Sermon notes from June 12, 2016, by guest preacher and presider, The Rev'd Dan Phannenhour.
Galatians 2:20 “And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.”
- because I am a Lutheran pastor
- and I am here with you in an Anglican parish today
- and because our two church bodies have managed to negotiate an agreement on full communion that makes such arrangements possible
- I thought that,
- for my homily today,
- I would treat you all to a short introduction to Lutheran theology,
- not in any attempt to try to turn some or all of you into Lutherans
- because, believe me,
- there are many days when I think that the last the world needs is more Lutherans
- earlier this week I was speaking with the captain of a Dutch tanker who is married to a Hungarian Lutheran pastor
- the only thing I could in that circumstance was to offer him my condolences
- I thought some of you might be interested in knowing what Lutherans are all about
- the first thing to know about Lutherans
- is that our church started at the beginning of the Reformation,
- at about the same time that the technology of the printing press was being developed
- so that Lutherans have always been big on books
- I brought along with me today, then,
- some books that would serve as a basic reading course on the Lutheran faith
- I start first, with the Bible, the foundation of all Christian doctrine
- then there is the Augsburg Confession, the charter of Lutheranism
- Luther’s Small Catechism, a concise outline of Luther’s ideas
- the book of Concord, containing these and other important Lutheran documents
- Braaten and Jesen’s Christian Dogmatics at 1156 pages, some light bedtime reading
- you may also want to consult a biography of Luther, or if you are really ambitious, the 52 volumes of his complete works
-for a modern perspective you would want to throw in a little Bonhoeffer, some Tillich, and Dorothee Solle to counteract the overwhelming male perspective
- and after you had read all of these books, you would be older than when you started
- you might even be able to take a Master’s Degree from the Seminary
- but you would not yet have gotten to the essence of the Lutheran expression of the Christian faith
- because faith is much more than what our theologians write about in books
- faith is more than what we say we believe
-faith is what we do with our lives
-faith is a way of living
- if you want to know the Lutheran approach to the Christian faith, you can’t just read the books, you have to see how we live it
- faith, if it is genuine, will be at work in people’s daily lives
- that is what St. Paul is trying to explain to the Christians in Galatia in our second lesson for today
- he is trying to get them to see that faith is not a disembodied set of religious principles to which we are asked to give our intellectual assent
- faith is not simply saying “I can believe that”
- faith is the process of living into the grace that God has given to us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
- faith is living the resurrected new life that we have been given in Christ, complete with its whole new range of possibilities for seeking to fulfill God’s purposes in our lives
- faith is not what we believe in our heads or say with our lips
- faith is what we live in our bodies
- it is the practice of living into the love and forgiveness that God offers to us and to the whole world
- faith is the way in which we make God’s love for the whole world real and visible in our lives
- faith is what we do in our flesh in the midst of everyday life
- practicality then is the true measure of faith
- many people, including the leadership of the early Christian communities could not accept what Paul was proclaiming
- “look,” they said “if you insist on the supremacy of grace, you are going to negate our entire moral order
- the danger in proclaiming God’s forgiveness for all sin is that people are going to feel free to do whatever they please
- they are going to engage in all kinds of immoral behaviour
- after all, people only do what is right if they face a legitimate fear of being punished when they do wrong
- if we replace punishment with the Gospel,
- the good news of God’s forgiveness,
- everyone is going to feel free to indulge their most extravagant appetites without fear of divine retribution”
- and sadly,
-within the Christian community of Paul’s time,
- some people were proving the accuracy of the fears of Paul’s opponents
- they were using the insurance blanket of the Gospel as an excuse to engage in all kinds of immoral behaviour
- likewise, when Luther insisted on the pre-eminence of the Gospel over the medieval system of sacramental morality,
- he found that people were, again, using the Gospel as a source of permission to engage in questionable behaviour
- “they live like pigs,” he said of the Saxons
- he didn’t think much of the Saxons
- “they use the Gospel as a license for their own liberty and immortality”
- both Paul and Luther realized that faith,
- divorced from the practicalities of life,
- can become diabolical
- such faith ends up destroying life,
- rather than building it up
- we are saved by God’s grace,
- not to follow our own desires without worrying about the consequences
- but to pursue any and all opportunities to enhance the life of the community and all creation
- by living God’s grace into the world,
- through our flesh,
- in the context of our daily lives,
- true faith puts our flesh and blood on God’s love for the world
- that’s why St. Paul said to the Galatians
- “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.
- the life I now live in my body I live by believing in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me”
- St. Paul knew that faith is not something to be talked about or written about in books
- faith is lived in the body
- it is our physical participation in the resurrection that takes on the flesh and blood practicality of everyday life
- the Christian faith is most fully proclaimed and expounded, not in the eloquent writings of our sharpest minds
- but in our humblest acts of kindness
- in the cup of cold water
- in a kind comforting word
- in a thoughtful gesture
- in food for the hungry
- in solace to the sick and bereaved
- these acts of kindness, of course,
-are not restricted to religious activities within the confines of the church property
- we live out our faith
- not just by going to church
- we live it in our homes
- in our offices
- in our workshops
- in our factories
- in our schools
- and yes, even in our government
- the Christian faith is meant to be lived by all Christians in every aspect of life
- we are called, not to read books, or to believe correct doctrines, or to think proper thoughts
- we are called to live faith in our bodies and in our lives
- so that God’s love in Jesus Christ can be made known to all the world
- we are called to a faith that seeks to comfort the sick and distressed
- a faith that seeks justice for the poor and oppressed
- that offers hospitality to strangers
- that extends kindness in times of hatred
- courage in times of fear and defensiveness
- and peace in times of conflict and strife
- we are called to a faith that brings the Gospel to life
- in the life we live in our bodies
- following the example of Jesus
- we are called to embody God’s love in our flesh and blood
- so that the entire world may see and know that it is dearly loved
- by no less than the Lord of Life and the source of all existence
- and in this love,
- come to live out the true purpose of all life in fulfillment of God’s divine purpose for this network of mutually dependent life that we call creation
- may our faith be so true, so genuine, and so practical
- that God’s love and glory can shine through Lutherans, Anglicans, and all Christians
- so as to enliven the whole world
- with a taste of the grace and peace,
- that is the shalom of heaven’s eternity
- right here in the midst of this our earthly existence
AMEN
Sermon notes from June 5, 2016, by guest preacher and presider, The Rev'd Dan Phannenhour.
Galatians 1.14 “I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.”
-has something like this ever happened to you?
-several weeks ago, I was preaching and leading worship at Holy Spirit of Peace Anglican/Lutheran church in Mississauga,
-and I noticed a woman in the congregation that I thought I recognized,
-but I could not recall either her name, nor the context in which I knew her
-after the service she greeted me and introduced herself
-and only then did I recognize her as Gloria
-who had been the administrative assistant in the Pastoral Care Department of the Mississauga Hospital for many years
-it turns out that our capacity for facial recognition is highly dependent upon context
-we recognize more readily people, like family and friends whom we encounter often across a variety of contexts
-we struggle, however, to recognize those people whom we usually encounter in only one context when we meet them outside of that usual context
-in such cases we usually ask the often repeated question,
-“From where do I know you?”
-we search for context in our desire to perceive recognition
-because recognition,
-particularly facial recognition relies heavily upon context
-in our Second Reading for today, we hear St. Paul making his case before the new Christians of Galatia, a region in today’s central Turkey,
-against some people who are claiming that God employs a similar reliance upon context in recognizing the faith response of people to the salvation offered in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
-God, these people say,
-depends upon context
-not for face recognition
-but for faith recognition of those people who have come to believe in the gift of salvation from sin given to them in the death and resurrection of Jesus
-and the context upon which God relies exclusively for this faith recognition is the history, heritage, and relationship that God has with the people of Israel
-now, these people are not saying that God hates Gentiles
-or that God does not care about anyone who is not Jewish
-but when it comes to the relationship of covenant and faith,
-Israel is the first and only people with whom God has made a covenant
-the Jew’s are God’s chosen people,
-set aside, for better, and for worse at times,
-to embody the presence of God’s care, concern, and justice in the world
-God sustains all of life
-but Israel enjoys God’s particular favour
-God is deeply invested in the life of Israel so that it might embody God’s identity within its life as a community
-no matter how disobedient, disloyal, and unfaithful to God’s ways Israel has proved itself to be in the past,
-God’s covenant has never been superseded or revoked
-God’s recognition of people as people of faith
-can only happen, these people argue,
-within the context of God’s covenant with Israel
-God’s capacity for faith recognition is set permanently within the context of God’s covenant with Israel
-that is why, these people claim,
-in order for people to come to faith in the saving grace of God revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus,
-in particular, the large number of Gentiles, who are now becoming Christians
-they must also become Jewish
-if not by blood
-then, at least, by practice and observance
-their faith in Christ can only be completed and attain its highest fulfillment
-if they are also circumcised into the covenant of Israel
-as a physical symbol of their commitment to keeping the laws and traditions
-through which God is revealed to the world
-the faith of those baptized into Christ can only be completed and fulfilled
-by their circumcision into the life and covenant of Israel
-because God recognizes no other commitment of faith
-these ancient arguments may appear to be obscure and irrelevant to us post-modern people in our social context of interfaith tolerance and harmony,
-but how often do we find ourselves operating under the assumption
-that our own traditions as well as our cultural and theological structures represent the culmination and completion of faith?
-or in the words of the bumper sticker that my daughter once placed upon our van
-Jesus loves you
-but I’m his favourite
-those other churches and denominations may make some good points from time to time
-but their witness is compromised by their limited perspective and prejudice
-at best they embody only part of the true faith
-if you want the real deal,
-the whole story,
-the complete package
-you can only find it in the Church of England with its continuity of history and its embrace of so many different perspectives within the unity of one communion
-or is it the Lutheran church with its well developed theology, its Bach chorales, and its covered dish suppers?
-actually, every denomination has a tendency to think of its context as the completion of faith
-you can be a faithful Christian in almost any church
-but the context in which God’s grace finds its fullest response in faith is most obviously the Anglican one
-God’s faith recognition is most fully attuned to the Anglican context
-in a way, we have to believe that about ourselves
-otherwise we would end up like the Unitarians who became Jehovah’s Witnesses and went door to door for no particular reason
-if we were to take a survey among Christians,
-most would agree with Paul’s opponents who were saying that the Gospel is dependent upon the context in which it is believed
-God cannot offer salvation to people
-unless they put themselves into the context in which God can recognize them as God’s people of faith
-that context could be Jewish, or Anglican, or Lutheran, or Catholic, or Unitarian
-but unless it conforms to the proper context,
-their faith is partial, incomplete, and lacking in the fulfillment of God’s recognition
-the Apostle Paul, however, takes issue with this perspective on faith and salvation
-if Jesus’ death and resurrection can only save those people who are already in a covenant of salvation,
-then God’s grace is robbed of its power to save
-if the resurrection only applies to those who are already in a context of redemptive love,
-then it becomes redundant
-in fact, says St. Paul,
-God’s grace and salvation, revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus,
-is most fully extended to those who are outside of any context
-the grace of Jesus Christ has the power to reconcile any and all believers to the reality of God’s presence in the world
-whether those believers happen to be in a Jewish context or not
-there is nothing half-way or incomplete in the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection
-it does not need to be supplemented by any pre-existing context in order for it to be fulfilled
-it is already fulfilled in the lives of everyone who lives toward their salvation in its faith
-God recognizes the faith of all who believe in God’s Son because God was fully present in the life, death, and resurrection of that Son
-Christians do not have to become Jews in order to be recognized by God as people of faith
-the baptized do not have to be circumcised in order to fulfill their faith by becoming Jews
-that does not mean that God has abandoned the Jewish people and their context
-the covenant extends as far back as time itself
-and will continue into the future beyond what anyone can imagine
-God loves Israel with a deep and abiding love
-Jesus was a Jew whose ministry was conducted primarily within a Jewish context
-but God and Jesus are bigger than Israel
-God’s capacity for faith recognition is not restricted to one particular context
-the Gospel is in no need of supplementation or completion by subjecting it to another context
-it offers the caring presence of God in its entire fulfillment
-“I held nothing back in my preaching,” declares St. Paul
-I did not offer you a partial package so that someone else might come along later and complete the process
-when it comes to religion, says Paul,
-you know me as an all-in or nothing kind of guy
-I held nothing back of what was revealed to me
-I made no adaptations for your context in hopes that you might submit to another context later
-I gave you everything that God gave to me
-and the Gospel that I proclaimed is full and sufficient
-it needs no supplementation or completion
-it is complete within itself
-it creates its own context because it comes directly from the Being of God
-there is no Jewish way to Jesus
-there is no Lutheran, or Anglican, or any other way to Jesus
-there is only one way to Jesus
-the way of the cross
-the way of giving life in order to fulfill life
-this context of love, sacrifice, and compassion is the context of faith recognized by God among all people
-if these words of St. Paul do not challenge us in our ministry today,
-they should
-how much anxious energy do we spend trying to preserve the context of our institutional and cultural life?
-we struggle to preserve this context in which we have come to recognize each other
-because we believe that it is the only context in which God would recognize our faith
-and yet God’s grace creates faith within every context
-our call
-is to be flexible enough to recognize, respond, and align ourselves with whatever God’s grace is doing in the world
-we may not be able to imagine God’s grace extending beyond the context that we know
-but we know that we are part of God’s mission
-that brings salvation through the cross of Christ to people in every culture and context
-and our goal is to nurture the context of grace as it emerges around and among us
-we may not understand it at times,
-but we remain open to its possibilities and opportunities
-because, in this context of grace, God recognizes us as God’s people of faith
-and we pray, like Paul,
-that people will give glory to God because of what is happening in our lives and in our world
-as we embody God’s love
-making it known in every context of God’s choosing
-so that all life may be redeemed to abundant and eternal life in Christ. Amen.
