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Sunday after the Epiphany

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Sunday after the Epiphany

How many Christian denominations are there? (Google search: anywhere from 21,000 to 43,000). So, what does it mean to be Christian? What is Christianity?
Right from the start there were differences among Christians. One of the first problems the Apostles had to tackle after Jesus death was the acceptance of non-Jewish converts. Should they be asked to convert to Judaism and accept all the laws of the Hebrew Bible before baptism? Or should they be accepted without asking them to become Jews? We have spoken about this controversy a number of times, but todays Gospel of Matthew brings it back to our attention. At the beginnings of the church there were 2 different flavors of Christianity The Judaic version. At the beginning of the Church, the majority of Christians were Jews, who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and Lord, and were baptized in the name of Jesus, but they also continued to be observant Jews, because that was their culture. They lived side by side with traditional Jews who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. The confrontation became hostility and eventually Christian Jews were expelled from the synagogues and built their own churches. Matthew wrote his Gospel for these people, to help them in their debates with normative Judaism. Matthew emphasized his and their belief that the laws of Moses should apply to everyone, and that even the smallest detail in the law was the expression of Gods will. The Gentile version. Apostle Paul fought long and hard to convince the church to accept the Gentiles as they were, without compelling them to convert to Judaism. Most non-Jews, especially the men, were unwilling to convert to Judaism and accept the 613 laws of Moses, but they believed in Jesus, were baptized, and received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. To them Christianity was a new religion, coming from Judaism, but different from it Paul was the champion of Gentile Christianity and his writings provide the basis for our current understanding of Christianity Matthew was the champion of Judaic Christianity. For him Jesus is the the fulfillment of Judaism and what Jesus did and said was fully consistent with what the prophets had foretold about the Messiah.

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5th Sunday after the Epiphany

However, we should remember that Jesus was a harsh critic of the Pharisees legalism, he himself openly challenged some of the ancient laws of Judaism. You have been told and eye for an eye But I m telling you, love your enemies, turn the other check

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Eventually Pauls views prevailed, but why? In his 1st letter to the Corinthians he gives us his understanding of what made his preaching effective: it was not his skills as a preacher, but the power of Gods message.
In this passage, Paul reminded the Corinthians that the power of Gods message was not contingent on the preachers skills and wisdom, but on the fact that Jesus, through his sacrifice on the cross, had reconciled humans to God. Pauls success in converting the Corinthians was not due to his great knowledge of Greek philosophy, nor to his ability to persuade people. Conversion was the demonstration that the power of God (his Spirit) was at work any time the Gospel was being proclaimed. Greek philosophers won over disciples based on the strength of their logical arguments, and on the brilliance of their oratory. Paul won people over on the strength of the Spirit of God. For Paul, there is a wisdom of the world, based on sound reasoning, and a different wisdom, the wisdom that comes from God. The wisdom of God is counter-intuitive, and does not make human sense. Jesus appeared to have failed as he was condemned and crucified. But his death had won salvation for all human beings who would believe in him and be baptized. The leaders of the Jews had never understood that Jesus was speaking for God. They were guided by the wisdom of the world, political and practical reasoning to protect their power and suppress Jesus, the rebel. He threatened their position and they had him killed. That is the wisdom of the world: do everything you have to to stay in power. But God used the apparent failure of Jesus mission to bring salvation, and again God used Pauls poor skills as a preacher to win over the Corinthians. We are called to do our best, but we must understand that people convert not because we convince them with our arguments, but because God touches them and opens their heart.

5th Sunday after the Epiphany

3. I started today by asking what does it mean to be Christian. Let me broaden the question and ask what does it mean to be religious? For that, let us turn to 3rd Isaiah
3rd Isaiah is a post-exilic prophet: the Babylonian exile had ended, the remnant of the Jews had returned to Palestine, rebuilt their cities and their temple. Things were back as they had been before the exile: sacrifices were being offered in the temple. But God seemed to be aloof and distant from them. The land was not fertile. Why? Isaiah speaking for God told them that temple sacrifices and obedience to the letter of the law did not satisfy God. He bluntly told them that God was upset with them because while they were formally observing all the rules of Moses about sacrifices, they were, at the same time, oppressing their workers and fighting violently among themselves. That was not what God wanted from them. God wanted them to stop the injustice that was binding the poor and keeping them in a state of servitude. God wanted them to share their food with the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, protect widows and orphans, give clothes to those who needed them. Isaiah told them: if you want God to hear your prayers, youd better start listening to what God wants you to do: God wants you to set up justice and fairness in your society. If you do that, then God will hear your prayers and will be close to you.

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It is amazing how close this passage is to what Jesus said about the last Judgment: I was hungry and you did not feed me.
When Jesus was asked to identify the main commandments, he said, love God and live your neighbor. If you are looking for a key to determine what is religion, what is Christianity, start from this. If it leads to love God and neighbors, it is the word of God. If it leads away from this, its human baggage. Christianity is not about human wisdom and cleaver preaching. Christian worship without social justice does not please God. Love God and love you neighbor! When the church practices social justice and helps those in need it is the the salt of the earth. When it fails to do so, it is hypocritical and tasteless. If we practice love your neighbor as yourself, we at St. James are the salt of the earth, the city on the mountaintop, and God hears our prayers.