The Gospel Defined, Mark 1:14-20

Posted on January 22, 2024 by patrick h wrisley
Mars Hill, Athens, Greece

A sermon delivered by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min., on January 21, 2024

We are beginning to wade into the Gospel of Mark for a season and before beginning, I want to give it some context. Mark is one of the earliest Gospel accounts there is and is often thought to be the foundation for Matthew and Luke. It’s the shortest of the four gospel accounts and it moves along at a very fast pace. Mark was a good editor and uses an economy of words to tell the Story. Mark the author was also a good writer and uses the basics of good storytelling to tell his Story. If you are one of those who say, “I really don’t know the Bible too well,” and want a way to start reading it for the new year, I offer Mark as a great place to begin.

Turn in scripture to Mark 1:14-20. In the first thirteen verses of his Story, Jesus and his cousin John have been introduced and then Jesus was baptized. In the seven verses for today, we begin to hear the definition of the Gospel, i.e., good news, and who some of the main characters are in Jesus’ ministry. Hear the Word of the Lord.

Mark 1:14-20

14Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 16As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.[1]

There are so many different trails we could take in unpacking our few verses this morning – what’s it mean to be called, what is required to follow Jesus, what’s it mean to be fishers of people — this text is packed with things to talk about. This morning, I want us to focus on verses 14 and 15 which provides the reason why the four fishermen dropped their nets and followed Jesus in the first place. These two verses provide us the definition of what the gospel really is and then clarifies what it means to embrace it.

The first thing we note is that the good news Jesus was proclaiming was bad news for some others. The Story’s tone strikes an ominous note as it begins, “After John was arrested.” John the Baptizer was setting the stage for Jesus to introduce the coming reign of God and already his words were causing a kerfuffle and rankled the establishment. With just four words, “After John was arrested,” Mark is letting the reader know up front that this Jesus is going to ruffle feathers and stir things up. He’s giving us a hint of things to come. As we define what the gospel is, we note the good news is that God’s way of doing things and living is close at hand, but God’s proximity is going to make some people uncomfortable. So as we define what the gospel is, we learn that the good news creates change because God has come near. God’s presence is close at hand!

Don’t you find it ironic that creating a shift from what’s perceived as normal causes conflict? This is what change does and one of the most profound places where change is resisted is in the church itself! In business, in education, in medicine, change and adaptation is necessary for growth to occur but when you talk of change or adaptation in the church context, “Whoa! Back that truck up! We’ve never done it that way before! We can’t change or adapt because…Mrs. Prettypenny donated that and we can’t move it.” Lawd. Friends, good news creates shifts and causes one to reevaluate what they think is important.

The four fishermen dropped their nets and followed Jesus because his good news that God is at hand made them want to do things differently. “I don’t know what this fishing for people is all about but let’s go find out!” The gospel, the good news, is that God is nearby. We learn God’s proximity makes some people excited and some others anxious and troubled, hence John is in jail. The ripple effects of God’s presence creates change and movement so what is the specific movement Jesus is calling for?

Before I get to that, I simply want to say pastors and preachers in this country have done a poor job outlining the two needed movements we are to make now that the presence of God is close at hand. I want us to see if we can reframe and reclaim the intent Jesus was really getting at when he speaks about these two following items.

First, Jesus is calling us to repent. We hear the word repent and our minds go to shouting preachers and organists playing Just as I Am a hundred times until someone can’t stand it anymore and walks down the aisle! We hear the word repent and we take as an indictment of who we are and of what we have done or didn’t do. Like Pavlov’s dogs, we hear ‘repent’ and we immediately feel this need to grovel. Let’s take a moment and reframe what repent really means.

In its original language, repent means to turn around, to think differently, to reconsider a position, or to amend one’s view of a situation. Nowhere does it imply groveling in unworthiness like Smeagol in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Jesus’ call to repent is an invitation to stop and look at life, people, the world, things around us, in a new way from a new perspective. It’s an invitation for us to make adjustments, amendments to the way we live so we can best take advantage of our new way of seeing. And once again, what are we to see? God’s presence nearby. Repenting is like changing seats at a ballgame so you can better see the action; in this case, we are adjusting ourselves from an old vantage point and way of seeing and are changing our seats to see God, others, and the world from a different perspective. Let’s reframe repentance in this way. There’s no groveling as seen from this perspective; rather, repentance spurs excitement because we will encounter God and life in totally new and fresh ways.

But Jesus isn’t just calling us to change our point of view, he is calling us to believe and act like God and in such a way that the world is living as though the reign of God was close at hand. Sadly, we have done to the word ‘believe’ what we have done to the word repentance – we have narrowed its meaning.

For many Western Christians, we hold to the notion that to believe something means that we mentally assent to its truth.[2] In the early church, they understood belief in four different ways and assenting to a propositional truth is only one of them. To believe in God, in Jesus, was a matter of the head and intellect. One either agrees to the proposition that Jesus is the Son of God or disagrees that he is. Modern Christianity has boiled it down to you either assent to the Jesus Story or you are a dissenter of the Jesus Story. We have made it all black and white, this or that. Thank God there are three other ancient understandings of what belief is for us to embrace.[3]

The second understanding of belief is known as fiducia, that is the word we get our word fiduciary, trust. Faith and belief is understood as a radical trust in the nearby Presence of God and that regardless of the world throws at you, God has got you firmly in God’s grasp. As the late theologian, Marcus Borg notes, the opposite of trust is not disbelief but is mistrust. Trust and mistrust are heart issues, not head ones.

The third understanding of belief is fidelitas, or fidelity. Belief is an unwavering faithfulness, an unwavering fidelity to centering our life around God and God’s nearby presence. The opposite of having fidelity and faithfulness to God is what? Infidelity. In other words, it’s called adultery because we are committing ourselves to something other than the Lord.

The fourth and final way of believing in the ancient church was visio, Latin for ‘vision.’ In this instance, believing is determined by how we see the world and how we see God. Do we see them as hostile and threatening or do we see God and life as full or hopefulness, beauty, and grace? Second, do we look at the world with indifference or with the eyes that the world is redeemable and demands we take care of it and one another. As Borg writes, “How we see reality matters, for how we see “what is” profoundly affects how we experience and live our lives” in response to it.[4]

So, Church, the gospel, the good news is that God is Present where we are. That Presence will make some folks very happy and make others very uncomfortable and Jesus reminds us we are to respond to that Presence with repentance and belief. As we have learned this morning, repentance and belief are so much richer than the church has made them to be. So, I leave you with these questions to chew on while you’re eating Sunday dinner.

Identify what you’re turning from as you re-turn towards God and is there a cost for doing so? If it’s gospel, it will cost you something.

When you say you believe in God, what do you really mean by that? Is it mostly from the head as belief or disbelief or is it from the heart, as trust or mistrust, fidelity or infidelity, or do you see the world hopefully or woefully?

In the Name of the One who is, was, and is to come. So be it. Pray with me.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 8 West Notre Dame Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801 and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the author. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. See http://nrsvbibles.org.

[2] In Latin, this is assensus.

[3] Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity. Rediscovering a Life of Faith (New York: HaperCollins Publishers, 2004), see Chapter Three: The Way of the Heart.

[4] Ibid., 36.

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Now the Lord Came and Stood Calling as Before, 1 Samuel 3:1-10

Posted on January 19, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

Once upon a time, there was a woman who dearly loved her husband and so truly wanted to give him a child. Try as they may, she was unable to conceive. She and her husband were good people and loved their God and so on a retreat to a holy place, she implored God to give her a child. A religious official at that holy place was observing this woman’s behavior while she was in prayer and assumed she was just babbling away to herself; he even accused her of being drunk at worship! He called her out on it and she assured the official she was simply a heartbroken woman who was imploring God to give her a child. The religious official felt deeply for her and blessed her saying, “The Lord give you the desire of your heart.”

Sure enough, God heard this woman’s prayer and she conceived. In due time, she gave birth to a little boy and was so grateful for him she dedicated him to God. She took the little boy back to the religious official who gave her the blessing and gave him up for the service of God. The momma’s name is Hannah, the religious official is named Eli, and the little boy’s name is Samuel. Turn in your Bible to 1 Samuel 3:1-10. Listen to the Word of the Lord!

1 Samuel 3:1-10

3.1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

This text coincides with this church’s tradition of setting apart men and women for leadership in our church every second Sunday in January. On the second Sunday in January, we purposefully set apart those individuals we believe God has chosen to lead us and serve us as ruling elders and deacons. Just as the little boy Samuel heard the call of God speaking his name to serve, so these men and women have heard God speak to them calling them into ordained service.

Ordained service. What does that mean? When a person is ordained, he or she is simply set apart for a particular work for God in service to the people of the church. It’s not something they do for themselves; on the contrary, ordination is something that is done to them. The men and women we are going to ordain and install this morning are not more special than any of us gathered this morning. They are not more religious, righteous, or ready to serve in the capacity of elder or deacon than you are but what sets them apart is they, like Samuel, have been called by God to serve. What can we learn about this mysterious thing we name “a call” from our story with Samuel today? At the very least, we can learn three facts about calls to ministry from our text.

To begin with, a call to ordained service is insistent and will not stop until you acknowledge you are hearing it and do something about it. Samuel was just a child and we read how the word of the Lord was rare in those days. But there in the depth and dark of night, he kept hearing his name, “Samuel!” God kept calling him until he finally was able to hear the call for what it was.

It’s a lesson to those of you who have been approached year after year by our Congregational Nominating Committee charged to discern the calls of new elders and deacons. Oftentimes, a person will appear to the nominating folks who would be a perfect fit for the position of elder and deacon but when asked, will say, “You know, it’s not a good time right now. Maybe next year?” Well, next year rolls around and they are asked again, “We would love for you to serve in this capacity because you’re gifted,” and once again they hear in response, “You know, now is not a good time; can you ask me next year?” And on and on it goes.

Friends, the reality is, calls to ministry and service are inconvenient. They never come at a great time, but we also know, when a person is called, those calls are insistently consistent just like it was for the boy Samuel. God kept trying until Samuel was able to figure it out.

The second fact about calls to service and ministry is that it requires someone else to properly hear if the call is authentic or not. Samuel kept hearing his name being spoken and he was not sure who was speaking. He needed Eli. Samuel needed Eli to affirm and confirm that the voice he was hearing was of God. It was only after Samuel got the direction and advice from another that he was he able to discern his call from God.

In Presbyterian speak, we would say that this is the process of testing the call. I may think God is calling me into ministry but unless it’s repeatedly checked, balanced, and affirmed by others, my desire to serve may be a result of my own ego and desire for power. Samuel tested his call with Eli. Those we ordain and install this morning have had their call tested with interviews and with the confirmation of this faith community voting that you agree and affirm their calling.

Third, calls to ministry and service some to those we least expect to receive them. Samuel was a little boy; who would have thought? One of the things I hear every year in elder and deacon training is, “I’m not worthy to be an elder or deacon.” I hear, “I’m not qualified to be a leader in the church.” And to those answers I hear routinely, I say, “You’re absolutely right! None of us is worthy of the task; just ask Peter who denied knowing Jesus at the worst possible time. Just ask the Apostle Paul after he ordered the deacon Stephen to be put to death for believing Jesus if he felt worthy.” Beloved, the fact is none of us are worthy save for God’s patient and loving grace. All members of the church are gifted by God in some way to serve the community and there may very well be those times when God will grab your attention in what may the most inconvenient point in your life and have someone tell you, “You are called to serve.”

“Who? Me”

“Yes, you goofball. God needs you.”

This morning, we are going to set apart for service some men and women who heard God’s voice, have had it affirmed by others, and who are willing to use the gifts and graces God has given them for the benefit of this community and the Church as a whole. Thanks be to God!

In the name of the one who is, was, and is yet to come. Amen.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 8 West Notre Dame Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801 and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the author. All rights reserved.

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Already, Things are Off to a Rocky Start, Epiphany, Matthew 2:1-12

Posted on January 8, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

I was recently reminded that the church calendar is not always as fluid as we would like it to be.  The church liturgical year began on December 3 with the season of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation. It’s a time of patient waiting for the birth of the Christ-child. Sometimes the actual dates make it a challenge to plan for as Bryan and I were recently reminded. You see this planning conundrum showed itself on December 24th which happened to be both the fourth Sunday of Advent but also Christmas Eve. It forces us to ask ourselves, “Do we axe the fourth Sunday of Advent that morning and go straight into Christmas Eve and into the birthing mode or do we dally in Advent just a bit longer highlighting the need for patient waiting for Jesus’ birth?”

This year we tarried a bit longer.  For the morning of December 24th, we followed the recommended texts and hymns for the morning of the fourth Sunday of Advent and those are not what you would call Christmassy texts and carols. Advent Four is still about waiting patiently for the birth. As every parent knows, you can’t rush a birth. When a woman enters into labor, she quickly learns the baby has a mind of its own and will be born when it is ready. That’s the power of Advent.  We have to wait for when the Christ is ready to come. So, for the person who sent us a cordial email over the weekend expressing your gross disappointment about the lack of Christmas carols and birth texts on the morning of December 24th, I feel your pain. Mary and baby Jesus weren’t ready yet.

This morning poses a similar dilemma for those of us who order worship. The Christian liturgical calendar has two celebrations over two consecutive days. Yesterday, after the twelve days of Christmas, the Church celebrated Epiphany, and the Sunday after Epiphany, the Church celebrates Jesus’ baptism. So, we are forced to wrestle with – do we commemorate Epiphany, or do we celebrate Jesus’ baptism? This year, I chose Epiphany. So, for those of you who were looking forward to remembering Jesus’ baptism this morning and singing all those wonderfully well-known baptism hymns, I apologize!  We are looking at the arrival of the Magi this morning because oftentimes this particular Sunday is “Three Kings Sunday.  Listen to the Word of the Lord from Matthew 1:1-12.

Matthew 2:1-12

2.1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.” 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 6‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” 7Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Already in Jesus’ Story, we see how things get off to a rocky start. It’s a rocky start in our cultural misreading of this Story but it’s also a rocky start for Jesus amid Story time; you see, unbeknownst to Jesus at that time, even as a little boy, he is causing political problems. Culturally, we have misread this text and it’s a wonderful reminder to us that we need to carefully read Scripture as opposed to thinking we already know the Story whereby we don’t really pay attention to the details because “We get the gist of it already.” Just as Herod didn’t know his Jewish scriptures, too many of us are light on our own knowledge of our Christian texts.

To begin with, how many Kings are there in the Story? Three? No, there are only two mentioned – Herod and the newborn King of the Jews. The Persians following the star were not kings but were magi, readers of the stars and nature. They were astrologers.

Next, our Nativity scenes have Jesus in the manger, the cows are lowing and the sheep “baa’ing” and there are the shepherds gathered around the Holy Family and the manger like Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and Lion were around Dorothy’s bed in the Wizard of Oz. Matthew makes it clear that Jesus and his parents were in a house by the time the Magi arrived, not in the manger. The Holy Family was moving on up!

Finally, the time it takes for people walking from today’s country of Iran to Bethlehem would take several months to complete. We have in our imagination that Jesus was still wrapped in swaddling clothes by the time the Magi arrived. In all likelihood, he would have been wearing Huggies by the time they got there.  

An epiphany is a fancy word for a special revelation of something. It’s that moment we have an a-ha experience when we see something we have seen all along but see it in a totally different way. The first epiphany was seen by the Magi as early as when they were still in Persia. Their epiphany was a star that revealed to them there was a birth of a new King in the west.

The second epiphany in our Story is when King Herod realized in his oh-fudge moment there was a political rival afoot. Jesus, just a toddler, was already causing ripples of uneasiness in the established system and empire. He was just a child and he was already making people uncomfortable. Not only was King Herod frightened at the news of this new king, but we read in verse 3 that all Jerusalem was frightened along with him! The everyday Jewish man and woman knew that news of a new Jewish King would bring fierce retribution from Caesar and all of Rome. Jesus, oblivious of it all in his little house in Bethlehem, was already making his people uneasy and causing a fuss. In verse 16 of this same chapter, we read how Herod out of his fear and insecurity sends troops with orders to kill every child two years of age or younger in and around the area of Bethlehem to mitigate the rise of this so-called newborn king.

The Magi’s appearance in Matthew’s gospel does two things. One, it is a celebration that non-Jewish Gentiles from other countries recognized God’s special arrival in the child Jesus. Two, the Magi’s appearance flips over all the finely set carefully planned Christmas tables and causes a mess. You see, when the people hear about and see Jesus, it demands a response from them. From us.  

Yesterday during prayer, I was reflecting upon January 6th and what happened three years ago at our nation’s capital. One politician over the weekend called those who have been convicted for their crimes at the Capital “political hostages” as opposed to criminals who tried to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power in our nation. And then it hit me: January 6th fell and continues to fall on Epiphany, the day of the revealing of our God among us in Jesus. Three years ago, it revealed the tearing fabric of our democracy and the spiritual shallowness our nation has achieved. I am scared to think about what Epiphany will reveal next year about our country and how we understand what it means to be neighbors to one another.

This morning is the invitation to come to the Lord’s Table and receive the precious meal which is an epiphanal moment for us. Through this meal, Jesus reveals to us that we are to love one another as much as God does – and that means giving one’s life and fidelity to what matters most: first to God but then to neighbor. But this meal is also an invitation for you, like the Magi, to look for signs of what epiphany is going to look like in 2025. As they took out on an arduous adventure to seek the newborn king, we are invited to be fed and then released on an adventure in guaranteeing we are spreading as much of God’s graciousness to as many others as we possibly can; we do this so that by this time next year, we will have shown the world what a “Christian nation” really looks like because what we have now is not revealing that at all. Come to the Table and be fed.

In the Name of the One who is, was, and is to come. Amen.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 8 West Notre Dame Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the author. All rights reserved.

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New Identity, New Responsibilities; Galatians 4:4-7

Posted on January 2, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

       A sermon delivered on December 31, 2023, Year B by Rev. Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min.

Our text today is a birth narrative written before any of the other birth narratives of Matthew, Mark, or Luke were written. Matthew, Mark, and Luke were storytellers who painstakingly went to lengths to write the Story of Jesus in ways their respective audiences would relate with and remember. Paul, on the other hand, was a Jewish theologian who wrote directly and to the point. His birth narrative is short, and tight, and delivers the gospel promise to all who could hear what he had to say. There is no baby wrapped in swaddling clothes wriggling in a feed trough, there are no Magi who come bearing gifts, or angel appearances declaring great news and tidings of joy. No, Paul cuts straight through to what the Good News of God actually is.

I suppose Paul’s birth narrative is so tight and compact because the stakes were high with the group of Gentile Christians he was writing to in Galatia. Things had started off well enough for them but then what we might call Old School Jews came into the fellowship and started clouding up the message. They began to sow seeds of doubt among their Gentile church members about the legitimacy of their faith. They insisted that if Gentile members were really devout Christians, then they would have to start following the old Jewish Law and Torah which included the necessity of adult male circumcision.

Paul is totally over this corruption of the Gospel message which required certain acts to be followed before they could be loved by God. The previous chapter of our letter begins with Paul exclaiming quite literally, “You stupid Galatians! Who has bewitched you!?” Consequently, Paul goes straight to the point of the Gospel narrative. Turn in your Bible to Galatians 4:4-7. Listen to the Word of the Lord!

4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God..[1]

Over 25 years ago, there was a young man who was a member of the church I led in Florida and who also began to hang out at my home a good bit. You see, I have two beautiful daughters. Under the auspices of doing “youth group” stuff together, Tyson hung out a lot. During this time, he got pretty familiar with me and called me, “Patrick.” Granted, that is my given name but when you as an adult hear some pimply 15-year-old call you by your first name, well, it just doesn’t feel right. I grew up with the strict instructions everyone older than you was always addressed as “sir” or “ma’am.” Calling an adult by their first name was seen as verboten. Eventually, the true reason for hanging out became evident and he started dating my youngest daughter, Kate. Once their relationship changed, so did mine with Tyson.

I am a firm believer that a daddy of two beautiful daughters has to set boundaries with these boys calling on them at my home. So, if a young man came and had dinner with us, I would smile, ask everyone at the table to hold hands, and then say, “Bobby, it’s a tradition at our house that our guests are given the privilege of saying grace. Please, go ahead.” That was always a fun thing to do watching them be reminded who was in charge. But the other boundary I set was a boundary of respect and that a child addressed an adult as such and not with their first name. So, one day after he’s started going out with my daughter, Kate, he called me ‘Patrick’; I looked at him over my glasses, smiled, and said, “It’s Dr. Wrisley, for you.” I mean, c’mon! I was the dad of the daughter he was dating. I was the pastor of the church he was attending. Boundary set. Boundary noted.

Over time, they continued to date through college and one day he approached me and asked, “Dr. Wrisley, I would like to marry your daughter.” I was thrilled! Of course! By this time, I had known Tyson for years as well as his folks! He was a great young man any father would be thrilled to have as a son-in-law! I enthusiastically told him, “Yes!” and went on to tell him, “And please, call me Dad.”[2]

What changed? Our mutual identities changed. No longer was I his pastor or his girlfriend’s dad; no longer was there a need for a firm boundary of ‘you’re out there and I’m in here.’ No longer was he “that boy” but now he was my son. His identity changed because he was now part of my family and with the change of identity, there was now a new depth of intimacy that wasn’t there before.

Beloved, whereas Matthew’s birth story declares Jesus’ identity as savior when Joesph is told by the angel, “You shall name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins” and whereas in Luke’s birth account Mary is told that Jesus’ identity will be tied to sitting on the throne of King David,[3] Paul’s birth narrative deals not only with Jesus’ identity but our identity, too. Paul is trying to convince the Galatian Christians that THEY have had an identity change. No longer are they outsiders. No longer were they to be treated as unclean, unworthy participants in the faith community or in the world. No longer were they required to fulfill every edict, every jot and tittle of the Jewish Law. No, in Paul’s understanding, the Galatians were now bona fide, full members of the family of God. Their identity changed: Because Jesus came to rescue all those who were under weight of the Law’s impossible demands, we are now called heirs, sisters and brothers who are a part of the family of God. Jesus is now our brother. We now have inheritance rights we never had before!

This reality hit home for me in a big way while serving in a former church. Kristopher and Robert were the guardians of a little boy of a family member who was not capable of caring for him adequately. Kristopher and Robert took charge of this little boy at an early age and raised him as their own. I will never forget the excitement on their faces as they sent me a picture of the three of them flying to Kentucky to formally adopt this 8-year-old boy as their own son. The next day, they sent another picture with the three of them along with the judge as the boy held a sign, “I have my forever home!”

Everything changed for that little boy that day. He had two parents who made him their very own. He had a new last name. He had his own room, his own Christmas stocking, and new parents to sit with the teacher at the parent-teacher conferences. His forever family would see to his emotional, physical, and spiritual needs. They would guarantee he would be raised in a Christian home. Why? Because this little boy’s identity changed. He was no longer on the outside hoping to be a part of a family; he was now an heir and had a full seat at the dinner table.

Paul’s birth narrative is pretty basic and to the point. It’s about our getting a new identity. At the fullness of time, God sent his son, Jesus, born of a woman, born under the strictures of the Jewish Law, in order to redeem those under the same Law that could not be kept, in order that we might receive adoption as God’s bona fide children. The proof of our adoption is that within each of us, in the inner depths of our heart and soul, there is God’s Spirit calling out, not to the Great Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, but crying out for Abba, Daddy, our very own Father! We are family members now. Paul’s birth narrative highlights God was born that we might have a new identity and receive adoption papers. It’s an identity we live into right this moment, in the now, not way off into the future when we die and are in heaven.

Friends, has your heart ever cried out, “Father! Abba! Help me!”? If so, then you have been given the sweet gift of adoption papers into the household of your forever family of God. It means your very identity has been changed and is different. On this New Year’s Eve, the question I pose for all of us is this: Am I living into my identity as a son or daughter of God? What do others see? What is my identity to them?

In the Name of the One who is, was, and ever more shall be, Amen.

© 2023 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 8 West Notre Dame Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801 and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the author. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org.

[2] Tyson had the last word, though. He continued to call me, “Dr. Wrisley” after their wedding just to bug me.

[3] See Matthew 1:21-24 and Luke 1.31-35.

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A Christmas Eve Meditation, 2023

Posted on December 25, 2023 by patrick h wrisley

Delivered at First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls

Luke 2:1–20 (NRSV)

2.1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn.

8 In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”   13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

            During my morning prayers yesterday, I began to contemplate why the Nativity and the Incarnation are so important to me. It’s a pertinent question to ask because the season has been co-opted by a culture whose cathedrals are the malls and the real point of Christmas is often silenced by the news of the latest sale. It forced me to dig in and really think about the Nativity and the Incarnation. It demanded that I hit the pause button and really reflect upon the child born in the manger; why does all this Christmas stuff matter anyhow?

            My mind went immediately to an old voicemail I listened to on Friday left by my late wife, Kelly. I was reactivating my Google Voice account and discovered messages that went as far back as 2015! I clicked on one from Kelly from 2016 and heard her voice utter words I have heard thousands of times, “Hey Wris!”

            Hey, Wris.

            Oh, that voice. Tears flowed over me as I listened to her and that sweet voice. Oh, how I miss her, so.

            The Nativity and Incarnation mean so much to me as I am reminded of the Great I Am in the baby Jesus has experienced the depth of pathos I was feeling at that moment. He felt the depth of the pain of incredible loss I was feeling for my wife. He is feeling the depth of pain Rachel has weeping for all the innocent Palestinians who have died and are enduring the two months of urban warfare with 2,000-pound bombs leveling the little swath of home called Gaza. Jesus feels the depth of despair those immigrants amassed on our southern border as they escape political persecution just as Mary and Joseph did when Herod ordered the massacre of the infants two years old or younger in surrounding the area near Bethlehem after the three Magi told him they came to honor a newborn king in Bethlehem.   

            This year, I have been feeling the weight of leading both earnest and diffident followers of this child for thirty-five years now. The cost to my personal family has been great but the toll on me physically, emotionally, and spiritually has caused my spirit to become increasingly arthritic. In other words, the joints that effortlessly buoyed me along in my pastoral duties and responsibilities are now worn, bone-to-bone, and though they still work, they ache, hurt, and get catchy. Sometimes they buckle for no apparent reason.

            Within those moments of buckling up, breaking down, and collapsing for no obvious reason is why the Nativity and the Incarnation are so powerful for me. When my physical, emotional, or spiritual weight forces me to collapse, I know that I know that I know that little child in the manger grown into a man who transcends all time, space, and matter gently catches me, holds me up, walks with me, helping me come to a place of rest. It’s because of this simple fact that I can do what I do for one more year and that one day, I’ll be able to spend Christmas with my Kelly once again.

            Beloved, this is why the Nativity and the Incarnation are so important to me. It’s why knowing the stories, even by rote, still has power and deep meaning for me. My Christmas gift to you is the invitation to ponder that question for yourself: What does the birth of Jesus, the celebration of God lives with and among us, mean to you? I really want you to slow down, hit the pause button, and think about it. Let the Christ candle’s light illumine the depths of your heart to reveal the Christmas gift.

            In the Name of the One who is, was, and is yet to come, Immanuel, so be it. Merry Christmas, sweet friends. Let us pray.

© December 24, 2023, by Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 8 West Notre Dame Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the author. All rights reserved.

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