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He had on multiple occasions, masterfully bested fierce opposition for the most respected religious authorities. He astounded the crowds with his teachings and actions. And he demonstrated both the power and authority expected of a Messiah. However, such an expectation comes up short. It distorts one's vision and makes one see with the human eyes on one level, Peter's eyes did not cause him to miscalculate Jesus's power. Peter was able to see all of Jesus's wondrous feats. However, he was not understanding what Jesus was aiming to accomplish. He and the other disciples seem to be more preoccupied where Jesus' messianic power and title are rather than his life-giving mission. Of course, the title Messiah is important for establishing an authority bestowed by God. But what good is a title when detached from Jesus' counter cultural mission to seek and save the lost, the broken and outcast? No. Peter's mind wasn't capable of envisioning all the possibilities accessible to God, especially not a God who came to serve and not be served. Not when the stakes are so high, when doing what is accomplished by the human eye and mind would not accomplish what God accomplished through Jesus Christ for humanity. So, maybe Peter doesn't deserve any partial credit at all. Maybe placing limits on God because of human desires is something exactly from the devil. Because there is just too much at stake. To announce Jesus as the Messiah before his true glorification would be inadequate and incomplete. For the Son of Man must undergo suffering, rejection, and death. It is precisely for this reason that his followers, including Peter, would eventually take up their crosses and lose their lives.

You are a daughter of God, in you, God is well pleased. You are a son of God, in you, God is well pleased. And I have heard this and I have come to believe it and it has changed the way I understand my whole relationship with God, to understand that I'm not trying to become a beloved child of God. I am beloved. I am God's son. And this is a part of my core identity and is meant to be a part of all of our core identities. This has been the end, the climax of a lot of the sermons that I've preached, not just here but throughout my, preaching career, to remind you all, to remind us all of our belovedness. Because I've always thought I need to remember it, first of all. But secondly, I'm kind of a restless person. And I keep thinking, well, if I just believe in my belovedness, it'll give me some peace. If I can just find a home in my belovedness and God's loving me unconditionally, then I will maybe be a little bit less restless. Maybe I'll be a little bit more peaceful and calm and things will get easier for me. That's my hope for me. And that's my hope for you. But then I read the text today and you'll notice that Jesus is baptized. And he comes out of the water, and the sky cracks open, and the Holy Spirit lights upon him like a dove, and God says, this is my son, you are my son, my beloved, and in you, I am well pleased. And then it says, and immediately, the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. Well, crap.

"Maybe your mother would be up on that hill or an aunt that helped you or a grandfather that mentored you. Would it be someone who has shaped the way you see the world like Moses and Elijah did? Would it be James Baldwin up on that hill or Ayn Rand or something like that? Moses and Elijah both had a sort of national reality. Would it be Thomas Jefferson or George Washington on that hill or the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King? Would you find Ronald Reagan on that hill or FDR? Who would be on that hill for you as you go up? Who are the people that shape you? Who are the people that have made you see the world a specific way? Because that is what happens with Jesus. It's not just this symbolic reality that he embodies the law and the prophets. It is that he faces those who have shaped him and influenced him. And this is a moment of great importance because we realize when we hear this story that we are never actually alone in our lives. Jesus is a singular figure, we know this, but Jesus is shaped and accompanied by those who have gone before. And as the story says, he is watched over even by God who loves him, sees him as beloved."

Jesus came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. I almost asked Deacon Gary to take a long pause after that verse in our gospel today, so all the women in the room could have a collective eye roll together. Please. The only woman spoken of in the beginning of Mark is sick and laid up in bed, and given no name but servant. When I first read the story, I did pause. I was reading the lesson to my husband in our home, and thankfully he's still alive today. Because his eye roll matched mine. Right on cue. I think my first response was, Ugh, let this lady take a nap. She's obviously tired. I was more than a little irritated at our gospel today. Here we go. Another biblical lesson of woman, know your place. I could feel my own temperature rising up in solitude with my stricken sister. And then I remembered

Well, how are we different from Jesus first disciples? Well, we have a significant advantage. We know what was accomplished through God's work through Jesus Christ. We know the end of the story. We know that like Jesus' disciples, we have been drawn into God's plan of reconciliation and restoration of creation. And we know that dropping our nets and following Jesus can be nothing but life-giving to us and to others. And we know that despite the uncertain nature of following Jesus, we can trust in God's love and protection and the promise that sin and death do not have the last say. We also know that, like for Jesus' disciples, God in Christ shows and will show up at the most unexpected moments in our lives. The only question is, how will we respond to those gift-filled moments? Will we continue to grasp tightly onto human sources of security, human-defined identities, and human celebrated values and principles? Will we continue to remain close to the possibility of living under the true reign of God or instead, in a world that perpetuates inequity, greed, hate, and death? In a world where we are all imprisoned by injustice, war, violence, fear, power, oppression, policing, and control. It would be a lie to say that discipleship has no cost. There's a, long list of people who would suggest otherwise, including the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday we celebrated this week. And along with other martyrs and saints of the Christian faith, including their original disciples. However, when we look beyond those costs, can see what the disciples saw?

You know how they say you are what you eat? Well, I've always been so curious about why the Gospel writers found it necessary to share with us what John ate. Locusts and wild honey. What a strange detail. I know we don't often take time to dig into little things like this, but it's my job. So, I went down a rabbit hole for several hours, and let me just save you some time on research. There's almost nothing written about why he ate locusts and wild honey. So, I'd like you to just go with me on this trip. Just imagine for a moment what these foods could be saying to us symbolically about John the Baptist? What if John's food is a symbolic intaking of both the blessings and the curses that are present in our Gospel? What would it mean for us if John consumed the plague brought upon the empire to help make the people free? What if the locusts represent the hives that consumed the crops of Pharaoh before the exodus showing God's power over nature as a reminder to even the most powerful people on earth that there are some things that even they cannot control? And what about this wild honey? What are we to make of this sweet delight? I like to think of it as the nourishment that offsets the curse. A symbolic drink representing the promises of God. The place of peace and security, where war and hatred cease. A land flowing with milk and wild honey. If it is true that you are what you eat, John is showing us that a person who points the way to God is also someone who acknowledges that we must take into ourselves both the blessing and the curse. We must, acknowledge it all so that from us can come a proclamation of forgiveness.

We often forget the strangeness of this story that comes to us Because we've cleaned it up and made it so nice and familiar This sweet little baby this silent night all cuddled up and swaddling clothes But it wasn't like that was it? It was so much more real and raw and messy. A refugee family seeking shelter among animals A message of social upheaval and the destruction of the political system that kept things in order. The chosen messengers, poor and dirty and odd. A most highly favored lady, but no lady by the queen's standards. This story is all about how things are changing, how God is flipping the script on the way things have always been, and we are told, do not be afraid, and maybe, if you got it in ya, you could sing. The message of Christmas is completely counter cultural. Look at how our world has been wrapped in fear. Segregation, isolation, the hoarding of resources, contempt for our neighbor, contempt for our planet, the insidious presence of cynicism that claims everything is terrible. I have nothing to be grateful for, nothing to be happy about, and that constant reminder of failed expectations, which allows fear to become the status quo. But Christmas, Christmas stands in opposite, in opposition to fear, to bring us a story of how when Mary and the shepherds heard the good news, heard that God was coming to dwell among us, heard that Jesus was coming to change the world, their response was to sing. So singing, we are taught, is the first step in letting joy. Replace our fears in our lives, our real lives. When the house is a mess and your kid is whining about how crispy or not their chicken nugget is, put on some Lizzo.

In September, after I'd been here at Redeemer for only one month, I had to have cataract surgery. Never mind that I had decided when I was young that I would never need cataract surgery. Apparently it wasn't my decision. But people told me that cataract surgery is no big deal. That's true about the surgery. It's a simple procedure. What WAS a big deal was the instructions the doctor gave me. He said that I could not wear eye makeup for a week after surgery. And I panicked. It sounds funny when I tell you how devastating this was for me, but here's why. When I was in seventh grade, my social studies teacher read aloud from our world history book a passage about the history of China. The book went into detail about the Chinese people--their weird singsong language, their strange habits, their yellow skin, and especially, their grotesque slanted eyes. As he read, my schoolmates turned around and made slanted-eye faces at me, laughing. It was humiliating to my core. I felt deep, deep shame at myself, and deep, deep fear of the world that suddenly made itself known to me. At that moment, I was exposed as an unacceptable human being--not truly human, but rather, Chinese. Lowly. Mostly, it was the eyes. So from that time on, for the next sixty-plus years, I began wearing eye makeup--not to look better, but to hide who I really was--a person of Chinese descent with those strange habits and the grotesque slanted eyes. I put on eye makeup every single day, no matter what--even when I was sick, in the hospital, in the middle of the pandemic when I knew I would not be seen by anyone. I wore it to hide who I was from myself as well as from the world--lowly.

Empire is not a friend of anyone. Empire does not strive towards the well-being and thriving of every created life. Empire puts wealth, resources, knowledge, comfort, and God's abundance in the hands of a few. While others live lives of insecurity, uncertainty, misery, and hopelessness. An empire of human beings are nothing but a form of commodity and high value is placed on materiality, military force, and war. Empire distorts our understanding of peace of order and of happiness. And sadly, empire places more value on the lives of some and less on others. An empire makes our neighbors other. Importantly, swimming in the waters of empire put our identities as Christians in jeopardy. It is at odds with our proclamation of Christ being our true king. It is also at odds with every one of us living into the promises of God. and people becoming who God created us to be. Instead of holding most firmly to our Christian identities, empire encourages us to hold on tightly to, even idolize, identities of race, of nationality, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, political affiliations, political ideologies, political leaders, economic and social status. The fallout has been, is, and will continue to be enormous. We now live in a world that is more divided and volatile than ever. We have become a people driven by fear, greed, self-preservation, iInstead of ones motivated by love, hope, generosity and grace, but all is not lost.

You're downtown. You're on your way to the Bengals game, and you see a panhandler on the street with a sign. Hungry. Please give. You do one of three things. You pull out your wallet and give him a dollar. Or you shake your head to say no. Or you look straight ahead, trying not to catch his eye as you walk by him. And then you feel guilty and you wonder, Did I just become a goat because I did not feed the least of my brothers and sisters? Jesus told me that when I feed the hungry, I'm feeding the king. And when I refuse, I refuse the king. And as you keep walking with those troubling thoughts, you look up and you see six more panhandlers ahead of you Is every single panhandler the king who judges us? Are we being tested every time we do or do not help the needy? Does a king really count up all of the times that we give a handout and balance them out against all the times we don't? The king gathers up everybody and separates the good from the bad. Or as we say in theological terms, separates the keepies from the creepies. The sheep from the goats. Which I kind of object to because I think it's unfair to goats. So, for today, I am going to substitute for the more accurate hagfish. Also known as slime eels. Because hagfish are out only for themselves. And they spew slime at any strangers who come near. Just like in this story.

You all may have heard this story from Jesus described as an economy of virtues. I've heard it that way in the past. God gives us each a spiritual gift some people are special, so they get more gifts, a very convenient translation for all the high achievers in the room. Anyway, everyone gets something and don't worry, God won't give you more than you can handle. But, just like late-stage capitalism, this story doesn't check out. God wants a good return on his investment? Better read up on those self-improvement manuals because Jesus is coming, so you better look busy. The end of that story is some idealized version of Streets of Gold and Gates of Pearl, where all the people who annoyed you here on Earth are far away, and you can just sit alone in a big white room, eating bonbons, while angels circle round and sing Latin renditions of Toby Keith songs. The moral of that story is, use the gifts that God has given you, so you can get that divine pat on the back and hear the words we all long to hear, well done, good and faithful servant. Today I'd like to look at this Gospel lesson from a different perspective. I'd like to ask, what if? What if this passage is less about getting what you deserve, and more about an impending and uncalendared eschaton that begs us to examine our lives and ask the question, if Jesus stood before me today, would I be ready to give an account for the hope that is within me?

We can certainly relate to these foolish bridesmaids. I mean, I certainly can. In the busyness of our lives, not always are we able to think three or four or five steps ahead. Not always are we able to consider all of the additional planning we need to have in mind. Particularly in the busyness of our lives, we may be hustling through each day. We may be realizing we don't have a meal covered or we don't have time for a project or time for something for work or school. We may need to figure out how we're going to take care of a family member or provide transportation to a soccer match. or how we're going to work in a commitment we've made in this community. We find ourselves scrambling to get back on track. We may reach out to others for help, and they may be scrambling too. So, life can be messy. So, we can relate to foolish bridesmaids. But what about the wise bridesmaids? They were clearly not willing to share their oil, not willing to function as a community with the others and give others advice that sends them away and ultimately keeps them out of the banquet. Doesn't this fly in the face of so many of Jesus's teachings of sharing what we have of loving our neighbor as ourselves? We may be able to relate to these wise bridesmaids on those times, those occasions when we find ourselves really prepared and on top of things. And possibly not impressed by those who are kind of straggling in at the last minute with work half done like we have done ourselves on many occasions.