Naming the Evil: February 23, 2025

 Year C, Epiphany 6                                    Genesis 45:3-11,15                                                                                                          

          I have three older brothers. The oldest is 13 years older than me, the youngest is 8 years older. We were on very different levels when I was young. They were always doing something interesting and I was talking to my dolls or trying to get someone to play with me.  Once when I was pretty young, they were trying to create booby traps in a wooded area near our house.  They dug a large hole and covered it with branches. I was looking for them and fell right into the hole.  They thought this was hilarious.  But when they were done laughing they pulled me out.  I wasn’t hurt, but it was mildly traumatic.

However, this can’t compare to what Joseph’s brothers did to him.  Joseph was one of the youngest in the family, a family of 12 boys. His father Jacob was not shy in showing that Joseph was the favorite, which caused resentment with his older brothers. To make things worse, Joseph was a little obnoxious.  He liked to tell his brothers about his dreams, dreams where they were bowing before him.  So they decided to get rid of him, which I think we can agree was a bit of an extreme way to handle an annoying younger sibling.

When they were very far from home, they decided to throw him in a deep pit and leave him there, with no water or food. This way no one could say that they actually killed him, because he could have possibly escaped.  While Joseph sat at the bottom of the pit, they took a break and had lunch.  Some traders came by on their way to Egypt and the brothers thought, hey we might as well make some money on this whole thing and sold their brother to the traders.  They went home and told their father that Joseph was killed by a wild animal. Now, I think we can all agree that these brothers were horrible and Joseph would have some good reasons to carry a grudge.

          There are a lot of things that happened to Joseph when he got to Egypt, but eventually he was given the opportunity to interpret the dreams of the pharaoh and he predicted a 7 year drought and famine that would be preceded by 7 years of plenty.  The pharaoh was so impressed by this prediction he put Joseph in charge of the land so that they would be prepared for the famine.  Joseph did a great job preparing for the famine and when we come to our reading for today, they were 2 years into the famine. 

People from all around were coming to Egypt to beg Joseph for food because Egypt had prepared (thanks to Joseph). That’s how Joseph’s brothers ended up appealing to Joseph.  At this point, it had been about 20 years since he had seen his brothers, which is at least one of the reasons why they didn’t recognize him until he told them who he was. 

          In our reading for today, we see this beautiful encounter between Joseph and his brothers.  While the word “forgiveness” is not used in this part of the story, Joseph’s words and actions demonstrated radical forgiveness to people who considered murdering him and then compromised by selling him into slavery. In our reading for today, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.” He then promised to provide for them and their families for the next 5 years of the famine. 

          It seems astounding, even divine. From what we can see his brothers have not apologized or given him any reason to provide for them after what they did. This seems to align with our Gospel reading where Jesus said, “Forgive and you will be forgiven.”  Jesus also told us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. Is this what that looks like? Did Joseph just provide forgiveness without asking anything from his brothers?

Remember there are 7 chapters before this dramatic moment.  This is a long story arc for the Bible.  The brothers first showed up 3 chapters before.  Joseph gave them food but not before he accused them of being spies. Then while they were not looking, he instructed his servants to put the money they used to buy the food back in their bags so he could accuse them of stealing.  He didn’t, but when they found the money upon their return home, you can imagine it made them a little anxious. 

The next time they came to Egypt, Joseph planted a silver cup in the youngest brother’s bag and then sent people after them to accuse them of stealing the cup.  He said that the youngest brother, Benjamin would have to be detained in Egypt.  The brothers knew this would kill their father, who had already lost one son. And Benjamin was the one brother who had not been part of the plot to kill Joseph. He was the only innocent one.  So an older brother, Judah, offered to stay and be a slave in place of him.  It was only then…when Joseph saw that they were willing to sacrifice themselves for the one innocent one, when he finally admitted who he was.

And notice how he introduces himself.  He doesn’t say, “It’s Joseph---your long lost brother.” He said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.”   He reminded them of what they had done.  He named the evil that they had perpetrated and then added that God had allowed good to come out of it.  He named the evil and also the redemption that God had made possible.  It was only then when they could start the process of reconciliation. And it was a process.  It wasn’t until their father Jacob had died that the brothers finally asked for Joseph’s forgiveness.

I think sometimes when we consider our faith, we think it should be easy.  We say, well Jesus told us to love our enemies, but that is totally unrealistic. We don’t need to even try.  Joseph gives us a model for loving those who hurt us…and he shows us it can be painful, gut wrenching. I don’t have definitive proof of this, but I am pretty sure that no one weeps as much as Joseph does, in the entire Bible.  Over the course of the story, he broke down weeping 7 times…and that was after seeing his brothers.  The author of Genesis doesn’t even mention him weeping when he was sold into slavery…only after being reunited with his family.  That was when the really hard work began.  Both sides had to do the work.  When Joseph’s father died, the brothers were terrified that Joseph would now punish them. They were incredibly aware of what they had done wrong, how it affected their father, and of course Joseph.  Love and reconciliation is hard work, for everyone.

Another thing I love about this story is that not only does it show what forgiveness can look like, it shows us what leadership and the proper use of power looks like.  Joseph saved a nation from starving by being a good steward. When people came to him begging for food, he didn’t make them grovel. He didn’t take more from them then he needed. He helped them. 

In a later chapter, there is a story of people having to sell their animals and their land to Joseph so they could have food. That meant that when the famine was over, they would have no way to provide for themselves.  Joseph bought the land, but told them that when the famine was over, they could keep 4/5 of the yield and share 1/5 with the pharaoh. 

Joseph did this because he knew that he had all this because of what God had given him, so of course he wasn’t going to hoard it all for the pharaoh.  We have all seen examples of how power and money can corrupt people, but this story shows us that it doesn’t have to be that way. There is always room for mercy and forgiveness. It might make things a little more difficult, but it’s worth it. It’s always worth it.

Woh!: February 16 2025

Year C, Epiphany 6                                           Luke 6:17-26                                                         

            Two weeks ago I preached about what it is to be blessed.  I was preaching on the Song of Simeon when Simeon blessed the baby Jesus and then proclaimed him to be a sign that would be opposed. It seems that with Jesus, blessing and opposition often go together. What it is to be blessed has become something that I am fairly passionate about because I feel the word and idea has been abused.  Part of the abuse and misrepresentation comes from social media, but some comes from a branch of Christianity that preaches the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel teaches that if you believe in God and are blessed, good things will come—God wants us to be prosperous.  Some of these preachers are very popular and very rich.  At their best, I find them to be more like self help gurus than Christian pastors.  At their worst, they are misleading people and sometimes taking their money. 

However, as I was working on this sermon, I realized that I had never actually listened to an entire prosperity gospel sermon.  I found one called, “You are blessed.”  Since I am so very open minded, I assumed I would be highly offended. But I have to admit, I didn’t dislike it as much as I thought I would.  His overall point was that no matter how bad things are, you are still blessed by God. You carry the blessing and that is not determined by outside events.  I was with him for the first 25 minutes and then he moved to his conclusion and promised that things would get better if you were blessed by God, you would get the promotion, your body would heal, your circumstances would change.

That is not what Jesus says in our Gospel for today.  Jesus never said that things would get better because you carry God’s blessing.  Jesus never said we would prosper because we had God’s blessings. I am sure we can all think of people who are devout Christians (some would call them blessed) whose life didn’t improve. Their illness got worse.  They never found a better job. They remained addicted to drugs or alcohol and never entered recovery.  How can that be if they were blessed? Does that mean that they weren’t actually blessed? Did it mean that God didn’t love them as much as the person who was doing great?

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke is referred to as the Sermon on the Plain, which just doesn’t have the same ring to it as the Sermon on the Mount which you find in the Gospel of Matthew.  In Matthew, Jesus delivers similar words about blessing from a high point.  High points were often associated with God.  That is why we have the phrase “mountain top experience.” 

The first line in our Gospel reading for today was Jesus coming down from the high point to be with the people.  He was not above them…he was with the people.  This is a really important theme in the Gospel of Luke—that Jesus wanted to be present with the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, those who were often ignored.

In Matthew, there is just a long list of blessings.  In Luke, there are four blessing verses and four woe verses. The first and last blessings are based not on future rewards or blessing, but on what is happening now. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” It doesn’t say, you will one day be in the kingdom of God and things will be much better then.  It says yours is the kingdom of God right now. 

“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven.”  Jesus says rejoice on that day, that day that you are reviled and hated.  It doesn’t say that you have to wait until heaven for your reward.  No, the fact that you are being defamed or insulted on account of the Son of Man is the blessing. That’s a hard one for me.  Does that mean we have to be ok with being insulted? Does this mean we have to be doormats? The key is---Jesus says on my account.  There have been a few times I have been insulted and excluded because of my faith, but it’s usually much more ordinary reasons.  What I have found is that when the exclusion or insult is because of my faith, it’s a lot easier to handle, because that is an area where I feel confidence.

Just this week our president issued an executive order to eradicate anti-Christian bias.  I have to admit, there was a part of me that felt a tiny bit good about that.  I am sick of churches being mocked, ignored or denigrated. But then I thought about this blessing that Jesus gave us. I think Jesus would say that if we are practicing our faith the way he wanted, there would always be a bias against us, especially from the elite and the powerful.  Remember, with blessing, comes opposition.

That becomes really clear when we read the woes.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.

‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

 The Gospel of Matthew doesn’t include the woes.  We don’t know why, but it’s probably because he was speaking to a different audience.  Or maybe he just conveniently missed that bit.  We don’t know.  Some people interpret the “woe” as “curse you” or “damn you.” They interpret it that way not because that is the right translation, but because that is what they consider the opposite of blessing.  Remember, being blessed doesn’t mean you are favored or even happy.  It’s being loved by God, being in relationship with God.

 The Gospels were written in Greek and the translation of woe should actually be “woh!” or “yikes.” It’s a word that was meant to say, “pay attention.”  If you are rich, or satiated, or carefree or beloved by all people, you need to be careful. Because when you have those things, it’s easy to assume that you got them because you deserve them.  We have all heard people say that they got where they are because they worked for it. I get it. I worked hard too. But I was also born in this country, to highly educated parents who loved me and supported me.  Some of it was hard work, much of it was just luck. 

When we think we deserve what we have, that we don’t need to rely on anyone but ourselves, then we forget how desperately we need God.  That is a dangerous place to be…much more dangerous than being criticized because we are preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  If we reframe how we perceive blessing---instead of being prosperous of favored, it’s being in right relationship with God—which means depending on God, showing gratitude for all God has given us.  If we can frame it that way, then the opposite would be when we put our faith in ourselves, or behave as though we have control or should have control. The prophet Jeremiah put it more starkly, “Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.”

That is what kind of bugs me about these prosperity Gospel preachers, the focus is on you being better and how God ass blessed you. It’s the individual and not the whole. And the more we focus on ourselves and bettering our circumstances, the easier it is to ignore the needs of the people around us. That is a woeful place to be. Blessed are those who weep---that is not saying that God wants us to be sad all the time, it’s a blessing for those who are weeping on behalf of the state of our world. If you are scared, anxious or depressed right now because of things that are happening, then you are blessed, because it means you still care.

There are times when we all need to be reminded that we are blessed by God, that we are beloved by God.  But there are also times when we have to be reminded to pay attention when we become too comfortable or too self satisfied.  Sometimes I need both those reminders at once. I hope that we can all remember that the Jesus who came down from his high place to be with his people is the same Jesus that we worship and the same Jesus that we try to emulate.

Blessed isn't always happy: Feb 2 2025

 Year C, The Presentation                                Luke 2:22-40                                                                        

                The summer after my senior year of college, I interned in a tiny town outside of Harrisburg.  The youth in this town were bored and one of the churches decided to bring in someone who would work with those youth just for the summer.  It was a good opportunity for someone like me, someone who was not sure if I wanted to work in the church or not.  However this was before cell phones were common and I didn’t know anyone in the town except the people who hired me and the youth I was working with. It was a lonely time in my life and I was depressed.  I was still Roman Catholic and so I went to a Bible study at the Catholic Church.  The priest was talking about the sermon on the mount, also called the Beatitudes. He said that being blessed is not the same as being happy.  At the time, that was a revelation to me.

          One need look no further than the version of the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke to prove this. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now for you will be filled.

‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.” Every time I see some social media post with a #blessed next to a picture of a beautiful family or an update on a major accomplishment or goal achieved, I want to post these words from Luke’s Gospel.  For Luke, being blessed had a lot more to do with being in relationship with God and finding hope in that relationship  than just having good things happen that you can brag about on social media.

          The Gospel reading for today tells the story of the Feast of the Presentation.  Jesus’ parents (Mary and Joseph) were observant Jews.   Thus, they followed the customs and laws of the Jewish faith.  One of those laws was presenting the child at the temple 40 days after the birth.  In that act, they were dedicating their son to God.  Of course, this was no average child. This was the Son of God.  Mary and Joseph knew that, but they still followed the laws of their faith. 

          When they entered the temple, they encountered a devout Jew by the name of Simeon.  We do not know much about Simeon, except that he was devout and righteous and led by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is mentioned three times in relation to Simeon.  He had been told that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.  He immediately recognized this infant as the Messiah. He was so moved, he made this beautiful speech which is known as the Song of Simeon or the Nunc Dimmittis. He essentially said that he could die now, because he had seen salvation. 

          You might think, well this should not have come as a shock to Mary and Joseph. They had heard all this before.  But according to this Gospel, Mary had heard very little. This is only chapter 2 of Luke.  At this point, Mary had been told by the Angel Gabriel that she would bear a son who would be the Son of God.  Mary’s conversation with Gabriel had been affirmed by her cousin Elizabeth when she met her.  Upon seeing Mary pregnant, Elizabeth greeted her as the Mother of the Lord.  Mary and Joseph also received additional news about their son from the shepherds who visited them right after she gave birth.  The shepherds told them that angels had appeared to them and told them this child would be the Messiah, the Lord. 

This was all Mary and Joseph had, a few short conversations that probably left them a little confused.  Then out of the blue comes this man who was a complete stranger but was able to shed more light on this tiny baby they held in their arms.  The text says that they were amazed by what Simeon said.  Then Simeon blessed the child and they probably thought that was the end of that interaction. 

Simeon had more to say: “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Can you imagine how the atmosphere must have changed with that one comment?  They received a beautiful blessing from this devout and inspired man and then he told them that their sweet little baby will be opposed and a sword would pierce their soul. Sometimes when I read that, I feel that sword.

          I want you all to try to picture something.  Think of the most wonderful thing that has happened or something you hope will happen. Maybe you just got some wonderful news—a baby was born, someone recovered from a horrible illness, the Eagles win the Superbowl.  Just think of something incredible…and then you hear that someone who you love will suffer, will suffer so much that you will feel like your soul is being pierced.  Try to wrap your mind around that. It would crushing.

          I just can’t get past the fact that Simeon would hold this child in his arms, bless him and then provide that very traumatic prediction.  If this was a normal couple, they could have walked away and said, “Well that guy was crazy.” But they knew that it all fit.  Nothing about their lives had been easy thus far.  Why would it be now?  For Mary and Joseph, the blessing came with opposition and heartache.

          Jesus would affirm this strange blessing decades later when he said, “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.”  I think many of us already know, that even the most blessed life can be full of opposition, pain, fear and death.  Hashtag blessings belong on social media, but not in our Christian faith. 

          A part of me says this with some trepidation because I think, why would anybody sign up for this?  Why be a Christian when it’s so damn hard?  Because of hope.  You see the other person in this story was named Anna.  She was 84 years old and had been living in that temple for most of her life.  She also recognized Jesus for who he was.  But the funny thing is, it doesn’t say that the Holy Spirit guided her like it did Simeon. It says, “At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” As soon as Simeon said that a sword would pierce the soul, Anna started praising God and reminded Mary and Joseph that this child would bring redemption. 

Hope always has the last word in our faith.  Hope swings in after the blow that brings us to our knees and says, “Redemption is near.”  Not only is redemption near, but Mary and Joseph held the child that would bring redemption. Salvation was that close to them.

Today we Christians also hold that blessing, the blessing that feels like a burden at times, but also brings redemption and salvation to world that is sick of empty promises and superficial blessings.  Will our message bring opposition? Yes it will and if it doesn’t, we might not be proclaiming the right message.  But the good news is this---hope always has the last word.  Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning.