Good News & Bad News
January 25, 2009
Gospel: Mark 1:14-20
A doctor tells his patient, “I have good news and bad news.” The patient says, “Give me the good news first.” The doctor says, “The good news is that you have 24 hours to live.” The patient says, “That’s the good news! What’s the bad news?” The doctor says, “I forgot to tell you yesterday.”
Our readings today are about bad news and good news. The prophet Jonah, like many Old Testament prophets, was often a bearer of bad news. God sent him to Nineveh to tell the people that God was angry with them and was going to wipe them out.
Jonah was concerned more with his own skin than he was with the people of Nineveh. He was afraid of what the evil Ninevites might do to him as he walked through the city telling them that they were going to be destroyed in forty days. Besides - why bother warning them in the first place? Prophets had long thought that it was time for the Ninevites to get what was coming to them.
However, the people responded in an unexpected way. They repented - and went into mourning and fasting for their sinfulness. They turned from their evil ways - and God relented. The city - and all its inhabitants - were saved.
Jonah delivered bad news – but with a good result. You would think he would be elated that the people had heeded his warning and turned to God. However, if we read what comes after this passage we learn that Jonah became very angry with God. He felt that God had played him for a fool.
Here he is, telling the people that their city is going to be destroyed – and it does not happen. So he asks God to take his life - because no one is ever going to pay attention to any of his warnings again. Unfortunately, Jonah felt that his reputation as a prophet was more important than the results.
In contrast, Jesus brings good news: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” That is what the word gospel means – good news.
The news was good enough for Andrew and Simon to abandon their nets and follow him. They had just cast their nets into the sea and hoped to pull them out loaded with fish. This was their livelihood – this was how they supported themselves – and their families. But, when Jesus walked by - and called them to become “fishers of men” - they left everything behind - and followed him.
Likewise, James and John were helping their father mend their nets. When Jesus called them, they dropped everything to follow him. They left their father standing there – I am sure with his mouth open saying “What just happened?”
What was it that caused these men to leave business and family behind and follow this itinerant rabbi? Was it the man - or was it the message?
I think it was both. The message was clear and unambiguous: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” This is a moment unique in the history of humankind – come with me and be a part of it. But, what made the moment unique was the messenger.
Last week we heard Andrew tell his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah!” He recognized – from the very beginning – that this was not just another prophet. This is the anointed one of God.
Do we realize how often God is revealed to us – or do we take those revelations for granted? Do we appreciate our encounter with God each time we participate in the sacrament of the Eucharist? Do we value this hour that we spend with God – in the company of other believers – as the most important hour we will spend this week? More important even than the quality time we spend with family and friends is the quality time we spend with God.
When they chose to leave their old lives behind and follow Jesus, those first disciples did not abandon their families. They united them with what would become an even greater family – the church. They may not have understood it yet – but they would come to realize that no relationship is greater than the relationship we have with God. Our connection with God strengthens all others – especially within our families.
“The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” This is very good news – if we respond to God’s call; if we embrace our calling and try to live as God’s disciples; if we follow the two great commandments to love God and one another; if we seek God’s forgiveness for the ways we have fallen short; if we praise God for his faithfulness - and thank God for the blessing of being his children.
We call our community Emmanuel – which means God is with us. God is with us - here, now and always – and that, my friends, is very good news indeed.
Searching for a Palace
January 4, 2009
Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
This is one of our favorite Christmas stories. We call it the story of the “Three Kings,” but we do not know how many there were. Matthew does not tell us - nor does he say they were kings. He calls them Magi, which means wise men.
Whoever they were – and whatever their number - they came to King Herod seeking the newborn king of the Jews. They told him they had “observed his star at its rising and came to pay him homage.” They thought the future king they had come to worship was Herod’s child - but Herod did not have a newborn son – and had no idea what these men were talking about. He did know that any child thought to be king of the Jews was a threat.
Some say that Herod was paranoid – but it is not paranoia when people are really out to get you – and there were plenty out to get Herod. Palace coups take place all the time – especially when the ruler is as cruel as he was.
Herod told the wise men to continue their search for the child and to let him know when they found him, “so that I too may also go and pay him homage.” Of course, he did not intend to do that. He wanted the child killed.
The wise men left Herod’s palace and followed the star “until it stopped over the place where the child was.” What kind of place was that? It was probably not a stable. Matthew says it was a house – and it may have not have been in Bethlehem. The wise men’s journey from the east would have taken more than the twelve days we attribute to it – it may have been as long as two years. By the time the magi arrived, the Holy Family may have been a nice rental unit in Bethlehem, or they had returned home to Nazareth.
The wise men finally found the child they were seeking – but it was not in the palace of Herod the King – nor in any other palace or grand house. They found him in the modest home of Joseph, the carpenter, and his young wife, Mary.
I wonder if the wise men were disappointed when the star came to rest over this simple dwelling. Did they question whether this could really be the home of a king?
Throughout our lives, we all follow stars in the hope that they will lead us to a palace – but more often than not, they come to rest over a more modest place. Many start out in their 20’s expecting to set the world on fire – only to realize by the time they are fifty that their star may never lead them to a palace. Marriages start with great expectations that are sometimes shattered when husband, wife, or both fail to realize that a successful marriage takes commitment and effort.
Even those whose star does lead to a palace often realize that material success is not all that it is cracked up to be. An economist, who must have also been something of a philosopher, once wrote: “It’s great to have two cars and a swimming pool. But, there are disappointments. After you have made some money and acquired some things, and after the initial excitement has passed, life goes on, just as bewildering as it always was, and the great problems of life and death once again come to the fore. We re-emerge from our love affair with goods and know that consumption isn’t the answer, and we ask ourselves what is.”
What can we do when our star disappoints us – when it comes to rest over a place less grand than what we feel we deserve? We can do what is common today and blame everyone but ourselves for our condition – and then expect someone to bail us out. We can blame God for abandoning us – and begin to follow false prophets who will promise the world – and lead us nowhere.
Or, we can learn from the wise men, who came seeking the Christ child. They could have said, “This can’t be the place” and continued on a fruitless search for a palace befitting a king. Instead, Matthew tells us “When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.”
They understood that God had directed them – and they were willing to assume that God knew what he was doing. They were joyful because they trusted that God had led them – not to the place they expected – but to the place they were meant to be.
Many will face grave difficulties in this new year. Many stars we follow will stop over places we may not expect.
If your star does not lead you to a palace try to take close look at the place where it does lead you. It may not be where you set out to go - but you may still find good things there
The wise men entered the house where the star stopped – and knelt before the Christ-child. They worshipped him, offered him gifts - and were overwhelmed with joy.
We too must follow his star. We must kneel before Christ and give him our gifts of love and service to God and neighbor.
In return, He will bless us and give us – not always what we want – but always what we need. It may not be a palace but it will be a place where – even in the midst of hardship – we can find joy.