Pastor's Notes

There are lots of debates regarding human nature. It seems there always have been. Some say we are mostly a product of nature, others say its nurture that makes us who we are, while still others say both play a role. What about one’s unique individuality ask some?

On the other hand, some arguments are based on the goodness or lack of such in human nature. Are people basically good or are we intrinsically bad or evil? Or does it vary from person to person, and we can therefore divide people into categories of good or bad?

John Morley, a mostly 19th Century author, newspaper editor, member of Britain’s Liberal Party and onetime Ambassador to Ireland once wrote, “The belief that human nature is basically good is the key to that secularizes the world.” That is, if humans are basically good, there is no need for God, confession, redemption, and forgiveness.

Yes, at creation God created humanity and said it was good. Yet I had one Hebrew scholar say the word good (tov) in Hebrew meant more that “it works” than it did any moral assessment. And in the creation account this good creation went out on its own and rebelled from any created goodness. This still good creation continues to do so.

We Lutherans tend to have a “both/and” view of many things, including human nature. Calvinists are much more pessimistic about us humans while Unitarians and many others are much more optimistic. We tend to go along with Martin Luther’s “simul Justus et peccator” view, that is, we are simultaneously saint and sinner.

This view of Luther’s means we are not one moment good and another moment bad. It means even when doing good, we are yet sinners. It also means even when sinning we are those yet loved and redeemed by God.

This all means you and I and all those billions around us cannot be boiled down to something as simplistic or clear cut as “good” or “bad”. We are the whole human package. We are very much those of the “simul Justus……” variety. We are those called to love the neighbor and those loved ultimately and best by God.

Perhaps the ultimate place to see human nature is the cross. In the cross we see what humanity tends to do with God’s will for a creation called good. Humanity tends to reject it even at times to the point of violence. In the cross we also see the value God places on humanity. We see the length to which God is willing to go to redeem and remake rebellious humanity into a creation that can yet be called good but only because God makes it so.

We are inching toward Lent. Lent is not to be a morose time or a season to depress us. It is to be a serious time. It is a time to take seriously who we are and who we are not. It is a time to take the grace of God in Jesus seriously….seriously enough to trust that God’s work is to redeem sin, not conquer or subdue those who sin.

So what is human nature after all? It is something God cares for and cares for deeply. It is not ever left to its own. We are free to argue about nature vs nurture and such. We do so under the grace of one who can and does redeem the ills and errors of both.

January is frequently a time when therapists see an uptick in people making appointments because they are especially stressed. Stress is common to the human race and many like to offer simple 1, 2, 3 steps to either avoid it or make it disappear. If we can really do such things, was it really stress?

I wonder if Jesus was ever stressed. Certainly, he had some concerns. On the cross he made sure his mother was cared for. At times he got in a boat or otherwise got away from the pressure of crowds and demands. This is why we have such things as church camps and retreat centers. In addition to providing programs of learning and growth, they serve as quiet, reflective places to get away and unwind.

Stress often serves to expose us. In times of stress we see who is anxious, who is calm, who deals with things and who is indifferent. We learn who is strong and who is not. Many times stress takes over not because we are not strong, but because we misunderstand what strength is and think being strong is simply some ability we have or do not have.

Being strong begins long before we have to encounter an experience. It is working on and developing attitudes and skills regarding ourselves and regarding stress. Being strong is not deluding ourselves. It is not trying to be someone or something else, but allowing ourselves to be just who we are. That is real toughness. It is being content to be the one God created you to be to face stress as you, not some other.

When stress arrives we can choose to go back to safety or forward to growth. Strength is deciding who we want to be prior to any adverse experience so we can work toward that person when stress attacks. None of this is collection of platitudes. This involves hard work on our part. It involves allowing ourselves to be stressed, embracing the reality of where we are, who we are, and what we have to do. It involves not going it alone, often particularly when we feel like we want to withdraw and be alone.

We see tough talking men and women as strong and powerful. We don’t see Jesus as one of those, quite the opposite. Strong talk can develop a callousness with little or no concern for others, again the opposite seen in Jesus. Yet who was stronger than Jesus? In a quiet, determined, straight-forward way Jesus faced both his critics and authorities who opposed him. Jesus was more concerned that his message about God and God’s loving embrace was proclaimed than Jesus was concerned for his own life. Yet, no martyr complex, no “woe is me” whining or accusing, just plowing forward.

Our Christian faith is not about a stress-free life. If anything, living a life called Christian brings on an additional amount of stress. Following Jesus means doing hard things. It involves cross bearing, sacrificial acts for the sake of others. Acts that are stressful.

If we want new life, we cannot retreat into the old. It probably wasn’t all that safe there anyway. The call of Jesus into the good news of the Gospel is a call to become strong even to the point of admitting and experiencing weakness. Such willingness is the true test of strength.

Epiphany. The church season following Christmas. It begins with a star and an unknown number of wise men, called magi following said star. Unlike many men, they apparently did not have a hang up stopping and asking for directions. According to Matthew, they discovered the baby Jesus in a house.

Throughout Epiphany we continue to see who is this Jesus announced by angels, visited by shepherds, and given gifts from magi. In Epiphany there are texts of Jesus’ presentation at the temple, the changing of water into wine at a wedding celebration, the calling of disciples, debates about righteousness, and more.

All these texts and the supporting texts of Old Testament and letters in the New Testament point in one way or another to who Jesus is. Angels may have said to the shepherds there was a Savior, a Messiah, a Lord, born in Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. Epiphany texts spell out what this and what all these titles mean.

You and I are called to be a bit more than the shepherds and magi. We are called to do more than go back to work and praise God like the shepherds or be overwhelmed with joy and return home as did the magi. You and I are called to follow the one praised who can overwhelm with great joy.

Follow means inward feelings are not what all this is about. More is expected. Yes, we too are to return to our various work stations in life. Those work stations, however, are not to be places devoid of any hint of following. They are part of the arena where following this Jesus needs to be lived out. Following Jesus is not always about what we might do as a vocation, it is about how we do it.

We tend to have freedom in our vocations, that is, what work we do. As followers of Christ, however, we are to operate in a way in those vocations that serve and benefit others. We may receive reward in terms of income, yet it is about serving others and serving the common good as much as it is about ourselves.

I have so far used the word follow or following a few times in just a handful of paragraphs. It is an important word for Christians. It means that is exactly what we do: we follow Jesus. It also means we are not Jesus. Epiphany and its texts very much remind us of this. Too often we see ourselves as replacements of Jesus instead of those who follow Jesus and those through whom Jesus works.

You and I are called to be Christians, not called to be Jesus. Too often we Christians think we have to “out Jesus, Jesus”. That is, we have to equal and even better Jesus. We cannot do so. Quite possibly you have already learned this. Or perhaps you are in the midst of becoming painfully aware of this.

So like the shepherds we are to witness and proclaim. Like the magi we can be overwhelmed with all God has done in Jesus for us and all the world. But like those Epiphany texts depicting the calling of disciples, that is, followers, we are to follow along the path already made by Jesus. Like those disciples, because we are not Jesus, we will too often wander off that path, but because Jesus is Jesus, we will be pulled back onto its way. In Epiphany we discover who Jesus is. Occasionally we even learn a bit about ourselves in the process.

The Name of Jesus. Like this year, The Name of Jesus follows Christmas, eight days following the birth of Jesus according to Luke. This year it happens to fall on New Year’s Day. In Luke’s gospel it is also the time of circumcision for Jesus, but the church throughout the years, has focused instead on the naming.

Jesus, as you have heard me say many times is the Greek equivalent of Joshua. Both mean “Yahweh (God) saves. It may be the name Jesus is given at his circumcision, but the New Testament has many names and titles for Jesus. Matthew’s gospel has two names for Jesus at its very beginning: Jesus and Immanuel, God with us.

Think of the many names of Jesus in the New Testament: Alpha and Omega, Bread of Life, Bridegroom, Cornerstone, Lamb of God, Word, and so on. We can add titles such as Savior, Messiah, Lord, Son of God, Son of man, King of the Jews…you get the picture. But don’t forget Old Testament names looking forward to the Messiah: Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Mighty God, and Prince of Peace.

Over the centuries such names and titles did not seem sufficient for some. The mystic Julian of Norwich called Jesus “Mother.” He did so because he said it is from Jesus we are born anew. In the Ankan culture of Africa, Jesus is often called, “Ancestor” to emphasize the pre-eminence of his standards over all others. In Korea he may be known as “The Great Yin-Yang”, that is, the one whose divine-human nature represents a perfect complementarity of opposites.

Maybe you have your own personal favorite name for Jesus. A popular hymn of the years calls Jesus a friend, for example. What name do you prefer that seems to sum up who Jesus is to you?

My point here is this: Why so many names and titles? It is probably not to compete with royalty, who often have many titles. Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V had 81 titles. His stationery must have been two pages just to list all those titles! We can only imagine how his business card may have looked.

It seems the church and followers of Jesus found the greatness of Jesus to be far too much to be contained in a single word. No one word captured all that Jesus was and is. These days it seems many are all about branding, that is being able to be known for one major characteristic and or name or label. Jesus cannot be so limited. Jesus cannot be restricted to a single concept or understanding. Jesus is not only many things, many expressions of God, Jesus is all of these to all people. Some faith groups, some cultures, may have a favorite. You and I may as well. However, in Jesus’ interaction with us, Jesus does not bind Jesus’ self to those favorites.

As I think about all this, I am also convinced Jesus is more than the sum of Jesus’ parts; that is, we cannot add up all the names and titles for Jesus and think we now have captured Jesus and Jesus is ours. Jesus is not restricted to the names we give to Jesus. Jesus is not bound by what we think of Jesus or think Jesus to be. Jesus is bound instead to revealing God to us again and again throughout our lives and throughout history.

You and I as followers of Jesus have won the bonus round. The surprising thing about Jesus, as one scholar puts it, is that his name has been given to us. God puts the name of Jesus Christ on us in our baptism. We have been given that name and from that day forth our identity will be determined by that name. We will be known as “Christ-ian”.

I wonder if in our prayer life we use the various names for Jesus over time if we might
then develop a much broader and deeper understanding of who Jesus is. I wonder if in so doing we might also develop and deeper and broader understanding of who we are as followers of Jesus in relationship with Jesus. Perhaps Epiphany can be a good time to pursue this and possibly discover if this is true.

In the meantime, we can all go with Paul’s counsel to the Philippians: “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

What is your favorite Christmas carol? No, I’m not talking about those Bing Crosby, Perry Como, or Andy Williams tunes that play incessantly over the airwaves one after another. (By the way, our college students listen to them as often as do we older ones) I mean those found in hymnals, and apt to be sung Christmas Eve or, this year, Christmas day.

Various surveys list different ones as number 1. I learned a long time ago I cannot have a Christmas Eve worship service without O’ Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, and Joy to the World. Somehow “Go Tell it on the Mountain” even in a state as mountainous as Colorado is no acceptable substitute for Joy to the World as an ending Christmas Eve tune. Funny, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Having said this while leaving out one of the big three will garner complaints, omitting one hymn in particular is apt to get more than complaints. Even I am smart enough to include Silent Night each of the 43 Christmases in which I have served as a pastor. Substituting another tune for Silent Night Christmas Eve? Pastors have been fired for less.

What is it about Silent Night that gets to us? The part about silence? Nighttime? The tune? And I also wonder: is Silent Night accompanied by candles or are candles accompanied by Silent Night? Either way for most who are frequently found in worship, Silent Night sung in complete candlelight is usually the worship highlight of the year.

Originally Silent Night was composed for a guitar as the alpine Austrian church in which it was first played had an organ damaged by flooding. Over the years the tune has been tweaked a bit until ending up the music by which you and I and countless others know it.

Perhaps it is a combination of words and tune that speak to us. Written after the Napoleonic wars, we can imagine the great need for a simple hymn of peace in both lyrics and music. In our time of hectic activity, wars, pandemic, threats, racism, anti-Semitism, and division, anything peaceful is greatly needed. During the singing of Silent Night we look around, grateful for those sitting by us should we be so fortunate. We think of those no longer able to be with us and those spending Christmas with others. Sometimes our burdens are lightened just a bit as we sing this hymn even with great solemnity. Gratitude, sadness, togetherness, and loneliness all mixed together in one emotional stew.

Likewise, the same ingredients seem to combine in a spiritual stew. Christmas, a time of great joy, is also a time the manger’s splinters and the gift of myrrh remind us of a cross and death yet to come. The one who comes as God’s gift and brings great joy is one who will be rejected and killed. The mother tending to him tenderly in a barn will be with him at the end, a grief-stricken witness to the violence that will befall him.

Silent Night. Sacred night. As we seem to feel God’s presence in this song, so we are reminded God is present in all those feelings we have as we gather or do not gather at Christmas. So is God present in a barn and a cross. The baby does not know any of this. The baby just knows when it wants feeding, changing, and holding. So it is with us. We are very aware of our hungering, our need to repent and change, and a desire to be held tight by all that is good and reaffirming.

The infant Jesus was placed in a feed trough. In this Jesus God continues to feed us and our emotional and spiritual hungering. Silent Night. Holy Night. We are fed, we shall be changed, we are held. Redeeming grace dawns. Jesus is Lord at his birth.
Jesus is Lord still.