Pastor Jim Arter

Ash Wednesday ~ Joel 2:1-2, 12-17

2012-02-22T19:36:00.000-08:00

What do you believe God sees when God looks at you?
Does God see a terrible sinner…a miserable failure…an abomination?

Or something else?

Our answer to that question has a powerful impact on our relationship with God. And as we begin our Lenten journey, it's a question that we all need to ask ourselves.

In our first reading from the prophet Joel, we hear two strikingly different messages coming from one God.

And we'll hear this same inconsistency in all of the prophetic books of the Old Testament...

The lesson begins with a prophecy of darkness and gloom. The first two verses of the reading are absolutely terrifying. God is bitterly angry and prepared to pour out judgment and wrath on his own people as punishment for their sins.

But read on, and we hear of a God who "is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, who relents from punishing..."

So what is God's disposition towards us? Are we living under an angry God? Is God preparing to destroy us, as so many Christian voices are saying?

Make no mistake-- God was angry at the people of Israel for their sins. And God is announcing judgment on the people. But God's judgment is not about destroying and abandoning.

Through all the prophetic books, we hear the words of a God who is grieved beyond words for a people who have turned their backs upon him and his laws. God's anger is grief at the destruction that sin wreaks upon the human community and upon God’s creation.

God's mercy triumphs over God's judgment. If there is one single message we can glean from all the prophetic books is that God absolutely will not abandon his beloved people. God’s judgment always serves the greater purpose of turning the hearts of his people back to himself.

This is the character of our God-- and this has been God's way of dealing with a sinful humanity since the Garden of Eden.

God will do whatever it takes to redeem us from the powers of sin and death that enslave us and hold us prisoner-- and God did. God became a human being in Jesus Christ and laid down his life at the cross for our redemption.

God would not do this for someone he hates. God does this for a people who are loved more than they can ever know. When God looks at you, God is not angry or disgusted. God is merciful. God is forgiving. God sees a person who is loved so much that the cross was not too high a price to pay for your redemption.

With such great love shown to us in Jesus Christ, Lent is a time for all of us to heed God's pleas to return to him. It's a time to receive and celebrate his forgiveness. It's a call to commitment; a call to submit ourselves to God's rule over our lives.

And it's very appropriate that Lent is associated with giving something up-- because the season is all about repentance. To repent is to renounce those things that take the place of God in our lives; it's renouncing all of the things we're too afraid to "miss out on" if we put God first. Yet God is not looking for us to give up those things for just forty days. Obedience means abandoning these things for good.

Now is the time for all of us to hear God’s Word of judgment on the sin that enslaves us—but not while trembling with fear. God’s Word of judgment is God’s urgent plea to be cleansed and purified, so that we can live each day feasting on the love and forgiveness given to us in Jesus Christ.

Your God is gracious and merciful—so return to the Lord your God and receive the gift of salvation.

He Comes Down ~ Mark 9:2-9 ~ Transfiguration Sunday

2012-02-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

He was as close to heaven as he could be...

Jesus is up on a high mountain, together with Peter, James and John. And there, in that place, he is transfigured; he is transformed—his clothes become radiant with the glory of God; then Moses and Elijah appear out of nowhere and begin talking with him... And a mighty voice says to his disciples “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him!”

What a moment this must have been for Jesus. The glory of God is radiating from him. Here, there are no crowds clamoring for his attention, and his enemies cannot even touch him. Here, he could bask in the glory that was rightfully his as God’s Son. This is where Jesus belonged.

And Jesus’ disciples wanted to stay there with him. Peter was ready to build three dwelling places so that he and the two other disciples could remain there forever with Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. What a heavenly existence this would have been, living each day in the light of the glory of God.

But Jesus will have none of that.

Jesus comes down the mountain… Jesus leaves it all behind.

He goes back to the world below that was so full of suffering and evil… He goes back to live among his enemies who would stop at nothing to end his life. He moves on into the future, fully knowing that he will not experience God’s glory again until after his suffering and death upon the cross. He moves on knowing that tougher days lie ahead.

How difficult it can be to move on…

How difficult it is to face our tomorrows when the future presents us with so many uncertainties—and so many threats.

Many of us may remember a period of time from our past when life was good and the joys were many. We remember the “good old days” when life was better than it is now.

Many of us, however, have never known “good old days,” but we dream of living that kind of reality.

Whether it’s on memories or in visions, we all have our very own ideals of life as we want to live it. That’s the kind of life where we know we belong. And our hearts ache for that so much because life as it is right now is so much more complicated. With the passing of time, we suffer losses and pains that we could have never imagined in even our worst nightmares. We sin; we make mistakes, and we have to endure the consequences of those actions. The struggles of the present time grow so enormous that life isn’t about living, but trying just to cope with all the hardships. We don’t belong in the life that we know now.

Our traumas and our failings become so significant that we come to believe that life, as we know it now, will always be this way… All we see ahead of us is just more pain and discouragement…

But this is not the future that God intends for you…

And this is why Jesus came down from heaven to earth; this is why he left behind the glory of his moments on the mount of transfiguration and returned to the world below… Heaven is Jesus’ rightful dwelling place, but he chooses instead to make his dwelling-place with us. Jesus came down to be our redeemer. Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, came down from heaven to be our redeemer; to us to bear away the sin of the world by giving his life upon the cross. Even still, he comes down to redeem us from our brokenness and despair.

Jesus does not want us to live in fear of our tomorrow. Even if we know that the worst of our trials has yet to come, God does not want you to be held captive by that which you fear and dread. He abides with us strengthen us in the power of his redemption as we face the difficulties and the impossibilities of life.

God wants for you to embrace tomorrow as a gift—and it is another day for you to experience the presence of Christ right there with you in whatever the day may bring. If we move forward into our tomorrows with faith and trust in Christ, we will witness God’s glory. We will experience the awesome power of God as Christ gives us healing and transformation; as we overcome the worst of what life brings us by the amazing grace of God.

If you’ve been torn down so much that you don’t know where you will ever find the strength to face the day ahead, know that Christ has come down from heaven to take your hand and lead you forward.

As we embark on our Lenten journey in just a few days, keep your focus on the cross—because the cross is the sure sign that nothing that will come your way in life can stand in the way of God’s redeeming work in your life. The cross did not have the final say. Out of that cross the fullness of God’s glory has been revealed to the world in the resurrection of Christ. Christ triumphed over the cross—and you will over triumph over your cross.

So may the cross be a sign of your hope—a sign to give you confidence that you will witness the glory of God.

Made Clean ~ Mark 1:40-45 ~ Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

2012-02-12T05:35:00.000-08:00

Today we hear the second of a total of ten healing stories in the Gospel of Mark.

With every healing story we are challenged to listen very closely to the text—because Jesus’ was doing far more than just healing a mortal body…

God didn’t send Jesus to earth to be a healer; God sent Jesus to be our Savior.

So when the sick and the demon-possessed came to Jesus, his healings served the purpose of revealing God’s compassion and the mercy of God toward those who sin and those who suffer. It was Jesus’ compassionate acts for people brought them to faith—and it was by faith that they received God’s gift of salvation.

So when you hear a healing story, don’t hear it as a story of what can happen in your life if you have enough faith—because that’s not their point. It is so very easy to hear these healing stories think to yourself, “if I had the faith of this person, I wouldn’t be sick; I wouldn’t be in need; I wouldn’t have this depression; ... I would be cured.” When we suffer, it is very hard to have faith; it is very hard to put your trust in God. If we hear the healing stories in this way, we’re going to feel guilty for not having enough faith.

When you hear a healing story, hear it as a story of Jesus’ love and Jesus’ compassion for you in your time of need. And remember that it is Jesus’ work in our lives that gives us the faith to believe and trust in him.

In today’s healing story, there is a man with leprosy who comes to Jesus, falls on his knees, and cries out “if you are willing, you can me clean.”

Now in biblical times, leprosy was just about the worst thing that could happen to a person.

It was excruciatingly painful. You would be covered with painful sores on your skin—and the disease would even afflict your bones, your muscles, and your joints.

And leprosy was highly contagious. You could contract leprosy even by touching the clothing of a leprous person—or going their house.

Since leprosy was so dreaded by society, lepers were expelled from their homes and families. You were driven out of town and forced to live in total isolation.

You were unclean, as the laws of Leviticus chapters 13 and 14 stipulate. You were absolutely forbidden to participate in the religious life of your community. You were, in essence, cut off from God.

It was even believed that people with leprosy were cursed by God.

With leprosy, you were no longer a person. You were your disease; you were a scourge to be discarded from society like trash in a landfill…

So a person having leprosy certainly had no business pushing his way through a crowd to get to Jesus. And he had no reason to expect Jesus to do anything else but run away from him as his legs could carry him. Jesus was unholy; the leper was unclean... But Jesus doesn’t run away from the leper…

And the leper does not asked to be well... He doesn’t ask Jesus to cure him... He doesn’t really ask for anything; he simply declares to Jesus his faith: “if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

And Jesus, full of compassion, stretches out his hand, touching the leper, and says “I am willing. Be made clean.”

In that moment, the leper is made clean. He is no longer cut off from human contact; he is no longer a disease; he is no longer cut off from God… Jesus makes him a whole person with a place in the family of God.

But at the same time, Jesus becomes unclean when he touches the leper. Jesus willingly becomes unclean so that the leper can be restored to God. That is what a savior does.

Our savior is willing to reach out his compassionate hand to you in your uncleanness. After all, Jesus is not the Savior of those who are clean; Jesus is the Savior of those who are unclean. The holy Son of God us amid the wreckage of our sin; the holy Son of God meets us in the misery of our suffering—even in those times when we feel as though there’s no God to even believe in.

By Jesus’ own healing touch, our gravest sins and our illnesses and our weaknesses no longer rule over our lives. We become whole persons; beloved children of God; forgiven unconditionally; bound for eternal life in the presence of Christ.

And while we will never understand God’s ways as to why we suffer and why sometimes our prayers for (physical) healing get answered and others do not, there is one prayer we can pray with utmost, absolute confidence…

We can approach Jesus Christ (just like the leper did) and be made clean. We don’t have to achieve a certain level of holiness to come to Christ—we can come to him just as we are right now. He is willing to make you clean; he is willing to extend his compassionate healing hand to you. Jesus is working to deliver you through your present trials so to bring you, at the last, to your eternal salvation. Jesus is working in your life so that you can have faith and believe in these promises.

The healing we need most of all is the healing that is given—the healing of knowing that our sins are unconditionally forgiven; the healing of knowing that there is life after death.

Today, Christ announces to you: “child of God, you are made clean. Go now, and live in the everlasting love of your God.”

Prayer: Your Most-Needed Rest ~ Mark 1:29-39 ~ Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

2012-02-05T05:45:00.000-08:00

Here we are in the 1st chapter of Mark... Jesus' ministry has just begun-- and it's been a whirlwind...
For forty days he was out in the wilderness being tempted by Satan... He's called his first disciples...

And from the moment he began to proclaim God's Word—his fame has spread like wildfire. Jesus has literally an entire city following him wherever he goes.

One thing you can say about Jesus' ministry-- is that it has been incredibly successful. Things are going great.

But one thing we cannot forget was that Jesus was human; he had to have been exhausted ; he had to have been stressed after all he went through…

So after a long day of preaching and healing that stretched well into the night, Jesus rises up early in the morning-- while it's still dark-- and he goes off to a lonely place to pray.

He chooses prayer over sleep…

He chooses prayer over the crowds that were still clamoring to see him-- even in the middle of the night.

Jesus’ most urgent need; his top priority in the midst of these busy times: was quiet time-- alone with God, in prayer…

Simon Peter and his companions certainly had a different idea of what should have been Jesus’ top priority…

They go and hunt Jesus down—and when they find him, Simon says “everyone is looking for you!” He speaks to Jesus as if Jesus is not doing we he should be doing. People need him.

But that’s not how Jesus saw it. Of greater urgency than even ministry was the urgency for Jesus to be alone with God in prayer.

The crowds were not going to set Jesus’ agenda… Neither were his disciples…

Jesus served his heavenly Father above all—and in his time of prayer, Jesus submits himself to that authority.

As you read the four Gospels, you will see this same pattern repeated quite often… Jesus frequently goes off by himself to pray. Prayer kept Jesus in line with God’s purposes. It was in prayer that God gave Jesus the wisdom and the strength to do what God sent him to do.

One thing that we all have in common with Jesus is that we have to juggle many priorities in our days. And most of the time, our priorities are significant and important… We have to earn a living and pay the bills; we have to raise our children right; we have to take care of our loved ones; and we have to take care of ourselves. There is always much for us to do—and much for us to fix.

But do we approach prayer with the same urgency as Jesus does?

All too often, we look at prayer like Simon Peter and the disciples did… We see prayer as non-productive time. After all, you can’t pray your bills away; you can’t pray your kids off to school; you can’t pray away the dirty laundry… In order to pray, we must stop doing other things—including the important things…

And how difficult it is to pray when the answers we seek so fervently do not come…

Then if we actually do manage to take time for prayer; it can be incredibly difficult to stay focused. Thoughts and worries swim around in our minds like sharks. Sometimes, we’re distracted by the fact that we’re just exhausted.

I know that if I were in Jesus’ shoes, I’d be using my precious “alone time” for sleep, not for prayer…

But for Jesus Christ, prayer was the most important rest in his life.

Like Jesus, we need the rest that is prayer. Stress and guilt and worry literally suck the life out of us.
But prayer is an act of sheer defiance against these things. When we come before God in prayer, we are saying to God, “here I am, I am yours. I want you to rule in my life. I trust you. Help me.”

When you come God in prayer—God gives you life. God gives you life that can withstand and flourish against the onslaught of the pain and adversity that comes your way.

And God will give to you the peace, and the courage, and the wisdom to do what God wants for us to do. God will lead you through your trials, through your confusion. You will make it through, because God is with you.

Prayer is not easy. But the Holy Spirit is always with you when you pray. When you can’t put two words together, the Holy Spirit speaks to God on your behalf. When all you can offer to God is your silence, your frustration, your anguish, that is enough.

So if you’ve been praying and praying and nothing has seemed to come from it; keep at it. And don’t go at prayer alone. Reach out to your brothers and sisters in this community. Ask someone to pray for you or with you. Ask someone to help you to listen as God speaks. And don’t give up until you receive God’s peace.

And offer to pray for someone today. One of the simplest and most powerful ways that we can share the love of God with someone else is to pray for them or to pray with them.

It’s a tough world and a tough existence we live… Our need for prayer is urgent. We can’t afford to put it off until we have the time. Do whatever it takes to come before God in prayer. Come to God in prayer and receive the peace that surpasses understanding. Come to God in prayer and be lifted up on eagles’ wings.

A Safe Place for All ~ 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 ~ Fourth Sunday of Epiphany ~ January 29, 2012

2012-01-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

Most of the food at the supermarket does not come directly from the farm supermarket...

Our food passes through the various hands of what is known as “the supply chain.” Generally, our food goes from the farm, to the packer, to the wholesaler, to the distribution center, and then to the supermarket, and finally, our homes...

In the ancient city of Corinth, there was one very common link in the supply chain—which would be very unusual in our day... Most of the meat that was bought and sold in the Corinthian marketplace had been sacrificed to idols. It actually went from the temples to the meat markets. There were even restaurants in the temples that served this meat.

For some Christians, this wasn’t a problem... In their minds, there was only one God—and no other gods existed. So any sacrifices or rituals to those gods were nothing but a bunch of “bogus hocus pocus...” They were free to eat whatever they wanted—and the Apostle Paul affirmed this freedom. This food wasn’t cursed or evil because of where it had been or what it had been used for. Food was food, and the Christian was free to eat it.

But for some Christians, it was a big problem to eat food sacrificed to idols... When they saw their fellow Christians eating it, they were scandalized. In their eyes, these Christians were behaving like idol-worshippers. So they didn’t feel safe at church in the company these persons.

On the other hand, those who did eat it tended to judge those who did not as being weak and ignorant. After all, they didn’t know the truth—or they couldn’t handle the truth…

So the church was divided—and a church that’s divided is a church that is weak…

But Paul’s solution to the problem was not about “enlightening” everyone into his way of doing things… “Food will not bring us close to God,” he writes, even if it has not been sacrificed to idols.

Paul’s greatest concern was that the Corinthian church be a safe space for all believers to come together in the presence of the living God. And this would not be possible if some believers were scandalized by the behavior of some of their fellow Christians—nor would it be possible if some believers were judging others as weak, ignorant, or stupid for their beliefs…

All of the members of the Corinthian church were obligated to love and care for all of their sisters and brothers in Christ… After all, the greatest commandment is the commandment to love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

So if eating food sacrificed to idols was going to cause others to stumble in their faith and feel unsafe in the church—then the right thing to do was to abstain from eating it—even though people knew that was no harm in doing so…

Eating food sacrificed to idols is not an issue of debate in today’s church. But controversy is as old as the church itself—and our day and age is no exception. There are many changes taking place in the church; changes in how we worship; changes in teaching and doctrine, changes in leadership—and the church is divided.

Conflict in and of itself is not a bad thing. There will always be disagreement about matters of faith and practice. But we go wrong when we become hostile and judgmental towards those who disagree with us… Many judge those on the other side as being stupid or ignorant; or at worse yet, as untrue Christians…

And the consequence of this is that people (on both sides of controversies) do not feel safe in their churches.

And there many other reasons that people don’t feel safe in church…and thus never come…

Some people can’t get into the spirit of how congregations worship…

Some may believe they’re too different from the people inside. They don’t have nice clothes to wear to worship; or perhaps they believe they’re not good enough to belong; they’ve done a lot of bad things in their life and everyone in town knows their reputation…

Some people may have a hard time believing in God with all of the bag things that have happened in their lives…

But now, more than ever, it is vital that we work together in making our church a safe place for all people to come into the loving arms of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus never rejected anyone—so as the Body of Christ, we are called to show the unconditional love of Christ to ever sinner, every seeker, and every doubter in this community.

And that’s not always easy for us to do… It’s not easy to love people when they’re different from us… It’s not easy to love those whom we know have not lived godly lives; it’s not easy to love those whose beliefs differ from our own. And it’s especially not easy to love those who’ve offended us. But there is no greater commandment from God than the command to love.

Being loving is more important than being right.

Live Simply, Simply Love ~ 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 ~ 3rd Sunday of Epiphany ~ January 22, 2012

2012-01-23T15:31:00.000-08:00

Last year it was a radio evangelist Harold Camping...

This year it's the Mayans...

and Nostradamus...

...telling us that the world is going to end.

Every generation has its doomsday prophets. For as long as time has existed, there have always been people who've believed the end of days was imminent.

And Christianity is no exception. From the days after Christ's resurrection until now, believers have been firmly convinced that the end of the world was to come in their lifetimes.

The Apostle Paul was one of those Christians... We hear this conviction in his words from our second reading in 1 Corinthians.

His message to the believers in Corinth was this: time was short. The present order is passing away. Therefore, everyone's plans, everyone's concerns should be set aside-- and everyone should focus on readying themselves for what was soon to come. There was no reason to be bothered with marriage or grief or celebration or possessions... Christ was going to come any day, and none of these things would matter...

It goes without saying that Paul was wrong about the timing of Christ's return. But there is still a great truth for us in his words...

This life, and the world as we know it right now-- will not last forever.

And thank God for that. Thank God that our suffering isn’t permanent. Thank God that there one day will be no more poverty or evil. Thank God that a brighter future awaits us...

But that's the future…

What concerns us most is the stuff of the here-and-now; the stuff that impacts our everyday life. We're concerned for our loved ones, for our jobs, for our health… In a presidential election year we're concerned about the economy; about healthcare and education; crime and wars; the environment. These concerns are part of life. We can't avoid them. And we're not wrong to have them. These are God’s concerns, too.

But the trouble is that this world gives us even more concerns.

Just consider the advertisements you see on TV:

Smart phones with 4G wireless internet. Televisions with 500 channels. Cars you can talk to, that'll park themselves. Designer fashion labels. Gourmet restaurants. Luxury vacations.

All of this advertising aims to address a need or a concern you have-- and if that need doesn't exist, they'll do whatever it takes to create it. So while you're already concerned about your children and your health and your career, you’ll now be concerned about owning "the next big thing" (whatever that may be). Once you’re convinced that you can’t live without it, you're next concern will be paying for it. So now you'll be even more concerned about your job and your finances. And once you buy that next big thing, you'll be concerned about it working properly; you’ll worry about breaking it or someone stealing it.

With wealth and every flashy treasure, creature comforts, and modern convenience come concerns. They cause us stress; they put the squeeze on our finances. And from the perspective of eternity, these things are absolutely meaningless...

Now it’s not morally wrong if we have cable or if we own the latest trendy gadgets or take nice vacations.

We all want to live comfortably; we all want to have fun and enjoy ourselves. And we know life is short, so we all want to live life to its fullest.

But is it all worth it?

God’s Word reminds us again, that the good life that our souls hunger for so greatly cannot be found in this world as we know it.

When God’s promised future comes to fulfillment, it won’t matter if we had cable television; it won’t matter if we owned the next big thing.

The good life awaits us in eternity.

And in Jesus Christ, that glorious future is ours. We don’t have to go through life worrying and being concerned whether or not we are saved. We are God’s ultimate concern—and Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice to give us the ever-lasting life we need. We’re already well on our way to our eternal home. So why should we lose our souls to gain a world that’s passing away?

Make no mistake; we still have to live in this world for as long as God has destined for us. But we do not have to live life on the world’s terms. God’s will for our lives is that we be as free from anxieties and worries and stress as we can possibly be. And we can spare ourselves tremendous stress and anxiety just by living simply. This is the virtue of living simply. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Don’t get caught up in the endless pursuit of the good life that will always be beyond your reach.

The life that is truly worth living is one that is lived in anticipation of our ultimate reality. We are bound for eternal life by the grace and love of God in Jesus Christ—so if we’re going to concern ourselves with anything it all, our concerns ought to be God’s concerns, too.

God is concerned about human suffering and need—and God does not sit idly by while his people cry out in fear and agony. So when we reach out in love and care for our neighbors, we are not wasting our time. We are bearing witness to the healing grace of God at work in this world. And not only that, we are doing works of eternal significance. God is using us to do a good that will last forever.

And remember that God is concerned about your needs—and the needs of those you love. God does not want you to be burdened with worries about what you will eat or what you will wear or where you will live. God invites you to leave these cares at the foot of the cross—with the assurance that God knows your every need and every fear.

God’s plan for your life in this world is that you live in peace; that you share God’s love with your neighbors; and that you experience God’s amazing grace and love as you await the life you have been promised. The simpler we live, the more of ourselves we can give to God, and devote to doing good thing that will last forever.

So live simply. Serve your neighbor. Put your trust in God. Eternal life awaits you. Live for the future.

"Speak, for Your Servant is Listening" ~ 1 Samuel 3:1-10 ~ 2nd Sunday of Epiphany ~ January 15, 2012

2012-01-15T13:38:00.000-08:00

“The Word of the Lord was rare in those days…”

For a believer, this statement is bone-chilling…

It sounds as though God stopped caring about people…

But in reality, quite the opposite was true…

The Word of the Lord was rare…because people stopped listening. Many just did whatever was right in their own eyes. Whatever they felt like…

The times were so tough and the hardships so great that many simply gave up on God. People abandoned the faith of their ancestors. Some even began worshipping other gods.

And the religious leaders of the day certainly weren’t helping the situation any…

There was the priest by the name of Eli. A mediocre priest at best… He had two sons by the name of Hophni and Phineas who were also priests—but they were the kind of priests who used their position of power and influence to exploit other people for their own benefit. Pure scoundrels.

With these buffoons tasked with proclaiming God’s Word, it was little wonder why the Word of the Lord was rare in those days…

But now more than ever, God was determined to speak and be heard …

So God spoke—not to Eli or his wicked sons, but to a small boy, whose mother had dedicated him for the service of the Lord.

Three times, the boy hears a voice calling to him in the night. But not once did he think it was the voice of God. Samuel didn’t even know God existed—even though he was being raised by priests. Samuel thought it was Eli calling to him—and Eli thought Samuel was just hearing things. He wasn’t expecting God to speak. The Word of the Lord was rare in those days. It wasn’t until the third time Samuel came into his room that Eli finally wised up to the possibility that maybe; just maybe, it was God who was speaking to the boy. And sure enough—God spoke—and Samuel listened.

Do you believe that God speaks? Do you believe that God can actually speak to you?

We know by common sense that God does not speak directly to us as God speaks to persons in the Bible, like Samuel. We don’t have angels who visit us at night who tell us what God is going to do or that God wants us to do this or that.

So how does God speak to us? Or does God really speak to us at all?

It’s easy for us to believe that people who hear God speaking are just hearing voices—or they’re just fanatics who belong in the so-called “Holy Roller” churches…

On the other hand, we may, in fact, believe that God does speak to persons—but we doubt that God would speak to someone like us. God only speaks to people of great faith; someone whose life is all in order; someone whose faith and conduct are above reproach…

We look at ourselves; we consider our dire circumstances; we remember all the bad things we’ve done—and despair just takes over. We conclude God has nothing to say to us—or even worse, we conclude that faith in God is nothing but a delusion…

But the God we hear about today is one who speaks to be heard. God will do whatever it takes to be known among people. God will do whatever it takes to change people’s hearts. God will keep speaking until we listen…

So the question for us today, is: are we listening?

God speaks to us is in God’s Holy Word. There should be no dusty Bibles, either in our church or in our homes. We must read it; we must hear it proclaimed; we must teach it to each other; we must know it by heart.

In the bread and the wine God says “the body and blood of Jesus Christ, broken and shed for you…”

God speaks to us in our prayers. Prayer is not a one-way conversation. God answers all prayers. Even if you’re prayers are not answered in the way you’d hoped, God is still speaking to you…

And God even speaks to us through our neighbors; through our sisters and brothers in the faith; through people of no faith; and sometimes even in people we don’t even like…

The church exists for more than just proclaiming God’s Word. We’re here to listen together as God speaks to us. And one of the marks of a strong church is one whose people are in conversation with one another about what they hear God speaking to them. We help each other to listen and discern that which is spoken to us by God—versus that which is not…

One of the greatest challenges to our faith is listening to the voice of God when there are so many other voices speaking to us; calling for our attention; trying to influence us to do this—or believe that. Our schedules are so packed with commitments and obligations that it takes a great deal of effort for us to listen to God. We have to be deliberate. We have to be intentional—not just in taking time to listen, but in listening with our family of faith.

When was the last time you asked someone to pray with you? When was the last time you shared with someone else what you learned in Scripture? When was the last time you shared your faith struggles with someone else?

When was the last time you called someone you know is going through a tough time—and you offered to listen to them—and pray with them?

If it’s been a while since you’ve done any of these things, make it a point to start today. Don’t wait any longer to listen as God speaks. Do it now.

God is speaking. There’s no debating this fact. God is speaking words of promise and hope as we face the challenges and endure the hardships that this life brings our way. God is speaking words of comfort as we grieve our losses and face uncertain tomorrows. God is speaking words of redemption and forgiveness even as we sin daily and stubbornly refuse to obey God’s will. God is speaking words of guidance and wisdom as we face our most difficult decisions. God is calling you to himself—even if you’ve always believed that you’re not good enough to be loved by God. God is calling you to live a life of purpose, a life through which the love of Jesus Christ can shine through you.

So let’s be a listening people. Let’s be a people who come together to hear God speak—and let’s be a people who speak God’s Word of life in a world so full of darkness.

There's More to God than What We Know Now ~ Acts 19:1-7 ~ Baptism of Our Lord

2012-01-08T14:20:00.000-08:00

“Excuse me, sir. Have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit?”
Several years ago, a total stranger stopped me on the street and asked me that very question.

I told him "yes" (of course I was). But I really wasn’t sure what to say after that…

This question certainly sounded like a test, to determine if someone’s a bona fide Christian. It even sounded a little bit like an accusation; like I wasn’t if I didn’t come up with the right answer…

But Paul had in mind to do none of these things when he found a dozen believers in the city of Ephesus...

Paul asked them if they received the Holy Spirit when they were baptized—and they told him that they had never even heard that there was a Holy Spirit. They were baptized into John's baptism.

Paul explains that John’s was a baptism of repentance; a baptism that radically re-oriented people’s lives to the coming of Christ.

But Paul announces to them that Christ had come, and that they could now receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit that God had promised to them through John.

And as soon as they heard these things, they were baptized again-- this time, in the name of Jesus. At that moment, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in tongues and prophesy. Their whole knowledge and experience of God changed at that precise moment. They were transformed.

Can you imagine holding a certain set of beliefs for years; even decades—and in one moment, those beliefs change? That is what is happening here.

Their faith was built upon a set of beliefs that had been passed down from John the Baptist. For years, they held these beliefs to be God’s whole truth. And they had not been deceived. Their beliefs weren’t wrong.

But God was still speaking—because God had far more in store for them than what already knew. They listened to Paul as he proclaimed God’s Word to them. And through that Word, the Holy Spirit drew them directly to where God wanted them to be—to the waters of baptism. And as God’s Spirit came upon them, they immediately entered into a deeper experience and a deeper understanding of God.

That’s what happens in baptism. We go into the water as sinners, we come out of the water as new people. The gift of the Holy Spirit is power: to believe and trust in God’s promises, to live according to God’s purposes, and experience the awesome power of God’s love.
But the Spirit’s work is not over and down with in an instant.

Very easily, we fall into the trap of thinking that there’s nothing more we can know about God—and we don’t expect God to speak something new to us. We think we know all there is to know from God’s Word. We think that our relationship with God cannot grow beyond what it is now. We’re reluctant to try new styles of worship and venture into new ministries, assuming that the way we’ve always done things is the only way that works.

Yet, wouldn’t it be devastating if there was nothing more to learn about God? If there were no ways for us, as individuals, or as a congregation, to grow?

God has so much more in store for you than what you know right now.

Today, God is calling us to be humble: to admit that we don’t know all of God’s truths; to admit we need the Holy Spirit to help us grow. And we cannot grow unless the Holy Spirit transforms us.
As people baptized into Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit.

God always speaks to us—and we need to listen. Any time we open God’s Word, we should expect to challenge what we know and believe to be true. We should expect God to teach us new things. We should expect God to change our minds. We should expect God to change our ways. We can’t afford to dismiss new teachings that challenge what we already know, dismissing them as false teachings when, they may, in fact, be God’s truth.

We need to be open to new ideas and new teachings and new styles of worship and new ventures of ministry. We must be willing to follow the Holy Spirit in new directions if that is what it takes for us to grow in our faith and our discipleship.

Yet, just because an idea is new does not make it true; nor does it make it God’s will. We walk a fine line between serving God—and serving ourselves. So as the Holy Spirit takes us in new directions, we must be in faithful conversations with one another—because we help each discern what is God’s will. It is only through the wisdom and the courage of our brothers and sisters that we can live and serve God faithfully.

The growth of our faith and the growth of our ministry is not something that we do on our own. These things are being done to us by the power of the Holy Spirit. What this means is that even today, when you leave this place, you won’t be leaving as the same person you were when you came here earlier this morning. And we’re not going to be the same church. We’re being renewed. We’re being transformed.

We have received the Holy Spirit in baptism—and we are blessed, because God is constantly at work in our lives, giving us power to believe in Jesus Christ, and power to become more than just what we are right now. The Christian life is a life of growth—so may our hearts, our minds, our eyes, and our ears be open to learn, to go in new directions, and maybe even to admit that we were wrong. There is more to God’s grace than what we know now—and the adventure of our Christian faith is knowing that we can experience God and knowing God in new and exciting ways…

A New Year's Resolution that Works ~ Galatians 4:4-7 ~ Name of Jesus / New Year's Day

2012-01-01T06:28:00.000-08:00

I am no fan of New Year’s resolutions...

It's not that I think that it's a bad idea to strive for better health and wellness...

I don’t like New Year’s resolutions because we all know how most of them turn out...

Very often, this year's resolutions are the same ones from last year that we didn't keep-- and that certainly doesn't help with our self-confidence. Right away, we feel like failures; right away there’s doubt that we can actually succeed and achieve our goals…

It doesn't help that the new year comes only a week after Christmas-- because we always have expectations of what Christmas should be-- and most of the time, it never lives up to those expectations. We haven't forgotten about those gifts we should have bought; those meals we should've cooked; those cards we should've sent-- and all that junk food we shouldn't have eaten...

So as we turn the page on a new year, we carry a great deal of guilt... Guilt is a monster that keeps us in a constant state of shame. It is what is always reminding us how often we've tried and failed; and always telling us "no, you can't." Guilt would have us believe that we are destined to go through life being forever imprisoned by our faults and failures.

But guilt also has a way of pushing us into doing things we were never meant to do. It turns us into people-pleasers who spend every ounce of our energy in winning other people’s approval-- but we seldom (if ever) take care of ourselves. We push ourselves to our limits, and beyond-- all the while believing that's the right thing to do...

And when it comes to our relationship with God, guilt is one of the devil's most destructive weapons…

Guilt is nothing but the devil's voice telling us that God looks at us with total disgust. We're unlovable, unforgiveable, and un-savable because of who we are and what we’ve done... It would have us believe that we’re God’s enemies—and that there is no place for us in the family of God.

If the devil cannot succeed in turning you against God, the devil’s next tactic will be to try and make you believe you that God is against you. The devil’s greatest victory would be for you to believe that you are beyond redemption—and that there is no hope for you, either in this life or the next.

But nothing could be further from the truth that God’s Word speaks to us today…

Before Christ, we were slaves to sin. In other words, sin (and the devil) exercised full control over us. This meant that everything we ever did (even the good deeds) were works of evil. And sin controlled our future. We were, in essence, walking dead-- because sin leads only to death.

But Jesus Christ has changed all of that. We are no longer slaves to sin. Our chains are gone. Christ now rules in our hearts; Christ now rules over our future.

We were God’s enemies—but through Christ, we are God’s own daughters and sons. That means that when God looks at you, God does not see you for your faults and failings… God sees a beloved child; one loved so very much that the precious body and blood of Jesus Christ were not too high a price to pay to make you God’s very own…

And in God’s eyes, there is no one who is un-savable; there is no one whom God would refuse to adopt as God’s own… Our adoption is a free gift of grace, given to us by the merits of Christ. And if that wasn’t enough, we are children with full rights of inheritance. This means that the fullness of Christ’s eternal inheritance is also hours.

We don’t have to live in shame; we don’t have to be burdened by guilt. And we especially do not have to live in terror before our holy and righteous God. We can come to God as children, calling upon God as ‘Abba, Father,’ just as Jesus did.

Back when I worked in the bookstore, rule #1 in hiring new employees was this: “past performance indicates future performance.” In other words, we look to a person’s past to determine what kind of employee they’re going to be.

Well, that rule has no place in the Kingdom of God. Our past does not determine our future. Sometimes, we do have to live with the consequences of our misdeeds—but our worst failings do not define our reality. We are not our mistakes, our failures, our shortcomings… We are God’s own children—and God does not hold our sins against us.

What better new year’s resolution could there be than for you to live as a child of God; to call upon him in every time of need, to receive him in Word and sacrament, and be a part of God’s saving work in the world? Your ‘Abba, Father’ gives you new life today; to free you from your past; to free you from the unrealistic expectations others place on you and you place and yourself. There is grace amazing and grace abundant for you to live as God’s child, and experience all of God’s strength, healing, and forgiveness.

The past has no power over you—because sin has no power over you. You belong to God—and 2012, and all the years God gives you, are your opportunity to be loved and treasured by your ‘Abba, Father.’

Looking for Life in All the Right Places ~ Christmas Day ~ John 1:1-14

2011-12-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

Business must be booming at our local auto body shops...
…because I can't remember a year when more people have been in deer accidents…
Thankfully, no one's been hurt, but the frequency of these accidents makes it frightening to drive, particularly at night.

It's easy to think deer are dumb for running out in front of a speeding car-- but they're really doing what comes naturally to them. Living creatures are attracted to light. It's just a natural instinct. Life cannot endure darkness. Life is only found where there is light.

Human beings are no different when it comes to our attraction to light.

That is why the streets of cities like New York and Las Vegas are lined with lights. The lights draw us into their retail stores and night clubs and casinos and theaters. We go to these places in hopes of "feeling alive..."

We celebrate Christmas with lights for the same reason...

The lights of Christmas express our longing for life in a world so full of suffering and evil. Human existence was not meant to be the way in which we experience it. We weren't meant to feel pain and hurt each other; we weren't meant to suffer loss and die…

We were meant for life—which is precisely the reason God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is light-- because he joins us to the very source of the life that is our Creator. We don't have to spend our lives stumbling around in the darkness looking for light; the light comes to us. He meets us within the darkness of our human existence; he gives us life in the midst of our suffering and pain.

And the way in which God's gift of life is communicated to us is through God's Word. God is speaking to us... When we open God's Word; when we baptize; when we gather at the table; when we confess our sins-- Christ gives us life.

We will still experience darkness in our journey through this life; but the darkness cannot destroy us. Life is what we need, and life is what God gives to us. And very soon, the darkness will be no more.

But there’s a problem: not all people recognize Jesus as the source of life. Many people simply don't know Jesus… These are like children who know their parents. There are also many who do not accept him. It's not that they are rejecting Jesus; they’re simply rejecting Jesus as the source of life-- and seeking life somewhere.

This is the heart of the problem for today's Christian. We know in our minds and in our hearts that life is found in Christ, but we want life on our terms. So we look to the world for the life we crave. We look for life in achieving our own greatness and the ability to be everything to everyone. We look for life in our relationships. We look for life in possessions. We take risks, seek thrills, we "get high"-- to feel alive...

But when we look to the things of the world for life, the best we get is a temporary escape. Sometimes, the things we seek out as sources of life can plunge us into an even deeper darkness than we're already experiencing. At our worst, we're like the deer that run out into the roads in front of speeding cars. We run towards a light in search of life, but all we find devastation instead.

But Christ doesn't give up on the people he loves. Jesus finds us even in the darkness of our own making… There's no place we can wander off that's too far for him to come to us. God's forgiveness frees us from being forever trapped in the darkness of our bad decisions. God's amazing grace breaks our hard hearts. God's hope delivers us…

The life that our bodies and souls hunger for so greatly comes from Jesus Christ and him alone. To be wise is to know this truth. The only way in which we can receive that life is through Word and sacrament. And knowing that we will still face times of darkness, we need to keep receiving Christ, to keep our faith in him steadfast and true.

If we believe that Jesus Christ is our savior and giver of the life we need, we are children of God. The gift of life is already ours; there's nothing we have to do to make ourselves worthy of it. But if we don't believe that, and we reject God's gracious gift by looking for life elsewhere, all we will find is darkness.

In Jesus Christ is life, and the life is the light for all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it.

God is Not Silent on this Silent Night ~ Christmas Eve ~ Luke 2:1-20

2011-12-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

In silence, we pause from the busyness and stress of life...

In silence, we step away from the hustle and bustle of months-long preparations to celebrate this very day...

In the silence of this night, God is breaking into world

to be with us

bringing hope and salvation to all.

In silence we join some lonely shepherds, living in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks in the night...

For them, it’s just another long night of a very hard life—a life of extreme poverty and isolation… These don’t even have a place to spend the night. They live outdoors with their sheep…

Like the shepherds, we bear hurts and hardships and fears this night—and these weigh especially heavy on hearts this time of year…

But we have something else in common with the shepherds: God is speaking good news to us tonight… So let us journey with the shepherds to the manager in Bethlehem. But we go to witness more than a newborn baby lying in a feeding trough. We go to receive a gift-- and with that gift, a whole new reality. We go to see the salvation of the world coming to life.

In this newborn child, God is joining us in human existence. He comes to share in our suffering and in our pain. There is nothing that we can experience that he has not experienced himself. He is God with us.

We don’t have to try and find Jesus—Jesus finds us. He meets us wherever we are in life.

And as our Savior, he is born to deliver us from all that stands in the way of our living in God's love. Jesus saves us from the sin that separates us from God. He delivers us from the powers of evil that destroy both our bodies and our souls. Because of Jesus, we need not live in fear of death-- or anything that would come our way in life, because Jesus' claim upon us is unbreakable. Our poverty and our pain are only temporary. Hope is our reality; eternal life is our destiny...

Tonight we celebrate God’s gift of our salvation—but Jesus’ birth is only the beginning of the story. To know Jesus Christ as our Savior, we must also journey with him to the cross—because that is where his great love for us is revealed. Jesus was born for the cross; to lay down his life as a sacrifice for our sin. Without the cross, there would be no salvation.

But the story does not end there… Beyond that cross lies the empty tomb, where Jesus wins his victory over the powers of evil and death. At the empty tomb, we witness we see our future. One day, we, too, shall rise from the dead.

But the story does not end even there… The living and risen Christ is present in your life and in this world. He speaks to us in the promises of the Gospel… He delivers you and strengthens you in your most difficult times. He shares your sorrows and your pain. He hears your prayers, even in those times when we feel alone and forgotten. And he forgives you when you stumble into sin and reject his will.

So on this Christmas Eve, let us not just hear the story of Jesus Christ… Let us receive Jesus Christ and his gift of new life.

And when we go from this place tonight; let us join Mary in holding God’s promises in our hearts…

And in a few days, when our Christmas celebrations are ended and we return to the rhythms and routines of life, let us join with the shepherds in telling others of all these things that God does for us.

Christ was born for everyone-- and not everyone knows of the life and the hope that he gives to us. We will never know Christ for the true treasure that he is unless we commit ourselves to sharing his love with others and inviting others to come and receive the treasures of his love in the Water and the Word.

In this silent night, God is anything but silent when it comes to loving us and saving us. God speaks to us always… God guides through all the dark valleys of life to the eternal home prepared for us. So receive him today—and not just today, but every day.

Let us live in the peace and the hope that is ours today—and may we never be silent in making our Savior known to a world in need.

Who Do You Think You Are? ~ John 1:6-8, 19-28 ~ Third Sunday in Advent

2011-12-11T05:37:00.000-08:00

In my high school French class one day, the teacher asked us:

“What’s your raison d’être?” That means “what is your reason for being” (but don’t take that to mean that I can speak French)…

Guess who she calls on first to answer her question…

So I tell her “I want to make a mark on the world.”

“Does this mean you’re going to write graffiti all over the desk?” she fired back.

What I really meant to say was that I wanted to be somebody. I wanted to make a name for myself. I wanted greatness.

John (the Baptist), on the other hand, was not concerned about making a name for himself… He had a different raison d’être:

God sent him to testify that the light of the world had come. God used John the Baptist to announce to the world that Jesus was the Messiah—so that all would believe in him. In other words, God sent John to make a name for Jesus Christ.

John certainly “left his mark on the world,” so to speak, because we’re still hearing about him 2,000 years later.

But this is not a story about how great John was. This is a story about God. It’s a story about God claiming the life of ordinary person and using him in the salvation of the world.

Our lives have this very same purpose.

Baptism is where it all begins… We go into the water as persons who live for sinful purposes—and when we come out, we are not who we used to be. God recreates us into people who live for God’s purposes. We become part of God’s continuing plan of salvation for the world.

But as long as we live, we remain sinners—and as such, we resist God’s purposes in so many ways… We’re far more inclined to live and act in ways that bear witness to our own greatness, rather than God’s greatness… Think about it…

We seek greatness in important jobs that pay big money… We seek greatness in fanciest, most expensive stuff…

Being a great person means that we never do wrong, we always do right… We never make mistakes, we never fail…

Being a great person means that we can meet every single challenge in life; we overcome every obstacle; we can solve every problem and we never need anyone else’s help...

Being a great person means that we can do everything and they can please everyone, all of the time…

Living this way can lead to one of two things—we either become proud and arrogant because we’ve succeeded at achieving greatness—or we see ourselves as worthless because we fall so short. The quest towards our own greatness leads us away from God. The quest towards our own greatness leads to nowhere.

John said it best when he said “I am not the Christ.” God didn’t send him to save; God sent him to serve—and the way he served was by his witness. He didn’t need to be a great man to bear witness to Christ—he just needed God. John was experiencing God’s greatness. God had brought him into the light of Christ—and that is what he was bearing witness to. Being a witness was his identity. It was his life. And John was faithful.

As we wait the day of Christ’s promised return, now is the time for us know who we are as people of God. We are not our jobs, we are not our bank accounts, we are not what we own, we are not superhuman, perfect persons. We are not Christ. We are baptized. Christ lives in us. Your identity, your life, your being are all rooted in Jesus Christ. And that is something that cannot be changed…

So when you fail and stumble into sin, remember that you are baptized, and that your sins are forgiven through that baptism…

When you feel lost and helpless, and God seems so far away, remember that you are baptized, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you… Your needs are known, your prayers are heard… God is taking care of you.

And when you find yourself going through a time when you are unsure of what your purpose is in life, remember that you are baptized—and that God has made you a part of the saving work that God is doing in the world. Your God-given purpose is to live in the light of God’s grace and hope—and share that light with others.

[And If you are not baptized, know that all of God’s gifts are already yours; all you have to do is come and receive them.]

Now is the time for us to know who we are and live accordingly. Now is the time for us to be faithful witnesses.

And being a witness is not necessarily what we may be accustomed to thinking it is. I remember a day I was working in the bookstore, and a man asked me if I had accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. I’ve always thought of witness that way, until I had the chance to meet some of the staff at the nursing home where my grandmother lived as she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease... Her mind and memory were nearly gone—but she was still the gentle, kind, patient, and joyful person she always was.

My family often wondered why God was keeping her alive, given the terrible state she was in.

But the people who cared for grandma all spoke of what a blessing it was to know her. Caring for her made their days good. Grandma was baptized—and her purpose was her witness, even when there was nothing else she could do.

We don’t have to go out on a limb to be faithful witnesses. We just have to be true to who we are as persons baptized into Christ. God doesn’t send us to save others, but to serve others—and that is how we bear witness. We serve by listening; by learning their needs and responding in kind. We serve with compassion and generosity. We serve with patience and forgiveness. We serve by taking advantage of every opportunity we are given to let the light of Christ’s love shine from within us. No matter what, there are always ways we can be witnesses.

Inside of each of us is the light of Christ, which God is using to save this fallen world. That is what it means to be who we are. May God give us courage to venture into the dark places of to let this light shine… May God give us grace to be faithful witnesses to the Savior who is coming to redeem this world, so that all may hear the good news and believe.

Close for Comfort ~ 2 Peter 3:8-15a ~ Second Sunday in Advent

2011-12-04T11:31:00.001-08:00

For the past three months, our confirmation class has been journeying through the Old Testament…

One recurring theme they’ve discovered is that God keeps promises—but God is not always quick to fulfill them…

Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years after God promised to give them a son …

The Israelites waited 40 years to take possession of the land God promised them after their exodus from Egypt…

And Jesus Christ has promised to return—but nearly 2,000 years have passed, and it hasn’t happened yet…

With famine, terrorism, pollution, disease, and a failing global economy, now would be the perfect time for him to come back. So what is he waiting for?

This has been the burning question even for the earliest Christians, including those who were alive during the lifetime of Jesus. But still we wait—and the writer of 2 Peter has a very striking answer to our question:

“The Lord is not slow about his promise, but is patient with you—not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance… God’s patience is our salvation.”

In other words, it is good for us that Christ hasn’t returned.

There can be no mistaking the fact that when Christ returns, there will be judgment. But God does not you or anyone else to be subject to that judgment. God wants everyone be saved—and God is busy making this happen. Christ is on the move, wherever the Gospel is proclaimed, wherever people reach out in love for their neighbors, wherever there is peace and justice. Christ is on the move, so that all people would be baptized.

Christ’s return is delayed so that God’s gift of salvation can enfold the lives of every human being. And God’s will for us is that we all come to repentance.

Now when God’s Word speaks of repentance, it is speaking of a radical transformation of who we are and what we are living for. Repentance is the re-orientation of our lives—away from our selves, towards God and God’s purposes. Repentance is what happens when the reality of God’s salvation revolutionizes our reality. We become a new creation.

But repentance is not a one-time act. It does not instantly change us from sinners into saints. As long as we’re in the flesh, we remain both sinners and saints. And that is why we need God’s patience so much. Every day we sin and reject God’s gracious will for our lives. God’s patience gives us time to repent. God’s patience gives time for his grace to transform us into the people he wants us to be.

God’s patience is great news for us—because it means that God is not giving up on us, in spite of our stubborn refusal to live in obedience to him.

Yet in the midst of these gracious promises of God’s patience, there is a great sense of urgency.

God’s patience is not to be taken for granted. We do not have infinite opportunities to come to repentance. One day, Christ will return—which means we have limited time to commit ourselves to living for God. We’re throwing away the precious gift of life if we’re living only for ourselves. Fortune and power and prestige may be great in this world—but these things will not be a part of God’s future. If we resist God’s will, we will perish. We will be subject to judgment.

These words of judgment and the destruction of the present order are not meant to scare us. Yet we cannot ignore their urgency.

Now is the time to live in obedience to God’s will. Now is the time to repent… This is not something we can afford to put this off until tomorrow…

Now is the time to make the most of every opportunity we are given to do good. When we love our neighbors, and when we share Christ’s love, we’re living Christ future.

The good do now will live forever—just like we will live forever. So now is the time to live according to what will be.

And now is the time for us to experience what will be. Even as God calls us to repentance and holy living, God is speaking to us words of comfort.

God comforts us with the promise that suffering and evil will be ended when Christ returns. Peace and righteousness and love will fill the earth.

Yet even as we wait for Christ’s return, God never waits to bring us comfort. As we endure life’s trials and pains, we can live in expectation of God’s comfort right here and right now. With God’s comfort, we experience God’s salvation, even in the midst of our darkest days.

Christ is a comforting savior—not one who scares us into submission…

We know God by knowing his comfort…

We serve God by sharing his comfort with others.

When we repent, we receive God’s comfort—comfort that begins right now and lasts forever.

“Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.” This is God’s great promise to you today.

Take comfort in knowing that your sins are forgiven… Take comfort in believing that you are saved by grace.

Take comfort in knowing that you can live a life of eternal significance when you surrender yourself to God’s gracious will.

Take comfort in knowing that your pains and hurts will not last forever.

Take comfort in knowing that your Comforter is here.

Come and receive him and his comfort at the table today. Repent and believe the good news.

Waiting is the Hardest Part ~ Isaiah 64:1-9 ~ First Sunday in Advent

2011-11-27T05:35:00.001-08:00

I want to tell you about my cell phone.

I’m not here to brag about how fancy it is—because it’s not…

I want to tell you about some of the calls I’ve made and received on this phone that have changed my life.

I used it to tell my loved ones that I was getting married.

Bishop Kusserow called me on this phone to tell me about a congregation in need of a pastor in the town of Leechburg.

These were some good news calls. But there have been plenty of bad news calls as well…

It’s amazing how much life can change with one phone call…

But sometimes, we wait desperately for a life-changing phone call that never seems to come…

Have you ever waited by the phone for a much-needed job offer?

…or for the results of a medical test for a serious illness?

Have you ever waited for someone you love to call so that a broken relationship can be restored?

So often in life, we find ourselves waiting desperately for a miracle; for God to pull us out of a desperate situation—and the waiting never seems to end.

The words of our first lesson from Isaiah were the words of a people who had been waiting desperately for God’s help…

Not so long ago, the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed and the most of the Israelites had been taken into exile. But now they had been allowed to return to what little remained of their city—and starting over proved to be anything but easy. The people needed a miracle of God to rebuild their shattered lives—but none ever came. After years and even decades of waiting, many people began to give up on God. Many felt that if God were real—or if God still cared about these people—God would have come through by now. Others strongly believed that God had abandoned the people because of their sin…

Isn’t this what it’s like for us—there’s a tremendous need in your life, and you keep praying for months or even years—and nothing happens? In time, you begin to question… Is God angry with me? Am I not praying hard enough? Is it God’s will that I go through all this? Does God even exist at all? This kind of waiting can make it impossible to trust God—especially if things get even worse and we fall into a state of deeper anguish…

How can we keep waiting on God when God’s help never seems to come? How can we keep waiting on God when God seems hidden from us?

The best answer to these questions is to follow the example of the words of Isaiah…

Since God was silent, they were crying out to God all the more… And they were blatantly honest about their feelings towards God. These were words of frustration and hurt and anger. They voice to God every question, every doubt, every pain they feel in their hearts…

And we must do the very same. If God seems silent to us, then we must cry out to God all the more. Even if all you can do nothing but yell at God, God will still hear you—and not reject you for your feelings.

The second thing we must do is remember what God has done for us in the past. We learn to trust God by remembering all the ways that God has carried us through life’s ups and downs to get us to where we are now. There wouldn’t be a God for you to believe in had God not done great things for you during your life.

The third thing we must do is obey God; to continue to do the things that we know God wants us to do. We continue honor God by serving our neighbors. We gather together with the Body of Christ to be nourished by Word and sacrament.

By doing all these things, we are preparing for God to come to us. We’re keeping watch for Christ’s promises to be fulfilled. We’re tuning ourselves in to the works of Christ right in our own lives.

In Vacation Bible School last summer, we taught our kids about “God sightings.” They learned to see God not in miraculous, earth-shaking events, but in everything that was going on around them. They saw God in the animals and trees. They saw God in the people who love them, and in little things they did for others and others did for them. They learned to see the significant in what would have ordinarily been insignificant. That is how we keep watch for God and God’s deliverance…

God works in ways that we can’t be aware of. God works in ways that we just don’t expect; ways that we our human minds even imagine. So often do God’s most extraordinary deeds come cloaked the ordinary.

Just consider the way the Savior of creation came to this earth. Jesus didn’t come with lightning flashes and earthquakes or fanfares. He came as an infant wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.

God does not work out our deliverance in accordance with our plans or our expectations. God works in ways that are far too great for our human minds can imagine.

Never should we interpret our unanswered prayers as signs of God’s absence, or worse yet, God’s rejection… And while it can be so very hard to wait for God’s deliverance, we are given this assurance today: God is always active in our lives, even when we cannot perceive it. Even while we wait for that one miracle that changes everything, God cares for us in the little miracles of everyday life. When we cry out to God, when we obey God’s Word and we remember God’s acts, we will be better able to experience the power of Christ’s presence with us.

God is working out your salvation every moment of every day in your life. We keep watch and get ready not just to see God, but even for God to send us so that we can be a God sighting for someone else.

It is impossible to wait in vain for God’s deliverance. Christ is coming—and Christ is already here. Now is the time to prepare ourselves for God’s promises to come to life.

Thanksgiving, Thanks-living ~ Deuteronomy 8:7-18 ~ Thanksgiving Eve Community Worship Service

2011-11-24T13:43:00.001-08:00

I have a confession to make: this is only the second time in my life that I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving by coming to worship. It’s not that there haven’t been opportunities for me to worship. I just never went.

This year I’m in church with all of you—and it’s good to be here. It’s good to be here because we don’t have TVs blaring with all of the commercials telling us to go shopping. It’s good to be here because we are not rushing around, trying to get our holiday plans in order. Here and now, we turn our hearts and minds to worshipping God and giving God thanks.

It almost goes without saying that our national day of Thanksgiving has changed significantly, and not for the better. It’s still a day to give thanks—but it’s also a day to overeat, watch television, and welcome in the Christmas season. And this year, Thanksgiving Day has become another day to “shop ‘till we drop.”

But we still have some freedom of choice as to what we will do this day. We can make it a day of giving thanks to God—or we can make it something else. And ultimately, Thanksgiving is not a once-a-year happening in the life of the Christian. Every day is a day to give thanks. Thanksgiving is not a holiday; it’s an attitude… It’s a way of life…

It was the way of life that God was calling the people of Israel to live, in our first lesson from Deuteronomy.

For forty years, God’s people had been wandering in the wilderness, following the exodus from Egypt. And now they were about to take possession of the Promised Land. Great wealth and prosperity were in store for them there. So God has a simple message for them: “remember me. Remember that I delivered you from slavery in Egypt. Remember that I took care of you in the wilderness. Remember that all of the good things you enjoy have come from me.”

I wish I could say that Israel obeyed God’s commands. But they did not. As their wealth and prosperity increased, their obedience to God decreased. They gave themselves all the credit for their success. They didn’t give thanks to God—because they believed they had nothing to thank God for… They didn’t need God to take care of them. In time, they completely forgot about God and ran after other gods—and the consequences were disastrous.

There is danger that comes from not living thankfully. If we’re not giving thanks, we’re not acknowledging God as the source of all the good things we enjoy. We’re simply giving ourselves the credit for our own good fortune. And if we still happen to acknowledge God at all, we see God as obligated to give us everything we want because we’re such great persons. Without thanksgiving, God is a stranger to us. God may as well not even exist—because we’re living only for ourselves and our own satisfaction. If we’re not thankful, we’re in danger of becoming so self-absorbed that other people are of no importance to us, apart from what we can get from them for our own benefit.

Just imagine what our world would be like if everyone cared only for themselves...

But there is a great power for good that comes from living thankfully…

Thanksgiving is not the way to earn our way into God’s goodness. Thanksgiving is the way in which we enter into the experience God’s goodness. God’s provisions are not rewards; they are free gifts. God cares and provides for us every day because that is who our God is. Our God cares for us apart from our merit and deserving. By giving our thanks to God, we learn to see our lives and our possessions as sure signs of God’s great love for us. We learn to know God for all of the beautiful ways that God takes care of us.

We know God as the provider of our daily bread.

We know God as the listener to our prayers.

We know God as the redeemer who forgives us of our sins and gives us strength to walk in newness of life.

We know God as the Savior who delivers us from our most painful trials gives us hope even in the face of death.

For a Christian, there’s never a question of if God has blessed you… It’s always a question of how… Most of the time, we can never know what God is doing until we stop and take the time to remember what God has already done. God is telling a story of love and faithfulness in your life. And what better way to celebrate God’s goodness than to share that story with others?

As we experience God’s compassion and mercy, we are transformed. When we live thankfully, we learn not to see our treasures as the trophies of our own greatness… We learn that the life worth living is not the one in which we accumulate the most treasures, but rather a life of sharing and doing good things for others. God’s love compels us to be loving people. God’s love draws us into God’s work of caring for the lost and the needy.

Giving thanks to God gives us hope. We are better able to put our faith in God when we look back and remember all of the ways that God has carried us through life’s ups and downs to get us to where we are now. Even when our future is clouded with uncertainty, God’s faithfulness in the past is the promise of God’s faithfulness in the future.

We have so much to be thankful for today. God has given us today our daily bread. God has forgiven us of our sins. God has given us the promise of new life in Christ’s resurrection. And God has blessed us to live in a country where we are free to worship Jesus Christ without fear of persecution.

But giving thanks is a choice. It’s one that we must commit ourselves to making every day. It’s a choice we must make when we rise in the morning and go to sleep at night. It’s a choice we must make as we sit down to eat. It’s a choice we must make any time we enjoy God’s many gifts to us. We cannot forget the giver of our gifts; the source of our strength, the creator of our life. We can come into possession of every treasure this world has to offer—but if we forget God, we have truly lost everything. But if we remember God, there will always be hope and there will always be joy, even in the worst of times. With Christ in our lives, we have all we need. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.

It's Hunting Season ~ Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 ~ Christ the King Sunday

2011-11-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

Every January in Gettysburg, the town’s churches and social service agencies join forces to hunt for homeless people.

Teams of three to four people canvas the town, looking in abandoned buildings, cars, back alleys, dumpsters—and even in the woods.

When a homeless person is found, they are brought to the town square, where they receive a hot meal, clean clothes, and a warm place to stay for the night.

I was rather surprised when I heard that we’d have to hunt for homeless people. I always thought they’d be easy to find. I was always accustomed to seeing persons standing on street corners, with signs asking for help. But most homeless people stay in hiding; out of sight and out of mind. Few ever seek out help.

Some simply don’t know where to find it… Some have asked for help—but have been turned away. Others don’t seek help because they’re too ashamed.

That is why we have to seek them out—just as we hear of God seeking out his lost people in our first lesson for today.

God is announcing a mission through the prophet Ezekiel. Babylon had conquered Israel, and God’s people were in exile. Having been driven away from home and scattered all throughout the land, God’s people were lost and injured. But God wasn’t holding Babylon responsible for Israel’s plight. Israel’s kings were responsible. These kings were “bad shepherds” who failed at their fundamental duty of caring for God’s sheep. The bad shepherds only looked after themselves. They exploited and oppressed God’s people for their own selfish benefit.

God is on a rescue mission. God is sending a new shepherd who will seek out God’s people from far and wide—and gather them into himself so that he can care for them forever. We know this shepherd as Christ the King.

He goes far and wide to seek out his sheep. When they’re hurt, when they’re scared, when they’re in danger, Christ the king is present with them… Even when his sheep foolishly wander away, he will not let them be lost. Christ the King is with his sheep when they need him the most.

This is Christ’s ministry on earth. Christ the king isn’t seated on a throne up in heaven, watching us all from afar. He doesn’t wait for God’s lost sheep to find him. Christ is on the move, seeking out the least and the lost. Christ takes the initiative to find us, so that he can care for us and give us everlasting life.

Knowing full well that there are people who are lost and in need all around us, we must take the initiative to seek them out. We must take the initiative and seek out the unbelievers and those who hunger for a deeper and stronger relationship with God. We can’t wait for them to come to us—because, in most cases, those who are in need won’t ask for our help.

We live in a culture that celebrates self-sufficiency. We pride ourselves on being independent and able to help ourselves. We’re culturally-conditioned not to ask others for help. And given the tough times we’re in now, there’s far too little help to go around.

And when it comes to matters of faith, we’re culturally-conditioned to pursue a relationship with God on our own. It’s taboo to share our faith with others—as it is to share with others our struggles and our questions… So often people describe themselves as “spiritual, not religious,” as if to say “I don’t need the church to grow in my relationship with God.

Our rigid individualism isn’t God’s way. Self-sufficiency is not a Christian virtue. We were made to need each other. And as people of Christ the King, it is our duty to care for God’s people. We are our sister’s keeper and our brother’s keeper. Therefore, we have to take the initiative to seek out our neighbors in need; to meet them where they are, and care for them in their needs.

As our Gospel lesson warns us, if we reject this duty, if we see our neighbor hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or in prison—and do nothing to care for them—we are rejecting Jesus Christ himself.

On the other hand, whatever we do for the least of God’s children, we do for Christ himself.

Therefore, to do our duty, to be faithful disciples, we need God’s Holy Spirit to give us new hearts that burn with compassion and mercy for the lost and the least of God’s children. We need the Spirit to give us new eyes, so that we recognize Christ’s presence in those who suffer. And we need the Spirit’s courage to care for our neighbors’ needs—because that will seldom ever be easy. We will be in uncomfortable situations; we will be doing things we’ve never done before; our hands will get dirty in the mud of human suffering. There will always be that question of whether or not we can truly make a difference.

But we also have this promise: Christ is with those who suffer. So Christ will be with you to help you do what God wants you to do. You will bear witness to Christ’s power at work. Others will see Christ in you just as you will see Christ in them. There will be healing. There will be transformation. There will be hope.

We are entering into a time of year in which people’s hurts and fears are especially heavy. Christmastime is not the most wonderful time of the year for everyone. But it is prime time for us to celebrate the birth of our king by joining him in caring for the least and the lost of God’s children. It is time for us as the church to come alive with the love of Christ, to proclaim his peace and his hope to all creation.

The Risky Business of Following Jesus ~ Matthew 25:14-30

2011-11-13T12:51:00.000-08:00

About two years ago, an unassuming woman by the name of Susan Boyle shocked the world when she stepped onto the stage to audition for the TV show Britain’s Got Talent.

With her ragged appearance and awkward personality, everyone expected her to be laughed off the stage.

But as soon as she opened her mouth to sing, she became a worldwide sensation. Her first album became one of the fastest-selling records of all time. Even today, her fame hasn’t subsided.

As amazing as her talent is, it took more than just raw talent for her to be so successful. She had to take risks—huge risks—to make it to where she is today.

She didn’t know what the outcome was going to be. She didn’t know how the world was going to receive her. And with little experience performing in front of an audience, she couldn’t have known how she was going to handle the pressure. She risked being humiliated and disgraced with the whole world watching. Without that risk, her talent would have remained in obscurity; hidden away and buried…

But taking that risk made all the difference for Susan Boyle…

Risk is certainly what makes all the difference for the three servants in today’s parable.

In the parable, a master hands over incredible amounts of wealth to three of his servants.

The first two servants immediately get to work and they double their money. But the third takes the money and buries it away for safekeeping.

Now with today’s economy being what it is, that doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. You’d probably be better off to stash your money away under your mattress than invest it in the stock market.

But the trouble here is that the master handed his money over to the servants because he believed all three were capable of putting that money to work and making it grow. The third servant was no exception—but he was too afraid to take any risks to make it happen.

When nothing is ventured, nothing is gained…

So when the master returns, he’s not happy with the play-it-safe servant… He takes his wealth and gives it to the servant with the greatest wealth—and throws him into the outer darkness…

As we consider this parable, we shouldn’t hear it as a description of what God is like or how God will treat us. This is a parable about living as disciples under the reign of God.

Like the servants in the parable, God has given us great treasure; in fact, the greatest treasure in the universe—that is Jesus Christ. And when much is given, much is expected. God expects us from us a daily commitment to live as disciples.

· We must love God above all else;

· We must love our neighbors as ourselves.

· We must pray, study Scripture, and gather for worship

· We must help those in need and share our faith.

The trouble is that when we do God’s work, we have no guarantee that things are going to turn out the way we hope… There is risk…

Loving others doesn’t mean that they will love us back… People may not want to hear our testimony about Jesus; they may reject our invitations to come with us to church; our gifts and our good deeds may not be appreciated…

There is risk that comes by putting Christ first in our lives. Even as we’re committed to Jesus Christ, we have other commitments, too…. We have our careers and our schooling; our families, and our own personal interests. So often, we fail to do those things that matter most to God—because we’re afraid of depriving ourselves of the time and energy and resources we need to live a good life.

Ultimately, following Jesus will mean taking risks—because we cannot be faithful disciples unless we follow Jesus out of our comfort zones. We can’t always play it safe and expect to grow in our relationship to Jesus Christ. We must do those things that make us uncomfortable; we must be prepared to venture out into unfamiliar territory where we do not know what to say or what to do or what will happen—because it is only then that we will experience the amazing grace of God. We don’t need God to do what is easy and familiar. We’re fine on our own.

Outside of our comfort zones, anything goes—and we have no choice but to trust the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. For when we are at are weakest, God is strongest. And when we take risks and go out of our comfort zone, God is in a position for God to amaze us. Our witness to Christ’s love will be at its strongest. It is only by getting out of the boat that we will walk on water; that we will do and experience things we never thought possible. It is there that we experience Jesus Christ as a true treasure.

We are very much accustomed to an economy of scarcity. With every risk there’s the possibility of failure; and with failure, we lose something that we cannot get back. In an economy of scarcity, there’s usually never enough time and money and resources to go around…

But as disciples, we live in an economy of grace. When we take risks for Jesus’ sake, things may not turn out the way we hope—but nothing we do for Jesus is ever a failure. In the economy of grace, our failures are milestones of growth. Very often, it is in failure that we come to a better understanding of God’s will. God can take even our failures and do things greater than we can ever imagine.

In the economy of grace, your gift of love may just be the turning point in a person’s life, even though that person didn’t appreciate your gift when you gave it…

Your personal testimony of Jesus Christ may just be the turning point in that person’s coming to faith, even though that person rejected your testimony and called you stupid for believing in God…

A new ministry of our congregation that ends in failure may just be one step towards a new ministry through which God will grow us in faith and numbers, and the love of Christ will shine forth into this community…

And in the economy of grace, we can be generous with the confident expectation that God will provide abundantly for all our needs—even in times of scarcity. When we risk being generous, we see God’s hand providing. When we don’t take that risk, all we see is scarcity. There’s never enough…

When nothing is ventured, nothing is gained. If we as a congregation and as disciples do not take risks, we will not grow. For it is only by going out of the comfort zone, taking risks, trying new things, venturing out into the unfamiliar, that we will experience God’s amazing grace.

There is nothing to fear when taking risks as disciples. We can take risks to do what matters to God. God can use us to do things greater than we would have ever thought possible. God will guide us every step of the way, and provide all that we need to live according to God’s will.

And ultimately, it is in taking risks that we enter into the joy of our master in daily life—a foretaste of the eternal joy that is to come.

You have been given the greatest treasure of the universe. And with that treasure, you can do amazing things by the grace of God. You can experience the treasure that is Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection. You can take risks with the confidence that God is at work in you. And above all, you can live a life that is free of fear, because Christ is with you every step of the way.

To All the Saints ~ Revelation 7:9-17 ~ All Saints' Day

2011-11-06T14:28:00.001-08:00

Our table for four had become a table for three…

Grandma was gone. This was the reality my dad and I faced two weeks ago during our visit to my grandfather.

Grandma was always the queen of conversation, particularly at mealtime. Her cheerfulness and unmistakable belly laugh made it a joy to be in her presence. But her death had changed things—and certainly not for the better. All throughout the week, an uneasy silence fell upon us. It reminded us that life was better when she was alive.

One of the greatest tragedies of human existence is that we suffer loss. We’ve all lost people we love; and their deaths leave us burdened with sorrow and pain. God created us to be in relationship with others. So when someone we love dies, we are literally left broken. Time does not heal all wounds when it comes to the death of a loved one…

But death is not the only kind of loss we suffer in life…

With illness and old age we lose the freedom to live the way we want to live. We lose our independence—and have to rely on others to care for us.

We suffer the loss of relationships due to divorce and conflict. People we care about hurt us—and we hurt them…

Economic hardships rob us of careers and income; life savings are lost; homes are foreclosed.

Hopes and dreams for the future crumble beneath our feet…

We as a congregation have even suffered losses. Our pews aren’t as full as they used to be. Our brothers and sisters have died. Some have moved away; others have joined other churches—or stopped coming to church altogether.

Loss strikes us in more ways than can ever be named. But regardless of what the loss may be, the experience of loss impacts every aspect of our being. We suffer our losses physically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially. We realize that life will never again be “normal” as it was before. Loss thrusts us into a reality we never want to face—and very often, there’s nothing we can do fully gain back what we’ve lost…

So what are we to do? All too often, we hear all these clichés that people either say to us or that we say to ourselves; things like “it could be much worse;” “put on a happy face;” “look for the good;” “it’s all part of God’s plan;” “get over it and get on with life…”

But God’s way isn’t about pretending that all is well when we’re not well. God isn’t “well” with the state of this world. Poverty and hunger are not part of God’s plan for the world; it isn’t well with God that we sin against God and each other… And God certainly doesn’t see the good in your suffering. Loss tears us apart. God’s not fine with that.

So God became a human being—to do something about sin; to do something about suffering; to do something about loss. Christ came and entered into the ordeal that is life on this earth. He came to turn the tide—so that this world, that God created and that God loves so much—would not be lost. Christ’s death and resurrection marked the beginning of the end for all the forces of chaos and evil that wreak so much havoc on everything and everyone that God created.

Therefore, we don’t have to help ourselves. We don’t have to wander helplessly through the darkness trying to seek Jesus out like some buried treasure… We simply open our arms to Jesus—because comes to us. He comes because we belong to him. He comes as someone who’s experienced everything we’re going through. He comes to us as a risen Savior, so that we can live in the hope of his resurrection. Jesus comes to be our shepherd, to lead us to a future in which suffering and sin are no more. So even as our losses cut deeply into the fabric of our being, they’re not permanent. God will one day wipe away every tear from our faces. We who are battered and broken will be made whole again.

This is the good news for us on this All Saints’ Day.

But the greatest challenge is believing the good news—especially when everything suggests that the good news is nothing but fantasy. We need God’s help to believe—and we must seek it where we know it can be found. In the midst of our busy and chaotic lives, we need to be still and allow for God’s Spirit to speak to us. We need to express our sorrows and our fears to God in prayer, even though God knows our every hurt. We need to hear God’s promises again and again in the Gospel. We need Christ’s presence in the Sacrament to nourish and sustain our faith. We need Christ’s presence in the fellowship we share as baptized brothers and sisters.

It is so tragic that in these times of turmoil and uncertainty, fewer and fewer people are fleeing to the refuge of Christ’s presence in his church. We’re literally turning our backs on Jesus Christ when we need him the most. Real and lasting hope cannot be found anywhere else. We can lose everything in this life, but if we have Christ’s hope, we have all we need to make it through. But without hope, all is lost. “When hope ends, life ends.”

With so many of God’s children suffering so much need and such great losses, we need to be a people who say “I’m here for you because Jesus is here for you.” Believing in God’s promises cannot just be a matter of the head. We believe with the whole of our being—and we express that faith with what we do. We all know people who desperately need our gifts of compassion. We all know people who do not know Jesus Christ. We all know people who don’t attend church. We all know people who need to hear our personal testimony of the hope that is ours in Christ. God sends us to these people. Don’t worry about what you’re going to do or what you will say. God will help you every step of the way. And if you can’t think of anyone right now for whom you can show Christ’s love, God is going to put someone in your life.

Saints don’t become saints by what do, but by what Jesus Christ does for them. That is what we celebrate today as we remember those who have died. We are celebrating Christ. We’re celebrating the people Christ has redeemed. And we’re celebrating God’s grace that has makes us saints in the waters of baptism. We are all saints because Christ has died for us, and because we have eternal life in his resurrection. We are saints because our hope is in Christ.

And we live as saints by holding fast to God’s promises, even in the midst of our greatest pains and losses. As saints, we live in hope—and we share that hope with all who are in darkness.

It is by God’s amazing grace that we will live as God’s saints forever.

Looking Out for Number One ~ Matthew 22:33-46

2011-10-23T05:35:00.001-07:00

In both the Old and New Testaments, our fundamental duties toward God could not be clearer: we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength. And we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. These two are the most important of all the commandments. But they are also the hardest commands to obey—and the easiest commandments to break.

Love is never as easy as it sounds.

Love is more than just feelings. It’s more than just affection and simply seeing the good in other people…

Love is more than being “nice.” If God commanded us only to be nice to our neighbor, I imagine that we would do just fine. Most people really are nice people. It’s not that hard to smile and be polite to others; to say “please” and “thank-you…” But God commands more of us than just being “nice.” Being “nice” to others is just the beginning.

God’s love for us goes beyond affection; it goes beyond simple acts of kindness…

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” God saw that we were slaves to sin. God saw that we were destined to die in our sin and be forever lost. So God intervened. We needed forgiveness, we needed redemption, we needed life—so God took those needs upon himself in the person of Jesus Christ.

And God still takes our needs to heart. God hears the groaning and cries of every human being—even those who do not know God. Because God loves—God is not silent; God is not unmoved while people are in need. God comes to us to minister to us in the times of our greatest need. That is what love is. And it is God’s amazing love for us that empowers us to love others. God makes us loving persons by loving us and caring for us.

Love is nothing less than caring for others’ needs in the same way that Jesus cares for your needs. Living in love means that the needs of others have equal priority to our needs.

We can’t live in love and always be looking out for number one. Love never asks “what’s in it for me?” The question that love asks is “what does my neighbor need that I can give?”

Love is a commitment to care for others’ needs—and as a commitment, love makes great demands of us.

God commands us to love others even when our time, energy, and money are scarce…

God commands us to love others even when we have no guarantees that we’ll be loved in return…

God commands us to love others even when it means that we have to face people and situations that make us uncomfortable…

And finally, as our first lesson from Leviticus teaches us, we cannot live in love while taking vengeance or bearing grudges. Love requires that we be gentle in confronting those who sin against us. We must forgive and work towards reconciliation. Love doesn’t mean that we have to feel affection for our enemies—but we still must care for their needs.

All told, love is never the path of least resistance. Love will always ask something of us. But we give and we share out of the abundance that God has given us. God doesn’t want us to give away all our food and starve. God’s love assures us that we can be generous and our own needs will still be met. With Christ in our lives, there is always something to be shared. In Christ, we have the assurance that our deeds of love are never done in vain.

And ultimately, living a life of love will benefit us. It is God’s grace and love that heals this world. So when you live in love, God’s awesome power is at work in you. Your life will take on a whole new meaning. Your greatest treasures will no longer be the things you keep to yourself, but the gifts that you share.

And as you live of a life of love, God has this promise for you: God loves you and cares for you every step of the way. For in the same way that God sends you to care for others—God is sending others to care for you. Your cup of blessings will be to the full.

Every so often, people will ask me if I believe in angels. When they speak of angels, they are speaking of divine beings sent by God to care for us. Many persons believe in angels, many do not.

But God’s love makes us all as angels who care for others in their time of need. What an awesome way to live. What an awesome way for us all to experience a little bit of heaven on earth. What an awesome way for people to know that Jesus Christ is for real—as God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Whose Image Do You Wear? ~ Matthew 22:15-22

2011-10-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

Next time you’re out shopping, be on the lookout for all the products containing celebrity images. You won’t have to look very hard…

In the world of marketing and advertising, it’s called “the cult of celebrity”—and for good reason. All this celebrity merchandise exists so that you can transform yourself into the celebrity’s image. This is their message to you: “Buy these things and you’ll be cool, you’ll be fashionable; you’ll be prestigious… Everyone will see that you have good taste; that you’re a true gourmet… People will envy you and want to be like you. You’ll feel really good about yourself.” But that celebrity name doesn’t come cheap. It’s not just the product you’re buying… You’re buying an image. You’re worthy of that image if and only if you can afford the high price it commands.

So it begs the question: if all you want in life is to be like that celebrity, has that celebrity become your god?

If that celebrity image is more important to you than the item it’s attached to, has that celebrity’s image become your god?

Back in the time of Jesus, there was another celebrity who wanted everyone to worship him like a god—and that person was the Roman Emperor. Every coin contained his image, along with the inscription “Caesar, son of god.” By law, every adult was required to pay to Caesar the annual poll tax, using the coin that bore his own image.

This presented the Jews in Jesus’ day with some significant dilemmas. Graven images owere strictly forbidden by the Ten Commandments. Jews were to worship God and God alone. So was it a sin against God to pay taxes to the Emperor? Was it a sin to have these coins with the Emperor’s image in your possession? These questions provided Jesus’ enemies with the perfect trap for him. If he says it’s lawful to pay for taxes to Caesar, he’s guilty of blasphemy. On the other hand, if he says that it’s not lawful, he’s guilty of treason against the Empire. Both of these crimes were punishable by death.

But when Jesus says “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give to God what is God’s,” he’s doing far more than just embarrassing his accusers with a clever answer. He is revealing God’s will. Since the coin has the emperor’s image on it, paying the tax is simply giving back to the emperor what’s already his. God’s will was for the people to pay their taxes.

The more important thing that Jesus said was to give to God what belongs to God. To state it simply: we are created in God’s image. Therefore, we give ourselves to God—because we belong to God.

This is good news to a world that defines self-image by what we own… This is good news for those who can’t pay the high prices to buy the designer brands and celebrity merchandise the marketplace says you must have to really be somebody…

As a person made in God’s image, you are absolutely loved by God. There can be no question. In God’s sight, you are precious. God doesn’t see you only for your shortcomings and your failings. God doesn’t see you only for your sins and look upon you with anger or disgust. To see how much you are worth in God’s eyes, look no further than the cross. Jesus paid the price to redeem your life from sin and death. From the moment we are created, God gives us these treasures—all at no cost.

No other god gives anything to anyone without a price.

Caesar demands worship in the form of his unjust taxes. He robs the poor to fill his own pockets. The gods of mammon are no different. They take our money and make us cool—that is, until something new and different becomes cool—or the celebrity does something scandalous. They take away our individuality to make us into whoever want us to be. They take away our self-worth if we can’t afford to buy the stuff they say we need to be somebody. These gods take—and give nothing of lasting value or significance in return. Worship the gods of mammon and you’ll find you can never have enough, even with all the money in the world.

The gods of mammon take our money and our dignity—but God takes away the sin of the world and nails it to the cross. Our God takes our sorrow and our pain. Our God takes away death and gives life.

When Jesus tells us to “give to God the things that our God’s,” he is speaking of our obligation to God. Because God loves us so much, we ought to love God in return. But we must never think of this as a grueling and burdensome duty, like paying our taxes. We’re giving ourselves to the God who gives us all that we need; who hears and answers our prayers; and whose Son gave his life on the cross for our salvation. It is in celebration that we give to God what is God’s. It is in celebration that we surrender our pursuit of worldly treasures and prestige. It is in celebration that we go forth to serve God by serving our neighbors. It is in celebration that we tell others of God’s amazing love that is at work in our lives.

God’s generosity towards us transforms us into generous people. That’s what happens when you hear the Gospel and receive Christ’s body and blood at the table. Generosity is what happens when we come together as one Body in Christ. God gives us the faith to see just how rich we are. And God nourishes us with grace so that we can live out God’s generosity in our everyday lives. Jesus Christ has taken away the sin of the world and forever conquered death, but God uses ordinary people like us to do awesome and powerful things in this world.

Regardless of whether you have much to offer God—or little, God will use your gift to do things for you and for others that are greater than can ever be imagined. Simple people and simple gifts are God’s instruments for healing this world. Whatever it is that we give or that we do, God will do even greater things. You won’t be the only one to be blessed.

So as we prepare for our annual commitment Sunday next week, this is a time for us to all be in prayer, asking God to lead and guide us in how we can give of our time, our talents, and our treasures to shine forth God’s love in the world. But we all do this, not just by God’s command, but by God’s invitation. This is God’s invitation for you to see God at work in your life. It is God’s invitation for you to witness God’s healing power at work. It’s an invitation to live in celebration of all God’s blessings, and share that joy with a world in need. It’s an invitation to be rich with all the treasures of serving Jesus.

What Not to Wear ~ Matthew 22:1-14

2011-10-09T05:16:00.003-07:00

When I was in high school, I had a dream that absolutely terrified me:

I dreamt that it was my judgment day. There was no dark tunnel or bright light in this dream. I was being judged at the front door of our family home.

I was face to face—not with Jesus—but with a gatekeeper whose appearance I can’t recall. I was expecting to hear the words “well done good and faithful servant.” But the gatekeeper quietly told me that I would not be going to heaven. I began to argue in defense of myself. I cried that I had believed in my heart that Jesus was my Savior, that I’d gone to church and Sunday school, and that I’d really tried to be good. “But you doubted” the gatekeeper replied.

The front door of our house opened to a gigantic void of blackness. I began to run upstairs to my room (but I couldn’t get away). And my nightmare ended.

That dream haunted me for a long time. It had me questioning whether or not I was worthy for heaven. It had me worried that God would reject me because I wasn’t good enough…

When I sat down to study this text earlier this week, I really identified with the man who was thrown out of the wedding feast for not wearing the appropriate attire. He’s like a person falling short of God’s standards—and God rejecting them. But is that what’s really going on in this parable?

With all the trouble the king had getting people to come to the wedding, we’d think he wouldn’t mind that one of the guests he brought in from the street wasn’t dressed in the proper attire. But let’s think about it…

A wedding robe in Jesus’ day is basically the equivalent of the tuxedo in our day. If you were invited to a wedding, you would wear a wedding robe to honor your hosts—especially when your host was a king. Remember the royal wedding earlier this summer? It would have been national news if one of the invited guests showed up in shorts and a T-shirt. It’s more than just bad manners… It’s an insult to their host. It tells everyone that the invitation—and the hosts—mean nothing to them. It’s like saying “I’m just here for the free food.”

So it’s really no different for the man who’s not wearing a robe. So when the king asks the man why he’s not wearing the robe—and he has nothing to say for himself—his silence pretty much tells the whole story. He doesn’t care. If he didn’t own a wedding robe, he could have borrowed one from a friend—or from one of the king’s attendants. But he didn’t even do that. There’s no appreciation, no gratitude, no excitement about being invited to the king’s banquet. And now he doesn’t care that he’s dishonored his host.

So what we have here is not a parable about God rejecting human beings. But it’s also not a parable about what happens to non-Christians who reject God. This is a parable about insiders; about people who say “yes” to God and “yes” to baptism—but live a life of indifference to God. It’s about us.

We are a people whose sins have been forgiven. We are reconciled to God. We are united with Christ in his resurrection. But would you know it by what we say, what we do, how we live? Is there really anything that would set us apart from non-believers? Since we know that we are saved apart from our own good works, are we all too content for God to stay out of our way so we can just do our own thing? Are we too willing to leave discipleship and giving and serving to someone else?

Today, God’s Word brings us face to face with the painful reality of how we live under God’s authority. Far too often, we live as though God’s gifts mean nothing to us—even though our eternal destiny has changed because of them. We should all be a little uncomfortable with what God’s Word is speaking to us today—but God’s Word is not a guilt trip. Its purpose is not to give you nightmares like the one I had, to terrify you and have you questioning whether or not you are chosen by God for eternal life.

Its message is simply this: our relationship with God is not something to be taken lightly.

But God doesn’t use guilt or terror to persuade us into a life of true and faithful discipleship. God uses the promises of the Gospel. And the good news is that God hasn’t just called us to be God’s own—God has chosen us. If you’re sitting here, hearing this Gospel message today, you’re chosen. If God has called you—or is calling you—to holy baptism, you’re chosen.

So God doesn’t want us to spend the rest of our lives questioning whether or not we are chosen… God’s question for us is “what does it mean to be chosen?” What does God’s forgiveness mean for you? What does Christ’s death on the cross mean for you? What does eternal life mean for you?

As God’s chosen people, we have great cause for rejoicing each and every day. No matter what may befall us in life, we belong to Christ. God has washed all of our sins with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, so there’s no need for us to live in the shame because of the things we’ve done in the past. And God is not some distant, far-removed deity up there in heaven while we’re down here on earth. The risen Christ is here with us; never to leave us or forsake us. There is so much cause for joy, so much to be thankful for. God’s promises give us hope.

You have been chosen for new life in Jesus Christ. God has chosen you so that other people will know Jesus Christ because they will know you. God has chosen First Lutheran Church so this community will know Jesus Christ because we carry forth the light of Christ beyond our doors to those who are in darkness. If we keep the light to ourselves, the light will be snuffed out. But if we carry forth the light of Christ, his light will burn brighter in us. We will witness firsthand other people coming alive with hope and rejoicing. We’ll see the darkness of this world being banished away.

So where will you take the light of Jesus Christ? How will your life shine for Jesus?

Let us bring forth these questions to our Maker... And let us be prepared to follow Jesus when he calls us. May our hearts and our ears and our eyes be open that we would know God’s will; may the Holy Spirit give us the courage and the strength to obey God’s call; and above all, may God’s grace continue to bring us rejoicing, and God’s peace guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Faithful ~ Luke 12:13-21

2011-10-09T05:16:00.001-07:00

This past week, the world was shocked by the tragic death of Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO of Apple Computer.

Here was a man who dropped out of college, and started up a technology company in his parents’ garage that would grow into one of the world’s most successful corporations.

Jobs is being celebrated for his genius, his innovation, his persistence, his tenacity. He’s being remembered as a man who set out to change the world and had the talent to do precisely that. And not only is he the nation’s most celebrated business leader, he’s also one of the world’s richest men.

He will live on as the Great American Success story; a prime example of what you accomplish with hard work, creativity, and determination.

I’d be inclined to think of the farmer in Jesus’ parable as I would Steve Jobs. Here is someone with the skill, innovation, and sheer luck to reap a tremendous harvest; a harvest so great and so vast that he had to raze his barns and build new and bigger ones to store up his wealth.

But Jesus has no words of praise for him. God calls him a fool. And there are two reasons for that. 1) He kept his harvest for himself. He gives no thought to those who are in need, nor does he give any thought to the fact that there could be a famine in the future, and he could feed hundreds if not thousands of people from his fortune. 2) He celebrates the fact that he’s completely self-reliant. He’s got it made. Since he has everything he could ever need or want, he has no need for God.

Now there’s nothing wrong with being successful. It is truly awesome do be able to do what you love and succeed. And success is a blessing from God, it is something to be celebrated.

And I’m sure there’s no one here who hasn’t dreamed of being successful and rich and powerful. We’d all love to be able to live the good life. After all, with no money troubles, what is there to worry about? A life in the lap of luxury without a care in the world…

But the truth is that those kinds of fantasies are just that—fantasies. Life is fragile—even if you happen to be one of the great American giants of business.

And Jesus teaches today that all of the success in the world means absolutely nothing if we fail to acknowledge God as the giver of all good things—regardless of whether we lead simple, ordinary lives—or rise to become the wealthiest person on earth. Earthly riches count for nothing in the next life. What truly counts in light of eternity is that we are rich toward God.

But God’s riches aren’t accumulated; they aren’t earned through sweat and hard work and innovation. God’s riches are received.

A person who’s rich towards God is one who looks to God for their daily bread. It is seeing God’s presence in every good gift they receive; every single meal on the table; the clothing we wear; the homes that keep us safe and warm; and the people who love and care for us.

As great as it is to not have to live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether you’ll have food and a place to live in the future, a lifestyle of dependence on God is a blessing. A person who’s dependent on God sees God’s hand providing. They experience God carrying them through desperate times. These are the ones who are truly blessed—because there can be little doubt that they would have made it through without God. This is a life of true faith. The ones who cry out to God and cast upon God all their cares; even those who struggle to go on believing—these are the ones who are rich towards God.

And finally, we become rich towards God not in the blessings that we keep, but in those we give away. Giving and sharing are our duties—but they are not burdens. We enjoy God’s gifts more fully when we share them. We grow in our walk with Jesus, who gave for us his everything—by giving to others. We celebrate God’s goodness by sharing.

It may be cool to be wealthy and successful, but it’s truly beautiful to live by faith; to trust in Jesus through every season and time of uncertainty. And best of all, God’s riches are not just for a fortunate few, but for all. We receive them before we even ask.

So in this time of harvest, let us give thanks to God for our blessings.

Let us celebrate God’s blessings by giving and sharing.

Let us place our trust in God through the coming winter.

Let us put our hope in God for the coming year—not knowing what the future may bring, but assured of the promise that God will be our provider.

Privilege and Responsibility ~ Matthew 21:33-46

2011-10-02T05:14:00.001-07:00

If you’re a book lover like I am, a library is a little piece of heaven on earth…

Thousands and thousands of books are just waiting for you—and you can borrow as many books as you can read…all for free. All you have to do is bring them back by their due date, and return them in the condition you received them. What a privilege…

Unfortunately, many people enjoy this privilege but cast to the wind the responsibility it requires.

A friend of mine who’s a librarian once told me of a patron who brought up a large stack of books to check out. My friend told her that she had a number of overdue books, and that she had to return those books and pay the fines before she could check out any others. To say the least, the patron did not take the news well… After screaming at the librarian, calling her a “thief” and “a liar,” the patron slapped her across the face and stormed out of the building.

She gladly enjoyed the privilege of borrowing books at no cost—but she absolutely refused the responsibility that came with that privilege. This is exactly what we see happening in the parable Jesus tells in our Gospel for today.

A landowner leases his vineyard to some tenants and goes off to another country.

These tenants received some incredible privileges with this lease. In return for their labor, the tenants would be entitled to a share of their harvest. This was no ordinary vineyard they were leasing—it came complete with a fence, a wine press, and a watchtower. They had the potential to make a lot of money working on a vineyard like this. Naturally, these privileges came with certain responsibilities… Besides the obvious duty of tending the vineyard, they were responsible for rendering to the landowner his share of the harvest.

The landowner certainly had authority over his vineyard—and over the tenants. But that’s not how the tenants saw it. Their authority was themselves—and their number one concern was the big money they were making from the vineyard. The landowner was a nuisance who got in the way of their selfish desires. So when the landowner sends his slaves—and even his own son to collect his share of the harvest—they had to be dealt with. They beat and murder to get what they want.

I wish I could say similar things don’t happen in our world—but they do. We love our privileges—but how often we enjoy them without responsibility….

We have the privilege of driving (as so often our parents and drivers’ ed teachers have reminded us). But we aren’t patient with other drivers; we deliberately disobey the traffic laws and put others’ safety at risk… We just want to get where we’re going as quickly as we can—and all the other drivers and pedestrians are in the way.

One of our society’s great ills is that we treat our privileges as personal entitlements to be exploited solely for our benefit. We forget our privileges are just that—privileges… We’re too busy thinking about ourselves to think of those who don’t have these same privileges. We don’t care about how our getting what we want affects other people. We demand satisfaction—and we don’t tolerate anything—or anyone—that would stand in the way.

What we’re seeing here is sin, alive and well in our society—and in each of us. Sin is far more than just the bad things we do. Sin is a heart condition—our hearts and minds being so self-centered that we refuse to be responsible to anyone other than ourselves. It is sin that makes God into a divine ATM machine, who should give us all the things we want because we believe we deserve them. At the same time, it is sin that that flat-out rejects God’s authority over ourselves and the privileges we enjoy. We love God when God gives us what we want. But when God dares claim our selves, our possessions, and our futures, God becomes a nuisance…

Make no mistake about it—we are a privileged people. From the moment God created us, we have been God’s beloved. We are claimed as God’s own sons and daughters and washed clean of our sin. We receive eternal life apart from our own merit. God delights in our enjoyment of all of the good gifts we receive.

Our privileges are given by God for our benefit—but for God’s purposes. Let me say that again. Our privileges are given by God for our benefit—but for God’s purposes. They are not entitlements. They are entrustments. God’s gifts have been entrusted to us, in order that we would use them to do the work of God’s kingdom. That is our responsibility. And one of the most basic responsibilities of living for God is living for others.

How blind we become when we’re so consumed with meeting our own selfish desires that we fail to realize the truth—that God’s purposes are good. Isaiah reminds us in today’s first reading that God’s purpose is establishing righteousness and justice on the earth. God’s purpose is meeting all forms of human need; establishing peace where there is division; creating hope where there is despair. Paul reminds us in today’s second reading that God’s purpose for all persons is that they would attain the resurrection from the dead. It is God’s will that each of us has a direct role in everything God is doing for us and for the world.

For Paul, anything in his life that would stand in the way of God’s good purposes Paul calls rubbish. I wish I could honestly say as Paul says. All I can do is lament how often I’ve treated my fulfilling my responsibilities to God like taking out the garbage—something that’s unpleasant and unrewarding, but necessary…

Today’s Gospel is a harsh warning that we must all take seriously—if you want to live without God; if you insist on living only for yourself, you’ll get what you want. If we throw God out of our lives like a piece of garbage, God will leave us to ourselves.

However, if you know in your heart that you are guilty of rejecting God, know that God hasn’t rejected you. God doesn’t reject people. God gives you a Savior. In Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. God doesn’t care about your past, because the past has been washed in forgiveness. God stands ready to give you a new beginning. God is here to walk with you into a future in which you will witness God’s promises being fulfilled before your eyes. We’re fools if we think we know what’s best for us. Walk with God you and will discover how exceedingly greater it is to serve Jesus Christ than to serve ourselves.

We are eternally privileged to be daughters and sons of God. Our minds simply cannot comprehend the value of all of the treasures God gives us in Jesus Christ. But with these privileges comes responsibility: and our responsibility is to give to God our everything. We are responsible for surrendering our lives into God’s purposes for the universe. This is a day-to-day challenge. But we surrender through the grace and love God pours upon us each and every day. God’s grace will help us to move forward. The journey toward eternal life begins today—and there is so much more of God’s grace to be experienced on the way there.

So I ask you—what treasures can be gained here on earth that could possibly compare with a life lived in the promises of Jesus Christ?

Authority Issues ~ Matthew 21:23-32 ~ September 25, 2011

2011-09-25T05:12:00.001-07:00

When you’re a kid, there’s always stuff that mom & dad say you have to do that you just don’t want to do… But in time, you learn is how to get the upper hand on your parents—to trick them into thinking you’re doing as you’re told…

Let me give you some examples…

I used to hate that I had to brush my teeth before bed. Mom & Dad would frequently check my toothbrush to see if it was wet. So when they weren’t looking, I would run it under the faucet and put it away. And when that didn’t work anymore, I would put a dollop of toothpaste on my tongue so my breath would be minty fresh.

A friend of mine hated vegetables so much he started an indoor composting project—he’d conceal broccoli and Brussels in his pants pockets and bury them in the household plants…

As a kid, one of the biggest thrills you can get is outsmarting your folks. After all, you have no authority over yourself. You have to do as you’re told. So it feels really good to be able to do your own thing and not get punished for it.

But we really don’t outgrow our authority issues, especially when it comes to God. That’s what we see in the short parable of the two sons…

A father orders his two sons to work in his vineyard. The first son disobeys his father and goes his own way—but later changes his mind, and goes to work. The other son promises to obey, but changes his mind and goes his own way.

Both of the sons have authority issues. At least the first son was honest. He didn’t fake his obedience. But the second son merely told his father what he wanted to hear. …

And the sad truth is that the average Christian resembles this son. There’s not a Christian out there who would ever say “no” to living a life of discipleship. No Christian would ever say that other things are more important to them than God. But it’s not with words that we reject God’s authority… It’s with our actions; it’s with the way we live… And that’s not a hard thing to do for two big reasons: we’re all sinners, and rejecting God’s authority is what sinners do. Sin makes each of us our own gods. The other problem is that so many other commitments compete for God’s claim on us. Inevitably, one of those commitments becomes our ultimate concern. It becomes the authority that dictates all the choices you make in how to spend your time and resources. And if that ultimate concern is anything else other than God, we end up living out our faith if and only if we have the time.

Earlier this week, I had lunch with a pastor friend. During our conversation, we both saw how much we’ve been pushing God out of our lives. We spend hours studying the Bible each day, we are constantly praying with other people, and we hardly ever miss a worship or Bible study or Sunday school class. That’s all part of our job. Doing Jesus’ work isn’t the problem. The problem is living in our relationship with God outside of work. We aren’t spending time alone with God in prayer or in Scripture. What this tells us is that something else is most important. Some other priority is calling the shots. We’re rejecting God’s authority.

Today, God’s Word is questioning the state of our commitment to Jesus Christ. And if we’re going to be totally honest with ourselves—we all have reason to be uncomfortable. One of the most painful truths for us to admit is that we willfully reject God’s authority over us. We do it every day. And most of the time, we don’t even realize it. It’s just a matter of habit. We treat discipleship as “paying the rent” with God. We do only what we believe we have to do to stay in God’s good graces.

But discipleship isn’t about checking items off a “to-do list.” Nor is it a hobby. It’s our whole life. God’s claim over our lives will either be complete—or completely incomplete.

Today’s Gospel confronts us with some very painful truths about our relationship with God. But we need not feel afraid. Jesus is still our Savior—even when we willfully reject him. And we are claimed as God’s own—and our bad choices can’t change that. Jesus is the Savior that we desperately need—and this parable reminds us how desperately we still need him. We don’t just need him as we lie on our deathbeds; we need him every hour of the day. We need him to save us from all those things that stand in the way of our knowing him and living in his love.

Jesus Christ, your Savior, wants also to be your Lord—the ruling authority in your life. He has claimed you as his disciple—and the life of a disciple is what he has in store for you. Don’t think of discipleship as just a bunch more things that you have to cram into your already busy lives because that’s not what it is. A life of discipleship is one in which every moment of every day is spent in the presence of Jesus. It’s brings you the peace of Jesus; the strength of Jesus; the rest of Jesus; and the hope of Jesus…

But a life of discipleship will also mean change. God is going to change your heart, making it more like that of Jesus Christ. And because is your heart is changed, your priorities will change, too. Things will take on a whole new meaning. Things that once were important to you may not be important any more. The old things that were overly burdensome and stood in the way of your faith will give way to new things that draw you closer to God and a day-to-day experience of his amazing grace.

Change can be a scary thing. Change can be painful. It often requires sacrifice. But it’s change for the better. It’s a change that will bring with it new life and new beginnings.

God wants to be your ruling authority and your ultimate concern. God wants to be your consuming passion and your heart’s desire. And God has good things in store for you. If a new heart and a new life sound good to you, the table is set. You’ll get it right here. So if you dare to be a disciple, come and eat. If you dare to live a life that’s ruled by God, come and drink.

Surprised by Grace ~ Matthew 20:1-16

2011-09-18T14:38:00.001-07:00

It was an awful way to live.

For the peasant in Jesus’ day, the only way to eke out a living was to go into the marketplace at the crack of dawn and hope that someone would hire them. Most of the time, the supply of workers far outweighed the demand—so only the strongest, healthiest-looking laborers were hired. And they weren’t hired for an 8-hour workday. They would be working from dusk ‘till dawn.

The standard wage was one denarius—which was basically the minimum wage of the day. It was barely enough to live on and support a family. Needless to say, making a living was a day-to-day struggle. Work—and food—was never a certainty.

So the parable begins at the break of day when the landowner hires some laborers to work in his vineyard. They agree to work for the standard wage. And while they’re off in the vineyard toiling in the heat, the landowner keeps going out and hiring more workers—at 9:00 a.m., at noon, at 3:00 p.m., and even at 5:00 p.m.

At the end of the day, the landowner instructs his manager to pay all of the workers one denarius—even the most recent hires are to be paid first.

Would we have expected the workers who toiled in the heat of the day for over twelve hours to react any differently than they did? The people who worked for only part of the day certainly didn’t deserve a full day’s wage. They got off easy. The day-long workers felt cheated—even though they were being paid exactly what they were promised. They felt like they’d been stabbed in the back. It wasn’t fair.

But let’s put ourselves in the shoes of those workers who didn’t get hired at the beginning of the day.

All day long they had been waiting for work. And as the hours passed, their hopes began to fade. The grim reality sets in—they and their families may very well go hungry and homeless. Just imagine their fear. In my opinion, their situation is far worse than the workers who’ve been working since dawn. At least the hired workers knew they were going to eat that night. The same can’t be said for those still waiting around for work… It wasn’t fair.

Ultimately, the situation is unfair for all of the laborers. It isn’t fair that they spend every day waiting around for someone to hire them for backbreaking work at a wage that barely meets their needs. It isn’t fair that some workers got hired while others didn’t, for reasons like their age, their size, or their appearance. And it isn’t fair that they’re in extreme poverty while others in their society live lavishly.

How often do we find ourselves feeling the same thing? Crying out that it isn’t fair?

We try with all our might to be faithful Christians. We come to church, we give to the needy, we pray, and every day we strive to live rightly. But our doing those things doesn’t result in us living the good life. We’re always finding ourselves hurting and desperate. We pray and pray and get no answer and no help. We wait and we wait for a miracle that never comes.

All the while, we see other Christians who never seem to have any problems. They have a faith like iron—and their prayers always seem to get answered. They have great jobs and marriages. They’re healthy and always happy. Their kids do well in school and grow up to live perfect lives. Life is good for them. But life is not good for us.

And all we can really say is that “it isn’t fair…” And it isn’t. It isn’t fair that I have to bear this heavy burden and others don’t. It isn’t fair that I’m walking wounded. It isn’t fair that God comes through for other people but not for me.

God knows it isn’t fair. That’s why God is doing something about it…

This parable is about a God who surprises people when it would seem that all hope is lost. It’s about God coming through for people when they need it most…

When those workers who’d been standing around all day were given work, it was a miracle. But it was a mega-miracle when they were paid the full day’s wage. They needed a full day’s wage to support themselves and their families—and that is what they were given.

And ultimately, none of the laborers were cheated. There were no losers. Everyone was given what they needed—not what they necessarily felt they deserved, but what they needed…

This parable is a story of God surprising a hurting and suffering people with grace. And this is good news if you have been waiting around for weeks, months, or even years for things to turn around. God is going to surprise you too. God is going to come to you in times and in ways you’d never expect, to uplift you and strengthen you. God is going to give you what you need to make it through your worst days.

God abandons no one to suffer life’s unfairness on their own. Wait even until the 11^th hour and beyond—because God hasn’t forgotten you. Lift up your weary head and be on the lookout—because your Helper is on the way.

The Christian life is so very much like the life of these day laborers. Just as they are dependent on landowners for making a living, we are dependent on God for meeting our daily needs. We’re dependent on God to help us make it when times are tough. But we don’t wait with uncertainty. We wait with hope. We wait for God who promises to be with us and help us. We wait for a God who loves to surprise us with grace.

But there is also labor in the Christian life. God has hired each of us to be laborers in God’s vineyards. It is an unfair world. Many are suffering unfairness and injustice in ways we can’t imagine. Everywhere there are hungry bodies and hungry souls to be fed. All over the world, God’s children keep waiting for a brighter tomorrow. God sends us to surprise them. God is mindful of the pain and suffering of every human being, and God will not rest until their needs are met. The way God sends us is by lighting fires of compassion in us for those hurting. And there’s always something we can do for them. God can turn even the simplest things that we give and we share into miracles of grace. And you will even be surprised when you see God’s grace at work.

We are children of a God who loves surprises. There is no bigger surprise for this world than Jesus giving his life for the salvation of sinners. And God still has a lot more surprising to do—because life isn’t fair. Bad things happen. But grace happens all the more. It will happen when we wait for it. It will happen when we serve one another. God is at work righting all of the wrongs and ending the injustices that God’s children suffer. So we wait on God with hope—and we serve God with hope—because our God will surprise us.

September 11 Memorial Service: Opening Remarks

2011-09-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

All of us who were alive on the morning of September 11, 2001 remember where we were and what we were doing that fateful day.

On the tenth anniversary of these horrific tragedies, we gather to remember all of the precious and innocent lives that were lost that day. We gather to stand with all who continue to grieve...

We stand with the first responders who gave their lives so that others might live.

We stand with those who risked their lives to rescue both the living and the dead from the rubble.

We stand with those who answered their nation's call to defend all of us from harm and danger.

We stand with the families of those brave women and men who never made it home.

We stand together as one nation, still bearing the wounds we suffered that day. We come together today for healing; to pray for peace; to be illumined with hope.

As violence, poverty, and injustice continue to plague the world we live in, let us commemorate this day by rededicating ourselves to the selflessness and charity we demonstrated on that horrific day ten years ago. When evildoers attacked us with their hate, we fought back with love. Police, firefighters, and rescue personnel went into the fire to save the lives of people they had never met. Our nation came together as one people, giving of ourselves and our gifts to help those in need.

So in this time of prayer and remembrance, our call is clear: the only way that this nation and this world can be healed is by all of us working together for peace and for justice. Justice happens when we love one another as ourselves. And where there is justice, there is peace.

But God also commands us to forgive those who hurt us so terribly-- which is a very hard thing to do. Even though we can never forget the lives that we're lost that day, We turn our hearts, our minds, and our hands to healing. And by the grace and strength of Almighty God, we can overcome the evil we suffered that day. We can build a better world for our children.

So today we pray for God to heal our nation, knowing that God will use our hands for this purpose.

We also pray for those who continue to risk their lives to protect us and rescue us from danger-- at home and around the world.

We pray for an end to violence and human suffering-- and we look forward with hope to the day when we will beat our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks; when our world will finally be at peace.

Forgiving...and Never Forgetting ~ Matthew 18:21-35 ~ September 11, 2011

2011-09-11T10:24:00.001-07:00

Do we have to forgive Bin Laden and the terrorists who attacked us ten years ago today?

Should we forgive them like the king in Jesus’ parable forgives his servant?

In the parable, the servant owes a debt in the amount of 10,000 talents. This was debt was so massive it was beyond imagination—like our national debt (!). In this time of history, a laborer would have had to work every single day for 165,000 years to repay it. Since the slave obviously couldn’t pay, the king orders that he, his family, and his possessions be sold off as slaves. When the slave begs for the king’s patience, the king takes pity on him—and forgives the debt.

Later, this servant finds himself in even bigger trouble with his king because he didn’t forgive the debt of one of his fellow servants; a much smaller debt, equal to about 100 days’ wages.

In sum, the parable reminds us that God has forgiven us a debt that is greater than anything we could have repaid. Therefore, we are to forgive others the same way that God has forgiven us.

But there are some big differences between this parable and the situation we face today. The terrorists are mass murders. They are undoubtedly some of the most violent and evil human beings to have ever walked this earth. And they’re certainly not sorry for what they’ve done. They’re not asking for our forgiveness—so why should we forgive them?

When it comes to the 9/11 victims’ families—or any of us who have suffered violence, hatred, and cruelty at the hands of another human being—it seems like God is asking too much of us. It’s not fair to have to forgive them. We don’t owe them anything—so for us to owe them forgiveness makes for an even greater injustice. Even if they did ask for our forgiveness, there’s no way that we can get back what they took from us. We’ll never forget what they did to us—so why should we forgive them?

To start, there are many things that forgiveness is not…

Forgiveness is not forgetting—because it’s impossible to forget when a person takes something or someone away who can’t be replaced.

Forgiveness is not excusing. Forgiveness doesn’t change the fact that someone did something wrong. It is right for the guilty to be punished for their crimes. Forgiveness means that we see the guilty punished for the sake of justice—not revenge.

And forgiveness is not something that we can do by our own power. It’s not a natural human response. “Forgiveness is divine.” Forgiveness is what God does—so you need God’s help to do it. So we learn forgiveness by receiving God’s forgiveness. We confess our sins and hear God’s promise of forgiveness. We feast on the body and blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

Ultimately, the Bible doesn’t allow for exceptions to the rule. We forgive others just as God forgave us. But we don’t forgive others because we owe it to them—we forgive because we owe it to God. Forgiving others is fulfilling our obligation to the God who forgives us.

Because we are forgiven, we don’t have to live in fear of God’s wrath at the magnitude of our sin. God’s forgiveness of us is unconditional. In fact, we were forgiven before we ever even thought to confess our sins. God’s forgiveness heals us when our sin brings us suffering. And in just the same way, our forgiveness of others heals the hurts that others give us. Forgiveness doesn’t give us back what was taken away from us—but it does give us a new beginning.

At the same time, I’d be lying if I said that forgiving is easy. It is un-forgiveness that is easy. When someone hurts us, it’s easy to think that we have the right to get back at them. We want to do whatever we can to punish the other person. Hate, bitterness, and anger become the weapons of our un-forgiveness.

But in the end, nothing good comes out of un-forgiveness. It doesn’t heal us—any more than it give back what was taken from us. So how can we spending our life energy punishing someone bring about our healing? Not only are we hurting someone else in the process, we’re destroying ourselves. Un-forgiveness is a poison that makes all of our wounds fatal.

I love the expression “burying the hatchet,” because that’s what forgiveness is really all about. We take the hatchet that wounded us and bury it in the ground. And that is the most defiant thing we can do towards the one who hurt us. Forgiveness is our outright refusal to allow them—or the wounds they gave us—to rule over us. Even though we’re still bleeding from the wound they gave us, forgiveness enables us to turn our attention towards our own healing. We can spend our time praying for God’s healing instead of dwelling on our hurt and anger. Our minds are freed to meditate on the promises of the Gospel. Our hands are freed to reach out to all of the people God provides to minister to us. Our hearts are illuminated with hope because forgiveness banishes away the darkness.

And then we go and put it all into practice. We start small—forgiving people of their minor debts; the little inconveniences we experience throughout the day that tempt us get angry and lash out at other people. Forgiveness means being patient with the cashier who overcharges you at the checkout. Forgiveness means not blasting the horn at the driver who cuts you off in traffic. You bury the hatchet. You forgive. And by doing this, you will be more able to bigger sins and greater debts.

In time, forgiveness will go from being something that you do to the way in which you live. And life will be so much better because of it. We’ll be able to enjoy our relationships to their fullest. We’ll be able to live in God’s peace. The hurts won’t get the best of us. God’s grace will flow through every moment of our days as we receive God’s forgiveness and extend it to others.

All of us will suffer hurts. Some will heal, and some will afflict us each and every day. But forgiveness heals us—because forgiveness is divine. God’s forgiveness has altered the course of our destiny. We are claimed by God for eternal life. And by practicing God’s forgiveness, we can have a little bit of heaven on earth. God can use even our greatest hurts to do amazing things for us and for others.

So let this of grieving and remembrance also be a day of forgiveness—so that we can work together to overcome evil with peace, with justice, and with love.

How to Face Conflict—and Win Every Time ~ Matthew 18:15-20 ~ September 4, 2011

2011-09-04T07:53:00.001-07:00

Jesus says that we are to go and point out each others’ sins. If the sinners don’t own up to their sin, we’re supposed to get other people involved—possibly the entire church if that’s what it takes to get the sinner to listen.

Today’s Gospel doesn’t really sound like good news. It sounds more like a recipe for disaster for our church. Church people have the unfortunate reputation of being all too eager point out each other’s faults. We don’t want to come to church and have fingers pointed at us. We’d think that Jesus want us to focus on loving one other. All that should concern us is being a community, and relating to one another as brothers and sisters.

But that’s just it. We should be concerned about being a community. This is what Jesus wants for us. We are to become as brothers and sisters to one another.

But we know a thing or two about brothers and sisters—particularly if we grew up in a family of brothers and sisters. Siblings don’t always get along. They hurt each other. They fight. Conflict is inevitable.

Wherever there are relationships of any kind—people are going to sin against each other.

The trouble is that when someone sins against us, we’re tempted to hurt the person like they hurt us. Most of the time, our words will be our primary weapon. We take the offense and use it to beat up our offender in any way we can. We start telling people about the hurtful things they did to us. Sometimes we confront our offender, and sometimes we don’t—but if we do, we’re all too tempted to give them the piece of our mind we can’t afford to lose. Sometimes the weapon we use against them is our silence. We strike back with the silent treatment. We act as if they’re nobody to us. And if the offense is severe enough, we take it as occasion for that relationship to end.

If we give into these temptations, are we any different from the people who hurt us? We’re just tearing our offender like they tore us down—as if this was going to help us feel better. But nothing good comes out of it. We’re still hurt—and now our offender is hurt, too. Both persons suffer because the relationship is broken.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is teaching us that we cannot treat our conflicts as occasions to dispose of our relationships with those people. God created us to be in relationships with others. Relationships are vital to our well-being, as human beings and as Christians. We were made to need each other. We need each other’s help when times are tough. We need each other’s help to keep the faith. We need each other to live Christianly…

Since our relationships are so important for our well-being—Jesus is teaching us exactly what we are to do when (not if—when) someone sins against us. The goal is not revenge, but reconciliation, forgiveness, and healing…

The first thing we do is go and talk to that person privately. (Note that Jesus tells us to do this before we tell other people). We’re not attacking the other person. We’re simply telling the other person that they’ve hurt us. After all, the other person may not have intended to hurt us. The whole thing could be a misunderstanding. Either way, we go so that each person can give their side of the story.

If the first step fails to bring reconciliation, we are to reach out to two or three witnesses. This isn’t about ganging up on our offender. We reach out to others so that they can hear our side of the story—and come to their own conclusions about the offense. The other persons may see the situation differently. They may conclude that the other person did nothing wrong. But if they see a legitimate offense, the two or three witnesses become partners in working toward reconciliation.

And if that fails, we are to reach out to the church to help us be reconciled to the one who hurt us. Basically, we are to do whatever it takes…

At the same time, we must not forget that we need the forgiveness of other people just as much as other people need it from us. We must always welcome our accusers. And it’s never easy to admit that we are wrong—especially when we did not set out to hurt them in the first place. We must swallow our pride and ask forgiveness—even when we don’t believe we need to. And we must forgive our offenders even while we’re still hurting from the things they did to us.

There must be a place for reconciliation in our relationships with one another because we are a people who have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. We are beloved children of God because Jesus made that all possible by laying down his life. So when you come together with your adversary and work together for reconciliation, Christ is present with you. Reconciliation is a gateway through which both persons can come into the presence of Christ and experience in real life what it means to be reconciled to God. Reconciliation is a ministry. It’s evangelism. When you, as a Christian, say to someone “I forgive you,” you are speaking the very words of Jesus Christ. When someone says to you “I forgive you,” you shall experience the power of God’s forgiveness. In other words, you will experience the weight of your sin being lifted off your shoulders. Whenever there is reconciliation and forgiveness, Christ is part of that relationship.

I wish it were as easy to reconcile broken relationships as it is for me to speak these words. It’s really hard to tell someone they hurt us. Very often, the people who hurt us will insist they did nothing wrong and tell us that we’re at fault. Often times it’s easier to carry the hurt rather than risk being made a fool. Sometimes, our hurts cut so deep that we risk reopening our wounds by attempting reconciliation. Sometimes we try everything possible to mend a broken relationship and nothing works. And sometimes there are relationships that must be ended, particularly where there is abuse—and there are no signs that the abuser is going to change. Human relationships are complicated. That’s why Jesus tells us to involve others—because others can help us to see the situation clearly. And Jesus reminds us that reconciliation will not always be possible. But whatever the case, we must, at the absolute minimum, pray for the ones who hurt us—and forgive. Our prayer must always be for that person to see the error of their ways and repent of their wrongdoing.

Among God’s greatest gifts are the people God has placed in our lives—our families, our friends, our neighbors, and our sisters and brothers in Christ. We need each other to make it through life. We need each other to keep the faith. Relationships take work—but they’re worth it, because you cannot know Jesus Christ without knowing his people. So we learn to forgive. We learn to love one another in spite of our faults. And when we do that; we will discover a little piece of heaven on earth. Reconciliation is the work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is there to help us make it happen. And amazing things will happen because Jesus is with you.

A Life Sentence ~ Matthew 16:21-28 ~ August 28, 2011

2011-08-29T05:26:00.003-07:00

One of the biggest surprises about being married is how much I’ve actually come to enjoy some of Elizabeth’s favorite shows…

One show I’ve really come to enjoy is What Not to Wear on TLC.

What Not to Wear is a reality show that gives people fashion makeovers. People get nominated to be on the show because of the strange ways they dress. One episode we saw recently was about a woman who always dressed in a fairy costume—and never left home without her magic wand… The purpose of the show is to teach people how to dress for success. The show aims to completely transform the people, so that they will have the confidence to be who they want to be and realize their life goals.

But there’s a catch—the people must give up all of their clothes. Nothing from before can be saved. Then they must agree to wear what the hosts tell them to wear. And this isn’t easy for anybody who comes on the show. There’s always a reason why these people dressed the way they did. The clothes they wore helped them to cope with a hurt or insecurity. The clothes they wore helped them feel safe. Being on What Not to Wear forces these to “face their giants.”

This show’s not about winning or losing—but some people’s lives are dramatically changed by the experience, and some others aren’t changed at all.

The people who let go of the old embrace the new are the ones whose lives are transformed for the better by the process… These are the people who face their giants—and defeat them. They discover a new self-confidence that they never thought they could have. Their “old self” dies—and a “whole new self” springs to life.

But for those people who refuse to let go and who don’t embrace the changes—life goes on pretty much the same as before. They end up losing out on a whole new way of life—because they refuse to let their “old self” die. They don’t defeat their giants. Their giants defeat them.

Being on What Not to Wear is a lot like becoming a disciple of Jesus.

In baptism, God gives us the gifts of forgiveness, unconditional love, and eternal life. These are gifts of unsurpassed worth—and best of all, we don’t have to do anything to earn them. They’re free…

Yet God is doing more than just giving us gifts… God is transforming us—making us a new creation (cf. 2 Co. 5:17). But in order for the new creation to come alive—the old creation, the old person, must die. That is why answering the call to discipleship is so incredibly difficult. Jesus says “if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” To put it bluntly, the call to discipleship is a death sentence. God is putting to death the life that we control. God is putting to death the life we live for ourselves.

It is not in our nature to surrender control of ourselves to God. We want to be in charge. We want all of God’s gifts—but we want to set the terms of how we’re going to live as Christians. We want to worship God our own way. We don’t want our faith to cramp our lifestyle. We want to serve God only in the ways that are most comfortable to us. We want to decide what we’re going to give—and how much. We want to live our life in pursuit of our hopes and our dreams—and we want to God to help us achieve them.

If we are not willing to surrender ourselves to Jesus Christ; if we insist on serving Jesus our own way, we can never his disciples. We won’t truly know Jesus. We’ll just be admirers of Jesus. We won’t be transformed into a new creation. We won’t have new life in Christ. We will lose our life.

But if you want to know Jesus; if you want your life to be saved, then you’ll have to lose your life by taking up your cross and following Jesus. It almost goes without saying that it’s a very dangerous thing to surrender control of your life to God. We have no idea what God may have in store for us. God may take things away from us that are important to us. God may lead us to serve people who make us uncomfortable. God may call us do things we don’t want to do. God could turn our life completely upside-down. We may even have to suffer for Jesus’ sake. Your cross is whatever scares you the most about becoming a disciple. It’s that thing you hope Jesus won’t ask you to do—because you feel you can’t do it. It’s that thing that you are constantly tempted to avoid. Your cross is whatever would take you out of your comfort zone. Your cross is that giant you need to face up to.

Now is the time to stop making excuses and putting off to tomorrow what needs to be done today.

If you want to truly know Jesus for who he is, you have to take up your cross—because he took up his cross for you. Jesus cannot be known apart from his cross—and that is good news…

The very presence of crosses in our lives is enough to drain the life out of us. We fear our crosses because we feel they have the power to destroy us. But if we take up the crosses; if we are bold enough to face those things that scare us the most, Jesus is going to be right there with us to help us carry the load. Jesus is waiting for us at our crosses; waiting to show us who he truly is as he helps us to bear our greatest burdens. No one will carry their crosses by themselves. If you consider all of the crosses in your life and all you can say is “Lord, I can’t bear them,” God has this to say to you: “through you, I can bear them.” It is in these moments of weakness, in these times of helplessness that God makes us a new creation. When we take up our crosses with the help of the Lord, new life is born. God’s saving power is at its greatest. God uses our crosses to give us new life.

Jesus asks a great deal of us today. He calls us to accept a death sentence; to die to everyone and everything that stands in the way of his rule over us. He calls us to face the giants in our lives that scare us away from living the life of a disciple. There is so much we must lose if we are to receive new life. But taking up our cross is not a curse. It’s a promise. It’s a promise that you will make it through the hurts and pains of this life because Jesus will be with you. It’s a promise that that God’s amazing love and grace are going to be made real to you. It’s a promise that God is going to use you to heal this world. Those who lose their lives for Jesus’ sake will be united with Jesus in his resurrection.

If you let go, if you let God be in charge of your life, if you join Christ in carrying your crosses, you will be a whole new creation. If you want to know Jesus; if you want your life to be saved, take up your cross—and you will see just how great and powerful our God truly is.

Who's Your Jesus? ~ Matthew 16:13-20 ~ August 21, 2011

2011-08-21T05:29:00.001-07:00

They say “when in Rome, do as Romans do…”

Since the region we know as the Holy Land was nowhere near Rome, a city was built so the people in Jesus’ day could do as Romans do—and that place was Caesarea Philippi.

To be a Roman meant offering sacrifices to the gods of the empire—and Caesarea Philippi was the place to do that. Strangely, Jesus chose this place to ask his disciples:

Who do people say that I am?

This question was like the game show Family Feud. Jesus was asking his disciples for the most popular answers. So they tell him “some say you’re John the Baptist, you’re Elijah, you’re Jeremiah, and you’re one of the prophets.”

But the second question was no quiz. He asks them, “who do you say that I am?” Answering it wasn’t as easy as it may sound. It was true that they had witnessed Jesus’ miracles; they heard his teachings, and Jesus told them many things that he didn’t tell everyone else. But Jesus never told them in black-and-white terms who he was. And on top of that, we can’t forget their surroundings. It had to have been difficult not to be overcome by the sight of thousands of people worshipping the Roman gods in the mighty temples and shrines. Jesus could not have chosen a more intimidating place for his disciples to testify to who they believed him to be.

So Peter steps up and answers, saying “you are the Messiah, the son of the living God.”

Peter didn’t take a shot in the dark and give the right answer. Peter knew who Jesus was because God had revealed that to him. God gave Peter the faith to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

So as Jesus asks you “who do you say that I am?” what would you say?

Chances are that we’d have no trouble answering the question. Most people can say that that Jesus is the Messiah—including people who’ve never set foot in a church. It’s common knowledge. But Jesus isn’t after the most popular answer. This isn’t a pop quiz.

Jesus’ question for us is “who am I for you?”

Or to put it another way, “who is your Jesus?”

Today’s Gospel is calling all of us to pause and consider the works of Jesus Christ in our lives. It calls us look back upon our days and give thanks for all of the things he’s done for us. We remember that Jesus gave his life for the forgiveness of our sins. We remember that we have eternal life in his resurrection. We remember that Christ is not a distant Savior, but a present Savior.

But today’s Gospel also calls us to consider all of the ways that we need him… We sin daily and always need his forgiveness. We always need his strength and comfort amid the trials and temptations we face. We always need his new life in the wake of our failings and disappointments. We need him to nourish and grow our faith so that we can live the life he wants us to live. We need him to save us from the powers of evil and death.

The good news is that your Jesus reaches out for you in your most desperate needs. Your Jesus gives you the faith to trust in the promises of the Gospel. And your Jesus brings those promises to life.

Since we need him so much, we need to constantly be receiving him in Word and Sacrament. Those who are hungry must come to Jesus to be fed.

Yet we are also to tell others about our Jesus. The mark of a disciple of Jesus Christ is testimony. Testimony isn’t just telling people that Jesus the Messiah. Testimony is telling the story of a Messiah who does great things for us. Your Jesus should not be kept secret. And that is one of the greatest challenges this Gospel presents to us.

We’re inclined to do as 21^st century Americans do. 21^st century Americans don’t talk about their faith to others. For 21^st century Americans, faith is a personal matter to be kept to ourselves. So we do just that. If you talk openly about your faith, you may get labeled a ‘Jesus freak,’ as if to say that something’s wrong with you. But how often do we talk about our relationship with Jesus here in church? How often do we share our testimony of all that Jesus does for us? If we’re not, we aren’t ministering the Gospel to one another as effectively as we could be. We are called to testify to the work of Jesus Christ in our everyday lives. Our personal testimony of Jesus makes the Gospel all the more real. God uses our testimony to create and build up faith in other people.

At the same time, we must be honest and open in sharing our faith struggles—because everyone struggles to trust in the promises of Jesus Christ. Our lack of faith is not a failure in our part. It’s a hunger for new life. If, right now, you feel as though there is nothing you could possibly testify about Jesus Christ, there is good news for you… Come to the table today… Keep feasting on his Word, and you’ll see… Your Jesus will give you plenty to talk about.

Jesus is not a silent presence in our lives. So why should we be silent about him? Where is the joy in knowing Jesus if we never talk about him?

The Christian faith is not strictly a personal matter. We cannot allow the surrounding culture to intimidate us and silence our witness. God created us to be in community with one another. God gave us relationships so that we can better know Jesus by knowing one another. There must be a time and place for testimony in our church. We need to be telling one another about all that Jesus is doing for us. We cannot be a strong church unless Jesus Christ is the subject of our conversations. We cannot be a growing church unless we testify to the work of Jesus Christ in our own lives.

Jesus asks us “who do you say that I am?”

The time for us has come for us to testify.

A Home for All ~ Matthew 15:21-28 ~ August 14, 2011

2011-08-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

In the last eight years, I have moved a total of twelve times. I can honestly say that moving is a real headache. With all these moves came one experience that was truly priceless: church shopping.

I’ve probably visited at a hundred churches in my lifetime.

One church gave all of their visitors a free jar of jelly. All you had to do to get it was to stand up, take the microphone, and introduce yourself to the hundreds of other worshippers. At another church, I was told that two long-time members walked out of the church because I was sitting in their seat.

Overall, I can honestly say the churches I visited were warm and welcoming. People were genuinely glad I was there. They thanked me for visiting and invited me to come back again. I enjoyed worshipping with them.

But one thing I couldn’t change was the fact that I was a stranger to them. Even though people introduced themselves to me, I didn’t remember their names—and they probably didn’t remember mine. And worst of all, there weren’t many other people in their twenties like I was. I was an outsider. And that feeling of being an outsider was the number one reason I stayed home many Sunday mornings. And since I didn’t go to church, I felt empty. Something truly important to me was missing from my week.

If there’s anyone who knows the pain of being an outsider, it would have to be the woman from our Gospel text for the day.

In her daughter’s hour of most desperate need, she came to Jesus begging for his mercy. But this woman was a Canaanite… To a Jew in Jesus’ day, a Canaanite was someone who was unclean—and to be avoided at all costs. She was also a woman—someone who had no rights of her own in this period of history. To approach a person of stature like Jesus was socially unacceptable… And on top of all of that, she was crying out to Jesus. In sum, she was a nuisance. And strangely, Jesus makes that quite clear to her… In no uncertain terms, Jesus says she’s dog. And the woman agrees with him! She knows she has no right to ask Jesus for anything. All she can do is beg for Jesus to help her daughter. It is this faith—this faith that cried out, begging for mercy—that Jesus commends. Her only hope was to come face-to-face with Jesus—and that was all it took to make her great faith come alive. Everything changed for this woman and her daughter the moment she came into the presence of Jesus Christ.

How strangely ironic that it’s an outsider, a “nobody”, who has great faith, while the disciples—the insiders—have little faith… Great faith was found in the least likely of places, and in the least likely of peoples…

And that is still true for our world today. We may be living a “Post-Christian” world, but there are people everywhere who have the potential for great faith, just like the Canaanite woman. Spiritual hunger is very real—and those who try to satisfy their hunger with worldly treasures, cheap thrills, and self-help quick fixes are eventually going to find that none of these will satisfy. People are in desperate need—and it’s only in Jesus Christ that one can receive a true and living hope. And there is nowhere else we can come into a life-changing encounter with the living Christ than in the community of faith.

Everyone who comes to church—either as a first-time visitor or a regular attendee—comes hungry for the real presence of Jesus Christ. We come to be surrounded by Christ’s love in the community of faith.

But the sad reality is that many people who come to church feel like outsiders. They come hungry for the presence of Christ, only to end up a spectator to all the things God is doing for everyone else. To be an outsider is to feel like you don’t deserve God’s gifts, or that others are more important than you… Being an outsider makes you feel like Jess us has rejected you. It’s hard enough to set foot in a new church for the first time—but it’s even more difficult to go back when you feel like you don’t belong. A 24-year-old member of my internship congregation said it best: “I love my church—but there’s nothing there for me.”

It’s not that we or any other church has set out to exclude anyone. We want to attract new members and grow our churches. We want everyone to be at home with Jesus Christ in our church. But no church is perfect—anymore than our people are perfect. People feel excluded. But the problem isn’t solved by pointing fingers or placing blame. The question is what can we do about it?

The first thing is this: we hear again the promise of the Gospel… We all come before Jesus Christ with nothing to deserve him. We have nothing to offer to Jesus but our desperate need of his forgiveness and grace. And Jesus gives us everything. All of the gifts of God are free.

The second thing we do is to be in conversation with one another. We share with one another all of the ways we encounter the living Christ in the ministries of this church. We share with one another how Jesus has transformed our lives. In our conversations, we discover our congregation’s spiritual gifts. And it is out of these very gifts that our church will grow.

And let us also talk about the ways we haven’t felt welcome here. Let us talk about the times we’ve felt left out. Let’s be in conversation with the people who we haven’t seen in some time. By the Holy Spirit’s help, we will see the opportunities to make this congregation a place where more and more people can come into the presence of Jesus Christ.

And finally, let us be telling others about the Savior who comes to us here in Water and Word, bread and wine, and in the fellowship we share. People are hungry for the forgiveness and mercy of Jesus Christ—and here at First Lutheran Church, they can be fed.

God has given us everything we need to make this church a place where young and old can come into the presence of the risen Christ. We have the Word, we have the Sacraments, and we have each other. Nothing is missing. The gifts are ours—we just need the Spirit to teach us to use them to make this house a home with the living Christ.

Let us build a house where the least, the lost, and the hurting can take refuge in the arms of Jesus. Let us build a house where we can live together in the hope that is ours. Let us build a house that welcomes everyone into the eternal feast that has already begun. Let us build a house where all who are hungry can come and feast on the bread of eternal life that is Christ Jesus our Lord.

Get In the Boat ~ Matthew 14:22-33 ~ August 7, 2011

2011-08-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

Say what you want about Southwestern Pennsylvania winters—there's one big advantage to living here: we enjoy relative safety from natural disasters that plague other regions of this country. Our hilly terrain keeps the tornados away. We’re far enough from the coast so that we don't have to worry about hurricanes. We’re nowhere near a fault line, so we don't have earthquakes. There are no volcanoes around.

Yet we are not immune to flooding. Every time we get severe rains, there's always someone, somewhere who tries to drive across a flooded road and ends up stranded. As the flood waters rise around them, they climb onto the roof of their car, waiting to be rescued. The news helicopters hovering overhead bring the terrifying footage right into our living rooms. The best hoped-for ending is for firefighters and police to risk their lives and rescue the helpless victim from the clutches of the powerful torrent.

But have you ever seen anybody simply get out of their car and walk on top of the waters to safety? Could a person with iron-clad faith save themselves from the clutches of death?

We all know the answer: no. No one gets saved from a flood this severe without a rescuer.

So would it be any different for Peter? As the winds raged and the waves battered the boat, should Peter have been able to get out of the boat and walk to Jesus without getting his feet wet? Would Peter have been able to save himself from the clutches of death if he had kept his eyes on Jesus and had enough faith?

One thing to note is that it wasn’t Jesus’ idea for Peter to walk on water. This was Peter’s idea. When Peter saw Jesus, he decided to put Jesus to the test. “Since it is you,” he said, “command me to come to you on the water.” Peter stepped out of that boat in hopes of proving to himself that it truly was Jesus walking toward him. Jesus granted Peter’s request—but not so everyone could see what was possible if they all had enough faith… When Peter’s faith melted away as the winds raged around him, Jesus had the perfect opportunity to show himself for who he is—the Savior of the world. No one gets saved from a storm this severe without a rescuer.

All throughout Scripture, we’re taught that we can move mountains with faith... nothing is impossible with God… Four times in Matthew Jesus says to people “your faith has made you well.” So we believe that if we have faith, things will work out for the good. And much of the time, that works out just fine for us.

But what happens to our faith when the floodwaters rise? What happens when the storms of life roll in and we’re battered by the winds and tossed about by the waves? What happens to our faith when we feel ourselves going under?

Don’t get me wrong—miracles happen every day. Prayers are answered. God intervenes in mysterious and awesome ways to deliver us from life’s trials and tribulations. By faith, we can do awesome and amazing things.

But when that miracle doesn’t come—is it because of our lack of faith?

It’s so easy to think that our struggling faith is a failure on our part. We feel as though we’re slamming the door on God with all of our fears and our doubts. All the clichés start stirring around in our minds: “have faith” or “trust Jesus;” “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle” or “God only helps those who help themselves.” We end up feeling that we’re worthless and dead in God’s eyes when God is so hard to believe in. So how can we believe that Jesus Christ is with us when all the things happening to us suggest he’s not?

To answer that question, we cannot look within ourselves—because faith is not something that we can simply do through our own effort. The only way that we can have faith is by the Holy Spirit. Faith is a gift—not an achievement. Faith isn’t about smiling and smoothly sailing through life’s worst storms any more than it’s about walking on water. It’s about crying out to God for help again and again—even when the only answer we seem to be getting is silence. Faith is about believing that Jesus is listening… It’s about believing that Jesus is right there with us when everything around us would tell us otherwise. It’s about believing that Jesus’ arm is stretched out to us when we feel like we just can’t go on…

Even when we do not believe—when our eyes aren’t set on Jesus; when we’re feeling overwhelmed and overcome by whatever has thrown our lives into chaos—Jesus is still holding onto us. Peter may have taken his eyes off of Jesus, but Jesus never took his eyes off of him. That is the good news of this story. Having faith doesn’t save us. Jesus saves us. Faith is all about believing that Jesus saves us—because no one can be saved from the powers of chaos and death without a Savior. The cliché “God only helps those who helps themselves” makes no sense. The gospel is the story of God doing for us what we are too weak, too stubborn, and too scared to do for ourselves. Faith isn’t walking on water—because only Jesus can do that… Faith is about you and me believing that Jesus is walking on the water, holding onto each of us so that we’ll never be swept away by the winds and the waves.

But no one can know that they’re being saved unless they hear the words of promise—and the words of promise remain just words unless they become real… And that’s why there’s a church; that’s why we’re here… Here in the church, God’s saving work becomes real to us. It becomes real in word and sacrament. We come together as a community and we see God at work in each other. We make it real in the love we show to our neighbors and whenever we share our gifts with those in need.

We’re all weathering the storms of life—we’re all struggling to keep our heads above the water as we’re battered by the winds and waves. But the church is the lifeboat. Jesus has brought us aboard so that we can all sail together with him through the storms to the land of promise. Far too many people are treading water in the sea, gasping for air, not knowing that their rescue is under way. Our job is to join Jesus in bringing them aboard.

The sky may be dark, the winds may be hard, the waters may be high—but we are rescued. Jesus is with us in the boat as we weather life’s storms. And because Jesus is with us, we will survive the storms—and we will make it to the shore.

Everybody Has a Hungry Heart ~ Isaiah 55:1-5 ~ July 31, 2011

2011-07-31T05:26:00.001-07:00

They say the fastest way to a person's heart is through their stomach.

At no time was this truer for me than when I was in college. My Alma Mater isn’t known for great-tasting food in its dining halls. All too often, ramen noodles were my meal of choice when the cafeteria food didn’t cut it.

One afternoon a friend called me and invited me to a “free dinner for aspiring entrepreneurs.” Being a hungry business major with dreams of owning my own business, this was great news. I gladly accepted the invitation.

At the door we were greeted by the smell of hot pizza—and by a smooth-talking young man in a silk suit. The pizza was delicious—and I ate my fill.

Dessert was a presentation about the business venture of a lifetime that would make all my financial dreams come true. All I had to do was pay a $500 franchise fee and I'd be on the road to riches with my very own internet business.

But after sitting through an hour’s worth of videos about all the cool stuff I could buy with my future fortune, I decided I’d heard enough. This was a classic pyramid scheme and I wanted no part of it. So I headed for the door.

“Where are you going? I gave you a free dinner, and you're not even going to hear me out?” After I told him I needed to go, he shouts “well then leave; I don't have time for quitters...”

My friend wasn’t a quitter... He signed a promissory note for the $500 franchise fee. In the end, all he got in return for his $500 was anger and a whole bunch of regret...

Maybe the old saying should be “the fastest way to a person's heart is through their hunger” because that's exactly what the pyramid scheme was out to satisfy that night: my hunger for food and my hunger for the finer things in life, for which I was studying so hard to achieve.

Bruce Springsteen’s hit song “Everybody’s Got a Hungry Heart” couldn’t be truer[i]. We are all hungry for something—and what exactly we’re hungry for is unique to us both in terms of our personalities and our situations in life. Some are hungry for success and achievement; some are hungry for the respect and admiration of others… Some are hungry for companionship… If you’re going through difficult times right now, you may simply be hungry for comfort and healing… In the midst of life’s stresses and pains, you may be hungry simply for escape…

And sadly, there are many who are hungry for simple food—and their most basic needs…

It isn’t morally wrong to have a hungry heart—any more than it’s wrong to hunger for food. But where we go wrong is in the things we choose order to satisfy our hunger…

I once saw a bunch of signs in a shopping mall that read “help yourself to a little retail therapy.” Basically, the sign said “if you buy it, you’ll feel good.” Don’t get me wrong—there’s no harm in enjoying shopping every once in a while. But as our hearts hunger, the so-called therapies we seek can easily become gods that take over our lives. And we all serve false gods, whether we realize it or not. We habitually turn to these gods to satisfy the hunger that’s inside of us. These gods make us happy; they make us feel good. But our hunger is never satisfied. We get to that point when we just can’t get enough. In time, these gods drag us into misery and darkness. These gods only succeed in making us feel empty and dead.

So God’s Word asks us: “why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and labor for that which does not satisfy?” God knows that we’re hungry—therefore, God has for us food that is good; a food that will satisfy: the bread of life that is Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. People can come and feast on the bread of life in water and Word, bread and wine. You don’t have to have money because all of God’s children eat free.

If you come you will eat.

If you listen your hunger will be satisfied.

Jesus is bread that satisfies our hunger for love and acceptance. He is bread that satisfies our hunger for hope and healing. He is bread that satisfies our desperate hunger for forgiveness in the wake of all of our failings and the hurt we bring to others. He is bread that satisfies our desperate hunger for deliverance from the power of death. Jesus is bread that satisfies our hunger for meaning and purpose in our lives—because we were created to feast on the riches of God’s grace and bear witness to the one who feeds us. We come, we eat, and we listen in order that God will consume us.

Make no mistake—you will still be hungry after you’ve been fed—but that’s a good thing. We can never get enough of the food of God’s grace—because this is a food that gives us life. And God will never stop feeding it to us. A disciple is not someone whose hunger for God has been completely satisfied. A true disciple is someone who is constantly hungry—and who is always coming back to Jesus and listening to the Word.

But it’s not easy to break free of our false gods—regardless of what they are. It’s all too easy to look for that quick fix or that fast escape when our hearts hunger. Every day is a battle to break away from their power over us. But we do none of this alone. God’s strength comes when we come to God, eating the meal of grace and listening to the promises of the Gospel. God’s forgiveness gives us a new beginning. God’s free grace leads us out of the darkness to a new day.

When I was little, my mom used to stand at the bottom of the stairs and yell to my sister and me that dinner was ready. This was one occasion that we always listened. We ran down the stairs and took our places at the table because we were hungry. TV, our favorite toys and (especially) our homework weren’t going to satisfy our hunger.

So as God calls all of us to dinner, why would we want to be anywhere else? Where else can we be fed with forgiveness? Where else can we be fed with hope? Where else can we be fed with a food that will give us life? The best way to a person’s heart is through their hunger—because our love and our affection will always be upon the one who satisfies it. God’s way into your heart is through everything that you hunger and thirst for today.

Come and eat,

Listen and be satisfied,

And God will give the bread of eternal life.

[i] Springsteen, Bruce. Hungry Heart. Comp. Bruce Springsteen. 1980.

God's Takeover ~ Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 ~ July 2011

2011-07-24T10:52:00.001-07:00

It was Christmas morning, and all eyes are on my two pre-school-aged cousins as they opened their presents. Their grandma and grandpa broke the bank to buy them the ultimate gift. They walk the gigantic gift into the living room—which took almost a whole roll of wrapping paper to wrap up. The girls light up with joy at the sight of this grand present. They quickly tear off the wrapping paper and jump and shout for joy over their new present.

While mom and dad unpack the present, the girls’ attention turns toward the giant box it came in.

Once it’s all ready to go, Grandma and grandpa ask them: “aren’t you going to play with your new toy?” “Later,” they say. “We’re playing house!”

With dozens of presents are scattered all over the living room floor, the girls fall asleep from all the excitement. Their dad takes away the giant box. An hour later the girls wake up, and they cry “where’s our house?” Mom says “it’s in the garbage. Don’t you want to play with all your new toys?” The older girl cries “we want our house back!”

It turns out that it wasn’t the expensive gift that girls loved most that morning—they loved the box it came in. Now we’d be inclined to think that this is something only a child would do. But unfortunately, this is what happens all too often with the gift of our baptismal faith. Baptism is God’s version of Christmas morning—for that is when all of the treasures of God’s kingdom become ours. We’re forgiven of our sins, delivered from the powers of death and evil, and given eternal life. We’re sealed with the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.

At first, we receive our faith with great joy, because we know how great a gift it is. We know that when it comes to eternity, the heavenly treasures are worth far more than any treasures that can be amassed in this world. But we end up doing exactly what my cousins did on Christmas morning: we forget our greatest treasure. Even though we still believe in God, we fail to live for God. We live for lesser treasures. Everyday day life ends up ruling over us.

Think for a moment about the two areas of our lives where we feel the most pressure: our schedule books and our pocketbooks. Between our jobs, our families, and all of our other commitments that demand so much of our time—where does God fit in? Where does God fit in during these tough economic times? With so little time and money to go around, life’s pressures take us over—and they drain the life out of us. We don’t pray or read Scripture, we don’t come to church, and we don’t give of our time and talents. The world and its pressures are in control. We believe in God—but we live as though God doesn’t exist…

But hear the words of Jesus’ parable:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in joy went and sold everything to buy that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold everything and bought it.”

In these two parables, people are caught up in their everyday routines when, suddenly, they stumble upon a great treasure. And finding this treasure changes everything. The treasure is now the cornerstone upon which these persons’ lives are built.

The treasure they find is God’s kingdom. Whenever you hear the terms “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of heaven” don’t be thinking of a place. God’s kingdom is God’s rule. In these parables, people’s lives are taken over by the rule of God.

And what these parables teach us is that God breaks in to our lives in the midst of our day-to-day drudgeries—in the simplest and most unexpected ways. In the midst of our routines, our frustrations, and even our hurts, God comes and takes us over. In other words, we may not be seeking God—but God is seeking us. And God doesn’t get frustrated by our stubbornness and give up. God is out to claim us—and this is good news, because unless God is in control of us, this world and all of its pressures will be in control—and they will destroy us.

Today God’s Word announces God’s takeover of creation. It challenges us to stop; to pause in the midst of all the busyness and pressures we face and ask ourselves: are we ready for that? Are we ready for God to come and turn everything upside-down? Are we willing risk letting God be in control of our schedule books and pocketbooks? Are we ready for God to reset and reorder our priorities? Are we ready for God to break apart our routines, drive us out of comfort zones, and lead us forward into the unknown? Are you ready for God to transform you from a Christian to disciple?

This all may sound quite intimidating—as if God is going to make you even busier or take away things that bring you joy and rest. We can’t help feeling uneasy at the thought of our lives being dramatically changed. We can’t help pondering the cost of being a disciple—because when God rules over us, there’s a part of us that dies. No longer do we live for our own sake or for the sake of gaining the world’s treasures. But something new comes alive—and that is the life of Jesus Christ. No longer are we bound to a life that will destroy us; for God gives us a life that is everlasting. And even though a disciple is never guaranteed an easy and carefree life, we have peace and we have hope because our God reigns. We rest in the assurance God’s Word speaks to us in Romans:

“…neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Today our God is taking over. Today our God is breaking into our busy and chaotic lives to claim every one of us. The powers of chaos and evil—and the hardness of our own hearts may seem so great as to be unstoppable—but they are no match for our God.

Today Christ invites you to his table. In order that Christ may claim you as his own, he gives his body and blood for us to eat and to drink. So if you are ready for God to come and take you over, come to the feast. Be prepared for Christ to change you. Be prepared to be a disciple. But also be ready for Christ to give you peace and calm. With God in charge, there’s nothing in this world that tear us away from God’s all-surpassing love. So when you come forward today, be prepared to receive the greatest treasure of all that is Jesus Christ, and all of his forgiveness, mercy, and grace.

Slanderers! ~ Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 ~ July 17, 2011

2011-07-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I really hated being a teenager…

My first part-time job was working as a cashier at a major department store chain. I’ll admit that I was young and immature and there were plenty of times when I was not always professional in my dealings with customers. But I really tried to treat people well and do my job right.

But sometimes people treated me like garbage—and one of the reasons for that was because I was a teenager. People assumed that I was lazy, stupid, and that I didn’t care about them. Some people judged my character solely on the basis of my age.

Just a few days ago, Elizabeth and I were eating in a crowded fast food restaurant. Normally we find a table in a section where the sun isn’t shining through the windows. But that day, that section was occupied by some rough looking teenagers. So I sat us down in a seat in the sunny section near an older couple.

Now I didn’t see those teenagers acting up. But without even thinking, I stayed away from them—assuming they were rowdy and would disturb my enjoyment of my lunch. I guess I didn’t learn anything from my teenage years. I didn’t even realize I did this until the next day, when I sat down to study today’s Gospel.

In it, Jesus tells a parable about a landowner and his wheat field. After the landowner sowed good seed, an enemy came along and sowed weeds among the wheat. So now there’s a problem: there are weeds in the field. These weeds are depleting the nutrients in the soil and could very well choke the wheat and ruin the harvest. So the servants ask permission to go and pull them out. But the landowner says “no”—because they would surely uproot the wheat along with the weeds. So the weeds will not be collected until harvest time. The landowner goes on to say that it will never be their job to separate out the weeds from the wheat. That job will belong to the landowner and his reapers.

In turns out that the greatest threat to the wheat was not the weeds—but the servants. It was the servants who could cause the greatest harm to the wheat.

With this parable, Jesus is once again turning everyday common sense on its head. We know that there’s a weed problem on this earth—a problem we know as human sin. If someone were to ask us to identify the greatest threat to the health and well-being of the children of God, we would naturally say “sin” and “evildoers.” But Jesus is speaking of an even greater threat—and that is people who judge certain people as the children of evil and treat them accordingly. The greatest threat to the children of God is when we put ourselves into God’s position as judge and we condemn people by what we say, by what we do, or by what we fail to do.

Now I’ve been here four weeks, and I’m glad to report that I’ve heard no one from this congregation say to someone else “God hates you and you’re going to hell.” Unfortunately, there are plenty of churches and Christians who will preach precisely that message. And what’s so tragic about these people is that they do this in Jesus’ name, as if to say that Jesus’ mission is all about exclusion and condemnation instead of inclusion, redemption, and forgiveness.

But there are still two other ways that we put ourselves into God’s place as judge…

We hear Scripture passages like the second half of today’s Gospel, that speak powerful and disquieting words about judgment. We look at ourselves, fully aware of our own sin and our failings, and conclude that we are the weeds of the field headed for the fire. We do not believe that God could possibly love us and forgive us for the things we’ve done.

The other way we put ourselves into God’s place as judge is when we choose not to share the love of Christ with someone. Throughout the day there are opportunities to talk about our faith or do something kind for a neighbor. But instead we walk away. Sometimes we look at those persons and assume, for whatever reason, that they won’t appreciate our kindness; they’ll reject us and think we’re stupid for sharing our faith. We assume that they couldn’t possibly have faith in Jesus Christ. Other times we judge ourselves as incapable of doing ministry. We doubt that God could effectively use us to draw others to faith.

When we judge people and treat them in accordance to those judgments, we put ourselves in the God’s place—whether we realize it or not. But remember how often, throughout Scripture, the devil is referred to as “the accuser” and “the slanderer.” When we make negative judgments about anyone—even ourselves, we are giving voice to the devil’s lies. And it is the devil’s lies that destroy the children of God—because they stand in the way of people hearing and fleeing to the promises of God. As sin wreaks havoc upon us and our world, we can’t help but cry out to God like the servants in the parable. Every day we suffer the consequences of evil and we are desperate for answers and for help. But we cannot overcome with the problem of sin and make disciples of Jesus Christ by making judgments and assumptions about one another. God’s mission in the world is a bountiful harvest of people who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord. This mission is accomplished by the grace of God poured from the cross of Jesus Christ. The harvest is not something to be underestimated—because we cannot fathom the vastness of God’s grace or the power of God’s Holy Spirit to bring people to faith. Therefore we have no reason to judge any person as anyone other than a child of God—even if we see no signs of faith or no potential for that person to become a Christian… even if all we see is the enormity of that person’s sin…

We pray for those who do us wrong and cause us to suffer. We ask God to help us to love those who are hard to love. We ask that God would help them to turn from their sins and live in obedience. We ask these things for others just as we ask them for ourselves. We see every single person as a child of God who will inherit the promises of God’s kingdom because that is God’s will for everybody. We tell others of Christ’s love and do good for our neighbors in the hope that they would come to a knowledge of the truth of God’s grace and mercy.

God will indeed sort the weeds from the wheat at the end of the age. There will be judgment. Evil and evildoers will be dealt with. But let us remember the true nature of the God who is doing the judging. Christ died on the cross because God hated sin and sin’s power to harm and destroy God’s own children. Christ died because God loves sinners. We are not to concern ourselves with the specifics of who is a child of God versus who is not. That is not our job. Our mission is to join Jesus Christ in preparing for the great harvest of children who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. That is God’s purpose for all creation. That is our hope. And to all who cry out to Jesus Christ for that hope, the kingdom of God will be given.

Let anyone with ears listen!

A Wasted Ministry? ~ Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 ~ July 10, 2011

2011-07-23T08:33:00.001-07:00

Oreo cookies are the best cookies money can buy.

Not only do Oreos taste great; they’re versatile. Grind them up and make the best ice cream: Cookies and Cream. They’re even great in pies and pudding. And there’s more than one way to eat them. You can eat them whole; you can dip them in ice cream or milk; or you can twist them apart and eat the creamy middle first.

There’s no doubt that I inherited my love of Oreo cookies from my dad. When I was no more than three or four, I had my own unique way of eating Oreo Cookies. I’d lick off the creamy middle, and throw the rest in the trash. I remember the day my dad caught me “enjoying” the Oreos. His eyes bulged in horror and disbelief as he saw the remaining two-thirds of his favorite cookies in the trash.

I learned two valuable lessons that day: 1) I learned to eat the whole Oreo, as indeed the whole Oreo is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

The second lesson I learned that day was about waste. My dad wastes nothing—and he taught me well. I squeeze every last drop out of my toothpaste tubes. Any meal that I can’t finish becomes my next meal. We drive nowhere that we can walk. We run the A/C only a few hours per day. And we’re always looking for ways that we can reduce/re-use/recycle.

I believe I can speak for all of us when I say that we hate waste—because waste hits us in the two places where it hurts the most: our time and our wallets. Time and money are precious—and we want to have something good to show for them. We want them to be used in ways that make life better for us.

So the biggest problem in the Parable of the Sower is all the wasted seed. Anyone with common sense would sow their seed only in the best soil. But in the parable, seed is sown in places where it can’t grow: on the hard soil of the pathway, on the rocky soil, and among the thorns. The results come as no surprise. We the hearers are left stunned at all the time and money that are wasted.

But the power of the parable is in its shock value. (This goes for all of Jesus’ parables). Jesus wants us to be shocked by the sower’s waste. Jesus uses that shock to teach us something important about God: and that is that God doesn’t operate by our standards.

Jesus wasn’t just telling the parable of the Sower; he was living the parable. He preached God’s Word and performed all kinds of miracles so that people would believe that he was God’s Son. But not everyone believed. Entire cities rejected Jesus. The religious leaders were convinced that Jesus had been sent by “Beelzebul, the ruler of demons.” Even John the Baptist questioned that Jesus was the Messiah. Like the three kinds of bad soil, there was no great harvest of faith among these people.

So we wonder: why did Jesus waste his time on these people? Jesus knew what was in people’s hearts. He knew the people who were going to reject him—and even knew why they were going to reject them. But that didn’t matter. He ministered to them anyway. He preached God’s Word and loved the people, even though they didn’t deserve it. That’s what grace is. God doesn’t operate by our standards.

Even though we see waste, inefficiency, and failure in the parable—much of the sower’s seed did fall into good soil—and the harvest was tremendous: up to a hundredfold return on every seed sown. In the same way, Jesus’ ministry did create faith. And we’re not talking small groups of people. We’re talking large crowds—thousands of people. And make no mistake—those who did believe were no more worthy of Christ’s love than those who rejected him. All are sinners. But by grace, they had faith. By grace, they believed.

In the same way as this parable was lived out in Jesus’ own ministry, the parable is also lived out in our own lives of faith. It’s so tempting to think of ourselves as the “good soil” Jesus spoke of in the parable—because we believe, and because we are part of his church. And that would be true—we have faith only because God’s Word has take root in us. But that’s not the whole truth… We are also the hard soil when we don’t believe in God’s promises and fail to obey God’s commands. We’re the rocky soil when tough times “scorch our faith…” And we’re the thorny soil when all the cares of our lives and the treasures of the world choke our faith. We are not always fruitful in living out our faith. But if you know that you’re heart is not good soil right now, the Parable of the Sower is good news for you. Jesus never stops sowing his seeds of mercy and hope in us. There will be a time—maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow—that your heart will be the best possible soil to receive the seed of God’s Word. Jesus will be there to sow the seeds—and your faith will bear fruit. Keep praying; keep reading the Word and coming to church. God’s Word will take root in you.

And God’s Word will take root in the ministries of our congregation—but that doesn’t happen any more easily than it happens in our own lives. We want to invest our time and energies into ministries that will grow us as disciples of Jesus Christ, and help us to attract new members. But the old saying “if you build it, they will come” doesn’t necessarily apply to the Church. How easy it is to feel like we’ve wasted our time after we’ve spent preparing for a special event or a Sunday school class—and no one shows up. That fear of failure; that fear of wasting our precious time and money is one of the biggest obstacles we face as we move forward into our future. But we must never let that fear deter us from doing what God has called us to do. Nothing we do to minister the love of Christ will ever be a waste. If we persist, if we continue to do what we believe God has called us to do, our efforts will ultimately bear fruit by God’s help. Therefore, we plan our events, we teach our classes, we help the poor, and we invite un-churched people to come with us to church. We take risks on new ways to grow our witness. We persist even when things don’t turn out as we hoped. We do these things assured of the promise God spoke through the prophet Isaiah: “My word shall not return to me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

Even when our ministries don’t seem to be bearing fruit; when our faith seems non-existent, we can never waste our time doing those things that God wants us to do. We’re on God’s time—and God’s time cannot be wasted on us. Therefore let us trust in the promises of God—and let us persist. Let us never stop seeking God’s Word and God’s presence in our lives; let us never hold back on our witness to Christ’s love for fear of failure or rejection. God’s purpose for the world is a harvest of people whose lives are caught up in the life of Jesus Christ. Let anyone with ears listen!