{"id":2892,"date":"2021-01-03T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T16:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/?p=2892"},"modified":"2021-01-10T09:51:15","modified_gmt":"2021-01-10T14:51:15","slug":"faith-in-flesh-and-bone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/2021\/01\/03\/faith-in-flesh-and-bone\/","title":{"rendered":"Faith in Flesh and Bone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Click here to hear the full service<\/a><\/p>\n

John 1: 10-18<\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to hear just the sermon<\/a><\/p>\n

10\u00a0<\/sup>He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11\u00a0<\/sup>He came to what was his own,[<\/sup><\/em><\/span>a<\/sup><\/em><\/a>]<\/sup><\/em><\/span> and his own people did not accept him. 12\u00a0<\/sup>But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13\u00a0<\/sup>who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

14\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/span>And the Word became flesh and (dwelt) among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father\u2019s only son,[<\/sup><\/em><\/span>b<\/sup><\/em><\/a>]<\/sup><\/em><\/span> full of grace and truth. 15\u00a0<\/sup>(John testified to him and cried out, \u201cThis was he of whom I said, \u2018He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.\u2019\u201d) 16\u00a0<\/sup>From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17\u00a0<\/sup>The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18\u00a0<\/sup>No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son,[<\/sup><\/em><\/span>c<\/sup><\/em><\/a>]<\/sup><\/em><\/span> who is close to the Father\u2019s heart,[<\/sup><\/em><\/span>d<\/sup><\/em><\/a>]<\/sup><\/em><\/span> who has made him known.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Preface<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.<\/em><\/p>\n

Christmas at a social distance need not be Christmas at a spiritual distance.\u00a0 Hear the good news.\u00a0 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.\u00a0 <\/em>There is a physicality at the dawn of faith, through the echoes of faith, welling up in the gift of faith.\u00a0 There is a physique to faith, your faith, the faith of the church, the faith which has seized us and seizes us still, a faith in flesh and bone.\u00a0 As Paul Lehmann taught us long ago: God is at work in the world to make and keep human life human. God is at work in the world to make and keep human life human<\/em>. \u00a0God works through people, through human agency.\u00a0Incarnation, poetically and wondrously pronounced in John 1, reminds us so, and recalls to us the lasting power of human agency, people, like you, God’s people at work in the world. God’s work must truly be our own. There are many who will scoff at human agency: ‘uh oh, oh no, go slow, veto’.\u00a0Not you.\u00a0You know you can make a difference for the good, the true, and the beautiful.\u00a0YES YOU CAN.\u00a0Your prayer is that of Howard Thurman.\u00a0Your motto is that of John Wesley.\u00a0Your carol is that of his brother Charles.<\/p>\n

Howard Thurman:<\/p>\n

When the Song of the Angels Is Stilled
\nWhen the song of the angels is stilled,
\nWhen the star in the sky is gone,
\nWhen the kings and the princes are home,
\nWhen the shepherds are back with their flocks,
\nThe work of Christmas begins:
\nTo find the lost,
\nTo heal the broken,
\nTo feed the hungry,
\nTo release the prisoner,
\nTo rebuild the nations,
\nTo bring peace among people,
\nTo make music in the heart.<\/em><\/p>\n

John:<\/p>\n

Do all the good you can.<\/em><\/p>\n

By all the means you can.<\/em><\/p>\n

In all the ways you can.<\/em><\/p>\n

In all the places you can.<\/em><\/p>\n

At all the times you can.<\/em><\/p>\n

To all the people you can.<\/em><\/p>\n

As long as ever you can.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Charles:<\/p>\n

\nHail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
\nHail the Sun of Righteousness!
\nLight and life to all he brings,
\nrisen with healing in his wings.
\nMild he lays his glory by,
\nborn that we no more may die,
\nborn to raise us from the earth,
\nborn to give us second birth.
\nHark! the herald angels sing,
\n“Glory to the new born King!”<\/em><\/p>\n

All the theological poetics we can muster, all the poetical theology we can risk, all the words set to music and music made for words, all the musical words, all verbal music, all, and more, that we can find and more than all that we can shape, we shall need, this Christmastide Sunday, and every Sunday through 2021, to herald the gospel, the faith of flesh and bone, the physicality of faith.<\/p>\n

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.<\/em><\/p>\n

Light A Candle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We have never been far from academia\u2014Colgate, Syracuse, Ohio Wesleyan, Columbia, Cornell, McGill, Lemoyne, University of Rochester, now BU.<\/p>\n

Our friend Bob worked at Syracuse University for four decades.\u00a0\u00a0 He and his wife Connie started coming to our church out of an old family connection, on her side, and because his Boy Scout troop met in the building, on his side.\u00a0\u00a0 She was an architect, community leader, financial developer, and outgoing spirit.\u00a0\u00a0 He was quiet, kind, soulful, and real.\u00a0\u00a0 You could swap stories with him about Eagle Scout courts of honor, about trading neckerchiefs at the National Jamboree, about Philmont Scout Ranch and the Tooth of Time.<\/p>\n

Bob worked in a small office on campus.\u00a0 We will need some archaeological tools to describe his life\u2019s labor.\u00a0 He supported students who needed AV and other equipment.\u00a0 In the chaos of his little nest, he could find for you all manner of treasures:\u00a0 carbon paper, white out, typewriter ribbon, film strip projectors, carousel slide projectors, screens, amplifiers, ditto paper, pens and pencils, and virtually anything else you, dear student, might need, some decades ago, for your class presentation due in two hours, due early tomorrow morning, due in 10 minutes.\u00a0\u00a0 In the joyful freedom of pastoral ministry, as that church grew, the minister could go and visit Bob, and watch the nearly endless stream of orphaned students stampeding their way to his little room.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t hector them:\u00a0 your lack of planning is not my personal crisis\u2026proper planning prevents poor performance\u2026be punctual and do everything at the appointed hour.<\/em>\u00a0 No.\u00a0 He just helped.\u00a0 He just quietly and joyfully helped.\u00a0 One winter a middle-aged former minister, working on another master\u2019s degree, came by to speak about Bob: \u201cI watch him.\u00a0 He is salt and light.\u00a0 He would give you the shirt off his back.\u00a0 He is there for students.\u201d<\/p>\n

On weekends he took his scout troop to be enveloped in the natural world, usually deep into the Adirondacks.\u00a0 There he taught a love of the created order, a respect for the history of places, and the rudiments of leadership: \u2018affirm in public, criticize in private\u2019, and other lasting truths.\u00a0 Big eyes covered by big glasses, a big smile, and silent except for laughter.\u00a0 He never bought a thing on credit.\u00a0 Not his house, not his car, not his camping gear.\u00a0 He taught his four children that same frugality.<\/p>\n

Connie predeceased him by some years, but until Bob died a few winters ago, one could know and smile to think that at least one Christian walked the earth, in the shadow of the Carrier Dome.<\/p>\n

As we were trying to get that urban churching rolling, we one year arranged a December dish to pass dinner.\u00a0 We sang some carols, maybe 100 of us or so.\u00a0 We had asked three of our people just to tell a Christmas story, as our fairly humble program that snow-covered evening.\u00a0 Bob\u2019s was the last.<\/p>\n

As a 20-year-old he had gone to England, as part of a bomber crew in or about 1941.\u00a0\u00a0 During our own national and international upheaval, pandemic 2021, we may want to recall stories and courage from his generation. He told us, simply, about being away from home for the first time.\u00a0 About having a photo of his girlfriend, Connie.\u00a0 About his mom and dad and sister.\u00a0\u00a0 He said that his only thought was to hope that he would see them all once more.\u00a0 Connie.\u00a0 His Mom.\u00a0 His Dad.\u00a0 His sister.\u00a0 \u201cI would like to get home alive\u201d.\u00a0 This was his prayer, as it is for some in hospital today.\u00a0 Christmas came, but the service men were not allowed any decorations.\u00a0 No candles on land that might be lit and so shine and so guide enemy bombers.\u00a0 Bob noticed that their rations came in cardboard boxes with a coating of paraffin on them.\u00a0 So, when he had time, he would sit in front of Connie\u2019s picture, that December, and using his scout knife he would peel off the paraffin, storing it in a number 10 can.\u00a0 By Christmas Eve Bob had enough for three candles, each with a short wick made of shoestring in the middle.\u00a0\u00a0 That night as plane after the plane took off, he set up a little table in the rear fuselage.\u00a0 Flying home, as they leveled off, he and the crew, except for the pilot, gathered at the little table.\u00a0 He was afraid maybe the paraffin wouldn\u2019t work.\u00a0 But after a while, all three candles were lit, burning now in the dark sky over the cliffs of Dover and over the English Channel.\u00a0 After a long silence, one of the men recited a psalm.\u00a0 Then they said the Lord\u2019s prayer.\u00a0 Bob prayed his hope to get home.\u00a0 Then together, without much singing talent and without any practice, they quietly sang a carol, \u2018Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the Newborn King\u2019.\u00a0 \u201cI would like to get home alive\u201d, Bob said, as the candles dimmed, flickered and went out.<\/p>\n

From that personal Christmas remembrance, we all caught a glimpse of the origins of Bob\u2019s matured humility, kindness, and integrity.\u00a0 His faith in flesh and bone.<\/p>\n

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.<\/em><\/p>\n

Faith is a Walk in the Dark<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Before Jesus there was John, before the Christ there was the Baptist.\u00a0 Jesus was a contemporary of John.\u00a0 John prepared the way for Jesus.\u00a0 As we listen with word and music, perhaps we can ponder the power of faith in flesh and bone.<\/p>\n

Before Christmas there is Advent, before the incarnation is the anticipation.\u00a0 The feast of Christmas, so this Lord\u2019s day, comes after the penitence of Advent.\u00a0 The joy of birth comes after the anxiety of expectation.\u00a0 As we listen with word and music, today let us ponder the mystery of faith in flesh and bone.<\/p>\n

Before tradition there is event, before understanding there is experience.\u00a0\u00a0 The rolling voice of the Baptist is the event through which we each year pass in order to come to our understanding of Christmas, this Christmastide Sunday.<\/p>\n

Before Matthew there was Mark, before teaching there was preaching, before catechesis there was kerygma. We will listen this year, 2021, mostly to Mark.\u00a0 Last year, Matthew, this year, Mark. Matthew is an interpreter of Mark.\u00a0 Mark is the model for Matthew.\u00a0 As we listen with word and music, perhaps we can ponder the power of change, especially for those living outside.<\/p>\n

Before John the Gospel there was John the prologue to the Gospel, John 1, our reading today, wherein the Baptist gives way to the Christ:<\/p>\n

Seasoned Religion said that the end was near. John says the beginning is here.<\/em><\/p>\n

Earlier Religion saw the end of the world. John preached the light of the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Inherited spirituality waited for the future coming of the Lord. John celebrated the Word among us, full of grace and truth.<\/em><\/p>\n

Earlier Religion feared death, judgment, heaven and hell, in the by and by. John faced them all in every day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Seasoned Religion clung fiercely to an ancient untruth. John let go, and accepted a glorious new truth, and hugged grace and freedom.<\/em><\/p>\n

Our inheritance, and Matthew and Mark and Luke and Paul and all looked toward the End, soon to come. But John. John looked up at the beginning, already here. They said with Shakespeare, \u201cAll\u2019s well that ends well\u201d. John replied, gut begonnen hap gebonnen, \u201cwell begun is half done\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

John alone had the full courage to face spiritual disappointment and move ahead. So, we memorize 8:32: You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free! <\/em><\/p>\n

We face the need to change from inherited untruth to new insight and imagination.\u00a0 New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth; one must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.<\/em><\/p>\n

Truth: faith in flesh and bone.<\/p>\n

Truth, at Christmas, outside, in the cold, at night, in a manger. Outside, as communities of color, needing but fearing some of their neighborhood police, both needing and fearing their own police, in the year of Taylor, Arbery, Floyd, Hill and others. Outside, as those along the borders, sometimes, without principle and without apology, stripped of their children.\u00a0 Outside, hunting for a meal, with children in tow.\u00a0 Outside, with employment lost, bereft of purpose or place or position or power.\u00a0 Outside, fearing, fearing pollution and pandemic and politics and prejudice and pain.\u00a0 Outside, and without, even, the indoor beauty of a church, or the indoor beauty of a choir, or the indoor beauty of a gathered and loving congregation, a truly addressable community. El Greco best painted the incarnation, worn fingers and bowed heads, and wrinkled brows, and outdoor clothing, shepherds abiding, abiding, abiding.\u00a0\u00a0 All, and all, at a Christmas social distance.\u00a0 Incarnation comes, into a world of hurt.\u00a0 Faith in flesh and bone.<\/p>\n

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Holy Scripture assumes a multi-generational perspective, no more so than in the narratives of Christmas.\u00a0 Real change takes a long time, generations of time, when it comes at all.\u00a0 Do you remember what you were confronted with a generation ago?\u00a0 \u00a0For some of us, another December in that same Syracuse neighborhood, 32years ago, it was the sudden announcement on a bitter snowy night, to a stunned basketball crowd in the Carrier Dome, that a plane with many of our own neighborhood students, our own Syracuse University students, and students from other regions including Boston, had crashed in Lockerbie Scotland.\u00a0 The portent of that moment in 1988 eluded us, eluded all, but it was a harbinger of the struggles of the next thirty years, in one limited, horror and tragedy.\u00a0 182 passengers died; 270 in total died; 35 students from SU died, and some from other Universities, including one from Boston University.\u00a0 A few days ago, as this sermon was gestating, a newscast recast that moment, noting ongoing legal challenges, and retelling the story of Lockerbie.\u00a0\u00a0 It brought back that night, and the silent 30,000 in the Dome, after the game, and the walk home.\u00a0 Over the hill and through the cemetery where now both my parents have since been buried, side by side.\u00a0 Through the dark and cold, wind and snow.\u00a0 The darkness of sin.\u00a0 The cold of death.\u00a0 The snowfall of the threat of meaninglessness.\u00a0 Sin, death, the threat of meaninglessness.\u00a0 To trod through these, again in 2021, we shall need some faith, faith in flesh and bone.\u00a0 Faith to face and face up to the mystery of death, the tenacity of sin, the bitter temptation of meaninglessness.\u00a0 Maybe the challenge of the year past, in manifold dimensions, has been just this.<\/p>\n

Coda<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

All the theological poetics we can muster, all the poetical theology we can risk, all the words set to music and music made for words, all the musical words, all verbal music, all, and more, than we can find and more than all that we can shape, we shall need this Christmastide Sunday, to herald the gospel, the faith of flesh and bone, the physicality of faith.\u00a0 We shall need the flesh and bone of ordinary grace, to live the daily truth of faith.<\/p>\n

And the word became flesh and dwelt among us.<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of such.\u00a0 A friend, Kerry Loughman, recently wrote:\u00a0 \u201cHope you and your family are well in this crazy, COVID time.\u00a0 I have a small poem for you\u2026\u00a0We live opposite a Brookline elementary school in Coolidge Corner and every day these children were my daily blessing. I watched from my third-floor window all last spring and into the summer. \u201c
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Every afternoon, around four,<\/em><\/p>\n

a wheeled flock of boys<\/em><\/p>\n

flies down my city street<\/em><\/p>\n

on bikes, scooters, skateboards,<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

more skilled than scared, and<\/em><\/p>\n

raucous with it. Contrapuntal<\/em><\/p>\n

eurhythmic beats play concrete<\/em><\/p>\n

sidewalk sections ’til they dare<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

to launch off curbs, catching air,<\/em><\/p>\n

helmet plumage drafting down,<\/em><\/p>\n

fledging into a new reality.<\/em><\/p>\n

Masked avengers, they swoop<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

into games of capture and release;<\/em><\/p>\n

capture the invisible flag,<\/em><\/p>\n

release time’s arrested breath,<\/em><\/p>\n

spread mojo on all our viral fears.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Circuitous flights around the school,<\/em><\/p>\n

capture and release of joy.<\/em><\/p>\n

They go round and round:<\/em><\/p>\n

a circumlocution of boys.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Capture and Release\u2019, by Kerry Loughman<\/em><\/p>\n

10.08.2020<\/em><\/p>\n

A circumlocution of boys.<\/p>\n

In a moment we will hear again the ancient liturgy for eucharist.\u00a0 We are not together to receive together the bread and cup.\u00a0 But we are together in relationship, by memory, in hope, through prayer.\u00a0 And with a little imagination, with eyes closed and hearts open, we might allow the familiar, ancient prayers of communion, to bring us into communion.<\/p>\n

So, travel with a little imagination\u2026Imagine Eucharist at Marsh Chapel.\u00a0 Stand to sing\u2026 Pause to reflect\u2026 Step out into the aisle\u2026 Look at and look past Abraham Lincoln and Francis Willard\u2026Receive cup and bread, bread and cup\u2026 Kneel at the altar to pray\u2026 Stand in communion with the communion of saints\u2026Here is the bread and cup of friendship\u2026Imagine, if you are willing, your own funeral, say right here, and a congregation reciting together a creed, a psalm, a hymn, a poem.\u00a0 Imagine, if you are willing, a congregation currently in diaspora, but just now, by the word spoken, a gathered and thus addressable community, you and I and all together.<\/p>\n

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.<\/em><\/p>\n

-The Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Click here to hear the full service John 1: 10-18 Click here to hear just the sermon 10\u00a0He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11\u00a0He came to what was his own,[a] and his own people did not accept him. 12\u00a0But to all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2679,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2892"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2679"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2893,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2892\/revisions\/2893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}