Homily for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

For those of us who use the One-Year Lectionary according to Lutheran Service Book, today marked the Transfiguration of Our Lord and the conclusion of the Epiphany season. (Three-Year Lectionary folks in the Lutheran Church will celebrate this great feast in three weeks, and others in Christendom will celebrate it on August 6.) The Gospel reading from Matthew 17:1-9 gives so much on which to preach--the Lord's transfigured appearance; the "exodus" of Jesus' imminent suffering, death, and resurrection (cf. Luke 9); Peter's response; and the Father's voice from the cloud proclaiming Jesus His "beloved Son" with whom He is well please (a nice bookend to our Lord's Baptism in Matthew 3).

Today's homily focused on the "Glimpse of Glory" that our Lord gives us when He Himself is transfigured in brilliant, radiant glory. When we "see" Him transfigured in this Gospel account, we do get a foretaste - a glimpse - of the glory which He bestows on us purely by His grace and favor. Focusing on this "glimpse of glory" flows from the Collect of the Day in which we prayed, "Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King in His glory and bring us to the fullness of our inheritance in heaven."

Listen to the audio file of today's homily - "A Glimpse of Glory" - by clicking on this link and then downloading the audio file.

Homily for Epiphany 5

On this very rare occasion when we have a full compliment of Sundays after Epiphany, it was actually delightful to preach on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (tares) from Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. In keeping with Article VIII of the Augsburg Confession, our Lord does prepare us for and comfort us, as Church and in the spiritual realm, to deal with the very real presence of evil in the world and in the Church. With our Lord, the Sower, completely in control of His field (the world) and His crop of wheat (His Christians), it really is "Time to Do Nothing" - that is, we need not seek to eradicate evil but can learn to suffer hypocrites and the ungodly in the ranks of the Church. Oh, and be sure to listen for the "Gospel handle" on how "forgiveness" fits in with this parable! (An idea not original with me, but I'm glad I came across it.)

To listen, click on this link for "Time to Do Nothing," download the audio file, and listen away.

Homily for Epiphany 4

One of the great themes of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not only the forgiveness of our sins, but also the restoration of all creation. That focus comes out in the readings for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, especially Romans 8:18-23. When Jesus calms the storm, He reveals Himself as the Lord of creation and promises to restore it, along with us, on the Last Day.

This homily for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, on Gospel reading from Matthew 8:23-27, was delivered on 30 January 2011 with the title "Even the Winds and Sea Obey Him!"

Click on this link (or the title link), download the audio file, and hear the homily.

Homily for Epiphany 3

This homily for the Third Sunday after Epiphany was delivered on 23 January 2011, along with a focus on Pro-Life Sunday. The Lord Jesus reveals Himself as the Lord of Life when He touches the leper and speaks healing for the centurion's servant (Matthew 8:1-13). He is "Lord of Life in Deed and Word." What a great text to connect with the sanctity of human life in our day!

To hear the homily, click on this link, download the audio file listen.

Homilies-Long Overdue

I must apologize to all followers and regular readers for not posting in such a long time. I especially apologize to any and all who may listen to my homilies as posted here on this blog. But now, at long last, I'm finally getting caught up. So here are links to several homilies spanning from Advent through Christmas and now into the Epiphany season.

As usual, just click on the title (the link) for each homily listed below, download the audio file, and listen away.

Fourth Sunday in Advent (12/19/2010)
Text: Luke 1:39-56
Title: "Mercy Magnified"

The Nativity of our Lord, Christmas Eve (12/24/2010)
Text: Matthew 1:18-25
Title: "How to Receive the Infant Savior"

The Nativity of our Lord, Christmas Midnight (12/24/2010)
Text: Luke 2:1-20
Title: "Yes, Our God IS Small!"

St. Stephen, Martyr (12/26/2010)
Text: Acts 6:8-7:2a, 51-60
Title: "Merry Martyrdom!"








The Epiphany of our Lord (1/6/2011)
Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Title: "True Light Shining For You!"

Second Sunday after Epiphany (1/16/2011)
Text: John 2:1-11
Title: "God's Will for Empty Vessels"

Fatherly Wisdom-God in Human Flesh

More on the great feast of Epiphany, this time from Peter Chrysologus, Bishop of Ravenna:

In the mystery of our Lord's incarnation there were clear indications of his eternal Godhead. Yet the great events we celebrate today disclose and reveal in different ways the fact that God himself took a human body. Mortals, enshrouded always in darkness, must not be left in ignorance, and so be deprived of what they can understand and retain only by grace.

In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us. He therefore reveals himself in this way, in order that this great sacrament of his love may not be an occasion for us of great misunderstanding.

Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars.

Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, humankind in God, God in human flesh, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body. As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.

So the Gentiles, who were the last, become the first: the faith of the Magi is the first fruits of the belief of the Gentiles.

Today Christ enters the Jordan to wash away the sin of the world. John himself testifies that this is why he has come: "Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world." Today a servant lays his hand on the Lord, a man lays his hand on God, John lays his hand on Christ, not to forgive but to receive forgiveness.

Today, as the psalmist prophesied: "The voice of the Lord is heard above the waters." What does the voice say? "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."

Today the Holy Spirit hovers over the waters in the likeness of a dove. A dove announced to Noah that the flood had disappeared from the earth; so now a dove is to reveal that the world's shipwreck is at an end for ever. The sign is no longer an olive-shoot of the old stock: instead, the Spirit pours out on Christ's head the full richness of a new anointing by the Father, to fulfill what the psalmist had prophesied: "Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows." (Sermon 160; cited in Wright, Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church, 48-49)

No Mere Idea

Treasury of Daily Prayer is certainly a stellar resource for praying the Daily Offices with the Church, according to the liturgical year, using a standard lectionary, etc., and many of the devotional readings that I've seen thus far have been quite good. However, I must take issue with the little explanation of the Epiphany of Our Lord on page 1094. Here's what it says (see if you can spot the problem):

The feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord commemorates no event but presents an idea that assumes concrete form only through the facts of our Lord's life. The idea of Epiphany is that the Christ who was born in Bethlehem is recognized by the world as God. At Christmas, God appears as man, and at Epiphany, this man appears before the world as God. That Christ became man needed no proof. But that this man, this helpless child, is God needed proof. The manifestations of the Trinity, the signs and wonders performed by this man, and all His miracles have the purpose of proving to men that Jesus is God. Lately, especially in the Western Church, the story of the Magi has been associated with this feast day. As Gentiles who were brought to faith in Jesus Christ, the Magi represent all believers from the Gentile world.

Did you spot the problem? It's rather like that little story of a batch of brownies tainted by just a small amount of dog droppings. For the most part, the batch of brownies can be considered "good" in that it has the usual, tasty (and fattening) ingredients, but that little bit of doggie doo-doo taints the whole batch. Likewise here in this reading.

What is the problem? The notion that Epiphany "commemorates no event but presents an idea that assumes concrete form only through the facts of our Lord's life" (emphasis added). How utterly Platonic (from Plato the Greek philosopher who advocated the ideal over the more material)! What an open door to Gnostic tendencies that spurn the material world, created by God and good, and favor the speculative!

On Epiphany do we really set aside and celebrate this great feast day of the Church for "an idea," not an event, even if that "idea" "assumes concrete form"? I was under the impression that we have such ceremonies "for this reason alone, that the uneducated be taught what they need to know about Christ" (Augsburg Confession, XXIV:3; Concordia, p. 47).

No, I say drop the strange notion of presenting and commemorating "an idea" becoming concrete (Can you say, "Ugh, how philosophical!"?) and instead cling to the event that Epiphany does indeed celebrate: the Son of God in the flesh revealing Himself as the light and life of the world. We see this in the story of the Magi coming to worship the Infant Jesus. We also see it in our Lord approaching John the Baptist to be baptized and thus reveal Himself along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Yes, Virginia, these are events, not merely an idea.

Actually, we celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord by focusing on a Person--Jesus, the very Son of God made flesh, even as He's wearing diapers and nursing at His mother's breast. We celebrate His work of revealing Himself to the world, both by becoming flesh and then by showing Himself to the world, first to the Jews (e.g. presentation in the Temple), then to the Gentiles (e.g. the Magi).

Perhaps the underlying problem in this little reading on this Epiphany of Our Lord is that it sees Christmas and Epiphany as two separate events. Let's not tear asunder what God has joined together. Christmas and Epiphany are a package deal. Together they give us the God who took on flesh, the God who humbled Himself to become one of us, the God who reveals Himself as both God and Man, the God who restores us to life with Him. For that matter, also keep the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension in the package. After all, Epiphany doesn't mean anything with out "the rest of the story."

No, Epiphany is not about a mere idea, even if it somehow becomes concrete. Rather, Epiphany is about the very real, very flesh and blood Son of God and the very real event of Him manifesting Himself to us. Yes, Virginia, there is an Epiphany event.

Fatherly Wisdom-Eve of the Epiphany

As we shift gears from the Twelve Days of Christmas to celebrating the Epiphany of Our Lord, here's a little something from Leo the Great to pinpoint the cause of our joy and the "reason for the season," the Epiphany season that is:

The loving providence of God determined that in the last days he would aid the world, set on its course to destruction. He decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.

A promise had been made to the holy patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the seed of faith. His descendants are therefore compared with the array of the stars. the father of all nations was to hope not in an earthly progeny but in a progeny from above.

Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family of the patriarchs. Let the children of the promise now receive the blessing in the seed of Abraham. In the persons of the Magi let all people adore the Creator of the universe; let God be known, not in Judea only, but in the whole world, so that "his name may be great in all Israel."

Dear friends, now that we have received instruction in this revelation of God's grace, let us celebrate with spiritual joy the day of our first harvesting, of the first calling of the Gentiles. Let us give thanks to the merciful God, "who has made us worthy," in the words of the Apostle, "to share the position of the saints in light; who has rescued us from the power of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son." As Isaiah prophesied: "the people of the Gentiles, who sat in darkness, have seen a great light, and for those who dwelt in the region of the shadow of death a light has dawned." He spoke of them to the Lord: "The Gentiles, who do not know you, will invoke you, and the peoples, who knew you not, will take refuge in you." (Sermon 3 for Epiphany, 1-3; cited in Wright, Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church, 46-47)