Son of Man

“Son of Man” is Jesus’ nickname for himself. There are lots of reasons that get floated. Typically the story goes something like this. “Christ” or “Messiah” was too loaded a term. It had come to mean expected earthly conquest and revenge leader. This is the thing that even the recent Dune movies pick up on most. Oppressed people looking for a promised leader that will lead them to victory and revenge. Jesus did not want to give any credence to that idea, so he chose a relatively obscure yet still messianic title. “Son of Man” was used by the prophet Daniel. “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. (Dan. 7:13 ESV).” That is the single verse the messianic claims for the title rest upon.

The phrase itself – “son of man” – is used 189 times in the Bible. The New Testament appearances are mostly in the Gospels and Jesus’ self-reference. The others are clearly referencing Jesus. The Old Testament uses the phrase 107 times. That Daniel verse being one. Many of the others are like it’s first use in Numbers, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. (Num. 23:19 ESV)” – a poetic sobriquet for a human that often makes a great distinction between God and man. But what really sent me down this rabbit hole is that out of those 107 Old Testament uses of “son of man” Ezekiel uses is 93 times. And it is almost always a direct address. It is God speaking to his prophet. Like his first use of it. “And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” (Ezek. 2:1 ESV).”

And I wish I could reproduce the effect for you of reading through the list. If you want, ask me for a print of all the verses in order. The effect is a building sense that God is not just talking to the prophet Ezekiel, but he is talking to The Prophet.

“Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. (Ezek. 2:3 ESV)”

“You, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words (Ezek. 2:6 ESV)”

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. (Ezek. 3:17 ESV)”

“And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, (Ezek. 3:25 ESV)”

The drumbeat continues through the chapters. Until you get to our Old Testament lesson today.

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ezek. 37:1-3 ESV)

Son of Man, can these bones live?

That’s the question, isn’t it? Death has had free reign, like US Air Power over Iran. Death can strafe where it wants to. It can drop bombs that make huge craters anywhere. It could even go nuclear if it so desired. And the bones of a thousand generations lie in the dust they came from. There were very many and they were very dry.

Son of Man, can these bones live?

The prophet Ezekiel answers the question in the only way he could – “LORD GOD, you know.” But what about The Prophet? Has The Prophet made up his mind? Can these bones live? Or is this all a grand but failed experiment?

God tells Ezekiel to prophesy – to preach – to the bones. “Hear the word of the LORD.” And the final word of the LORD in the vision is the promise. “You shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people…I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

Can these bones live?

Absolutely.

Baptism: Exchange and Unification

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Biblical Text: Matthew 3:13-17, Romans 6:1-11

Today was a confluence of events. We had a baptism in the service. It also was the Baptism of Jesus on the church calendar. So it was the perfect confluence for something of a teaching sermon. Just what is baptism. Textually there are two different Baptisms in the Bible. There is the baptism of John or the washings of the Israelites. Neither of these really have command in the Old Testament. They are outward rituals. Yet Jesus shows up and submits to that outward ritual. He does so to fulfill all righteousness, to empower his baptism that we practice. A baptism that does have the promises of God attached to it. Luther’s catechism as always is succinct. And this sermon leans on it throughout. But those promises of God that are in those waters of baptism revolve around two ideas. The first is the exchange. Jesus, the lamb of God, takes our sin, while we receive his righteousness. That is the exchange. But Paul’s explanation around baptism is deeper. In baptism we have been unified to Christ. We have been buried with him such that we might also rise with him. The sermon attempts to present these concepts.

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Closing the Gap

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Biblical Text: Luke 15:1-10

Again, I am always amazed at how the lectionary serves up a perfect basis to preach to the day. The text really is based in Jesus’ regular habit. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. And the Pharisees hated him for it. Jesus would talk with anybody. He wouldn’t do it from a place of weakness. His proclamation was “repent, for the Kingdom is near.” He was serious about holiness. But the gap between the holy and the profane is not one we can close. That is why he came. To find the lost. To close the gap. And he did this by talking. He does this through the foolishness of preaching. He did this by a table. He does this by the table where his still gives us his body and blood. He does this by making us the body of Christ. And the parables relay to us that this is who God is. He does not give up. He keeps talking. Until every last one is found.

Of course doing this enrages the Pharisees who find their power and conception of self attacked. And while some sinners repent, others certainly feel attacked. Giving up our pet sins can feel like giving up ourselves. Even though the chasm the grows within us gets deeper and wider. Of course those who won’t stop talking are eventually killed. This is a reflection on Charlie Kirk, a man who would not stop talking. But Christ has the last word. And that last word is when we are called from our graves in the resurrection. When Christ closes the gap for all time.

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Perplexed and Running

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Biblical Text: Luke 24:1-12

Happy Easter. Luke loves to juxtapose two groups, often male and female. And it is no different here at the Resurrection. Often it is for two ends of a spectrum. Sometimes it is to show different reactions to the same proclamation of the Word. Today the women and Peter are juxtaposed (with the apostles being an indeterminate group). The Word is the Resurrection. Both believe, but their starting place is much different. Their starting places just might be the extremes of the people showing up for Easter Services.

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Hold Fast

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Biblical Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-20

Our Congregation this past week had a shock. Two wonderful members were killed in a car accident. One immediately and the other on the way to the hospital. It happened Wednesday morning and word started getting around by the evening and the following morning. The Pastor’s corner from this week, just below, directly mentions that. But I couldn’t ask for a better text for a sermon at such a time. We believe in the resurrection. Set everything else aside. This is the defining belief that Christians Hold Fast. Jesus is risen. And you will arise. Paul and all apostolic preachers proclaim that fact. The text also examines what would make that faith in vain.

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Temple Cleaners

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Biblical Text: John 2:13-22

Jesus’ Cleansing of the Temple is both one of the most striking of his actions and maybe the most misunderstood. What we want from it is either permission to whip anyone we disagree with, or to cancel out all acts of zeal. But that just isn’t what this text is about. Looking at it from the Gospel of John helps in these regards as you have to deal with one of the great divergences between John and the Synoptics. Either you think Jesus did something like this twice (highly unlikely), the Synoptics got the timing wrong (all three?!), or John moved it to a special place for a theological reason. And how John tells the story is different is some important ways which is what I think he wants us to focus on. That and he says twice that “the disciples remembered.” And in each case what the disciples remembered were the words of Jesus and the Scriptures. The text is one that reveals Jesus. It has little to do with the act of cleansing the physical temple or telling us when we can fight or not. It has a lot to do with who Jesus is and what he is doing. It reveals God. The sermon follows those thoughts.

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What’s in a Name?

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Biblical Text: Mark 8:27-38

The text is what includes the confession of Peter, but in the lectionary context what I think it asks us to contemplate isn’t that confession, but what is in the name of Christ? The Old testament has “God Almighty” what the Patriarchs knew God by changing Abram and Sarai names to Abraham and Sarah. Names in the Bible mean things. Moses would learn THE NAME. Eventually it is revealed as Jesus the Christ, and Father, Son and Spirit. But what Jesus wants to know is “Who do you say that I am?” When you confess the Christ, does your Christ match the Christ who is? If you Christ can’t include suffering, cross and death, then you do not have the Christ. But also if your Christ is not the one who rose, you do not have the Christ. The answers that the disciples give Jesus aren’t wrong so much as coming up short. Which might be forgiven, because nobody had seen a resurrection. But we have heard and seen. The Christ is the one who works by death and resurrection. And he bids that we walk in the same way. Is this your Christ?

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A Sower went out to Sow

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Biblical Text: Matthew 13:1-23

The text is the Parable of the Sower and the Soils. You probably know it. To me the two poles of any sermon are proclamation and catechesis. Proclamation is proclaiming something true for you like: Jesus died and rose for you. The rhetoric of proclamation calls forth faith because it is primarily asserted to be true instead of proven. Catechesis is teaching. That is where the faith itself is explained, defended and given examples. Typically proclamation is received as more dynamic while catechesis can be the boring exposition in a movie. You need to know it for the action to make sense, but at least in movies good directors show it; they don’t tell it. Although in preaching there has to be a balance, at least for the every Sunday preacher. This sermon tips a little further to the catechetical than I typically do. And I think that is justified by the purpose of the parables themselves according to Jesus. They are invitations to deeper knowledge and understanding of the kingdom for those who have ears to hear. The sermon ends on the note of proclamation – that you, in your hearing, are those who have been given the secrets of the Kingdom.

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A Simple Story

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Biblical Text: Matthew 28:1-10

I love the Easter story in Matthew. It is just such a living memory. Not that the other Gospel aren’t, but as this sermon starts out, the meaning you attach to a story changes, deepens, layers, over time. The resurrection in Matthew is such an early memory. The meanings haven’t really started to accrue. It’s just bragging, let me tell you what happened. That’s what this sermon attempts to do. Tell the story. Invite you to the meaning slowly.

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Resurrection Life (Pastor’s Corner for Easter Sunday)

A Happy Easter to Everyone.

One of the things that Luther found helpful in his spiritual life was a work he thought was written by Tauler, the Theologia Germanica. It’s a work of medieval mysticism. You might consider it something like “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis. Or even later maybe the “Spiritual Exercises” by Ignatius Loyola. Calvin, being the strictly logical lawyer, rejected it completely. The more radical reformation picked it up and much mischief was done. Those two facts are probably what fed Protestantism’s allergy to even slight mysticism. Of course since it was a Luther favorite, it was eventually banned by the Catholic church in 1612. Although they removed the ban in the 20^th century.

I bring that up for two reasons. First, I know that I wouldn’t bring up mysticism inflected things into the pulpit, so in a week that I need three sermons it is safe to use for this article. Second, I do think that a bit of mysticism is healthy for the soul. One of my sources of this is the sayings of the desert fathers. These sayings and honestly their entire lives are just so radically different than ours trying to ponder what they say puts me way out of my comfort zone.

On Easter, pondering the resurrection, I wanted to share a story that strangely enough is repeated in the collection of sayings. The first one by Macarius the Great. He was a monk around 390 AD. The entire movement was inspired just a bit earlier by Anthony the Great. Many men and women born to great families and wealth would give it all up to live in the Egyptian desert. Macarius’ story is of meeting a distraught widow. Her husband had taken a deposit of money on trust and hidden it. But he had died and not disclosed to her where it was. Their children would have been taken in slavery if she could not produce it. Macarius asks where the man was buried and tells her to go home. He proceeds to the tomb and asks the corpse, “Where is it hidden?” The corpse replied. Macarius then tells the man to return to resting until the final resurrection. He tells the widow where it is, and she frees her children.

The second version is about Abba Spyridon. A young girl had been entrusted with a valuable ornament that she hid. But she too died soon after without telling anyone where it was. The depositor came asking for it and pressed the girl’s father. Abba Spyridon went to the girl’s tomb and asked God, “show me, before the time, the resurrection promised her.” His hope was not disappointed as she appeared alive to her father and named the place.

What do I say about these? Well, that is part of what mysticism is about, I don’t exactly know. And it is probably different for you anyway. But this is what I would say. We live in time and are worried about many things. Like where our treasure is buried. The truth is that our treasure is buried with Christ. And Christ is risen. Nothing that we think is lost is truly gone. It is with Christ. Whatever we entrust to him we have for eternity. And that is an eternity that starts today. Do we all have resurrection appearances to us? No. And in our skeptical age I’m not sure we’d see even if we did. But the desert Fathers were open to such things. We are all one in Christ. And Christ is not dead, but lives. He lives to make us free.