Waxing Theological

1-22-17 (Epiphany 3A) 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23 Come and Follow They left their nets, their boats, and even their father behind to follow the Christ.  They didn’t ask for a list of qualifications or a demonstration of proof; they just heard Jesus’ invitation to become “fishers of men,” dropped everything else, and went to follow him wherever he was going.  It’s a peculiar image that we’re given by Matthew, and vastly different from John’s account that we heard last week.  If we’re being honest with ourselves, in fact, John’s is far more believable - Andrew starts off as a disciple of John the Baptist in John’s gospel, so he’s already been primed and ready to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.  It’s why Andrew is so quick to invite his brother to come with him.  Peter and Andrew experience the Messiah and then become disciples. Matthew cuts to the chase, and makes Jesus come across all the more powerful in the process.  And what fa...

1-15-17 (Epiphany 2A) Psalm 40:1-11; John 1:29-42 Come and See! There’s something particularly compelling about the excitement and persistence of a young child when there’s something they want you to come and see.  It doesn’t matter what, exactly, it is - whether it’s a new picture they’ve drawn or colored, a particularly interesting leaf somewhere in the yard, or the pile of flour, broken eggs and gallon of milk all over the floor that came about as they tried to make you cupcakes, there’s a kind of urgency, even a desperate need that you drop whatever you are doing, take their hand, and follow them to see what it is that they want you to see.  There’s no logic on earth that can dissuade them, no door they’re not willing to keep knocking at, no conversation that’s not too important to interrupt. It may seem strange to take the image of an excited child and compare it to the account in John’s Gospel of the calling of the first disciples, perhaps even stranger...

1-1-2017 (Christmas 1A) Isaiah 63:7-9; Matthew 2:13-23 Some Kind of New Year Over the last week, I’ve seen a lot of folks saying that this would be the first time in a long time that they’d actually stay up to watch the ball drop.  Strangely enough, it hasn’t been because of anything special like the turn of the century, the change of a millennium, or a fear of some kind of Y2K computer dating glitch or anything - these folks have been saying they plan to stay up just so that they can watch 2016 finally be over, finally be behind them.  This last year has been one filled with challenges, disappointments, and heartaches for a lot of people, particularly from a pop culture standpoint.  We’ve been surprised and saddened on too many mornings to wake up and discover that yet one more beloved cultural icon has passed away, and we’ve gone to blame and curse the year as if it’s somehow been 2016’s fault that people have come to the end of their life.  I’ve heard ...