Greetings communicator friends,
Last week (Thursday, June 25), a well-meaning ELCA member circulated an e-mail with the title "WARNING: ELCA National Website Infected by Malicious Code" The ELCA.org Web site was being blocked by his employer and he assumed the worst. When notified by the member, our IT department examined our servers and found them to be clean. They then worked with his employer to undo the blocking.
The moral of the story: let us know immediately if you get suspicious warnings or have problems with ELCA.org For minor problems use the www.elca.org/contactus page to send a note or submit a comment. For what looks like a serious problem please call the 800/638-3522 and a Resource Information Staff person will connect you to the right person.
On this topic, please DON'T send alarming e-mails to others or forward said e-mails. Apparently the note from last Thursday is still circulating. If you get a copy, don't forward it further, instead, reply with a copy of this note. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks, Paul Edison-Swift
ELCA Communication Services, 800/638-3522 x2946]]>
Below are the questions that voting members were asked to consider. Before each response, which the voting members could have chosen, is the number of votes that each response received.
Sense of the Assembly Survey
Question 1: As to the question of same gender relationships, I believe that:
213 votes--the church should definitely not approve of same gender relationships.
89 votes--while I personally disapprove of same gender relationships, I could accept the church recognizing such relationships
39 votes--I don't have a sense of God's will on this.
130 votes--while I accept same gender relationships, I can see how the church would not approve of such relationships.
163 votes--the church should definitely approve of same gender relationships.
Question 2: As to the question of rostering persons in a same gender* relationship, I believe that:
259 votes--the church should definitely not roster persons involved in same gender relationships.
61 votes--while I personally disapprove of same gender relationships, I could accept the church's rostering persons involved in such relationships.
37 votes--I don't have a sense of God's will on this.
128 votes--while I accept same gender relationships, I can see how the church would not roster persons involved in such relationships.
150 votes--the church should definitely roster persons involved in same gender relationships.
*when used refers to "publicly accountable life-long, monogamous same gender relationships."]]>
I need you to vote every hour for the picture of my mom & dad on their bright yellow 2001 Honda Gold Wing Trike.
If this picture wins, the prize awarded is $50. Not a lot of money, but remember, our news media outlets tell us that times are tough, so help me out and vote early and often! Thank you!]]>
•Friday night Bible dates (Argentina)
•Gifts of hospitality, harvest, and thanksgiving (Tanzania)
•Why do we have missionaries in Germany? (Germany)
•Influenza epidemic doesn't stop ordination celebration (Mexico)
•Amazing grace (Hong Kong)
•The power of the spoon (U.S., Cameroon)
•Stories from Nepal
]]>
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The summit is a partnership between the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This is the second summit of its kind, the previous peace summit was held in Rwanda in 2008 hosted by the Lutheran Church of Rwanda.
Check out this web site, see this linked brochure, and tell the stories of how the ELCA is reaching across continents.
]]>
The intent of the guide is to aid Lutheran congregations as they discuss difficult issues related to the war in Iraq. The resource guide is divided into five sections: moral deliberation, role in nations, current situation in Iraq and U.S. policy, challenges of global terrorism and group reflection. Each section includes discussion questions and allows for further insight.
"Peace, Conflict and Public Church: A Case Study on the Future of Iraq" is available through Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, the publishing ministry of the ELCA.
Questions? Contact Jodi Deike, ELCA Director for Grassroots Advocacy and Communication, jodi.deike@elca.org or 202-626-7947.
Helpful Web Links
Peace, Conflict and Public Church: A Case Study on the Future of Iraq
http://tinyurl.com/cz4hpj
ELCA News Blog on release of Iraq Study Guide
http://tinyurl.com/cjvnnj
ELCA Washington Office
http://www.elca.org/advocacy
Augsburg Fortress
http://www.augsburgfortress.org]]>
Are you in need of financial assistance to attend this gathering?
The ELCA Washington Office is offering a limited number of scholarships for this event. Applications are being accepted now until May 29, 2009. Go to www.elca.org/advocacy to download the application.
Scholarships will be awarded immediately until June 8, funds permitting, and be processed as a reimbursement. The amount reimbursed will be for both the "2009 Gathering that includes 35th Anniversary Dinner and Lobby Day" option and three nights housing on the American University campus.
Questions? Contact Jodi Deike, ELCA Director for Grassroots Advocacy and Communication, at jodi.deike@elca.org or 202-626-7947.]]>
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The Rev. Deena Lohmeyer Laird |
Clergy are invited to vest and process. The color for the day is white.
Rev. Deena Lohmeyer Laird, 53, of Arenzville, died Tuesday, April 22, 2009, at Passavant Area hospital in Jacksonville. She was born August 9, 1956, in Washington, Missouri, the daughter of Dean and Gladys Steinberg Lohmeyer. She married David Laird on May 20, 1983, at the Church By The Side of the Road in Rockton, Illinois, and he survives.
She is also survived by one son, Nathan (fiancé, Sheena Bredeson) Laird of Rockford, Illinois; two step-children, Chris Krause of South Beloit, Wisconsin and Matthew (wife, Staci) Laird of Portland, Oregon; her mother, Gladys Lohmeyer of Washington, Missouri; three step-grandchildren, Tucker Krause, Gavin Laird, and Trevin Laird; and two brothers, Jim Lohmeyer of Rockton, Illinois and Marty (wife, Chris) Lohmeyer of Washington, Missouri. She was preceded in death by her father.
Deena was born and raised in Washington, Missouri, and attended the University of Missouri at Columbia and later graduated cum laude from Upper Iowa University. She was employed as advertising manager for Taylor Freezer Company in Rockton, Illinois where she met and married her husband. In 2003 Deena enrolled in Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa and in 2007 received her Masters of Divinity. She was ordained at Atonement Lutheran Church in Beloit, Wisconsin, and became pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Arenzville and St. John’s Lutheran Church, Bluffs in August of 2007.
Deena was a kind and loving person whose life revolved around her family and church. Prior to entering the ministry, Deena was actively involved in her church as a youth group and Vacation Bible School leader. Her home was always open to anyone. She treasured her time spent with family, and enjoyed her role as spectator at her family’s golf outings.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Arenzville. Condolences may be left online at www.airsman-hires.com]]>
“I Love to Tell the Story: My ELCA” will allow 15-minute time slots to sit down and share your memories, thoughts, frustrations, and joys of the first 20 years of the ELCA. As part of the larger Voices of Vision oral history project, the archives is looking for congregational members to talk about their congregations, their synods, their social ministry organizations, their colleges, their seminaries, and their work in the ELCA and in God’s world.
Go to our website for more information about how to participate (http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/History/ELCA-Archives/I-Love-To-Tell-The-Story.aspx) or contact the archives (archives@elca.org or 1-800-638-3522, x2818). We hope to hear your story!]]>
Today, I had the time to look it up on YouTube. I found find it, along with the original video.
Here it is:
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From WJAG.com...
NORFOLK - Although attendance was down about 10 percent from 2007, organizers of a household hazardous waste collection over the weekend in Norfolk are pleased. City Solid Waste Director Gary Lund says about 340 vehicles brought the products to the collection on Saturday at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park. He tells WJAG NEWS they filled 33, 55-gallon drums full of paint and toxic chemicals, collected 40 pounds of prescriptions drugs, took in 12,000 pounds of television and computer equipment. Lund says in all 15.5 tons of waste was collected and won't be going to the landfill.]]>
View all four of the new ads here.]]>
Dave Winslow measures the snow..or lack thereof
Oh Dave...how very different my morning routine would be without your whimsical nature to brighten my day!
Hopefully Dave & his bride Tia had a lovely wedding day today! Congratulations!
I'm such a fan...or is that pronounced stalker? It's hard to tell...]]>
It is very appropriate to review this, pending what we will hear in our gospel reading tomorrow morning:
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BEN: [Blows out a candle] Thomas the Apostle. When Jesus wanted to return to Judea, knowing that he would probably be murdered there, Thomas said to the others, "Let us also go, that we might die with him." But Thomas was not remembered for this bravery. His claim to fame came later... when he refused to acknowledge the resurrection. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. The story goes... that he needed to touch Jesus' wounds to be convinced.
JACK: So was he?
BEN: Of course he was. We're all convinced sooner or later, Jack.
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Please help Annie out and vote for her so she can win!
At the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, I recorded a one-minute pitch for this Pepsi contest, where they're going to give the winner $4,500. We had to pitch what we would do with the money to advance social good.My pitch was to develop an iPhone app for the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder, which would increase the number of entries we receive and make the resource even more valuable for everybody. And as it turns out, I am one of the 20 finalists!
Help us get some seed money for new features for the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder by voting for my pitch! You can vote as many times as you want between now and next Monday (April 20).
VOTE HERE! A lot!
And feel free to pass this on! Tell your friends!
Thank you!]]>
April 2009Dear Friend:
Ever since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) announced the closing of the Grace Matters radio and web ministry, I have been deluged with mail. The massive outpouring of love and appreciation has been extraordinary—grace upon grace, really. It is more than my little inbox can handle.
If you are unaware of this recent news regarding Grace Matters’ final broadcast on Easter Sunday, the April issue of the Lutheran magazine includes the story, whose more expanded web version is included at the bottom of this letter.
Unfortunately, I was never consulted—let alone visited with—about a decision that affects the hundreds of thousands of listeners whom I asked to personally support this ministry. It was a decision made very suddenly, effectively eliminating any opportunity to retain precious radio station airtime slots and permanently dispersing vast networks of supportive listeners. The decision was made by a couple of ELCA executives.
Many of you have asked what you can do, given this news. If you want to express what this program has meant to you, you may wish to share your comments with ELCA Bishop Mark Hanson and copy them to Wyvetta Bullock, ELCA Director for Administration, and Kristi Bangert, ELCA Director for Communication Services, at the same address. While your expression will not change a decision that is final, it may encourage more thoughtful and more broad-based decision-making in the church’s future.
Rev. Mark Hanson
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
8765 W. Higgins Rd.
Chicago, IL 60631
bishop@elca.org | Kristi.Bangert@elca.org | Wyvetta.Bullock@elca.org
Thank you for your marvelous support of Grace Matters. Some of you have asked about my own life after Grace Matters. It is full of edifying work. I continue to serve as senior pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Davenport, IA, and I write and publish whenever I find the time. I do hope that our lives can cross again in the future, if not over radio or web, then in person or in print. Please understand if I cannot respond to most correspondence. There is no lack of desire or affection on my part; it is simply a matter of available time.
Keep cherishing the important things in life. Chances are good that those very things have some link to the grace of God we know best in Jesus Christ.
Peter W. Marty
'Grace Matters' canceled
Part of $1.5 million churchwide cuts
In early Februrary, ELCA Communication Services canceled Grace Matters, the ELCA radio ministry that has existed since 1947. Host Peter W. Marty called it "a sad day for hundreds of thousands of listeners."
The last program will air on Easter Sunday, April 12, on roughly 185 stations.
Kristi Bangert, CO executive director, said the cut was part of a process shared by every ELCA unit in exploring churchwide priorities. Asked if the decision was a reaction to a current budget concern or a contingency plan for further economic troubles, she said, "Yes and yes."
"All executive directors were asked to look at every major budget line item and identify mission critical work. ... Every executive was told we've got to look at this and make changes strategically," Bangert said. "We can't do everything. We've been riding a high tide for a long time and just can't keep doing it all."
The decision is part of nearly $1.5 million in reductions from the 2009 churchwide budget. That includes "reducing program budgets in most units and eliminating a total of 11 full-time staff equivalent positions-of which 2.5 were vacant," said Wyvetta Bullock, executive for administration. In an e-mail to churchwide staff, Bullock called these "difficult decisions" and cited "the current economic volatility." She warned that further 2009 budget adjustments may be necessary.
Grace Matters relied on gifts to sustain its ministry, which covered more than half the expenses related to production, distribution and broadcast, Bangert said. CO covered the remaining costs, including staff salaries. In each of the last three years, the unit invested $160,000 to buy regular broadcast slots on 12 stations where ELCA congregations are being developed and in the Pacific Northwest.
Marty said he wasn't consulted before the decision was announced, and was told of the cancellation over the phone. "An internal churchwide memo indicated that Grace Matters was not a ‘strategic priority of the churchwide organization ...,' " he said. "It will be linked by some officials as a consequence of the economic downturn. But that's the excuse, not the cause. This decision to eliminate the radio ministry did not have to happen."
He said he would have suggested other ways of trimming the money CO spends on Grace Matters, even if it had meant letting some markets go.
"We brought in a heck of a lot of income to the ELCA to help fund this ministry¬-hundreds of thousands of dollars each year," he said. "Most ministries of the ELCA don't generate anything close to that kind of support. Precisely at a time when we need less denominational clubbiness, the ELCA has just lost a big piece of its public voice. Whole communities of interesting people across America who knew nothing about the ELCA came to know and discover the church through this program."
At presstime, Bangert said annual distributions of 4.5 percent from the radio ministry's $1.3 million permanently restricted endowment could be reassigned to another, similar ELCA ministry.
Cynthia Halverson, president of the ELCA Foundation, said a stipulation within endowment agreements reads that "in the event that this ministry (any of these ministries) shall cease to function over the years or become inoperative ... the Board of Trustees of the Foundation of the ELCA shall recommend a similar or complementary ministry to be the beneficiary of the Agreement."
Bullock said it was premature to discuss or announce any such ministry prior to this matter coming before the ELCA Church Council in late March.
Marty follows only a handful of others who have been the voice of the program, previously called Lutheran Vespers: Harry Gregorson (founder and host from 1947 to 1970), Conrad Thompson (1970 to 1982) and Richard Jensen (speaker and director from 1982 to 1993). Larry Gedde briefly hosted the program after Jensen. Walt Wangerin Jr. took over in 1994 and served for 10 years. When Marty started in 2005 the program's name and format changed.
"It was an extraordinary run," Marty said. "People of both stature and ordinariness, who might otherwise have had no contact with the ELCA or Lutheranism, have been program guests. U.S. senators and big city mayors, athletic superstars and big stage musicians, African-American heroes and poets, pastors to U.S. presidents and network news correspondents, Fortune 500 CEO's and genocide survivors, and great theological minds from across the spectrum all shared the grace of their lives with listeners in America and around the world."
Grace Matters has also aired in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand and Puerto Rico and is available on the Web.
"It's as if scores of people throughout our church have had one of the great rugs of meaning suddenly yanked right out from beneath their faith lives," Marty added.
The cancellation affects the jobs of two part-time contract staff and three full-time employees, including Susan Greeley, producer.
"The loss of jobs and the budget savings are miniscule compared to the loss our listeners will suffer. For many people, including the missionaries, this is their worship," Greeley said. "We've been a unique voice in a world that has way too much vitriol on the air. It was one of the few ways that people in the pew knew they were part of the larger church."]]>
The following message has been sent to synodical bishops and all rostered leaders. We are sending this to you as a point of information. You may share it with your networks as is appropriate.
Thank you.
Kristi Bangert
___________________
Grace to you and peace in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The purpose of this e-mail is to provide information for you, as leaders in the ELCA, as you prepare for the Churchwide Assembly in August. Specifically, it informs you of the actions taken by the Church Council at its meeting on March 27-30, 2009, in relation to the work of the Task Force for the ELCA Studies on Sexuality. A full report on actions of the Church Council will be made available by the Office of the Secretary by April 1. The documents referenced here and further information will be available as of April 2 at the Faithful Journey Web site: www.elca.org/faithfuljourney.
Action on the work of the task force
On Saturday, March 28, the Church Council voted to transmit to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly "Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust" for consideration as a social statement of the ELCA. The approved text included a few amendments that were considered minor or editorial. The council also voted to transmit the implementing resolutions, one of which was amended, for the proposed social statement.
On Sunday, March 29, the council voted to transmit to the 2009 Churchwide Assembly the task force’s four resolutions of the recommendation relating to ministry policies. Again, the only amendments made were considered editorial or in keeping with the intent of the task force. All four of the suggested resolutions were considered individually by the council, as the task force recommended.
A full text of the amended documents will be available as of April 2 on the Faithful Journey Web site: www.elca.org/faithfuljourney.
Action regarding the voting rules of the 2009 Churchwide Assembly
Prior to every Churchwide Assembly, the Church Council recommends to the assembly proposed Rules of Organization and Procedure that, in addition to Robert’s Rules of Order, govern the ways that the assembly conducts its legislative business. The Churchwide Assembly at its first plenary session votes on its own rules.
Bylaw 12.12.01. of the Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America specifies that a proposed social statement requires for adoption a two-thirds vote of those voting members present and voting at an assembly. At its November 2008 meeting, the Church Council did not recommend any rules that would affect the necessary margin of votes for other documents originating from a social statement task force.
In response to synodical resolutions, at its March 2009 meeting the Church Council considered whether to amend the rules that had been adopted previously. After extensive discussion, the Church Council voted against doing so. The vote was 10–21 with two abstentions, Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson and Secretary David D. Swartling.
Therefore, unless the Churchwide Assembly amends the proposed Rules of Organization and Procedure at its first plenary session, any implementing resolutions for the social statement or ministry policy actions will require a majority vote for passage, as specified in Robert’s Rules of Order.
A fuller explanation of the parliamentary process concerning the rules at the Churchwide Assembly will be posted on April 2 on the task force’s Web site.
What’s next?
The task force has finished its work, and any further comments on the documents should be directed to synods. Synods can speak to the Churchwide Assembly regarding the recommended proposed social statement, the implementing resolutions, or the ministry policy resolutions through memorials approved at synod assemblies.
Understanding and interpreting the work of the task force
The Faithful Journey Web site at www.elca.org/faithfuljourney provides a number of resources, including frequently asked questions and executive summaries, to aid in understanding the proposed social statement, implementing resolutions, and the ministry policy recommendation. Additional material will be published there in mid to late April. If you as a leader find there are questions that have not been addressed in the additional resources, please email the Church in Society studies staff at faithfuljourney@elca.org.
A note of appreciation for the task force
The Church Council also expressed profound appreciation to the members of the task force for their work and for modeling what it means to journey together faithfully.
May we, too, journey together faithfully.
David D. Swartling, secretary
March 30, 2009]]>
It's back, baby! The Lutheran Pool sponsored by FrontRowLutheran.com! Pick your brackets and see if you can win two fabulous prizes: one whole year of exclusive bragging rights AND a shout-out post right here on FrontRowLutheran.com.
While this contest is open to all, in order for you to play, you've got to be a member of Facebook.com (it's free, and seriously, if you're not on Facebook yet, then there probably is no hope that you ever will be).
If you're already on facebook, you should be able to join The Lutheran Pool Sponsored by FrontRowLutheran.com at this link.
Sign-up NOW! Your picks must be submitted by 11:00 AM ET on March 19, 2009.
Good luck!]]>
Since Concordia's new study bible is coming out after Augsburg Fortress' study bible, I'm going to have to say that Concordia appears to be copying somebody, but I just can't quite seem to put my finger on it...hmm.....]]>
Created by Train Horns
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In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that.
Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did.
Then God made the world.
He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet.
Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden.....Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.
Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.
Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.
God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.
Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.
One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.
After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore.
There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats.
Jesus also had twelve opossums.
The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.
Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount.
But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.
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Do you think this student should be confirmed? Umm...probably not....
Note: I did not actually receive this from a confirmation student as a final faith paper. I got it as a forewarded joke email, and after reading it, I sadly thought to myself, "Hmm...hopefully my confirmation students won't be handing in something like this...if so, I'm the worst teacher of confirmation students ever..."]]>
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This would be really fun to do, but I bet it is a lot harder to do than it looks.
wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.]]>
If Apple did make this thing, I would so NOT buy it...
Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard]]>
I encourage everyone who has health insurance through the ELCA Board of Pensions to do this ASAP, so we all can save and earn some money. Thank you!
First Call Theological Education Nebraska Synod Folk:
Remember how Bishop deFreese told us that anyone on the ELCA Board of Pensions Health Plan who didn't take the 2008 Mayo Clinic Health Risk Assessment was a giant loser and should move to Central States Synod? Well, maybe he didn't say it exactly like that, but still....(Disclaimer: The addition of the move to the Central States Synod was a joke...learn to laugh, or bottle up all the anger and stress like I do...either way...) :-)
Now that 2009 is here, all of us first call pastors and our spouses (if they have health insurance through ELCA BOP) can take the 2009 Health Assessment online. This will earn you $100 personal wellness dollars for your personal wellness account (PWA).
There's also a big savings available to more than just you. The whole Synod can receive a discount as well.
Receiving the discount works the same as last year — each congregation and organization in our synod will receive a 2% discount on contributions once 75% of our eligible ELCA-primary plan members and spouses completes the health assessment.
If we achieve 75 percent health assessment participation by March 29 we’ll each receive a 2% discount for all of 2009; if we achieve it after March 29, we’ll earn the discount starting the month after we reach 75%. Needless to say, reaching the goal by March 29 will benefit us all the most.
The 2009 health assessment opens Jan. 1. If you have ELCA-primary health benefits, please plan to take 30 minutes Jan. 1 – March 29 to complete the assessment. If your spouse has ELCA-primary benefits, she or he should make plans too. It’s an act of stewardship for you and this church.
Want health assessment basics? Visit https://www.elcabop.org/UnderstandMyBenefits/Health/ELCAPrimary/HealthAssessment/Overview.aspx
You can log in to take the assessment at http://www.elcaforwellness.org
Please take the assessment now, or start packing your bags to move south. Thank you!
If you need help with the assessment, message me. If you need help moving, check and see if Travis Panning is available, since he is the chief defender of the Nebraska Synod southern border.
:-)]]>
I don't seem to really like those commercials.
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Created by The Car Connection]]>
This week's teaser is so much fun that I thought I'd post it on FrontRowLutheran.com, and from now on, every week, I'll try and post each week's sermon teaser so that I have some fresh content on my blog on a weekly basis.
For Sunday, December 7, 2008: What does a panda have to do with the prophet Isaiah and John the baptizer? Come and join us for worship this Second Sunday of Advent, hear the prophets' call to "Prepare the way of the Lord," and discover a punctuative way to think about how you might welcome Jesus' arrival in your life this December.]]>
If you attend worship at an ELCA congregation that uses bulletin covers from Augsburg Fortress, you will notice that Immanuel was able to acquire advertising space for our soup dinner on your church bulletin this weekend. You will notice that Jesus is enjoying a tasty bowl of soup from Immanuel's soup dinner.
In case you do NOT use Augsburg's bulletin covers, here's what it looks like this weekend.
Jesus enjoying a bowl of soup from Immanuel's Soup Dinner
:-)]]>
Download/Print Off/Hang Up This Poster, and help Immanuel with its advertising campaign.
Learn more about Immanuel Lutheran Church in Madison, Nebraska.]]>
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Dear FrontRowLutheran.com readers,
Did you know that premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death in the first month of life? It affects half a million babies a year in the United States. Those who survive may have lifelong health problems. And premature births are on the rise - up 30% since 1981.
That is why I am asking you to support my friend Rev. Alena Lamirato in the March of Dimes Jail & Bail. She is participating in their Jail & Bail fundraiser. If she doesn't raise $1000 before next week, she's going to have to go and sit in "jail" until she can make "bail." America's prison population is growing fast enough the way it is. We don't need to make it worse by having Alena sit in jail forever. :-) Besides, the people of Alma Lutheran Church in Mead, NE, just might need their pastor that day...ya never know.
Premature birth can happen to any pregnant woman. In nearly half the cases, the causes are unknown. The March of Dimes is leading the way to find answers by supporting research into the causes of premature birth. Join in on the fight!
Your support helps fund:
-Research into stress and other factors that may trigger preterm labor.
-Programs to educate pregnant women to recognize the warning signs of preterm labor.
-Tools to help health care providers find better ways to detect women who may be at risk for preterm labor.
Please join in and help fight prematurity. Visit Alena's fundraising webpage and sign up as a sponsor in the Jail & Bail that saves babies!
Thank You!
You can donate to Alena's bail at http://jailandbail.marchofdimes.com/lamirato
March of Dimes Logo]]>
Unbeknown to be, (probably back when I was having feed problems several months ago) my trackable feedburner feed changed to a new URL. The old URL is still working, but I can't track subscribers and the like.
I would like to be able to track who's all subscribed to my blog if I could, so, if you wouldn't mind, do you think you could change the URL in your RSS feed reader for me?
If you would, please change your subscription to this feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/frontrowlutherancom
This is an addition of com at the end of the other feed.
For the rest of you who enjoy FrontRowLutheran.com in other ways, you shouldn't need to make any changes.
Thanks!]]>
From WJAG.com's news page....
DENVER (AP) - At least one official in Colorado is trying to lower expectations, saying don't expect final election results from the state today. A spokesman for the Denver Election Commission says processing paper and mail-in ballots takes time. He says the days of having "close to final results by 10 p.m. are over."]]>
The lady on the phone said, "Hold on. Let me check."
She then put me on hold for a moment, and then came back on the line and said, I kid you not,
"Is this a fiction book?"
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION!?!?!
AND THIS IS A CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE!!! ACK!
They have two in stock.
I'm going to go down and pick one up.]]>
Taco Bell Promotion]]>
Picture of November 2008 The Lutheran Cover
And then, in the midst of this 2008 election season, with political TV ads rotting my brain and the like, I couldn't help but think that this cover kinda looks like this...
Paradoxical Obama on Cover of The Lutheran
The ELCA Churchwide offices are in Chicago, Illinois....and Barack Obama is the junior Senator of that fine state. Conspiracy? Coincidence? Who knows?
:-)
Just stick with the plan. If you vote Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, we can have professional comedians running the White House, instead of Washington jokers.]]>
Immanuel Lutheran Church: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Back in January or February, one of the council members who had wanted to make it to the class that night but didn't had asked if what we had talked about would be made available somewhere else some other time. I said that I'd try and get it put up on YouTube as soon as I could.
Well, I guess October 3, 2008, was as soon as I could.
Here's the slides, but please note: what was true about "Today" in January 2008 is not necessarily the same in October 2008. Worship times, council members, and some other things may not be the same now as they were in January. So if you're wanting the most up-to-date information about Immanuel in the "Today" section, give me a holler, and I'll fill you in on what's the latest info.
Otherwise, enjoy the show!
]]>
During Apple's special event from a few weeks ago, when Steve Jobs unveiled new iPods and iTunes 8, there was a picture that he had up on the screen during his keynote that described how the new Genuis feature works.
While looking at the above picture, and realizing how the Genius feature actually works, I immediately thought to myself, "Isn't this how SkyNet gets developed in the Terminator storyline?"
I suppose it's just a matter of time before the millions of iPods around the world turn people into a bunch of metal skeletons who walk around, killing humans so that SkyNet a.k.a. the iTunes Music Store can rule the world.
Speaking of the Terminator storyline, I am not enthused that Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles are both on at the same time tonight. Oh well. Guess I'm going to have to fire up the DVR AND the VCR. The joys of fall television programming....]]>
Check out the full story over on AppleInsider.com
That's ironic and sad at the same time.]]>
from the Amazon Video-on-Demand Store to not only take your mind off the market's woes, but to also discover a potential profit-making scheme for you and your friends.**Note: FrontRowLutheran.com does not guarantee or recommend any sort of success in the potential profit-making scheme which the movie 21 details.
]]>
This workshop is designed for people of European American descent who wish to stand as allies with communities of color as they take a stand against racism. More detailed information including the conference letter, registration form, and the draft by-laws are attached.]]>
1-2-3 Contact! Three ways to receive ELCA World Hunger Resources
You are welcome to receive personal copies of the semi-annual ELCA World Hunger Resource Packets and/or the quarterly issues of LifeLines, the ELCA World Hunger newsletter. There are three ways to request your free copies:
1. Visit www.elca.org/hunger/contact and fill out the online form.
2. Fax or mail a 1-2-3 Contact! form (the fax number and address are on the form). Find a 1-2-3 Contact! form on the back of the cover sheet of World Hunger Resource Packets; a downloadable form is online at www.elca.org/hunger/contact; you can request copies to distribute by calling 800/328-4648 (AF order number 978-6-0002-2044-0; 1 pkg = 25 forms); or visit http://tinyurl.com/123ContactForm
3. Call 800/638-3522, ext. 2764, for personal assistance.
To receive a sample copy of the current World Hunger Resource Packet and issue of LifeLines, send an e-mail with your postal address to hunger@elca.org or call 800/638-3522, ext. 2764.]]>
OWH Headline
Upon reading the sentence next to the image, I immediately thought, "Some people also have concerns that Council Bluffs doesn't sufficiently reflect Iowans. So what?"
:-)
And then I realized it is a good thing that Jesus died for me and all of my sins.....and Council-tucky's, too.
:-)
ACK! I can't stop!]]>
Creepy Baby Jacob]]>
September 2, 2008
Lutheran Disaster Response in the Eye of 2008 Hurricane Season
08-151-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are responding in the aftermath of tropical storms and hurricanes, waiting to assess the damage of Hurricane Gustav and preparing for the remainder of the 2008 hurricane season. "We are in difficult days," said the Rev. Kevin A. Massey, director, Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR).
"It is important for us all to stay in close communication with each other, to remain deeply in prayer for the needs of people both already affected and potentially affected, and especially to consider giving to the work of Lutheran Disaster Response," he said. LDR is a collaborative ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Hurricane Gustav made landfall Sept. 1 on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. "We appreciate Bishop Michael Rinehart and the leadership of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod and Bishop Julian Gordy and the ELCA Southeastern Synod for the excellent job they are doing in responding to this disaster," Massey said. The synods have maintained communication with pastors and other church leaders who evacuated their homes, he said.
"The good thing about many people getting out and being evacuated is that they were safe. It will take some time, as they return slowly to their homes, for us to learn more and more about the needs of the people in the Gulf area," Massey said. "It may take many weeks before we are able to identify the ways that volunteers will be able to help."
"Whether tropical storms or hurricanes, we're seeing an incredible impact across the country," Massey said. "It is a reminder that we are all in this together. The whole country is
being affected and, as we've done before, we will all work together to respond."
Hurricane Dolly struck Texas on July 23. "We're still working in areas around there," Massey said.
"Tropical Storm Fay had a significant impact on parts of Florida," he said. "Lutheran Disaster Response Team Florida has been doing a great job responding with our partners in Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the ELCA Florida-Bahamas Synod. We've been helping coordinate production of flood buckets that people are able to use to help clean out their own homes."
"Areas of Florida are very wet, and there is standing water in many places," Massey said. "With the threat of additional storms, it is a very scary time."
Lutherans across the church are "very aware that many storms can affect us in the days and weeks to come," he said. "Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to be a hurricane when it will reach the eastern seaboard of the United States somewhere between Georgia and the Carolinas, possibly as early as this Friday. Tropical Storms Ike and Josephine are forming in the Atlantic."
"There is great leadership in all of our synods, and we appreciate the work they have already done in preparing," Massey said. LDR staff will continue to be in conversation with them this week, he said.
"We will seek to provide help and healing to people affected by these storms, and we ask for people to consider giving. Please visit ELCA.org/disaster for information about giving to
help people affected by these storms," Massey said.
-- -- --
Audio of comments by the Rev. Kevin A. Massey is at http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/080902a.mp3 and http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/080902b.mp3 on the ELCA Web site.
DOMESTIC DISASTERS:
Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds to aid survivors of major disasters inside the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
ELCA Domestic Disaster Response
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, Illinois 60694-1764
Credit card gift line: 1-800-638-3522
Credit card gifts via Internet: http://www.ELCA.org/disaster
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog]]>
And then realize that of course John McCain isn't going to remember how many houses he owns currently. That's because he's probably lived in tons of homes during the 200+ years he's been alive.
Don't bother grandpa while he's watching his stories. He gets confused easily. Remember? See the SNL digital short to refresh your own aging memory.
]]>
The audio of the video comes from a sermon by Dr. Shadrach Meshach (S.M.) Lockridge (March 7, 1913 – April 4, 2000), who was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, a prominent African-American congregation located in San Diego, California, from 1953 to 1993. He was known for his preaching across the United States and around the world. I had heard part of this audio before, but not in this remix video version.
]]>
Learn more at http://www.tourderevs.org]]>
I'm in search of the letter Y off of the Subway game pieces for the 2008 Summer/Fall Sweepstakes.
If you find a Y game piece and you don't have a use for it, take the Y, put it in a safe place, contact me, and then we'll go from there. If you have a legit Y game piece, and the code hasn't been punched into the website yet, I'll take your game piece and become your new best friend.
Good luck, and I look forward to hearing from you soon! :-)
Play Subway Scrabble]]>
See more funny videos at Funny or Die
]]>Study confirms 'Kevin Bacon' theory
Six Degress of separation is true! Well....Seven...
And for your Tremors/Kevin Bacon viewing enjoyment, check out this video:
]]>
Whereas McCain and Obama are just a couple of jokers.
]]>
]]>
He called the local extension office, which gave him a list of honey bee keepers, and he called down the list, and someone showed up with a box and got a bunch of free bees. Lucky keeper.
]]>
Those poor boys...they didn't even see it coming...]]>
The info on this video from YouTube says: They say it's from 1993 Miss Douglas County Arizona, for the Arizona State Beauty Pageant.]]>
Priest Floating Away
Both probably ended up in heaven. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Read the news story here.]]>
I'm thinking about changing to WordPress (a different kind of blogging software), but sadly, from what I can tell, there's no easy migration plan between Nucleus and WordPress (that means I wouldn't be able to easily put all of my old posts into the "new" blog).
I've liked Nucleus for the most part, but lately, I've heard that other people are getting the following error:
------
Connect Error
Could not connect to MySQL database.
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I get the error, too, and it's no fun.
Hmmm....looks like I'm going to have to work on this another day.
]]>
So if, for some reason, FrontRowLutheran.com goes down, well....now you know why. It'll be because I unintentionally messed something up.
:-)
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The winner is Benjamin J. Ahles-Iverson, who is a senior at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.
Above: Ben's Facebook Picture
As the winner, Ben has earned exclusive bragging rights for winning The 2008 Lutheran Pool sponsored by FrontRowLutheran.com, and he also earned this shout-out post here on FrontRowLutheran.com.
And here is what Ben would like to shout-out to everyone. Ben writes:
First, I would like to shout out a big ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!!!!!!!!
Every time I watch the Chalmers shot, I'm amazed that it still goes in. I probably could watch the game again and still be as excited as the first time I watched it.
I was sure I was going to be heart broken yet again this year. Davidson looked like they might do it. North Carolina looked like they might do it. And Memphis should have done it. BUT!!!! Kansas had to beat two No. 1 seeds in the tournament - a tournament for the ages!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Again, congratulations to Ben, and thank you to everyone who played!]]>
Or download a PDF version here.
You can also download the bulletin from Maxine's Memorial Service here.
The Scripture readings for the day were: Psalm 73:26 Psalm 91; Mark 8:34-37. It would be best if you'd read them first.
The sermon starts below.
Today we have gathered here in Immanuel’s sanctuary in the presence of God to continue to grief the loss, yet also to give thanks to God for the life of Maxine Bals. Each one of us has come here today with a variety of memories and stories about Maxine. We bring memories and stories which we’ve shared with one another the past several days, stories which help all of us remember those things which were unique to Maxine and made her who she was.
As Maxine’s pastor, I have only a glimpse into her life, as I only knew her over the past few years. What I knew about her, as we would visit about different things, were some generalities, and also some specifics. I knew that she loved country music, but I couldn’t tell you what her favorite song was. I knew that she had a fairly big family, with lots of grandkids and great-grandchildren, and that she did her best to keep track of all of them, because she loved them dearly. I knew she went down to Columbus to the horse track to try her luck a few times, and that she enjoyed being able to get out and be active when her health and energy allowed her to do so. I knew that, while we were visiting, there would be at least a few times over the course of a visit when she’d change a story she was telling ever so slightly in order to turn what she was talking about into something funny, and then she’d get this sly smile across her face as I’d be laughing at what she just said. I remember that happening a lot over the past few years, but for some reason, I can only remember one specific example of that today. And that example comes from when she was in the hospital a little over a week ago, on Palm Sunday, and I was called to come over and visit with her and the family gathered around. She was talking about what had happened to her, and she said something like, “The nurse couldn’t find a vein to get the IV started, so they had to call in the Air Force.” I had to ask her, “What? The Air Force?” “Yes,” she replied. “They had to call in the helicopter crew to put in the IV.” You know, it was just subtle changes like that, that she would make in her conversations with me, that would bring a smile to my face, and it’d bring a smile to hers, too.
There were also several things that she said or did that made me know that her faith in the Triune God was important to her. When she had some more energy, and was able to get out of the house more frequently, she’d be here on Sunday mornings for worship, and she was so glad that she was able to come and hear God’s Word and to know God’s love and forgiveness for her and for everyone. And whenever she had a new great-grand-baby, she’d tell me, “I’ve got another new great-grandbaby that we need to get baptized. Will you be able to do that?” Her faith was important to her, and she wanted it to be important to everyone in her family, from the oldest, to the youngest. Maxine prayed for her family and for other things in her life every night. She told me that she had to pray every night, otherwise she couldn’t fall asleep. She admitted that, on some nights, she fell asleep while she was praying, and she said that she felt kinda bad for not holding up her side of the conversation with God on those nights, but I told her that that was okay, and that was just God giving her the rest that she needed, and that God was glad to hear what she did pray for, and that God knew the rest of the details, even if she didn’t get them prayed. Prayer was important to Maxine, and so was Holy Communion. When she was at home and didn’t quite have the energy to make it over to church the past few months, she gave me a call to have me come and visit her, and she also made a point to say, “I’d be nice if you would bring communion, too.” In the bread and wine of our Lord’s Supper, Maxine knew that her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ loves her and loves the entire world so much that Jesus gave up his body and his blood on the cross so that all of our sins would be forgiven, and so that we might live in the presence of the Triune God forever, both in this life, and in the life to come.
These are some of the memories of Maxine that I bring today. You all bring many stories about Maxine with you today, and you also bring memories and emotions that you will never really be able to truly share, because you hold them from the unique position of the relationship you had with Maxine. You hold memories of her as wife, mom, grandma, great-grandma, sister, aunt, neighbor, friend, or fellow follower of Christ. The feelings that you have for Maxine in those relationships are feelings that are unique to you, feelings that might never be fully expressed in words. Today, we all come with a variety of feelings. Some of these feelings we are able to talk about, and some are so overwhelming that we are at a complete loss for words and have only sighs and tears left to express how we truly feel at the loss of Maxine.
The strongest feelings from this past week that still are with us today have been sadness, loss, and sorrow. None of us were wanting Maxine to die any time soon. There were still so many things for her to live for. She had wanted to live to the nice round age of 80. Bob and her were going to be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary next Thursday, on April 3. Her family is still growing, as more great-grandbabies are on the way. Her chemo treatments had seemed to be treating her cancer as well as expected. (Sigh)...Why, why, why? Why did she have to die now, Lord? Why did she die now, when it just doesn’t seem like the right time to us? Maxine’s son Bobbie said it like it was Wednesday night at the hospital, when we had a feeling things were turning for the worse. He said, “This sucks.” He hit the nail right on the head. It is one of the worst feelings, if not the worst feeling in the world, to watch someone you love die.
“The wages of sin is death,” the apostle Paul says in his letter to the Romans, at the end of the 6th chapter. When humans sin, what we earn is death. What is sin? Sin is actions that lead to brokeness, especially actions that lead to a broken relationship with God, and broken relationships with others. As Maxine’s daughter Gail said a few times this past week, “It’s all Adam and Eve’s fault.” It’s true, the first humans sinned, when they did what God told them not to do, but you know what? You and I, these many thousands of years later, we sin, too. We sin, both knowingly and unknowingly. It’s part of the human condition. Not that we should use that as an excuse to keep on sinning, to keep on breaking relationships with God and with others. We shouldn’t sin, because our Lord Jesus calls us to live a sinless life, but time and time again, no matter how hard we try, we fail to live that sinless life. Once human sin entered into God’s creation, it’s like a drop of food coloring fell into a crystal clear glass of water. When you put a drop of food coloring into a clear glass of water, eventually, the whole glass turns that shade of color. Sin is pervasive in our world, it’s all around us, even if we ourselves try our hardest not to sin. Sin breaks relationships, and that brokeness leads to our death. “The wages of sin is death,” Paul writes.
But Paul doesn’t stop there. The whole sentence reads like this. Paul writes, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is hope for Maxine, even though she has died. There is hope for us, in our grief now, and for when we will die someday, too. There is hope, because we have been given a promise from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We who follow and trust in Jesus Christ have the promise of the grace of God. God’s grace is a free gift. We can’t buy God’s grace or earn it or do good deeds for it. God’s grace comes to us in Jesus Christ while we are still sinners, and that grace forgives all our sins and grants us eternal life. God acts first, by coming into this world in our human flesh in Jesus Christ, showering us with God’s grace and love, and what we do, is we respond to that love. We believe in God’s love, and trust in it, because time and time again, throughout history, God has revealed Himself as worthy of our trust.
Psalm 91, which you heard me read here today, is a beautiful Psalm which tells us and tells the world why it is good to trust in God. God is our refuge and fortress. God delivers us from snares and deadly pestilence. God covers us with his wings, and under those wings, we find refuge.
Maxine reflected this particular attitude and way of God in her own life. The Psalm talks about God as having wings of protection. Maxine had these kind of wings, too. I know that her daughter Deb, and others of you, too, have described Maxine as a mother hen, who would gather her family close to her and take care of you, to protect you and steer you down paths that she knew were God’s ways. She’d try to gather you to trust in the Lord, because even though life gets rough and bad things may happen to us, the Lord is where we find our refuge and strength. God ensures that, in the end, we will not be left alone. The end of Psalm 91 tells us that the Lord says, “Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.”
We need God’s salvation because we need to be saved from sin, death, and the devil. We need to be saved from brokeness and restored to wholeness. Jesus Christ is the one who does this. Jesus came into the world to teach us how to live, and he came to show us that God loves us so very much. God the Father loves us so much that he sent his only Son into this world, so that we might see how far God will go to save us and get us turned back to him. Jesus came, and died one of the most horrible deaths that a person can die. He came and died on a cross. On the cross, Jesus dies for us and with us so that we might never die alone.
I have preached that sentence many times in my life, that Jesus dies for us and with us so that we might never die alone, but only once in my life, so far, have I actually seen something with my own eyes that reveals the truth of that sentence. And what I saw, happened last Friday. Because last Friday was Good Friday, the day we solemnly celebrate the fact that Jesus died for us and for the sins of the world. “Jesus dies for us and with us so that we might never die alone.” Wouldn’t you know it? Maxine died about 3:20 p.m. on Friday, about 20 minutes after Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels tell us that Jesus died on that Good Friday long ago. Do you see the connection? On the day that Maxine died, the whole church recognizes that Jesus died. Jesus died for Maxine and with Maxine, so that she would never die alone.
The gospel lesson that we heard today isn’t a “normal” gospel lesson you’d hear at a funeral service. Usually, we hear something from the Gospel of John. Sometimes we hear where Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” That’s a good verse to hear Jesus say to us when we’re grieving the loss of a loved one. Another “usual” gospel lesson you might hear at a memorial service is when Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house, there are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and I will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going, because I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” Again, those are good verses to hear when we are mourning the death of a loved one.
But today, with the help of some family members, we’ve chosen to listen to something a little different. We’ve chosen to listen to Jesus tell us a little more clearly about the Way that Jesus walks, and the Way that Jesus calls us to follow. Jesus calls us, together with the crowd and his disciples, and he lays it all out there for us. He says, “If anyone wants to become my follower, let them deny themselves, and take up their cross, and follow me. If you want to save your life all by yourself, you are going to lose it. But if you lose your life for me––Jesus, and if you lose your life for the sake of the good news of God, then THAT’S when you are going to save it. What’s it going to profit you to gain the whole world and all the stuff that is in it, if you are going to lose your life? Indeed, what can you give in return for your life?”
In these verses, we hear Jesus telling his disciples and telling us what it means to follow him. It isn't going to be an easy walk in the park. It's going to be tough. From what I've gathered from listening to all of you the past week, things weren't always easy for Maxine or your family. Things got tough, especially as Maxine battled cancer over the years, and when Carol died, and probably a lot of other tough things, too. Maxine took up her cross and she carried these burdens as she followed Jesus and kept her faith in God. And as she did that, often times, Deb said that she gave up things she could have done for herself. She made sacrifices so that her family members could have some good things in life. She gave up things in her life for you all, and in doing so, she shared the good news of the love of God in Jesus Christ with you, even if she didn't ever say it in that kind of way. Did Maxine build up a massive amount of wealth to serve her own needs? No. But she did built up a family full of people for God, and she tried her best to kept them together, and she tried her best to love them, so that they might love one another with Christ's love. What could Maxine give in return for her life? Nothing. Everything we have is given to us from God out of grace, entrusted to us to care for and to love while we are here, and after we leave this earth, it's for someone else to care for. Grace is something God gives freely out of love, and it is never given because we earned it or deserve it. It's given because God loves us so very much. God loves Maxine, and God loves us. In her death, God gives Maxine the grace of eternal life, and we, too, look forward to that gift when we will die and we will see God, and we will see our loved ones face-to-face once again.
We don’t rush to our death in order for these things to happen. We continue to live our lives, trusting in God, because God has given us our lives out of love, and God wants nothing more for us than for us to live an abundant life. God is a lover of life. God does not love death. If God the Father didn’t despise death, he wouldn’t have sent Jesus to battle and defeat death on the cross for us. God defeats death, and God loves us so much that he offers eternal life to Maxine and to all of us who follow and believe in Jesus.
In the midst of our grief, we know the joy of God. We know that God loves us and God loves Maxine. We know that God gives Maxine eternal life, and God will grant us eternal life. As it says in Psalm 73, verse 26, which is on the front of our worship bulletins, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.” Although her flesh and her heart may have failed, Maxine trusted in the promise and love of God to the end, and now, she’s as free as the dove on the front of our bulletins. No more cancer, no more pain, no more suffering. She’s free to be with Jesus, in the heavenly courts of God. We’re going to miss her, but we know that she’s safe in the gracious and loving arms of God. For this, we give you thanks, Gracious Father, as we continue to pray to you, through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen]]>
Or download a PDF version here.
The texts for this service were: Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4; Matthew 28:1-10. It would be best if you'd read them first.
This sermon relies heavily upon a sermon found at http://www.lectionarysermons.com/march=31_02.htm
The sermon starts below.
There are moments in all of our lives that are frozen in time and frozen in our memories. They can be good moments, and bad moments. Moments of overwhelming joy, and moments of profound grief. These frozen moments are locked in our hearts and our minds because of the impact they’ve made, and that impact holds a kind of power in our lives. It takes just a moment or two to flip of a switch in your brain, and suddenly, you can find yourself reliving one of those moments. Can you remember, and relive it? Let’s find out. Do you remember your first kiss? How about a wedding you went to? Maybe your own wedding? Do you remember that look on the doctor's face, that one time? How about the day a child was born? Or that time when that one really bad storm came sweeping over the plains? How about that time when you had to pack up all your stuff and move? Or that time when you lost a person you loved?
All of these are moments which are locked in place, and in some sense, time stops when these frozen moments are called to mind. The most dramatic of them all, are those moments of life and death that make up the greatest, most wonderful events, and the worst, most devastating events of our living. "Defining moments” some folks might call them. As we gather here at Immanuel on this Easter Sunday, we celebrate the single most important defining moment of our Christian faith - the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without this moment, none of the other defining moments of our lives would ever make sense.
The moment of Christ’s resurrection was one of the frozen moments in the lives of Mary Magdalene and the woman that Matthew’s gospel calls, "the other Mary."
On that Sunday, many years ago, Mary Magdalene woke up for the second time, since that horrible Friday, to the chilling reality of a world without Jesus, the One who had completely changed her life. That moment on Friday, as Matthew’s gospel tells us, when Jesus hung on the cross and called out to a dark sky, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!"... that moment was forever etched in her mind. He had been so full of life, energy and stunning healing power - she herself had experienced all of that the day Jesus had set her free from years of emotional anguish and turmoil - and now suddenly her whole new world and new life was gone.
He had given her a new life and promised those who followed him a new life, but now that terrible image of his lifeless body on a Roman cross is frozen in her mind. Friday night, Sabbath and the evening before the first day of the week dragged on moment by moment, and the grief lingered without relief.
Much of that time was spent at Jesus' graveside. Just a few verses before our gospel reading begins, Matthew writes, "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb." We might call it a wake, or a visitation, but with nothing else to do and the light of their lives extinguished, they sat across from the tomb, watching the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea carefully lay Jesus' body in the rock-hewn tomb.
A numb fog-like spirit surrounded these women who were always in the background of Jesus’ public life. This was the only way they knew to stay close to him. Drawn by love, they sat there in that strange silent period that comes to all of us when someone we love so very much is taken from us. We wait, not sure why, but we wait -- unable to go back to what was, and not sure how to move forward into what will be.
Frozen moments. We seen them over and over, just like everyone else throughout history. A crowd gathers on a sidewalk outside of a New York apartment in the days following the murder of John Lennon on December 8, 1980. For countless hours, crowds stood holding candles, weeping and standing in that emotional fog we know so well.
Similar crowds stood all over America in the days following President John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963.
Crowds still gather in that foggy state on the sidewalks of New York City, looking toward that place where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. The sense of shock and unbelief that filled the hearts and minds of millions all over the world as the Twin Towers came crashing to the ground on September 11, 2001, may qualify as the single most frozen moment in our contemporary world.
Perhaps this comes closest to what Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were feeling as they sat "across from the tomb."
Then there is another moment that changed Mary's Magdalene's life and the lives of countless millions since the day it happened. The scene is riveting! We heard Matthew’s description of it minutes ago. John C. Purdy recaptures the scene in his book of reflections, God With a Human Face. [Westminster/John Knox, 1993]
Purdy writes: Cecil B. DeMille couldn’t have dreamed up anything more stunning. (It was literally stunning for the men who were guarding the tomb.) There was an earthquake, caused by something like a sonic boom. An angel in shining raiment came plunging down out of the sky like a stealth fighter; he rolled back the tombstone and sat on it. The men who were guarding the tomb were scared to death - or at least so frightened that they passed out and lay like dead men. So dazzling was the heavenly messenger that it was reported - presumably by the women - that he flashed like lightning. One can only guess at the timbre and resonance of his voice. Charlton Heston and James Earl Jones, eat your hearts out! That’s what Mr. Purdy writes.
Mary Magdalene and the "other" Mary came back to revisit their grief early on that first Easter Morning, having perhaps slept a few moments here and there between those crashing waves of shock and unbelief. And then, another frozen moment happens, a defining moment when joy cuts through their rock hard grief like a red-hot poker through a block of ice! The words are of the variety that stop you dead in your tracks, and bring your hectic life agenda to a screeching halt. Words like: "You're hired!" "Yes, I’ll marry you!" "Mom, Dad, I'm pregnant!" "You're biopsy came back negative!"
These words that the angel says on this day are forever engraved on the hearts and soul of every person who has ever embraced the name of Jesus Christ since they were first spoken. These words are, “He is not here, for He has been raised...”
This changes everything!
From the hopeless fog that descended upon the earliest followers of Jesus Christ, to the stunned victims of the world’s worst tragedies - these words change everything. "He is not here, for he has been raised!"
No matter how long the road or dark the way, the Easter faith proclaims hope in the face of despair, light in the midst of darkness, joy in the night of sorrow and most of all... life in a glorious victory over death!
It is difficult to wrap our minds around the impact these words must have had on the two Mary's. Into the early dawn, when light was just beginning to disperse the shadows around the tomb, it is as though an explosion went off in front of them!
"Do not be afraid," an angel's voice cries out.
Yeah, right! I get startled when I’m concentrating on something in the quiet, and someone sneaks up on me and says something like, “Hey, what are you doing?” It happened to me twice yesterday. My heart skipped a bit, and maybe the same thing happens to you, too.
But a brilliant angel from heaven bursting into a grief laden, sleepy early morning visit to a graveside - now that's a frightening experience. Then the emotional roller coaster continues to jar them as the words are then spoken, "He is not here, for he has been raised!"
With those words, that first dawning of Easter day brought a hopeful light that dispelled the awful darkness of death for all time and eternity!
***
But on this Easter Sunday, there are three unlikely words that also seek to grab our attention. On the surface, they pale in comparison to the amazing words which announced Jesus' resurrection. The angel’s words certainly are the core of our gospel story this morning, and the core of our faith. But there are some other words that bring hope to you and to me and to every person who has ever felt very small in a universe of famous and important people.
Let these three words sink in for a moment: “The other Mary!”
Easter is filled with all kinds of glorious phrases and songs and prayers. We sing, "Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!" Millions of Christians will join in the Easter Acclamation. "Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!" and the response comes back, "He is risen indeed! Alleluia!" And Matthew’s gospel proclaims, "He is not here, for he has been raised!"
But these three other words are the words that speak with a special meaning today. "The other Mary..."
Do you remember hearing them in the gospel reading today? Let’s hear these words once again in their context, "After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb."
At the tomb was, of course, Mary Magdalene, we all know. But who else came to the tomb to hear the earth-shaking, life-changing words of the angel? Was it Peter, Chief of the Apostles? Was it the Roman Emperor, or at least a Centurion? How about the Wise Men from the East? Maybe they would be the proper audience for the first announcement of God's stunning victory over death.
But it wasn’t any of them, was it? No... it wasn’t the rich or the powerful or the famous who were chosen to hear the words. It was two women who had faithfully followed and ministered to Jesus. It was Mary Magdalene, and most amazing of all -- "the other Mary."
Have you ever been the other Mary? There is the second century Christian apologist Justin Martyr and pop singer Justin Timberlake and Gumbo-cooking expert Justin Wilson. All of those Justin’s are pretty famous. And then there’s me, "the other Justin." The absolute majority of us will never even make a footnote in history. Have you ever felt like the "other" Mary or the "other" Justin, or Elizabeth, or William?
And yet, there we are, the others, right at the center of the most incredible moment of all time!
There we are when God shows up and turns the world inside out and upside down in a way that changes everything for everybody. We others are there, and the angel’s message is for us, too. “He is not here, for he has been raised..."
No matter who you are, where you've been, what your station in life is, or how life has been for you, the glorious truth of this Easter celebration of the victory of life over death is for you! It is for "the other Mary," and for you and for me! Thanks be to God! “He is not here, for he has been raised..." The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!]]>
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In 2008, Immanuel focused on the theme The Body of Christ on evenings during Lent. This morning's sermon is on the risen body of Christ.
The texts for the day were: Jeremiah 31:1-6; Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Please note: the original text of this sermon was written by Harlan Kaden for The Body of Christ, by Creative Communications for the Parish, and the copyright belongs to them. I have edited the original sermon to the context of my local congregation.
The sermon starts below.
Over at Immanuel, during the season of Lent, our Mid-Week evening Lenten Services, along with our Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, focused on the theme of the Body of Christ. We have looked at the feet of Christ, the hands of Christ, his mouth, his ears, his eyes, heart, blood–the body of Christ–these parts and the whole body of Christ are a source of blessing for all with whom he came into contact.
With his feet he walked from one village to another, so that his hands could touch and heal. His mouth continually announced the forgiveness of sins, and it preached that the kingdom of God was near, and it proclaimed the love of a gracious parental God. His ears were tuned to hear cries for mercy from others, and his eyes were open to see their misery. His heart, full of compassion and love, again and again prompted him to use the power of God to heal and comfort people with the forgiveness of their sins, even to the point of raising the dead! Christ used the full capacity of his body to bring God’s love and God’s kingdom into the world.
In a simple and basic way to describe and show his love for us, at the last supper, Jesus gave his body for food and his blood for drink as he passed the bread and wine around the table.
Then he gave his body to be broken and crucified, and his blood to be poured out upon the cross.
And when he died, the body of Christ was buried, laid in a stone grave, sealed in a tomb with a great rock.
It was this same lifeless body of Christ which Mary Magdalene was seeking when she went to the tomb early that Sunday morning.
But she didn’t FIND the lifeless body of Christ in the tomb! She was mentally ready to finish preparing the body of her Lord and Master for burial. Where was it? What was she to do? She ran and got Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved. Maybe they’d be able to help. They ran and came and looked, but strangely, John’s gospel tells us, that’s about all that happened. After all that, they went home, because they didn’t yet understand the scripture, that Jesus must rise from the dead. The two men went home.
But Mary stayed. She stayed, and found out something amazing. She found out that the body of Christ has risen! The body of Christ is resurrected to eternal life.
This resurrected body isn’t a nebulous, hazy, ghost sort of body. It’s real, because Mary was able to grab onto him as she tried to not let him go. And later that day, in John’s gospel, Jesus goes and meets the disciples and greets them. And he offers them his pierced hands and side. Even Thomas, a week later, gets to see and touch Christ’s very real hands with very real nail holes in them. All of the disciples fell at Jesus’ feet in wonder as they met their risen Lord.
Those same feet of Christ, once washed by the tears of a sinful woman, were again embraced by his friends. They heard the gracious words of his mouth, and he even ate in their presence.
It is true that his body may have been changed in some way. Glorified, some might call it. More real, would be another way to describe it.
More solid than our world, maybe, for he walked through the walls behind which the disciples used to hide in fear. He stepped through those solid walls as we might step through a curtain of fog. The risen body of Christ is more permanent than the clouds of atoms and electrons which we call reality.
His body was changed to a glorious, immortal body. And because he lives, we shall live also! We are followers of Christ. Most, if not all of us, have been baptized into Christ. And since we are in Christ, we, too, shall have better, eternal bodies, when we die and are raised.
This is the good news for the day of our own death: that we will live eternally in God’s kingdom because of the gracious, free gift of faith given to each of us.
But there is also good news for today, right here and now.
I think we can get at this good news by asking the question, “Where is the body of Christ now? Where is the body of Christ today?” We know that Jesus is no longer walking the dusty roads of Palestine and preaching and healing, for he was crucified and buried nearly 2000 years ago. We know the body of Christ is no longer in the tomb, either, for Mary Magdalene met the risen Christ in the garden, as this stain glass window will show us when the sun comes up this morning. And Jesus also appeared to many disciples when he was resurrected. So where is the body of Christ now?
One answer to that question would be that it is in the kingdom of God, in heaven. The book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 9, says that Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of the disciples’ sight. So certainly the body of Christ is in heaven, right? But there is another answer, too.
This morning, as we’ve gathered together to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ here at the Madison Community Easter Sunrise Service, we’ve come to an empty tomb. This building used to house the group of people that called themselves the United Presbyterian Church in Madison. Today, that church no longer exists. Because remember, a church is what is left after the building burns down. Church is people. Church is never a building. Church is people. Sure, the group of people known as the church can own and maintain a building, but never is a church strictly a building.
So, in my opinion, where we’ve gathered here today, for the most part, is an empty tomb. It sits empty most of the time on most weeks. And in this empty tomb, this morning, we find and proclaim something amazing. We find and proclaim that the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
That’s right. Even though we gather here in an empty tomb, the amazing thing is, he is risen indeed! Alleluia! As I peer through my early morning eyes, wondering if I really am awake, I find an answer to the question, “Where is the body of Christ now?”
The Body of Christ is right here. The Body of Christ is in fact, gathered and seated in these very pews! YOU are the body of Christ!
As the feet of Christ, you walk into hospital rooms to bring the presence of God to people in need. You go to people where they are at, and through befriending them, you share the love of Christ with them. You walk into the homes of the elderly and shut-ins to bring the presence of Jesus Christ to their loneliness. You are the Body of Christ.
You are the hands of Christ, as you lay your hands upon the sick; you touch them with love and pray for them. You shake others’ hands, and pull them into your conversations, as you stick a cup of coffee or something else to drink in their hands. You are the body of Christ!
You are the mouth of Christ, when you speak love, gentleness, and God’s mercy to the brokenhearted and grieving. You announce forgiveness and reconciliation to those who feel the guilt of their sins and their broken ways. You are the body of Christ!
You are the ears of Christ, when you hear the cries of the sad and weary, and you respond to them. You listen patiently, for many need to express their pain, frustrations, and exhaustion. You hear them with the love of Jesus, because you are the body of Christ.
You are the eyes of Christ, when you see the weak and powerless as they suffer injustice and you become their ally and speak up for them and help them, just as Christ has become our advocate before the Father. You are the Body of Christ!
You are the heart of Christ, because the love you have is the very love of God moving inside of you. And that love causes you to contribute generously–you give money, you give hours of labor, you share great talents and abilities for the work of Christ. It is the very heart of Christ which compels you to do such acts of compassion here in Madison and in northeast Nebraska and around the world.
You, truly, are the risen body of Christ!
As members of the Body of Christ, we must take care of one another. That is why we come together here. Only when we are all here, is the body of Christ complete. If any one of you is not here, we are not whole. Then one of the members of Christ is cut off from the body.
When we are all here, we draw strength from one another. We also draw strength from the Word, the good news of forgiveness which gives life to our body in Christ. And although we are not celebrating them here together today, we draw strength from Baptism and from Communion. Baptism gives birth to new members of Christ’s Church, and Communion sustains us with the body and blood of Jesus, who is our Lord and our Head.
We need this sustenance to keep our body united, and to have the strength day after day to be the Body of Christ, bringing God’s love into our world.
That is why we gather week after week in our various buildings around town, so we can keep on being the feet of Christ, the hands of Christ, the mouth, ears, eyes, and heart of Christ. That’s the good news for today! We get to be the flesh-and-blood body of God’s eternal love here in the world! And the good news for eternity is that we shall live with him forever, for in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, in chapter 15, Paul writes, “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Alleluia! The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
Download a PDF version here.
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Or download a PDF version here.
In 2008, Immanuel is focusing on the theme The Body of Christ on evenings during Lent. Tonight's sermon is on the body of Christ.
The texts for the day were: Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Colossians 1:15-20; John 18:1–19:42. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Please note: the original text of this sermon was written by Harlan Kaden for The Body of Christ, by Creative Communications for the Parish, and the copyright belongs to them. I have edited the original sermon to the context of my local congregation.
The sermon starts below.
The body of Christ must have been a remarkably healthy body. It is hard to imagine a person who could heal the sick, give sight to the blind, open the ears of the deaf, make the lame walk and even raise the dead to life, as having anything less than a perfectly healthy body himself. In the gospels, we read about Jesus walking all around the lands of Galilee, the Decapolis, Judea, Samaria. The landscape of that part of the Middle East is quite hilly, so as Jesus walked around and did his ministry, he most certainly got a work-out. Almost everything he did would have required a physically fit body.
Yet, on the night of his betrayal, his health had already been exposed to stress even before the first of several trials.
When Jesus was praying in the garden, some ancient manuscripts of the gospel of Luke include these words: “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.”
It seems almost impossible that a person would be able to sweat blood. But an article released 22 years ago today, in the March 21, 1986, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” states that bloody sweat or hematidrosis may occur in highly emotional states.
Jesus was then arrested and brought to trial. Here is when the abuse of the body of Christ began. He was first taken before the Sanhedrin, and was found guilty of blasphemy. Mark’s gospel tells us how the guards blindfolded Jesus, spat on him, and struck him in the face with their fists, mocking him the entire time.
Since the Jewish leaders needed Roman permission for an execution, he was put on trial before Pilate, the Roman authority in the region. Before permission to crucify him was granted, Jesus was first scourged, or flogged.
In considering the suffering of the body of Jesus, it seems to me like it has only been within the past few years that there has been a renewed understanding of the suffering that Jesus went through when he was flogged. The account passes by so quickly when we are reading the gospel story: Tonight, in John chapter 19 verse 1, I read, “Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.” But the ordeal of flogging wouldn’t have happened as quickly for Jesus.
Flogging was a legal preliminary to every Roman execution, and only women, Roman senators, and soldiers were exempt. The usual instrument used to flog someone was a short whip called a flagrum or a flagellum with several single or braided leather thongs of variable lengths, in which small iron balls and nails or sharp pieces of sheep bones were tied at intervals. The back, buttocks, and legs of a man were normally flogged by two soldiers called lictors. As the condemned was repeatedly struck, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and nails and sheep bones would cut into the skin and underlying tissues. This brutal attack would often leave the back of the accused as a mass of quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. And we think that the violence we see on television or in the movies is a modern-day invention. If only that were true.
Telling you what happens to a man when he is flogged wasn’t told to offend you, but it helps us to meditate on our reading from Isaiah tonight. Isaiah writes, “by his stripes we are healed.” Knowing what happens when Jesus was flogged helps us realizes the severity of his stripes, those stripes on his back which lead to our healing.
Jesus was then mocked by the Roman soldiers. The body of Christ was subjected to further indignities. They placed a robe on his shoulders, and a crown of thorns on his head. My guess would be that they didn’t do that very lovingly. They probably pulled that robe down on his shoulders, and rubbed it into his wounds. And they probably shoved that crown of thorns onto his head, not caring how hard it would dig into his scalp. And they spat on the body of Christ. And they struck him on the head with a reed they had placed in his hand, which was to serve as a mock scepter of a king.
Again, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, with the scourging, the pain, and significant blood loss, the body of Christ was probably already in a pre-shock state. Considering the lack of food, water, and sleep, he would have already been in a weakened state. Even before the crucifixion, the physical condition of Jesus was at the least serious, and quite possibly critical.
Next came the procession to the crucifixion site. He was forced to carry the cross bar of his own cross. Its weight would normally have been 75 to 100 pounds. John’s gospel tells us that Jesus carries his cross by himself. The other gospels tell us that Simon of Cyrene was coerced into helping Jesus carry his cross.
Once they reached Golgotha, the body of Christ was then thrown to the ground, which either reopened the wounds of his flogging, or rubbed dirt into the wounds. His hands were then nailed to the cross beam. Evidence today shows us that most people, when they were crucified, had the nails driven through their forearms or wrists, since this would ensure that the person wouldn’t fall of the cross. But there would be times when those who did the crucifying would take liberties in how they would administer the punishment. Since John’s gospel tells us that Jesus’ hands were pierced, perhaps the executioner that day wanted to inflict even more humiliation on Jesus, so perhaps he put the nails in the palms of his hands instead. Either way, Jesus’ arms were stretched wide open as the cross bar was then hoisted up unto the upright. And then his feet were nailed to the upright.
In this position the length of survival for victims of crucifixion might vary from a few hours up to several days. The process of crucifixion interferes with normal breathing. With the weight of the body hanging on the arms, it is necessary to lift the body with the legs to draw a breath. Each respiration requires an agonizing and tiring effort, which leads eventually to exhaustion and asphyxia. This, coupled with the loss of blood, finally led to death.
Even after his death, the body of Christ was subject to abuse. A spear was thrust into his side, piercing his lung and heart. Blood and water flowed from the wound.
On this Good Friday, we take the time to visualize vividly the things Christ suffering in his body–not to make ourselves feel more guilty, but that we might feel more grateful. He bore our sins in his body on the cross. But there is no need to feel guilty for that. After all, he did it voluntarily, for us. In John’s Gospel, that’s what Jesus comes to do. It’s the plan, the entire time. As they would tell us during our first year of seminary, Jesus was never plan B. Jesus comes and suffers for us because God loves us so much. Jesus’ death on the cross shows us just how far God is willing to go to get us turned back to God. God loves us through sin and death, so much so, that God will take on our sin and die with us and for us so that we never have to die alone. Are we to feel remorse that Jesus died a brutal death for us on the cross? No, rather, we are to feel gratitude and deep devotion.
The body of Christ lifted up on the cross draws all hearts to itself.
Finally, Joseph of Arimathea comes before Pilate, asks, and is given permission to take Jesus’ lifeless body and prepare it for burial. The body of Christ is removed from the cross. Jesus is taken down from his throne, where it was announced to the world that he is “Jesus Christ, King of the Jews.”
As John tells the story, we hear that Jesus’ mother Mary stood by and watched as her son had died on the cross. Parents who have grieved the death of their own children will understand how Mary’s soul was pierced by a spear, too. Try as she might, her love could not make Jesus alive again. No amount of love from all of the people gathered around the body of Christ could reverse the reality of his death. Only the love and power of God could do that.
The body of Christ was carried to a carved rock tomb, wrapped in a linen shroud, laid-out on the cold stone slab, and sealed inside with a large stone.
The body of Christ, with all of its marvelous members and wonderful attributes, lay still! The feet of Christ...the hands of Christ...the mouth, the ears, the eyes of Christ....the heart and blood of Christ....the whole body of Christ....was dead!
The stillness of death, final and complete, was all that now surrounded the sacred body of Christ.
We are left tonight to contemplate the utter desolation of the apostles, the women, and the other followers of Jesus. For our faith to grow, we need to also experience their dejection as we wonder with them:
Why didn’t Jesus save himself? Why should he let the finality of death destroy the love and the joy he so freely gave to all? Why was he always saying, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand”?
And especially after considering the truly awful aspects of the crucifixion of his own body, why would he tell us, “If any would come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”?
There are many questions to ask, and many statements of Jesus to ponder. Perhaps, most of all, we should think about what he meant when he said something else about his body. What do you think Jesus meant, when he said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up”?
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Or download a PDF version here.
In 2008, Immanuel is focusing on the theme The Body of Christ on evenings during Lent. Tonight's sermon is on the blood of Christ.
The texts for the day were: Exodus 12:1-14; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-35. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Please note: the original text of this sermon was written by Harlan Kaden for The Body of Christ, by Creative Communications for the Parish, and the copyright belongs to them. I have edited the original sermon to the context of my local congregation.
The sermon starts below.
On Wednesdays throughout the season of Lent this year, we’ve looked at different parts of the Body of Christ. We’ve looked at Christ’s feet, hands, mouth, ears, eyes, and heart. Tonight, as we gather on this Maundy Thursday, we look at an essential part of the human body which is also a part of Christ’s body. Tonight, we look at the Blood of Christ.
Blood is the fluid of life. When Cain killed his brother Abel, the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!”
As early as Genesis chapter 9, verse 4, God had spoken a solemn prohibition to humanity. God said: “You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is its blood.”
This restriction on eating and drinking blood is repeated in Leviticus 7:27 and again many other times. “Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from the people.”
When the children of Israel were being led by Moses out of Egypt, they were protected from the plague of death by the blood of an unblemished lamb, as that lamb’s blood was painted on their doorways. The Lord had told them: “The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”
Blood was used in all the sacrificial rites in the worship of the tabernacle in the wilderness. The blood of a bull was sprinkled on the mercy seat, and on the horns of the altar, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. The bull’s blood, that is, its life, was a substitution for the lives of the people who had sinned.
The New Testament Letter to the Hebrews summarizes the use of blood for reconciliation. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 22 says, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
It’s not that much different for us in our attitude towards blood. Blood still carries the essential connection of life. A massive loss of blood almost always leads to the loss of one’s life. Unless the flow of blood from an open wound is quickly stopped, the strength and vitality of a wounded person will pour out of them, eventually leaving behind a body devoid of life. The Red Cross publicizes its appeal for blood donations with this effective and accurate plea: “Give the gift of life–Give blood.” Blood transfusions still save the lives of thousands every year. If and whenever you participate in a Bloodmobile program, that would be a good time to focus your thoughts on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the time when he gave his blood to save our lives.
But it may be harder for us than it was for the ancient Hebrews to identify with the notion that the shedding of blood can remove guilt of sin. What does the blood of a sacrificial animal have to do with our own sinful deeds, sins which use and abuse another child of God? Why slaughter an animal for my sins?
Even in the Old Testament–in the first chapter of Isaiah–this question is raised as God rejects sacrifice which is not accompanied by repentance. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 11 reads: “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?” says the LORD; “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.” Just a few verses later in that same chapter, in verses 16 & 17, God says what God would rather have people do. God says, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” What God says here in these verses in Isaiah, sounds a lot like what Jesus tells his disciples in John’s gospel tonight. In Isaiah, God says, ‘Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean.” Jesus says, “Wash one another’s feet.” In Isaiah, God says, “remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Jesus summarizes all of these things when he says, “Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”
Yet the letting of blood serves a purpose. The letting of blood serves to dramatize the serious nature of guilt and sin. When we sin, we are breaking a relationship that God has established, whether it be our relationship with God, or our relationship with others. And when we sin and break those God-established relationships, we lose God-given life. It slips away. When we break God-established relationships, it is as though we’ve cut the skin of a living being, and blood is pouring out, and God-given life is slipping away. To sin means that you’ve killed something to which God had given life.
The blood of Christ, the precious life of Christ, is a very special kind of blood. For not only was Christ’s blood sinless and pure, unstained by hate and harm. Christ’s blood was also poured out voluntarily for us and for the sins of the world. Jesus offers his blood for us.
The same can’t be said for the animals that were sacrificed to God by the Israelites and the Jewish people. Animals never volunteered themselves for sacrifice. Never had a bull or a lamb chosen to carry the sins of sinners. Never had pigeons or doves elected to feel the pain and rejection of the sin which they did not deserve.
Judas recognized that the blood of Christ was sinless. In Matthew’s Gospel, after Judas realizes that Jesus is going to be put to death, Judas says, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”
Even Pilate, who condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion, admitted that the blood of Christ was pure, when he said, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves [that he is crucified].”
And so, Jesus was crucified.
When he had died, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
The sacred blood of Jesus, the life of God, drained to the soil of Golgotha beneath Christ’s cross for the one purpose of displaying God’s love for the world. The blood of Christ gives forgiveness of sins, just as Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1: “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”
Again, in Ephesians 2, we are assured that our relationship to God is restored by this bleeding Son of God. Paul writes, “But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ.”
This blood of Christ, sprinkled not on an altar for sacrificing animals but rather flowing freely from our Lord’s side on a cross, this blood mysteriously gives us serenity in our souls. As we’ll hear in our reading from Colossians tomorrow night, Paul writes: “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
Yet it is in the upper room, before his sacrifice on the cross, that the greatest shock and surprise is registered. It was there, that our Lord Jesus took a cup of wine, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus turns the ancient law against the eating and drinking of blood upside down. Jesus says to drink this blood, which is his blood, because this blood contains his life and gives us life. At the Last Supper, the first Eucharist, the first Holy Communion, Jesus gives his own flesh as bread and his own blood as wine precisely because it does indeed contain new life.
And tonight, on this Maundy Thursday, we remember and do what Maundy means. Maundy comes from a Latin word that means “command” or “mandate,” and so tonight, we do what Christ commands us to do. We gather together to love one another as Jesus has loved us. And we experience this love of Jesus by being given the very blood of Christ, and we drink it, because it quenches our parched spirits. It gives us life in the midst of the death that we experience as a result of our sins.
In fact, in John chapter 6, Jesus taught that true life cannot be obtained without the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his blood. Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”
Tonight, we drink the very life of God to revive our shriveled souls. It is this blood of Christ, this life of God which we swallow, that gives us the strength to love one another as Christ has loved us.
Download a PDF version of this sermon.]]>
It's back, baby! The Lutheran Pool sponsored by FrontRowLutheran.com! Pick your brackets and see if you can win two fabulous prizes: exclusive bragging rights and a shout-out post right here on FrontRowLutheran.com. Open to all!
As far as I can tell, if you want to play, you've got to be a member of Facebook.com (it's free, and seriously, if you're not on Facebook, you're not really on the Internet).
The winner out of all the brackets on Facebook's 2008 CBS Sports.com Tournament Brackets will win $10,000 (which is $15,000 less than last year's grand prize of $25,000...cheap skates...we must be in a recession or something).
The official rules say you'll have to go to www.facebook.com/brackets to sign-up.
If you're already signed up, you should be able to join The Lutheran Pool Sponsored by FrontRowLutheran.com at this link.
Sign-up NOW! Your picks must be submitted by 11:00 AM ET on March 20, 2008.
And have fun!
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Or download a PDF version here.
The texts for the day were: Matthew 21:1-11; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66. It would be best if you'd read them first.
This sermon relied heavily upon a sermon written by Dr. Susan Flemin McGurgan, which can be found in the archives over at http://www.mtsm.org/preaching/
The sermon starts below.
Using some thoughts by Dr. Susan Fleming McGurgan1 as a guide today, I’d like for us to reflect on that original Palm Sunday from years ago.
The journey into Jerusalem began with a glorious spectacle of waving palms branches and adoring crowds. As Jesus entered the holy city, some people ran ahead, alerting friends and neighbors, while others threw their cloaks upon the road, crying, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Save us! Save us from Rome! Blessed is the King! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
In that moment of entering Jerusalem, at that triumphant moment, there was nothing the crowd would have denied Jesus. There was nothing they would have refused him. There was nothing they would have withheld. Power… Riches…A throne…They would have jumped at the chance to give it to him. It was all within his grasp.
Or so it seemed.
But this rowdy crowd was just as eager to “get” something as it was to give.
They were hungry—hungry for whatever Jesus could give them that would fulfill their wants. Some were hungry for political status, and they waved their palms for a King who would restore the Jewish state.
Some were starving for power, and so they threw their cloaks before a warrior whom they believed would crush the Roman army.
Some were hungry for comfort, and so they shouted for a hero who could fill their bellies and dry their tears.
Together, these hungry folks waved their palm branches. These palms aren’t just pretty branches. To the crowd, these palms represent a Jewish symbol of freedom from not so long ago. About 200 years prior to this first Palm Sunday, the Maccabees, who were a group of Jews, revolted against the foreign occupying Seleucids, and they defeated them. Winning the revolt, the Maccabees established an independent and free Jewish state. And as they formed this independent and free Jewish state, they used the symbol of the palm branch to show that they were glorious in defeating the foreign powers of the Seleucids. They waved palm branches as they celebrated their victory, and they also minted coins with palm branches on them to remind them that they had won their freedom fighting.
But now, this crowd of Jews gathered around Jesus, they were not free like the Maccabees. They were oppressed and occupied by the Romans, and they were hungry to have what the Jews had once had, only a few hundred years ago. The crowd was hungry for freedom, and it was all within their grasp...or so it seemed.
But God had a different plan. You see, this warrior, this ruler, this king named Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey, not a pure-bred stallion. Riding on a donkey was a sign of peace, not war. He wore a homespun cloak, not polished armor. He spoke about freedom from sin and redemption, not the freedom of national sovereignty or imperial might.
The jubilant crowd that lined the road to Jerusalem knew they were seeing a “winner,” but they completely misunderstood God’s vision of success.
They didn’t realize that Jesus had come to conquer not just Rome, but the world. They didn’t understand that Jesus came to the holy city, not to deal death or to sidestep death, but to meet death head-on.
He would conquer the world and death itself…by dying.2
The crowds that ripped branches from trees and screamed with excitement, didn’t understand that their hunger would be eased and their emptiness filled, not by conquest or power or wealth, but their hunger would be eased by the challenge of the cross.
No bible study or theology class can explain the cross completely.3 No sermon or lecture fully outlines its meaning. Yet, all of us who follow Jesus will eventually find ourselves walking that dusty, lonely path to Golgotha, and standing before the cross.
Jesus had warned his disciples when they had figured that he was the Messiah. Jesus told them, “whoever wishes to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”
From a marketing and advertising standpoint, this message is a disaster. It doesn’t sell well. Just imagine how many followers Jesus might have if he had avoided the cross. What if Jesus said, “Lay down your cross and follow me.” “Ignore your burdens and I will make them disappear.” “I will not suffer, and if you believe in me, you will never suffer, either.” That’s a message designed to keep the palm branches waving and the crowds cheering!
There is a famous American preacher named Barbara Brown Taylor, and she says,4 “Suffering can be the great killer of faith. It can compress the human soul into a knot of bitter pain and explode our lives into a thousand brittle pieces. Or...Suffering can be the way we discover the depth of our humanity and faith--our capacity for love and beauty--our ability to forgive--our kinship with God and each other.”
For the difference between these two options, we have to look at the cross.
The cross teaches us that suffering can be redemptive, that burdens can be shared, that sins can be forgiven, and that darkness can be scattered, transformed by the power of a loving God.
The cross dares us to believe that life is more powerful than death and that love is more enduring than hate. The cross stands as a reminder that our views of “success” and “defeat” might differ from God’s point of view, and that sometimes, God has a different plan.
As we begin this holy week, we too, have come to the city gate, palm branches waving, agendas in hand, our lists of wants ready.5
As we welcome the King into Jerusalem, what are we hungering for? And what is it that Jesus comes to feed us?
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1: This sermon relies heavily on thoughts presented in a Palm Sunday (A) Sermon by Dr. Susan Fleming McGurgan, found online at http://www.mtsm.org/preaching/. Any other citations in this sermon are citations that McGurgan makes in the original sermon.
2: Byron L. Rohrig, Christian Century, March 9,1988, p. 236.
3: Barbara Brown Taylor, God in Pain: Teaching Sermons on Suffering, Abingdon Press, 1998.
4: Barbara Brown Taylor, God in Pain: Teaching Sermons on Suffering, Abingdon Press, 1998.
5: Byron L. Rohrig, Christian Century, March 9,1988, p. 236.
Download a PDF version of this sermon.
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Sheriff: Charge Boyfriend in Case of Kansas Woman Pried Off Toilet After 2 Years
I appreciate that the Ness County Sheriff's name is Mr. Whipple.
"Don't squeeze the Charmin!"]]>
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Then it probably isn't as much fun.
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Or download a PDF version here.
In 2008, Immanuel is focusing on the theme The Body of Christ on Wednesday nights during Lent. Tonight's sermon is on the heart of Christ.
The texts for the day were: Jeremiah 3:12-18; Hebrews 8:8-12; John 11:17-44. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Please note: the original text of this sermon was written by Harlan Kaden for The Body of Christ, by Creative Communications for the Parish, and the copyright belongs to them. I have edited the original sermon to the context of my local congregation.
The sermon starts below.
How do we get to the heart of the Lenten season? On Wednesday nights the past several weeks, we’ve tried getting to the heart of Lent by exploring different parts of the Body of Christ. We’ve walked with the feet of Christ. We’ve prayed and felt around with the hands of Christ. We’ve spoken and talked about Jesus with the mouth of Christ. We’ve listened with the ears of Christ. We’ve looked and searched with the eyes of Christ. Each one of these parts of the Body of Christ have moved us closer to the heart of the Lenten season, but we haven’t quite reached the heart yet. How can we get to the heart of the Lenten season? Perhaps we can get there by contemplating the heart of Christ.
What is the heart of Christ? What is the heart of Christ’s teaching? What is the heart of his Spirit?–– the heart of his thinking?––the heart of his life?
In order to meditate on the heart of Christ and address these questions tonight, we will consider seven sayings of Jesus. Each of these pronouncements includes the Greek word kardia, which means heart. The first teaching of Jesus concerning the heart which we will ponder is quoted from Mark chapter 7, verses 21 through 23.
Jesus says, “For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come; fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Within these verses, Jesus describes the sinful hearts of all people. If people were not sinful, we would have no need to be present for this worship service tonight. But we are here, and that’s because we recognize that these sinful things do often come out of our hearts and defile us. And these sinful thoughts and deeds also come out of the hearts of others, and their actions break our hearts and break our relationships with them. But sinfulness never came from the heart of Christ. Instead from his heart came only love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, compassion, good deeds, and miracles of various kinds. The heart of Christ was much different from ours in regard to the kind of fruit it produced. The heart of Christ brought forth only good fruit. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus taught that the goal for which we ought to strive is the purity of heart.
Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Jesus was a person of pure heart. And he maintained that purity of heart through frequent prayer and oneness with the Spirit of God. Often, he got up early in the morning and went out to some place to pray, just him as the Son, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Christ’s purity of heart involved his whole being–thought, will, and action. The purpose of this virtuous heart is to love God completely.
In Luke 10:27, when Jesus was asked by an expert in the law what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
For the heart of Christ, loving God was not an afterthought. It wasn’t second nature, it was the very first nature. Devotion to God was truly the essence of the heart of Christ. It is because of his absolute and complete love of God that Jesus is also able to love his neighbor as himself. His oneness with the Father is the source of his selfless passion for every person. As we look at every relationship that Jesus has in the gospels, we see that the heart of Christ certainly fulfilled both love of God and love of neighbor. Jesus would have us learn to love God and neighbor with the same single-minded sincerity of heart. He calls each of us to that challenge in the eleventh chapter of Matthew, verses 29 and 30.
Jesus says, “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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
A lot of times, we may wonder, how can the yoke of Christ be easy and his burden light? How can being gentle and humble in heart like he is, how can that be easy and light? Can loving our enemies and forgiving those who hate us be an effortless task? In comparison to the sadness and bitterness which comes with hate and animosity, yes, love and forgiveness is an easier matter. To release our anger–to be unbound from it, to let go of it, and wash it completely out of our hearts and our minds–that only appears more difficult and less satisfying than burying our anger deep within ourselves where it can fester and dominate our thoughts and destroy the happiness in other parts of our lives. When we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we receive a blessing directly from the heart of Christ. This blessing eases our troubles and lightens our load. Jesus is gentle and humble in heart. In his gentleness, we can receive all the affection and strength that we need to love and forgive others
The heart of Christ is also a believing heart, a trusting heart, and a faithful heart. In Mark 11:22-23, Jesus makes a bold statement about a believing heart. Jesus says, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.”
Sometimes people hear these particular words of Jesus and they scratch their heads. Others are at a complete loss about what to make of them. They ask and say, “Why would I want a mountain thrown into the sea? I certainly don’t seem to have that kind of faith. Either I have never seen any need for that kind of drastic and complete trust, or I simply do not believe in my heart without a doubt like Jesus says I should.” But we do know that if we are ever to have that kind of faith, it comes to us only from the heart of Christ. We are never able to develop any kind of faith in the Triune God by ourselves. The faith that we have, comes to us only from Jesus, and that faith comes to us from Jesus as a gift of grace. We did not choose to believe, or decide to trust God, but what does happen is that Christ chose us in baptism and made the decision that we would be his believers. It is through the heart of Christ that our faith grows. Whenever there are mountains that must be moved in our lives, the heart of Christ will provide the faith in our own hearts to see those mountains moved.
In Luke 12:34, Jesus tells us another truth concerning the desires of our hearts. Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Our hearts are enthralled and entrapped by the treasurers and wealth of this world. The heart of our society, and perhaps the heart of all societies in our world, is the love of money. This is not so with the heart of Christ. He faced the same snare in the wilderness when Satan tempted him with bread for food and security, with a jump from the temple for a display of invincibility and fame. And Jesus was tempted with all the kingdoms of the world, so that he might have wealth and power. But Jesus doesn’t treasure these things. What Jesus treasures is obedience to God the Father. The fortune more valuable than all others to the heart of Christ is submission to the will of God. It is because the heart of Christ is so fully united with God’s will that we can be certain of the eternal life that Jesus promises to us.
All of this world’s cares and concerns really are of secondary importance. We can live entirely at peace even in this world regardless of our circumstances, because Jesus has given us his assurance that our hearts can share his tranquility. We hear Jesus say, in John 14:1-3, “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
The heart of Christ is good. The heart of Christ is pure. The heart of Christ is devoted to loving God and to loving others. The heart of Christ is gentle and humble. The heart of Christ is faithful and trusting. The heart of Christ is obedient. The heart of Christ is untroubled and peaceful.
The heart of Jesus Christ has given you a promise. The sacred heart of Christ has made a vow to you, and if you were here for Ella’s funeral this morning, you heard it was true for her, and it’s true for you, too. Jesus says, “When I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”
The heart of Christ loves us with an incredible, divine love which exceeds all others. Let us sing and pray that this love of the heart of Christ might come into our own hearts, so that we, too, may love with the heart of Christ. Amen]]>
Or download a PDF version here.
You can also download the bulletin from Ella's Memorial Service here.
The Scripture readings for the day were: Job 19:23-27a; Psalm 23; John 14:1-6. It would be best if you'd read them first.
The sermon starts below.
Today we have gathered here in Immanuel’s sanctuary in the presence of God to mourn the loss and to celebrate the life of Ella Berg. Each one of us has come here today with a variety of memories and stories about Ella. We bring memories and stories which we’ve shared with one another the past few days, stories which help all of us remember those things which were unique to Ella and made her who she was.
You also bring memories and emotions that you will never really be able to truly share, because you hold them from the unique position of the relationship that you had with Ella. You hold memories of Ella as mom, grandma, great-grandma, neighbor, friend, and sister in Christ. The feelings that you have for Ella in those relationships are feelings that are unique to you, feelings that might never be fully expressed in words. Today, we all come in the presence of the Triune God with a variety of feelings..... loss and sorrow...maybe some laughter through the tears...sadness, yet gladness. Of course we are sad. We are sad because we are going to miss Ella, now that she has died. But in the midst of our sadness and our tears, we are glad. We are glad with joy, because we know that even though Ella has died in this world, she lives on, because she is with Jesus, the Son of God, the Risen One who promises forgiveness and love and mercy and grace and eternal life to all who believe in him.
As Ella’s pastor, I’d like to share a few of my own memories of Ella with you that I know I will remember for many years to come. In case you don’t know, I was here at Immanuel from August 2005 to July 2006 as Immanuel’s Vicar as I was completing my year of internship while I was studying to become a pastor. Then I went back to grad school at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, for a year, and then I was called back here to be Immanuel’s pastor starting last July.
During the first few months of my internship, back in 2005, I met Ella for the first time. I went over to her house on Main Street in Winside, and wouldn’t you know it, on that first visit, there was something wrong with her hearing aid. Leroy and her had tried to fix it before I got there, but they had no luck. And that was okay. I just had to talk a little bit louder, which isn’t a problem for me. And as we were getting to know each other on that first visit, I came to find out that she couldn’t see as clearly as she used to, and also her hearing wasn’t as good as it once was. And I, being the new Vicar on the scene, had said something to her like, “So you can’t see or hear very well. Is there anything else you have trouble with?” Ella thought for a moment and then said something like, “No, I suppose besides that, I’m doing pretty good,” she said as she smiled.
Every time I visited with Ella, she always had a smile on a her face. She and I, we both looked forward to visiting with one another, because we shared the common bond of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we visited with one another, Jesus was with us. We would talk about all sorts of things. She’d catch me up on the new things that she knew about, and I’d catch her up on all the news that was going on over here at Immanuel and in Madison.
Just this past December, one week before Christmas, I was able to visit with Ella in her home, which was the last time we got to visit together in Winside. During that visit, I asked Ella if I could do something that I had never done for her before. I asked if I could sing and play some Christmas songs for her on my guitar. The lover of music that she was, Ella enthusiastically said “Yes.” So I went out to my car and brought my guitar back in, and I played all sorts of Christmas hymns for her, and that ever-present smile on her face just shined like the star that hung over the manger in which our Lord Jesus was born.
The last time I saw Ella alive was over at the Golden Living Center on February 19. At the time when I showed up that day, Eileen was there, too, having shown up just a few minutes before me. Ella had pretty much lost her voice that day, but she hadn’t lost her love for her pastor. That day, Ella kept asking me for something that she had never asked for before. She kept asking me for a hug, and so I gave her as many as she asked for. I also gave Ella and Eileen communion that day.
Every time I visited with Ella, whether it was in Winside, and even during that last visit at Golden Living Center, we would always share in the Lord’s Supper. I would share the bread and wine of Holy Communion with Ella, so that she might know and remember that her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ loves her and loves the entire world so much that Jesus gave up his body and his blood on the cross so that all of our sins would be forgiven, and so that we might live in the presence of the Triune God forever, both in this life, and in the life to come. In our visits, Ella heard the Word of God proclaimed, and she ate and drank that Word of God, and that Word of God filled Ella’s heart. Although she might not have been able to see or hear as well as she used to in the last years of life, in her heart, Ella had heard God calling her. Although she couldn’t clearly see me, I know that she clearly saw who Jesus is, because she saw him with her faith. With her faith, she saw Jesus and she trusted Jesus, because she knew that Jesus is the Lord. And Ella knew that the Lord is her shepherd, and as her shepherd, Jesus would never leave her alone, and he would never leave her wanting more.
Eileen shared with me, that as Ella was lying on her death bed, Eileen was saying the 23rd Psalm aloud. And although Ella wasn’t able to say it along with her, Eileen noticed that Ella was moving her lips, mouthing those same words from the 23rd Psalm right along with her. And if I remember correctly, Eileen told me that she then asked her mom is this was one of her favorite Bible verses, and Ella had nodded yes, yes it was.
We’ve heard this Psalm read here today. It’s a beautiful Psalm of David that shows us who our Lord is to us and how our Lord treats us. Jesus cares for our needs, he feeds us, and he provides rest for us. And even though death and darkness and enemies like Satan may surround us, we know that Jesus will comfort us in the midst of those moments in our lives, because he himself faced death and darkness and Satan on the cross for us. He died for us on the cross, but the story didn’t stop there. Although he died for us, Jesus was also raised from the dead, so that we, too, might be raised to new life in him. The Risen Christ calls us to follow him, and when we respond to his call, the end of Psalm 23 tells us how life will be. Psalm 23 says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Throughout her life, Ella received the good news of Jesus Christ as the amazing grace that it is. Grace is not earned by any sort of hard work. God’s grace is a gift; it cannot be bought at any price. God’s grace doesn’t come to us because of any action that we do. God’s grace comes to us because of what God does. And the thing that God does, is that God loves us. The Triune God loves us a lot. We are loved so much that God the Son, Jesus Christ, dies with us and for us so that we might never die alone, and so that we might live forever in him. In our gospel lesson today, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going. You know the way, because you know me. I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Ella knew Jesus, and now, she finally gets to see and hear him as clear as a bell. It’s like the reading from Job that we’ve heard today. Ella now, and all of us when we die, we all can say what Job says. He says, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side, and my eyes shall behold [him], and not another.”
Jesus had been with Ella wherever she went in life, and now, Ella is with Jesus, right where he said she would be. Ella had been moved around to several different dwelling places and rooms the last couple months of her life. She was moved from her home in Winside to the hospital to Golden Living Center and back to the hospital, but now...now she’s in the place that our Lord Jesus has prepared for her. She’s in one of the rooms in our eternal Father’s home, so that she can be with Jesus forever, living out that eternal life that he gives to her.
This is what Ella sees. This is what we are called to believe. As we believe and trust in this promise from God, the Lord will comfort us in our sorrow. God will strengthen us where we are weak. And Jesus will love us forever and give us that gift of eternal life. Where Jesus is, may Ella and may we be there also. Help us to believe and to trust in you, Jesus. We pray this in your holy name. Amen.
Download a PDF version of this sermon.
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Or download a PDF version here.
The texts for the day were: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45. It would be best if you'd read them first.
This sermon was influenced by: a sermon by David J. Shea found on the website http://www.mtsm.org/preaching/; and commentary provided by Karoline Lewis from the website http://www.workingpreacher.org
The sermon starts below.
John’s Gospel tells such vivid stories about Jesus and the people around him that its as though we’re right there in the midst of everything that’s going on. Today’s gospel story is no exception. Chapter 11 of John’s gospel throws us right into the action.
Four days ago, Martha, Mary, and some close friends had prepared Lazarus for burial. As was their custom, they purified his body with a ritual bath, just as he had been washed when he was born. He was ritually cleansed when he came into this world, and now, having been washed by his sisters in death, he would depart this world cleansed and pure for his return to God. Prayers were then recited. Lazarus’ hands and feet, as well as his jaw and entire body, were then wrapped and bound in a white linen shroud. Even his face was swaddled so that he would be protected against the gaze of other people. And then Lazarus was carried out of town to his tomb with the crowd of townspeople. As they walked, the mourning and the grieving of the group would have been an almost hysterical shrieking. Death had exerted its full power on Lazarus and corruption of his body had set in. Darkness had seized him and taken full possession of him. All hope had perished and despair had reached its lowest depths. Martha & Mary’s grief tore them between anger and sorrow—both of these sisters couldn’t believe that Jesus had not come when they had first summoned him. Surely this would never have happened if he was here.
Four days passed before Jesus arrived. Four long days. Decay and stench had taken their normal course, and to all who were at the site of the tomb, they knew that Lazarus was irretrievably dead. Jewish belief in those days believed that the soul finally left the presence of the body after three days. But now, four days had passed. John’s story goes out of its way to tell us that information twice. Four days had passed! So, just in case we are wondering, yeah, it’s really true. There’s no faking it. Lazarus is really dead. He is off to Sheol, the Pit, the Jewish belief of a dark, shadowy underworld where all people go when they die.
Again, we have to remember, as I’ve said the past few weeks, both darkness and light play important roles in John’s gospel. The theme of light in John’s gospel describes Jesus and believing in Jesus, believing that he is the LORD, the Word of God, who has come into the world. In last week’s gospel lesson, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” This week, again, Jesus talks about the light some more. When his disciples hear Jesus say that they are going to Judea again, they try to stop him. “Rabbi,” they say, “The Jews were just now trying to kill you by stoning you to death, and now you’re saying you want to go there AGAIN!” In response, Jesus says, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day, they don’t stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night, they do stumble, because the light is not in them.” Jesus is the light of the world, and he knows this. In John’s Gospel, Jesus knows that no darkness can overcome him. He’s not afraid of the dark intentions of the Jewish leaders, nor is he afraid of the darkness of death, because as John chapter 1 verse 5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Although others have their doubts, Jesus has incredible confidence as he goes into Judea to face his own possible death, and also to face the death of Lazarus. He has this confidence because he is the light of the world.
As the stone is rolled away from the tomb of Lazarus, the doorway to death and darkness is opened. Standing at death’s door, Jesus, the light of the world, looks up into the heavens and says, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” Jesus sends this glory, thanks, and praise up to the Father, because the Father has given God’s glory to Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, this glory of God shines as a blessing between the Father and the Son, and this glory of God shines directly into the tomb of Lazarus as Jesus says, “Lazarus, come out!”
These words sent shivers up and down the people gathered around, and, what was probably even more terrifying, was that the dead man emerged from the dark tomb, alive and well, hobbling with the burial cloths dangling from his resuscitated body. What an incredible scene—the darkness that had looked final was not; what had seemed finished was a new beginning. And with this new beginning, Jesus says, “Unbind him and let him go!”
Jesus calls all of us to come out of the darkness. We need to hear his call to come to the light, and then we are to be unbound, and to be let go.
There is a woman named Teresa who was hard-working, successful, the youngest of six children and the only daughter. And like her father before her, she was an alcoholic. No one knew about her struggle—she kept it a closely guarded secret. It was an accident that she and Matt had met; they were tables apart at the same restaurant when by chance they both looked across at one another in the large dining room. They dated for years and for all of that time she successfully hid her addiction from Matt. It was not until a few months after they were married that the secret came out, and what had been so carefully concealed for so long, became an awful problem. She drank every day, and often got falling-over drunk, and every day she pleaded for another chance. Her new husband was both angry and frightened, and he didn’t recognize the woman she was becoming. It was not until months later that he admitted Teresa for treatment. Like Martha and Mary, she sobbed and screamed, but she needed help and wanted to change—she just didn’t know how. To Teresa, in her darkness, Jesus says, “Teresa, come out!” And to her family and friends, Jesus said, “Unbind her and let her go!”
Death is not just a grave in which our caskets are placed. Many of us die and still live. We can all name the tombs in which life places us—the sickness that holds us captive, the graves we dig for ourselves, the problems and situations that are beyond our energies and abilities, the awful pain inflicted on us by the cruelty of life.
David is about to turn 16. His mother and father have been divorced for as long as he can remember. His mother has physical custody, and David spends only a few days each month with his dad and his dad’s second family. It’s always awkward and uncomfortable—he feels like a stranger. His mom has been dating this guy for months and he often spends the night. They just got engaged, and David wasn’t even told. He struggles with his school work, lies about his homework—he’s flunking as many courses as he’s passing. Neither one of his parents cares enough to be involved with any of his activities; they just don’t have any time for him. David often tells his friends that he hates his life. Jesus says to David, in his darkness, “David, come out!” And to his family and friends, Jesus says, “Unbind him and let him go!”
Where is God when people feel dead? When hope has been destroyed? When human limits are exceeded? When we’re ready to throw-in the towel because there’s nothing left to do? Where is God? Do you believe that God ever withdraws from you and leaves you all by yourself?
Jeff has always been successful. As the oldest of four brothers, his parents had high expectations and pushed him to succeed. He is highly motivated, self-confident, and he’s well on his way to building a great career and amassing an impressive net worth. His career is his life—it means everything to him. No one can remember the last time Jeff took a vacation. He’s convinced himself that as long as he provides for his family, and gives them the best education and all the material things they want, he’s doing his part. As successful as he is financially, Jeff has an almost callous attitude toward the many charitable requests that come his way. He’s made every dollar of what he has and he doesn’t believe in handouts. Jesus says to Jeff, “Jeff, come out!” And to Jeff’s family and friends, Jesus says, “Unbind him and let him go!”
Sometimes we are in a grave and don’t even realize it.
Everything about death and its darkness is untimely, rude, and hopeless, whether death takes a grandparent, a teenager speeding on a darkened highway, or an infant just beginning life. Each person who dies is assigned to a grave and each is placed into the earth.
We all face death. When those whom we love die, we are powerfully reminded of the finality of death and the terrible wrenching and emptiness of our lives. But we also face death and darkness if we lose our jobs, if marriages fail. Death and darkness surrounds us when we struggle with addictions, battle with cancer, flunk out of school, give up on family plans. Death and darkness especially attack us when we get wrapped-up in ourselves, and allow hate and resentment to control our lives.
All of our Scripture readings today show us that we experience pain and suffering and cry out in the presence of death and darkness and the feeling of being far away from God. But we see something else in our Scripture readings today, too. We see that God doesn’t leave us in the dark. We see that God never abandons us in our graves. We are not left alone in the graves of this life, and we are not left for dead in the graves in which we find ourselves at the end of our lives. Although we may turn away from the light of God, our Triune God never turns away from us. Jesus never turns his back on the needs of those who love him—never, no matter how bad the situation, no matter how horrible our suffering, no matter how devoid of hope we may be, even when life beyond our graves seems impossible. Instead, Jesus comes to us, both in this life and in our own resurrection, and he says two things to us. He calls us by name and he says, “Come out! Come out of the grips of death and darkness. Don’t stay dead and dark. Become alive and walk in the light. Come out!” That’s the first thing that Jesus says. And the second thing Jesus says is that he tells our family and friends, “Unbind him and let him go!” “Unbind her and let her go!” Jesus does not want us to be tied up in sin and anger and anxiety and frustration. NO! Jesus wants us to live holy and good lives that are free to love and serve God and to love and serve those around us.
“I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus tells Martha and us. Jesus comes to give us eternal life after this life, and he also comes to give us abundant and grace-filled life in this life, right here and now. Our new life does not only begin after we have breathed our last breath or when our bodies are surrendered to the grave—our new life begins now. Jesus holds our lives in his hands, and he grants new life and transforms the lives of his believers. He calls each one of us from our graves by name and he says, “Come out! Be unbound, and feel what it’s like to be set free to live your new life in me.”
We thank God for this new life given to us in Jesus. Thank you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank you. Amen
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In 2008, Immanuel is focusing on the theme The Body of Christ on Wednesday nights during Lent. Tonight's sermon is on the eyes of Christ.
The texts for the day were: 1 Samuel 16:1-7; 1 Peter 3:8-12; John 9:1-11. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Please note: the original text of this sermon was written by Harlan Kaden for The Body of Christ, by Creative Communications for the Parish, and the copyright belongs to them. I have edited the original sermon to the context of my local congregation.
The sermon starts below.
In tonight’s gospel lesson, which was the first part of Sunday’s gospel lesson, we read that as Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who was sightless from birth. When the eyes of Christ saw his blindness, Jesus had compassion on him, and without asking the blind man for his permission, Jesus went over to him and began the process of giving sight to this blind man.
Many of the healings that Jesus did began simply with him seeing the need with the compassionate eyes of Christ. Many times, Jesus responded to the needs of others without even being asked, simply because he saw, and he loved, and he acted out that love.
When the widow of Nain was burying her only son, Jesus saw her and had compassion on her and so he raised her son to life. When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick with a fever and so he healed her.
Yes, the eyes of Christ often saw the need for healing, which caused Jesus to respond with sympathy, tenderness, and understanding by initiating the forgiveness of sins and by healing the affliction. The eyes of Christ saw a lot of misery in the lives of people in Galilee, and he responded with concern, mercy, and grace.
When he was walking about, going from town to town, preaching and teaching and healing, he saw the crowds that had followed him, and he said, “I have compassion for them, for they are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.”
Tonight, as we gather together to consider the miracles of love and grace that resulted from what the eyes of Christ saw, we are reminded that we gather together as the Church. And to be the Church means to be members of the one Body of Christ. And to be a member of the Body of Christ means that we are called to live out the various parts of the Body of Christ, parts such as Christ’s feet, and hands, and mouth, and ears. The past four weeks, we’ve explored the call to be those parts of the Body of Christ in the world. Tonight, as we explore the eyes of Christ, we are called to think about the eyesight of Jesus as if it were our own.
Our eyesight is a great gift from God. People who have the full use of all five of the physical senses generally acknowledge that if they lost any one sensory perception, they would miss their eyesight the most. So much that we know and love comes to us through our eyes.
With our eyes, we see the beauty of a sunrise and the splendor of a sunset. We recognize the vastness of the night sky filled with sparkling stars. We look upon the delicate beauty of a flower bathed in morning dew. These are things the eyes of Christ saw also.
With our eyes we enjoy the satisfaction of a task completed after much effort, the pleasure of a job well-done. Our eyes behold the smiles of our loved ones. They can watch with delight the friskiness of a new baby colt frolicking in a field. Our eyes shines with elation at the ruggedness of a view from a mountain top. These are things the eyes of Christ saw also.
We gaze with joy upon the fresh, new green grass that comes springing up from the ground after a long, cold winter. We behold the fury and power of a thunderstorm as it comes sweeping over the plains. We witness the wonder of the hush that comes over a baby as it sleeps in the arms of a parent. These are things the eyes of Christ saw also.
Our eyes savor the sight of a sparkling stream of diamonds as water in a brook tumbles over rocks in the sunshine. With our eyes we ponder the calm stillness of a fog as mist clings to the trees. Our sight gives us the amiable cheerfulness of a campfire shared with a circle of friends. These are things the eyes of Christ saw also.
The eyes of Christ saw the same variety of beauty that our eyes see. But they also saw the same ugliness and violence that our eyes see.
The eyes of Christ saw the hate and rejection that brothers and sisters have for one another. Jesus recognized the cruelty that pent-up hate can unleash on someone. His eyes discerned the dishonesty, deception, and deceitfulness of people. They beheld the squalor and filthiness of the poor whom he loved. The eyes of Christ observed the selfishness and pride of the rich, and he loved them, too.––Yet, the eyes of Christ were able to see more than the temporary and frail objects that our eyes see. The eyes of Christ were able to look beyond this temporary world to the Kingdom of God.
Jesus proclaimed, “Those who see me, see the one who sent me. All who have seen me have seen the Father.” Even as he was crucified, as he saw the soldiers dividing his garments, and saw his mother’s grief, he still could see the value of each person there. He saw them as children of God to the end, because he said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
When we are faced with a serious situation and struggling with a difficult decision, perhaps we can remember how the eyes of Christ saw his tormentors. We could ask ourselves, “What would the eyes of Christ see in this dilemma?”
When we see those who oppose us or dislike us, we could ask, “How would the eyes of Christ see this person?"
We do need to see more clearly, not with our self-centered and self-oriented eyes, but with the new eyes of Christ, which see the hope of God’s kingdom.
We need to see Jesus dying on the cross for us.
When we see him on the cross, we see the Father.
When we see the eyes of Christ closing in agony, we see the love of God.
When we see him bleeding and dying, we see the power of righteousness over sin.
When we see the eyes of Christ closed in the darkness of death and in the tomb, we see the power of love over hate.
When we see the eyes of Christ opened in the resurrection, we see the power of life over death.
When we see with the eyes of Christ, we see the promise that Jesus makes to us, the promise that he speaks in the Gospel of John, when he says, “You have sorrow now; but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
Responding to his promise, we look up to Jesus in faith, trusting that he does make our joy complete, and that as members of the Body of Christ, we will fully see the Kingdom of God when we look with the eyes of Christ. Be the eyes of Christ. Look and see. Amen
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The texts for the day were: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41. It would be best if you'd read them first.
The sermon starts below.
Now that we’ve heard one story about a blind man receiving his sight this morning, let me share another one with you. As I was preparing this sermon this week, I came across another story about a blind man who received his sight. This story was released on Thursday by the AFP–which is the world’s oldest established news agency. The story comes from Dublin, Ireland. The headline reads “Blind Irishman sees with the aid of son's tooth in his eye.” Does that get your attention? It did mine. The story reads as follows.
Dateline: DUBLIN - An Irishman blinded by an explosion two years ago has had his sight restored after doctors inserted his son's tooth in his eye, he said on Wednesday. Bob McNichol, 57, from County Mayo in the west of the country, lost his sight in a freak accident when red-hot liquid aluminium exploded at a recycling business in November 2005. "I thought that I was going to be blind for the rest of my life," McNichol told RTE state radio. After doctors in Ireland said there was nothing more they could do, McNichol heard about a miracle operation called Osteo-Odonto-Keratoprosthesis (OOKP) being performed by Dr Christopher Liu at the Sussex Eye Hospital in Brighton in England. The technique, pioneered in Italy in the 1960s, involves creating a support for an artificial cornea from the patient's own tooth and the surrounding bone. The procedure used on McNichol involved his son Robert, 23, donating a tooth, its root and part of the jaw. McNichol's right eye socket was rebuilt, part of the tooth inserted and a lens inserted in a hole drilled in the tooth. The first operation lasted ten hours and the second five hours. "It is pretty heavy going," McNichol said. "There was a 65 percent chance of me getting any sight. Now I have enough sight for me to get around and I can watch television. I have come out from complete darkness to be able to do simple things," McNichol said. End of story.
From what I can tell, the purpose of reporting that news story is to show people around the world that scientific modern medicine has taken another leap forward, to the point where now we can take a tooth (or a tooth from one of our relatives), surgically modify it, put it in our eye socket, and nearly 65 percent of the time, chances are, you’re going to be able to see. It’s a modern-day medical miracle, and the purpose of reporting this story out of Ireland is so that people everywhere can know that this medical treatment is available, and it just might work for someone who wants to regain their eyesight.
The 9th chapter of John’s gospel also tells a story about a blind man who receives his sight, but this story from John that we’ve heard today about this particular blind man is told for a much deeper purpose and reason. Sure, it’s true that John’s gospel wants people to know that Jesus can do miraculous healings. Like verse 32 says, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.” It’s true that John shows that the healing which Jesus has done is a miracle, but the purpose of the story is much deeper than the miracle of the blind man receiving physical sight.
How do I know this story’s purpose is deeper? During the last six weeks of my first semester at seminary at Wartburg, in my Greek Exegetical Readings class, we focused on today’s gospel lesson, John, chapter 9. For 50 minutes, every Tuesday and Thursday, a group of about 16 of us plus our professor gathered together in Tower Room 301 to look at the intricacies of the Greek language in this 9th chapter of John’s Gospel. For eight 50-minute class periods, we plugged away on this story, beginning with verse one, and slowly, we made our way through the Greek grammar that was used and the theological implications that lie within each and every word and phrase. On good days, we made it through 5 verses. By the last day of the semester, we had only made it up to verse 28. If you do the math, on average, we spent 14 minutes and 17 seconds on each verse, talking about the deeper meaning and purpose of each and every word. If we would spend that kind of detail on this entire chapter today, we’d be here for 9 hours, 45 minutes, and 43 seconds. And if we would do that, I know what the look on most of your faces would be. It would be something like this: (head to the side, eyes rolled back, tongue sticking out).
No one needs to see or experience that. So, what are we to do? We can’t stay on the surface of the story, and focus only on the miracle of this blind man receiving his sight from Jesus. If we’d just stay on that surface part of the story, we wouldn’t even get wet with God’s Word. Yet at the same time, we can’t dive to great depths and explore every nook and cranny of the story today, because if we’d do that, we’d be overwhelmed and we would drown in all the goodness that this story has to offer. So, to what depth should we try to move to and explore today?
As I kept thinking about that question this week–to what depth of this gospel lesson should we try to move to and explore today–one particular image and expression kept coming to mind. It involves hand motions and sounds, and it looks and sounds like this:
In my mind, this image and expression describes the major action of what’s going on in today’s gospel lesson. First of all, you’ve got Jesus. He’s really the center of the action during the first seven verses. Jesus sees the blind man, the disciples ask Jesus about the blind man, Jesus talks about why this man has been blind since birth, and then Jesus goes out of his way to heal this man. And then, Jesus just seems to slip away from all the action. Sure, people keep talking about him in his absence, but Jesus is no longer on the stage as the story continues. Instead, the blind man, his neighbors, the Pharisees, and the Jewish leaders take over the action of this story.
And what happens is, the blind man is going this way (toward the Jesus on the right) while the Pharisees and the Jews are going this way (toward the Jesus on the left). And as they are moving, those two key themes that I’ve talked about in my sermons from the last couple of weeks continue to be at work. Those themes are light and darkness. Light, in John’s gospel, means that a person is coming to believe or has become a believer in Jesus. They believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Word of God, the Son of God, the apocalyptic Son of Man who is coming into this world to usher in the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of Light where love, forgiveness, serving God, and serving others is the Way to live one’s life. That’s what it means to be in the light in John’s gospel. A person in the light can see that this is who Jesus is.
To be in darkness, in John’s gospel, is to be a person who does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah. To be in darkness, in John’s gospel, means that one fails to see who Jesus really is. To be in darkness, in John’s gospel, means that a person is blind to the Kingdom of God and to all that this kingdom has to offer.
Light and darkness are at work (moving hands in opposite directions) as this is going on. Jesus is off-stage, yet we see a person walking further and further into the light. This person is the man who had formerly been blind. He was blind. He was in the dark. But then Jesus came along. Jesus did things which led to his eyes being opened. Suddenly, he could see the light, and he moved closer and closer to the light of Christ. He moves from being blind to being able to see, and we also see him growing in faith in Jesus. As the story progresses, he begins to see more and more who Jesus really is. First he says the man named Jesus opened his eyes. Then, further along, he says that Jesus isn’t just a man, but he is a prophet. And as the story continues, he finds himself taking sides with Jesus, saying to the Jewish leaders, “Do you also want to become his disciples?” That means that this “now seeing” man has claimed himself to be a disciple and follower and believer of Jesus. And then he says, “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” As one who walks in the light, who has walked from here (beginning) to here (end), this “once blind now seeing” man has come a long way as he now claims that Jesus is from God. With his faith, he can see who Jesus truly is.
While the “now seeing” man has been moving this way throughout the story, his neighbors, the Pharisees, and the Jewish are moving the other way throughout the story. They all should be able to see what is going on, but they are becoming more and more blind throughout the story. It starts with the neighbors. They’ve seen this guy every day. They should be able to figure out that this is the same guy, but they argue and question: “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” They can’t see it, even though it should be as plan as day to them. Confused, they take this “now seeing” man to the Pharisees. They hear this man’s story, and they argue and show their blindness to Jesus, too. They become divided on who Jesus is. Some say, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the Sabbath.” Others asked, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” They’re headed further and further into the dark. The Jewish leaders can’t believe the story that they’re told. They need more proof to believe what they’re seeing. They bring in the “now seeing” man’s parents to confirm that he had been born blind and wasn’t fake it or anything. And they continue to walk in darkness as the Jewish leaders say, “We are disciples of Moses....you were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” and they drive him out. These Jewish leaders, who are well-educated and religiously trained, you’d think that they should be able to see the signs of who Jesus is if he is able to heal a man born blind, but no. They are the most blind. The Jewish leaders walk in complete darkness as they kick this “now seeing” man–this new disciple of Jesus–to the curb.
It’s on the curb where once again Jesus comes into the picture. While the neighbors, the Pharisees, and the Jewish leaders have moved from light to darkness and have become blind, the “now seeing” man has moved from darkness to light throughout the story, and now, he finds himself face-to-face with the Word of God, Jesus, this Son of Man who was the one who started off this whole story to begin with. Out here on the curb, Jesus asks the question of this man that we’re all asked at some point during our lives. Jesus asks him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The man responds, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that that I may believe in him.” And Jesus says, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” And here, in the story, we see the “now seeing” man making the boldest confession in Jesus yet. He has moved from called Jesus a man, to a prophet, to one worthly of being follow as a teacher, to one being from God, and now he calls him Lord, as he says, “Lord, I believe.” And he worships him just as though he would worship God. To worship Jesus is to declare that he is God. This is what a person who walks in the light and who can see who Jesus is would do. Those who walk in the light and who can see who Jesus is, they worship Jesus as God. Those who walk in darkness, however, are blind to this fact. They don’t get it, because they stand over here (gesture), where they see Jesus just as a man, and not over here (gesture), where Jesus is the living Word of God who is God who comes and lives among us as one of us in our flesh and bones.
Do you see it? Do you get it? Do you find yourself heading this way (toward the light), or are you heading that way (toward the darkness)? Surprisingly enough, this coming Wednesday, in our The Body of Christ series that we’ve been following, we’re going to be looking at the Eyes of Christ, and the gospel lesson will once again come from John chapter 9, although only the first eleven verses instead of all 41. We’ll keep thinking about what it means to no longer be blind, but what it means to see with a vision that recognizes that Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
The Lenten Journey continues, and we continue to follow where our Lord Jesus leads the way.
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In 2008, Immanuel is focusing on the theme The Body of Christ on Wednesday nights during Lent. Tonight's sermon is on the ears of Christ.
The texts for the day were: 2 Samuel 22:2-7; James 1:19-25; Mark 7:31-37. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Please note: the original text of this sermon was written by Harlan Kaden for The Body of Christ, by Creative Communications for the Parish, and the copyright belongs to them. I have edited the original sermon to the context of my local congregation.
The sermon starts below.
Tonight’s Scripture readings focus our attention on ears and hearing and listening. As we have listened to and heard these various readings with our own ears, we continue to ponder, what is it that can be said about the ears of Christ this evening that will help us draw closer to the cross on our Lenten journey?
We know that the Triune God always hears our prayers. The Triune God, who claims us as children of God in our baptism, always listens to us and understands us, because God has created us in God’s own image. Yes, God hears us. God hears our cries, our sighs, and our “whys?” Why me, O God? Why this? Why now?
The ears of Christ always heard the cries, the sighs, and the whys of people everywhere he went. Tonight’s gospel story tells us about a group of people who brought a deaf man with a speech impediment to Jesus, and this group BEGGED Jesus to lay his hands on him.
In another story, there was a blind man who cried out to Jesus, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And the blind man received his sight. One time, Jesus sent the disciples ahead of him out onto the Sea of Galilee in a boat while he stayed behind to pray. Later that night, he came to them by walking on the water. Jesus heard Peter say to him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” And Jesus said, “Come.” And so Peter got out of the boat, and starting walking to Jesus, but when the wind and waves started to pick up and Peter started to sink, the ears of Christ heard Peter cry out, “Lord, save me!” and Jesus caught him, and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Do you think Peter heard that as negative criticism, or positive encouragement?
I think it’s safe to say that we all like to hear encouragement from people. We need to hear family and loved ones say, “I love you.” We like to hear fellow employees and employers and supervisors says, “You did a good job. Great work!” We like to hear friends say, “Your thoughts and ideas are important to me.”
The ears of Christ heard some encouragement from those who heard his call and followed him. In the town of Caesarea Philippi, when Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” the ears of Christ heard Peter’s answer. Peter said: “You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”
Martha, while grieving the death of her brother Lazarus, expressed her faith within earshot of Jesus. The ears of Christ heard her say, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
In Mark’s gospel, there is a man who comes to Jesus, seeking healing for his son who had a demonic spirit that caused him to have convulsions and hurt him. The father comes and speaks into the ears of Christ, saying, “If you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” To which Jesus replied, “All things can be done for the one who believes.” Upon hearing Jesus say this, the father of this demon-possessed son said to Jesus, “I believe! Help my unbelief!”
At his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus heard the crowds of adults and children crying, “Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David!”
Although Jesus had heard these encouragements, the ears of Christ also heard opposition from the scribes and pharisees. They said things such as: “Why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the elders?” “By what authority are you doing these things?” “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” “He casts out demons by the power of Satan.”
Even Jesus’ disciples and friends were frustrating for him to listen to. At times, they were confused and perplexed by what Jesus had to say to them. Matthew chapter 15 shows an example of this. After hearing Jesus tell a parable, Peter shows he doesn’t get it, and he says, “Explain this parable to us.” And Jesus, in response, says, “Are you, also, still without understanding?”
In Matthew chapter 17, we hear Matthew’s account of the story of the father with the son who had the demonic spirit, and after Jesus casts the spirit out, the disciples come to Jesus and ask him, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” And Jesus replies, “Because of your little faith.”
The ears of Christ finally heard his disciples desert him and the crowds of people turn on him. Christ’s ears heard Peter’s boast: “Jesus, though all become deserters because of you, I will never desert you.” The ears of Jesus also heard the rooster crow after Peter had denied him three times.
Jesus heard Judas say to him, “Greetings, rabbi!” as Judas came and kissed Jesus in a signal to betray him. And now, instead of crowds shouting Hosanna, Jesus hears another crowd crying, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Throughout his life, the ears of Christ heard all the pleas for mercy, and all of the curses and insults directed to him. But the ears of Christ did not depend upon the approval of people for Jesus to remain obedient to the Father. While Jesus listened to the people around him, ultimately, the ears of Christ were tuned to listen and to hear the will of God the Father. At his baptism in the river, and again at his transfiguration on top of the mountain, Christ’s ears heard the voice of the Father, saying, “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!”
Throughout his life of ministry, Jesus went out into the hills and wilderness to pray. The ears of Christ did not need or depend upon the admiration and compliments of people to give him power and perseverance. Instead, the ears of Christ often depended upon hearing what God the Father had to say, so that he would have the strength to meet all the cries, sighs, and whys of the people.
But the ears of Christ finally had to hear silence––even from God. Have you ever felt sometimes that God does not hear your prayers, almost as though God has abandoned you? Jesus shared that pain with us on the cross when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
When Jesus died on the cross, the ears of Christ became deaf to all sounds. They could not even hear the silence of the tomb in which he lay. When Jesus died, he suffered the deafness of death which our sins had placed upon him. But the deafness of death did not keep him in the grave. He arose and lives today, living as the Risen One who continues to hear our cries, our sighs, and our whys. And upon hearing us, the Risen Christ comes to be among us in mysterious yet experiential ways. Jesus comes in bread and wine. Jesus comes in the written Word so that we will know him as the living Word. He comes in healing, and in forgiveness. He comes when we share fellowship with others in his name. He comes when we call upon him and worship him.
When Jesus is with us and among us, he calls us to listen for the sounds that his ears heard, so that we might be the ears of Christ, together, with him, in the world. When we are the ears of Christ, then our own ears can be truly opened and our tongues can be loosened, just like the man in tonight’s gospel story. When that happens, then we will hear the absolute and complete love of God in Jesus Christ.
And then we can speak again true praise and worship of God. We can speak to share this love with others. The Christ who used his ears to hear is now alive forevermore, and he speaks his saving word to the whole world, saying: “Let anyone with ears listen!” Listen for the good news of Christ. Amen
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From WJAG.com's News WireLINCOLN (AP) - Governor Dave Heineman has signed into a law a statewide smoking ban that will go into effect in summer 2009. Heineman said in a statement Tuesday that he weighed the interests of business owners and health concerns of the public, then signed it because public health is a critical concern. The law will not let cities and counties opt out of the ban and is modeled after the ordinance approved in Lincoln three years ago.
See a similar story over at the Omaha World-Herald's web site]]>
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The texts for the day were: Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42. It would be best if you'd read them first.
This sermon was influenced by commentary provided by Karoline Lewis from the website http://www.workingpreacher.org
The sermon starts below.
My favorite TV show is ABC’s Lost. I think it is a fascinating and intriguing show. I’m pretty sure that some of you have never seen an episode. Maybe some of you started out watching it, but you “lost” interest in it along the way for whatever reason. And some of you are probably like me: you never miss an episode because you want to know what’s going to happen next. Who’s getting off the island? Who’s going to stay? Who are the people on the boat? There’s too many questions and not nearly enough answers right now on the show.
Lost is a different kind of television show, but at the same time, it uses simple and basic storytelling techniques that are found throughout human history. The really good stories of human history have recurring themes. Themes like black against white, light against darkness, deception & lies vs. truth-telling, dreams vs. reality, fate verses free will, good against evil, isolation compared to community, brokenness, forgiveness, sacrifice. The list of themes could go on and on, but I think, right now, having just listed those three lines of themes, I’ve probably touched on 90% of all human stories throughout all of history. If any of us have ever read a book, or gone to see a play, or watched television or movies, we know that these themes run throughout all the really good stories we know and love.
Really good stories also tell a big, overarching narrative, and in the midst of that narrative, subplots are developed, smaller stories about secondary characters. So, for example, although a story might be about the hero rescuing the town and getting the girl and riding off into the sunset, usually that story is made even better with some more details. Maybe there’s some love triangle. Maybe there’s a series of smaller problems that need to be solved before a bigger problem will be fixed at the end. Maybe there’s a series of secondary characters who come into the story for a while, and we get enmeshed in their emotions and feelings, and then, for whatever reason, they manage to fall out of the story. Maybe they’re killed. Or maybe they just go on down the road, or are left behind, as the big, overarching narrative keeps moving toward its dramatic goal and ending.
The Gospel of John is one of these really good stories from human history. It tells the big, overarching story of Jesus, and it does so using different themes, including several of the ones I listed before. John’s Gospel also pulls in different secondary characters who come into the story and highlight these different themes, and then, before we know it, they fade to the background almost as quickly as they appeared. Last week, we were introduced to Nicodemus who comes to Jesus by night, in the dark, a key theme in John’s gospel, because being in the dark means not knowing Jesus. Nicodemus lasted all of nine verses in his conversation with Jesus last week before he faded into the night from whence he came. This week, in our gospel lesson, another character comes and has an encounter with Jesus. This character is the Samaritan woman at the well. The contrast between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman is striking. Given the fact that they appear one right after the other in John’s Gospel, we are meant to notice the contrasts between them in all of the details. Nicodemus is a Pharisee, an insider, a leader of the Jews. He is a man, he has a name, and he comes to Jesus by night. The character to whom we are introduced in this week's text is a Samaritan. Remember, a Samaritan is a religious and political outsider to the Jewish people. Samaritans and Jews typically can’t stand each other, because their religious practices are different, even though they both worship the same one true God. This Samaritan is different than Nicodemus not only in religion. There’s other significant differences. This Samaritan is a woman. She also has no name. And she meets Jesus at noon, in full daylight.
And the contrast between their conversations with Jesus is even more extraordinary. Nicodemus was unable to move beyond the confines of his religious system when he was talking with Jesus. Nicodemus thought too literally, and asked “What do you mean, you need to be born again? No one can come out of their mother’s womb a second time! How can these things be?” and then he leaves. But the Samaritan woman, she moves outside of her religious expectations, and she engages Jesus in theological debate, as she keeps asking questions and making statements. Whereas Nicodemus last week could not hear and understand that Jesus is sent by God, the woman at the well hears and understands the actual name of God. If you take a look at your Celebrate insert, this woman hears the name of God in verse 26, where Jesus says, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” In the original Greek text, that “he” is not there. It just says, “Ego amy,” which is “I AM,” which is the name of God that God tells Moses in the burning bush: I AM WHO I AM. While Nicodemus's last questioning words to Jesus expose his disbelief as he sneaks away into the night, with that question “How can this be?”, the last words of the woman at the well today also pose a question, “He cannot be the Christ, can he?” and she goes around her entire town and describes to everyone what happened at the well, and through her story telling, she and others come to know that Jesus truly is the Savior of the world.
These clear differences between Nicodemus and the woman at the well often cause preachers to whittle down today’s gospel story to the point that Jesus comes only for the outsiders of the world. Probably, in many pulpits around the world today, there are preachers out there who are saying, “Look, this story shows us that Jesus did not come for the important people of the world, like Nicodemus. No, Jesus came for the no-names, the downtrodden, the five-time losers who have to go and get their water during the hottest part of the day. Jesus comes only for the outsiders of this world.” I think that if we were to whittle down the 38 verses of today’s gospel lesson to just this one point, we would have to wonder, could this meeting at the well really be about us, and for us? If we are honest with ourselves, do we truly think that we are outsiders? Are we really the marginalized of society, those who are easily cast aside? If people saw us talking with Jesus, do you think they’d say the same thing that the disciples said about the Samaritan woman? Because, when they saw her talking with Jesus, they said, “Why is he talking to her?” Do you think there’s anyone who says, “Why is Jesus talking with those people from Immanuel? There nothing but a bunch of no good Lutherans.” Are we truly the outsiders of our society?
Perhaps the extraordinary and amazing event of today’s gospel lesson is not simply that Jesus is for her, but that she becomes a witness for him. The Samaritan woman at the well is not a passive recipient of what Jesus offers to her. She doesn’t say, “Oh, thank you, sir,” and then solemnly and quietly go on her way. She speaks up, asking important questions and challenging things that seem out of place. After Jesus asks for a drink of water, immediately, she recognizes the societal barriers and boundaries that are supposed to keep her in her place, but at the same time, since Jesus crossed the boundary first, she crosses that boundary, too, and she challenges Jesus' authority over and against the ancestors of the faith, ancestors like Jacob, who dug a well that has lasted for centuries. She might be wondering, “Who does this new guy think he is? Can he do anything that can stand the test of time?”
At first, she is like Nicodemus, a bit skeptical, interpreting Jesus' words on a literal level, but then she is able to ask for what Jesus has to offer rather than question the possibility. Unlike Nicodemus, she doesn’t ask, “How can these things be, that you having quenching living water?” Instead, as one who walks in the light, she wants to know more, and so she says, “Give me this water.”
Throughout most of the story, she is not 100% certain that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Verse 29 today shows us her uncertainty. She asks, “He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” The way that it’s written in Greek, the assumed automatic answer to that question is no. Her question there implies that she hasn’t fully bought into the idea yet, but she does not let that stop her from leaving behind her water jar, going into the city, and inviting everyone to come and have their own encounter with Jesus. This woman demonstrates what can happen when we actually engage in conversation and questions about our faith. Like I said last week, faith is not a noun in the Bible. Faith is not a possession to be set on the shelf. In the stories of the Bible, faith is a verb, a believing that is put into action. The woman at the well shows us that faith is about having an active dialogue, about talking with God and about God and listening to God, such that we are open to growth and change. It is not about having all the answers. If we think we have all the answers, if we are content with our theological and doctrinal constructs, if we believe more in our own convictions than the possibility of God’s revelation, we will be left to ponder whether or not God will choose to be made known, whether or not our living and active God has a say in what’s going on in our lives. If we are waiting to have all the answers, we probably will be waiting quite a while. And while we’re waiting, we’re going to be wondering when and if we ever will finally feel confident enough, secure enough, and knowledgeable enough, to invite others to “come and see.” When it comes down to it, we will be forced to admit how many times we have overlooked opportunities for giving testimony about the Savior of the world, satisfied to say that “Well, Jesus is for me,” and thinking that that is enough.
The Samaritan woman at the well is an example for us, not as one who claims "Jesus is for me, too," but as one who labors to help bring in the harvest for God. She responds to Jesus in such a way that Jesus reveals his true identity to her, and in doing so, her own identity evolves. We learn from the Samaritan woman that in our own encounter with Jesus, not only are we changed, but that which God will reveal to us will change as well.
When we are baptized, we are baptized into living waters. And as Jesus says today, “The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” Baptism changes our identity into one who is a follower of Christ, a beloved child of God, who doesn’t just stop there, but who goes out into the world, gushing out this living water like a spring to others, so that no one in the world might be dried up and thirsty, but instead, so that all may drink in the love, forgiveness, and eternal life that God offers. Praise and thanks be to God for this gift of living water. Amen
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In 2008, Immanuel is focusing on the theme The Body of Christ on Wednesday nights during Lent.
The texts for the day were: Deuteronomy 8:1-3; Romans 3:10-18; Luke 4:14-22a. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Please note: the original text of this sermon was written by Harlan Kaden for The Body of Christ, by Creative Communications for the Parish, and the copyright belongs to them. I have edited the original sermon to the context of my local congregation.
The sermon starts below.
The gospel lesson for tonight occurs in Luke right after the story of the temptation of Jesus. In that story, when Satan tempts him to change stones into loaves of bread, Jesus refutes the devil by quoting tonight’s Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy chapter 8. Jesus says: “One does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”
After being tempted by the devil in Luke’s gospel, Jesus goes to Nazareth to the synagogue where out of his mouth he read from Isaiah chapter 61. With the words of his mouth Jesus identifies his mission: he was sent to preach, proclaim, and announce. Jesus says: “The Lord God has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, and announce the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Different people responded differently to what Jesus had to say to them. Last night, at Bible Study, we heard what happens to Jesus immediately after verse 22, which is where our gospel lesson ends tonight. Jesus keeps talking, and the people of Nazareth get very upset with him, so upset, in fact, that they try to throw him off a cliff. They hated the things that he had to say to them. But other people in other places responded differently to what come out of Jesus’s mouth. Some people loved listening to what Jesus had to say, so much so that they left homes, families, and friends to follow him wherever he went. Whether people hated him or loved him, the mouth of Christ was and still is important to us and to the entire world, because the words that come out of the mouth of Christ are words of justice, righteousness, grace, truth, and love.
The Mouth of Christ says all sorts of things. Tonight, we look at and listen to the words that Jesus said in his preaching and teaching as he talked with people.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world; those who follow me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” “Let the little children come to me and don’t stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.
“I am the bread of life; those who come to me shall not hunger, and those who believe in me shall never thirst.” “The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven; those who eat of this bread will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
When Jesus spoke to the paralytic, he said, “Your sins are forgiven; get up and walk.”
Jesus spoke to a storm, “Peace, be still.” And the wind and waves stopped and there was a great calm.
“I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
Two Wednesdays ago, to the woman who was a sinner who washed his feet, Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace!”
Jesus said, “If anybody is thirsty, let them come to me and drink. All who believe in me, as the scripture has said, “Out of their hearts shall flow rivers of living water.”
At the funeral procession for the only son of a widow at Nain, Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you arise.” And then what happened? Do you remember? The dead man sat up, and he began to speak with his own mouth. And then fear seized everyone in the funeral procession, and they glorified God by speaking themselves, saying “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favorably on his people!”
And the speaking continued. This word about Jesus spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
Another time, Jesus said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” “I am the resurrection and the life; those who believe in me, even though they die, they will live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall not die forever.”
In our gospel story that we’ll hear in a couple of weeks, on Sunday, March 9, we’ll find Jesus standing outside the tomb of Lazarus, and he’ll cry out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” And even though he had been dead for four days, and his hands and feet were bound with bandages, and his face was covered with a cloth, even though Lazarus was dead, he came out. What Jesus said with his mouth made Lazarus alive.
At the last supper with his disciples, Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places; if that’s not so, why would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?”
Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”
All of these gracious words that come from the mouth of Christ truly show us and truly show the world that one does not live by bread alone or by paycheck alone or by family and friends alone. We live and are alive by every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord. These words that Jesus speaks, they are words that can sink their teeth into you, and they can stick to the ribs of your mind.
The words of Jesus preach, proclaim, and announce to us continually that God loves us, that we are unique and special to God. These words proclaim that the talents and abilities that God has given us are worthwhile, that we can love others because God has first loves us.
The words of the mouth of Christ are not empty words. They are not expressions of love in word or speech only. They are words that reveal a love that is expressed in action, in deed, and in truth. These words of love from the mouth of Christ ultimately compelled Jesus to carry his cross to his own crucifixion. And although the feet of Christ and the hands of Christ were nailed to the cross, incapacitating those parts of the body of Christ which we’ve looked at the past two weeks, the mouth of Christ continued to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God from the cross. Although he was in agony, the mouth of Christ spoke lovingly from the cross.
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” To the thief crucified beside him, he said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Lovingly providing for the needs of his mother at the time of his death, Jesus spoke from the cross and said to Mary, “Woman, here is your son,” as he was referring to the disciple whom he loved, who was standing next to Mary. And to this disciple, Jesus said, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour on, the disciple took Mary into his own home and cared for her.
As Jesus felt the pain of separation from God cause by our sin as he hung on the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
When Jesus knew that all was now finished, in order to fulfill scripture, he spoke, “I am thirsty.”
Then completing his mission, he said, “It is finished.” And finally showing us and telling us not only how to live but also how to die, Jesus said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And he died.
Yet we rejoice, for the mouth of Christ was not silenced forever by death. He was resurrected, and he lives! At the resurrection the words from his mouth were these: “Do no be afraid; go and tell my disciples to go to Galilee, and they will see me there.” At several appearances after his resurrection, the first words from his mouth were: “Peace be with you.” The mouth of Christ still brings us peace. From Matthew’s gospel, the final promise from his mouth brings peace to all of our troubles and all of our days, and he says: “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The mouth of Christ is with us, and we are to be the mouth of Christ to others by preaching, proclaiming, and speaking to them what the Lord has first spoken to us: love, life, and forgiveness. Now you are to speak what has been spoken to you by the Mouth of Christ. Go and speak. Amen
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NORFOLK -You could get a little dizzy driving on Norfolk's 25th Street in the future. During a discussion on an engineering contract at Tuesday night's City Council meeting, City Administrator Mike Nolan said preliminary plans call for roundabouts at 25th and Norfolk Avenue and at 25th and Prospect. There's already a roundabout at 25th Street and Benjamin Avenue. The Council voted unanimously for city staff to negotiate a contract with Olsson Associates for the three-lane 25th Street project. Construction is still a couple of years away.]]>
I can just hear the possibilities stirring in Fritschel Hall at Wartburg: "Well, you were assigned to Region 5, but after a three-way trade with Regions 9 & 4, you've now been assigned to Region 10, which is the Global Ministries arm of the ELCA. Congratulations! You're headed to Burkina Faso!"
*gulp*
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Or download a PDF version here.
The texts for the day were: Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-21. It would be best if you'd read them first.
This sermon was influenced by commentary provided by Karoline Lewis from the website http://www.workingpreacher.org
The sermon starts below.
Today, on this Second Sunday in Lent, our Lenten journey begins to take us down a different path from the one that we’ve been treading so far this Lectionary Year, Year A, which began back on the first Sunday in December with the First Sunday of Advent. Starting today, for four Sundays in a row, we depart from the Gospel of Matthew, which is the main Gospel for Lectionary Year A, and we encounter four weeks of readings from the Gospel of John.
Because the Gospel of John does not have its own lectionary year, these four Sundays provide an opportunity for us to draw out some distinctive theological claims which the author of John makes. As you might know, the gospel of John tells stories about Jesus in a different way that the writers of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The Jesus that the gospel of John describes is always in control of the situation around him. The Jesus of John’s Gospel is never tempted, which is very different from last week’s gospel story from Matthew, where we heard about Jesus being in the wilderness for forty days so that he could be tempted by the devil. The “good biblical number” forty never appears in John’s gospel, because Jesus in John’s gospel never needs to go through a period of waiting for testing and tempting. That’s because Jesus is always in control. The writer of the Gospel of John establishes this point from the very first verse: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This Word is the Living Word of God Jesus Christ, and John’s Gospel continuously tells stories which show us that Jesus is always in control.
As your Lenten Journey tour guide, let me give you an itinerary of our four stops that we will be making as we stroll through parts of the gospel of John. Today, in John chapter 3, we hear the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night. Next Sunday, in John chapter 4, we hear the story of the Samaritan woman coming to Jesus at the well at high noon. On the fourth Sunday in Lent, we will hear the story of Jesus healing a blind man in the 9th chapter of John. And on the fifth Sunday in Lent, we will hear the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Each one of these stories, with all of their details, is unique to the Gospel of John, and each story illustrates key ideas that run throughout John’s Gospel.
In today’s story, we read about an encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, who is a Pharisee and leader of the Jews. What I read for you today went a bit further than what’s printed in your Celebrate insert. You might be wondering why I did that. I kept reading the next four verses because Jesus keeps talking. If we stop reading at verse 17, we cut Jesus off mid-thought before he gets to finish what he had to say. And what he has to say is quite theological. Those extra verses touch on a major theme that runs through the Gospel of John. It’s the theme of light and darkness. In John’s gospel, light represents the realm of believing in Jesus, and darkness represents the realm of not believing in Jesus. The writer of John’s Gospel likes to draw things in black and white: either a person is able to recognize that Jesus is God’s Word made flesh, or not—there is no gray area. You’re either in the dark, or in the light. When Jesus says to Nicodemus, "This is the judgment, that the light has come into world and people loved darkness more than the light" these words should send us back to the beginning of what we read today—that Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, in the dark. Jesus' words are aimed directly at Nicodemus, "Will you continue in darkness or will you come to the light?" It’s a moment of crisis, and a moment of decision for Nicodemus. What does he choose to do right now?
We don’t know. We are left to wonder what happens to Nicodemus. The last words that he says to Jesus here are: "How can these things be?" in verse 9. In this conversation with Jesus, it appears as though he doesn’t make much progress. Nicodemus interprets what Jesus says on a literal level only, although Jesus does appear to be deliberately ambiguous, meaning that Jesus is intentionally presenting a word that has more than one meaning. In verse three, Jesus says, “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born an-o-then.” This Greek word an-o-then can be translated a few different ways: again, anew, from above, from the beginning, or for a long time. Nicodemus hears only the first option: “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born again,” literally coming into this world from the womb of your mother. That idea makes no sense to Nicodemus. He is not able to recognize what Jesus is offering, nor is he able to see who Jesus is. How can these things be, indeed? Good question, Nicodemus.
But what’s this? After Nicodemus's skeptical question “How can these things be?”, he seems simply to disappear from the scene, and we are left with Jesus. Suddenly, this moment of crisis and decision for Nicodemus becomes a moment of crisis and decision for us, too, because as Jesus is talking, the language shifts. It shifts from a “you-Nicodemus” to a “you-all.” Now, Jesus' words are directed to us. The change starts in verse 11, where it says, "yet you do not receive our testimony.” It’s actually says, “yet you all do not receive our testimony.” Who? What? Huh? Jesus shakes up and wakes up everybody that’s listening in on the conversation. How are each one of us going to respond? Do we really think that we could have understood Jesus any better than this well-educated, law-studying Pharisee? And if we think we’d do better than Nicodemus, what makes us think so? What makes us so sure? Is it because we know how the Gospel ends, that Jesus will be raised from the dead? Does two thousand years of the existence of Christianity help to soothe our worries a little bit more? Are we wiser because our culture is more technologically advanced? Or maybe we have more faith? Would we do better at understanding Jesus than Nicodemus did?
What happens to Nicodemus? He shows up two more times in the Gospel of John. In chapter 7, Nicodemus tries to come to Jesus' defense in the midst of the intense conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities that we see happening in chapters 7 and 8, but his defending question that he asks of the Pharisees gives the impression that he’s still walking in the dark when it comes to truly knowing who Jesus is. Nicodemus's last appearance in the Gospel is after Jesus has been crucified. Nicodemus shows up to help Joseph of Arimathea prepare Jesus’ body for burial. It’s interesting, because in chapter 19, verse 39, it says this: “Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.” This one verse shows us that Nicodemus STILL has not understood who Jesus is and what Jesus is all about. This verse goes out of its way to tell us that Nicodemus first came to Jesus at night. Nicodemus walks in darkness. He doesn’t understand what readers of John’s Gospel are supposed to come to believe. Throughout John’s Gospel, Jesus is always in control, always confident that he is the living Word of God who is the Son of God who comes into the world so that people will not perish but have eternal life and know that God loves them. In John’s gospel, Jesus doesn’t have his life taken from him by the Jewish leaders and the Romans. Jesus says he lays down his life for the sheep, and he says he will take it back up again. Jesus has this kind of power and control not to use it for his own means, but so that his Father in heaven might be glorified. But Nicodemus apparently misses all of that. Instead, he shows up to bury Jesus, and he brings an extraordinary amount of burial spices for the preparation of Jesus’ body for the tomb. He brings 100 pounds of myrrh and aloe to cover up the smell of Jesus’ dead body. It’s like he brings Jillian’s entire closet of Bath and Body Works soaps and smells. Why would he do such a thing if he believed that Jesus was going to rise from the tomb in three days? It’s overkill. Apparently, Nicodemus was still in the dark, as he was rubbing Jesus' body with so many spices. Although Nicodemus tried to understand Jesus while Jesus was still alive, it seems as though he just didn’t understand him as he was putting Jesus’ dead body in the tomb to stay.
Nicodemus is a complicated character in John’s Gospel. Does he get Jesus, or not? He apparently tries to understand Jesus, who is the Light of the World. Nicodemus comes to the Light in the midst of the darkness of night, and he struggles with the question of being born again, born anew, born from above, from the Kingdom of God. How can that really be? And Nicodemus even sticks his neck out there and endangers himself a few times for Jesus’ sake, but still, Nicodemus is a hard one to figure out. Looking at Nicodemus and figuring him out is like looking at a photograph of the sun on an unknown horizon and knowing whether or not you are looking at a sunset or a sunrise. If you had a picture of the sun over the ocean, and you didn’t know which way was east or west, and if you didn’t know if the sun was coming up or going down, you wouldn’t know: is it a sunset, or a sunrise? Nicodemus is kind of that way, too. Does Nicodemus come to the Light of Jesus Christ so that the Light of the Son of God might rise on his life and help him be born from above, born anew? Or does Nicodemus come to Jesus to see the Light, only to walk away from it, because he sees this light setting in a tomb, never having the ability to rise again?
Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus in our gospel story today, and his recurring role throughout all of John’s Gospel suggests that believing in Jesus is indeed a challenging and ambiguous effort. What does it mean that faith is ambiguous? Perhaps it has to do with how belief is played out and understood in the Gospel of John. Often times, we tend to talk about "our faith" or "having faith," assuming that it is a done deal, that believing is as simple as acquiring faith, going over to a vending machine, putting in your dollar, punching the buttons, it drops down, you push open the door and grab it out and open the wrapper and “Ta-da!” it’s right there. Your faith. But the Gospel of John never refers to faith as a noun. Faith is not a possession. It’s not something that one gets. It’s not something that one has—it is something that one does. To have faith is to believe. Believing for the characters in John’s Gospel is a verb. And as a verb, believing is subject to all of the ambiguity, the uncertainty, and the indecisiveness of being human. Do we walk in darkness? Or do we walk in the light? Do we keep on living the life of this world? Or do we become born from above, living out our life of baptism, such that we live as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven now? We need to ask more often than we are willing to admit that same question that Nicodemus asks: "How can these things be?" We need to take seriously what faith looks like when it is active, living, open, dynamic, responding to actions of the Triune God and the actions of others. Our faith, our believing, is to be a verb, just like God’s love for us is a verb. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that we might be saved through him and have eternal life. God loves the world so much that, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God entered into the world in Jesus Christ. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to respond to God’s love, revealed to us in Jesus Christ. As ones who are born of water and Spirit through our baptism into Jesus Christ, we are to respond with an active living faith.
May we walk in the light of Christ as we continue our Lenten Journey.
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You can go to his web site and check out some PSAs (Public Service Announcements) that his students are making in his Sociology class that he teaches. He will update the page as students finish their projects. The child abuse PSA is the only one completed so far.
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Here's your invitation to go and check out the updates.
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Check out the results.]]>
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In 2008, Immanuel is focusing on the theme The Body of Christ on Wednesday nights during Lent.
The texts for the day were: Genesis 2:4-8; Psalm 95; 2 Corinthians 5:1-9; John 8:1-11. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Please note: the original text of this sermon was written by Harlan Kaden for The Body of Christ, by Creative Communications for the Parish, and the copyright belongs to them. I have edited the original sermon to the context of my local congregation.
The sermon starts below.
What comes to mind when you think of hands? Hands are very emotional, very human. One of the very first things that our own tiny hands grasped when we were born was probably a finger of our father or mother.
Our parents’ hands caressed us, changed us, fed us, held us, played with us. You might think of your mother’s hands being gentle, soothingly stroking your forehead when you were sick in bed with a fever; hands that playfully tousled, that cooked and served food, that washed and bandaged cut fingers and scraped knees. Hands that loved. And of course, there’s a country song out there by Holly Dunn called Daddy’s Hands, which helps us think of a father’s strong, calloused hands as they comfort, discipline, protect, touch and reassure a son or daughter.
The hands of Jesus combine that strength, gentleness, love, and more. His hands were the strong hands of a carpenter, and the gentle loving hands of a healer. Throughout the Gospels, we hear stories about Jesus healing others. One story reads: “On the Sabbath, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands!?”
Mighty works are done by his hands with a gentle touch. When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying sick with a fever; Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her and she rose and served him.
The hands of Jesus were hands filled with love, hands that welcomed and touched everyone, even infants and children. In Matthew chapter 19, we read, “Then little children were being brought to [Jesus] in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.”
The hands of Christ even touched lepers with love, risking infection from a disease which socially outcast anyone who had it. Matthew chapter 8 tells one such story: “When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.’ He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
The hands of Jesus could be trusted, especially by those who were sick. Luke chapter 4 reads, “As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to [Jesus]; and he laid his hands on each of them and cured them.” And later on in the gospel of Luke, we hear the story of a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and absolutely could not to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.” And when he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
The hands of Christ could be trusted to restore sight to the blind. In the gospel of Mark, some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.
The hands of Jesus could even be trusted to bring life back into the body of a child who had just died. Matthew tells the story of a leader of the synagogue who comes before Jesus and says, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus and his disciples rose to go with him. And when Jesus came to this leader’s house, he saw the whole crowd making a commotion, and he said to them, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.
These hands of healing and love were also hands that could forgive. In tonight’s Gospel lesson, a woman was caught “red-handed;” she was caught red-faced in the act of adultery. She is brought before Jesus, and Jesus bends down and writes with one of his fingers on the ground. What did he write? Was it a word? A picture? Any guess would be pure speculation. No one knows what he wrote with his hands. But we do know what he said: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” All those who a moment ago were so eager to kill this woman by hurling stones at her, now quietly walked away. No one condemned her. Jesus, with those marvelous hands, said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and do not sin again.”
To ensure that this forgiveness would be available to you, also, the hands of Christ–the strong, skilled, talented, beautiful, healing, loving forgiving hands of Christ–were nailed to a cross. Nailed to a cross. What a strange thought–the tender hands of Jesus impaled through muscle and tendon, passing by aching bones–to bear the weight of his body on the cross.
But that thought is no more strange than the realization that those sinless hands of righteousness reach out to us to grasp our hands of sin. A hole was driven through his holy hands, to accept the sin of our hands, so that we can be made holy. When those hands were voluntarily nailed to the cross, Jesus placed himself in God’s hands. Near the end of Luke, it says, “Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ And having said this, he breathed his last.”
But the hands of Christ did not remain folded on his chest wrapped in a linen shroud. They were raised to life! They were clasped in joyous welcome by his disciples. Well, not all of the disciples, the first time around. According to John’s gospel, Thomas, who was called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when the risen Jesus first came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but somehow Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
The hands of Jesus were raised in blessing as he ascended into heaven. At the end of Luke, the risen Jesus led his disciples out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.
We are safe in the hands of Christ. These strong, healing, touching, forgiving, loving hands of Christ have us firmly in his grasp. We are in the hands of Jesus Christ, the hands of our good Triune God.
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.
You are in the loving hands of Christ, and you are sent out into the world to be the loving hands of Christ, because you are a part of the Body of Christ.
And to you, Jesus says: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and do not sin again.” May the Spirit empower you to do as Jesus says. Amen
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The texts for the day were: Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 2; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9. It would be best if you'd read them first.
Parts of this sermon were influenced by commentary provided by Audrey West from the website http://www.workingpreacher.org
The sermon starts below.
Have you ever heard somebody say, “Now that’s a good biblical number.” Maybe you yourself have said that expression a time or two before. “Now that’s a good biblical number.” What does that expression mean? Do you know? When somebody says that, they’re talking about a number that comes up quite frequently throughout all of the stories that we find in the books of the Bible. It’s a number that we might find in the book of Genesis, and also in Exodus, and in Job, and Isaiah, and Matthew and Acts and Revelation. It’s a number that, for whatever reason, shows up a lot in the Bible.
So what are some biblical numbers? Seven is one of them. I searched for the word “seven” in the NRSV translation of the Bible using the Bible software on my computer, and it says that “seven” appears 500 times in the Bible. Five hundred times, the number seven is mentioned. Some examples include: God took seven days to create the universe. Noah took seven pairs of clean animals with him on the Ark. Joshua marched around the city of Jericho seven times before the walls fell down. There are seven seals mentioned in the book of Revelation. Seven is all over. Seven denotes spiritual perfection. It means divine fullness, completeness, totality. In the Hebrew language, which is the original language in which the Old Testament is written, the letters that they use to signify the number seven come from the Hebrew word that means “to be full,” “to be satisfied,” and “to have enough.” Seven is a “good biblical number.”
The number one is a good biblical number. There cannot be two firsts. God is number one in the Bible: always. God is God, and we are not, and there are no other gods except the one true God. The number one also shows unity. Like in the letter to the Ephesians, it is written, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” There is an emphasis on the number one in our reading from Romans today. Paul says that death came into the world through one man--Adam. The actions of this one man effects all of us, such that just as he dies, so, too, do all of us die. But Paul also argues that we can be certain that the grace of God which is offered through one man–in Jesus Christ–will also have an effect on all of us, such that the righteousness of this one man will spread out to many so that many will be justified and made righteous before God.
So we have seven, and we have one. There are other “good biblical numbers,” but instead of talking about all of them today, I’m going to talk about two more of them: the number 40, and the number 3. Both of these numbers are at work in our gospel lesson today.
Matthew says that Jesus is in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights in order that he might be put to the test by the diabolos: the one who tempts, the enemy, the adversary, or, as our translation says today, the devil. Forty days and forty nights is the amount of time that is Jesus is in the wilderness because forty is a good Biblical number. In several stories in the Bible, there are times when the number forty and a period of testing and trial converge together. It’s as though the number forty and a period of testing go hand in hand, and here’s why. I find this fascinating. Listen to this. The Hebrew word for forty is six letters long. When you take off the last three letters and have just the first three letters, you have a complete Hebrew word. So the word forty in Hebrew is built off of this root word that is made up of three letters. You’ll never guess what this three-letter root word in Hebrew means by itself. It means to lie in wait with a hostile purpose. To patiently wait for someone to come along so that you can ambush them, to catch them off-guard, should they not be prepared for a trial or a temptation. So “the good Biblical number” of forty carries within it the definition of waiting for testing. I think that is fascinating, and you should think so, too.
Like I said, in several stories in the Bible, there are times when the number forty and a period of testing and trial converge together. You should know and remember that the patience of Noah and his family were tested for forty days and forty nights on board the ark. After this testing, and after the rain stopped, God made a covenant with humankind, promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood. Forty days and forty nights is also the amount of time that Moses fasted on Mount Sinai as the words of God’s covenant with the Israelites were inscribed on stone tablets. In 1 Kings chapter 19, we read that forty days and forty nights were also the amount of time that the prophet Elijah fasted in the desert before receiving a new commission from God. It was for forty years that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness as they were tried and tested before arriving in the Promised Land. Forty is a good Biblical number.
Hopefully you know that the church season of Lent, which is the season we are in right now, is forty days long. There’s a couple of different ways to count it, but the season of Lent is a journey that is forty days long. If you’d pull out your calendar, put your finger on Ash Wednesday, count that day as one, and go straight through on every single day, counting to forty, you’d find your finger on Palm Sunday on the 40th day. That day, of course, begins the high Holy Week of the church, that week being seven days (remember the number seven?). These seven days show us how Jesus came to perfect the divine fullness of God’s love. So that’s one way to count. Another way to count the 40 days of Lent is to start on Ash Wednesday as day one, and then count every day on the calendar except Sundays. You skip over Sundays when you count this way because Sundays are like mini-vacations on the Lenten journey. On Sundays, when we gather together for worship, we gather together to celebrate the day of the resurrection of our Lord. They are like mini-Easters. So, when you count this way, skipping over Sundays, the fortieth day is the day before Easter, a Saturday. The next day, the forty days of Lent are over, and the joy of the empty tomb and the Resurrection of our Lord is celebrated with as much excitement as possible
But that’s a ways off yet. What about today, now that we’ve already journeyed four days down the road of the season of Lent? Today, on this First Sunday in Lent, in Year A in the Lectionary, we hear this story of Jesus. It’s because of this story today that our season of Lent is forty days long. Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the diabolos for forty days and forty nights, and so, we too, spend forty days and forty nights being led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the diabolos.
And then there’s the number three. Jesus is tested three times. Three is a good Biblical number. Three is a number of spiritual fullness and completion. As Christians, we believe in the one God who is Triune: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Jonah, whose story we learned about in Sunday School last week, was in the belly of the big fish for three days. Jesus was in the grave over the course of three days: some of Friday, all day Saturday, and some of Sunday. Three is the minimum number necessary to establish a pattern. Something can happen once by chance; twice by coincidence; but if something happens three times, a pattern is established. My choir director in college would call that a habit, but “a pattern” has a more positive connotation. When something happens three times in the Bible, you have a pattern which establishes completeness, such that it points to a greater fulfillment yet to unfold. In 1 Samuel, Samuel heard his name called three times before Eli confirmed that it was God calling Samuel. Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed, establishing the pattern that Peter rejected Jesus when times got tough, but the great fulfillment yet to unfold is that Peter is the Rock upon which the Church of Christ is built. Three times, Pilate wanted to release Jesus, establishing the pattern of Jesus’ innocence, but three times the chief priests demanded his crucifixion, establishing the pattern that they did not believe that he was the Messiah, the chosen one of God.
The diabolos tests Jesus three times after his forty days of fasting and waiting, and three times, Jesus passes the test. Three times, the diabolos tempts Jesus to be selfish, to ignore the will and mission of God, a mission grounded in self-sacrifice and loving others and showing forgiveness. What the diabolos wants Jesus to do is to self-indulge, to do things for himself. “Go ahead, Jesus. You’re hungry. Use your powers to feed yourself.” “Go ahead, Jesus. Throw yourself off the temple. Angels will come rushing to your aid, and everyone down below will see it and they will know that you are the Son of God.” “Go ahead, Jesus. Turn away from God and worship me. I will give you all of the kingdoms of the world and all their splendor, and you will rule over all of it.” The diabolos wants Jesus to do things for himself, because that is the way of the diabolos. The diabolos is the adversary of God who slanders God’s name and says that God is not worth following, so you might as well just serve yourself.
Three times, Jesus is tempted and tested, and three times, Jesus keeps his focus on God. He shows that God is number one, because there cannot be two firsts. God is his number one in every response. Listen to what Jesus says.“You don’t live by bread alone. You live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” “Don’t put the Lord your God to the test.” “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”
With his three responses, Jesus establishes a pattern, and he calls us to follow it. When the diabolos–the adversary of God–comes knocking on our door, telling us that God isn’t worthy of our worship, and that we should serve our own desires instead, when the devil comes and says that, we are to deny the temptation to serve ourselves, and we are to put God first.
Clearly, we’re not very good at that, at denying the temptation. Our reading from Genesis this morning is just one of the many stories of humanity which show us that we fail at following Jesus’ pattern of putting God first. Adam and Eve weren’t supposed to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they do. You and I are supposed to follow the example of Christ in all things, but we don’t. We fail, but Christ doesn’t. We fail Jesus, but Jesus never fails us. This is such good news. Because it is tempting to get caught up in your failures, to the point where you just feel paralyzed like you can’t do anything right at all. But we need to remember, like Paul says in Romans today, “For just as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience (the obedience of Jesus), the many will be made righteous.
As the Lenten journey continues, may Jesus continue to walk with us as we walk with him.
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