Last week we talked about following Christ, becoming yoked to Christ. We talked about the significance of Jesus calling his disciples and how the phrase ‘Come and See’ plays out in our lives. We also talked about how our story has power and meaning as we share it with others.

Some have asked me how can we say ‘Come and See’ if we don’t feel or think we have a story. We are NOT great story tellers, weavers of elegant fabrics that turn into beautiful quilts or rugs or table cloths that can be sold for a high price. Paul in our second reading today addresses that question when it was asked it by member of the Corinthian faith community.

Look what Paul says in v 17 from 1 Corinthians, 17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.

Today, we need explore how each of our readings today is connected into God’s epic story of salvation and we need to imagine where and how our story might intersect with God’s story.

Let’s start with the OT text, turn to Isaiah 9. Amy Oden, Dean and Professor of History of Christianity at Wesley Theological Seminary Tells us there was a long-standing domination of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali by foreign states. Both tribes were especially vulnerable to attack because of their location. As the northern and southern kingdoms played out their power struggles, both Zebulun and Naphtali had been more or less vassal states to a series of Assyrian kings. Eventually they were taken into captivity during the end of the kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, leaving them “in anguish” and “contempt.” As pawns of powerful states, their histories were ones of vulnerability, subjection, and oppression.

These were dark days, it says the people here walked in darkness. I know that some of you feel you walk in darkness, some because of your job, some because of your family situation, and some because you feel alone, almost lost at sea, being tossed about by waves of calamity and despair. Jesus was a new light for these people, and he is a new light for us today.

This OT story is recited almost verbatim in our gospel reading. Now look at Matt 4:12-16. It says Jesus withdrew to Galilee. 13He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, why?

Isaiah’s words were prophetic and Jesus was moved/relocated about by God’s hand of mercy. This was a fulfillment of prophecy. However, remember it was the omnipotent God being in control and bringing to completion God’s plan for salvation.

Think back in your own life. How has God’s omnipotent hand been at work in your life? What has God been up to that has made you who you are today?

Had not God, through the story of my cousin Karen, convinced me to move to California to attend California Lutheran Bible School I would never have met my wife Sharon. Sharon has had and continues to be tremendous influence in my life. She has taught be a great deal about compassion, about how better to understand other people, and about love.

It’s much easier to look back in our lives and see how God has been at work than it is for us to look forward and see how things are going to turn out. I don’t know much about predicting the future. I’m not very good at it, but I can see how God has been at work in my life in the past. My story, your story may come from your past, but it needs to make sense in light of what God is doing in the present.

Look at the gospel text v16, 16the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,
and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

God, starting with Isaiah’s words and Jesus’ peripatetic existence influenced God’s story of salvation that unfolded through Jesus Christ. Jesus moves three times, fleeing from Bethlehem, next moving back to Nazareth in Israel after Herod’s death, and now settling in Capernaum, all to fulfill prophecy and God’s plan. Matthew rightly argues that God has orchestrated these geographical dislocations at the behest of an all powerful and omnipotent God who is ultimately in control.

Again, how is God at work in your life today? What is God doing, what has God done, and how do you see God working now? God wants to shower you with grace and mercy in the future, but you have to be open to it and ready to accept it. All of us are not!

Here is where our story may parallel some of what we read in (1 Corinthians 1:10-18) Paul gets a cell phone call see v11, from Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among (them, there’s fighting in the family) you, my brothers and sisters.

It’s no wonder based on our history we may be confused, Howell Foster was a great organizer, Lenhardt was a great person with pastoral presence, and Santoro was a tremendous traditional worship leader. Perhaps some people are still confused as to what church is all about. Paul gives those ideas short shrift and says, well each of you says, “I belong to John,” or “I belong to David,” or “I belong to Richard.” No!

Paul rebuffs this as well saying; Has Christ been divided? Was David crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Richard? Has John risen from the dead?

No! 17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.

We all have stories, but we can’t allow the past to get in the way of the future. Jesus didn’t, Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

This is Jesus main theme through all of the New Testament; Jesus was always talking about the ushering in of the kingdom.

Imagine how your story might be different if you focus on how God’s grace has been poured out in your life through Christ’s love, and His death and resurrection. Imagine what your hands can do to make that a reality for a member of your family, a neighbor, a friend at work, or a coworker.

Next week we get to wrestle with the Sermon on the Mount, from Matt 5 where Jesus tells us things like 3Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

If God’s kingdom has come near what is your current image of the kingdom of heaven? How is our story being influenced by our understanding and knowledge of the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus said lots about the kingdom of heaven besides the Sermon on the Mount. In Matt 13:11 Jesus said you have been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

In Matt 13:24 Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is compared to someone who sowed good seed.

In Matt 13:31 Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed someone took and sowed.

In Matt 13:33 Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like yeast a woman took and mixed with flour.

In Matt 13:44 Jesus the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.

I could go on and on, but you need to imagine how some of these terms or ideas influence your story. If God’s kingdom is like sowing good seed that means a good crop is coming, there will be good food, there will be plenty in God’s kingdom. Live like that today.

If God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed growing, imagine how you can grow, strong in the faith, full of love, filled with God grace and Christ’s love. Live like that today.

If you think God’s kingdom is like yeast being added to flour, how can you imagine yourself influencing your family, talking to your coworkers, modeling behavior for your students, speaking out to your coteachers, in fact all those around you.

If you imagine God’s kingdom is like a treasure in a field, can you imagine going on a treasure hunt, looking for the riches of God grace that comes to us through Christ’s love.

Stories are part of our past, certainly our present, but they also include our future. Paul tells us we don’t have to use eloquent words of wisdom, because if we do, when we do they get in the way to the message of the cross.

In our gospel Jesus didn’t go to the universities he went to fishermen. 19And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” 20Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.

Jesus did not use, nor did Paul use eloquent words of wisdom. Our stories most likely won’t be eloquent words, but they will be words from our hearts. If we speak from our hearts they will match the simplicity, the compassion of the kingdom of God.

Think about your story of faith and begin to share it in a way that lifts up Christ. The people sat in darkness and saw a new light, let that light shine in each of our lives today.

Amen

This week we have an opportunity to look at an interaction between folks, almost as if we’re at a play or a skit. So before we begin to examine the text let’s put today’s section of text into context, into the world in which it was originally written.

Our text starts with v29 29The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him. So last Sunday Jesus had come to John to be baptized and John did not really think he should baptize Him, but he did. He acknowledged Jesus because it was proper and then John announced that Jesus would fulfill all righteousness. This was a fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation.

John the Baptist was not the One, he was an announcer, very loosely we might think of him as Ed McMahon on the Johnny Carson show. He was not Johnny; he came before him to warm up the audience, to get them on board. His work in trade was preaching repentance and baptism.

Now the Pharisees questioned John because of that, look at v25 They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” Where do you get your authority from? Did you go to Harvard or Yale or Princeton – that type of thing.

26 John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”

I have told you before that John may have been one of the folks who broke away from the sect that operated at Qumran who were very fundamental about the Jewish faith. John may have been a scribe or Rabbi fro Qumran, we don’t know. John may have received a lot of his training there, however his authority did not come from there, it came from God.

Moving the story forward, our text today starts with as I said “The next day,” so this is likely the day after Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. We need to ask some questions about what is John doing here? Open your Bibles, look at what the text says here:

John is declaring, (v29-31) “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” John diminishes himself and lifts up Jesus.

What else is John doing here? It next says John is testifying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain (He) is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” John is being a witness of what he saw and heard.

These are some scary things in Luther land. Declaring, testifying, speaking about your faith. It’s hard to tell doubters, skeptics about your faith. Some say we don’t need to talk about our faith because God predestines, but here God uses John and others to speak on God’s behalf.

Sometimes I get accused by some of not preaching enough Lutheran doctrine versus preaching Christian doctrine. Well, during the trial he declared, he testified about his work in saying “Here I stand, I can do no other.” After the court case was finished, after a self imposed exile Luther’s life was one of action and outreach. He testified to the truth, he started schools for girls, he changed diapers, he helped folks find work, he lived out the truth of God in his life.

Luther was never just a pew sitter, waxing on about the good old days; he was an active witness for Christ, a fighter, and he talked about and wrote about who Christ was, not only in his world, but also what Christ was doing in his life. Martin Luther said, “faith is a living, busy, active, & mighty thing.” Read his life story, you will be amazed about how he lived out his faith.

Back to our story: It says 35The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!”

What does that mean, “Lamb of God?” It’s not “runt of the litter,” it’s not “calf of the herd,” it’s not “chick of the henhouse.” John knew what he was talking about and helped others know also.

It should be understood that the use of a lamb for sacrifice was a very familiar term to Jews. A lamb was used as a sacrifice during Passover (Ex 12:1–36); a lamb was led to the slaughter in the prophecies of Isaiah (Is 53:7); a lamb was offered in the daily sacrifices so in a Jewish mindset this term made sense, it resonated with them. (Lv 14:12–21; cf. Heb 10:5–7). Might it be that John the Baptist used this expression as a reference to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the one who died for our sins.

John’s declaration and testimony about who Jesus was certainly was more than him just knowing about Jesus. His witness was personal, it was strong, provocative, and it was in terms that people of that day would/could understand. Perhaps that’s why it had such impact.

Look at v37 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?”

Why would Jesus say this? Doesn’t it seem strange to you? The term “What are you looking for?” seems out of place to me. We use that phrase today when we are looking for our keys, or a book or a lost thing. It doesn’t make sense unless we understand it in slightly different terms.

The term ‘following’ in Greek usually means to follow as a disciple. That seems to makes sense based on what is said next. They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” Again, this seems confusing……

When we think about how this might fit into the context of the time it all makes sense. People who followed Rabbi’s were disciples. They were mentored by the Rabbi, they needed to know where he was staying so they could stay there as well and learn from him. When you were a disciple or learner you were yoked to the Rabbi or teacher. This ‘following’ was serious stuff. These folks weren’t pew sitters, these were folks who were more like Luther who lived out their faith by interacting with the world, by giving voice and action to their beliefs, there faith.
Jesus next response to the question of ‘where are you staying’ was 39He said to them, “Come and see.” This statement is loaded with meaning in a Jewish world, a world where students and followers, attached themselves to a Rabbi until they were ready to go out on their own.

This whole story put in the context of the Jewish world has much more power than we might think of it in our world. If someone asks you where are you staying today, it’s no big deal or it’s not a significant question. You may say come and see where I’m staying.

In terms of ‘following and yoking,’ and living with the Rabbi to learn your craft, come and see has an all together different meaning and significance. As people today we need to take serious Jesus statement, “Come and see.” We need to get comfortable saying come and see.

All of what we’ve talked about so far, John being humble about his role in announcing the Messiah, John declaring and testifying to the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for the world, Jesus saying “Come and see” these are lessons for us. This is modeling for us. These are practices we need to learn, to emulate in the here and now. People in scripture learned from this -

John’s story, Jesus’ story becomes our story. In your Bible look at the text following our gospel reading for today. (John 1:43-47) Look at how Jesus once again talks about following. Jesus found Philip and he said, “Follow me.”

Next Philip finds Nathanael and they start up a conversation about finding the one whom Moses talked about, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth. Of course Nathanael is skeptical, he says can anything good come out of Nazareth?

In our gospel text today John’s story, Jesus’ story, Philip’s story becomes our story. We have skeptical friends, maybe even a skeptical family, and certainly a skeptical world, but when we approach it with humility and we tell our story people will respond.

Of course we have to have a story, God must be at work in our lives to have a story, our connection with God needs to be active, ongoing, vibrant, and meaningful otherwise we will appear to be full of hot air, with weak words, and empty rhetoric.

Have you yoked yourself to the one who has invited us to come? (Matt 11:28-20) Jesus said, 28 “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

God calls us to be yoked to the risen Christ, the Holy One, the redeemer of all humanity. Our job as followers is to be humble in heart and share the good news, respond to the call. We need to share our story, part of that is by telling others to come and see. When you have God’s peace the promise Jesus made was, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” If you can’t understand that statement maybe you need to question your connection to God. I invite you to ‘Come and See,’ answer the call, claim the promise today, join our class Real Faith for Real Life.

Amen.

As many of you know I’ve just returned from Minnesota where it got a little cold.
Since leaving I’ve heard from a friend in central North Dakota.

He says it has been snowing heavily for three days now.
His wife has done nothing but stare through the window;
And if it doesn’t stop soon, he’ll probably have to let her in.

Let us pray….
What does it mean to be touched by the Spirit to be anointed by God? What happens when God anoints us through baptism? What did it mean for Jesus to be baptized by God and how might we be changed by/through God’s anointing?

There are two things I’d like to focus on or talk about today.

• Jesus being baptized by John, the significance, the importance, the reason
• God’s anointing of us by water and the word, it’s a significant event

Back to Jesus being baptized by John, why? Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized and John said, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

John seems to not understand the significance of this event, and maybe we don’t comprehend it either. Did Jesus, the one who last Sunday we heard was Jesus the incarnate, the Word made flesh among us really needing repentance? No….

So why might Jesus have asked to be baptized? Paul in writing to the Corinthian church said this, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:21)

Remember, part of the role Jesus played while here on earth was to humble himself, (Phil 2:8) And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! It was all part of God’s plan.

Here we see Jesus submitting to God. Look at what Jesus says is verse 15. After John’s response, Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.”

Fulfilling all righteousness means saying yes to God’s plan. Fulfilling all righteousness is a tricky term in the Greek. It’s difficult to comprehend theologically because it is complex and has notions of correctness, innocence, justice, and even redemption.

According to Eric Barreto, Assit Prof at Luther, “to fulfill all righteousness” likely means acting in obedience to God in a way that coordinates internal dispositions and external action.

Jesus’ first steps in public ministry are a combination of a compliant spirit and a powerful, public display of his obedience to God’s call. This is modeling for us.

Jesus is baptized by John, it’s significant, it’s important and it was done to fulfill God’s plan for salvation, moving forward. This act was also confirmed by God, a divine voice from heaven saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

We should all be well pleased. This anointing of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit was an event that began reshaping the world. It was the beginning of Jesus ministry here on earth. It was a holy moment where a voice cried out “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Something else happened here. This was a moment where a new identity was taken on. It was a time of God’s anointing by water and the word. The water of baptism being poured out represented a change and God’s word poured out from heaven.

This past week Sharon, Josh and I visited the Minnesota Institute of Art in Minneapolis. It is a grand museum with numerous collections of art, history, sculpture, paintings and whole room settings from the past. There was something else that caught my eye while we were there.

In a display on an LCD screen, maybe about 5 feet tall there was a scene of an older woman and what looking like two younger daughters standing in the background, which looked gray, they were gray in the scene. As the mother moved forward it looked like she stepped into a sheet of water and as the water touched her, pored over her, it sparkled with a dazzling white brightness. As she slowly stepped through it, her daughters were still in the gray, in the darkness, but she took on a glow of white light.

This was all done in slow motion, with very methodical movements. Once she was through the water curtain of dazzling white brightness she reached he hand back and the older daughter took it, held on to it and the mother gently pulled her through the water sheet, which once again became a dazzling display of bright white sparkling light. Once she was through she moved her hand back so the youngest daughter could reach out and take it. Next she is slowly being encouraged through the dazzling white brightness as the water fell on her.

This whole scene reminded me of baptism as we understand it today. God anointed Jesus and pulled him through this dazzling white brightness into a new world, a new way of life, a new ministry, a new way of seeing the world in full clarity, not diminished by sin.

In our baptism, God through water and the word brings us into a new world and maybe we don’t see at the time this dazzling white brightness being poured out upon us, but we should have that image in our mind of God ushering us into a new way of life.

When our parents or we are given the opportunity for baptism one of the first parts of the ritual is for the sponsor to present the child or candidate by giving them a name. I present Richard Lyle Braun for baptism. This is an act of identity, a naming of not only who we are, but whose we are in this troubled world.

Baptism is nothing less than the promise by God that we are to God’s beloved child and that where ever we go God will be with us. Sin may try to steal us away from order and new life, disrupt our connection with God, but God will always be there for us, never abandoning us.

Look at what played out for Jesus’ baptism. Jesus presented himself to John for baptism and a divine voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,”

So what’s in a name? Some of us have what I call name baggage that we carry around in this world. Not named luggage like Loui Vuitton or Eddie Bauer or Samsonite. The baggage we carry around are names not given to us by God, we are not anointed with these names, but since evil exists in the world we are labeled, or should I say mislabeled, not of our own doing, usually by someone who is disconnected with God.

I want you to take a moment now to think about what names you may have received over the years and are still carrying them around as baggage. Maybe it’s “stupid” or “fatso” or “ugly” or “know-it-all” or “loser.” These are just a few I have heard over the years, you have your own. Can you recall some of the names you have heard?

Can you hear God calling you by any of these names? I don’t think so. God created us as beautiful human beings with dignity, we are made in the image of our creator, beloved children of God. It’s sin that keeps us from recognizing our worth as God’s children.

The early church suffered from some name calling. Being labeled a Gentile meant you were on the outside looking in. You were a heathen, not a person of God. However, look at our second reading today and see that this was not God’s plan. Luke in writing about Peter’s interaction with the household and friends of Cornelius, a notable leader of Roman soldiers who never-the-less was described as “God-fearing” gives us some insight into God’s direction for the early church, which should also be insight for our direction today.

Hear what Peter has to say, “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Thinking too small about the church, too small about God’s plan for salvation, and thinking too small about our baptism into the kingdom of God is unhelpful.

In Peter’s time, the inclusion of Gentiles in God’s mission was unthinkable by the Jews, but just as God brings us into the kingdom through baptism, we too must have a spirit of hospitality, a spirit of welcome with regard to baptism into the Christian faith.

Look at what it says about our responsibilities with regards to baptism. P228 – ELW
We do NOT make these promises lightly.

Do you promise to help your children, your brothers and sisters in Christ grow in the Christian faith and life. If so, respond with ‘I do.”

Amen

Just two days ago we celebrated the birth of the baby Jesus, Christ, the Messiah. Just two days ago I talked about how we need to change the question in our lives from Are we there yet?’ to ‘Are we aware yet? Journey versus destination, walking with God verses waiting for God.

Our gospel text today is about our dreams fulfilled in God’s prophetic promise. It’s about:
• Listening to God
• Taking action once we’ve heard God
• Running for our lives – our spiritual lives and maybe even our physical lives

Most of us spend one-third of our lives having no idea what we are doing. This, as opposed to many of us who spend the greater portion of our lives clueless.

The one-third who can’t account for what they were doing is understandable, they were sleeping. At least they were doing something productive, sleeping.

Did you know sleep is required by every creature with even the most rudimentary or remedial brain stem? Yet, we really don’t understand why we sleep or what sleep is for.

All we really know about sleep is that if deprived of it for just ten days, we’re dead. That’s right – dead. Three minutes without air. Three days without water. Ten days without sleep. These are generally the physical limits of life and death for most of us.

Some would say sleep is the great reboot; however, it isn’t just a big shut-down or a turn off. Sleep has degrees of depth. Sometimes we are all but comatose as we sleep. Other times we are right on the edges of consciousness.

No sleep cycle is complete until we get a dose of REM-sleep. “Rapid Eye Movement” Not to be confused with the REM you get from your banker when you ask for a loan these days. This REM sleep is characterized by the shifty, darting back-and-forth movement of our eyes and by the electrical brain activity that reveals we are dreaming.

We do not just need to sleep. We need to dream. If we are awakened before we reach REM sleep, there will be no rest of body, no refreshment of spirit. Our bodies are set up to get the deepest sleep as soon as we slip into our sleep mode. But as our sleep progresses, our rested brains require some down time to themselves. That is dream-time.

During REM or dream sleep, our brain pulverizes and paralyzes the rest of us. That is why in our dreams we can jump out of planes, or fly off of mountain-tops or run away from monsters. All that our sleeping body does is slightly twitch or flinch. Our brains keep our bodies safe while escaping in amazing dreams.

Far from being a time-stopped stupor, our mandatory sleep-dream cycle puts us into a heightened anabolic state that promotes good growth and rejuvenation. In other words, “beauty sleep” it’s the real thing! Dreaming boosts the immune system, and promotes the optimal functioning of the nervous skeletal and muscular systems.

So yes! You do need a good night’s sleep, especially on New Year’s Eve before you’re ready to watch the big game the following day.

Long before electroencephalograms told us about our sleep cycles, human beings have known dreams were important. We have all been “called” to be sleepers and yes dreamers. All sleepers dream, every night.

An angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and says, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and (run for your life) flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Joseph listens to God and runs for his life…..

Many of you know we got (rescued) a new dog about a year ago. The dog is still pretty much a puppy, loves to play, loves to explore. Sometimes I take her on walks around the area or neighborhood. We have a fairly large plot of land just behind a public pool in a park near our home. It’s fenced on three sides so sometimes when I’m there by myself I let Lulu run.

She ventures off on her own exploring, smelling, looking, researching everything. She goes over to the side areas, sticks her head in the large bushes next to the concrete fence. Every once in a while something will startle her and she will take off running for her life. Ears back, bouncing on all fours, running as fast as she can go. It’s a dog’s instinct given by God that allows her to react and run for her life.

Being warned in a dream about Herod’s plan to kill all the children they run for your lives.

The text shows us prophecy, passage, and potential, although not necessarily in that order.

The prophecy of Jeremiah is fulfilled, God is ultimately in control. The baby Jesus, under God’s control passes from danger to divine and the promise for us is the Nazorean.

In this text today we see a drama unfold between what the world wants and what God wants. We see the conflicts and the resolution. We see the plan and the prophet.

First, the prophecy of Jeremiah is fulfilled, scripture says that. After an angel announces the death of Herod to Joseph, the coast is clear for the family to return home to Bethlehem of Judea. However, after learning that Herod’s son Archelaus now ruled Judea, the family makes a new home in Nazareth in Galilee. For the third time, Matthew points to a prophetic promise: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Secondly, as we consider the passage of the divine, God’s only Son from danger to divinity we should be aware there is evil in this world.

The late newspaper columnist Mike Royko once shared the other side of the Christmas Story in one of his columns. He told about a stranger who put $1,600 in gold coins in a Salvation Army kettle. The person placed the gift there quietly and anonymously. This is exactly the kind of story the print media is looking for to demonstrate the spirit of caring that Christmas brings about.
Unfortunately, in the rest of the story the local Salvation Army office began getting phone calls about the gold coins. The coins were stolen. The thief had dropped them in the kettle to get rid of this hot merchandise.

Our story has been all about listening to God, taking action, and then living out the promises of God. We listen to God through scripture, through prophecy, through wise Christian counsel, and through circumstances God places in our lives. Through scripture God has shown us that he keeps His promises.

How do we know, because God’s promise is fulfilled by the “man from Nazareth.” As we look at scripture we see dozens of instances where the term associated with God’s promise of grace is brought about to us through the “man from Nazareth.” – two examples:

Jesus heals the blind beggar near Jericho. Luke 18:35-43 – Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. The beggar cried out for mercy, And Jesus said, “All right, receive your sight! Your faith has healed you.” 43 Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all who saw it praised God, too.

The Walk to Emmaus Luke 24:13-33 – Disciples are going home after the crucifixion they have this man walking with them, but they are tired, their eyes are closed from self pity and depression. As they walk along they ask this man who was with them if he hadn’t heard about all the thing that had happened in Jerusalem and the man asked them 19 “What things?” Jesus asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. The text says their hearts burned within them while he was talking to them.

This Jesus of Nazareth is one who keeps his promises. He healed, he gave sight to the blind, he raised from the dead, he was a prophet who did mighty miracles.

God spoke through an angel and told Joseph to run for their lives, he did. He took action.

When God speaks to us, we need to take action in our lives and believe in the promises of God.

Next, we need to run for our lives, our souls, our very being depends on our response to God’s call. The time is short and the message is very important.

Some people use the term ‘the hound of heaven’ in speaking about God’s call on our lives. You can’t drown out God’s voice by using drugs or alcohol, God will always be there nipping at your heels, calling you to repentance and everlasting life.

I suggest today we should be running for our very lives, not away from God, but to God. Amen

How many of you have taken a trip with the family, with the Scouts, with Indian Maidens, or maybe a field trip with a youth group and have heard the question, ‘Are we there yet?’ It always seems like our children were impatient, we are impatient when it comes to getting there.

There was a little old lady who sat right behind the bus driver. Every ten minutes or so she’d pipe up, “Have we reached Oriskany Falls yet, sonny?”
“No, lady, not yet. I’ll let you know,” he replied, time after time.
The hours passed, the old woman kept asking for Oriskany Falls, and finally the little town came into view. Sighing with relief, the driver called out, “This is where you get out, lady.”
“Are we there yet, is this Oriskany Falls?”
“YES!” he bellowed. As he pulled up to the station he abruptly stopped and said, “Now get out!”
“Oh, I’m not leaving, I’m going all the way to Albany, sonny,” she explained sweetly. “It’s just that my daughter told me that when we got this far, I should take my blood pressure pill.”

Is the coming of Christ the end of our journey or is it an important marker along the way? Maybe there’s a better question for us to be asking than ‘Are we there yet?’

Mary and Joseph were on a journey in our Christmas text. They traveled from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he needed to register based on the decree from Emperor Augustus. You see Joseph was descended from the house and family of David.

This journey today would be about a 100-mile drive from Nazareth to Bethlehem and it may take two or three hours by car. But 2,000 years ago, this journey Mary and Joseph were on eight to ten days.
How many here like to tent camp? They likely didn’t even have a tent so they were subject to the elements. Of course the precise route for Mary and Joseph is not recorded biblically. However, the most likely route, said Wayne Ward, senior research professor of Christian theology at Southern Seminary, would have been straight through the Jordan Valley.
Are we there yet? I think I can hear Mary saying that, eight plus months with child. Regardless of the route they took it would have been difficult on foot or with camel or donkey with many ups and downs.
Our route through life through childhood, through school/college, through dating, through marriage, through a possible divorce, through end of life circumstances will have many ups and downs and maybe we ask ourselves the same question ‘Are we there yet?’ along the way.

Even though God called Mary into this unique circumstance, a baby to an unwed mother, we know she received encouragement from the angel, and we know she was accepted by Joseph, but the journey was hard none the less. ‘Are we there yet?’ may have been her question as well.

Has God called you into a relationship, a job, a family, a circumstance that is difficult? Out of frustration, out of a desire to be finished with this phase of your life are you asking ‘Are we there yet?’

Mary and Joseph may not have been the only ones asking ‘Are we there yet?’ The shepherds were keeping watch over their flock by night. Can you put yourself in their place tonight?

Shepherds in those days were usually young folks. At the time of this story, sheep farmers were shall we say low on the food chain, people valued little by other people. The sheep bred would likely have been used as sacrifice animals in the temple in near-by Jerusalem.

Do you have that calm piture in your mind. Some of the the folks were likely resting so they could take the later shift and some were sitting around sharing stories or quietly walking the boundaries watching for wolves. All at once, Bam! It happens, an angel appears. A bright light breaks the night.

Wouldn’t you be afraid, I’m not surprised they were afraid! I think I would have felt terrified.

I’ve heard some stories in my day about what some folks have thought to be an angelic appearance. Bright lights, being overpowered in the moment. When people have told me their stories I’m usually very skeptical, and yet, I usually get goose bumps as they explain what happened to them. I don’t know if it is true, but it changed their life, it altered how they were living. In the case of one gentleman, who was a Jew by birth, he committed his life to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Yes, on cold winter nights, when all you have to do is count sheep I’m sure you ask yourself, is it morning yet, is my shift over yet, ‘Are we there yet?’

These shepherds are jolted into a new realm, maybe some might say a time warp or a shift in consciousness. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.”

Could God be calling you in a similar way? Could you be asking the question am I there yet, in my job, in my retirement, in my marriage, in my relationship with my mate?

The angel that spoke to the shepherds had good news for them and for all who ask ‘Are we there yet?’ The angel said, “Do not be afraid.” God’s message tonight, if we can hear it above all the clutter, the competing dialogues, the lies being foisted upon people of this world is both prophetic and profound, but in order to hear it, understand it we must change our question from ‘Are we there yet?’, to ‘Are we aware yet?’

In the Isaiah reading we heard the prophetic call of a Son to be born who would be:
Look at our reading from Isaiah 9:6-7
6For a child has (was to be) been born for us, a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.

These are NOT words of an endpoint, NOT words that answer are we there yet, they are words dealing with God’s everlasting process of calling us out of darkness into a new light.
During this Christmas season newspaper and television ads coax people into believing that they can give us a real Christmas by a festive shopping experience or by eating at trendy restaurants. These are attempts by our secular world to answer the question ‘Are we there yet?’

Dine here and you will have arrived. Buy this gift and it will end your emptiness, it doesn’t. Others believe that it’s the rituals at Christmas that make it alive. These things don’t change the question of ‘Are we there yet?’ or they don’t better answer the question Are we aware yet?’

When we left our shepherds they were just getting the good news. The news they didn’t really understand, they couldn’t understand, but they were curious. They said, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place.”

There story is NOT one of answering the question ‘Are we there yet?’ Their story is one of God breaking into the dullness of the day, the monotony of the moment and sending them on a life long journey of change. God entered their world and they would never be the same again.

The shepherds were eye witnesses to God’s miracle of incarnation. 17When they (the shepherds) saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. Notice glorifying and praising, ongoing actions.

Just like our little old lady on the bus, when she was asking the question ‘Are we there yet?’ it wasn’t a question of final destination, it was a question of a benchmark along her journey. The shepherds didn’t see Jesus, worship him and leave as though they had reached a final destination. They went away glorifying and praising God.

Being aware of God at work requires a different set of eyes. Dr. John Rosen, a psychiatrist in New York City, is well known for his work with catatonic schizophrenics. Normally doctors remain separate and aloof from their patients. Dr. Rosen moves into the ward with them. He places his bed among their beds. He lives the life they must live. Day-to-day, he shares it. He loves them. If they don’t talk, he doesn’t talk either. It is as if he understands what is happening. His being there, being with them, communicates something that they haven’t experienced in years – God at work.

If you’re still asking the question in your own life, ‘Are we there yet?’ look at Isaiah’s prophetic word. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. These are NOT words of destination they are words of an endless journey, words of eternity words of eternal life.

God as a Wonderful Counselor means he speaks to us words of comfort along the way. Mighty God – has no beginning or end, Everlasting Father – continues with us, by our side, along the way, Prince of Peace – if God is the prince of peace that means peace is never ending.

Life as a follower of Christ is more about the eternal journey than the single destination. We must change the question in our lives from ‘Are we there yet?’ to Are we aware yet?’

Are you aware of God’s power to change our hearts? (Luke 1:1-3:22, 2 Cor 5:17)
Are you aware of God’s power to lift us up and save our souls? (Acts 16:31, 1 Peter 5:8-9)
Are you aware of God’s power to give us the peace that passes all understanding? (Rom 5:1, John 14:27)
When we are aware, we can say with confidence I am Glad each Christmas Eve. Amen

God Is With Us from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church on Vimeo.

Last Sunday I talked about the question ‘Are you the One?’ As a Christian it’s good to have an inquisitive nature; however the question ask, must be the right one.

G. K. Chesterton, was a well known and revered British poet and a first rate theologian. He had a reputation for his wit and was a brilliant man who could think deep thoughts and express them well. Unfortunately, he was also extremely absent-minded and as life wore on he became rather notorious for getting lost. He would just absolutely forget where he was supposed to be and what he was supposed to be doing.

This occurred on a number of occasions, although there is one special incident that folks like to talk about. G. K. was lost, he did not know where he was or what he was supposed to be doing. He sent a telegram to his wife which carried these words: “Honey, seems I’m lost again. Presently, I am at Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?”

His wife was not a deep thinking theologian, but she had a good sense about her. She responded to the question ‘Where ought I to be?’ by telegraphing back to him a one-word reply “HOME!”

Our gospel text today from Matthew 1 takes us home. Matthew in verse 18 says, “18Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.” His matter of fact words bring us home. They take us to the essence of the passage verse 23″Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us.”

This one line of text is packed with power, with potential and with promise.

God’s awesome creative power comes through once again to turn the world around. In the beginning God created, (in Hebrew bara (בָּרָא, to create) and asah (עָשָׂה, to make or do) the heavens and the earth. After creating, making out of nothing, ex nihilo (Latin for “out of nothing”) God saw that it was good. Gen 1

Matthew brings this same idea to this gospel text. Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. This is not birth out of a consummated marriage, it’s from a virgin, ex nihilo.

Can you imagine in this culture and this time, Mary coming to Joseph one day and saying, ‘Oh by the way Joseph I’m pregnant.’ But don’t worry about it Joseph it’s by the Holy Spirit – no, I’ve not been sleeping around. Look at the last part of verse 18, “she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.” She was right.

It kind of reminds me of Bill Cosby’s Noah and God story. Noah was in his shop sawing away one day making a few things for his home. He’s sawing wood when hears this voice, ‘Noah.’ He pays no attention to it and he continues sawing.

Again he hears, ‘Noah.’ – who is that. The response, ‘it’s the Lord, Noah.’ Right! Where are you? What do you want, I’ve been good. Noah, I want you to build an ark. Right! What’s an ark?

Can you imagine Mary coming to Joseph with her story, I’m with child by the Holy Spirit. Joseph says, Right!

V 19 – Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. There would be no stoning here, which was perfectly acceptable for this circumstance and time, but God intervened. God was at work here.

20But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

(Gen 6:9) Noah was a righteous man who found favor with God. Noah was told to have faith, to build an ark and Noah did and he and his family obeyed God and lived.

Historically, God has been present with power to change people lives.

– Moses caught between the Pharaoh and the deep Red Sea in a seemingly hopeless situation, he believed in God’s power, he trusted God’s promise and God let them go free!

– Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went into the fiery furnace into a seemingly hopeless situation and they trusted in God’s power, God protected them and set them free!

– Little David stood before Goliath. A small boy with a slingshot, didn’t have a chance against this giant of a warrior? But David believed God’s power, it was with him, and it helped him slay the giant, which set the people of Israel free!

As people of God we have God’s power to fall back on. Our history has shown us the power of God at work in the world, but we also have new potential not just past power.

The idea of creation flows directly into this story as we see how God told Joseph, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

This is all about what God was doing in the world at this confluence of time. Matthew connects us to God’s power when he takes an idea, a word out of the Old Testament and makes it real and powerful for us, even today. He uses the word Emmanuel, God is with us.

Do you recall where you heard this before in the OT? Our first reading today Isaiah 7:14 – 14Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.

We not only have God’s past power we have new potential from our readings today. They are packed with potential, prophetic potential, palpable potential.

Our gospel today is a very inclusive gospel packed with potential. The angel not only appeared to Mary to tell her of her impending promise of parenthood, but the angel appeared to Joseph to tell him “do not be afraid” because Immanuel, God is with us. There is power in this potential.

Sometimes I wonder why God has never deserted me/us. We don’t deserve his good will, we don’t honor God with our whole heart, we don’t love God above all else, it seems obvious.

When we speak about God’s grace and Christ’s love for us it rarely makes sense. I suspect there may not be a soul in the world who truly understands God. However, it seems as though God understands us. Everything can fail, but God does not fail. Luke 1:37 – didn’t Mary say it?

In Tom Brokaw’s book The Greatest Generation, he tells a story about Mary Wilson, still alive and living in Dallas, Texas. Brokaw says you’d never know by looking at this modest woman that she was the recipient of the Silver Star and she bore the nickname “The Angel of Anzio.” You may recall that when the Allies got bogged down in the boot of Italy during World War II, there was an attempt at a daring breakout by launching an amphibious landing on the Anzio Beach. Unfortunately, the Allies got pinned down at the landing site and came dangerously close to being driven back into the sea. It looked like another Dunkirk was in the making.

Mary Wilson was the head of the fifty-one army nurses who went ashore at Anzio. Things got so bad that bullets zipped through her tent as she assisted the surgeon in surgery. When the situation continued to deteriorate arrangements were made to get all of the nurses out. But Mary Wilson would have none of it. She refused to leave at the gravest hour. As she related her story years later, she said: “How could I possibly leave them. I was a part of them.”

Our God is a good God. Our God is part of us, we were made in the image of God. He does not desert us in our hour of need. His promise to us is that he will never leave us or forsake us. (Heb 13:5) He heard the cry of His people Israel. He hears the cries of the church. He hears the cries of His children.

Immanuel, GOD IS WITH US! When God brings Christ into our lives, nothing, not even death, can separate us from God and His love. Rom 8:37-40
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 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.

The incarnation, Jesus coming into this world is the power, the potential, and the promise of God’s grace in our lives. It is what Christmas is about. When we say God is with us that’s what we mean. The great people of faith have always claimed God’s promises.

If you haven’t claimed God’s promise, I urge you to do it today. As a parent watching my own kids or at times when counseling people my sense sometimes is the situation is like watching a train wreck or car accident in slow motion. My heart pleads with folks to make good decisions, follow through on promises made, and take action before it’s too late. The power, the potential, and the promise of God with us can make all things possible.

God is a God of grace who sent Christ into the world to show us how to love one another. At God’s urging, Joseph showed great love for Mary. The result was the power, the potential, and the promise of God with us.

Look for God at work today in your world, your family, your community, and join in God’s mission today. Yes, God is with us……until the end of the age. Amen

Are You The One from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church on Vimeo.

Our gospel lesson today is one of those unique and profound biblical stories that resonates not only in the history of the time of John the Baptist, but it’s a question for today. Are you the one? (Matt 11:3)

If you are in a relationship, married or dating or thinking about any long term relationships with another person, maybe you have asked that question yourself. Are you the one?

It seems a little odd that John is asking this question of Jesus. We know from Luke 1 that John and Jesus were cousins. (Luke 1:39-41) Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. Somehow the baby’s spirit connected with John.

Mary found out she was with child and she visited Elizabeth and the child leaped in Mary’s womb.

Do any of you have close cousins with whom you may have grown up? I do. I have a first double cousin who is only 4 days apart in terms of birth. We grew up in the same farming community and went to high school together. I would say we were pretty close as youngsters.

I don’t know if John and Jesus grew up with that kind of familial closeness, but if they did, that makes John’s question all the more perplexing.

John, as I mentioned last week was a pot stirrer. John, was a fiery prophet who proclaimed Jesus’ coming… John was the fearless messianic herald drawing crowds and rebuking religious leaders… John was the eschatological visionary covering the banks of the Jordan with his call for repentance.

All of a sudden, this same John is pacing a small cell and wondering if all his ministry has been for naught. John seems desperate for some corroboration or maybe validation – that his life’s work, his suffering, was not in vain. So he sends a messenger to ask a question as momentous as it is simple: “Are you the one?”

In 1972 there was a musical called Man of La Mancha, it was based on the story Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.

In Don Quixote’s world he sees a poor kitchen maid as a lady of unsurpassed beauty and chastity, however, he dreams the impossible dream, he fights the unbeatable foe, he looks at life as a challenge to do good in the face of evil and make the world a better place.

Now he wants to dedicate his victories to the kitchen maid, his Lady, but she is bitter about life, and full of anger.
“Why do you do these things?” she asks him.
“What things?” he replies.
She bursts out in frustration, “It’s ridiculous, the things you do!”
He answers simply, “I come in a world of iron to make a world of gold.”
“The world’s a dung heap,” she says, “and we are maggots that crawl on it.”

Two completely different views, but the same objective reality. One lives in a life of nobility and beauty and adventure, and the other lives in filth and misery and hatred.

John and by now Jesus had been living a similar reality. They were preachers, prophets, willing to speak for God or on God’s behalf. John finds himself in jail and asks ‘Are you the one?”
Jesus seems to refuse to give John a straight forward answer. Maybe it was the Jewish Rabbi in him where often responses to questions are further questions or rhetorical answers. However maybe, a straight forward answer would not be enough for John at this time and Jesus knows it.

What do the questions we ask about life tell us and others about our perspective about life? Do they betray our own cynicism? Do they reveal a sense of emptiness like they did for the kitchen maid in Man of La Mancha? Are we maggots that craw around the dung heap we call this world?

Questions are important things; they come from our interior being, they betray how we think about life, and we as people are fully in our control of what we ask. John ask, “Are you the one?”

Jesus gave John almost an evidentiary answer as if it were asked in a court of law. The evidence is clear John, “5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”

When you ask the question, are you the one, what do you receive back as an answer? Are you the one? How is God answering that question for you? Are you finding God where you expect?

On Thursday of this week I had a FCTE collegial meeting at the Synod office and there were about eight pastors talking about experiences each was having in their 1st call parish. A number of pastors said they felt they were under siege. In a few parishes people viewed the pastor as the enemy, rather than an archetype of the Good Shepherd. A question was asked where is God in this.

People are hungry to answer the question ‘are you the one’ who is going to stop our pain, end our loss in membership, stop the red ink from flowing in our budgets. Are you the one God has sent to us to be our savior or should we wait for another? (Joke about a man and a flood)

Could it be that our questions in this instance, like they were in the case of man of La Mancha, and like it was for John are influenced by our perspective, by our filter through which we see all life?

Could Jesus’ answer here be perceptive enough so it covers anyone who asks the question no matter what a person’s personal perspective might be? The lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear – see for yourself God is here, God is active and visible in his work, that was Jesus’ reply.

Our gospel is not only about the question and our perspective, but it’s also about the answer given. Jesus answer gets at an idea or talks about how we might experience God in our lives.

Jesus now preaching to the crowd that had gathered asks them well what did you expect when you went out into the wilderness, “A reed shaken by the wind? 8What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet?”

Sometimes the answer we get stems from how we perceive God being present in our lives. It stems from what we expect. If you came to see a reed shaking in the wind this morning that’s what you will see. If you came to see someone dressed in a soft robe that’s what you will see.

If you came to see God in the proclamation of his Word and in the eating and drinking of His body and blood connected to the forgiveness of sin, that’s what you will see. If you came to hear God’s voice in the notes and harmonies of the music than that is what you will see.

In January of 2007, The Washington Post videotaped the reactions of commuters in a D.C. Metro (subway) to see if they would stop to listen to the music of a violinist. Overwhelming a majority of the 1000+ commuters were too busy to stop. A few did, briefly, and some of those threw a couple of bills into the violin case of the street performer. No big deal, just an ordinary day on the Metro.

Except it wasn’t an ordinary day. It wasn’t an ordinary street performer. No, this was Joshua Bell, one of the world’s finest concert violinists, he played a multi-million dollar Stradivarius. Just three days earlier he had filled Boston’s Symphony Hall with people paying $100/seat to hear him play similar pieces.

The question the Post author and many others since have asked is: Have we been trained to recognize beauty outside the contexts we expect to encounter beauty? Does the answer we see, the answer we hear depend as much on our expectation as it does on the circumstance?

Can we, do we not recognize great music, God inspired music outside of a concert hall?

How many of us recognize God at work outside our stained glass windows? How do you recognize God at work in your family, in your home, on the job, or in our local community?

And what is your expectation for God being at work? Does it even exist? If not, I suspect you will miss a great deal of life. You will miss the God inspired moment your child begins to speak or walk or learn to hold a spoon. You will miss the awe inspiring beauty of the clouds or flowers or grass.

Did John miss seeing God at work because of his perspective? He ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Luke tells us in (Acts 4:12) We know there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. God sent Jesus into our world to show us the way. People in the early church saw the boldness, the witness of Peter and John and they were amazed because they were just common folks.

When visitors come to this church do they ask the question, Are you really God’s servants, or should we look elsewhere? What do people see here? Is God at work, is it visible to everyone, anyone?

As a young man was leaving church he stopped to shake hands with the pastor. The pastor pulled him aside and said, ‘Son, you need to join the army of the Lord.’
The young man replied, ‘I’m already in the army of the Lord, Father.’ So the pastor inquired, ‘Then how come I don’t see you except at Christmas and at Easter?’
the young man whispered back, ‘I’m in the secret service.’

Friends we aren’t in the secret service, we live in a world where God is active all around us. We are part of God’s mission in the world. God’s grace, Christ’s love, we are God’s hands in this world.

Look today, look for evidence of where is God at work in your life and world? Come to grips with John’s question, ‘Are you the one?’ Be patient, slow down, ask yourself is Christ truly the light in the darkness or should we be waiting for another? Amen

Proclaiming the Baptism of Repentance from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church on Vimeo.

13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13)

What are we looking at today in our gospel text? One thing that should be obvious, it’s not a text we would use to train our greeters or ushers. See v 7 “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

It’s also not a text that seems to be quoted much in seminary preaching classes these days.
See v 2 2″Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Repent from what?

It’s also not a text we might see in a Men’s Warehouse commercial. See v 4, Look at John taking command of the runway with his full length camel’s hair coat surrounded by a sequin adorned leather belt, and his goatskin sandals. What would PETA say?

However, maybe it could be an advertisement for Slow Food Magazine. Look at the patience John demonstrates as he gathers all locally grow locusts and then cures them several hours in the sun before pouring local wild honey over them, which gives them a delicate touch of sweet crunch along with a savory, but bold flavor. This is to die for, right?

No, our gospel lesson today is one describing a prophet. John is proclaiming the baptism of repentance to Jews. Albeit in Matthew’s rendering of this story John is portrayed to be an independent, hardy lad however he never got the memo about being politically correct. His language as he spoke to the folks who would come to listen to him, was should we say not helpful. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Perhaps we should offer to send John back for some additional seminary training or a class in how to win friends and influence people.

However, in God’s time and in these circumstances John’s provocative language is doing something that needs to be done. John is calling it as he sees it. Isn’t that what a prophet is supposed to do? Isaiah, did it, Jeremiah did it, Amos did it, Micah did it, all the prophets of old had a history of telling the Jews, of that day, that things needed to change.

Sometimes, I can really relate to John’s prophetic voice. As a church, not only this church, but many ELCA churches today suffer from driving forward while only using the rear view mirror. We look at what was 20, 30, 50, 100 years ago and try to minister today like nothing has changed. In reality, just like it was happening in John’s world and time, everything was changing.

“Some men see things as they are and say why – I dream of things that never were and say why not.” George Bernard Shaw

John was a prophet, someone who proclaimed the baptism of repentance to the Jews. Isaiah said one would come to Israel and many thought John was “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”

John in v 11 himself said, “11I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals.”
When we look at John’s role in ushering in the coming of Christ and we acknowledge that John came to proclaim the baptism of repentance it would be a good idea if we understood the terms baptism and repentance.

First, let me say that John’s baptism was not the same as the baptism we talk about today.

A number of scholars today believe that John the Baptizer may have been a member of the Qumran community which also had this (The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,) text as a theme verse. John was in the chalk wilderness of Judea, near the Jordan and the Dead Sea, proclaiming to the Jews this baptism of repentance. Judgment was coming and it was about to fall on them so repent now.

It is entirely possible John had been part of the community at the Dead Sea and then went out on his own to call Israel in general to repentance, connecting the call with a baptism in the Jordan. A baptism of repentance is of course adult baptism and it relates to someone making a u-turn, turning around, being not only sorry for their sin, but changing their ways. It almost reads like the pledge that one has to take when you become part of AA.

John’s baptism and repentance are joined at the hip and really can’t be separated. Repentance, or metanoia, to use the Greek word, refers to far more than simply being or saying one is sorry for past sins, far more than mere regret or remorse for such sins. It refers to a turning away from the past way of life and the inauguration of a new one, in this case initialized by an act of baptism.

The baptism John is calling for involves repentance of those who already believed in the Biblical God and in his Word— namely Jews, including the Jewish leadership, whereas Christian baptism is treated by Paul in Romans 6 as an initiation rite for those converting to Christ, a rather different matter. (see Witherington Troubled Waters, Baylor 2005).

John’s baptism is one of forgiveness by God, but it requires man’s compliance and willingness. Baptism as we practice today, talked about by Jesus, is also one a baptism of forgiveness by God although it uses of water and the Word, but it does NOT require a person’s willingness or compliance as we understand it because it’s all about grace. (Matt 21:23-27)

Baptism as we understand it today was initiated by God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Matt 28:19 “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

A young child, an infant can’t make up their mind to repent, but caring adults who want their child to be brought up in the fountain of grace choose baptism as a way to mark the child with the cross of Christ. If a child is brought up in the faith they have ample time and opportunity to accept or reject God’s infinite grace. (1 Peter 3:21-22)

There are examples of infant, adult, and even family baptisms in the New Testament so you can see where and how this sacramental tradition comes from. (Acts 16:25-34, 19:1-7)

Being baptized or having our children baptized is a way of proclaiming the message of hope and forgiveness to the world. Look at what Paul wrote to the Roman church, 4For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope…..and v 6, 6so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you get it?

Many in our world today lack hope. In my own life, there have been times where I have felt very defeated, very desperate at times in the past. (First interview) When someone comes to me because they have lost a loved one, a spouse or a daughter or son, or been laid off, they are usually looking for a way to get through the wilderness in which they find themselves.

When John proclaimed the baptism of repentance and forgiveness he was doing what Paul talked about in Romans 15. John came on the scene as “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” He was showing people a new path.

Dog gone it, the paths in a wilderness are not straight, we want them straight. The very words that were spoken by Isaiah and written for us by Matthew imply that it’s often in the wilderness that we meet God.

Do you ever look for encouragement in scripture? If you don’t I would suggest you start.

Harold Kushner, the author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People also wrote another book called The Lord is My Shepherd and in that book, chapter one, he says, “Can fifteen beautiful lines from a single page of the Bible change your life? I believe they can, if you are willing to open your heart to their magic.” Psalm 23 is the most beloved and most often quoted passage in all of scripture.

John came to proclaim the baptism of repentance and forgiveness. What do we proclaim today in how we live, how we respect and honor one another, how we show love for one another.

God’s mission, our mission in this world is quite similar to John’s call to proclaim the baptism of repentance and forgiveness. Especially when we understand baptism as a means of grace, as a way of showing love, as a way of being marked with the cross of Christ forever.

After the service today (Sunday morning) you will have an opportunity to go to a Christmas Tea. Going to this tea is about proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to others who may not have heard that message. If they have heard it they may just be very blessed by your words of encouragement, by your comments about how they are making a difference in this world.

Jesus is coming soon and “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Until he comes again, proclaim the good news! Amen

Do you know what time it is? Time is a tricky entity or unit to talk about. For some of us time seems to go fast and for others slow. For the next 15 minutes we are going to talk about God’s time, karios time versus mans time, chronos time.

Look at your watch, if you have one. What kind of time is this? It’s chronos time from which the word chronology comes. Both our epistle and gospel today talk about time.

Paul tells the Roman church in his letter, we read it earlier, ‘now’s the moment for you to wake from sleep, salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.’ Obviously, time has passed, chronos. Paul says it’s later than we think. What kind of time is this? Chronos right…..

Where you aware that before the 1800s, time-keeping was a local event? In Medieval Europe the town’s clockmaker was a very important person. Often the official time would be set relative to whenever the sun reached its zenith each day.
Today we have taken time keeping to a new level with the atomic clock. An atomic clock is a clock that uses an electronic transition frequency in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms as a frequency standard for its timekeeping element. Atomic clocks are among the most accurate time and frequency standards known, and are used as primary standards for international time distribution services, to control the frequency of television broadcasts, and in global navigation satellite systems such as GPS.
It appears a great deal has changed in keeping chronos time since the early 1800’s. Recently, the world seems to be getting faster. We seem to live in a microwave world now, where if it takes longer than five minutes to cook something, it seems too long. My own sense of how time changes is that it is based on the inverse square of anticipation that we feel about the coming event. Anticipating something good makes time almost stand still.

Truth be told, if my wife is shopping for clothes, my anticipation to be finished is very high and therefore time, based on any clock time passes very s-l-ooow-ly. Even just a little bit of anticipation slows down our sense of time.
God however has another way of dealing with time. In the New Testament the word often used for God’s time, event time is kairos. Karios is time not based on a clock or wristwatch, or an atomic clock because it’s event oriented time.
Look at verse (Rom 13:11) where Paul says, “Besides this, you know what time it is. In the verses prior (V 8-10) Paul has just told the Roman church how to live together as a faith community, he says
“8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
When Paul uses the term ‘you know what time it is’ (Rom 13:11) the Greek word Paul is using here is karios, it’s event time. So what’s that event that Paul is referring to? Christ’s return, it’s Jesus coming, the advent of Christ into the world.
You don’t mark the coming of Christ on a watch, it’s bigger than time, at least chronos time or chronological time.
Paul says (Rom 13:11-12) “now is the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12the night is far gone, the day is near.” This is anticipatory language, its karios language. Karios is about the “fullness of time.”
Karios time conveys a sense of God’s unbounded time, endless time, infinite time. For some of us infinity is a hard concept to understand. Infinity has no end and no beginning.
Henry Ford once said, “I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done. Founder of the Ford Motor Company
It seems like God is looking for a lot of people who have an infinite capacity to NOT know what can’t be done. God’s purpose constantly intersects and at times overrules this finite world of chronological time with karios time.
What time is it when we talk about our eternal destiny? Let’s look at our gospel reading -

Matthew in our gospel lesson quotes Jesus with regards to His second coming, “36But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” This is an event NOT a date on a calendar.

Jesus said, “two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. 42Keep awake.” How do you keep awake? How is chronos intersecting with Karios here?

In our own world if we think of it as two will be shopping at Khols, one will be taken and the other left. Two might be preparing Thanksgiving dinner, one will be taken and one will be left. What kind of time are we talking about? Do we need to worry about our time or God’s time?

Perhaps there’s a way we don’t have to worry about either time. Go back to what Paul wrote to the Roman church v12, “Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” What is this armor and when are we to put on this armor of light?

We’ve heard about putting on the whole armor of God before. Remember Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesian church? (Eph 6:10-11) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Paul’s words of encouragement carry a sense of urgency? Paul is worried about the time.
Last week we talked about forgiveness and how Jesus was the perfect example of forgiveness. This week we are being warned that time may be running out, not only for us, but for our family and friends.

Jesus told his disciples and he’s telling us now (v42), “42Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” Is that something you worry about? Are you ready to meet your maker? (Romans 3:23) Scripture tells us we all sin and fall short of God’s glory, so it seems we should all worry about this in terms of God’s time.

The expectation for us is perfection, but we are flawed. Paul once again has an answer for our imperfection, we shouldn’t lose hope, he says v14, 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.

As we enter this season of Advent, as we recognize time is passing by, both chronos and Karios may be running out, we cannot reach perfection on our own strength. The good news however is Christ comes to our rescue. Christ comes in the fullness of time and changes everything.

In Southern California we are very familiar with announcer legends like – Chick Hearn and Vince Scully. In chronos time, on September 30, 2009 Mitch Albom sat down with Ernie Harwell, one of the most beloved announcers the Detroit Tigers baseball team ever had. For the prior 50 years he had been the play-by-play man for the team.

Ernie was a kind, warm, and very humble broadcaster who always left an indelible impression on all the folks with whom he would meet. At the time of the interview Ernie was 91 years old, unfortunately he has just announced he had incurable cancer, but he wanted no one to feel sorry for him. Mitch thought Ernie would want to talk about his illustrious career as an announcer, but Ernie wanted to talk about something different.

Ernie said, in 1961he had a karios moment in his life. Someone back in 61’ took the time to talk to Ernie about Jesus Christ and it changed his life. This Hall of Fame announcer even after having a very distinguished career concluded the interview by saying, “I don’t know how many days I’ve got left…. But I can really know … whose arms I’m going to end up in, and what a great, great thing heaven is going to be.”

In this world we are so worried about time, chronos time, but God is always focused on karios time. The karios event of all time is about to happen, Christ is about to appear on the scene and we once again are reminded of how Christ can be our light.
It’s time our desperation is turned into hope, as we allow Christ to be our light.
It’s time our sadness is turned into joy, as we allow Christ to be our light.
It’s time our longing for peace is turned into expectation, as we allow Christ to be out light.

My watch seems to have stopped, does anyone have the time? Amen

The Mercy of A King from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church on Vimeo.

Today, we come to the end of the church year. Today, we wrap up, in one text all of what we have talked about throughout this past church year.

Remember the year started off with the coming of a king, someone who was going to save people from their sin. We also had astrologers from the East asking Herod, “where is he who is born king of the Jews?” (Mt 2:2)

And it wasn’t long after this that we saw an enthusiastic crowd want to take Jesus by force and make him king. Although it seems Jesus has a love hate relationship with this sort of image because Jesus very directly tells his disciples to find him a donkey so he can ride into Jerusalem just as the prophet Zechariah had said: “Lo, your king comes to you, humble and riding upon a donkey.” (Zach 9:9)

We all remember Palm Sunday, a reenactment of Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem. We usually carry Palms and shout together “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Luke 19:38)

Over the last couple of weeks we have heard about the close of the age, and we talked about the end coming . Here Jesus is talking about the cycle of life being completed, just as our cycle of the church year is being completed.

Also during that year we saw an assembly of folks bring Jesus before Pilate saying “We found this man perverting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to the emperor, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” (Luke 23:2)

Aren’t many of these people the same ones who just earlier tried to take Jesus by force and make him king? During this mockery of a trial, Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (Luke 23:2-3)

Pilate, of course, makes up a sarcastic sign and places it on the cross, “This is the King of the Jews.” This pretty much brings us full circle to our text for today where, in v36 36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, 37and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”

Is the message we see in our gospel text today one of hope or one of despair? How does this little baby start off with so much promise to become a king only to end up on a cross between two thieves.

This text about a Jewish rebel, who we thought would become king now ends up in a story about a human who is being crucified, being scoffed by the crowd, being mocked by soldiers, a text that shows criminals, thieves being crucified one on the right and one on the left. This text hardly seems fitting for Christ the King Sunday.

As a child I don’t ever recall playing king with my small friends. I think in the United States we really don’t appreciate kings very much, we don’t understand them, perhaps most of our ideas about democracy don’t even allow for the idea of having a king in our world.
Ok, we do throw around titles about kings like the king of pop, or the king of soul, or the king of rock n roll. Could this mean we really don’t understand what it means to be a real king, does it mean we don’t or can’t appreciate this metaphor on Christ the King Sunday?

Perhaps we ought to recognize once and for all that our vision of a king and God’s vision of a king are very different. Isn’t that one reason why the disciples really didn’t get it either, not even as it came close to the end of Jesus’ life did they understand God’s mission in the world.

Isn’t our vision of a king something more like seeing a king as Superman. In contrast to what we know about the theology of the cross, that of a suffering/dying king, perhaps our image of God’s king needs to be modified.

Robert Capon in Hunting the Divine Fox presents a very interesting image of an American Messiah, an American King — and it doesn’t look much like Jesus on the cross.

He says isn’t our view of Jesus like that of Superman: “Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It’s SuperJesus! Strange visitor from another planet, who came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American Way.”

Now if that isn’t popular christology, I’ll eat my hat. Jesus — gentle, meek and mild, but with secret, souped-up, more-than-human insides — bumbles around for thirty-three years, nearly gets himself done in for good by the Kryptonite Kross, but at the last minute, struggles into the phone booth of the Empty Tomb, changes into his Easter suit and, with a single bound, leaps back up to the planet Heaven. It’s got it all — including, just so you shouldn’t miss the lesson, kiddies: He never once touches Lois Lane.

You think that’s funny? Don’t laugh. The human race is, was and probably always will be deeply unwilling to accept a human messiah. We don’t want to be saved in our humanity; we want to be fished out of it. We don’t admit guilt for our sin because there is no sin.

We crucified Jesus, not because he was God, but because he blasphemed: He claimed to be God and then failed to come up to our standards for assessing the claim. It’s not that we weren’t looking for the Messiah; it’s just that he wasn’t what we were looking for.

Perhaps our kind of Messiah would come down from a cross. He would carry a folding phone booth in his back pocket. He wouldn’t do a stupid thing like rising from the dead. He would do a smart thing like never dying. [pp. 90-91;]

After all why does there need to be a sacrifice, in the modern era there’s no need for redemption, there’s no such thing as sin if everything is relative. And yet, we know, deep down, if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

So what do we really think? As it is with most things, most ideas, most Christian theology, it’s really not about us and what we think; it’s really all about God.

So based on the truth of scripture and understanding of the story of Christianity what can we learn about God’s view of Christ the King.

One thing we know is that some of the most familiar stories or parables that Jesus told turned the old ideas, the old culture, the old world on its head.
1) the Good Samaritan – who is our neighbor? Was it the priest, the religious one, no…..
2) the Employer who paid everyone the same wage regardless of the time worked
3) the Prodigal Son – we see a father accept back a derelict, but repentant son, yes even the worst of us can be accepted back by the father, no matter what

This is a new arithmetic, a new way of thinking, there’s a new formula for God’s kingdom.

Look at our text for today, Jesus is being crucified between two criminals, the folks are scoffing, the soldiers mocking, and Jesus says, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Unexpected forgiveness, that’s what God is about.

Really, forgiveness no matter what! What happened to an eye for an eye? What happened to the idea of justice or fairness? Don’t we all want to hold back our forgiveness a little; after all we need to teach them a lesson, right?

Well, in God’s kingdom there is nothing that can’t be forgiven. Is this what is meant by the mercy of a king?

Does this mean our understanding of the ‘kingdom of God’ needs to change? Does it mean we need to change our model from one of a member in the kingdom to a disciple of the King?

Does it mean we can no longer keep faith a private affair, but need to share our faith publicly?

Does it mean we can no longer sing hymns robustly while ignoring our neighbor industriously?

Does it mean we can no longer own our wealth because God owns our health and well being?

Understanding the mercy of a king means wanting to be remembered by the King. Remember the one thief’s request, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

Shouldn’t that also be our request? Lord, remember me, forgive me, love me?

If it is, Christ the King will surely tell us, as he told the thief, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” Amen