Sermon, 1/22/23: Take me to your Leader! | St. James Episcopal Church in Somerville, MA

3 Epiphany

Psalm 27:1, 5–13; Isaiah 9:1–4; 1 Corinthians 1:10–18; Matthew 4:12–23

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. Matthew 4:23

As I have reflected with you over these last weeks about the direction of our liturgical readings in this season of Epiphany, I have emphasized that we are reintroduced to, or reminded of, how Jesus got his “creds”—that is to say, how Jesus, whom we confess as God’s Messiah, was certified as ready for the ministry that he was about to undertake. That is true also in today’s gospel according to Matthew and reinforced by Paul in his First Letter to the Church in Corinth. However, I would be less than truthful if I did not tell you that in reading today’s lectionary, several irreverent thoughts rushed through my mind.

Thought number one does not require much imagination, and I suspect you have had a similar experience if you have driven, or been driven, in an automobile. Unlike other cultures with which I am familiar, we Americans like our bumper stickers. “This car climbed Mt. Washington.” “Baby on board.” “There is no Planet B.” Each is so worded to signify a specific concern or activity. However, the one which re-emerged this week in my mind, as vividly as it did some years ago as I was driving behind an automobile, said this: “Follow me and I will help you find Jesus!” My response mentally was “O my God! I did not know that Jesus was lost!” I smiled that time, basking in my cleverness. I smiled again this week.

Thought number two took me even further back into history, to the 1950’s. This was long before the first manned flight into space took place in April 1961 and prior to when the Spielberg film “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”—you know, ‘ET Phone Home’—was produced (11 June 1982). Thought number two transported me back to the era of science fiction and to a cartoon that I had seen in the magazine “The New Yorker,” (21 March 1953). It was a typical New Yorker cartoon, as I recall. In the cartoon, two extra-terrestrials, with a flying saucer parked in the background, face a horse. And the cartoon’s caption reads: “Take me to your leader.”

Those two recollections caused me to smile. After that momentary flight of fancy, I settled down with today’s epistle and gospel before me. I began to reflect seriously over the images which we, the faithful in Christ, have before us, as we consider what we know about God’s Messiah as recorded in our Book of Records. How do we come to understand the image of Christ, as presented to us? How is his leadership manifested to us? What does that leadership tell us about the Kingdom of God? If, as I have indicated, the lectionary of the two preceding two Sundays established Jesus’ credibility, his “creds,” does today’s lectionary offer image of God’s Messiah?

Indulge me, if you would, in a brief summary. Jesus goes to his cousin John and asks to be baptized. John hesitates, but eventually agrees, when Jesus reminds him that the Scriptures must be fulfilled, that which has been prophesized by none other than the prophet Isaiah. As Jesus emerges from the water, a dove alights on him and a voice from heaven proclaims, ‘this is my elected, listen to him.’ There we have a visual and an audial affirmation of Jesus’ right to undertake his ministry. Later, as Jesus and John continue their mission of reform and reconciliation of a fractured religious community and nation, John proclaims, referring to Jesus as Jesus passes by, “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Andrew, a disciple of John, was so taken by this, that he leaves John, to join Jesus. Not only does he join Jesus, but he persuades his brother (Simon) Peter to become involved. Things escalate after that. Two more disciples are added to this movement, as noted in today’s gospel: “two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John” are persuaded to join in this movement. All this is done by faith, as they could not know whereto Jesus would yet take them. But they sense something powerful and earth-changing was afoot.

In a sense, up to this time, this had all been extra-terrestrial, had it not? The dove alighting on Jesus, a voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus to be a special emissary, a divine emissary, the Son of God no less! Even John’s own perception of Jesus evolved of his life of devotion, his attention to Judaic scriptures. However, if the Messiah of God were to make his case for a change in humankind’s behavior, if there were to be effective means of demonstrating his preparedness for ministry, the world demanded tangible, tactile, visual evidence. If those whom John and Jesus sought to reform, were to be convinced to return to a belief in in the true God, the ‘phone-home’ other worldly evidence had to be made real, tangible, visible. And Matthew does exactly that. Matthew presents to us a Jesus who undertook very concrete and tangible action. These actions established without a doubt the credentials of God’s Messiah. That record says:

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people. (4:23)

Jesus manifested/displayed his leadership skills. He was ready. He was not an apprentice. Jesus taught in synagogues where people gathered. Jesus proclaimed a message different from that of previous ages, the good news of the kingdom of God. Jesus cured diseases and illness, those tangible, physical barriers which too often hindered productive, positive contributions to communal life. However, these actions give us more and leave us wanting even more. Jesus puts himself out there, to use 21^st century vernacular. And that “more” that Jesus offers is this: Jesus taught those who listened to him to think differently about the kingdom of God.

Long before the extra-terrestrials in cartoons and ET in film entered into our vocabulary, I venture to say that the first image that comes to mind when we hear the phrase “the kingdom of God,” is one of clouds, streets paved in gold, of choirs of angels, of a diet of unending milk and honey. There is good reason that such an image enters our thoughts. The ancient prophets, as biblical Israel endured the poverty and devastation of years of journeying or captivity without a homeland, prophesized such plenty. The Revelations of John leads us also into that direction. The kingdom of God was to be the New Eden. The raspy voice of ET had not yet been introduced into our imagination. And, of course, before us each Good Friday are the words of Jesus on the Cross, as he responds to the criminal who begs forgiveness for his misdeeds and implores Jesus to think kindly on him. In our Book of Records, Jesus says to the repentant man: “This day you are with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) This repentant thief and murderer, albeit in his final moments, gets it. He understands what the kingdom of God is about and how [and] where the kingdom of God is to be found.

This question about the ‘where and what’ of the kingdom of God was put to Jesus prior to the Crucifixion. “The Pharisees asked [Jesus], ‘When will the kingdom of God come?’ He answered, ‘You cannot tell by observation when the kingdom of God comes. You cannot say, ‘Look. Here it is,’ or “There it is!’ For the kingdom of God is among you!” (Luke 17:20 – 21) And likewise, as we have just heard, Matthew teaches the same: “… the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17) If we are to take seriously what the two gospelers have recorded, it becomes clear that you and I have within us individually, through our baptism, the seed of leadership and the essential element of establishing the kingdom of God. When Jesus declares that his kingdom is not of this world, I do not envisage sitting on clouds. Rather, what I hear, what I understand, is a rejection of the life that has brought on wars and rumors of war, of class and of separation, or a rejection of our common source of creation. What I hear is the appeal of Jesus of Nazareth to seek the kingdom of God among us, to seek that which captures our commonality. And in that kingdom the leader is God’s Messiah.

Today’s gospel reminds us that God’s Messiah healed individuals of physical infirmities. There are other occurrences in which Jesus stepped in to aid those suffering from psychological or emotional illnesses or disturbances. To be sure, the gospels speak often of the people, i.e. in the plural, but Jesus addresses the individual within the group, within the community, and in so doing gives us example for recognizing our own individuality, not in the abstract or in some heaven yet to come, but where we might find and offer sympathy and empathy. We falter when we take our focus away from that one true leader and what he has taught us about the kingdom of God.

It was this malfunction that Paul addresses in his letters to the Church at Corinth, letters which we will read over the next several Sundays. And what we learn is that Paul becomes a mentor to us here at St. James. Given his earlier work at Corinth, Paul had every right to be perturbed by developments there in his absence. However, we rediscover a servant/follower of Christ who is firm, but conciliatory, a Paul who had himself persecuted the fledgling church, but now finds him correcting our natural urge to move away from that very leader who has restored our wholeness before God the Creator. We rediscover a Paul who, though desiring that each had a voice that should be heard and respected, admonished that we people of faith have only one leader, whose earthly ministry was one of reconciliation.

As I envisage our next steps, our joint future ministry, I can visualize the development of a positive outreach of many forms which has been hampered by forces of the past. In advance, I anticipate a sharing of opinions which will display the many levels of leadership in each of us. I want our individual voices to be heard and valued. We and those who will join with us have within us the ability to teach, to exemplify the Good News of the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick, if not personally, then through our contribution to ministries where that is possible. To that end, Christ has set himself before us as an example. And as we move forward, may we take heed of St. Paul’s advice and counsel to the Church at Corinth. To wit:

“Grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. …. Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”

Amen.