Friday, March 29, 2013
Our Place in the Passion of Christ A sermon preached at the PVEN Ecumenical Good Friday Service
Peace and Grace to you from our Crucified Lord Jesus the Christ,
Brothers and sisters, I actually struggled a bit with what greeting I should begin this sermon. My usual peace and grace initially seemed a little out of place at a Good Friday service. Perhaps out of place in our entire Holy Week observance and rituals. For me anyway this whole week is so emotionally intense that the usual greeting may seem a little glib, a denial of the heart wrenching that goes on in the lives of the faithful this week.
You see the reason this week is such an emotional roller coaster is because the church’s practices this week attempt not just to remember the events of Jesus’ last days, but we try to place ourselves in the midst of the Lord’s passion. It’s the kind of remembering that transcends an intellectual memory and incorporates our whole self, mind, heart, senses and body.
Our week began with the blessing and waving of palms. With those palms we cheered on Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and again on Sunday morning we will place ourselves at the empty tomb cheering on his even more triumphal victory over death. Bu a lot happens between Sundays. We place ourselves around the Passover meal Jesus shares with his disciples, receiving the meal and being given the commandment to love one another, a commandment we struggle to keep for the rest of our lives. We place ourselves in the garden with the disciples failing to answer Jesus’ simple request to stay awake and keep watch. With Peter we find ourselves rebuking Jesus’ claim that we will deny him while knowing very well that a day doesn’t go by without making choices that deny Jesus is Lord of our lives.
And then we place ourselves at the cross. With our sins we take our turn cracking the whip and driving those nails. With the rest of the mob we convince Pontius Pilate to release among us a fellow sinner Barabbas and to crucify the Son of God. We join many of the same Israelites who were waving palms yelling Hosannas a few short days ago in cheering on the death of our king. In a few short minutes we will be singing my favorite hymn. When we sing “were you there when they crucified my Lord”, I want you to remember you were there and they didn’t do anything it was us, we need to own our place at the cross. It’s not a proud place to be but it is where we belong because as Dr. Martin Luther wrote,
You should believe, and never doubt, that you are in fact the one who killed Christ. Your sins did this to Him. When you look at the nails being driven through His hands, firmly believe that it is your work. Do you see His crown of thorns? Those thorns are your wicked thoughts.
Brothers and sisters today isn’t Good Friday because of our place in Salvation history. It is Good Friday because although it was our sins that nailed him to the cross it was his love for us that kept him there. Those same sins that Jesus took to the cross have been forgiven and our debt paid. As good as this week is to remember that we are sinners through and through. It is also a good week to remember it was for sinners such as us that Christ won salvation.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
A Short Meditation on the Lord’s Prayer
While preparing to teach a class on Luther during Lent I rediscovered this amazing resource. The forerunner to the small catechism we don't know how involved Martin Luther was in its writing. Justus Jonas and John Agricola was tasked by the reformer to compile a resource to help teach children the faith. Thier finished product included a wonderful meditation that I have borrowed and reword a little bit for use with my 2nd year confirmands.
A Short Meditation on the Lord’s Prayer
Revised and Adapted from A Booklet for the Laity and Children
1526
by Matthew Voyer
Soul: Our Father in heaven, we are your children.
However we are estranged from you and far from you.
How can we ever find our way back to the Home You have created for us?
God: A child honors their father, and a servant obeys its master.
If I am your father, where is the honor?
If I am a master, where is the awe and reverence I deserve?
For my holy name is mocked and rebuked by you. (Malachi 1:6 and Isaiah 52:5)
Soul: My Father, unfortunately You speak the truth.
We acknowledge and repent of our sin.
In your mercy, may You grant us your grace
that your name may be made holy in us.
May we not think, say, or do anything that does not honor and glorify you.
Help us magnify your name and hold it above our own ambition and glory.
For we seek to love, fear, and honor you, as children should their father.
God: How can my name be made holy in you while your hearts and minds are inclined to evil and held captive by sin? (Genesis 8:21)
Soul: O Father indeed our bodies are drawn to sin,
and the world, the devil and our appetites desire to dominate our lives and
separate us from you.
Come to our aid and let your kingdom be present
so that sin may be eliminated,
and we may become righteous in your eyes.
God: My help often brings pain and destruction.
Those that I want so save and correct feel condemned and put to shame.
When my help is so often rejected, what more can I do?
(Deuteronomy 32:39, Psalm 78:10-11, Isaiah 5:1-5)
Soul: We hate that we do not understand
and embrace your help, Father in Heaven.
Grant us your grace and help us allow your holy will to be done in us.
Even though it may be painful continue to discipline us,
as to refine and purify our hearts and minds,
do as You want with us,
as long as it is your will and not ours that is accomplished.
For your will and our own so often contradict each other,
and yours is right and good,
even though we do not understand it,
and ours is evil, even though we find it so at tractive.
God: With your mouths, you so often confess your love for me
while your hearts remain far off.
And when I worked to correct and improve you,
you abandoned me.
Even those of you who cherished and honored me
eventually tuned their backs on me,
returning to their idols and my disfavor. (Isaiah 29:13)
Soul: O Father, again You are correct.
For we cannot do this alone;
we need your strength and nurture.
So take us into your hands and have your way with us,
so You may be glorified.
In the trials that lay ahead, strengthen us by your Holy Word
and our daily bread.
May Your Son, the true bread from heaven, abide in our hearts.
So we, being strengthened by His presence,
may joyously endure the death of our own wills and embrace yours.
And give us good and faithful pastors and teachers
who will not bring us worldly comfort
but rather, provide us with your holy gospel.
God: It is not good to take what is good and is meant for my children
and throw it to the dogs.
You sin constantly
and when you hear my word preached, you refuse to listen.
(Matthew 7:6, 15:26, Jeremiah 5:5, Isaiah 42:20)
Soul: Father, have mercy on us!
Do not deny us your provision because of our sin.
We are so sorry that we do not do your Word justice.
Please have patience with us, your poor children.
Take away our sin and do not judge us;
for no one is worthy in your sight.
Please remember your promise to forgive all who offer forgiveness for others, not because we have earned forgiveness by forgiving others;
but simply because You are gracious and truthful,
and we trust in your promise.
God: I forgive you so often,
but you do not remain steadfast and faithful.
You have a weak faith,
because you cannot stay with me for long,
but you are always be tempted again. (Psalm 78:8 and Matthew 26:40-41)
Soul: Oh Father, we are weak and vulnerable
to many overwhelming bodily and worldly struggles.
Please hold us in your hands
so we do not fall back into sin and temptation.
Give us grace and strength to remain in faith throughout these struggles.
Without you, we can do nothing.
God: I am just, and my judgment is always right and good.
Sin must not go unpunished.
Your sin will have consequences, and I must discipline you. (Psalm 11)
Soul: Since sin leads to more sin, deliver us from every evil.
So that freed from all sin and shame,
we may live out your Holy will
and be people of your kingdom,
who exalt and praise your name forever and ever Amen.
And since You taught us to pray this way,
we will forever trust that You hear us.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Everybody Loves an Underdog
Micah 5:2-5a and Gospel: Luke 1:39-45 (46-56)
This week we were given a big bag of used DVDs and videotapes. The first one that drew Toby’s attention was the DVD Sky High. As many of you know super heroes hold a very special place in our house. So when Toby saw those spandex clad cape wearing teenagers on the front of the DVD case he knew what movie he wanted to watch again and again. However as the movie developed he realized it wasn’t a typical superhero movie. The typical superhero flick is about mighty and powerful individuals that can be depended on to save the day. But as Sky High’s story evolved it was evident that the heroes of this story were going to be a crew of weaker, less significant students known as the sidekicks or “hero support’ if you wanted to be politically correct. You see this movie went from being about the extraordinary to being about the ordinary. It became a quintessential underdog story.
And I was ok with that; after all everybody loves an underdog. Believe me, I’m a lifelong Cubs fan…We love to hear and see stories of people who seem to defy all the odds and do great things; people who somehow transcend normalcy or even mediocrity in inspiring ways.
Friends today I would like to recommend a book full of underdogs. This book if you will is an anthology of underdog stories (hold up bible). As much as we love underdogs, the entire biblical witness reminds us that God loves them even more. Moses wasn’t even supposed to make it out of infancy let alone be able to lead his people to the Promised Land. David, a little shepherd boy from the small town of Bethlehem watches his brothers go off to war and then slays the giant and becomes the king through whose line the savior of the world is promised.
And then there is Mary. This poor and insignificant young girl from an isolated farming community would become the mother of the messiah. How cool is that. You see the story that we hang the eternal state of our souls on is a true life underdog story. Mary goes from being poor and insignificant to being an object of ridicule and shame. As an unmarried pregnant woman she could’ve been stoned to death but God uses another underdog to protect her and provide an upbringing for his son. Joseph, whose royal ancestry meant absolutely nothing to his friends and neighbors, lived the quiet and average life of a tradesman in that small community of Nazareth. This seemingly ordinary man was called to be Mary’s husband and protector and Jesus’ foster father. His decision to stand by Mary despite her supposed indiscretion wouldn’t have won him any steps up the social ladder either.
Of course the miracle that these two were going to participate in couldn’t happen in a small and insignificant place like Nazareth. So God had to call Mary and Joseph out of Nazareth; but not to a place of more import to the comparable hamlet of Bethlehem. God calls His chosen parents from the boonies to the sticks. Today’s prophecy from Micah reminds us that this small forgotten town will see the birth of yet another king. Of all the underdog stories we love, this should be our favorite one by far.
Why does God reveal himself in this way? Why doesn’t he offer salvation through a savior that would be easily recognizable and who would demand loyalty and dependence. I think that a God who is known only through the eyes and values of a fallen world would prove Himself to be nothing but an idol. For the incarnation of God to be truly well… incarnational God with us, Immanuel, would have to be born into the common and ordinary. A look around reminds us that the common and ordinary are full of things like poverty and pain, shame and struggle. And it is those things that are redeemed by the birth we remember this week.
Part of my Christmas season devotions always include a Christmas sermon of Martin Luther’s. The sermon includes this quote.
She starts out on the journey with Joseph, her husband… Then when they came to Bethlehem, they were the most insignificant, the most despised people, as the evangelist indicates. They were obliged to make room for everybody, until they were shown into a stable and had to be satisfied to share with the animals a common hostel… Thus God indicates that he pays no attention at all to what the world is or has or can do, and on the other hand the world proves that it knows nothing at all of, and pays no attention to what God is, has, or does.
You see brothers and sisters our best and brightest will never cure what truly ails us. No eloquent head of state will legislate true justice into existence, no mighty military leader will force true peace on a people, and even the world’s brightest doctors can hold death off for only so long. But justice, peace, and eternal life are exactly what God brings forth in this baby’s birth.
The hymn that Mary sings today, that the church has always sung with her in its daily prayer is as clear a summation of God’s good news as we’ll find in all of scripture. Listen again to Mary’s song.
49for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
God exalts the lowly and calls the mighty to place themselves in His hands so they too may be exalted. And the world may see its messiah trough those who trust in His care. This is what it means to gather around the manger this Christmas season, to humble ourselves before this child in the hay, to join with Mary in singing her song. So we may be blessed and God may be known. I pray that as the birth of the Christchild approaches we can all find ourselves as underdogs in humble estate so we may fully know God’s presence and participate in His marvelous work.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Waiting with the Prophets Dec 4th 2011 Isaiah 40:1-11, 2 Peter 3:8-15, Mark 1:1-8
Waiting with the Prophets
Peace and Grace to you all from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ,
In my exploration on this week’s texts one fellow pastor found it interesting that we began Advent with a Gospel lesson from Mark’s 13th chapter, and this week we hear a reading from the beginning of that same gospel. In his exact words, he told his hearers that it was not a step backward, but rather a move forward—forward to the beginning. I had to chuckle at Reverend Fisk’s treatment of time. In some strange way the more I thought about it, it made sense. It seems to me that during Advent, time does something really funny. Christians all over the world are preparing for a birth that happened just over 2000 years ago. That is exactly what is happening; Advent is not merely a time to get ready for the holiday, but it is a time to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Messiah. During Advent, the story of Jesus’ first coming and the promise of his second coming become intertwined in a way that denies all we think we know about time.
This divine compression of time shows up in today’s readings. Our lesson from Mark’s gospel begins with, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” It seems like a good place for Mark to begin his gospel. However as we read on, we realize that where he places his beginning is not with the birth of Jesus like Matthew and Luke. Mark actually begins his Gospel by bringing his hearers all the way back to the prophets.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; [3] the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,' "
John the Baptist is then introduced to us as the messenger who was sent ahead. John’s message calling God’s people to repentance is nothing new. It sounded much like the messengers who prophesied about coming Messiah centuries before the birth of John the Baptist. Even his seemingly unique wardrobe and dietary choices are important—only because they connect him to all of Israel’s prophets, people for whom living in the wilderness as hermits was often a part of the task. The job of “prophet” is by far the only position when dressing in camel hair and eating insects actually lends credibility. This connection would have been made by most—if not all—of the people who wandered to the Judean countryside to hear him.
It is a connection we should make as well. This morning we are reminded that we are waiting for the same Messiah on whom the prophets and their hearers waited. When we realize that the prophet Isaiah lived and ministered 750 years before Jesus was born, this seems astounding. How is it that we are waiting with prophets who walked the earth almost 3000 years ago for a Messiah who was born 2000 years ago? Perhaps today Peter had a word for us in this regard:
That with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. [9] The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Whenever I hear this passage from Peter, I am reminded of a line by Gandalf in Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring. When Frodo accuses him of being late, his response is “A wizard is never late, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.” Peter’s letter today reminds us of two things. First, the thousands of years between the prophet Isaiah and us is merely a blink of the eyes to the God of Eternity. Secondly, this is important: as we wait and prepare for the Lord, He never stops waiting on us and preparing our hearts and minds. As a matter of fact, the acts of repentance that John the Baptizer (and the prophets who went before him) are never something we can do on our own. The very act of acknowledging our need for God’s righteousness depends on God’s guiding presence.
You see, brothers and sisters, God’s will is more perfect and holy than anything we could ever come up with. And as easy as it is to be impatient with what we perceive as God’s slowness (or even absence), we must remember that God keeps His promises. He has promised to be with us yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As we prepare to know God in yet another way, we remember all the ways He has been present for His people.
He was present for Isaiah’s original hearers in the midst of exile—in the words of comfort and hope spoken by His prophets. Also many who came to be baptized by John in the wilderness experienced God’s presence by experiencing firsthand the birth, earthly ministry, death, and resurrection of His son Jesus the Christ.
He continues to be present for us as well. In the words of scripture, we come to know the God of all Creation who humbles Himself so we may be in relationship with Him. As we gather as a faith family to worship, we encounter God in the words of the liturgy and songs—and in the mutual love and support of each other. Moreover, in Holy Communion, we get to taste and see God as He offers Himself as bread and wine for our eternal sustenance.
So in typical Advent fashion, we prepare for the coming of God’s Messiah with all of God’s people that went before by acknowledging the ways that God is already present for us—or rather (recalling Rev. Fisk’s query about the opening lines of Mark’s gospel), we prepare ourselves for God’s future by remembering God’s beginning. May the coming of the Christ-child be a source of great joy and hope this Advent season
Peace and Grace to you all from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ,
In my exploration on this week’s texts one fellow pastor found it interesting that we began Advent with a Gospel lesson from Mark’s 13th chapter, and this week we hear a reading from the beginning of that same gospel. In his exact words, he told his hearers that it was not a step backward, but rather a move forward—forward to the beginning. I had to chuckle at Reverend Fisk’s treatment of time. In some strange way the more I thought about it, it made sense. It seems to me that during Advent, time does something really funny. Christians all over the world are preparing for a birth that happened just over 2000 years ago. That is exactly what is happening; Advent is not merely a time to get ready for the holiday, but it is a time to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Messiah. During Advent, the story of Jesus’ first coming and the promise of his second coming become intertwined in a way that denies all we think we know about time.
This divine compression of time shows up in today’s readings. Our lesson from Mark’s gospel begins with, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” It seems like a good place for Mark to begin his gospel. However as we read on, we realize that where he places his beginning is not with the birth of Jesus like Matthew and Luke. Mark actually begins his Gospel by bringing his hearers all the way back to the prophets.
As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; [3] the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,' "
John the Baptist is then introduced to us as the messenger who was sent ahead. John’s message calling God’s people to repentance is nothing new. It sounded much like the messengers who prophesied about coming Messiah centuries before the birth of John the Baptist. Even his seemingly unique wardrobe and dietary choices are important—only because they connect him to all of Israel’s prophets, people for whom living in the wilderness as hermits was often a part of the task. The job of “prophet” is by far the only position when dressing in camel hair and eating insects actually lends credibility. This connection would have been made by most—if not all—of the people who wandered to the Judean countryside to hear him.
It is a connection we should make as well. This morning we are reminded that we are waiting for the same Messiah on whom the prophets and their hearers waited. When we realize that the prophet Isaiah lived and ministered 750 years before Jesus was born, this seems astounding. How is it that we are waiting with prophets who walked the earth almost 3000 years ago for a Messiah who was born 2000 years ago? Perhaps today Peter had a word for us in this regard:
That with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. [9] The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Whenever I hear this passage from Peter, I am reminded of a line by Gandalf in Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring. When Frodo accuses him of being late, his response is “A wizard is never late, nor is he early; he arrives precisely when he means to.” Peter’s letter today reminds us of two things. First, the thousands of years between the prophet Isaiah and us is merely a blink of the eyes to the God of Eternity. Secondly, this is important: as we wait and prepare for the Lord, He never stops waiting on us and preparing our hearts and minds. As a matter of fact, the acts of repentance that John the Baptizer (and the prophets who went before him) are never something we can do on our own. The very act of acknowledging our need for God’s righteousness depends on God’s guiding presence.
You see, brothers and sisters, God’s will is more perfect and holy than anything we could ever come up with. And as easy as it is to be impatient with what we perceive as God’s slowness (or even absence), we must remember that God keeps His promises. He has promised to be with us yesterday, today, and tomorrow. As we prepare to know God in yet another way, we remember all the ways He has been present for His people.
He was present for Isaiah’s original hearers in the midst of exile—in the words of comfort and hope spoken by His prophets. Also many who came to be baptized by John in the wilderness experienced God’s presence by experiencing firsthand the birth, earthly ministry, death, and resurrection of His son Jesus the Christ.
He continues to be present for us as well. In the words of scripture, we come to know the God of all Creation who humbles Himself so we may be in relationship with Him. As we gather as a faith family to worship, we encounter God in the words of the liturgy and songs—and in the mutual love and support of each other. Moreover, in Holy Communion, we get to taste and see God as He offers Himself as bread and wine for our eternal sustenance.
So in typical Advent fashion, we prepare for the coming of God’s Messiah with all of God’s people that went before by acknowledging the ways that God is already present for us—or rather (recalling Rev. Fisk’s query about the opening lines of Mark’s gospel), we prepare ourselves for God’s future by remembering God’s beginning. May the coming of the Christ-child be a source of great joy and hope this Advent season
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Sermon August 14th
Unmerited Membership
Peace and Grace to you all from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ,
One Sunday while we were still living in Chicago Heather and I wanted to attend a church where our friend’s mother was the pastor. This congregation was in the south suburbs; an area that we didn’t frequent and know our way around to well. We thought we gave ourselves enough time but lo and behold we got lost and showed up a little late for worship. Heather and I tried to inconspicuously find a seat in the back of the sanctuary, so we picked an uncrowded section of pews and sat down. At one point in the service there was activity around us and we looked and noticed that the worshippers that surrounded us were passing out sheet music. They then stood up while the rest of the congregation remained seated, except for Heather and me. What we did was kind of shrink in our chair trying to be as little as possible, which is always a feat for me. That is right brothers and sisters we managed to show up late to a church we’ve never been and sit ourselves in the middle of the choir. Any chance we had to feel like we belonged or were even welcome worshipping with this community of faith flew the window that morning. Truth be told the people were extremely gracious and hospitable after the service but the damage had been done. It was obvious that we were lacking the knowledge and the experience to be a part of what had been created.
Brothers and sisters, the truth is that much of what humans do by their very nature creates boundaries and walls. Whether or not we it is done intentionally by creating rules, traditions, expectations, and stories or memories we define who is in and who is outside the boundaries and walls we create. I don’t think this is inherently a bad or sinful thing. The gift of community and/or family can and should be a blessing to us all.
However one thing I have learned in life is that our gifts or blessings and our sins and weaknesses are often the two sides of the same course. For instance my outgoing and extroverted nature is often seen as a gift, however I have had to work much harder on the more introverted aspects of the Christian life.
The gift of community is the same way. When we try to apply the boundaries and walls we create to our understanding of God our gift becomes a burden and our blessing becomes a curse. When we get so caught up by our limited perspective that we fail to see that God’s grace and majesty transcend our human categories we fail to see that our faith should bind us and not separate us.
This is kind of what happened to the Pharisees throughout the New Testament. They weren’t inherently evil or sinful; any more than you or I at any rate. We actually share a common intent, they wanted to learn more about God. The Pharisees were religious leaders who desired to teach people about God. In order to do that they arranged rituals and rules to help people encounter God. By the time Jesus was in the picture many Pharisees forgot the original intent and the rituals and rules had attained a kind of primacy in the views of the Pharisees. Right before Jesus’ teaching today the Pharisees approached him upset that his disciples wouldn’t wash their hands before they ate. The catch was they didn’t talk about washing hands as a matter of health or cleanliness but us a matter of tradition, a matter of ritual. Jesus responds as he does not against the act of washing hands but against thinking that any human act will make anybody clean enough to be worthy of God’s promises. According to Jesus failure to conform to a specific group’s practices and requirements will not inhibit one’s faith but what will are the ways we live and the thoughts of our hearts. Brothers and sisters let me say this one more time and another way, what defiles us is our words and actions, and they will. We will wish harm on others, we will speak with a barbed tongue, struggle with the desires of the flash, and we will create divisions and not just communities and those things that create distance between us and others will also drive us from farther from God. On the flipside there is nothing we can do, no group we can attach ourselves to that will make us clean enough, good enough to be worthy of all that God promises.
But God can. In the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ he draws all people to Himself, all we need to do is trust that God’s incarnation has accomplished all that has been promised. Hear again God’s words though the prophet Isaiah,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.
[6] And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
and hold fast my covenant--
[7] these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
Brothers and sisters as the Canaanite woman that Jesus encounters today reminds us, the gifts of God are for all who call him Lord. Her confession of faith began with an acknowledgement that she wasn’t worthy, it is that which Jesus names as faith and then offers her daughter salvation forever claiming them both as children as God.
Brothers and sisters, you and I are no more worthy than that woman to be children of God. And that is truly good news because those are the people that are claimed as God’s sons and daughters. The amazing thing about grace is that it tears down all the fences that we build to keep ourselves in and others out and the fences that are built to keep us out and others in and creates a family of faith that transcends time and our own shortcomings, in the kingdom of God there are no haves and have-nots only forgiven sinners who have been claimed as God’s children and inheritors of eternity.
Today (at the 10:00 service)we get to celebrate this amazing grace in a special way. In the sacrament of holy baptism God will be claiming Charley Sage Dipasquale as a part of His special family. Baptisms always offer us a unique opportunity to be reminded that the Body of Christ is a group where the only criteria for membership is met by a God who hangs from a cross and defeats death for our sake.
Please pray with me,
Lord God,
Thank you for claiming us all as your children. Help us remember that just as nothing we say or do can stop your love for us we also can’t say or do anything to earn that love. It comes unmerited from you because of who you are.
In jesus’ name we pray.
Peace and Grace to you all from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ,
One Sunday while we were still living in Chicago Heather and I wanted to attend a church where our friend’s mother was the pastor. This congregation was in the south suburbs; an area that we didn’t frequent and know our way around to well. We thought we gave ourselves enough time but lo and behold we got lost and showed up a little late for worship. Heather and I tried to inconspicuously find a seat in the back of the sanctuary, so we picked an uncrowded section of pews and sat down. At one point in the service there was activity around us and we looked and noticed that the worshippers that surrounded us were passing out sheet music. They then stood up while the rest of the congregation remained seated, except for Heather and me. What we did was kind of shrink in our chair trying to be as little as possible, which is always a feat for me. That is right brothers and sisters we managed to show up late to a church we’ve never been and sit ourselves in the middle of the choir. Any chance we had to feel like we belonged or were even welcome worshipping with this community of faith flew the window that morning. Truth be told the people were extremely gracious and hospitable after the service but the damage had been done. It was obvious that we were lacking the knowledge and the experience to be a part of what had been created.
Brothers and sisters, the truth is that much of what humans do by their very nature creates boundaries and walls. Whether or not we it is done intentionally by creating rules, traditions, expectations, and stories or memories we define who is in and who is outside the boundaries and walls we create. I don’t think this is inherently a bad or sinful thing. The gift of community and/or family can and should be a blessing to us all.
However one thing I have learned in life is that our gifts or blessings and our sins and weaknesses are often the two sides of the same course. For instance my outgoing and extroverted nature is often seen as a gift, however I have had to work much harder on the more introverted aspects of the Christian life.
The gift of community is the same way. When we try to apply the boundaries and walls we create to our understanding of God our gift becomes a burden and our blessing becomes a curse. When we get so caught up by our limited perspective that we fail to see that God’s grace and majesty transcend our human categories we fail to see that our faith should bind us and not separate us.
This is kind of what happened to the Pharisees throughout the New Testament. They weren’t inherently evil or sinful; any more than you or I at any rate. We actually share a common intent, they wanted to learn more about God. The Pharisees were religious leaders who desired to teach people about God. In order to do that they arranged rituals and rules to help people encounter God. By the time Jesus was in the picture many Pharisees forgot the original intent and the rituals and rules had attained a kind of primacy in the views of the Pharisees. Right before Jesus’ teaching today the Pharisees approached him upset that his disciples wouldn’t wash their hands before they ate. The catch was they didn’t talk about washing hands as a matter of health or cleanliness but us a matter of tradition, a matter of ritual. Jesus responds as he does not against the act of washing hands but against thinking that any human act will make anybody clean enough to be worthy of God’s promises. According to Jesus failure to conform to a specific group’s practices and requirements will not inhibit one’s faith but what will are the ways we live and the thoughts of our hearts. Brothers and sisters let me say this one more time and another way, what defiles us is our words and actions, and they will. We will wish harm on others, we will speak with a barbed tongue, struggle with the desires of the flash, and we will create divisions and not just communities and those things that create distance between us and others will also drive us from farther from God. On the flipside there is nothing we can do, no group we can attach ourselves to that will make us clean enough, good enough to be worthy of all that God promises.
But God can. In the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ he draws all people to Himself, all we need to do is trust that God’s incarnation has accomplished all that has been promised. Hear again God’s words though the prophet Isaiah,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.
[6] And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
and hold fast my covenant--
[7] these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
Brothers and sisters as the Canaanite woman that Jesus encounters today reminds us, the gifts of God are for all who call him Lord. Her confession of faith began with an acknowledgement that she wasn’t worthy, it is that which Jesus names as faith and then offers her daughter salvation forever claiming them both as children as God.
Brothers and sisters, you and I are no more worthy than that woman to be children of God. And that is truly good news because those are the people that are claimed as God’s sons and daughters. The amazing thing about grace is that it tears down all the fences that we build to keep ourselves in and others out and the fences that are built to keep us out and others in and creates a family of faith that transcends time and our own shortcomings, in the kingdom of God there are no haves and have-nots only forgiven sinners who have been claimed as God’s children and inheritors of eternity.
Today (at the 10:00 service)we get to celebrate this amazing grace in a special way. In the sacrament of holy baptism God will be claiming Charley Sage Dipasquale as a part of His special family. Baptisms always offer us a unique opportunity to be reminded that the Body of Christ is a group where the only criteria for membership is met by a God who hangs from a cross and defeats death for our sake.
Please pray with me,
Lord God,
Thank you for claiming us all as your children. Help us remember that just as nothing we say or do can stop your love for us we also can’t say or do anything to earn that love. It comes unmerited from you because of who you are.
In jesus’ name we pray.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Pentecost/Confirmation Sermon
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
Grace and Peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ,
One of my good friends from my early 20’s grew up in the Lutheran tradition but found himself in one of the more charismatic and evangelical communities in American Christianity, his name was Mike. I like to think that our friendship provided each other with some balance and accountability. It definitely provided us with some great conversations about some things like salvation, infant baptism, the power of sin, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Because you see Mike held the all too common perception that the mainline churches including those who claim the name Lutheran are no longer able to talk in any significant way about the Holy Spirit or worse yet, the Holy Spirit is no longer even at work in our churches. I remember at one time saying to Mike, we can talk about the Holy Spirit we even have a day devoted to the Spirit its called Pentecost. He looked me square in the eye and said yeah but Matt where is he the rest of the year. Now if I was as clever then as I am now I would’ve said in the creed. Mike’s thoughts of the Church’s inability to perceive the work of the Holy Spirit should serve as a wake-up call and not simply a zinger to be ignored. We should ask ourselves what we are doing or not doing to lead people like Mike and author Anne Dilliard to ponder the spiritual poverty in our churches. Anne Dilliard’s quote is a favorite of mine.
On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does any-one have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake some day and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.
The truth is brothers and sisters we as American Lutheran Christians would do well to remember the importance of Pentecost, not as a day in our church calendars or a day that took place millennia ago but as an ongoing event, and a gift from God. Because as Paul reminds us in the letter to the Corinthians as our ability to talk about the Holy Spirit goes so goes our ability to call Jesus Christ Lord.
God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to the church manifested itself in such a miraculous way on the first Pentecost we heard all about it today. That same Holy Spirit continues to manifest itself in an equally miraculous way; by creating and recreating faith in the hearts and minds of us sinners.
The creation of faith is a miracle because it allows Christ’s disciples to get out of bed and face dire pain and suffering day in and day out. It is a miracle because it empowers us to set aside our will and desires in order to pursue God’s will. It’s a miracle because it has called, gathered, and enlightened 17 of our young people today and enabled them to call Jesus Lord. Appropriately on Confirmation Sunday I want to offer two quotes by Martin Luther. The first is one we who have gone through confirmation in the Lutheran tradition should be familiar with. In his explanation to the third article of the Creed in the Small catechism he writes.
I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has calls me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith, Daily in this Christian church the Holy Spirit abundantly forgives all sins - mine and those of all believers. On the last day the Holy Spirit will raise me and all the dead and will give to me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.
And again he writes in the large catechism he writes.
Neither you nor I could ever know anything about Christ, or believe on Him, or have Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel.
You see brothers and sisters, being able to receive God’s gifts and acknowledge God as the giver of all good gifts are in themselves a result of God’s greatest gift. It is this gift of the Holy Spirit we celebrate today and we rejoice to see it especially today as our confirmation students are blessed with the ability to say yes to their baptisms. Brothers and sisters the Holy Spirit is alive and well at Christ Hamilton, it is evident in those confirmands, it is evident in those friends and family members who gather around them in love and support, it is evident in the many ways we have reached out to the wider community.
Grace and Peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ,
One of my good friends from my early 20’s grew up in the Lutheran tradition but found himself in one of the more charismatic and evangelical communities in American Christianity, his name was Mike. I like to think that our friendship provided each other with some balance and accountability. It definitely provided us with some great conversations about some things like salvation, infant baptism, the power of sin, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Because you see Mike held the all too common perception that the mainline churches including those who claim the name Lutheran are no longer able to talk in any significant way about the Holy Spirit or worse yet, the Holy Spirit is no longer even at work in our churches. I remember at one time saying to Mike, we can talk about the Holy Spirit we even have a day devoted to the Spirit its called Pentecost. He looked me square in the eye and said yeah but Matt where is he the rest of the year. Now if I was as clever then as I am now I would’ve said in the creed. Mike’s thoughts of the Church’s inability to perceive the work of the Holy Spirit should serve as a wake-up call and not simply a zinger to be ignored. We should ask ourselves what we are doing or not doing to lead people like Mike and author Anne Dilliard to ponder the spiritual poverty in our churches. Anne Dilliard’s quote is a favorite of mine.
On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of the conditions. Does any-one have the foggiest idea what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake some day and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.
The truth is brothers and sisters we as American Lutheran Christians would do well to remember the importance of Pentecost, not as a day in our church calendars or a day that took place millennia ago but as an ongoing event, and a gift from God. Because as Paul reminds us in the letter to the Corinthians as our ability to talk about the Holy Spirit goes so goes our ability to call Jesus Christ Lord.
God’s gift of the Holy Spirit to the church manifested itself in such a miraculous way on the first Pentecost we heard all about it today. That same Holy Spirit continues to manifest itself in an equally miraculous way; by creating and recreating faith in the hearts and minds of us sinners.
The creation of faith is a miracle because it allows Christ’s disciples to get out of bed and face dire pain and suffering day in and day out. It is a miracle because it empowers us to set aside our will and desires in order to pursue God’s will. It’s a miracle because it has called, gathered, and enlightened 17 of our young people today and enabled them to call Jesus Lord. Appropriately on Confirmation Sunday I want to offer two quotes by Martin Luther. The first is one we who have gone through confirmation in the Lutheran tradition should be familiar with. In his explanation to the third article of the Creed in the Small catechism he writes.
I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has calls me through the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith, Daily in this Christian church the Holy Spirit abundantly forgives all sins - mine and those of all believers. On the last day the Holy Spirit will raise me and all the dead and will give to me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.
And again he writes in the large catechism he writes.
Neither you nor I could ever know anything about Christ, or believe on Him, or have Him for our Lord, unless it were offered to us and granted to our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel.
You see brothers and sisters, being able to receive God’s gifts and acknowledge God as the giver of all good gifts are in themselves a result of God’s greatest gift. It is this gift of the Holy Spirit we celebrate today and we rejoice to see it especially today as our confirmation students are blessed with the ability to say yes to their baptisms. Brothers and sisters the Holy Spirit is alive and well at Christ Hamilton, it is evident in those confirmands, it is evident in those friends and family members who gather around them in love and support, it is evident in the many ways we have reached out to the wider community.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Luke 24:13-25
Emmaus Road
I remember reading a news story in 1991 about a professional athlete named Hugh Millen. If you never heard of him, don’t fret; most people probably have never heard of him. You see, that was kind of the point of this news story. He was the New England Patriots starting quarterback, and he was able to walk around Boston’s Hot Spots and even attend a Sox game with other Boston Sports fans without being recognized. Keep in mind that a NFL team’s QB is generally the most high profile player on the team, and here was a starting quarterback who was able to walk around without any harassment, precisely because people had no idea it was him. This was even more amazing given the fact that they were in the midst of a 6 game upswing. The Patriots who were 1-15 the previous season finished at 7-9 during Hugh Millen’s first season as a starter. Yet they were still so steeped in mediocrity that fans couldn’t see their quarterback even when he was right there in a seat in front of them.
I know that Hugh Millen is not the savior of the world and a 7-9 record is far from a resurrection from the dead. However I was reminded of this as I struggled with the road to Emmaus story this week. Cleopas and his fellow sojourner were walking the road to Emmaus when they encountered Jesus and mistook him for some ignorant out-of-towner. We don’t know why we they were going to Emmaus, but as I hear Cleopas’ testimony I wonder if they’re moving on to find the next best thing, the new prophet and miracle worker to put their hope in, because he and his friend were obviously without hope. Listen again to his own words.
Luke 24:19-24 Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
These are not the words of a man who found hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The tone that I hear when I picture this scene is a solemn mixture of sadness and disappointment. I actually think “disappointment” may not be strong enough word. It’s the kind of ultimate disappointment that comes with lost or unfulfilled hope. I am sure that you can all remember times in which God answered prayer in ways different than we had hoped; we all know the despair of unfulfilled hope. It is precisely this kind of grief which blinded the two travelers to the fact that their resurrected Lord and Savior still walked with them in spite of their grief and in the midst of it as well.
Sadly this isn’t the only emotion that can hinder our ability to acknowledge God’s presence. Anger, sadness, loneliness, shame, even pride and ambition can all hide God’s presence in our lives. Pride and ambition can do it by hiding God behind ourselves, we become bigger than God. The others do it using our problems; they become bigger than God.
Brothers and sisters, praise God that His presence on the road to Emmaus did not depend on Cleopas’ ability to see him, and the truth of the resurrection is not dependent on his or even our capacity to understand it or believe it. We live in a world where we are often told that truth is only a matter of perception. Thankfully this was not the case in Emmaus and it’s not the case today either.
Ultimately, brothers and sisters, our perceptions fail us. They cloud our minds and our hearts and we are at a loss with nothing to grasp onto for hope and assurance. However, brothers and sisters, where our perceptions and emotions fail us, God does not. He journeys with us in our denial, disregard, disbelief and reveals himself in many ways; in the prayers and lives of other Christians, through our time with scripture, the music and liturgy of our church service, and the sacraments. That is right; much like those in Emmaus we meet God in the breaking of the bread and passing of the cup. This week I encourage you to think about where your Emmaus Road is, the place in your life where your perceptions fail and God is hidden. But also think about how God opens your closed eyes, minds, and hearts and thank God for those moments. Please pray with me.
Great God, We don’t always see you and appreciate you as we should. Sometimes we put our hope into other things or give up hope entirely. But you are an amazing God who continues to walk with us, and you persistently show yourselves. Thank you for not quitting on us; help us not quit on you.
In Jesus’ name.
I remember reading a news story in 1991 about a professional athlete named Hugh Millen. If you never heard of him, don’t fret; most people probably have never heard of him. You see, that was kind of the point of this news story. He was the New England Patriots starting quarterback, and he was able to walk around Boston’s Hot Spots and even attend a Sox game with other Boston Sports fans without being recognized. Keep in mind that a NFL team’s QB is generally the most high profile player on the team, and here was a starting quarterback who was able to walk around without any harassment, precisely because people had no idea it was him. This was even more amazing given the fact that they were in the midst of a 6 game upswing. The Patriots who were 1-15 the previous season finished at 7-9 during Hugh Millen’s first season as a starter. Yet they were still so steeped in mediocrity that fans couldn’t see their quarterback even when he was right there in a seat in front of them.
I know that Hugh Millen is not the savior of the world and a 7-9 record is far from a resurrection from the dead. However I was reminded of this as I struggled with the road to Emmaus story this week. Cleopas and his fellow sojourner were walking the road to Emmaus when they encountered Jesus and mistook him for some ignorant out-of-towner. We don’t know why we they were going to Emmaus, but as I hear Cleopas’ testimony I wonder if they’re moving on to find the next best thing, the new prophet and miracle worker to put their hope in, because he and his friend were obviously without hope. Listen again to his own words.
Luke 24:19-24 Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
These are not the words of a man who found hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The tone that I hear when I picture this scene is a solemn mixture of sadness and disappointment. I actually think “disappointment” may not be strong enough word. It’s the kind of ultimate disappointment that comes with lost or unfulfilled hope. I am sure that you can all remember times in which God answered prayer in ways different than we had hoped; we all know the despair of unfulfilled hope. It is precisely this kind of grief which blinded the two travelers to the fact that their resurrected Lord and Savior still walked with them in spite of their grief and in the midst of it as well.
Sadly this isn’t the only emotion that can hinder our ability to acknowledge God’s presence. Anger, sadness, loneliness, shame, even pride and ambition can all hide God’s presence in our lives. Pride and ambition can do it by hiding God behind ourselves, we become bigger than God. The others do it using our problems; they become bigger than God.
Brothers and sisters, praise God that His presence on the road to Emmaus did not depend on Cleopas’ ability to see him, and the truth of the resurrection is not dependent on his or even our capacity to understand it or believe it. We live in a world where we are often told that truth is only a matter of perception. Thankfully this was not the case in Emmaus and it’s not the case today either.
Ultimately, brothers and sisters, our perceptions fail us. They cloud our minds and our hearts and we are at a loss with nothing to grasp onto for hope and assurance. However, brothers and sisters, where our perceptions and emotions fail us, God does not. He journeys with us in our denial, disregard, disbelief and reveals himself in many ways; in the prayers and lives of other Christians, through our time with scripture, the music and liturgy of our church service, and the sacraments. That is right; much like those in Emmaus we meet God in the breaking of the bread and passing of the cup. This week I encourage you to think about where your Emmaus Road is, the place in your life where your perceptions fail and God is hidden. But also think about how God opens your closed eyes, minds, and hearts and thank God for those moments. Please pray with me.
Great God, We don’t always see you and appreciate you as we should. Sometimes we put our hope into other things or give up hope entirely. But you are an amazing God who continues to walk with us, and you persistently show yourselves. Thank you for not quitting on us; help us not quit on you.
In Jesus’ name.
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