “Unclean, unclean” lest anyone come into contact. To touch a leper was to incur the same uncleanness. You would never think of touching a leper, which makes Jesus’ actions all the more remarkable.
Mark 1:29-39 / Epiphany 5A / 05 February 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Straight from the synagogue, Jesus returns to the house of Simon and Andrew, along with James and John. From demons to disease. And for Jesus they are the same thing. Simon’s mother-in-law is in bed with a fever. She hasn’t been feeling well of late. They told Jesus about her. Would you please look in on her? She’d like a visit.
Mark 1:21-28 / Epiphany 4B / 29 January 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers - it is to him you shall listen.” Deut. 18:15-20
Moses foretold the coming of Christ. Even before the Israelites set foot on the soil promised to Abraham, Moses spoke of a Coming One, a Prophet who would speak the Word as Moses had spoken. The people didn’t want to deal with God directly. They said, “We don’t want to hear the voice of the Lord anymore, or see this great fire. It’s killing us. You go, Moses. You talk to God and tell us what He said. We can’t take the sound of His voice anymore. It’s killing us.”
Mark 1:14-20 / Epiphany 3B / 21 January 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
A reluctant court prophet who gets swallowed by a very big fish. Eschatological urgency on the part of the apostle Paul. And four fishermen who are called by Jesus to become fishers of men. Today’s three readings are the homiletical equivalent of a basket of mystery ingredients on the Food Network show Chopped where contestants are given a basket of four unmatched ingredients like balsamic vinegar, limburger cheese, chocolate peanuts and cucumbers and are expected to create a palatable appetizer, main course, or dessert in 20 minutes. Hopefully, I won’t get “chopped” at the end of the hour.
John 1:43-51 / Epiphany 2B / 15 January 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
Today’s Gospel might very well be called “The Gospel for the Skeptic.” For that reason, it’s rather near and dear to my own heart. I tend to be a rather skeptical person. If you want to convince me of something, a logical argument with charts and graphs will go a lot further than an emotional narrative with a complicated plot line. I look at things analytically and scientifically; I appreciate hard data and sound analysis. I don’t readily attribute unexplainable events to devils, angels, or a miracle from God. I tend to think that when things go “bump” in the night, they are more likely to be the result of bad plumbing, a small earthquake, or a loose floor board than anything remotely supernatural.
Mark 1:4-11 / Baptism of Our Lord B / 08 January 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the Deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said....
Luke 2:21 / Name and Circumcision of Our Lord / 01 January 2012 / Holy Trinity - Hacienda Heights, CA
And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Luke 2:21
It’s one little verse in Luke. Easily overlooked in Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ birth and infancy. But the verse demonstrates Luke’s attention to detail. Up until this verse, he does not refer to Jesus by name. In Bethlehem’s manger he is simply a baby, a swaddled newborn with no name. When the shepherds visit, they don’t ask what most people ask when a child is born, “What’s his name?” He didn’t have a name a week ago, until today. Today He gets His name Jesus, and with His name He gets the mark of the covenant: circumcision.