Deus Misereatur

  In last week’s letter I began talking about joy, drawing from Psalm 43:4, “ to God my exceeding joy ” (Psalm 43:4). That then led us to Augustine and his prayer in his “Confessions”. After I wrote that last week, I began thinking: Since God himself is that joy itself, then how do we enter into the solidarity of that joy? The answer is that having the joy that is God himself, comes from God. As Paul declared when talking about laying down our rights for the good of one another, “ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit ” (Romans 14:17). The kingdom of God is not about us flaunting our expressive individualism, asserting our prejudiced self-priorities – “ eating and drinking. ” Rather, the reign of God is exhibited, displayed, experienced, and made clear by three virtuous qualities: righteousness, peace and “ joy IN the Holy Spirit .” The location or address of joy is the Holy Spirit himself (thus th...

  Joy is a word that shows up repeatedly in Advent and Christmas. Some think it’s simply happiness. Others assume it means pleasure. A few might even consider it to imply amusement. But real joy seems to come from a deeper place than peppy surface emotions. As one of the Psalm writers describes it, “ to God my exceeding joy ” (Psalm 43:4). And that writer didn’t scribble those words flippantly. He was in a very dark place, a distant land, a far-off spot longing for “ God my exceeding joy .” [1]   Augustine gets at the same point in his Confessions . I have pondered these words during dismal and dreary times, as well as happier seasons. I have quoted them in numerous sermons at Heritage over the last 13 years, and will likely do so until the end of my days. And as we move through Advent to Christmas, it just seems fitting to hear from Augustine about joy, once more: “There is a joy which is not given to the ungodly, but to those who love you for your own sake, whose joy y...

  (This is from my letter to my congregation today, 22 December 2021) As I mentioned last week, the Sunday evening sermon series will be on Nehemiah, and I’m calling it “ Rebuilding after a Hot Mess: Seeking the Welfare of God’s People .” Therefore, I’m already diving into Nehemiah and spending lots of time with him. And reading Nehemiah during Advent has made an interesting connection that I’m sharing with you.   The memoirs of Nehemiah are full of accounts of trouble. There’s trouble from outside the church, stirred up by fellows like Sanballat and Tobiah (2:9-10; chapters 4 and 6; 13:4-9). And there’s a heap of trouble inside the church with economic injustice and gracelessness (Chapter 5), talking heads (prophets) who foment fear and encourage Nehemiah to make bad decisions based on fear (6:10-14), and a compromising leadership (6:15-19; 13:4-9 and 29). God’s people have come out of a hot mess (captivity and exile) and are in another hot mess!   And Nehemiah meets...

{Here is the manuscript from the last sermon in the series. The audio file is here . Freely spread around as you see fit. Mike} --- Do You See what I See? Pt 4: Matthew 2.13-23 Do you ever find it interesting when someone tells a story the things they leave out? Most retellings of the so-called “Christmas Story” include the wise men – even though they really don’t arrive for almost 2 years after the birth. But most retellings end there. Yet this episode, which on a rare occasion or two is recited, ought to be included in the story. It’s the darker side – just like at communion, when Paul says, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed   took bread, etc.” (1 Corinthians 11.23). We don’t like rehearsing the darker, drearier side because it brings us down. But as Christians we, of all people, ought to be more daring, real, and courageous than our neighbors. Bringing out the dark side can be a blessing to peop...

{This is the third in a series of four. The audio file can be found here . Spread the word. Mike} ---- Do You See what I See? Pt 3: Matthew 2.1-12 What do you do with Jesus? Some folks sequester him off to some holding cell and lock him up out of sight. Some sell him off because he’s profitable for business. Some try to remake him into their own image. Some don’t bother with him at all until Christmas and maybe Easter, and only if it’s convenient; and then quickly pack him away with the decorations to keep him safely under wraps. Part of the emphasis of this passage is to dare us to ask ourselves: What do I do with Jesus? It helps us to answer that question by showing us connections and then contrasts . Connections : There is a double connection, one from inside this Gospel account and one that draws from outside; and both connections end up parking at the same house. Inside: First we hear the wise men ask in 2.2 “ Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? ” – Jesu...

{The following was presented at Heritage Presbyterian Church, 8 December 2013. You can access the audio file here . Mike} Do You See what I See? Pt 2: Matthew 1.18-25 The Impossibility of this seems pretty clear. It doesn’t even cross Joseph’s mind. It takes an act of God’s intervention to get him to conceive the thought. He knows how babies are made, for goodness sake. & then, even St. Matthew doesn’t offer any empirical, scientifically verifiable proofs. He only makes the assertion, to let it shock or stick where it will. You see, the idea that a virgin conceived a child is pretty outlandish. & yet, there is this other, impossible thing that happens at the far side of the story – resurrection. They are woven into the same narrative fabric. They stand or fall together . If you won’t have the one, you won’t be having the other. But Matthew does offer one proof, for those who will be having it: The Prophecy .  Isaiah 7.10-17 (p.572) – Ahaz is destroying the Davidic ...

{I love the Reformational-Biblical texture of the Book of Common Prayer. If you follow the church calendar you will enjoy this. And if you don't, I still think you will be edified by the Scripture readings, Psalm selections, Prayers and meditations. Mike} The Second Sunday in Advent. Psalm 120 Ad Dominum WHEN I was in trouble I called upon the Lord : and he heard me. 2. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips : and from a deceitful tongue. 3. What reward shall be given or done unto thee, thou false tongue : even mighty and sharp arrows, with hot burning coals. 4. Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech : and to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar. 5. My soul hath long dwelt among them : that are enemies unto peace. 6. I labour for peace, but when I speak unto them thereof : they make them ready to battle. The Collect. BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may ...

{This was the first of a four-part series I began on 1 December 2013. The audio file can be found here } Do You See what I See? Pt 1 Matthew 1.18-21 Let me play the devil’s advocate for a moment, or to put it better, let me ask questions that I think some folks must be asking every time they “hear” what is commonly called the “the Christmas story”: And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Mt. 1.21 Why? Why is his name to be Yah Saves or Yah Delivers ? Why do people need some god to “save” them? Okay, so the Angel says it’s because He will save His people from their sins . Nice, right? But, why is it that he comes to save only His People and not everybody in the whole world? And why must he be “saving” them from their sins? Okay, let’s take a step back for a moment. There are stories we 21 st Century Global Citizens like to tell ourselves, and they’re usually summed up in shorthand statements like thi...