Author: Chip Salzgeber

Matthew 4:1-11

We’ve all seen the devil in movies.

• Sometimes he’s temptation in a three-piece suit…suave and sophisticated, like Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate…
• A sharply dressed…smooth-talking lawyer with dangerous charisma.
• Other times…he’s as charming as a fast-talking horse trader.
• He’s slick and the definition of charm itself.
• He can sweet-talk a fencepost into walking.
• The Bible does say that he might appear to us as an angel of light.
• The movies also show us a seductive devil like in Bedazzled…offering fame…fortune and romance with a wink and a contract.

But we also see the terrifying devil in movies.

• The one sporting horns…hooves and flames…as though he’s Dante’s host of the Inferno.
• Or…think of the sinister and demonic force in The Exorcist or The Omen.

Yet other depictions of the devil render him a comic fool…

• A red-suited figure in cartoons…pitchfork in hand…whispering into someone’s ear…
• A kind of an anti-Santa Claus…for those who have been naughty…not nice.
• Or we see him as Lucifer…the star of the Netflix show…
• In which the defiant archangel leaves hell…and now is a proprietor of a nightclub in Los Angeles…teaming up with an LAPD detective.
• The surprise is that Lucifer Morningstar startles everyone…
• Including some of his pals from the underworld…by protecting the innocent and punishing the evildoers.

But no matter the form…these portrayals usually get one thing right:

• The devil shows up when something big is about to happen.
• In today’s Gospel reading…the devil appears at the threshold of Jesus’ ministry…
• Right after his baptism and right before he begins his public ministry.
• The devil shows up…crashing the party! The Lord be with you.

Matthew reminds us that temptation is not just about weakness …it is often about timing.

• The devil comes when we are hungry…alone…tired…or just about to do something meaningful for God.
• So…the question is not if the devil will show up.
• It is when…and more importantly…Will we be ready?

The 40-day journey begins…with Jesus…when he heads for the deep…mountainous wilderness east of Jericho.

• A place of loneliness…hunger and testing.
• This is not an Airbnb retreat.
• It is 40 days of solitude…silence and spiritual confrontation.

But it is also a sacred space…because it’s here in this desolate landscape…that Jesus begins his public ministry.

• The text tells us that Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil.
• This is not a detour…it is a divine direction.
• It seems to be the way God operates.
• The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness before they reached the Promised Land.
• Joseph was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery before rising to power in Egypt.
• David ran from Saul and hid in caves before taking the throne.
• Even Moses spent 40 years in Midian tending sheep before God called to him from the burning bush.
• Over and over…the pattern holds:
• Wilderness before calling…silence before speech…testing before triumph.

The first temptation is about hunger: If you are the Son of God…command these stones to become loaves of bread.

• After 40 days of fasting…this is no small enticement.

But Jesus responds with scripture: One does not live by bread alone…but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

• The devil starts by attacking Jesus’ identity.
• If you are the Son of God.
• It’s the same tactic the serpent used in Eden…casting doubt on God’s Word and God’s love.
• But Jesus doesn’t take the bait.
• He refuses to define himself by his appetite.
• His identity is grounded in his relationship with the Father.

Temptation often comes not just in the form of a desire…but in the form of a question.

• Who do you think you are? If you are really a follower of Jesus…then …
• This is insidious…the devil tried it with Jesus…so no surprise if he tries it with us…too.
• When the devil shows up…it is best to remember who we are.
• We are not our accomplishments.
• We are much more than our failures.
• We are not defined by our politics or the labels the world gives us.
• We are defined by God…baptized believers…claimed by God…marked with the sign of the cross and sealed with the Holy Spirit.

There’s a scene in The Hunger Games…where Katniss is about to be thrown into a brutal contest…

• And her stylist and ally…Cinna…reminds her:
• You’re different. You don’t just play their game. You make them remember you’re more than this.
• It’s good advice for all of us.
• Remember…you’re more than this.
• Whatever wilderness we find ourselves in…whatever trials we face…
• We do not have to play the enemy’s game.
• We do not need to accept the labels anyone else tries to pin on us.
• We can remember who we really are…and Whose we really are.
• And in doing so…we can stand firm and say with quiet conviction: I am God’s…and that’s enough.

The second temptation is theatrical.

• The devil turns up the drama…placing Jesus on the highest point of the temple…with all of Jerusalem watching below.
• Jump he says. Prove who you are. The Bible says the angels will catch you…doesn’t it?
• It is spiritual manipulation dressed in religious language.
• How often do we hear: If God really loves you…he’ll protect you from pain…he’ll make you successful…he’ll come through on your terms.
• It’s the temptation to use faith like a lever…to treat God like a cosmic stunt coordinator…
• Who is supposed to catch us when we demand it.
• It’s not a good look.
• Jesus fires back: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
• He will not force God’s hand.
• He will not turn trust into theatrics.

Faith is not flashy…trust is not loud.

• Real faith is staying when you want to run…being still when you want answers or keeping your vows when no one’s watching.
• Trust does not grab headlines…trust anchors the soul.
• We just need to walk with God…one honest step at a time.

The third temptation is political.

• The devil shows Jesus the thrones and kingdoms of the world and offers them all in exchange for worship.
• This is a shortcut to glory.
• No suffering…No cross…Just bow and reign.

But Jesus says: Away with you…Satan! For it is written…Worship the Lord your God…and serve only him.

• Jesus knows his mission.
• He knows that the way to resurrection runs through rejection.
• It is a seductive and powerful proposal…but Jesus knows it’s not redemptive or satisfying.

We are tempted to trade integrity for influence…to chase applause instead of obedience.

• But Jesus reminds us to remember who we are.
• We are the people of God with two things to do:
• Worship God…and serve only him.
• We do not worship God because God needs it…
• But because we do.
• Worship reminds us of who God is…and who we are.
• To serve God is to serve others.
• We serve others because every person bears the image of God…
• And when we serve the least of these…we serve Christ himself.

So…when the devil shows up…show him the door.

• Jesus is not abandoned in the wilderness…he is attended by angels.
• Today…we remember Jesus…who overcame temptation…not with force…
• But with faithfulness to the word of God.
• Nothing positive can come from giving the devil a foot in the door…
• Pope Francis once advised: Never dialogue with temptation…never dialogue with the devil.
• It’s good advice.
• Jesus emerged from the wilderness not weakened…but ready.
• So…let us walk with him during these 40 days.

Matthew 17:1-9

I know it’s not the best form to say not nice things about Bible texts…

• But if I was made to choose one text from the gospels that I find the least useful it would be this one…at a time in our history when:
• Global freedom is experiencing a long-term…multi-year decline driven by rising authoritarianism…
• At a time of: The erosion of democratic norms…and increased state surveillance.
• At a time of: The suppression of speech by both governments and corporations.
• At a time of: The misuse of technology for control.
• At a time of: Economic inequality…and the rise of populist movements that restrict civil rights.

So…what do I care that Peter James and John witnessed some enchantment on a mountain.

• This week I struggled with what real-life application is here.
• Not to mention…when Peter says it is good for us to be here…
• It feels like one of those circle tour bus trips or vacations when you are with relatives that you do not really want to be with.

So…good for Peter…he got to see the most awe-inspiring thing ever…

• Jesus transfigured on a mountain…
• And having a little chat with the biggest spiritual rock stars of all time…
• Before God literally spoke out of a cloud.
• And yes…Jesus’ inner circle witnessed the cloud of unknowing…
• The ineffable transcendence of God.
• They saw a moment of holiness no one else has.

But what about the rest of us?

• How do we even start to reach those kinds of heights?
• Because we are here…in the valley of the shadows of real life.
• The closest I got to experiencing awe and wonder this week was reading Ken Follett’s Circle of Days and buying food at Trader Joes.

Author…Cole Arthur Riley writes:

• Wonder includes the capacity to be in awe of humanity…even your own. It allows us to jettison the dangerous belief that things worthy of wonder can only be located on nature hikes and scenic overlooks.
• That’s a dangerous thing to say in our culture…given the state of religion in America.
• But what a helpful thing to preach…on the feast of the transfiguration…in the year of our lord 2026.
• The Lord be with you.

Here’s the thing: After reading Riley’s quote…I realized…I was in awe all week at something in this text.

• I was experiencing a sense of wonder but it was not about Moses and Elijah up on a shiny mountain in the middle of the story
• It was about that terrified parent struggling with an out-of-control kid at the end of the story:
• When they came down from that enchanted mountain…the text tells us that a man from the crowd shouted:
• Teacher…I beg you to look at my son…my only child.  A spirit seizes him…and he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth…it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. I begged your disciples to cast it out…but they could not. 

I do not know how many of us are having mountain top epiphanies right now…

• But I do know that many of our kids are not doing well right now.
• So many are mauled from the inside by poor mental health…
• And thrown into the dirt by addictions…
• Their anxiety convulses them and scarcely leaves them alone.

I cannot imagine the shame the man who spoke out of the crowd felt.

• This was his only child.
• He did not also have an honor student at home…or a kid who just got a football scholarship.
• This was it. His one child.
• I wonder if he had to fight off the self-incrimination we feel when our kids are struggling with their own demons.
• The self-blaming thoughts of…if I had only not worked so many hours,
• If only I had not let them hang out with those other kids.

We know that this man and his son were living in a who sinned…this man or his parents time…

• Where people wanted to know who or what was to blame for an ailment.
• And yet this exhausted dad spoke up in the middle of a crowd and asked Jesus to please look at his boy.
• So…yes…I am in awe of the humanity it took for him to do that.
• Because so many of us would rather die…than admit in the middle of a crowd of people that our child is not doing well.
• But then Jesus responds: You faithless and perverse generation. 

These are harsh words coming from the mouth of our savior.

• But he gave his disciples the power to heal this disturbed boy and they failed.
• And I have always wondered if it was because some kinds of people…
• Going through certain kinds of struggles are just too difficult to look at.

What I mean is this: There is a reason we recoil from the suffering of others…

• And search for reasons why someone was diagnosed with cancer.
• What was their diet? I don’t eat red meat so I should be OK.
• Were they a smoker? I never smoked so I am not in danger.
• Did their mom have a career? I stayed at home with my kids so we should be safe.

We scan the lives of those who suffer for who and what is to blame.

• Maybe that is what is faithless and perverse.
• But we do it so that we do not have to look life in the eye…
• And see that there is no satisfying answer to why they…and not us.
• Or why us…and not them.

This week…I needed the way Jesus…fresh off that mountain…hesitates…not at all…to heal those in the valley.

• Jesus said…bring him here and as the dad and his kid were approaching Jesus…
• The demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions so much so that he was foaming at the mouth.
• And Jesus did not look away.
• It did not make him uncomfortable.
• He did not look for who or what was to blame.

Jesus was just about to set his own face toward Jerusalem where he was to suffer…and due to no fault of his own…

• The text says that he rebuked the unclean spirit…healed the boy…and gave him back to his father.

So yes…shiny Jesus on a mountain this week was of little comfort to me…

• Because I do not know how to reach for that kind of glory from here in the messiness and uncertainty of real life.
• But the Son of Man reaching unflinchingly into the chaos of dirt and saliva surrounding an out-of-control kid fighting his demons?
• That’s different.
• The Prince of Peace rebuking the demons that maul us from the inside?
• The Holy One of God healing a troubled boy?
• Yes…that is the epiphany of the glory of God…I needed in this moment in time.

Because this story is not about the unreachable holiness of God.

• It is a story about the transfiguration of holiness itself.
• Richard Rohr says: Real holiness never feels like holiness…it just feels like you are dying.
• In the transfiguration…Jesus collapses any meaningful distinction between lofty mountains and dusty valleys.
• Fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah that:
• Every valley shall be lifted up…and every mountain and hill be made low…Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…and all people shall see it together.

Jesus has made low even the mount of his own transfiguration to be with us.

• You need not reach for glory…because Holiness has come to dwell with us…
• In the valley of our shadows.

We need no longer climb up to…strive for…or achieve holiness…

• For it is too busy already reaching into the troubled dust and dirt of our humanity.
• It has come to dwell with us.
• In the valley of our shadows.

The curtain of the temple is being torn in two so that grit and glory are indistinguishable.

• So…the brokenhearted…and the fearful…and the confused…and the lost and the least and the lonely can say:

Matthew 5:13-20

Just after a Baptism has taken place…a candle…like this one…is lit at the flame atop of the Christ candle…

• The pastor hands the lighted candle to the baptized sponsor or God parent…
• And declaims these words:
• In the same way…let your light shine before others…so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
• And so…this week…curious to know more…I went into the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew…
• To discover what I could about who this special class of awesome…salty…light bearing people are.
• The Lord be with you…

Ok then…this is where I offer an installment of Pastor Chip’s Nerdy history of the Bible…

• This week’s topic is…Chapters and Verses.
• While having the Bible broken into chapters and verses makes it easier to find things and reference them.
• The Bible did not come with them…
• As a matter of fact…there were no chapter numbers in the Bible until the 13th century…
• And there were no verse numbers until the 16th century.
• So…what I am saying is…Jesus never sat down and divided his sermons into verses.
• And this means that…believe it or not…you have permission to ignore chapters and verses.
• Those separations were added hundreds of years later.

Here’s the thing: There was a monk…in the 13th century…who we do not know…who decided…one day…

• Where Matthew chapter 4 ended…and where Matthew chapter 5 begins.

I say this because when I ignore the arbitrary separation between the 4th and 5th chapters of Matthew…it changes things.

Here is what I mean.

• Our reading…last week…the Beatitudes…started at the beginning of chapter 5…
• But the last verses of chapter 4 say this:
• Jesus’ fame spread throughout all Syria…and they brought to him all the sick…those who were afflicted with various diseases and pains…demoniacs…epileptics…and paralytics…and he cured them. Great crowds followed him from…
• Many places which is where chapter 4 ends…
• Which is interesting because the first verse of chapter 5 says:
• When Jesus saw the crowds…
• Which is to say…when Jesus saw the demoniacs and epileptics and people in pain…
• He went up the mountain…and after he sat down…his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them…saying…
• Blessed are the poor in spirit…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Blessed are those who mourn…for they will be comforted.
• Blessed are the meek…for they will inherit the earth.

So…here is why sometimes it is good to ignore the chapter and verse separations.

• Because it is so easy for us to default to hearing Jesus’ Sermon on The Mount as pure exhortation.
• As though he is giving us a list of virtues we should try and adopt…
• So…that we too can be considered blessed…
• That is…be meeker…be poorer…and be one who mourns more…
• And then…we too can meet the conditions of earning Jesus’ blessing.
• But here’s the thing…it is hard to imagine Jesus exhorting a crowd of demoniacs and epileptics to be meeker.
• He was not telling the sick and the lame what they should try and become…
• He was telling them you are blessed and you are the salt of the earth and you are the light of the world.

Which is why the Sermon on the Mount is all about Jesus’ lavish blessing of the people around him…

• On that hillside…who his world…like ours…did not seem to have much time for:
• People in pain…people who work for peace instead of profit…people who exercise mercy instead of vengeance.

Jesus was blessing the ones around him that day who did not otherwise receive blessing…

• Who had come to believe that…for them…blessings would never be in the cards.

What I am saying is this:

• Perhaps there were people in the crowd who totally had their stuff together.
• People who had solid relationships and never had collection agencies calling them…
• And always backed up their hard drives.
• People who only bought new books on Amazon…
• And who did not have terrible secrets…
• And who knew exactly what they were doing.
• Of course…it is possible those people were in the crowd…
• It’s just…that’s not who we are told were coming to Jesus.

The ones we are told were coming to Jesus…the ones to whom he was preaching…

• Were described as the sick…those who were in pain…
• Who fought with demons…who were broken and late on their taxes.
• And those who had a number of ex-wives.

So…here it is: the salt of the earth and the light of the world are just the people who happen to be standing in the need of God.

• And standing in the need of God is standing in the way of blessedness.
• These people…the wretched ones left behind in the last verses of chapter four…
• They follow Jesus…in a way…that the least…the last…the lost and the lonely have always followed him.

I thought…for a long time…that to be the light of the world…

• To let my light so shine before others…
• I must be whole…and strong…and perfect.
• I had to be a certain kind of person that I would never be.

When I listen closely…there is nowhere in the Sermon On The Mount…that Jesus says

• Here are the conditions you must meet in order to be the salt of the Earth.
• He does not say: here are the standards of wholeness you must fulfill in order to be light for the world. 
• He simply looks out into the crowd of people in pain…
• People who have been broken open…
• Who bear those spiritual cracks that let in the light…
• Who have the salt of sweat and tears on their broken bodies…
• And says…YOU are salt.
• You are light.
• You have that of God within you…
• The God whose light scatters the darkness.
• Your imperfect and beautiful bodies are made with holiness shimmering in them…
• You are made of the very breath of God.

Matthew 5:1-12

Sometimes it’s hard to really hear things we have heard many times before.

• A familiar song comes on the radio and we know it so well we don’t pay attention to the words.
• We settle into the familiar cadence to The Night Before Christmas and feel the warmth of Christmases gone by…
• But we no longer hear the details of the story.
• We recite the Pledge of Allegiance or the Lord’s Prayer with comfort and ease…
• But the words are so familiar to us that they come out automatically and we do not hear the words we are saying.
• The Lord be with you. And also with you.

The passage we heard today is like this.

• Poetic. Sure.
• We have heard this list before of those called “blessed”:
• The meek…the peacemakers…the poor in spirit…those who hunger and thirst for justice.
• The words of our passage are a comfortable part of our tradition.
• They open the Sermon on the Mount…so we know they are important.
• But how are we to hear them?

I cannot help but scan the list of Beatitudes to see if I can find myself among the blessed.

• I wonder if I hunger and thirst for justice enough to find favor with God.
• I wonder if my grief counts as mourning and if I can be assured of joy.
• What if I cannot find myself in what is there?

So…instead of looking for myself in the text…I wonder what I can do better so that I might be assured of God’s blessing.

• So…I ask…what should be my next steps toward being a peacemaker?
• How can I cultivate my yearning for justice?
• What do I need to change within myself so that I might approach the world with more meekness and mercy?

Then I realize I am starting to wander down a path of works righteousness.

• I realize I am not responsible for my own salvation.
• Our salvation has been won for us by Christ…through grace.

So…then I look at the verses again…and consider…

• Jesus is not telling the crowds how they should be.
• Jesus is not issuing commands.
• Rather…Jesus is pointing out who has already received God’s blessing.
• And the list is a surprising one.

Here’s the thing: The Beatitudes are spoken to those groups whom God deems worthy…

• Not by virtue of their own achievements or status in society…
• But because God chooses to be on the side of the weak…the forgotten…the justice seekers…the peace makers…those persecuted because of their beliefs.

We count as blessed those whose material wealth or privileged status secures their well-being in the world.

• We count as blessed those who can retain power…safety…and wealth…when the world is filled with pain and hunger.
• We count as blessed those who have escaped the margins.
• We count as blessed those who are centered in society.
• And to be sure…we here in this sanctuary…are blessed indeed!
• Amen…Thanks be to God.

But this passage reminds us that God’s blessing originates at the margins.

• In Christ…God’s blessing begins with those who society has forgotten.
• God blesses the outcast.
• God blesses those who do not fit in.
• The Beatitudes invite us to look at the world around us…and even ourselves…from a different perspective.
• These 12 verses invite us to see the holiness in the world…because it is made by God.
• Because God made these things they share in God’s own holiness…
• Whether or not they meet our minimum requirements for a blessing.

 

These Beatitudes change us…these blessings recreate us.

• They stretch us and show us that God is found in surprising places.
• The Beatitudes remind us that God’s ways do not always reflect what we have come to see as normal or accepted in this world.
• A world that is bent on dividing us.

Atop that mount Jesus called those who were left out…alone or better off forgotten…blessed.

• He called those with debt and

doubts and distress in all forms…blessed.

• Jesus had all the powers of the universe at his disposal but he did not consider his equality with God something to be exploited…
• But instead came to us in the most vulnerable of ways…
• As a powerless…flesh and blood newborn. As though to say:
• You may admire strength and

Might…but I am blessing all human weakness.

• You may seek power…but I am

blessing all human vulnerability.

• This Jesus whom we follow cried at the tomb of his friend…and turned the other cheek and forgave those who hung him on a cross.
• Jesus was God’s Beatitude…God’s blessing to the weak in a world that

only admires the strong.

Here is a story I heard on NPR’s Fresh Air in an interview with Brian Stevenson.

• Stevenson told of a story of a woman participating in a project…
• Called the National Memorial for Peace and Justice…
• A memorial that contains soil from the site of lynchings.
• A woman at one of these sites digging this dirt with a trowel.

A white man in a truck slowed down and looked at her.

• He drove past…turned around and stopped.
• He asked her what she was doing.
• She said she felt compelled to tell him the truth…despite her fear.
• He got out of the truck and asked

if he could help her.

• She offered him the trowel.
• He declined and dug with his hands.
• Together they put the soil in the jar.
• She noticed tears streaming down his

face and she asked if he was OK.

• He said he feared his ancestors may have participated in the very lynching she was memorializing.
• She cried with him.
• They took pictures of each other…holding the jar…
• Memorializing a moment of

unexpected understanding…hope and reconciliation.

A moment of blessed mourning…mercy…hunger and thirst for righteousness…

• That came because of two people…each in their own way and time…in their ordinary lives…
• Haltingly trying to do justice…love kindness and walk humbly with their God.

Blessed are we…beloved children of God…hear this assurance…that we are blessed.

• But then hear this.
• We are not just blessed so that we might feel good and be able to fall asleep at night.
• We are blessed so that we can go out into the world and recognize the blessedness in others.
• The blessedness of those who have been outcast…
• The blessedness of those who have been put to the margins…
• The blessedness of those who are meek and who hunger and thirst for justice.
• The blessedness of those who dare

to tell the truth in an age in which lies are uplifted.

Know that you are blessed.

• But go forth into the world today to remind others that they too are a beloved child of God…
• That God’s blessing reaches wide and calls those from the outside in.
• That those who are struggling are not alone in their pain…that they matter too.
• Be blessings…blessed ones.

Matthew 4:12-23

The Church exists by mission…just as fire exists by burning.

• Mission is not some program of the church.
• It is not one activity we do…among many.
• Mission is the church…and the church is mission!
• We see the truth of this clearly in today’s Gospel lesson: The calling of Jesus’ first disciples.

In today’s gospel reading we see Jesus walking along the seashore and he comes upon two sets of brothers who are fishermen:

• Simon and his brother Andrew…
• And James and John…the sons of Zebedee.
• To all of them he says: Follow me…and I will make you fishers of people.
• Surprisingly…both sets of brothers get up and follow him…based on that mysterious invitation.

When Jesus comes upon James and John…they are not engaged in the act of casting their nets…as Peter and Andrew are.

• They are sitting on the shore…mending those nets.
• Now…net-mending was just as much a part of the work of fishing…as casting nets into the water.
• It would not do to cast a net that had gaping holes and tears in it.
• That is why…on a regular basis…fishermen had to pull their boats up onto the shore…
• And retie the dozens of knots that had loosened or come undone.
• It was slow…tedious work…and it did not bring in any fish.
• But this routine maintenance had to be done for the fishing to continue.

Much of what goes on inside the walls of this or any church can be considered a form of net-mending.

• Once a week…we gather here in whatever state we are in.
• No matter how bruised or battered or bleeding our spirits may be from the struggles of life.
• We gather here for mending.
• There is something about the whole worship experience:
• Scripture…homily…music…prayers…Holy Communion…coffee and conversation…
• That offers healing and restoration.
• But there is also the journey back outward after the mending is finished…
• To cast the nets into the sea.
• As there is the mending…there is also the sending:
• Go in peace. Do justice. Love mercy. Thanks be to God.

Remember how Jesus approaches James and John…as they are mending their nets?

• He comes up to them and says: Follow me.
• Jesus does not say:
• Practice your net-mending until it’s a fine art…then stretch those beautiful…perfect nets out upon the beach. Then…just sit back and wait till the fish see them. They’ll want so badly to get into those nets…they’ll jump right out of the water!
• Well…that’s not exactly how it happens.

It has always been the case that the way most people make their way into a congregation is not by going out shopping for a church…

• Though there are always some who do that.

This is hard for us to really grasp…especially those of us who have been church members for 20 or 30 years or more.

• When we first sought out membership in a church…whether it happened through Christian nurture…or through some spiritual experience…
• It was during a time when American culture generally smiled on church membership.

But here’s the thing…those days are long gone.

• The culture around us does not wake up each morning thinking they would go to church if only there was a good one to attend.
• That may have been true at some time in the past…
• But it has not been true…here in America…for a good long time now.

Remember the movie Field of Dreams…starring Kevin Costner and Amy Madigan?

• It was about an Iowa farmer…a zealous baseball fan…who had a mystical experience.
• And in that experience…a voice told him:
• If you build it…they will come.
• So…he plowed over a portion of his cornfield and built a baseball field.
• Sure enough…people started coming.

If you build it…they will come…may make for an engaging movie plot.

• But it is not a good way to build a church in our present culture.
• And in this respect…the cultural situation in which we now find ourselves…
• Is a lot more like the days of the apostles than it has been for a very long time.
• This may be the twenty-first century…
• But for the church…this is the first century.

So…how do people not already connected to a congregation find their way into the life of the church in our current culture?

• Well…they come because somebody invites them.
• And not a stranger…either…
• Not someone handing out tracts on a street corner.
• It is someone they know and respect.
• Someone who knows them well enough to listen to their story of personal struggle…
• And…at the right moment…to say:
• I know a place where your heart will find rest and healing. It is my church community. Why don’t you come with me next Sunday? Come and see.

It is hard to turn down a kindly…well-meaning invitation like that…if it comes from a trusted friend…

• A trusted friend who has been sent by the Spirit to do the work of an apostle.

It is useful for us to think about the word… church.

• Well…not the English word that has origins in the Old English tongue….
• But the word the Greek New Testament uses.
• That word in the Greek language is ekklesia.
• You may recognize a descendant in the English word

The literal meaning of ekklesia is…those who are called out.

• That is what Jesus is doing with those fishermen…beside the Sea of Galilee.
• He is calling them out: out from their homes…out from their villages…out from their daily labor of mending the nets.
• He is calling them out of all those familiar places…and into a hurting world.
• That is the idea behind one definition of evangelism…
• That is…Evangelism is just one beggar telling another where to find bread.

It can seem like an uncomfortable thing for any of us to reach out to another person and share something of our faith.

• Yet…it’s a blessed endeavor.
• And it is clear…from this story of Jesus’ call to those fishermen…
• To leave their nets and follow him…
• And…this is precisely the mission he intends for us.
• We…too…can become a part of that mission.
• Not just because we love this church and want it to thrive…
• But because we love Jesus Christ even more!

John1:29-42

Today we hear Jesus’ first words in John’s Gospel.

• We are just 29 verses into the Gospel of John and what we heard already is that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh…
• That all things came into being through him…
• That he is the light that shines in the darkness…
• That he is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world…that he is God the son.
• And the first words that Jesus says are…what are you seeking…

I don’t know about you…but that feels like a direct and personal question for the son of God to ask…

• I mean…right off the bat? …at least warm up with some small talk.
• What are you seeking? He asks…or in some translations…What do you want?
• What do you want? And what are you seeking? …are very different yet related questions.

When I was in my twenties…I thought what I really wanted was a great education and a dream job making lots of money.

• But what I was really seeking was being loved for who I was…
• And authentic and genuine connections to other human beings.
• And…at times…I was so distracted by not getting what I wanted…
• That I was unaware when my friends were really being present to me…
• And I was receiving what I was really seeking.
• Love and connection.

When I was called to pastor my first congregation I was scared to death and simply did not want to make dumb and stupid mistakes.

• Remember? …I was only 26 when I went to serve in my first parish…where most of my congregation were older and much wiser…
• Making me feel I was on the edge of total inadequacy.
• My four years of seminary were good…
• However…I really learned how to be an effective parish pastor in the first four years of serving in that parish…
• That congregation was a wonderful seminary.
• What I was really seeking…in that first pariah…was a genuine expression of the Gospel in a loving and authentic community.
• I was so distracted by my dumb and immature mistakes…
• That I was unaware of how the thing I was really seeking…
• An Authentic loving community imbedded in the Gospel was unfolding around me.

What I am getting at is this:

• We would do well…when we desire something specific…to be as honest as possible…about what it is we are really seeking.
• And to notice how the specifics of what we think we want…
• Can distract us from how…what we are seeking…might be right in front of us.

So…Jesus’ first words are What are you seeking? And they answer “where are you staying?

• I have always thought that John’s disciples…the ones who Jesus asked this question of…
• Must have been completely caught off guard…
• And so…they came up with a dumb question.
• Because why…if Jesus the Christ asks what you are looking for…
• Would you blurt out: so…what hotel are you staying at? 
• I always thought that was a dumb question.

But in Greek…the original text…it is not just whose house are you crashing at…

• It is…where do you abide?
• Where does your spirit remain Jesus?
• Where does your heart dwell Jesus?
• That is a lot closer than…what hotel are you at.
• And Jesus’ answer is simply…come and see.
• Jesus does not say what are you looking for…
• And then tell us to grab a pencil because he’s about to give us a lecture on theology.
• He gives an invitation: Come and see.

There is a basic expectation to Jesus’ invitation to…come and see.

• Namely…you must use your senses.
• You must be present in the actual moment.
• Do not be lost in what it is you think you want…
• That you miss what it is you are really seeking.
• Because this is not about theology.
• It does not happen in theory.
• You cannot go and see where Jesus is by reading it in a book.
• You must experience it like those first disciples did.
• But that can take practice.

When I began my ministry at the first church I served…

• We were deciding what to put on our advertising…no websites back then.
• We realized that most churches had a What we believe
• We toyed with that a bit…
• But finally…someone said:
• Why don’t we just have it say:
• If you want to know what we believe…come and see…what we do.

So…someone asked: What do we do?

• And the responses came…
• We practice seeing Jesus.
• We practice abiding in him.
• We receive forgiveness of sins…
• And we hear the promises of God not because what happens here in this place is the all-in-all…
• But so that we can see Christ when we are not here.
• So that we can be disciples out there in a world that needs some forgiveness and promise and grace and beauty.

Some of us struggle with our faith and I do not want to take that away from us.

• But…if you are here…God has taken that desire within you…to seek for something deeper…
• That desire to find meaning…
• That desire to be loved…
• And has made us come here to see…
• So that we…like those first disciples…can abide in Christ.

Abiding in Christ is disarmingly real…because of how it demands our presence and our attention.

• Abiding in Christ means living in the fullness of joy when every other voice calls us to live in despair.
• Abiding in Christ means loving the other precisely when they are least loveable…
• So that we can stay there with them until they feel completely loved.

Abiding in Christ means allowing ourselves to love this broken world so much that we desire to see it made whole.

• Abiding in Christ means that we find holiness in the ordinary…the common and the forgotten.
• Abiding in Christ means being in the moment.
• Abiding in Christ means forgiving people and praying for those who persecute us.
• Abiding in Christ means feeling the sting of real grace…
• The kind of grace we could never deserve and could never live without.
• Abiding in Christ means going and seeing and being surprised by what it all means.

Abiding in Christ is like this very moment.

• The light in the sanctuary…the sound of the music…
• The presence of strangers…the promise of bread and wine…
• The longing in all of us for that which is real and beautiful and of God.

Matthew 3:13-17

I remember that I was in first grade…and it was late winter in Green Bay Wisconsin.

• It was a cold kind of a sloshy day…about 40 degrees…the snow was melting…
• It was after school…and my best friend and I were sitting on a curb watching the thawing water gush down a sewer…
• And we got to talking about church…
• He was Catholic and I was Lutheran…
• And he told me that because I was not a Catholic that I was going to go to Hell…
• And I told him that was certainly not true…and it was really the other way…
• That because he was a catholic and not a Lutheran…he was going to go to hell.
• The Lord be with you.

So…there it is…in one way or another…at a very young age…

• We figure out that God has set us up with a reward and punishment system.
• Yes…I was going to be rewarded for being a Lutheran…
• And my friend was going to be punished for being a Catholic.
• If you are a Catholic…then you will go to the nether world.

Recently someone asked me what I thought Jesus would think of the church were he to return today.

• I think the questioner was assuming I would answer with something like:
• What’s up with those fancy vestments and organ music?
• But instead…I answered: I think he would be curious why his church does not talk about forgiveness of sins nearly as much as he did.

The more I thought about it this week…the more I realized that while I do not think God sets up a reward and punishment system for us…

• I am sure the devil does.
• Because at times I feel trapped in an invisible system of the IF-THEN propositions.

Like he is whispering through the air vents…hey you…psst … If you have done something bad then you are something bad.

• If you really belong to God…then why is your life so hard?
• If you just buy this map…or say this prayer…or manifest this desire…then you can get yourself free.

But it never works.

• And this system of…If – Then propositions and empty promises is of the devil…
• Because in our Gospel reading…Jesus comes up out of the waters of his own baptism…
• And the heavens open and God speaks of belongingness to God and belovedness by God…
• And in the very next verse Jesus is driven into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…
• The waters of baptism are still glistening on his forehead and Satan whispers:
• IF you are who God says you are THEN call down some power and cash and prizes for yourself… you deserve it.
• The glitter of baptism was still shimmering on Jesus’ forehead and Satan was like: Can I interest you in my system of reward and punishment?
• I love that moment in the Lutheran baptismal liturgy…when right before the water touches them…
• Those being baptized are asked:
• Do you renounce the devil and all his empty promises?

It was only after his time in the wilderness telling Satan…away with you…that Jesus began to proclaim the Gospel…

• That Jesus began to proclaim a reality that is more real than the IF-THEN maze we trap ourselves in…
• That Jesus began to proclaim a reality of our belongingness and our belovedness…
• That Jesus began to speak of the reality he called The Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is like a landowner who was just as outrageously generous to those who worked all day as he was to those who worked only a few hours.

• The kingdom of God is like a father who had every right to reject his greedy manipulative no-good son but instead ran out into the road to embrace him as if his no-goodness was no-matter.
• In the kingdom of God…the last shall be first and the enemies shall be loved and I am forgiven and none of the rules and policies and guidelines of the IF-THEN system apply.

Sometimes at the center of my own IF-THEN maze I get stuck in tide pools of resentment toward myself and others…

• Stuck swirling in an eddy of my own remorse.
• Caught in the shame of both what I have done…and what has been done to me.
• Trapped in thinking that I will never be more than who I was in my worst moment.
• And those who have harmed me will always be who they were in their worst moment.

But Jesus of Nazareth comes along and says to us and to all who are trapped:

• You do not belong to the IF-THEN maze…because you cannot belong to what is only an illusion.
• You belong to God and are beloved by God and in his kingdom…there is forgiveness of sins…
• Which means the IF-THEN maze may try and tell you that your failings are inescapable…
• But that is a lie because…if Jesus can defeat sin…death and the devil…
• I am sure forgiving your sin is not going to be difficult for him.

Here’s the thing: We are more than what we have done…Good or bad.

• The people I have grown to love…in my lifetime…have proven this to me.
• And the kingdom of God is like such as this.

Hosts of people for years upon end have seen themselves as only what they did in their worst moment.

• Martin Luther once said that it is not God…
• But the devil who rummages through our garbage looking for already forgiven sins to rub our noses in them and saying: this is who you really are.

But in Christ…who they really are is forgiven and who we really are is forgiven.

• And so is everyone we resent.
• But to know that in the kingdom of God there is pardon for you…
• And for me and for everyone who has ever hurt us is true freedom…
• Because then…we can just stop thinking an eye for an eye is going to help us…
• We are free to stop re-litigating decades old crimes of our siblings…and our parents…and others…
• We are free to stop beating ourselves and everyone else up for stuff in the past.

Reward and punishment systems may be effective for behavior management… (car dealership GM throwing dollar bills all over the table).

• But Christianity is not about controlling the masses…
• Christianity is about raising the dead.
• And forgiveness of sins is the veiled process by which we are raised.
• Because to follow the crucified and resurrected one is to live as a people who get to be wrong…
• We get to be wrong and muck things up and die to our old ideas and be reborn as often as we need it.
• My confession is that I am so often wrong…
• But then I know deeply this grace of God which makes all things new.

So…my friends…I invite you to enjoy your forgiveness…

• It will not be taken away as a punishment and it will not be granted as a reward…
• It is your inheritance as a freed child of God’s kingdom.

So…here it is:

• God who is gracious and merciful…slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love…loves you as you are. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ and by his authority…I declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sin in the name of the Father…Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

John 1:10-18

My friend…Jerry…his American parents…were in Canada when he was born.

• But because he was born on Canadian soil…he was eligible to become a citizen…
• Or child of Canada…we could say.
• Of course…it was helpful that his parents were in Canada legally.
• Years later…Jerry applied for a Canadian passport…and it was granted.
• He is now a citizen of both the United States and Canada.
• In legal terms…this arrangement is called jus soli…right of the soil.
• If you are born on the soil…you are a child or citizen of the soil.

But…this position has come under fire…especially if the parents are in the country illegally.

• The current debate regarding birthright citizenship raises questions about who has the right to belong…
• Who is considered a citizen and what it means to belong.

The apostle John writes about this issue in terms of birth…with children as the metaphor.

• For example…he says that Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.
• John also tells us that Jesus himself told Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.

It is with this debate that our attention is drawn to verses 12 and 13 of today’s Gospel reading:

• But to all who received him…who believed in his name…he gave power to become children of God…who were born…not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man…but of God.
• OK then…how does one become a citizen of the kingdom of God?
• How does one become a child of God?
• The answer in a nutshell…says John…is not jus soli (right of the soil) …but sola fidei…that is…by faith:
• To all who received him…who
• To be a citizen in the kingdom of God…one must be a child of God.

Verse 12 begins with a simple yet profound idea: receiving Jesus.

• The word means more than just passive acceptance.
• It is an active…deliberate act of taking hold of something…like grasping a tool.
• Or think about a great ship sinking.
• To receive Christ is like jumping into the lifeboat…it is an active gesture.
• To receive him is like the child who…seeing a cupcake with chocolate icing…reaches out and grabs it.

To receive Christ is not a casual acknowledgment of his existence…

• It is a conscious choice to not only invite him in…but to give him the key to the house…
• The garage door opener and unlimited privileges to the fridge.
• When we ask Jesus to take up residence in our life…we are agreeing to follow his house rules…and to defer to him in all things.
• Fortunately…Jesus is not like three-day-old fish…rather…the longer he stays…the better our life becomes!

So…then…John pairs receiving Christ with believing in his name.

• This means that what we receive…we rely on.
• John adds a specific phrase: in his name.
• In biblical times…a person’s name represented their character…authority and very essence.
• To believe in Jesus’ name means to trust fully…to have no qualms about giving him the run of the house.
• Believing in him means giving him the combination to the safe…handing over the family jewels…
• Giving him our ATM passwords and online access to bank accounts.
• We trust in Jesus completely.
• We believe that he is the Messiah…the Son of the living God…and the Savior of the world.
• And when we do believe in this way…God gives us a new identity:
• Child of God.

Okay…So…now we have received him…and we have believed in him…what’s next?

• All of this means little if we do not have legal standing.
• An immigrant to America can love this country and sing the national anthem faultlessly…
• Study English and speak it with less of an accent than a Texan from East Texas.
• Those abilities do not mean a thing without papers that state clearly that the person in question is a citizen of the United States of America…
• And is free to enjoy all the privileges his/her legal standing provides.
• You have a right to belong.
• If someone challenges you about your right to belong…even if he or she shows you an ICE badge…just keep on walking.
• But remember this…because it’s important…
• The Department of Homeland Security has warned all citizens that their COSTCO ID card is not proof of citizenship.

OK then…the right to belong is suggested in the word power.

• The word is not just authority…raw strength or the right to act.
• This is full-on legal right and privilege.
• It means we are children of God…citizens of The kingdom of God and as such protected by the Bill of Rights and Constitution of that kingdom…
• And by the full force of the power of that kingdom. Very cool!

Finally…it is done.

• We are children of God…this is not symbolic…it is a real…spiritual transformation.
• Children of God…we are not just friends of God…we are family.
• And this new status changes everything.
• Our primary identity is now found in Christ…
• Not in our past…not in our failures.
• We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures…
• We are the sum of God’s love for us and our capacity to become the image of his Son.
• As children…the transformation includes an inheritance.
• We are heirs to the promises of God:
• So…you are no longer a slave but a child…and if a child then also an heir through God.
• This is more than membership…it is sonship and daughtership.
• This is not temporary or conditional…
• It is permanent and eternal.
• Children of the heavenly Father…
  Safely in his bosom gather…
  Nesting bird nor star in Heaven
  Such a refuge e’er was given.

Matthew 2:13-23

Herod…who is a ruler on a throne of power…

• And Joseph…who is a peasant in an unconventional marriage.
• One man is powerful…
• And one man is not.
• And yet the text only describes one of these men as being afraid.
• And it was not the peasant.

Matthew’s Gospel tells us that King Herod made the Magi tell him where this baby was…because he was frightened.

• Yes…Frightened of a baby.
• Threatened by a horoscope and a newborn.

And this fear that Herod’s position in life is so tenuous…

• That it must be fortified by sacrificing whoever it takes…
• Is not a theoretical one by the way…
• This Herod guy literally killed two of his own sons because he felt threatened by them.
• Yes…his own sons.

Fear that what he had could be taken away.

• Or fear of not getting what he wanted…
• Turned him into a monster.
• So much so that when he cannot quite locate the right baby…
• The one that is so threatening to him…
• He just sends for all the children two and under in and around Bethlehem to be killed.
• Let us take that in…for a moment.

This is what fear does.

• Fear disguises itself in so many ways:
• As greed…hate…isolation…addiction…
• The list is endless.
• But in the end fear is at the root of all of it.
• And while we might not be murderous tyrants…
• None of us are free from the effects of fear in our lives.
• It keeps us isolated and small and it steals away joy and possibility.

But in Joseph we see a different kind of man than Herod.

• Joseph was not afraid.
• An angel came from God and spoke love…was love…embodied love…
• Sought to protect love…like a divine can of compressed air…
• And this cast out Joseph’s fear so that he could function the way he was supposed to.
• And here’s one clue…one way we can know that Joseph was not afraid…
• He did not bat an eye when the angel said that his baby and wife were not safe…
• So…he should take his family to Egypt.
• Yes…Egypt.

The place his ancestors were enslaved.

• The place that God rescued his people from slavery.
• With fear cast out…Joseph was able to believe it possible that God’s redemptive work can happen anywhere…even Egypt.
• With fear cast out…Joseph no longer saw everything through the lens of what it was in the past.
• With fear cast out…he was able to beat a king…
• Protect his wife and child…
• And preserve that which is good in the face of tyranny.

Herod’s fear caused death.

• And Joseph’s fearlessness protected life.
• Of course…the irony is that Herod feared this baby for all the wrong reasons.
• The Christ child did not knock Herod off his pathetic little throne.
• History took care of that.

No…Jesus of Nazareth did not overthrow Rome…

• He laughed at Rome.
• He saw Rome for what it was:
• Fleeting. Harsh and demanding and tyrannical…yes…but temporary.

And this child…protected by the songs of angels…

• And the heart of his mother and the fearlessness of his father…
• Came to free the people.
• Free us from the shackles of sin and fear.
• Gospel people are free people and free people are dangerous people.
• Free people are not ruled by fear.
• Free people see Rome for what it is.

And you know what?

• There are angels hovering round us too…good people of God.
• There are messengers of love all around.
• And again…and forever…they say:
• Do not be afraid.  Do not be afraid.
• For in the heart of God there is enough love to cast out fear.
• Herods…of the world…take note.

 

A postscript:Top of FormBottom of FormTop of FormBottom of Form

• Wise women also came.
• Long before they saw
  the flaming star in the sky.
• They walked in shadows trusting the path would open under the light of the moon.

Wise women also came…seeking no directions…no permission from any king.

• They came by their own desire…their own longing.
• They came in quiet…spreading no rumors…sparking no fears to lead
  to innocents’ slaughter.

Wise women also came and they brought gifts:

• Water for labor’s washing.
• Fire for warm illumination.
• A blanket for swaddling.

Wise women also came.

• At least three of them.
• Holding Mary in the labor.
• Crying out with her in the birth pangs.
• Breathing ancient blessings
  into her ear.

Wise women also came.

• And they went…
• As wise women always do…
• Home a different way.

 

John 1:1-14

THE PROCLAMATION OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

Today, the twenty–fifth day of December, unknown ages from the time when God created the heavens and the earth and then formed man and woman in his own image.

 

Several thousand years after the flood, when God made the rainbow shine forth as a sign of the covenant.  Twenty–one centuries from the time of Abraham and Sarah; thirteen centuries after Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt.

 

Eleven hundred years from the time of Ruth and the Judges; one thousand years from the anointing of David as king;  in the sixty–fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel.

 

In the one hundred and ninety–fourth Olympiad; the seven hundred and fifty–second year from the foundation of the city of Rome.

 

The forty–second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus; the whole world being at peace,  Jesus Christ, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,  desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, and nine months having passed since his conception,  was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary.

Today is the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

 

Gathering Hymn: Once in Royal David’s City – ELW 269

 

The Holy Gospel according to John

Glory be to you O Lord

Gospel: John 1:1-14

 

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

 

 

The gospel of the Lord.

 

Praise to you O Christ.

 

 

Homily:

 

It is Luke (in his Gospel) who tells us when Jesus was born.

• It is Luke who tells us about the young Mary…nearing full term…traveling atop a mule clopping from Nazareth to Bethlehem…the ancestral home…
• It is Luke who tells us that an innkeeper turned them away for want of a room…
• It is Luke who reveals that the baby was delivered in a cattle pen populated by farm animals…a cow…a goat…a sheep and chickens.
• It is Luke who gives us the touching detail of Mary wrapping the baby in some tight swaddling clothes…
• It is Luke who mentions the shepherds watching their flocks by night…
• It is Luke who describes the amazing appearance of an angelic chorus…
• It is Luke who tells us that one of the angels said:
• Do not be afraid…for see…I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people…to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior…who is the Messiah…the Lord.

Tonight’s gospel reading…though…is not from Saint Luke.

• Tonight’s story of the nativity of Jesus is from Saint John.
• This is John’s account of Jesus’ appearance on earth…and it is quite different from Luke’s version.
• Not that there are contradictions…there are not.

John’s Gospel was the last of the four Gospels to be written…and so he has read Luke’s version of the birth of Christ…and has no intention of retelling it.

• How can you top the magisterial treatment Luke gives to the birth of the Christ child? You cannot.
• It is a moving…emotional…poignant account of a baby surviving against all odds.
• Luke answers the questions as to how…when and where Jesus was born.
• John reveals the why of Jesus’ birth.
• John begins with the words…In the beginning…
• Words that cannot fail to take the reader back to Genesis chapter one.

John takes us deep…pulling back the curtain on the cosmic why.

• John does not begin in Bethlehem.
• He does not even begin with Mary or Joseph or angels or stars.
• He begins in eternity.
• In the beginning was the Word…and the Word was with God…and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
• Sound familiar?
• That opening phrase echoes Genesis Chapter one…verse one:
• In the beginning God created…
• John wants us to think back to the dawn of time…
• To remind us that Jesus did not begin in a manger…he already was.
• This is a great truth John gives us:
• That in the cosmic sweep of all that is and ever was…Jesus is the eternal Word of God.

Yes…the birth of Jesus is celebrated according to tradition on Christmas Day.

• This is why we are here today…to celebrate a specific birthday on a specific date.
• It makes sense…we all have birthdays…and we have birthday parties and receive birthday gifts.
• This is baby Jesus’ birthday…but John reminds us that Jesus divine nature…has no birthday at all.
• A baby without a birth date!
• The story of this immortal being…clothed now in a mortal baby body…
• Stretching and curling his baby fingers…gurgling and soiling his diapers…begins before time began.

The Greek word John uses is logos…the Word.

• To the Jewish mind…the Word…was the creative…powerful voice of God that spoke the universe into being.
• And so…John declares: This Word…this eternal…divine…creating…sustaining Reason…was with God…and was God.

For those who receive Jesus…life will never be the same.

• Verse 12: But to all who received him…who believed in his name…he gave power to become children of God.
• This brings us back to the birth of Jesus.
• His birth reminds us that it is never too late to experience a new birth…
• To embrace a life that can only be called a new creation.

Our reading tells us that not everyone rejected him.

• This is the offer of Christmas…the purpose behind the Incarnation:
• To turn orphans into children…
• To give strangers a place at the table…
• To transform believers into family.
• We are not born into this family by blood…or by willpower…or by pedigree…but by God’s grace.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us.

• This is Christmas according to John.
• Not a baby in a manger…but God taking on skin.
• Not just visiting…but moving into the neighborhood.
• The word…dwelling…is a reference to a tent…
• That God pitched his tent among us.
• In Jesus…God is not distant…not abstract…not far off.
• He is here…present…with us…Emmanuel.
• And this is great news for those of us who are wondering what life is all about.

This is the true miracle of Christmas.

• Not just that God sent us a message…
• But that he came in person.
• Not just that he came…but that he came full of grace and truth…
• Enough to save…enough to reveal…enough to carry us through whatever darkness we face.

So…while Luke gives us the cradle…John gives us the cosmos.

• While Luke shows us the baby…John shoes us the glory.
• While Luke sets the scene…John sets us up with a purpose.
• The Word became flesh…so that we might become children of God.

 

Prayers of Intercession

Empowered by the news of Christ’s birth, let us pray boldly for the church, creation, and all who are in need.

A brief silence.

The Word becomes flesh and dwells among us, bringing life, love, and joy to a weary world. Gracious God, use our lips and our lives to proclaim the good news of your coming. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

The earth rejoices and the coastlands are glad on the day of your birth. Bring life to barren wastelands, healing where we have caused harm, and bold hearts to respond to creation’s call for justice. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

Righteousness and justice are your foundation, O Holy One. Fill world leaders with your zeal for righteousness and your love for any who are marginalized and oppressed. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

The heavens proclaim your glory and announce that we have been made your own people. Keep watch over all who are spending this holy day alone, alienated, or ill. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

Light dawns for the righteous and joy visits the upright in heart. Fortify us with your grace and fill us with zeal to proclaim the news of your birth to those who long for love. Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

From the nurturing darkness of the womb to the tender night of the tomb, you enfold us in your love. We remember with affection those who have died and now rest in your eternal embrace (Keith Waldron). Hear us, O God.

Your mercy is great.

 

With the joy of Christ’s birth in our hearts, we commend our prayers to you, O God, trusting in your boundless mercy and eternal love, through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen.

 

 

Sending Hymn: Silent Night, Holy Night! – ELW 281

 

 

 

 

Blessing

 

The God of love,

Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,

lavish you with grace,

illumine your path,

and increase your joy,

today and always.

Amen.