First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21

 ¹⁶Thus says the Lord,
  who makes a way in the sea,
  a path in the mighty waters,
 ¹⁷who brings out chariot and horse,
  army and warrior;
 they lie down, they cannot rise,
  they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
 ¹⁸Do not remember the former things,
  or consider the things of old.
 ¹⁹I am about to do a new thing;
  now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
 I will make a way in the wilderness
  and rivers in the desert.
 ²⁰The wild animals will honor me,
  the jackals and the ostriches;
 for I give water in the wilderness,
  rivers in the desert,
 to give drink to my chosen people,
  ²¹the people whom I formed for myself
 so that they might declare my praise.

Psalm: Psalm 126

 ¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
  then were we like those who dream.
 ²Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.
  Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
 ³The Lord has done great things for us,
  and we are glad indeed.
 ⁴Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
  like the watercourses of the Negeb.
 ⁵Those who sowed with tears
  will reap with songs of joy.
 ⁶Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed,
  will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

Second Reading: Philippians 3:4b-14

 [Paul writes:] ^4bIf anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
 ⁷Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. ⁸More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, ¹¹if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
 ¹²Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel: John 12:1-8

¹Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ²There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. ³Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” ⁶(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) ⁷Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Share with your neighbor, your first experience with death.  Was it a pet, a grandparent or perhaps a newsworthy person?

Let us pray.   Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer

SERMON

Today’s text is our last text in Lent before next Sunday, Palm Sunday, and the beginning of Passion Week.  I want to look at the text through the eyes of Lent and the journey to the cross, to death.  I will not focus on Mary and her extravagant gift of perfume.  I want to focus on how Jesus’ walked to death and how that helps us as we face our mortality?  Nobody in our text knows this is Jesus last week, but Jesus does.  Standing at his side is Lazarus, his friend, whom Jesus raised from the dead in the previous chapter of John, a quiet hint that there is life beyond death. 

         I am going to look at the text through the modern phrase being used in my world, “age in place.”  The Internet defines the phrase this way, “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines aging in place as: “the ability to live in one’s own home and community safely.”  “Aging in  place” while used with elders to talk about taking preventative measures to avoid institutionalization due to mostly age and family or community related complications, actually does not have an age parameter. Accidents, disease, and life complications can affect any age group.  Perhaps a less cliché way of phrasing it is to ask ourselves what do we need to do to live life to its fullest, as long as possible, in the setting of our choosing, safely?  I would suggest to you today that our passage speaks to “aging in place.”

Six days before Passover

According to the Gospel of John, our scenario today occurs six days before the Passover.  The next day will be the entry into Jerusalem.  Next week we will wave branches in commemoration to welcome a Messiah.  The people in Jerusalem did not realize what the week would hold.  We do not know what tomorrow will bring either.  Life is a bit like that.  We embrace life hoping for Passover celebrations and never counting on the Garden of Gethsemane or the Cross.  When I was probably in kindergarten or first grade I had a pet turtle named George that disappeared into the couch somehow and when found, was rushed to the vet and died.   We named our pet turtle in Kenya, George, and fed him flies.  He died too.  Our second son at age four developed juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.  Every evening his temperature rose.  I remember him asking me, “Mom, does God hate me?  Am I going to die?”  Tough times! Death is part of life but it is always something we think about as future.

         Some of us have had a person close to us die not so long ago but for me, my grandparents lived across the country and all my friends were healthy.  I led a shielded life.  But certainly in places like Ukraine, in the famine relief camps where we worked, death and disease are daily realities and threats.  I suspect many of us are like the disciples at the celebration unfolding in our text, hoping for the best in a very chaotic world.  Jesus is with us and death is a thing for “tomorrow.”  Jesus knows it is “six day before” the inevitable.  How does Jesus use his time to age in place?  What is his strategy?

“Jesus came to Bethany”

         First, Jesus positions himself geographically in Bethany, close to Jerusalem.  He is not avoiding and running in fear.  Jesus positions himself socially with friends that have been his support team.  Jesus is emotionally enjoying a dinner celebration with friends and not overcome with anxiety about what tomorrow might bring.  Jesus accepts the love of his friends.

As we age, we go from insulation from death, innocently protected by our birth family and community.  As we grow, we venture out to chase a job, an education or perhaps a spouse.  We learn to drive with the dangers that involves.  Now, some of us are retired and getting around to those fix-it-up tasks we have put off.  For many baby boomers we are making decisions about positioning ourselves for that last lap to age in place or to help our loved one age in place as long as possible.  Jesus positioned himself.  He positioned himself in the home of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, his beloved friends. We too want to be in supportive community. 

         So perhaps the first question confronting us today in our text is to reflect on how supportive we are for each other, as friends, as community, and as part of our world, as we face tomorrow and its challenges with the always-present aging process.  Are people who come to Bethany “safe” from snarky remarks, from gossip, from embarrassment?  Just askin”? If someone visited my home as Jesus did, would the person be able to age in place safely. Comfortably?

^“2There they gave a dinner for him”

         With Jerusalem on the horizon, just miles away geographically and possibly closer emotionally, Jesus is in the middle at a dinner party. The disciples are there.  Friends like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are there.  Surely there were others too.  Jesus is surrounded by friends doing their thing.  Martha is serving … as usual.  Lazarus is reclined at the table with Jesus.  Jesus while knowing the future is inevitable, is embracing the present moment.

         In reading the story, we tend to forget that Roman soldiers are enforcing a fragile peace a few miles away.  We forget the poverty people lived in like slaves and second-class citizens.  We forget that women had no status.  Unemployment was real.  Diseases like leprosy had people quarantined on the edge of town.  Passover for the Jews was a time when they remembered their captivity in Egypt and their miraculous deliverance.  Passover was a time when the angel of death passed over and did not claim the life of the first born because a lamb had been slaughtered and the blood was on the door-posts.  The coming dinner was historically significant because it was a time when hearts and minds turned to topics of deliverance and God’s action. Preparations are being made for that celebration.  We can imagine an animated conversation even as we have a week before Christmas.

         Perhaps one of the secrets to aging in place successfully is to remember that we are not only with friends but also to remember how far we have come and what the presence of God has meant in our lives.  We need to remember all we have to celebrate that remind us of God’s presence and enabling through our lives. 

         So what are we celebrating today when we are with our friends?  Perhaps you have heard the joke that the celebration at a retirement center is like an organ recital.  Everyone shares his or her medical woes and most recent medical visits.  We want to be with our friends but what is the content of our friendship as we spend time together?  We do not know what everyone was discussing at this dinner party for John shifts our attention to the actions of two people, Mary and Judas Iscariot.

Anointing

         Mary does the unexpected, the culturally questionable, the deed that raises eye brows.  Mary does not follow social etiquette and is not helping Martha serve. But Mary becomes transparent.  She goes beyond sitting at Jesus’ feet, soaking in all his teaching and instead she takes a pint of perfume worth a year’s wages and pours it on Jesus’ feet, and wipes the feet with her hair.  Hmmmm.  Houston, we have a problem.  That was a conversation stopper for sure.  Can you feel the tension in that room?  Fun celebration has become a tense silence as the scene unfolds and the scent of the perfume wafts through the air.  This is a very intimate, tender moment and some have tried to make it sexual.  That just is not said.  But something extraordinary has occurred.  Jesus has been anointed.

         Bodies are anointed after death but kings are anointed before.  In the face of possible death, at funerals we try to allow time for testimonies either in the service or at the gathering afterwards. We have wakes that allow people to wail and grieve or to line up and express condolences to the family.  We focus on good moments and history is retold through a lens of gratitude.  Mary has acted out tangibly her love of Jesus before his death.  It is extravagant and it is extraordinary.  The perfume scent fills the room.  We do not know if she knew he would die for Jesus had been saying he was going to die but it seems no one understood.  They are expecting a conquering Messiah.  Perhaps Mary understood.  Jesus hints that might be the meaning of her actions.  How does Jesus respond?

         I find the interesting point is that Jesus accepts her act of love and defends her.  Affirmation of our life and its impact on others is a deeply affirming experience.  Too often we wait til the person is gone to say our words of affirmation.  Too often when complimented, we become embarrassed and say, “Gosh, it was nothing.”  Jesus accepts the love of those around him and does not dismiss it or diminish it. Perhaps the affirmation strengthened him for the coming trial.

         As we age in place, the extravagant expressions of love are appropriate and should not be dismissed.  As we age in place, are we making those extravagant expressions of love to those who have meant so much to us?  Is our life characterized by an attitude of gratitude?  Jesus not only faced death by being with friends, by fellowshipping with them but he also accepted their love, no strings attached.

“But…”

         As Jesus places himself in a safe space to age in place, the voice of doubt undermines the gifts of the moment.  Judas Iscariot points out the extravagance of Mary’s gift, the inappropriateness of Jesus’ response, the needs of the world and the writer comments on Judas’ possible greedy  motives.  Judas pours cold water on the scene and is what we call a “party pooper.”  John has pulled us right back to Lent.  In Lent we walk with Jesus to the cross.  I suspect that we think more about our journey to heaven and try to avoid thinking about death and the cross. The cross, the brokenness of place, community, and love expressions are part of the journey.  Judas reminds us that we are broken people in a broken world.  As much as we try to position ourselves in Bethany, a community of friends, we are on the edge of Jerusalem, the political capital occupied by a foreign power, wrecking havoc on our world.  As much as we try to fellowship with our friends, there is often that interaction that pushes our buttons and challenges our boundaries of what is acceptable.  And as people reach out to affirm us, often it is so hard to trust motives.  Aging in place is the dream, the goal, and we pray it will be safe but the truth is that we are aging. 

         Aging does not have the last word, though, Jesus does.

“Leave her alone.

She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.

 ⁸You always have the poor with you,

but you do not always have me.”

         Jesus steps in and shields Mary and us from evil.  He tells Judas and evil to leave her and us alone.  He accepts our intentions that might not be perfect or the exact right timing.  He reminds us that the important focus is to focus on God. 

         Next week is Passion Week.  Let us not forget to meet together to affirm the Lenten story that defines our communities, our gatherings, and our expressions of love!

The people of God said, “Amen!”

First Reading: Joshua 5:9-12

⁹The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.
  ¹⁰While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. ¹¹On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹²The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Psalm: Psalm 32

 ¹Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven,
  and whose sin is put away!
 ²Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt,
  and in whose spirit there is no guile!
 ³While I held my tongue, my bones withered away,
  because of my groaning all day long.
 ⁴For your hand was heavy upon me day and night;
  my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.
 ⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and did not conceal my guilt.
  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” Then you forgave  me the guilt of my sin.
 ⁶Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in time of trouble; when the great waters overflow, they ^| shall not reach them. 
 ⁷You are my hiding-place; you preserve me from trouble;
  you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
 ⁸“I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go;
  I will guide you with my eye.
 ⁹Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding;
  who must be fitted with bit and bridle, or else they will not stay near you.”
 ¹⁰Great are the tribulations of the wicked;
  but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.
 ¹¹Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord;
  shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

¹⁶From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. ²⁰So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

¹Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus.] ²And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
  ³So he told them this parable: ^11b“There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. ¹³A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. ¹⁴When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. ¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! ¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ ²⁰So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. ²¹Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²²But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.
  ²⁵“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. ²⁷He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ ³¹Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  I think we all know the story of the hare and the tortoise by Aesop.  They race and surprisingly the tortoise wins.  Why do you think we expect the hare to win?  What slowed the hare down?  Why was the tortoise slow?  Share a few thoughts with your neighbor.

Let us pray.  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Today’s text is very familiar but it is not being read during Epiphany when we are discovering who our God is and what his character is like. We are reading the Parable of the Prodigal Son two weeks before Palm Sunday, winding down the Lenten Season.  Some of the questions we bring to the text today are about how this text sheds light on our Lenten journey to the cross.  I see three crosses in the text that we all carry: the cross of the younger son, the cross of the older son, and the cross of the father.  In full disclosure I realized as I write this sermon that I am not looking at the text through the eyes of a young adult or young married or even as a middle aged parent seeking to know God but I am looking at the text as an elder looking back on a life blessed by children, some who grew up making choices I didn’t agree with and some who seem to be doing ok.  I am also that kid who had my wayward days and my conforming days.  Oh my, so much to unpack.  As we listen to the news about a world at war arguing about how to be a good leader, be more like the father figure, I pray that looking at the parable of the Prodigal Son through the lens of crosses blesses us all.

         So perhaps I best define how I understand “cross.”  Jesus is headed to Jerusalem, to headquarters, where criminals were killed by crucifixion.  At this point in the Gospel no one is expecting the crucifixion of Jesus but rather expecting the unveiling of a triumphant messiah.  We look for happy endings.  Normally when a baby is born, it is born surrounded by the dreams of parents and prayers for its future.  When we stand and say “I do” we have no idea what the future holds.  In fact, none of us know what news tomorrow will bring.  Jesus presents a parable of a father who has two sons.  I think it could have just as easily been two daughters or two siblings. Perhaps “crosses” are the things we carry that define us and how we live.  For Jesus it was the cross of dealing with our sins and brokenness but let’s see how it plays out here.  Like the tortoise and the hare we are running the race of life.

THE CROSS OF UNFAIRNESS

¹²The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’

         The younger son was carrying a burden.  He would never, under Jewish tradition, inherit the same as his older brother. His older brother was number one and he was number two through no fault of his own.  Life was and is unfair.  It was not his fault he was the younger.  It was not his fault that he was Jewish.  Perhaps I should write in capital letters, LIFE IS UNFAIR!  We know this so very well.  It is not my fault I am a woman or I am black or I am Ukrainian or challenged in some way.  It may not even be my fault that I am poor or that my spouse left me or that the drunk driver hit my car.  Life happens. We are broken people in a broken world that needs a savior.  The journey through life often involves carrying that cross of unfairness.

         The younger brother breaks with cultural norms and demands his fair share of the inheritance early.  In the face of the unfairness of life, we make decisions on how to move forward.  He says, “Give me.”   This sounds to my ears like a demand.  When we first went to the mission field we worked in a former famine relief camp where people, wiped out by drought and famine, would line up at our door and say, “give me.”  One of their favorite jokes was to take my infant into their hands, in-front of the older brother who was three, and say very clearly, “Give me your brother.”  Then they would laugh as my oldest son cried.  I never understood.  Their language had no words for “please” and “thank you.” One solution to unfairness is to demand what life has to offer now.  The younger brother asks for his share and departs to “live the dream.”

         In the face of the unfairness of life, the younger brother takes his future into his own hands and seeks the “goodies” this world has to offer.  The text says “he squandered his property in dissolute living.”  He chased his dream but then the cross of unfairness reared its ugly head yet again.  With his money spent, life happened.  Perhaps rents went up.  Perhaps that beautiful young thing drifted to another guy.  Perhaps the company went belly up.  Perhaps Putin decided that Ukraine belonged to him.  Life happens and innocent people are crushed in the process.  Life is unfair.

         Hard times strip us to a version of ourselves we do not recognize.  We work feeding pigs and long to eat their food.  We are humiliated and feel dehumanized.  The dreams of this world are “fools gold” and often leave us empty. The younger son comes to a point where life forces him to pivot.  Like the tortoise, he carries a heavy shell, a heavy burden, so how to go forward. After the temper tantrum of demanding comes the moment of truth.  In the Disney movie, Lion King, I love the scene where the father, Mufasa, speaks from a cloud to his son Simba, “Remember who you are.  You are more than you have become!”

         The text says the younger brother came to himself and realized he could humble himself before his father.  Unfairness can drive us to demanding, to tantrums and bitterness, but it can also clarify for us our options.  The world offers us the cross of unfairness.  The kingdom of God offers us the journey of Lent to the cross of Christ.  We cannot imagine death and resurrection when weighed down with unfairness but we do have options.  We do have resources.  We do have a God who cares.

THE CROSS OF RESPONSIBILITY

‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goatso that I might celebrate with my friends.”

         The older brother is carrying a burden too.  He is the first-born son.  He has worked hard.  He has been faithful.  He has honored his father.  He has carried the responsibility of the family business.  He has executed his responsibilities but he feels unrecognized, invisible, unappreciated perhaps even taken for granted.  I suspect some of us know the burden of carrying responsibility because of our position as eldest child, as spouse, as corporate employee, or as faithful worker in some business.  We have tried our best to do our best but somehow we don’t feel we have received an attitude of gratitude from our “boss.”  We have run hard like the hare but we are tired.

         When appreciation is not expressed, it is so easy to feel sorry for ourselves. The parable has the older son outside, not going in to the party for his wayward brother’s return home.  Perhaps he was busy burning the midnight oil.  Perhaps he was waiting to be explicitly included, invited, or seen.  It does not seem he was included in the planning of the party and he is …. You name the adjective, forgotten, overlooked, excluded or bitter.  A root of bitterness is growing in his heart.  Bitterness, resentment, and grudges are hard crosses to carry.  They destroy our enthusiasm for life. Perhaps the hare began to feel the insult of being raced against a tortoise and knowing he could win he took a nap.

         We are back to Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, the beginning.  Cain the eldest of the first two sons, becomes angry when his younger brother Abel offers a sacrifice pleasing to God.  He too became angry.  In fact he killed his brother.  OK, perhaps we have not killed anyone but we do know anger or hate that kills in our hearts and which Jesus calls murder in the Sermon on the Mount.  God says to Cain,

         “Why are you angry?  Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right sin is      crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over        it.”

          Not only is the older brother carrying a cross with anger in his heart but the burden blurts out of his mouth.  He speaks sharply with his father. The younger brother spiraled down from squandering his wealth and life into servitude and despair.  The older brother spirals down through works that are not rewarded into bitterness and harshness. The journey of Lent is not the journey of “ah ha moments,” epiphanies of insights into the wonderfulness of our God who incarnates and comes in search of us.  The journey of Lent is the journey to the cross and death for we cannot save ourselves either as the younger brother tries by embracing life or as the older brother tries by embracing good works.  Both end in a dark place.

THE CROSS OF LOVE

The Father’s Love

         So… The third person in this parable often equated with God is the father figure.  I think we would be wrong to jump over the cross that the father figure pays for his children and that we pay for those we love.  The father carries a burden in this parable.  He loves the younger son who insults him by asking for his inheritance, not trusting him, not willing to wait and not willing to live with him.  Some of us know that rejection, that insult of the kid who does not understand our parenting, that kid that wanders into places we would never have chosen for them.  Love cries and carries the brokenness of our own humiliation and rejection.  The father knows those feelings and I suspect Jesus is telling us that God understands that burden also and carries it with us.

         The father allows the child free-will to choose to leave.  Love cannot demand to be reciprocal and must wait for the other to come to himself.  Sometimes that happens for us and sometimes it doesn’t.  But the father does not stop being alert, looking for the wayward child to return.  Those prayers are hard.  The father picks up his robes and runs to meet the wayward.  Elders do not run.  Elders are not particularly known for being partiers.  The father is willing to incur the ridicule or gossip of the community by associating with the lost come home.  That is not easy.  Likewise, it is not easy to forgive insults and rejection.  We do not know how this all played out over time but the point seems to be that the burden that love carries is the challenge to pride and the challenge to forgive.

         The father also goes after the elder son and does not allow the son to wallow in self-pity.  The father braves the anger of his son to restore relationship and to affirm his love.  I believe the father in our parable understood the cry of Christ from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”  That’s not the end of the story but it is part of the story of Lent, of the journey of the cross.

         Some of us today are lost in a foreign country, trying to correct the unfairness of life, trying to find in worldly pleasures the happiness we feel we have been denied due to no fault of our own.  Lent calls us to come to ourselves and return to God.  In his house, even servants live like kings.  Some of us today are lost in bitterness and grudges against this person or that who has hurt us perhaps with intention and perhaps accidentally, but we got hurt.  Those memories of how hard we tried to do everything right and then life went bottom up, haunts us, and we must come to a point of confessing our bitterness this Lent.  We have been invited to a party and all God’s resources are ours, not just a goat!  And then there are those of us who carry the cross of love, love rejected, love unappreciated.  Like the father we wait, watch and pray and we do not know how the story is going to play out.  Grief and sorrow are part of love.  God waits to embrace us and celebrate with you and me!

         The truth is that we probably have a bit of each character within ourselves.  We carry burdens.  We carry burdens of unfairness, of responsibility unappreciated, and of love waiting.  As we bow our heads in prayer these remaining weeks of Lent, may we sense the always-present God who like the father, runs to meet us and embrace us and also invites us to join the party.  Thank you, Lord.

The people of God said, “AMEN!”

First Reading: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

¹After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ²But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” ⁴But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” ⁵He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.
  ⁷Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” ⁸But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” ⁹He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. ¹¹And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
  ¹²As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.
  ¹⁷When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”

Psalm: Psalm 27

In the day of trouble, God will give me shelter. (Ps. 27:5)

 ¹The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?
  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
 ²When evildoers close in against me to devour my flesh,
  they, my foes and my enemies, will stumble and fall.
 ³Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear.
  Though war rise up against me, my trust will not be shaken.
 ⁴One thing I ask of the Lord; one thing I seek;
  that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek God in the temple.
 ⁵For in the day of trouble God will give me shelter,
  hide me in the hidden places of the sanctuary, and raise me high up-  on a rock.
 ⁶Even now my head is lifted up above my enemies who surround me.
  Therefore I will offer sacrifice in the sanctuary, sacrifices of rejoicing; I will sing and make music to the Lord.
 ⁷Hear my voice, O Lord, when I call; have mercy on me and answer me.
 ⁸My heart speaks your message—“Seek my face.”
  Your face, O Lord, I will seek.
 ⁹Hide not your face from me, turn not away from your servant in anger.
  Cast me not away—you have been my helper; forsake me not, O God of my salvation.
 ¹⁰Though my father and my mother forsake me, the Lord will take me in.
 ¹¹Teach me your way, O Lord;
  lead me on a level path, because of my oppressors.
 ¹²Subject me not to the will of my foes,
  for they rise up against me, false witnesses breathing violence.
 ¹³This I believe—that I will see the goodness of the Lord
  in the land of the living!
 ¹⁴Wait for the Lord and be strong.
  Take heart and wait for the Lord!

Second Reading: Philippians 3:17–4:1

¹⁷Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. ¹⁸For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. ¹⁹Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. ²¹He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. ^4:1Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

Gospel: Luke 13:31-35

³¹At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus,] “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” ³²He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ ³⁴Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

CHILDREN’S SERMON: This morning I want to remind you of a story most of us have probably heard but is worth repeating.  This is how the Internet tells the story of the hen and her chicks caught in a fire:

         The forest fire had been brought under control, and the group of firefighters was working back through the devastation.  As they marched across the blackened landscape, a large lump on the trail caught a firefighter’s eye.  It was the charred remains of a large bird. Since birds can so easily fly away from danger, the firefighter wondered what must have been wrong with this bird that it could not escape.  He decided to kick it off the trail. As he did, he was startled by a flurry of activity around his feet. Four little birds flailed in the dust and ash then scurried away.

         The bulk of the mother’s body had covered them from the searing flames. Though the heat was enough to consume her, it allowed her babies to find safety underneath. In the face of the rising flames, she had stayed with her young. She was their only hope for safety, and willing to risk her own life. She had gathered them under her body and covered them with her wings. Even when the pain reached its most unbearable moment, when she could easily have flown away to start another family on another day, she made herself stay through the raging flames.

         What love must have constrained that hen!

Let us pray:  Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

“At that very hour…”

We are journeying with Jesus to Jerusalem and to the crucifixion.  Last week reminded us that on this Lenten journey Jesus, and we, will face temptations to distract us from God’s goal for our lives – eternity with him.  Today we will start looking at the time between the beginnings of the journey and reaching the goal.   “At that very hour” on his journey, Jesus is approached by the Pharisees.   At this very hour on our journey, we are gathering here around the altar, making our way to God.

“Leave this place and go somewhere else”

         The Pharisees tell Jesus to flee for Herod Antipas is seeking to kill him.  Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great who was ruling when Jesus was born, is the tetrarch of Galilee in northern Israel and we will see him again on the night Jesus is tried after the Garden of Gethsemane.  Herod will go to Jerusalem for the Passover but his area of jurisdiction is Galilee.  Herod is the man who had John the Baptist beheaded.  The Pharisees tell Jesus that Herod wants to kill him.  Herod is ruthless.  Danger cares nothing about us. The temptation is to flee.

         We do not have to ponder very long to recognize this scenario in our world today.  The news is full of Technicolor pictures of people fleeing from political powers seeking their lives.  Others are fleeing so as not to be identified with those powers.  We imagine Europe, Afghanistan and let us not forget our borders with refugees lined up seeking a safe place. We know this danger, this dynamic.  In the face of danger we flee for help.  Jesus speaks into this very human dynamic.    

         We might take a moment and reflect on the forces that tempt us to flee a situation.  Perhaps the situation is not political but fear of failure, fear of finances, fear of aging, or fear of what or what comes to us all.  Somehow the grass is often greener on the other side of the fence.  For many this danger is real, not imaginary.  Getting women and children out of war zones is not a situation to take lightly.  I am not saying that faith should lead us to foolish decisions that endanger lives of people.  Sometimes we have to flee.  We are indeed unable to defend ourselves in our own strength.  We need an intervention.  At that very time when the danger is real, we will weigh all the voices in our heads.

“Go tell that fox..”

Jesus hears, Jesus knows, and Jesus responds to the threat of evil that plagues our lives.  I will say it again, the presence of danger and evil does not mean we are out of God’s will or that God is not aware and active.  We must never doubt that.

“I will keep on driving out demons and healing people…”

In the midst of the traumas of our lives God is active, working for good.  Jesus does not abandon his post and his people.  Jesus is not driven by the dynamics of Satan.  Jesus is living out a plan that is in God’s hands and is not driven by fear and panic.

         Our hearts are warmed today to see, read, and hear the reports of the different aid organizations working in the war effort.  Clothes and supplies are being donated.  Soup kitchens are functioning.  People are sharing their homes.  I cannot list the Lutheran organizations present in the middle of the horror.  Christians in Russian are putting their lives on the line and demonstrating and going to jail.  Let me remind us Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  In the midst of all the chaos evil can throw at us politically, socially, emotionally or any other way, God is active and not abandoning us.  Satan like Herod is a sly fox trying to steal our faith but God is working and standing firm, fighting for us.  Jesus is on the way to the cross and working to defeat the evil that causes us to flee.

“…today, tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.”

Not only is Jesus continuing to do good in the midst of the battles with evil, Jesus reminds us that his timing is right.  Confrontations with evil can lead us to panic and think that God has forgotten us or is asleep on the job.  Our text today grounds us in God’s timing, not ours.  Perhaps you are like me and imaging that “evil other” to have a heart attack or a coup or some sort of intervention that will end the pain quickly.  Pain and suffering wear us down and discourage us.  The evil voice whispers that God does not care or even that he is not powerful.

         God does not need me to defend his ways in the world and explain them but he does ask me to trust that he can somehow make good come out of what appears so evil now.  “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)” Jesus will reach his goal and at this point in the biblical narrative, no one was thinking of the cross and resurrection.  That is not today’s sermon.  At this very time, as evil is seeking to destroy Jesus and us, he is continuing to work good and on schedule.  Jesus is actively doing good and he is on course to achieve his goal.

“…it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem”

Jesus turns our eyes to Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is “headquarters.”  It is the seat of power socially, religiously and economically for the Jews.  It’s kind of like saying he was headed to Washington DC or Kyiv or Moscow.  It is impossible for him to die without dealing with the core of the problem.

         I suspect we often get bogged down in the details of a problem.  We imagine and fear what the catastrophe or problem might bring.  We think about the timing of a solution, or even the various people who are involved and we loose sight of the forest because of all the trees!  Jesus gives an example.  Over the centuries, God sent prophets to Jerusalem with messages.  The people thought that by killing the prophets themselves, they somehow killed the truth of the message.  Wrong.  God is the only source that sees our plight correctly.

         We think if we could just silence the voice of the messenger then the message would disappear.  Often we deal with problems like that.  The temptation is to turn off the TV and news because it is too disturbing.  Get a second opinion so perhaps the outlook will change, or gossip with a friend so they can confirm that we are right in our evaluation of something.  If all else fails, there is always food, alcohol, gambling and sex.  Getting to the core of a “complicated” problem is hard.  It requires prayer, reflection, perhaps group think, and often time.  Jesus will deal with the disease and demonic problems on his daily path but he is on his way to Jerusalem to deal with the core issue – Satan, evil, must be defeated.  It is evil’s involvement in our world that distracts us from the reality that “this is my father’s world.”

“I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,”

Our text now gives us a window into God’s heart as Jesus laments the Lenten journey he and we are on.  God does not desire to kill and destroy us but he desires to gather us under his wings.  I’m sure you have heard the story in the children’s sermon in some form.  The charred body of a hen was found.  When they lifted her wings, they found tiny chicks huddled underneath.  She gave her life shielding her children.  God loves us like that hen and is shielding us from that sly fox Herod or Evil or whatever name we want to put in this sentence.  God will not stop doing good as he is dealing with a bigger picture.  God’s timing is always right. He is on task heading to the core, the Jerusalem, of our situation.  He will deal not only with Herod but also with all forms of evil that threaten to unhinge us today.  We need only take shelter under his wings.

And the people of God said, “AMEN!”

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

¹When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, ²you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. ³You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” ⁴When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, ⁵you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. ⁶When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, ⁷we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. ⁸The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; ⁹and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. ¹¹Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

 ¹You who dwell in the shelter of ^| the Most High,
  who abide in the shadow of the Almighty—
 ²you will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my stronghold,
  my God in whom I put my trust.” 
 ⁹Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
  and the Most High your habitation,
 ¹⁰no evil will befall you,
  nor shall affliction come near your dwelling.
 ¹¹For God will give the angels charge over you,
  to guard you in all your ways.
 ¹²Upon their hands they will bear you up,
  lest you strike your foot against a stone. 
 ¹³You will tread upon the lion cub and viper;
  you will trample down the lion and the serpent.
 ¹⁴I will deliver those who cling to me;
  I will uphold them, because they know my name.
 ¹⁵They will call me, and I will answer them;
  I will be with them in trouble; I will rescue and honor them.
 ¹⁶With long life will I satisfy them,
  and show them my salvation. 

Second Reading: Romans 10:8b-13

 ^8b“The word is near you,
  on your lips and in your heart”
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. ¹¹The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. ³The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” ⁴Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ”
  ⁵Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” ⁸Jesus answered him, “It is written,
 ‘Worship the Lord your God,
  and serve only him.’ ”
  ⁹Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰for it is written,
 ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
  to protect you,’
¹¹and
 ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
  so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
¹²Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” ¹³When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  The Fox and the Crow

         One bright morning Master Fox was going through the woods in search of a bite to eat. He saw a Crow on the limb of a tree overhead.  She held a bit of cheese in her beak.

         “No need to search any farther,” thought sly Master Fox.  “Here is a dainty bite for my breakfast.”  He greeted the crow, “Good morning, beautiful creature!”

         The Crow, cocked her head suspiciously.  But she kept her beak tightly closed on the cheese and did not return his greeting.  Mr. Fox began to compliment her, “How charming you are and how your feathers shine!  What a beautiful form and splendid wings you have!  Surely you have a very lovely voice.  Could you sing just one song, I know I should hail you Queen of Birds.”

         Listening to these flattering words the Crow forgot all her suspicion, and also her breakfast.  She wanted very much to be called Queen of Birds.  So she opened her beak wide to utter her loudest caw, and down fell the cheese straight into the Fox’s open mouth.

         “Thank you,” said Master Fox sweetly, as he walked off. “You have a voice sure enough.  But where are your wits?”

PRAYER:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Writing a sermon with what looks like war in Ukraine and a possible threat of nuclear response by Russia feels not so very different from the power “smackdown” we see going on in our text today.  Jesus and Satan meet in the wilderness to duke it out.  We use polite words like “Temptation” because we know who the winner is but, in fact, it is a power battle.  Evil thinks it is dealing with a vain crow and with us, her feathered friends, but we shall see differently.  The temptation while occurring at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry after his baptism, sets a theme and provides a framework as we are being asked to reflect on it today as Jesus turns and heads to Jerusalem at the beginning of Lent.

         Today is the first Sunday in the church season we call Lent.  Epiphany told us about our God ass he ushered in his kingdom.  Lent will tell us how God secures this kingdom and our eternal salvation.  Our world may debate who truly has the power – the guy who threatens to use nuclear power at his finger tips or economic and social sanctions — but we will see it is the God who created the world and gifted us with free will.  My friends, we do not want to be that crow flattered by false promises.  I suspect we are not debating whether we resist chocolate for 40 days.  Even as the news keeps on telling us, “The next 24 hours are critical,” I suspect we need to dig into our text today because how we stand in the spiritual battle going on and how Jesus walks the next 40 days to the cross, “is critical!”

CONTEXT

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.

Our context that sets the stage for the confrontation holds two important facts.  Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is in the wilderness.

         We have seen the Holy Spirit active in Jesus’ life.  The Holy Spirit was at the conception, enabling the incarnation.  The Holy Spirit appears at the baptism, descending like a dove.  Jesus is not a lone ranger walking to the cross but is walking in partnership with the Trinity.  I say this because I think we often forget that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives too.  Often we live as if God’s presence is like a savings account we have in reserve for a rainy day.  God is somewhere over in Europe and on call for our emergencies…if he has time.  This text reminds us that the Holy Spirit was leading Jesus even during difficult times. The Holy Spirit is our GPS today, if we look and listen.

     Secondly Jesus is in the wilderness.  Do we need to hear that again? Jesus, God, is in God’s will in the wilderness, those horrible forsaken places in life.  He is not off in heaven.  He is in our ugly places. True, he has not eaten for forty days.  I suspect life for him was not that different than the pictures of the people huddled in the subways of Kyiv while fighting is going on.  I think Jesus understands completely the wars going on in our lives so impacted by the passions of those around us and those passions surging up from within us.  There must have been a human sense of extreme vulnerability as the evil one starts whispering in his ear.  That sly fox starts with complements, “If you are God…”

POWER CONFRONTATION: “IF”

Jesus is questioned three times by the devil.  Perhaps you do not believe in a being we call “the devil” but the doubts, the questions here are questions that have rung down through the centuries.  Does God’s Word really say, does it really mean, and is there not another way.  We read the words at the creation account and we read them again in the wilderness account and we will see the challenges to Jesus as he walks to the cross.  We will hear the little voice question us as we walk through Lent.  So let’s listen now.

Stones to Bread

         The first temptation was: in the face of hunger, could Jesus not use his power to turn stones into bread.  I have always understood this temptation was for Jesus to use his power to satisfy his own personal needs.  The challenge is to be self centered and not God centered.  Jesus was famished.  A little selfishness to alleviate pain can’t be wrong, right?  Jesus responds quoting Scripture that we are not to live by bread alone.  For sure if chocolate is what we are refusing to eat this month, it will appear from some forgotten place in the refrigerator or at a friend’s house for dinner.  I can almost hear the little voice asking if God really said we can’t eat chocolate.  And for sure we see Jesus on the cross refusing the wine to dull the pain of the crucifixion.  The fox complements the crow about her beautiful feathers.  Surly there must be a beautiful voice also.

           But could there be a deeper meaning?  Jesus told Peter that he was going to build his church on the rock of Peter’s faith. Matthew 16:18 reports Jesus turning and saying to Peter after Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”  The Sermon on the Mount uses the example of the wise man building his house on the rock and not on the sand.  Could it be that Satan was tempting Jesus to soften the Gospel and make it more palatable, easier to swallow? 

          I think of the evangelists that equate the Gospel to a TV commercial, “Try it, you’ll like it.”  Try Jesus and you’ll be healthy, wealthy and wise.  Just touch the TV and pray.  It seems so logical that faith should not be hard and if God is good and loving then our lives should be happy and we should not have to suffer with at least hunger and certainly not disease and war.  If God is God then for sure we think a god worth worshipping is a god who gives us the good life and success.  Many a person struggles in their faith when hardships come. Satan is tempting Jesus to use his power to make life easy and make the Gospel eatable.

         The draw of materialism is a real challenge I suspect many of us know this.  There is the temptation to work long hours and skip church.  How many times have we heard complaints about tithing?  God does not need my life because he has it all but I need God to make my life better.  I no longer see God in relationship but begin treating him like an ATM.  If I deposit good deeds then he owes me.  Ouch.  I think we will face that temptation during Lent and Jesus will face it as he faces the cross.

Popularity for Worship

The second temptation is the devil offering Jesus popularity in exchange for worship.  The devil shows Jesus the kingdoms of the world and offers them to Jesus if Jesus will only worship him.  Wait one moment, please.  Listen to that temptation carefully.  Jesus answers the temptation with Scripture but do you hear the lie within it?  Who created the kingdoms of the world and who has the power to give, use or take them away?  Certainly not the devil.  No.  Evil is a lie that claims power that it does not have.  Many go down this rabbit hole of misinformation.  The fox can call the crow “Queen of Birds” but that title is not his to give.

     Alcohol does not bring happiness, resolve problems, or bring wealth.  It brings headaches, clouded thinking, and vomiting.  Political power does bring fame … for awhile but the truth is that we all age and as Solomon laments in Ecclesiastes 2:18-19,

         “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must   leave them to the one who comes after me.  And who knows whether       that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun.”

I hear a similar despair in reports of statements of Pres. Putin that a planet without Russia is unthinkable so a nuclear response is thinkable.  Evil tries to convince us that it has the power to give life and happiness if we only worship it, follow it, but whatever the offer, it is a lie.

         As we walk to the cross these next weeks we will see Jesus in the last events of his earthly life reversing the lies of evil.  The sick are healed not only in body but also from guilt.  The abandoned are not alone.  Jesus sees and calls them into visibility.  Death will not have the last word.

         So how are we deceived by evil today?  Are there ways that we trust the powers of this world and forget that the kingdoms of this world belong to God to give and rule?  Lent is a time to peel back those lies and refocus ourselves.  Popularity, health, and wealth last for a time but let us worship the One who will rule for eternity!

Suffering or Security

Jesus is tempted to turn stones into bread, misusing his personal power.  Jesus is tempted to worship the lies of evil misrepresenting his social power.  Lastly Jesus is tempted to throw himself from a high tower twisting God’s promise of physical security, protection from pain and suffering and implying that God ultimately is not the eternal spiritual power.  In fact, all three temptations call into question our understanding of God.

         One of the hardest challenges we face is the challenge of suffering.  As we listen to the news about the war in Ukraine and see our fellow human beings told to kill or being killed, we may wonder if God is truly all powerful.  When a doctor gives us a terminal diagnosis or says that surgery is in our future, we can despair.  When our children struggle and rebel or perhaps are hurt, our spirits are crushed.  The cross was an accepted execution by the Romans.  Jesus saw this form of execution in his country and knew it was not a pretty death he was facing.  The temptation again is to avoid the cross and death as that cannot be of God.  God by definition is there to protect us.

         Luke is a little more polite in Jesus’ dismissal of this voice, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test,” but Matthew reports Jesus saying, “Away from me, Satan!  For it is written ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only!’”  Jesus does not argue or reason with evil but now dismisses it.  Some temptations we deal with by refusing to engage.  When the crow opened his mouth to respond to the temptation of the fox, the cheese was lost.

          I know I cannot eat just one chip.  To try is only going down a road that leads to failure.  The truth is that God is God and I am his creation.  He has not promised me a rose garden now.  Only tales and TV series end that way.  For the next few weeks, we will be walking with Jesus to the cross for we also must all die.  Only God knows the master plan for the world, for Ukraine, and for us.  God in the wildernesses is ushering in a Kingdom that will be under his rule.  We have free will to choose.       Temptation would whisper in our ear that God’s way is hard like a rock and should be eatable like bread.  God’s way is unpopular and involves rejection.  And ultimately God’s way should not involve suffering and danger.  Jesus responded to the lies of evil by quoting Scripture and by refusing to engage with it.  The sly fox fools the vain crow into dropping her cheese but evil does not fool Jesus.  Jesus is walking to the cross for us so that we will have eternal life in his kingdom where there is no hunger, where we are loved, and where we need not fear danger.  The Lenten journey to the cross takes us to that kingdom.  Let us refuse the lies of the sly fox and focus on Jesus during Lent.

Let the people of God say AMEN.

Sunday Epiphany 8

First Reading: Exodus 34:29-35

²⁹Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. ³⁰When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. ³²Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; ³⁴but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Psalm: Psalm 99

 ¹The Lord is king; let the people tremble.
  The Lord is enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth shake.
 ²The Lord, great in Zion,
  is high above all peoples.
 ³Let them confess God’s name, which is great and awesome;
  God is the Holy One.
 ⁴O mighty king, lover of justice, you have established equity;
  you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 
 ⁵Proclaim the greatness of the Lord and fall down before God’s footstool; God is the Holy One.
 ⁶Moses and Aaron among your priests, and Samuel among those who call upon your name, O Lord,
  they called upon you, and you answered them,
 ⁷you spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud;
  they kept your testimonies and the decree that you gave them.
 ⁸O Lord our God, you answered them indeed;
  you were a God who forgave them, yet punished them for their evil deeds.
 ⁹Proclaim the greatness of the Lord and worship upon God’s holy hill;
  for the Lord our God is the Holy One.

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2.

¹²Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, ¹³not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. ¹⁴But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. ¹⁵Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; ¹⁶but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, ²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. ^4:1Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. ²We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

Gospel: Luke 9:28-36 [37-43a]

²⁸Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. ³¹They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. ³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. ³⁵Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” ³⁶When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.
  ³⁷On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. ³⁹Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. ⁴⁰I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” ⁴¹Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ^43aAnd all were astounded at the greatness of God.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Have you ever had an experience that changed your life?   It might be as simple as “I do” or perhaps “I don’t” or perhaps an accident.  Share that “Ah ha” moment with your neighbor.”

Let us pray.  Lord, May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Today we come to the end of Epiphany 2022.  Epiphany focuses on the events of Jesus’ life that enlighten us about who our God is.  As we look at the life of Christ, his teachings, his actions, the unfolding of who he is, as part of the Trinity, our lives change.  We transfigure as we grow in relationship with Christ.  In our Old Testament reading we see how Moses had to cover his face because of his encounters with God, his face shone.  He was somehow changed, enriched.  Paul too agrees that we are changed by our encounters with God and his word but we need not cover our faces because our lives will show the gradual transformation as our faith grows.

         Today we stand on a mountaintop again.  At the beginning of Epiphany season we saw Jesus at his baptism. We are baptized into the reality of a God that is triune, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and that mystery is working in our lives as we grow in faith. Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount and on the Plain, laying out how the kingdom of God, the reign of God, works differently than the kingdom of Rome. God works in the ordinary places of our lives using ordinary vessels like us to transform ordinary events into joyous celebrations like at the wedding of Cana.  Fishermen go from failures to kneeling believers realizing God’s power in them performed the miraculous.  Demon possessed people were freed, blind saw, deaf heard and the dead were raised.  We are part of that very story and we come to church today to be reminded, yet again, that our God is a God of “ah ha” moments in our lives.

         Today we come to the Mount of Transfiguration.  Wednesday will be Ash Wednesday and the Lent season will start and we will turn our attention to the journey to the cross.  But first we must internalize the “ah ha” moment of transfiguration. I think we are witnessing Jesus pulling back the veil and becoming more real, becoming his better self, even as we, by knowing him gradually grow into our better selves.  What do we see?

²⁹And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

Jesus transfigures physically.  A caterpillar becomes a butterfly.  A tadpole becomes a frog.  Water on a mountaintop might become ice. Not so with Jesus.  Jesus did not become a different kind of being.  He did not return to being spirit with the Father and Holy Spirit.  He did not give up his humanity.  He was recognizable.  It is as if he became more himself, himself glorified, himself fully revealed and not tarnished or cloaked by the sinful atmosphere of our world.  Luke says Peter, James and John saw Jesus in his glory. Matthew reports that Jesus’ face shone like the sun.  All reports note the dazzling white clothes.

         Paul challenges us in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  I have heard people talk about becoming an angel at death as if they become another type of being.  Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus, not as angels but as recognizable humans, talking and interacting with Jesus, all in a glorified, more real expressions of themselves.  I would like to think that as I grow in faith the worry lines relax on my face, my brow relaxes as sadness and grief are placed in his hands.  I no longer need to be bitter or vengeful as I trust the eternal judge of the universe to work out justice.  I suspect that those crippled by disease and accidents will no longer carry the scars of evil in our world.  Age may not be an identifying factor.  Jesus walked through the doors of the closed room after the crucifixion when he was scarred beyond recognition but all recognized him.  In the same way, as we grow in Christ we become more and more our better self until we are truly restored after death when we can leave our worn out shells behind.

         So how are we transforming our lives today?  May I suggest that as we gaze on the good and the holy, meeting with Christ in his Word, in his music, in his nature, with his family, we gradually become transformed into his likeness, our better selves, our selves we were created to be.  May it be so Lord!

³⁰Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.

The Transfiguration of Jesus was not only a physical transformation but also a social transfiguration.  Jesus was no longer limited to the saints alive on earth but suddenly he was in relationship with the saints of all time.  Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus.  Moses and Elijah were also glorified in body, not angels, not spirits floating in space.  Jesus stepped into a more real social reality.

         I have often wondered what they talked about.  I do not think Moses came to remind Jesus of the law that had to be fulfilled.  I do not think Elijah came to remind Jesus that his death was prophesized and so he had to go through with it.  I have preached on this before but let me just summarize today. 

1. Moses stood with his back to the Red Sea with death seeming immanent.  Elijah stood at Mt. Carmel having a smack down with 400 priests of Baal, outnumbered and facing death.  Both Moses and Elijah could encourage Jesus, true man, that God had solutions no one anticipates when faced with death.
2. Moses stood with the Red Sea at his back and a mob of delivered Israelites petrified and wishing they had never been rescued from Egypt.  His popularity rating was zero.  Elijah stood facing the prophets of Baal and not one Israelite stood by his side.  We later learn that God had saved 7000 believers.  They all were M.I.A. and silent.  Elijah’s popularity rating was zero.  Even when our friends or followers flee as those of Jesus would, God does not.
3. At the moment of death, God went with Moses up the mountain and personally closed his eyes.  At the moment of death, God sent chariots of fire to carry Elijah to heaven. At the moment of crisis, God himself is present and would walk with Jesus through death.

I firmly believe that Moses and Elijah were present at the Transfiguration not to guilt Jesus into the journey to the cross but to encourage him and to testify and to give hope. We serve God not from guilt but love.

     Two lessons come from this part of the text.  We will see those we have been separated from by death because we will step into an enlarged social reality that includes all saints.  How God works that out is in his hands.  Secondly, God has answers we do not anticipate as we travel and face challenges that seem impossible.  Even if we are not winning a popularity pole, we may not be wrong.  As we stand with children and grandchildren encouraging them to make godly choices, being unpopular, while painful, is not lethal.  But most importantly God is bigger than our awareness of him and he is always with us whether we see him or not.  That is good news.

“Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”

Transfiguration gives us clarity about our physical reality.  We are more than we have become.  Transfiguration gives us clarity about our social reality.  We will be with the saints eternal.  Thirdly Transfiguration gives us clarity about spiritual reality.

         In our world of relativity, science, and inclusivity, it is easy to become confused.  Do all religions lead to God and is it only important that we love one another as we would be loved?  Is being nice, the ultimate litmus test of faith?  Wow that is a loaded question these days.  For sure we would not want to be thought judgmental or intolerant.

         Ole Peter opens his mouth and suggests building three worship centers, one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one for Jesus.  At this point God himself speaks. Jesus is the beloved son, not on the same level as Moses and Elijah.  Jesus is True Man and perhaps Moses and Elijah who were created in the image of God, appear similar to Jesus and did indeed do great things, but they were not God.  We must not become confused about whom we worship.  Signs and wonders point to the work of God, not to the divinity of the person who prays.  We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  There is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”  End of conversation!  Listen to Jesus, not the TV, not the pod cast, not evangelist.  Listen to Jesus! 

         So whom are we listening to today and where do we find truth and wisdom?  Many are disillusioned.  Government has not stopped the potential of war.  Medicine has not prevented death by disease.  Science has not really found the origin of life.  Meditation does not give eternal peace.  Wealth has produced fat people.  We could go on and on but the eternal answers to life require we listen to Jesus. And even then, we will not understand everything this side of heaven. The truth is we are all God’s creation and God is the creator.  But he is working to transfigure us into our better selves as we grow in him.  Listen to Jesus!

“…when they had come down from the mountain…”

The disciples and we must come down the mountain and like the disciples, we face problems we just cannot solve.  We face reality.  We are broken people in a broken world and we need a savior.  The disciples could not cure the child seized by an evil spirit.  Some problems are not solved by faith but require prayer.  Some problems require divine intervention.  Some problems we must leave in God’s hands.  Ultimately, our transfiguration, our growth in faith, is not for our glory but for God’s.  Jesus healed the little boy and our text ends today with, “^43aAnd all were astounded at the greatness of God.”  And that is how it should be.  As we end the Epiphany season and think of the “ah ha” moments that have touched us and transformed us as we have drawn closer to God and drawn from his strength to face our challenges, our prayer is that He will be glorified and that our world will see His greatness through our lives.  May it be so!

Let the people of God say, “AMEN!”

First Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-10

 ⁵Thus says the Lord:
 Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
  and make mere flesh their strength,
  whose hearts turn away from the Lord.
 ⁶They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
  and shall not see when relief comes.
 They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
  in an uninhabited salt land.

 ⁷Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
  whose trust is the Lord.
 ⁸They shall be like a tree planted by water,
  sending out its roots by the stream.
 It shall not fear when heat comes,
  and its leaves shall stay green;
 in the year of drought it is not anxious,
  and it does not cease to bear fruit.

 ⁹The heart is devious above all else;
  it is perverse—
  who can understand it?
 ¹⁰I the Lord test the mind
  and search the heart,
 to give to all according to their ways,
  according to the fruit of their doings.

Psalm: Psalm 1

 ¹Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
  nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
 ²Their delight is in the law of the Lord,
  and they meditate on God’s teaching day and night. 
 ³They are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in due       season, with leaves that do not wither; everything they do shall        prosper.
 ⁴It is not so with the wicked;
  they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
 ⁵Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when judgment comes,
  nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
 ⁶For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
  but the way of the wicked shall be destroyed. 

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12-20

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. ¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.
  ²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.

Gospel: Luke 6:17-26

¹⁷[Jesus] came down with [the twelve] and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.¹⁸They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.
  ²⁰Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
 “Blessed are you who are poor,
  for yours is the kingdom of God.
 ²¹“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
  for you will be filled.
 “Blessed are you who weep now,
  for you will laugh.
  ²²“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. ²³Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
 ²⁴“But woe to you who are rich,
  for you have received your consolation.
 ²⁵“Woe to you who are full now,
  for you will be hungry.
 “Woe to you who are laughing now,
  for you will mourn and weep.
  ²⁶“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  {I’m hoping the person preaching could bring a level for the children’s sermon.}  If I am correct, a level is like a 2 by 4 piece of wood.  Looks ordinary but when you look closely, there is a glass tube embedded in the middle of the board and in the middle of the glass tube is a bubble of oil or perhaps mercury – not dissimilar to a thermometer.  This bubble can move up and down as you tilt the board.

         What is this board used for?  (you put it on a surface like a wall being built to tell if the bricks are parallel to the ground.}

         If the bubble floats to either end of the tube, what does it mean?  (The wall is not level and will eventually crumble)

         If we had a level we could put it on the altar rail and see if it were level.  We could hold out our arm and balance the level on it and see if we could hold our arm level, exactly parallel to the ground.  Our eyes and our senses are not always the best feedback.  In fact when you loose your sense of balance because of medical problems, it is very dangerous because you might fall.  We know because my husband has poor balance.

Keeping our balance and building a level house is a good challenge!

Let us pray:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock, my Redeemer and my Level.

SERMON

We come to Epiphany 6 today.  We are nearing the end of the Epiphany season and beginning to make Lent plans.  But let us not jump ahead before we experience a few more “Ah ha” moments God might have for us.

• On Epiphany 1 we remembered that our God comes to us.  We do not have to climb up to him with our good deeds. We are baptized into him! 
• On Epiphany 2 we saw Jesus at ordinary places like weddings, using ordinary elements like water, and his timing is always right.
• On Epiphany 3 Jesus brought Good News that he has freedom for the prisoner and the oppressed and recovery of sight for the blind.  We live in the year of the Lord’s favor – Now.
• On Epiphany 4 we saw that we are not forced to accept God’s way as  many objected to Jesus.
• Then last week on Epiphany 5 Jesus belled the Cat of fear of not enough, of failure and of our past.

So what more does Luke want to add to our understanding of God incarnate?

          Our text for today is very similar to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount.  But Luke places Jesus on the plain, at a level place. Jesus has been moving south.  Luke looks at blessings but he also mentions woes.  I consider this a different sermon than Matthew’s and not just a different report by a different reporter.  How does our gospel today “level” the playing field? We are being challenged to see past the filters of our world and see through God’s eyes.  I think our text is not unlike a carpenter’s level that gives us a way to understand our lives and when that little bubble of oil is off center.  It is then we are reminded to reflect on how we are building our lives.

Crowds: “healing them all”

“Power was coming from him and healing them all.”  Our context is a plain, a level place, and people from various cities like Jerusalem, Type and Sidon and from various areas around Judea and from coastal areas gather to hear and to be healed.  Last week Jesus climbed in a boat and preached, allowing all to come to him.  This week Luke reports not only were all allowed to come but that power was flowing from Jesus and all the people that came were healed.  That’s a lot of power.  Illness of the body and illness of the soul as well as exorcisms occurred.  All were healed.

         Let’s think about that.  Jesus did not just heal the Pentecostals who pray so emotionally nor did he just heal the Lutherans or the Catholics or the poor who could not afford to visit a doctor nor the educated who could understand.  God’s power was available for all and flowed in ways we do not understand nor can we control. 

         It is not just the Christians who get better.  God can choose to work within Islam, with Hindus or in prisons or on streets with addicts.  This is shocking information.  God is not racist or prejudice.  His sun shines on all, not because they are good or believe but because God is good.  The passage does not indicate that he demanded faith and certainly did not check their tithe record or their communion record.  Yet again we are confronted with the boxes we put around God and the ways we think he should act. 

         Our text starts with grace … grace for all.  That’s where our journey starts, with grace, God’s grace.  Last week we were in the crowds pushing to get close to Jesus.  Today we stand in the presence of a Savior who has power to deal with all our problems, diseases and challenges.  I don’t understand how that works but I know the bottom line is that God has power for even you and me.  We do not have to wait for our theology to be right, for our life to get cleaned up, or for social acceptance.  Jesus has power that can work in our lives. We only need to come to him.  All are welcome.

“Blessed…”

Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those weeping, and those hated for his sake.  Jesus talks about four categories of distress that affects all of his creation.  The “blesseds” level the focus of God’s actions.

         Matthew says it this way, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”  Luke just says, “Blessed are the poor.”  We all have days when we feel poor, when the resources at hand do not meet the needs banging on our door.  If we listen to the evening news about the court cases against the famous and powerful, we know they too are scrambling.  When I hear about world leaders trying to figure out negotiations for Ukraine, or about those facing starvation in Afghanistan or Africa, I know that being “poor” is a universal condition.  My “poor” may be the despair at facing the diseases of age that rob me of my abilities and dignity, or my “poor” may be the feeling of inadequacy in the dating game or corporate hierarchy but “poor” is what we feel. 

         When we feel “poor” we cry out for help…from the USA, from government, from courts, and ultimately from God.  The power to heal all problems flows from Jesus.  As we turn to him we become inheritors of the kingdom of God with an eternal inheritance that is being kept safe in a place where moth and rust and inflation cannot diminish it.  We are humbled and brought level with other person who may be having a bad day too!

         “Blessed are you who hunger now for you will be satisfied.”  To be alive is to be hungry physically.  All people hunger.  But I suspect Jesus is talking about that hollow feeling in our gut that feels like existential hunger.  Hunger for love, for acceptance, for inclusion, and for respect–common to all people.  Hunger, physical and emotional is true of all people.  I am a product of the United States and have been blessed with opportunities for education, for employment, with access to multiple stores and food shelves.  I may get hungry but I usually have access to resources.  I have also lived in a famine relief camp in the desert in Kenya surrounded by 5,000 starving people where the only thing on the shop’s shelf was a block of lard or a small package of salt.  Children tossed around the dead bodies of their baby goats that died the night before.  In that poverty I found generosity, love and laughter. 

         One of my most touching moments was when I was hiding my last cup of sugar for my son’s birthday cake when a friend came to the door.  I sighed and started to offer her half of mine when she shhhh-ed me and said to come to her house at 4 pm as she had gotten some sugar and wanted to share with me!  She thought of me.  We all hunger regardless of economic class and we all love.

         Weeping, I suspect that we all know what it is to close the door of our life and weep.  Sorrow levels the human experience for we all sorrow.  Disappointment and death come to us all.  It is at those moments that we have the opportunity to have a good cry and wail out our grief to a God who is always listening.  I love Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”  Sorrow always seems like it will last forever but in fact, the clock keeps ticking and gradually we regain our equilibrium and we are surprised and laugh.  Perhaps we open a scrapbook and review those good moments so that when we feel down we remember the issue will pass.  Perhaps we turn on music or read a good book.  Perhaps the phone rings or a friend comes by.  We all weep and hopefully we all have moments of laughter and gratitude.

         Similarly, Luke points out the problem of hatred that is experienced by people who represent Jesus.  I note the hatred he is talking about is not the hatred for the mistakes we make, the unkind words that pop out of our mouths, or for our ignorance.  Jesus is talking about the persecution that comes from representing him.  For most Americans today persecution is not a problem but for many in our world, they pay a price for their faith.  The price we pay may not be in the overt hatred but our faith hopefully sets a standard in our lives that makes us different.  We may refuse to lie on income tax.  We may refuse to barhop on Friday night.  We may have standards that are considered culturally ridiculous and we feel the pressure from friends.  Jesus encourages us to look at the bigger picture and not just the moment.  The prophets of old were hated.  Christians in minority places are hated.  Taking flack for our faith happens to all and is possible for everyone regardless.  We are not being picked on by life but are standing in solidarity with the saints.

         Luke shares Jesus’ words, “Blessed” are the poor, the hungry, those weeping, and those hated for his sake.   Those feelings characterize all of humanity and level us before his love and with each other.  We are not wrong to feel poor for indeed problems are often bigger than resources but we look at our spiritual level and if  we are “half a bubble off level,”  as my sister in New York shared that people say, then we know we need to turn to God and get that bubble back to level so we deal with poverty, hunger, sorrow and hatred as God would have us do.  It does not change the problem but it does change our awareness of our resources.  We do not want to be “half a bubble off level.” 

“Woe to…”

         Jesus continues to talk of the woes that come to all people.  Again, woes level life for we all have trouble, even the rich, the healthy, and the talented.  I notice, though, that the woes are the blessings reversed. 

• The poor can look forward to the kingdom of God where they will be rewarded.  But those who are rich have already tasted consolation, will find themselves with those poor people who they worked so hard to get ahead of.  Perhaps the question to ask is if their satisfaction and worldly wealth numbs their realization of their need for God.  The woe is not the wealth but when that wealth leads to a poverty towards God.  We must ask ourselves if we are in danger of complacency because we are so blessed?
• The hungry will be filled but the filled will be hungry.  Contentment is a fleeting sensation unless that contentment is focused on eternal satisfaction.  Again, the woe is not the hunger but that our appetites can distract us from living water, from Jesus. As Matthew writes, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
• The weepers will laugh and those who laugh will weep.  We have good days with ups but that can change in an instant with a phone call, a careless driver, or even an email.   The verse challenges us to reflect on what brings us true joy.  Are we laughing with or laughing at?  Are we mocking or truly enjoying.  James reminds us to “Consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds, because we know the testing of our faith produces….” maturity. God is available to anyone who needs wisdom.

The rich, the well fed, those who laugh, and those who are so well spoken of  need to realize that those blessings can easily turn to woes because their good days can reverse at a moment.  That is true for all of us.  The Gospel levels us for it is true not only for those who are blessed but also for those who “are half a bubble off level.”  The only way to level is always to refocus on Jesus.

         So where does this leave us today?  The level is not a tool that is just there at the final inspection of the building.  The level is a tool used continually as the building is being built to let the builder known that all is going well.  When we struggle with poverty, hunger, sorrow and hate received for our faith, emotions that are common to all people, we are reminded to check that bubble in our level and make sure we are not “half a bubble off level.”  The foot of the cross is level.  The question is whether our challenges are focusing us on our efforts, successes and failures, or drawing us to Jesus.  The prophet Isaiah put it this way as he prophesized.

Isaiah 40:3-5

³ A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
⁵ Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all people shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Thank you Lord for leveling the rough places in my life when I feel poor, hungry, sad and hated because of you.  Help me to trust your hand working in my life!

And the people of God said, “AMEN!”

First Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13]

¹In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. ²Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³And one called to another and said:
 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
 the whole earth is full of his glory.”
⁴The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. ⁵And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
  ⁶Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” ⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” [⁹And he said, “Go and say to this people:
 ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend;
 keep looking, but do not understand.’
 ¹⁰Make the mind of this people dull,
  and stop their ears,
  and shut their eyes,
 so that they may not look with their eyes,
  and listen with their ears,
 and comprehend with their minds,
  and turn and be healed.”
 ¹¹Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said:
 “Until cities lie waste
  without inhabitant,
 and houses without people,
  and the land is utterly desolate;
 ¹²until the Lord sends everyone far away,
  and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land.
 ¹³Even if a tenth part remain in it,
  it will be burned again,
 like a terebinth or an oak
  whose stump remains standing
  when it is felled.”
 The holy seed is its stump.

Psalm: Psalm 138

 ¹I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart;
  before the gods I will sing your praise.
 ²I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your name,   because of your steadfast love and faithfulness;
  for you have glorified your name and your word above all things. 
 ³When I called, you answered me;
  you increased my strength within me.
 ⁴All the rulers of the earth will praise you, O Lord,
  when they have heard the words of your mouth.
 ⁵They will sing of the ways of the Lord,
  that great is the glory of the Lord.
 ⁶The Lord is high, yet cares for the lowly,
  perceiving the haughty from afar. 
 ⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe;
  you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your         right hand shall save me.
 ⁸You will make good your purpose for me;
  O Lord, your steadfast love endures forever; do not abandon the      works of your hands. 

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Paul delivers in a nutshell the story of the gospel that was given to him. In the lineage of the Christian faith, we have received the good news of God’s love from generations of believers before us, and we continue to tell this story to the world.

¹Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, ²through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.
  ³For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. ¹¹Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

¹Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ²he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. ⁴When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” ¹¹When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Belling the Cat is one of my favorite Aesop fables.  Let me share it one more time!

  The Mice once called a meeting to decide on a plan to free themselves of their enemy, the Cat. They wished to find some way of knowing when she was coming, so they might have time to run away. Indeed, something had to be done. They lived in such constant fear of her claws. They hardly dared stir from their dens by night or day

A very young Mouse got up and said: “I have a plan.  All we have to do is to hang a bell about the Cat’s neck. When we hear the bell ringing we will know immediately that our enemy is coming. In the midst of the rejoicing over this good plan, an old Mouse arose and said:  “I will say that the plan of the young Mouse is very good. But let me ask one question: Who will bell the Cat?”

Let us pray:  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

We have arrived at the fifth week in Epiphany.  Epiphany looks at the life of Jesus incarnate and hopefully we have epiphany moments, “ah ha” moments, as we learn more and more about our God who took on flesh and blood, became true man, to restore relationship with us.  We saw in the last two weeks as we listened in on Jesus’ State of the Union Address in the synagogue in Nazareth that some people “bought in” to his message while others “checked out’.  We see a divided audience.  What stopped them and us from a step of faith?  That text tells me there is a cat in the room.  I want to suggest that fear is one of the cats that stalks our faith.  Fear of not-enough, fear of failure, and fear of our past all cripple us.  We know there is a cat in the house and like those mice, we try to figure out ways to bell the cat.  Let’s dig in.

Fear of Not-Enough

         Our text opens at the lake of Gennesaret.  That is the Sea of Galilee. We are still in northern Israel, not far from last week’s text in Nazareth.  “The crowds are pressing in on him to hear the word of God.”  Do images of half time at the Super Bowl that we rush home to watch next Sunday come to mind, people crowded around a stage? But we do know that “crowds” turn to mobs and we know that scenario can become dangerous.  Jan 6 is a sad reminder to us today as we sort out what went on.  My family lived through the social chaos at elections in Kenya when church yards became refugee camps as people fled to safe areas.  It happens today.  But our text says that this crowd was pressing in to hear the word of God.  In Kenya a world renowned evangelist, Bonke, visited and healings were sure to happen.  The crowds gathered and pushed toward the stage.  Guards kept the crowd back but we all wanted to get close.

         Why would those people at Jesus’ time be pressing on Jesus and backing him up to the lake?  It could be that the people brought others to be healed and wanted to make sure they were close enough to be noticed and helped.  Jesus did not just pass out blanket healings!  Maybe it was like the lining up for the sales on Black Friday or camping out to get tickets to a visiting concert.  But then, I think if I could just quiet myself, pray enough, listen more closely that even I will draw nearer to God and hear the voice of God and move his heart.  Somewhere deep in our hearts I suspect is the fear that there just is not enough wealth, love, blessings or whatever to go around.  We fear we will miss out and be forgotten.  Somehow there is never enough in our world.

         Interestingly, Jesus did not have them sit down in groups.  Jesus did not have disciples make them lineup.  Jesus did not get a megaphone.  Jesus did not pass out tickets to the next showing and tell some to come back tomorrow.  Jesus did not manage the crowd.  Jesus did not try to contain the need driving the people.  He did not stop the people from coming!!  May I repeat that.  Jesus did not stop the people from coming to him!  Instead, Jesus stepped into a boat nearby and sat down in the pose of a teacher and taught.  Luke does not give the sermon because that was not the point.  Luke wants us to know that Jesus allowed the crowd to press in on him.

         So… when was the last time we were so hungry to hear the word of God that we were willing to join a crowd or inconvenience ourselves to get close to Jesus.  We live today in the land of TV, radio, churches, Bibles, study guides and groups.  Accessing the word is not our challenge.  But I would suggest the fear or thoughts about whether there is enough love, forgiveness, or compassion still plague us today.  Like Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof, we look to heaven and say, “Lord, I know you are busy with wars and famines and plagues and things that draw people to you but while you are in the neighborhood, my horse is lame!”  Faith that there is enough grace for even me might be our challenge this morning.  Jesus did not remove the problem, the search for grace, but allowed the people to come to him.  Jesus then teaches. God wants to speak into our situation today, maybe as a teacher on a boat off shore, maybe as truth from Scripture, maybe in music from our radio or maybe through a friend but for sure he wants to speak to us today!  Lord grant us hearts hungry to draw near and ears tuned in to you.

Fear of Failure

Our text does not tell us what Jesus said to the crowds.  The content was not important but the hunger to hear was.  Jesus then turns to Simon Peter and tells him to cast off, to head out to the deep and to let down his nets for a catch. “Houston, we have a problem.”  Peter and crew fished all night and failed to catch fish.  I can identify with Peter and I might have said, “We’re tired and we’ve failed all night so this is not that good an idea, boss.”  I have whined that I have prayed for one of my daughters for so many years and she still struggles with mental illness and blames me. It sounds like Moses reminding God that he, Moses, is wanted for murder in Egypt so returning to Egypt is … scary.  Send someone else.  Perhaps we think of Namaan being told to bath in the Jordon seven times to be cleansed of leprosy and he objects because there are cleaner rivers in his country.   Excuses. Then there’s the response “We’ve always done it this way” justifies not trying a new idea like going fishing midday.  You fish at night.   

         But Jesus requested and Peter tried.  God’s ways are not our ways and are not the way our world works.  Forgiving those who hurt us is not being preached on the news now.  Giving our unwanted clothes to Good Will and sharing our surplus is ok but often New Testament advice is theoretically good but practically not to be taken literally and just plain hard.

         So let’s stop and reflect a moment.  What is God saying to us today through this text?  Perhaps there is a failure that the evil one keeps reminding you of that slows you down from stepping forth in trust.  Often this “trusting Jesus” talk just does not make sense because we’ve tried before and gotten burned.  The marriage did not work.  The children became rebellious.  Chemo didn’t work and there was not a miracle healing as much as we know God could…but he didn’t.  As a chaplain I have visited countless people and so often heard the story of their crisis of faith and God did not appear on a white charger and rescue them so they have allowed faith to grow cold.  I love the saying by Winston Churchill, “Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

         May the fear of not enough and the fear of failure not cripple us.

Fear of our Past

Now we come to the heart of the matter.  Peter casts out and pulls in a huge catch.  Peter does not fall on his face in worship.  No, Peter falls on his face and cries, ““Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”   Isaiah gifted to be in the presence of the almighty God laments, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”  We start our service with confession because we are in God’s house and aware that we have not and cannot do it right.  We are sinful and need to be cleansed.

Who is qualified to bell the cat?  Not me.  In God’s presence I am creature and he is creator.  The cat is too big and too dangerous and I am too small and too flawed.  I come needing healing.  I have failed and am afraid.  Actually, I am a sinner.

         Can we hear Jesus’ word to Simon and to us, “Do not be afraid!”  Let me repeat that again and let it get past our ears and soak into our hearts, “Do not be afraid.”  Jesus does not give assignments of deeds of penance  that we need to do to earn salvation and favor in his sight.  Jesus will take care of that on the cross.  Luther parted with Rome over indulgences, the doing of good deeds to work off years of punishment for our sins.  We are saved by grace.  That grace has no limitations for it is available in abundance to all sinners – even you and me.  Our failures are not a problem.  God does the miracle and our part is to obey.

         Jesus continues, “From now on…”  Wow. God has a plan for our future as significant parts of his kingdom.  God has a plan for this church.  The cat does not have the last say.  Jesus bells the cat.  When the cat comes and whispers in our ears that there is not enough grace for people like us, we know it is a lie.  When the cat comes and whispers in our ears about our failures we know that is true that we have failed.  But we are forgiven.  We may fail again but that is in God’s hands.  When the cat comes and reminds us of our sins, we can turn our eyes to Jesus and thank him for salvation.

Who will bell the cat?

Jesus

The people of God said, “Amen.”

First Reading: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

¹All the people [of Israel] gathered together into the square before the Water Gate. They told the scribe Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel. ²Accordingly, the priest Ezra brought the law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could hear with understanding. This was on the first day of the seventh month. ³He read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book of the law. ⁵And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. ⁶Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ⁸So they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.
  ⁹And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. ¹⁰Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Psalm: Psalm 19

 ¹The heavens declare the glory of God,
  and the sky proclaims its maker’s handiwork.
 ²One day tells its tale to another,
  and one night imparts knowledge to another.
 ³Although they have no words or language,
  and their voices are not heard,
 ⁴their sound has gone out into all lands, and their message to the        ends of the world, where God has pitched a tent for the sun.
 ⁵It comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber;
  it rejoices like a champion to run its course.
 ⁶It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs   about to the end of it again;
  nothing is hidden from its burning heat. 
 ⁷The teaching of the Lord is perfect and revives the soul;
  the testimony of the Lord is sure and gives wisdom to the simple.
 ⁸The statutes of the Lord are just and rejoice the heart;
  the commandment of the Lord is clear and gives light to the eyes.
 ⁹The fear of the Lord is clean and endures forever;
  the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
 ¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold,
  sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.
 ¹¹By them also is your servant enlightened,
  and in keeping them there is great reward.
 ¹²Who can detect one’s own offenses?
  Cleanse me from my secret faults.
 ¹³Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get  dominion over me;
  then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.
 ¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be     acceptable in your sight,
  O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. 

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

¹²For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
  ¹⁴Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰As it is, there are many members, yet one body. ²¹The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²²On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; ²⁴whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, ²⁵that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
  ²⁷Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. ²⁹Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? ^31aBut strive for the greater gifts.

Gospel: Luke 4:14-21

¹⁴Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
  ¹⁶When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
 ¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
  because he has anointed me
   to bring good news to the poor.
 He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
  and recovery of sight to the blind,
   to let the oppressed go free,
 ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  It is not long now until the President gives his State of the Union Address.  Share with your neighbor a couple items that you think will be on his agenda…..  I will be surprised if he does not cover accomplishments surrounding Coved, need for movement on voting rights, thoughts on international situation brewing, and of course finances.  Truly we need God’s help and mercy!

Let us pray:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

This week’s text returns us to the Gospel of Luke, the writer through whom we are experiencing Epiphany this year.  After the nativity story of Jesus, Luke glimpses Jesus at age 12 differentiating himself from Joseph as he remains at the temple in Jerusalem, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”  At age 12 Jesus knows who he is and during Epiphany we too are getting insights into who this God incarnate is.  Two weeks ago Jesus was baptized and we saw the Trinity’s presence, Father speaking, Holy Spirit descending like a dove, and Jesus identifying with us, you and me.  We are baptized into that Trinity!  Jesus was then driven into the wilderness by the Spirit and tested by Satan. Our text skips that scene and jumps to the next. Luke now tells of Jesus’ opening ministry experience. Jesus chooses his hometown Nazareth of Galilee in Northern Israel to give his State of the Union Address.

¹⁵He began to teach in their synagogues

and was praised by everyone.

         Jesus begins preaching but chooses Nazareth to “introduce” himself and his vision.  It’s not Congress like the President but the opinions later will be divided. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though.  Jesus has had a unique experience at his baptism but there was no CNN, no telephones, and so awareness of him as an adult grew with personal encounters.  Our relationship with Christ grows as we interact with him, more and more.

         For sure Nazareth knew Jesus as the child of Joseph and Mary, perhaps they even heard stories from the wedding at Cana nearby but Jesus is notching up that understanding of himself.  Everyone is praising Jesus as the rumors of his ministry circulate but they are about to meet him face to face, not as the person whom they think they know but now as an adult living out his mission.  Jesus introduces himself through the words of the prophet Isaiah.  Jesus is about to give his State of the Union Address.  Are we tuned in?

         We know about State of the Union Addresses.  In fact around January 20^th I start listening for when the President of the USA will address the combined Congress and the American people.  I looked up the history of this speech.       
         “The address fulfills the requirement in Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution for the president to periodically “give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

George Washington gave the first address to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1790 in NYC, our capitol then.  Until 1934 reports were written to Congress.  But in 1913 Woodrow Wilson started giving the address in person in Congress.  With technological advances, Americans and others now see the speech in all time zones.  In 1934 Franklin D. Roosevelt gave the speech in January but in 1981 Ronald Reagan switched to February.  This year President Biden will address Congress and the US public on March 1, 2022.  The opportunity to hear this message has only become available in our lifetime!!!  We can hear, watch and critique today. Because of the gift of Scripture we can tune in and sit and listen to Jesus give his speech connecting the writings of the prophet Isaiah to his present. What topics will Jesus touch on as he brings to life for the people at his time the issues he sees and how will his words challenge us as we ponder how these words come alive in our context?  Is he relevant today?  Perhaps an epiphany moment of “ah ha” will open in our hearts today.  Lord, give us ears to hear and open our hearts.
¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
  because he has anointed me
   to bring good news to the poor.

“Good news” makes me think of the Good News Bible that translates Scripture into easy English.  I think of the message of salvation and the hidden challenge to evangelism for followers of Jesus.  We are often charged to make the good news of salvation through Jesus known to people who do not know. These are both cognitive, or knowledge interpretations.  We think bringing the good news is reading the Word and sharing a verse here and there!  Wait, let’s dig a little deeper.

         I note this starting point of the prophet, does not start with sharing Scripture but with the Spirit of the Lord who anoints.  As baptized Christians, we have that same Spirit working in our hearts and speaking to us about “bringing”, carrying, living out God’s desires surrounding the sharing of the good news for whom?  The poor. 

         The poor throws us to Jesus’ opening talk in the Sermon on the Mount as recorded by Matthew, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)” I think of Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”  Isaiah and Jesus are not talking just about the ignorant or the financially burdened.  Other words for “poor” might be discouraged, defeated, guilty, shamed, forgotten, or unseen.  When we take our eyes off God and look at our plight in life, it is easy to sing the “Woe Is Me” song.  That is when we need Jesus and the representatives of Jesus to put their arms around us and offer a hug.  It may not mean to lecture about salvation but to love.  The “good news” is that we are seen, we are forgiven, we are important and we are saved.  Our life has purpose and meaning even if we have dementia, cancer, no education, and different talents.  Jesus has been anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring good news to the poor – you and me.

“He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
  and recovery of sight to the blind,
   to let the oppressed go free,”

Do I hear you thinking: I am not a captive, I am not blind, and I live in the country of the free and the home of the brave.  These words must apply to the Jews who were dominated by the Romans.  We think of the blind beggars who pleaded for sight.  Jesus has come for a ministry of release and recovery from that which seems to “own” our lives.  I may not be a “captive” to Rome or in prison but for sure every month I pay my rent or mortgage.  For some we are captive to dementia.  For some it is alcohol or that TV show that we just have to watch.  That clock speaks of our responsibilities or lack there of, of our age, of our debts.  Oh my.  Is this verse a promise of a check in the mail or a healing?  Perhaps but I have my doubts. 

         Release is not just a promise to those of great faith who believe and can move the mountain into the sea.  What does Jesus release us from?  The realities of being alive?  I do not think he is referring to miracles but that faith in him releases us from the weight of worry and anxiety, from guilt and shame, and from loneliness – those things that weigh us down and lock us in a prison of fear.

         “Recovery of sight to the blind” often is preached as if my dark heart becomes enlightened and I see Jesus clearly.  Some are gifted with that kind of clarity and certainty but I agree with Paul that, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (I Corinthians 13: 12)” Faith does open my heart to Christ and the blindness and hopelessness of sin disappears but much is still unknown.  Perhaps then the blindness that Jesus can remove is our inability to see God acting in our life.  As Jesus’ representatives we can help each other persevere during our trials and we can encourage each other to see the hand of God.  Without help, the blindness that gives us tunnel vision in crisis often blinds us to resources and God.  We may be the eyes for someone, not to remove the speck but to help them see Christ alive in our world, acting to help us recover sight.

¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

NOW is the time.  Today is the day.  The past is forgivable and the future may not be ours to see.  Isaiah’s time was the year of the Lord’s favor.  Jesus’ time was the year of the Lord’s favor.  Now is the day of the Lord’s favor.  God is alive and active.  He does not slumber or sleep.  His arm is not short and he is not slow to act as we count time.  That word “favor” implies to me that the heart of God is seeking to bless, to forgive, and to walk with us.  He does not want any to be lost.  The evil one would have us look to our left and to our right comparing our selves and our blessings and to believe that God is somewhere in the heavens and we need to climb up to him with our good deeds.  Christianity, Jesus, brings a different message to those listeners at Jesus’ time who were prisoners of Romans, of disease, of ignorance, or injustice and prejudice.  God is working to bless and defeat the powers of evil.  He is walking with us into a future of hope.  Right now is the time God is working for good.  Now is the year of the Lord’s favor.

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

When President Biden gives his State of the Union Address on March 1, he will probably spend some time talking about the challenge of Coved, of getting everyone vaccinated, and encourage masking.  Of course the government is working on it but it is a problem we are learning to live with.

         Jesus in his State of the Union Address brings good news to us poor.  He talks about the diseases beyond Coved that plague our lives and hold us captive.  He can set us free from guilt and shame; will walk with us through detox from addictions, and offers eternal life insurance.  Good News! 

President Biden will address our concerns about Ukraine and Kazakhstan and the threat of war that looms on our horizon.  I suspect he will say US diplomacy is effective.  Our alliances are strong.

         Jesus, on the other hand, brings the good news that the war is won and Satan is defeated.  Diplomacy is not needed as God is in control.  Allies are found in the body of Christ, the Church universal.  Good News!

President Biden will address the reality of inflation that is pinching the pockets of so many people.  He might try to reassure us that Social Security is strong and if Congress will only pass the proposed bills then the social network that supports our country will be even stronger.

         Jesus offers a long-term vision that does not necessarily offer health, wealth and prosperity now.  But he is about releasing us from the blindness that closes our eyes to his presence in our lives, working to eternal solutions.  He is about giving us freedom from the oppression of fear from the evil one. Good News!

President Biden will probably also talk about broadening voter security by passing the proposed bills surrounding voting rights. 

         Jesus uses the word “favor”.  We do not have to vote or fear our voice is not heard because “this is the year of the Lord’s favor.”  Happiness will not be voted on for only some and life will be fair and just for all.  God is working for us now.  Good News.”

As we reflect on Jesus’ State of Union Address impacting our lives today we see the heart of God who favors us with his presence as we go into this week.  God’s kingdom does not work like the powers of this world. 

Thank you, Lord! And the people of God said, “Amen!

First Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5

 ¹For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
  and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
 until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
  and her salvation like a burning torch.
 ²The nations shall see your vindication,
  and all the kings your glory;
 and you shall be called by a new name
  that the mouth of the Lord will give.
 ³You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
  and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
 ⁴You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
  and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
 but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
  and your land Married;
 for the Lord delights in you,
  and your land shall be married.
 ⁵For as a young man marries a young woman,
  so shall your builder marry you,
 and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
  so shall your God rejoice over you.

Psalm: Psalm 36:5-10

 ⁵Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
  and your faithfulness to the clouds.
 ⁶Your righteousness is like the strong mountains, your justice     like the great deep; you save humankind and animals, O Lord. 
 ⁷How priceless is your love, O God!
  All people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
 ⁸They feast upon the abundance of your house;
  you give them drink from the river of your delights.
 ⁹For with you is the well of life,
  and in your light we see light.
 ¹⁰Continue your lovingkindness to those who know you,
  and your favor to those who are true of heart.

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

¹Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ²You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. ³Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
  ⁴Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

Gospel: John 2:1-11

¹On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” ⁶Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. ⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Turn to your neighbor and share something that made you happy at a wedding you attended or at your own wedding.

Let us pray: Lord may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.

SERMON

Epiphany is the season of “ah ha” moments as we catch glimpses of what this babe in Jerusalem is revealing to us as God incarnate, true God and true man.  Last week we stood at the baptism of Jesus, full of expectations, looking for an expert to explain it all to us, and hearing the voice of God speaking from heaven, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.”  Gulp.  We stood at a mystery of the Trinity as the Holy Spirit appeared like a dove.  We are baptized into that mystery.  That Trinity walked with us this past week and will go with us into tomorrow.  Wow!! 

         Today our lectionary takes us to the Gospel of John and Jesus’ first miracle, first sign. Jesus surprises us in three ways that might be “ah ha” moments, epiphany moments, for us today.

“Ah ha” #1:  Jesus is at Weddings

         John chooses the wedding of Cana for his first place of ministry for Jesus.  Matthew opened with the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ State of the Union address.  Mark opens with an exorcism after Jesus read Scripture in the temple.  Luke opens with Jesus being driven into the wilderness for testing with Satan.  John, however, opens with a seemingly concerned mother, Mary, coming to Jesus at a wedding, asking for his help.  Do not race past this context.  It is so human, so us.  For older Christians who know the story, this does not surprise us at first glance.  But let’s think for a minute of how many places we find Jesus unexpectedly–places outside the Temple, outside the Scriptures, and outside our expectations.  God is often outside “the box!” working outside our boxes.  Jesus was criticized for eating at Levi’s home with sinners.  He was criticized for letting Mary anoint him with oil.  He stopped on the way to Jairus’ house to deal with the woman with the flow of blood, allowing contact.  He touched lepers.  He slept while boats were threatening to capsize in a storm.  Jesus stops a funeral procession to raise the son and comes four days late after Lazarus has died.  God’s ways are not our ways.

         What does this tell us about our God?  Our God is often working in places and people we do not expect.  It is easy for me to despair and grumble a I listen to the evening news and hear all the debates going on about any number of issues.  The statistics are overwhelming and God is never factored in the picture of our future.  Or there is a sideways comment about the role of “those” Christians in politics as if Christianity was a political party and we all think the same.  It is easy to grump and yell at the ipad or TV. 

         Our text today would lead us to ask where Jesus is in the story of our lives.  Is he the invited guest in the audience of our life that we send someone to call on when we get in trouble?  “Please pray for me….”  And if more people pray, more spiritual power is generated.  It might be similar to thinking that the more money we have in the bank, the safer we are or the more people that like us on Facebook indicate how loved we are.  Then again we might think that God is there and he is aware but somehow the time is not right.

         It is hard to think of God being in the wings with the power but seemingly not active, just enjoying the situation.  Maybe he is waiting to be called upon.  Perhaps his timing is not our timing.  Perhaps our prayer for this year is to have eyes that see God present in the most ridiculous places – the shower, the pub or restaurant, working in Bethany garden beside us, or even walking with us through Wal-mart.  Jesus appears in unexpected places outside the church.  Perhaps we need only ask for help and wait for him to answer in creative ways we do not expect.  

“Ah ha” #2  Water to Wine

This wedding is not a Saturday afternoon or evening commitment.  This is a week of celebrating.  The people have been celebrating, probably drinking.  The steward indicates that it is at the end of this party. People are draining the good wine but partying is not over yet.  What can Jesus do?  Certainly sermons are not in order.  Enhancing the fun at a party is not what we think Jesus will do.  We often think in terms of evangelism or healing – solving our problems but not increasing our fun.  But that is not what Jesus does.  Jesus tells the servants to take the water that is set aside for purification and Jesus uses that water to make more wine for people who have probably been drinking.  The steward says, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.”  I suddenly realized that Jesus used water set aside for purification for the miracle.  Do you feel a tension inside as we realize that which is set apart for holy use, purification, is used for partying?  How do we get our minds around that?  I think that tells us something about the heart of our God.

We could easily say that Jesus wants us to enjoy the abundant life –

 John 10: 10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

God wants us to live life abundantly.  The truth is, though, many face each day wondering if the wine is going to run out and life does not feel like a party.  The anger and the frustration we live in today is not because people are experiencing “abundant life” but because people are afraid the wine is going to run out – and for many it is. 

         So what does Jesus do?  Jesus takes that which is set aside for holy use and uses it to help the people who do not even know who he is.  Wait, he takes that which is set aside for holy use and enriches the life of people who may not know him?  We are like that water set aside for purification and Jesus can use us to be wine in someone else’s life.  Have you ever thought of yourself as a cup of wine?  Now that is a bit of a new thought.  Let me be clear that I am saying this symbolically and not saying we should go out drinking, but we have been blessed to be a blessing – not just to friends and family but even to the others we may not even know.

         Let me share a verse that seems to indicate this interpretation. 

1 Peter 2:9 tells us

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

God’s special possession,

that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Could it be that this miracle, this sign, is not about how God makes my life sweeter and happier but how God wants to use me to make the lives of others who may not even know him, better?  That is a slightly different thing than the evangelism emphasis we often put on witnessing to a stranger.  Just being who God has blessed us to be and sharing that blessing is not necessarily the same as making sure someone is going to heaven.  The Holy Spirit works through ordinary water, us, set aside for God’s purposes, to create wine, blessing.  We are the medium transmitting the blessing, not the blesser.  God blesses.  We are the water he uses.

         And, God saves the best for last!  Our stories have not ended but we know, despite the trials, the end of the story will be the best part!

“Ah ha” #3  Timing

It is difficult to deal with this passage that surprises us with the places Jesus chooses to work and surprises us with elements he chooses to use,  without also surprising us with the direct exchange with his mother. Mary comes to Jesus and informs him of the dilemma the host is facing, the wine is running out.

         Jesus responds to her, “Woman…”  A couple weeks ago we saw Jesus differentiate himself from Joseph when at the temple at age 12 he tells his parents, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my father’s house.”  In today’s text Jesus does not respond to Mary as “mother” but as “woman.”  He is pulling rank.  That feels very direct.  It’s kinda like Jesus plays a trump card.  I fear we have become so cozy with Jesus as a God of love, putting his name on bumper stickers, on mugs, and who knows where else that when Jesus claims status, we are offended.  Jesus is not ours to order around to resolve our problems the way we think they need to be resolved and on our timelines.  We fall into sloppy theology thinking we deserve health, wealth and prosperity because we believe and have faith, because we live in a country with Christian roots, or maybe because we are baptized or Lutheran.  It is so easy to feel entitled to God’s special attention for we are his special people.  I love the scene in Fiddler on the Roof when the father, Tevya, says to God something like, “I know we are your chosen people but I wish you would choose someone else sometimes.”  Jesus does not flatter and appease Mary and he does not flatter and appease us.  Life is not about my happiness and my comfort but about God’s kingdom.  Jesus is clear on that.  Sometimes he has to say “NO” to our prayers not because he does not want to answer the need at hand but because the time is not right.  He has a plan.

         In the face of Jesus’ seemingly blunt response, Mary does not pout and act rejected.  Nor does she clam up and act rebuked.  Mary maintains faith that her request is proper and that Jesus is the only one who can resolve the problem and turns to the servants and tells them to obey him.  God’s timing is not our timing. 

         When God acts, though, we notice that blessing is abundant.  120 to 150 gallons of the best wine is presented to the host.  Let us remember that God does not flatter us and pamper us but when the time is right, God blesses us abundantly.  Because our story is not ended, we do not know exactly how that will play out.  The broken engagement or broken marriage leads to a whole new chapter in life that was not anticipated.  The confinements of Covid cause us to resurrect old forgotten hobbies or entertainment and think of creative ways to connect.   Cory Ten Boom famously said, “When God closes a door, he opens a window.”  That does not necessarily mean happy ever after now.  We may have to wait til eternity.

         The wedding at Cana reminds us that God is present, often in unexpected places.  God uses unexpected things to bless in unexpected ways.  He wants to use us who are “holy” to bring joy to those facing problems.  And God is always honest and direct with us as he works on a time line that he knows is best.

         Open our eyes Lord to see you in new ways and new places this week.

         Open our hearts Lord to people you want to bless through us this week.

         Open our ears to hear you speak honest words to us and help us be patient as we wait for your timing.

The people of God said, “Amen!”

First Reading: Isaiah 43:1-7

 ¹But now thus says the Lord,
  he who created you, O Jacob,
  he who formed you, O Israel:
 Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
  I have called you by name, you are mine.
 ²When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
  and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
 when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
  and the flame shall not consume you.
 ³For I am the Lord your God,
  the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
 I give Egypt as your ransom,
  Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
 ⁴Because you are precious in my sight,
  and honored, and I love you,
 I give people in return for you,
  nations in exchange for your life.
 ⁵Do not fear, for I am with you;
  I will bring your offspring from the east,
  and from the west I will gather you;
 ⁶I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
  and to the south, “Do not withhold;
 bring my sons from far away
  and my daughters from the end of the earth—
 ⁷everyone who is called by my name,
  whom I created for my glory,
  whom I formed and made.”

Psalm: Psalm 29

 ¹Ascribe to the Lord, you gods,
  ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
 ²Ascribe to the Lord the glory due God’s name;
  worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
 ³The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders;
  the Lord is upon the mighty waters.
 ⁴The voice of the Lord is a powerful voice;
  the voice of the Lord is a voice of splendor. 
 ⁵The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees;
  the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon;
 ⁶the Lord makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
  and Mount Hermon like a young wild ox.
 ⁷The voice of the Lord bursts forth in lightning flashes.
 ⁸The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
  the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 
 ⁹The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writhe and strips the forests          bare.
  And in the temple of the Lord all are crying, “Glory!”
 ¹⁰The Lord sits enthroned above the flood;
  the Lord sits enthroned as king forevermore.
 ¹¹O Lord, give strength to your people;
  give them, O Lord, the blessings of peace.

Second Reading: Acts 8:14-17

¹⁴Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. ¹⁵The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit ¹⁶(for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). ¹⁷Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

Gospel: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

  ²¹Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  An epiphany is a new thought, a new understanding, a new insight.  Turn to your neighbor and share something that has come to you as new insight.

         My experience happened while talking to a group of women in Kenya.  We talked about the different animals we might meet in the bush.  I asked what I should do if I met an elephant.  They all exclaimed that I need not worry that all I need to do is point to my bosom and say, “I nurse my babies just like you do.”  Elephants have breasts between their front two legs unlike cows or horses or camels.  I suddenly wondered if an Anglo was just another type of animal to them like an elephant but not truly in the same category as people!

Let us pray:  May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.  Open our eyes so that we may see you in new ways in 2022.

SERMON

Today we enter the Season of Epiphany. Thursday we celebrated the day called Epiphany that focuses on the coming of the Magi and the realization that we non-Jews were represented in the Christmas narrative.  Epiphany Season, though, looks at the adult life of Jesus and how his incarnation made God known to us.  During Epiphany, we pray we will have “aha” moments as we discover who our God is.  For six weeks we will be looking at who this Jesus is and what that means.  Epiphany always starts with the Baptism of Jesus when he first publicly claims his mission. 

Expectations

Interestingly, Luke opens our text by first setting the scene.  “The people were filled with expectations.”  Hebrews 12:1 challenges even us twenty first century skeptics at the beginning of the year,

         “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that seasily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked  out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

Luke opens his gospel with a genealogy of generations, the cloud of witnesses, preceding Jesus, waiting for the Messiah.  Luke tells of the crowds waiting outside the Temple as Zechariah offered prayers and met an angel.  People of faith surround us.  Pause for a moment and thank God quietly for the person who impacted your life spiritually.  (Pause.)  The people in our text are waiting and expecting God to act.  Are we excited about how God will act in 2022?

         So what are our expectations as we wait for 2022 to unfold?  The people’s expectations were not silent ponderings but more active.  They were questioning if John the Baptist was the Messiah. They were interacting through eyes of faith with the events of their world unfolding before them.  Do you remember Sunday School in high school when a whole lesson could be the newspaper laid out on the table and just praying over the events recorded?  I guess newspapers are not as “in” as they once were but news certainly sells – not just the rise and fall of the stock market.  My husband and I like to keep our Christmas cards and then read and pray over them gradually during January.  Martin Luther wrote a darling little book where he divided the Lord’s Prayer into seven parts and then for a year we used that devotional to set the theme of praying daily a piece of the Lord’s prayer with all it’s implications.  The question the text confronts us with is, “Are we people expecting” or are we people resigned to receive whatever happens daily?

Experts

…but one who is more powerful than I is coming…

As Luke relates the baptism of Jesus, he notes the people waiting in expectation but he stops to make sure we understand that John the Baptist, that fiery prophet in camel skin clothes, standing in the Jordon, to whom people flocked, was not THE expert but only ,a prophet pointing to someone greater.  John the Baptist knows the people are expecting, longing for a Messiah, and he is clear that he is only preparing the way.

         Each night as a different expert from a different state or a different university weighs in on the statistics of Covid and what it might mean or we take polls on the popularity of our President or we analyze the decisions of our courts, we seldom if ever say “but one who is more powerful than I is coming.”  We seldom admit the limitations of our understanding and that there is a greater power at work in our world.  Even pastors are prone to feel the responsibility of being a Biblical expert.

         So who are the experts we are paying attention to today?  There seems to be an erosion of confidence in traditional voices of authority.  The word “evangelical” has been linked with political philosophy and spirituality has been called into question and belittled.  We are part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and by that we mean we bring the “evangel”, the good news of salvation, not necessarily a critique of politics.  “Evangelical” is used by many to mean that they believed in Jesus as a person who understood and then testified to their own faith through baptism.  However we understand our identity to be evangelical Christians who represent the Good News and can confess that there is “one more powerful than I” who rules our world and understands our lives in ways we do not.  We believe he dealt with sin on the cross.  My feelings and ability to understand does not govern my salvation but through faith that sometimes is strong and sometimes struggles I have access to salvation.  My spiritual struggles in 2022 do not change the fact that Christ died for me.

         John 14 has much to say about who our real expert is, the Holy Spirit

            ^“26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my  name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do  not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be  troubled and do not be afraid.”

We do have an expert we can turn to who is always available, willing to listen and interact, and who intercedes for us when we cannot find the right words. 

         Our text reminds us today that when we feel so ignorant in the presence of all the experts in our world that seek to explain reality, the true expert is Jesus who came and will come.  We experience him as the Holy Spirit.  It is appropriate that we start our liturgical year by studying his life, a revelation of the true God who holds our lives in his hands and who speaks to us today in the Holy Spirit.

Experience

Luke then tells of Jesus’ baptism.  Unique to Luke is the additional fact that then Jesus prays and as he is praying the Father speaks and the Spirit descends like a dove.  It is a picture for us of the Trinity.  Luke does not specify the details of the baptism as we like to quibble about – dunk or immerse, backwards or forward – but rather he comments on Jesus praying.  In the midst of that prayer the Trinity appears, the wholeness of God.

         It is in the act of prayer that the door of faith opens to the Father and the presence of the Holy Spirit.  We are not saved by baptism but by the death of Christ on the cross but faith opens the door of relationship, of access to experts and experience, to guidance, to insight, to wisdom, to comfort … to relationship with a real expert.

         Let me first clarify, John the Baptist baptized with water, a baptism of repentance, to prepare the hearts of the people to hear the words of Jesus.  The baptism we practice today is not a baptism of repentance but a baptism of faith, a baptism “with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  We identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Romans 6:3,4 says,

         “³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

As Lutherans we believe that the faith of the parents covers the life of the child and so we bring our children.  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and need salvation, even children.  We baptize and believe that we cannot by our own strength believe in Jesus or come to him but the Holy Spirit calls, leads and guides us into a faith relationship marked by the Spirit’s presence.  We claim that relationship for them and promise to pray for them, teach them and be with them as they grow.  

         Returning to the baptism experience of Jesus, we see him engulfed in the Godhead, not an individual expression of God.  We stand and bow at a mystery today.  Our God can be acting in uniquely different ways, all at once, and yet in unity.  As the Spirit hovers, God speaks and Jesus shows us that reality.  They work together.  We bow in faith.

         Jesus prays and we see that through prayer that full relationship with our Three in One God is active.

         Let us return to the word epiphany.  Merriam-Webster defines the essential meaning of “epiphany” as:

         1: a Christian festival held on January 6 in honor of the coming of      the three kings to the infant Jesus Christ

         2: a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way

Thursday we celebrated how the Magi started a journey to visit the “new born king and worship him.”  We start 2022 expecting and wanting to see this new born king whom we now call Savior in new ways and in new places.  We acknowledge that he is the only true expert who can lead, guide, and forgive us as we live our lives.  Our prayer is “open our eyes that we may see, open our ears that we may hear, and open our hearts that we may know” Jesus in a new epiphany as we look at his incarnation for the next few weeks.  Let us pray, “Lord, may this be so as we walk with you!”  The people of God said, “Amen!”