St. George's Episcopal Church
Roseburg, Oregon
First Sunday After Christmas:
Feast of the Holy Name
1 January 2006
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St. George's Episcopal Church |
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Numbers 6:22-27
Psalm 8:1-9
Philippians 2:5-13
Luke 2:15-21
The Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:15-21)
Jesus the Boxer ?
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector
“And now in this corner, standing 5 foot two inches tall and weighing in at one hundred pounds; all the way from Bethlehem, the city of David: Jeeee-sus of Nazareth.”
The other day I saw three portrayals of Jesus as a boxer.[1] In the one called “Undefeated,” Jesus stands in the corner of the ring, looking at me over his right shoulder, his very European, long blond hair falling over his shoulders. The mark of the spear is clearly visible in his right side, and he is wearing Lenten purple boxing shorts. Hanging over the rope at the corner of the ring is a belt on which is written the word “Savior.” His hands are taped like a boxer’s, and in his right had are a pair of red boxing gloves. Stitched onto the cuff of one glove is a label that reads, “Mercy.” “Mercy” on a boxing glove? What is the message here? Is this “Jesus the Victor?” Just who or what is this Jesus?
The texts for Christmas and today, the Feast of the Holy name, all overlap. What they have in common is that a child is born who is Savior, Messiah and Lord. They don’t speak about “Jesus the Boxer.”
Names in scripture have great meaning as an indicator of who an individual is, and what that person is called to do. They have the same impact as those names Charles Dickens gave to his characters that explained what they were to be like even before they did anything; characters like Scrooge, Sweedlepipe, Bumble, Honeythunder, and Pumblechook. In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph was told to name his baby “Jesus,” which in Hebrew means savior or deliverer. In Luke’s Gospel, Mary was told to name the baby “Jesus.” Okay, “savior” or “deliverer.” We get that. Perhaps not as colorful as Dickens’ M’Choakumchild from Hard Times. But he clearly wasn’t named “Rocky.” So where does this image of Jesus come from?
It comes to you live from Madison Square Garden – from right here in the US of A! This is Jeeee-sus the icon of American Culture!
Jesus is very popular in the United States. He is waaay more popular here than he is in Europe. According to Stephen Prothero, author of American Jesus, 85 percent of the U.S. population is Christian, and, two thirds of us have made a personal commitment to him. In Europe, about half of the population claims no religious affiliation. Whereas in ‘Merica, “even atheists and Buddhists are active… consumers of Jesus. Talk to a Hindu and she might tell you that Jesus is an avatar of the god Vishnu. Ask a Jew and you might be told that Jesus was a great Rabbi. In 1925 Bruce Barton described Jesus the man nobody knows.[2] Today he is the man nobody hates.”[3]
Jesus has always been popular in the U.S. The first popular Jesus was that of the “Enlightened Sage.”[4] This was Thomas Jefferson’s Jesus, the Jesus he created by literally cutting out all of the miracles and references to Jesus’ divinity in order to reduce Jesus into a philosopher. Jefferson’s Jesus was a teacher.
The next popular Jesus was the “Sweet Savior” who became popular in the latter half of the nineteenth century. This was the Jesus of Bible story and legend. Jesus became an intimate friend, not someone hanging on a cross.
The next cultural vision of Jesus was that of the “Manly Redeemer,” the muscular reaction to the girly-Sweet Savior. This was the testosterone-powered hero Jesus popular in the early part of the 20 th century. He was a savior with a certain amount of sex appeal. He was described in books like The Masculine Power of Christ and the Manhood of the Master. This was the Jesus of the social gospel movement – a kind of warrior doing battle against evil social forces.
The most recent incarnation of Jesus is that of the Superstar. Beginning in 1960, Jesus took hold in the youth counterculture. Jesus became the leader of an underground Christian liberation movement. Later he became the subject of rock musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. Jesus is now a cool dude, adopted by rap singers and heavy metal bands as an upbeat guy offering a high better than drugs. He is a cultural icon, whose image is on cups, T-shirts, posters, and bumper stickers.
And because he has become a cultural icon, various groups have adopted their image of him as their own. Mormons have their version and Jews have theirs. And the question we have before us is who exactly is Jesus? Like an article I read recently said, “It’s like a room full of 25 Elvises. Will the real Jesus please do something – like turn water into wine, perhaps?”[4]
The reading from Philippians contains one of the oldest Christian hymns in the New Testament. It often called a Christological Hymn by scholars because of the poetic way it is written and because it seems to be a creed. If it was a hymn, Paul borrowed the lyrics to encourage the Philippian church to settle disagreements and to have a new outlook – that of love and service for each other with Jesus as the ultimate example to follow. The early Christians used the fish to symbolize Jesus’ name because the Greek word for fish, ichthus, is an acrostic for the title, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.”
Philip Yancey, a popular Christian writer says that there are basically two types of people – stars and servants. Stars would be anyone who is famous in the areas of the arts, sports, and the like. Servants are the relief workers in troubled spots, counselors, missionaries, and people who relieve others’ suffering. Yancey found that the stars were generally miserable. Despite the fact that they had low pay, long hours and less recognition, the servants were happier. Somewhere in the process of losing their lives, they found them. This is the right attitude, that of love, and humility.
Mick Jagger is an example of a star who couldn’t find happiness. When Jagger and the Rolling Stones released “I can’t get no satisfaction” in the 1960’s, it was a huge hit. And it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Jerry Hall, Jagger’s former wife said that Mick always searched for satisfaction, but never found it. He’s searched so much that its ruined two marriages, and has given him casual sexual contact with many women, including a Brazilian model that sued him for child care expenses. The thing is, because he was searching in all the wrong places for that satisfaction, he lost what he was seeking.
The cultural Jesuses around us might not provide satisfaction either. Perhaps what we need, is to seek the Jesus of the gospels. While that is something that will always be subject to individual interpretation, perhaps there are some things all of us can hold in common and agree upon. Jesus was an example. He was someone who lived up to his baptism every day by the way he honored and obeyed his vision of God. He proclaimed God to all who would listen. He always took time to heal and be with the sick. He welcomed all people, and did not shun those his culture told him to. He prayed. And he died and rose again.
Jesus wasn’t one thing. He wasn’t a simple person. There is no single thing that defines him, and everyone who tries to put Jesus in a definitional box will fail. He is “teacher.” He is “guide,” He is “savior.” He is an “example.” He is a “friend.” He is all of those things at the same time – and quite likely a lot more.
In the verses following today’s gospel passage, Mary and Joseph continue to the Temple to have Jesus circumcised. As they came into the Temple they met Simeon, a man who was told by the Spirit that he would not die until he had set his eyes upon the Lord’s Messiah. After he saw Jesus, he said to them that “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many … and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many would be revealed.” Jesus is many things – and as Simeon put it, Jesus is a person of paradox who constantly stirred the pot. He was a Jew who welcomes Gentiles and Samaritans. He was a king proclaimed a king by shepherds. And he continues to most definitely be someone who causes our inner thoughts to be revealed.
So what are your thoughts? Whom do you see?
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The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.
1 O LORD, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works
of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 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. Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
[1] These can be viewed at http://www.art4god.com/html/?go=products.
[2] Bruce Barton. The Man nobody knows: a discovery of Jesus. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1925.
[3] Stephen Prothero. American Jesus: How the Don of God Became a National Icon. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003.
[4] Timothy F. Merrill. “The Iconic Jesus.” Homiletics 18(1):11-15, 2006.
The Mission of St. George’s Episcopal Church is to lead people to love Jesus, and, through worship and scripture, to become empowered as a servant body – to each other, to our community, and to the world. For information about St. George’s Episcopal Church and its life and mission, please contact us at 1024 Southeast Cass Avenue , Roseburg, OR 97470 or by phone at (541) 673-4048 or (541) 680-3465. Contact Bill by email at wgstroop@earthlink.net and visit our church at http://www.roseburgchurch.net |
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Copyright © 2005, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
29 December 2005
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