Sunday, June 22, 2008

“A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master.” Matthew 10:24-25a

One of the great motifs of the Christian life is freedom. In Christ, we who were once bound as slaves to sin, death, and the devil have been set free. This is the good news! It’s tempting to think that such radical freedom means that our lives now have no masters except ourselves. That sounds pretty good on the surface, but it wouldn’t be good news. Imagine if you really held your fate in your hands. You might do well for a day or a week, but eventually the pressure of such freedom would make you crumble under its weight. After all, can you place the stars in the sky or keep gravity working? The good news is that while we have been set free from all that afflicts us we have also been given a new master. We who were once slaves to sin are now slaves to Christ. We who once sought to teach ourselves now learn at the knee of the blessed rabbi from Galilee. We have been set free and made equal, and that’s the key point. My freedom does not supercede yours but coexists with it under the one lordship of Jesus Christ. Exploring Christian freedom is a lifelong vocation and none of us ever quite gets the hang of it. But we are not on our own. The same teacher and master who set us free walks with us, graciously giving us all that we need so that we might be like him.

Monday, June 23, 2008

“For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:25

If you’re anything like me, you hate losing things. And if you’re anything like me, you have to suffer through it all the time. I’m always misplacing things. That’s why I try to be so hyper-organized. It’s the only way I know to compensate for my natural tendency to misplace things. It’s the only way I know to maintain some sort of control over my life. But when it comes to my relationship with God, this poses a problem. You see, the tighter I hang onto control in my life, the bigger the barrier I build between myself and God. The more closely I guard my life, the less room there is for Christ to enter in. That’s why Jesus commands his disciples to be losers, with a capital “L” pasted on our foreheads. In baptism, our lives were drowned. They’re down in the font somewhere, hidden underneath the blessed element of God’s waters. And there’s no getting them back. Well, at least not the way they were. When we climbed out of those waters, dripping with grace, we both lost and gained something. Our old selves are dead, lost. There’s no use looking for them. But also no reason, for in those waters God claimed control of our lives for himself, so that we can learn to live as the people he made us to be. I hate losing things, but I count this loss a blessing, for in losing myself I have found the Christ.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

“But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.’” Luke 1:13

Today is the celebration of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. It marks the day when Jesus’ cousin, John, was born. He came into the world to proclaim the one who would come after him, the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit for new life, whereas John baptized with water as a sign of repentance. You’ll note that this celebration comes exactly six months before Christmas Eve. For Christians in the Northern Hemisphere, these two dates are deeply symbolic. John said that he must decrease as Jesus increased. John was born as the days are longest, after which they steadily decrease as winter comes on. Jesus was born during the dark days of the year, after which more light comes into each day. We are halfway through the year, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Eve. And here in the middle, John the Baptist comes to us again to prepare the way of his cousin, our Lord. John’s birth is miraculous as well, coming to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age, even as Jesus comes to Mary and Joseph in their youth. John reminds us of the remarkable ways in which God works his will in the world. It is always surprising, always unexpected, always full of grace. We turn now and head toward Christmas once again, and with it, the miracle of life.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

“For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” Romans 3:28

In 1530, on this day in June, the German and Latin editions of the Augsburg Confession were presented to Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire. Although Martin Luther was obviously the driving figure in the Reformation, it actually was his associate, Philip Melanchthon, who penned the Augsburg Confession and the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, both included in The Book of Concord as the foundational theological statements of the Lutheran Reformation. Melanchthon came to the University of Wittenberg as its first professor of Greek; it was in Wittenberg that he befriended Luther. Melanchthon was a popular professor – even his classes at 6 a.m. were attended by as many as 600 students! He was a strong advocate for education, and became know as “the teacher of Germany.” As a reformer, he was known for his conciliatory spirit while still standing strong on Reformation principles. Although Melanchthon was never ordained, he left an indelible stamp on church history, helping shape our Lutheran congregations to this day as places where the gospel is preached in its purity and where people can come together to learn God’s promises for their lives, that we are all justified by faith for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

“And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29

Our verse for today comes from one of the most powerful passages in the Scriptures. This section of Paul’s letter to the Galatians that straddles the third and fourth chapters provides amazing insight into what it means to be free in Jesus Christ. Contrary to the myth we hold so dear, freedom is not the power of unlimited choice. Think about it. How much time do you spend making choices? Will you get cable or satellite television? Which of the 16 movies playing at the theater will you see? Even looking in my closet every morning I feel the oppression of owning too many clothes. Which will I wear that day? No, true freedom is not the same thing as unlimited choice. True freedom is the possibility of grounding ourselves in reality. Reality is truth; truth is God. Therefore, to be free is the possibility of existing in relationship with the one who is the way, the truth, and the life. In his death and resurrection, Jesus has made this reality possible; no, not just possible, but actually accomplished. We are his. Whatever choices we struggle with, we need no longer struggle with our destiny, with the weighty matter of whose we are. We belong to Christ, free to be people of God’s amazing promise.

Friday, June 27, 2008

“All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’” Matthew 1:22-23

Today the church remembers one of its most important - and most contentious - theologians. St. Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, lived from A.D. 376-444. These years coincided with some of the most formative debates surrounding Christology and trinitarian theology, yielding the current dogmatic formulations we find in the three ecumenical creeds. Cyril defended and better defined orthodox teachings regarding the person of Jesus Christ, specifically in response to the teachings of Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople. Nestorius taught that while Jesus was both human and divine, these two natures were entirely separate and distinct from one another. Therefore, Nestorius’s argument went, Mary could not be referred to as the theotokos, or bearer of God. Cyril responded with the simple logical argument that if the two natures of Christ yielded two persons, then Jesus would have suffered from something resembling split personality disorder, with two people trapped in one body. Thus, while Christ has a fully human and a fully divine nature, they had to be combined in one person. Thus, it was entirely appropriate to refer to Mary as the theotokos. Although this certainly may seem just a little bit esoteric, the implications are wide ranging, and have been endorsed by the church universal ever since. Cyril knew the importance of Matthew’s words that Jesus Christ, the little baby born to Mary, was nothing less than Emmanuel, God is with us. In his unique person and presence alone do we find God in our midst.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

“And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.” 1 Peter 5:4

The crown of glory that comes through the victory of Jesus, our chief shepherd, is the gift that awaits each of us in our life with God beyond the grave. It is the promise of this kingly gift that offers sustenance in the journey of life – which is why the church must always seek to guarantee this promise to all people. Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons at the close of the 2^nd century, is remembered for advocating just such a position, offering graceful openness with the gifts of the gospel. He maintained that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were the truest, fullest accounts of the life of Jesus because they each show Jesus as the grace of God poured out for all people. For this reason, he battled against Gnosticism, or the idea that believers must attain greater and greater heights of “secret knowledge” in order to be saved. These Gnostic beliefs have never faded – one need look no further than the recent Da Vinci Code phenomenon, a phenomenon that thankfully is beginning to wane. While Dan Brown’s book may be an enjoyable read, Irenaeus knew that the gospel must be spread to all without regard to circumstance, nationality, or intellect. This is the example we must follow today, offering grace and peace in God to all people. And in doing so, we find and receive grace for ourselves for those many times of life when we are unable to have knowledge of why certain things happen. We should always seek greater and greater knowledge and understanding of our faith, but the wonderful grace of Christ Jesus is that we are claimed and accepted by God regardless of our own efforts.

Devotions – Year Five – Week Twenty-five

Pastor Dave Lyle