Author: Chip Salzgeber

John 12:1-8

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

When our son…Jason…was in fourth grade…I dropped him off 15 minutes early for school.

• I had never done that before…but Susan was teaching at another school and I had to make it to a meeting…
• And the school did allow students to be dropped off early.

 

Two hours later…I was in a meeting…when the school called asking why Jason was absent.

• My heart dropped into my stomach…and my body took over in a hyper-ventilating mess of a way.
• My mind raced thinking that someone had scooped my child into a van…
• Remembering that I had dropped him off early.
• Breathing became impossible and I started to hyperventilate.
• My child was gone.

 

Fortunately…Jason was not taken…and was totally fine.

• It was just the day of the Scholastic book fair…and he had lost track of time…
• Looking at books and had not been around when they took attendance.
• He was not in danger.
• He was in a book fair.

 

I have no idea what kind of soul-crushing pain one must experience when a child is really gone.

• But the few minutes I experienced a glimpse of it…
• An experience shared by many when they cannot find their child at a carnival…
• Or a shopping mall or when they do not get off the school bus one afternoon…
• Are the most heart-breaking moments of our lives.

 

Because…when it comes down to it…it is vulnerable to have a child.

• To create or adopt a child is to leave yourself vulnerable to a broken heart in the way nothing else can.
• Which is why I started wondering this week about the vulnerability of God.

 

The Lord be with you…

There is much talk about the strength of God and the mightiness of God and the awesomeness of God.

• But what of the vulnerability of God?
• That God would breathe into dust… and create us in his own image…
• That God would bring humanity into being as his own beloved children…
• Was to leave himself vulnerable to a broken heart in a way nothing else could have.
• What a risk God took creating us.
• Giving us enough freedom to be creators and destroyers.
• Giving us enough freedom for us to make a mess of everything and act as our own gods…
• And to also trust in God and love each other.

 

I wonder if this is what Jesus is telling us about in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

• I confess to you that early on in my ministry I thought the word prodigal meant returning…
• And having repented of your wrongs.
• Or at least I thought prodigal meant coming home after having been independent and stupid for a while.
• I am sure you already know this…
• That the word prodigal means spending resources freely and recklessly.
• Being wastefully extravagant.

 

I have always heard this parable…one of the most famous stories in the Gospel…titled the Parable of the Prodigal son.

• But out of everything we could say this story is about…
• Why do we say it is about the wasteful extravagance of the younger son?
• Why is that the focus when it is not even that interesting?

 

What I mean is this:

• It is common for young people to leave home…waste their lives and their money for a while…
• Until they have no other option…but to come home to the parents they did not treat very well…when they were leaving in the first place.

 

I think we make this a story about the wasteful stupidity of the younger son…

• Because it is a story we are more familiar with…
• Than the alternative…which is this:
• If the word prodigal means wasteful extravagance…
• Then is it not really the story of the prodigal father?

 

Is it not wastefully extravagant for the Father to give his children so much freedom?

• Is it not wastefully extravagant for the Father to discard his dignity…
• And run into the street toward a foolish and immature son who squandered their fortune?
• Is it not wasteful for the father to throw such an extravagant party for this kind of wayward son?

 

But…I love that kind of grace.

• I love that Jesus tells this story of the prodigal father…
• In response to the Pharisee’s irritation that Jesus would eat with tax collectors and prostitutes…
• Because…when it comes down to it…we are a church filled with saints and sinners…
• Not a church filled only with pious pharisees.

 

Some of us might find the grace the father shows to the younger son bordering on offensive.

• But the thing that really gets my attention…in this story…is how wastefully extravagant the father is toward the older
• The son who never left him.
• The one who has always done everything right.
• The son who is clean cut and went to college right out of high school…
• And came back to work in his father’s business.
• The child who always signs up to do jobs at synagogue…
• But resentfully notices all the slackers who show up and never help at all.
• The child who feels entitled.
• The child who cannot stomach going into a party to celebrate the return of his screw-up of a brother.

 

I cannot stand that older brother…even as I cringe at the ways I am like him.

• It is wastefully extravagant that the father says to that kid:
• All that is mine is yours.

 

What risk God takes on us.

• Children who waste everything in dissolute living.
• Children who begrudge grace being extended to people who so clearly do not deserve it.
• But this is a risk born of love.
• God risks so much by loving us…
• Which is why I prefer calling this the Parable of the Prodigal Father.

 

Because it is here…we see that our relationship to God…is not defined by our bad decisions…or our squandering of resources.

• It is not determined by our virtue.
• It is not determined by being nice or being good.
• Our relationship to God is simply determined by the wastefully extravagant love of God.
• A God who takes no account of risk.
• But…runs toward us no matter what.
• Saying…all that is mine is yours.

Luke 13:1-9

If you could go back and tell your 21-year-old self-something…what
would it be?

• When I was 21…I was a senior in college…and would graduate the next May.
• When I was 20…after I graduated from college…
• I thought I would enter graduate school and move toward a masters and then a PhD in American history.
• But I was just not sure what I wanted to do when I grew up.
• But then at 21 it became apparent to me that God was calling me to the ministry.
• So…following my graduation…I would enter seminary and move toward becoming a Lutheran pastor.
• And so…I also decided to take two semesters of Greek.

 

If I could go back and tell my 21-year-old self-something…what would
it be?

• I would tell myself to simply enjoy the moment.
• When I was 21…I was intent on moving my life forward.
• I was focused on the future.
• What I wanted to do in the future…future goals and aspirations.
• I was afraid I would make the wrong choices regarding the rest of my life.
• If I could go back…I would tell myself not to be so afraid and concerned about the future.
• To live in the moment…to enjoy the moment and just be myself.
• And if I did that all would be well.

 

If you could go back and tell your 21-year-old self-something…what
would it be?

• Well…I wish I was someone who could answer that question with something inspiring like: “never give up!” or “believe in yourself!”
• But honestly…I think I would say: “You are not bald”.

 

As old age softens every inch of my body…heart…and spirit…

• I think about how my 21-year-old self-had no idea how wonderful my life was…
• And how my Lord had gifted me with such a glorious creation.
• But instead…I was dissatisfied and concerned about the next steps in consolidating my life.
• So…yes…I wish I could go back and tell myself “OMG…Enjoy the moment.”

 

The Lord be with you.

Today we are blessed to hear together the story of the fig tree from the Gospel according to Luke.

• And it got me thinking that my 21-year-old self would have connected to that fig tree story.
• At 21 we are all…well along the path of wondering…why bad things
• And our fig tree story seems to hold a bit of wisdom as to why.
• According to the gospel writer Luke…Jesus had something to say about such wonderings.
• Jesus seems to suggest that bad things do not happen to you because you are bad but rather because bad stuff happens.
• The Galileans were victims of a man…blinded by power…to command such horrific slaughter.
• And the second group were victims of
  poor construction.
• Bad things happen to good people.

 

The call of Jesus to repent is curious…

• But I think it has something to do with the urgency of how Jesus wanted others to follow in his way.
• The ones who died by Pilate’s hand were Galileans…they were not followers of “Jesus’ way.”
• And those killed…when the tower of Siloam fell on them in Jerusalem…were also not followers of Jesus.
• I think Jesus was trying to say
  that people who follow the way of radical love…who follow his way…
• Live deeply and there is not a moment to lose.
• He urges the listeners of this story to do what you need to do to follow.
• To not let another moment pass by.
• To follow the way of love…now.
• Because tomorrow is not guaranteed.
• The people who died were not bad or deserving of their end.
• It is just that their lives ended and there was so much more.

What then of the second part of the story and that poor fig tree?

• Is that tree going to produce figs or is it going to be fuel for the campfire?
• The end of the story is not ours to read.

 

Like our 21-year-old selves we do not know what the future is going to hold.

• The Landowner in the story is a familiar soul.
• We understand what the landowner sees in that poor fig tree.
• For we are all well versed in that vision:
• If it is not useful…then it is just using up limited resources.
• If it does not produce something we can sell…then it is of no value.
• If it does not follow the norm…produce when it should…
• Then something is wrong with it…and therefore…it is disposable.

The vision of the landowner is very familiar even if we have never
seen a fig tree.

• Many look in the mirror with Landowner vision.
• Many look in the mirror with Landowner vision and see graying hair and changing abilities and ask:
• What good am I? I am a burden using
  up valuable resources.
• Many look in the mirror with Landowner vision and see that they
  cannot find work…
• Or find a way through addiction or fight their way out of poverty…
• And conclude they are of no value.
• Many look in the mirror with Landowner vision and see differing abilities…
• And think they do not fit the supposed norm…therefore something is wrong.
• They are disposable.
• The vision of the landowner is very familiar even if we have never
  seen a fig tree.

It is the vision of the blessed Gardener that we need to embrace.

• The one who is patient.
• Who takes a posture of nurture and care.
• Who sees potential and lives with hope for tomorrow.
• Who is not afraid of doing what
  needs to be done…
• Even if it means shoveling a few loads of manure.
• Unpleasant yes…and yet necessary to give the fig tree every opportunity to
  be its true self.

 

When we were 21 we could not read the end of our story.

• It was unknown and was only found through our living.
• We do not know how it ends for the fig tree.
• It is unknown and it is only found in the choices made.
• We do not know…nor can we know what the end of the story…or our story will be.
• It is in the way we live now that we write the end.

 

When we were 21 years old…we had no idea where we would be today.

• It was in the living of everyday…along the way…that determined our today.
• My hunch is the journey to here and now was not all sunshine and roses.
• There were days when the Landowners’ vision got the best of us.
• But there were days…too…that the Blessed Gardener’s vision led us on.

 

Now…we might not be where we hoped to be this day.

• But…remember…our story is not finished yet.
• None of our stories are
  ended yet…there is still time.
• The Blessed Gardener is with each of us.
• But time is of the essence.
• In 1 to 5 to 10 years what do you think you will want to tell yourself
  today?

Luke 4:1-13

If given a choice…most of us are not going to choose a path in life that is filled with difficulty (we raise our children teaching them to avoid it).

• But spiritual depth and growth happen as we respond to the trials…troubles…temptations…
• Testing and fear that arise in life.
• For many of us…it is in those times of challenge that we truly learn dependence on God.
• In such times we find that God graciously provides for our needs in all of life’s seasons.

The Lord be with you…

So…as we begin our forty-day Lenten journey…we intentionally take time for reflection and repentance.

• We do this by following the example of Jesus.
• And…as we meet up with Jesus today…
• We find he was led by the Spirit in the wilderness…where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. 
• This is interesting…the Spirit does not just drop Jesus off in the wilderness to fend for himself.
• The Spirit continues to abide with him and enables him to grow stronger through this wilderness season.

 

As the devil tempts Jesus…he is in a state of utter mental and physical desperation.

• He has not eaten in weeks.
• He is hallucinating.
• He is thirsty and tired.
• He is feeling empty and powerless.
• He feels as though he is about to die.
• He feels vulnerable and alone…gaunt and weak.
• He feels scared.

 

But…he responds to these temptations rooted in the foundation of scripture and faith.

• First…Jesus is tempted with food…and Jesus says: one does not live by bread alone.
• Then…Jesus is tempted with power over all the kingdoms of the world.
• And Jesus answers: I worship God…not power.
• And finally…the devil tempts him to prove who he is by throwing himself down from the pinnacle of the temple.
• And Jesus refuses saying that we should not be in the business of trying to test God…or make God prove anything to us.

 

Now…you and I are not Jesus.

• We are far more vulnerable to being tempted by evil when we are weak and tired and hungry and alone…and most of all…fearful.
• And…fear creates anxiety.
• Our culture is ridden with fear and anxiety and stress.

 

Studies show that when people are under stressful conditions:

• The anxiety of losing wealth or status…
• The anxiety of illness…or worry over the decline of the middle class.
• The anxiety of poverty…or the fear of terrorism or war…
• People are less likely to love the stranger.
• In other words…when you and I are in the wilderness of perceived powerlessness…
• We adopt xenophobic…prejudiced and intolerant…tendencies to fear those different than us.

 

We adopt tendencies to scapegoat…to blame…to become more tribalistic…

• And surround ourselves with people we perceive to share the same values and the same characteristics.
• So…it should come as no surprise that we are most apt to be tempted by power when we are feeling powerless.
• We are tempted to believe we can control terrorism and violence through religious persecution.
• We are tempted to believe that our comfort level and safety is more secure…
• If we move to a geographical place where there is little racial…ethnic and economic diversity.
• We are tempted to believe that we can control an insecure economy by hoarding our own wealth…
• And by excluding and demonizing various groups of people like immigrants…welfare recipients…or any considered “other.”

 

That is…we are less likely to welcome the stranger when we are afraid.

• We are most vulnerable to being tempted by evil when we see the world in terms of scarcity…
• Rather than abundance.
• When we see people in the world as objects to be feared and despised…
• Rather than as God’s own beloved.

 

And so…we exploit the worst stereotypes we can think of about each other…

• So that we can no longer see one another.
• So that we can no longer see God in one another.
• And yet…Jesus reminds us:
• It is written…Worship the Lord your God…and serve only him.
• Which means simply:
• Love the Lord your God with all your heart…with all your mind and with all your soul…and love your neighbor as you love yourself.

 

OK then…we all face fear.

• But…we are asked to abide and live by the law of Love…
• To transform fear into beauty.
• I think that is one of the reasons why we come to church.
• So that we can use our fear to make something beautiful together.
• We as a Faith community do this through Good Gifts…and DayStar Life Center…World Hunger…Disaster relief…Lutheran Social Services…I could go on and on with this list…
• That is how we use our fear to make something beautiful.

 

We also use our fear to make something beautiful when we apply God’s grace to our very selves.

• We need to begin our Lenten journey knowing we are beloved children of God.
• Because voices other than God’s voice try to tell us our worth.
• Because the voices of professional advancement try to tell us our worth.
• Because the voices of various ranking systems in society try to tell us our worth.
• Because the voices in our own head try to tell us our worth.
• And when these other voices do that…may we again remember our baptism.

 

Remember that we have renounced the Devil and all his empty promises.

• Remember that we are marked with the cross of Christ.
• Remember that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
• Remember that we belong to God.
• Because nothing…nothing else gets to tell us who we are.

 

Lent gives us a time to live into this baptismal identity we have been given.

• A time to come clean about those things that tempt us.
• Lent can be a time when we flip the script on some of the harmful…inherited stories of our very own lives.
• This Lenten journey is a time when we can allow ourselves to be honest and vulnerable.
• It is a time when we can consider the way we try to hide our pain and our fear and the brokenness that shapes our being.
• Lent is a time when we find the freedom to confess the messiness of our lives.

 

Jesus’ receptivity to God’s grace shows us the way to turn toward God…

• Rather than away from God during our trials and temptations.
• And in turning to the grace of God…
• We will encounter a faithful God who leads us through the wilderness to new life.

Psalm 51:1-17

I understand why confessing our sins…marking ourselves with ashes and reminding each other that we are all going to die is not exactly Disney on Ice.

• But it’s not depressing.
• If anything…it’s refreshing.
• It is refreshing in a way that only the truth can be.
• Because we know deep down that we live in a death-denying culture…
• Which tells us that we can live forever with the right combination of exercise…yoga…vacations and elective surgery.
• All pathetic attempts at immortality.

So…it is a refreshing thing we Christians all over the world do today.

• We gather to remind each other of the truth.
• To remind each other of our mortality.
• We confess that we are dust and to dust we shall return.
• Smack in the middle of our societal anxiety about impermanence…
• We just blurt out the truth as if it is not offensive.
• But the thing about blurting out this kind of truth…
• Is that after we do it…you can finally exhale.
• Because all the while we are denying the truth…God is delighting in it.

This is what we hear in Psalm 51:

• Indeed…you delight in truth…deep within me…and would have me know wisdom…deep within.
• This truth we speak today…about our mortality…
• Is only offensive if it’s heard as an insult and not as a promise.
• It is only offensive when it’s heard as being the last word.
• It is not the last word.

 

The same is true about confessing our sins.

• One end of the church tells us that sin is an antiquated notion that only makes us feel bad about ourselves…
• So…we should avoid mentioning it at all.
• While the other end of the church tells us that sin is the same as immorality…
• And totally avoidable if we can just be good and squeaky-clean.
• Yet when sin is boiled down to low self-esteem or immorality…
• Then it becomes something we can control or limit in some way…
• Rather than something we are simply in bondage to.

 

But I cannot free myself from the bondage of self.

• I cannot…by my own understanding or effort…disentangle myself from self-interest.
• And when I think that I can…
• I am attempting to do what is only God’s to do.

 

So then…there is great hope in Ash Wednesday.

• Great hope in admitting my mortality and my brokenness.
• Because then I finally lay aside my sin management scheme to allow God to be God for me.
• A God of hope and promise.

 

The promise we hear at baptisms and funerals…

• The promises of birth and death are so totally wrapped up together.
• For we come from God and to God we shall go.
• And…Oh My Gosh…there is so much that gets in the way of that simple truth.

 

Lent is not about punishing ourselves for being human.

• The practice of Lent is about peeling away layers of insulation and anesthesia which keep us from the truth of God’s promises.
• Lent is about looking at our lives in the light of Christ.
• It is during this time of self-reflection and sacrificial giving and prayer…
• That we make our way through the overgrown and tangled mess of our lives.
• We trudge through the lies of our death-denying culture to seek the simple weighty truth of who we really are.
• Lent is about hacking through self-delusion and false promises.
• We let go of all the pretenses and the destructive independence from God.
• We let go of defending ourselves.
• We let go of our indulgent self-loathing.

 

Then…like the prodigal son…we begin to see a God running with abandon to welcome us home.

• But we cannot begin to see this God until we hack through our arrogance and certainty and cynicism and ambivalence.
• The Psalmist says that God delights in the truth that is deep in us.
• Therefore…there is no shame in the truth of who we are.
• The broken and blessed beloved of God.
• There is no shame in the truth that our lives on earth will all end…
• And that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.
• It is not depressing.
• What is depressing is the desperation of trying to pretend otherwise.
• What is depressing is to insist that I can free myself…
• I just have not managed to pull it off yet.

 

What is wonderful about Ash Wednesday and Lent is that by being marked with the cross…

• And reminded of our own mortality…we are free.
• We are God’s very own redeemed sinner…
• Beloved in all our broken beauty.
• So…as we receive these ashes and hear the promise that we are dust and to dust we shall return…
• Know that it is the truth…and that the truth will set us free in a way that nothing else ever can.

Luke 9: 28-36

I was thinking this week:

• Most of the Western world only associates Transfiguration with Professor Minerva McGonagal…
• Who teaches Transfiguration at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series.

 

The popularity of the Harry Potter books is understandable since we now seem to live in a world without magic.

• The history of humanity was full of magic.
• Throughout the ages the transcendent and mysterious was woven all around the mundane and certain…
• And alchemy was the rage…
• An alchemist is a person who transforms or creates something through a seemingly magical process.
• (some highly imaginative tax shelters are dreamed up by accounting alchemists).
• And Christians are all alchemists: we transform the mundane into God’s grace and love.
• Until a few hundred years ago that is…with the dawn of the enlightenment.
• When we discovered the scientific method…we no longer needed alchemy and superstition and the supernatural because we had human reason.
• We now could look from our little sliver of history back to all the millennia that went before us…
• And sneer at their ignorance and superstition.

 

The Lord be with you.

 

Well…it seemed…in Western thought…that we had arrived.

• There was finally nothing that Newtonian Physics and basic Chemistry could not explain.
• We had what humanity always needed…and that was answers.
• And since science was the most reliable way of knowing truth…then everything in the Bible also must be scientific fact.

 

For quite some time after we discovered science…we lived in what was called the age of progress.

• We looked only forward and never back.
• That which was old was suspect.
• We concluded that our world and our lives could be improved through our own reason and cleverness.

 

I get this…but I also get that my own reason and cleverness only gets me so far in life.

• I need a story bigger than the story of me and my culture.
• I need a reality larger than the one I can understand.
• I need some transfiguration.

 

So…in our Gospel story for today…Jesus is transfigured before Peter…James and John…

• His clothes are bleached blindingly white and suddenly he is talking to Elijah and Moses.
• And in case you do not keep track…
• Those guys had been dead for centuries.
• Well…OK…Moses and Elijah really never died…
• They were taken into heaven on a fiery chariot.
• But that’s its own Bible story.
• For now…we will stick with this one.

 

It feels magical…this story of Jesus transfigured on a Mountain talking to Moses and Elijah.

• It is as though time ceased to be a neat…straight line with the present in its appropriate distance from the past and the future.
• Instead…on the mount of Transfiguration…the line of time was all crumpled up…
• With past present and future all touching for a moment.

 

Then a cloud overcomes them…and God says this is my beloved son…listen to him.

• All this is difficult to comprehend.
• So…Peter says it’s good to be here…
• Because he did not know what else to say…he was terrified.
• In the face of the holy and unexplainable what else is there for us to do?
• That is the thing about God.
• The more we know…the less we know.

 

So…it is good for us to be here.

• Not so that we can get answers.
• Because certainty can sometime obscure mystery.
• Easy answers are easy.
• What takes time is to have the story of Christ lived out in a community of saints and sinners…
• Just like us.
• And have that story transfigure us slowly like water forming a rock.
• It is good to be here.

 

I want us to be people who are re-enchanted.

• Not ignorant…Not gullible…Not superstitious.
• But re-enchanted.
• To hear stories of miracles and healings and forgiveness.
• To remember one night a couple millennia ago when Jesus had his last meal.
• To gather around a table to share that same meal and remember the promise that God is with us.
• And for a moment the past present and future are all tangled up…
• And Newtonian physics does not explain any of it.

 

That is not to say that science and religion are separate.

• Because while we came here to touch the mystery of God…
• At the same time…we get to celebrate the miracle of modern medicine and the magic of Lois’s successful oblation surgery last week.
• And the miracle of Pam’s cancer surgery.
• And if there is anything in this world that is worthy to be enchanted by…
• Is it how we now know that in Taylor Rahdert’s womb is a child of God.
• We live in a world worthy of being enchanted.
• That is the crazy thing about being part of a religion that is so unapologetically physical…
• That mystery and grace is found in things like bread and water and wine.
• I am somehow much more comforted by mystery than by certainty.
• I want to be speechless and a little terrified.
• To not know what else to do but say it is good to be here and listen to Jesus.
• I desire some magic.

 

And while we could dress up and go to Harry Potter’s Wizarding World at Universal Studios in Orlando…

• And feel enchanted for the cost of a $100 ticket.
• There is something about this
• This story of heaven touching earth on a mountain 2000 years ago…
• Which promises something no other story can.

There is something about this table around which we gather every week.

• This table that promises to be true in a way that myth and legend and fairy tale never can.
• This thing…this Jesus thing is real.
• The Gospel is real…Heaven touching earth is real.
• The body and blood of Christ is real.
• And only this kind of realness can re-enchant the world again and again.
• It is good for us to be here.

Luke 6:27-38

There’s no way to avoid it—this is a difficult text.

• I place it in the category of:
• Things I Wish Jesus Never Said.
• We know what Jesus asks of us.
• We know what the Bible says.
• But we often will say or think:
• Who could really live this way?
• Well…Jesus…of course…but he
  was perfect…you know.
• He was sinless…he is the Son of God…it’s easy for him.
• Loving our enemies? Are you serious?
• No way…not today…not with what I’ve experienced…
• Not with what I’ve seen…not with what’s been done to me.

The Lord be with you.

 

The English playwright…G. K. Chesterton famously said:

• “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult…and left
  ”
  But…you see…Jesus expected his disciples to live this way.
• Love your enemies Jesus said…do good to those who hate you.
• He also called us to forgive those we hate…or who hate us.
• It is tough to preach on this text…because it’s complicated:
• Theologically…psychologically and emotionally.
• And it is prone to misunderstanding and abuse.
• We must be careful that we hear the spirit of the text.
• Bless those who curse you Jesus says…pray for those who abuse you.
• Forgive and you will be forgiven…give and it will be given to you.

 

A disciple of Jesus loves the enemy and offers forgiveness.

• But here’s the thing: Jesus doesn’t say…when…or how soon.
• And I am grateful for this because I believe that sometimes Christians forgive too soon.
• That’s called cheap grace.
• I have known Christians who think they need to go straight from wrong to forgiveness…right away.
• But there’s a problem with this.
• Why? Because forgiving too soon preempts our ability to be angry.
• It hinders us from honoring the hurt.
• Recognizing the wrong that was done…
• And acknowledging how we feel.
• Dissociating the wrong from the feelings associated with it is not

We often rush to forgiveness because we think it is the “Christian” thing to do…

• And because we really do not want to sit with our hurt.
• Sometimes we move too quickly through the forgiveness process…
• And then we discover later that we are still harboring resentment and anger…
• Because the wound is still there.

 

We need to remember that anger can be a gift in that it “locates our wound/hurt.

• Anger helps us defend ourselves and energizes us to correct what needs to be corrected.
• This is especially true regarding abuse.
• In an abusive situation we need to honor our anger first.
• Anger at abuse and injustice is an expression of our integrity and our human dignity.

The only way we can move beyond hate…alienation and separation is to learn to love more deeply.

• And…in God’s good time…and with God’s help—extend forgiveness.
• We need to get to that place of
  forgiveness when the timing is right.
• When it becomes clear that we cannot do anything about the one who hates us or wronged us.
• There comes a time when we must let it go…we must practice forgiveness.

 

Anne Lammott…in her memoir…Traveling Mercies…says:

• Withholding forgiveness is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.
• Retaliation or holding onto anger about the harm done to us does not actually combat evil…it feeds it.
• If we are not careful…we can absorb the worst of our enemy…
• And start to become them.
• So…forgiveness then…is a way of wielding bolt-cutters…
• And snapping the chains that link us.
• By this we are saying: What you did was so not okay…I refuse to be connected to it anymore.

 

Forgiving is being a freedom fighter.

• Free people are not controlled by the past.
• Free people laugh more than others.
• Free people see beauty where others do not.
• Free people are not easily offended.
• Free people are unafraid to speak truth to stupid.
• Free people are not chained to resentments.

If you love those who love you…what credit is that to you? Love your enemies…do good…and lend…and
expect nothing in return.

• In Jesus’ time…in the Greco-Roman world…reciprocity was the norm.
• This was the rule: I give so that you will give back to me…quid pro quo.
• Here…in our gospel…Jesus’ questions this way of acting.
• Jesus expects us to go beyond mere reciprocity.
• He commands us to stop the vicious cycle of reciprocity…of wanting to get even.
• Jesus was going against the norm…going against the grain.
• And expects the same from us today.
• Because that’s what God’s love always does.
• It’s not rational or reasonable…it is something else.
• Like so much in Jesus’ teaching…it comes down to love.
• Understanding the risk and the
  cost of love.
• The difficulty and the joy of love.

 

Henri Nouwen…the Roman Catholic priest…theologian and writer…reminds us:

• Forgiveness is the name of love
  practiced among people who love poorly.
• Jesus is always moving us toward mercy.
• Jesus is always moving us toward greater compassion.
• Jesus expects us to be people of mercy…people of compassion.
• But often…it’s just too much for us.

 

We know the cost…we know what is required of us to love this way.

• And so…we need to be taught and guided by the Spirit.
• We need to be gifted with the means to love more deeply…love more boldly…love more courageously…
• Until we discover that the one needing to be forgiven…
• The one who is our enemy…is also…worthy of God’s love…just like you and me.

 

So then…this is what God has done in the face of our misbehavior.

• God has loved his enemies.
• God has been good to those who hate him.
• God has blessed those who curse him.
• God has been kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
• We have seen it on the cross of Jesus.
• Someone struck Jesus on the cheek…and his other cheek was available.
• Someone took away his coat…and he did not withhold his shirt.
• Someone took away all his goods…and Jesus did not ask for them again.
• This is what the Christ of God is like.

Luke 6:17-26

When I was in eighth grade…my grandfather died…my mom’s dad.

• And it was the first major death in my life and remains an emotional memory.
• It was my grandfather who taught me how to hammer my first nail.
• It was my grandfather who taught me how to saw a board with a square edge.
• Which…later in life…inspired Susan and me to build a cottage and then our first house.
• Thinking back to that time in my life…
• And to the emotional and spiritual development at work in my teenager’s heart and mind…
• I realize that my grandpa’s death led me…for the first time…
• To reconcile my faith and my understanding of God with the very real experience of loss and grief.
• I was face to face with the death of someone real…someone I dearly loved…and I did not quite know what to make of it all.

 

The Lord be with you:

 

Riding in the funeral limousine…the hearse behind us…on the drive to the cemetery for grandpa’s burial…

• I remember looking out the window at the cars next to us.
• I remember the jarring thought that occurred to me:
• Everyone else is going about their day.
• And yet my world has completely changed and will never be the same again.
• I could not quite fathom how all of us could exist at the same time in the same place…
• When our experiences that day were so very different.

 

Of course…as a teenager…I was only really thinking about my own experience.

• Today…my awareness has expanded to recognize that each person around me was also carrying their own griefs and fears and worries.
• But the fact remains that I was sitting in a hearse with my family…
• About to bury my grandfather…
• And the rest of the world was going about its business.
• It felt like we…the people of God…were all disconnected and separated from each other.

 

In Luke…before Jesus preaches the Beatitudes…he comes down with the disciples and stands “on a level place.”

• This Sermon on the Plain is set in a different context than Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount.
• And place matters here.
• Jesus comes down and stands amid those who have come to be healed…
• And those who are troubled.
• He comes to a level place to bring the kingdom of God to those who are gathered.
• There is no space between those who suffer and those who rejoice.
• We all receive the gift of the one who brings God’s kingdom.
• And we are receiving it in the same place…a level place.

 

When Jesus comes to a level place…we find ourselves leveled out.

• No longer do we grieve alone…or stress alone…or worry alone.
• No longer do we celebrate alone or rejoice alone.
• When Jesus comes to a level place…he comes to level us with God’s kingdom and to level us with one another.

 

This is both a comfort and a challenge.

• By overturning the world’s ideas and expressions of strength…
• By lifting up the lowly and bowed down…
• Jesus levels us out.
• Jesus was God’s Beatitude…
• God’s blessing to the weak in a world that admires only the strong.
• Jesus physically and verbally levels with us in the Beatitudes.
• And in this leveling out…our lives are never the same.
• We are not alone in our experiences and needs.
• And we cannot leave others alone in theirs.

 

When we look out the windows of our suffering and feel that we are alone…

• Jesus promises that we are never forgotten by him…
• Nor do we live this life apart from each other.
• As the kingdom of God comes to us directly through Jesus…
• We are bound to one another in his grace…leveled out and loved.

 

A postscript:

 

Notice that the first words out of Jesus’ mouth are not “Blessed shall you be” but “Blessed are you…now.”

• The Beatitudes describe a view of reality in which the least likely candidates are revealed to be extremely fortunate…
• Not only later but right now.
• The things that seem to be going most wrong for us may in fact be the things that are going most right.
• This does not mean we should not try to fix them.
• It just means that they may need blessing as much as they need fixing.
• Since the blessing is already there.
• Because earth is where heaven starts.

 

So…if you are poor in spirit or wealth…

• You know the blessedness of embracing God’s compassion in your life…
• And your ability to help others do the same.
• If you are hungry…you know the blessedness that comes from sharing what little you have with someone worse off.
• If you are weeping…you know the blessedness of giving comfort and solace to the grieving and struggling.

 

If you are hated and pushed to the margins because of your nationality…culture or gender…

• You know the blessedness of standing up for the justice of God’s Kingdom.

 

Rejoice and leap for joy…Jesus says.

• The Kingdom of heaven begins with such blessedness as yours.

Luke 5:1-11

Sunday, February 9, 2025
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

 Confession and Forgiveness

Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,

our creator, our protector, our wellspring of life.

Amen.

Trusting that God receives our words and the meditations of our hearts, let us confess our sin.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Merciful God,

you speak blessing and compassion into the world.

Forgive us for the ways we act

with judgment, cruelty, or indifference.

We ignore the needs of our neighbors.

We resist your call to oppose injustice.

We give in to scarcity and fear.

We assume the worst about one another.

Cleanse us from our faults and release us from their grasp.

Show us your loving kindness.

Restore our hearts and repair your world, that we may live in Christ’s ways.

Amen.

God proclaims these words of assurance:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.

I have called you by name. You are mine.”

In ☩ Christ, we are forgiven.

In the Spirit, we are made free.

Refreshed by the waters of mercy, live anew as beloved children of God.

Amen.

 

Gathering Hymn:

Let the Whole Creation Cry

 

Prayer of the Day

Most holy God, the earth is filled with your glory, and before you angels and saints stand in awe. Enlarge our vision to see your power at work in the world, and by your grace make us heralds of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

 

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

¹ In 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. ² Seraphs 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. ³ And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
⁴ The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. ⁵ And 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!”
⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷ The 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.” ⁸ Then 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!”

 

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

 

Psalm: 138

¹ I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I will sing your praise.
² I 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.
³ When I called, you answered me;
you increased my strength within me.
⁴ All the rulers of the earth will praise you, O Lord,
when they have heard the words of your mouth.
⁵ They will sing of the ways of the Lord,
that great is the glory of the Lord.
⁶ The Lord is high, yet cares for the lowly,
perceiving the haughty from afar.
⁷ Though 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.
⁸ You 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

¹ Now 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, ² through 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.
³ For 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, ⁴ and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But 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. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.

 

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia. Jesus says, Follow me, and I will make you fish for people. Alleluia. (Matt. 4:19)

 

The Holy Gospel according to Luke

Glory to You O Lord

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

¹

Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, ² he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³ He 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. ⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵ Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” ⁶ When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. ⁷ So 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. ⁸ But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” ⁹ For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; ¹⁰ and 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.” ¹¹ When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

 

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to You O Christ

 

This week I admired Peter’s faith.

• Why? Because he was honest.
• …he said to Simon: “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered: “Master… we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.

 

Here is what I mean: If he was cleaning his nets…he was done. He was almost home for the night…

• Putting on his sweatpants and pouring himself a drink.
• He was DONE.
• And…he was exhausted.
• Exhausted by prolonged effort met only with failure.
• We have been fishing all night and caught nothing: he says to Jesus.

 

The Lord be with you

 

Well…think of the times you have been totally exhausted.

• Here is one of many that I will share.
• It had been a busy day at the church along with home and hospital visits.
• And it was one of those rare evenings when I was home.
• And so…Susan and I…following supper…gathered ourselves in the family room…
• Both of us with a glass of wine…
• To watch a movie.
• And then midway through the movie my beeper went off.
• No cell phones…yet…back then.
• The caller was the dispatcher from the local State Police barracks…
• The dispatcher asked me to come to a particular location a few miles out of town to Baker Act (302) an individual who was threatening himself and others with a handgun.
• At that time…in my ministry…I was one of two country delegates that worked with ER doctors at our local hospital…
• To process and evaluate petitioners who found it necessary to involuntarily commit those who were a danger to themselves or others.
• So…I went and returned several hours later…exhausted.
• You know the feeling.

 

So…Peter is totally exhausted…and this is what Jesus says to Peter:

• “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered: “Master…we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.

 

I am exhausted and if I am honest…I do not want to go into the deep…thank you very much.

• I want to stay near the comfort of the shore.
• I just finished cleaning my nets and am ready for my pajamas and Netflix.
• I want to stay close to the shore Jesus…
• Because I know that in the Hebrew scriptures…
• The Deep is where chaos and the unknown reside.

 

So…that long ago Sunday evening I was Peter.

• Somewhere between exhaustion and the deep.
• Trying to still have faith while…
• I am worn out…weary…and drained.

 

So here…today…in this place between exhaustion and the deep…

• Coffee mug faith is not going to cut it for Peter.
• Faith that is just a cheerful outlook sprinkled on top of an already good life.
• Maybe it helped Peter in the past.
• But now it is useless.
• For it to be of any real help…
• Faith cannot be the decorations and furniture.
• It must be the load bearing structure that can withstand floods and fires and plane crashes and global pandemics.

 

Because here’s the thing.

• Faith does not go away first when a crisis happens.
• It is what is left after a crisis happens.
• When the power of positive thinking fails us.
• When the insurance companies and governmental agencies have failed us.
• When our attempts to change ourselves and others have failed us.
• When our vision for what our lives would look like has failed us.
• When our bodies and dreams have failed us.
• Simple faith remains.

 

Peter teaches us that.

• Because Peter’s faith is the kind that is honest about exhaustion and failure.
• Honest about what life really feels like and then still says…AND YET.
• Jesus said to Peter: “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered: “Master…we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. And yet…if you say so…I will let down the nets.”

 

Peter was indeed in the space between exhaustion and the deep.

• And facing the deep can be terrifying.
• The Greek word for the deep…BATHOS…shows up somewhere else.
• It shows up in Romans 8:
• For I am convinced that neither death…nor life…nor angels…nor rulers…nor things present…nor things to come…nor powers…nor height…nor (bathos) the deep…nor anything else in all creation…will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

So…Peter can admit he was exhausted and did not wish to go out into the deep.

• And yet he came to know that even here…
• He would not be separated from the protective love of God.
• It does not fit on a coffee mug…but it does not need to.

 

The Netflix movie Don’t Look Up.

• The movie is about a meteor which is moments away from destroying the earth.
• The characters are in the deepest part of the deep.
• And when putting faith in political solutions and big tech has failed them…
• They face their last moments by gathering for a thanksgiving style meal.
• A fishing net-straining feast of gladness and gratitude.
• But they know something else is needed.
• And that something is prayer.
• Amid the world quite literally ending…
• No one was practicing self-improvement…or attempting to “manifest” some kind of excellence…
• What they did was…they prayed.

 

The skate-board punk character proceeds to pray.

• The world was about to be destroyed AND YET he prayed.
• “Dearest Father and Almighty Creator…we ask for your grace tonight…despite our pride…your forgiveness…despite our doubt. Most of all…Lord…we ask for your love to soothe us through these dark times. May we face whatever is to come in your divine will with courage and open hearts of acceptance.”

Peter was exhausted.

• AND YET…despite his pride…there is grace in the deep.
• Despite his doubt…there is forgiveness in the deep.
• Not to mention…yes…a whole lot of fish.
• So…with the simple…AND YET faith of Peter we can say:

 

Song of the Day:

Will You Come and Follow Me

 

Prayers of Intercession

 

With the Spirit of Christ shining upon us, let us boldly pray for the church, the world, and all of creation.

A brief silence.

God of surprising abundance, you call your people to enter deeply into the world. Equip us to respond to your call, gather up what we have, and offer it to all. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

 

God of creation, provide protection from the elements and other hazards to all whose work brings them outside: for fishers, ranchers, line workers, and construction crews. Guide us to live carefully alongside the wonders of the land and waters. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

 

Open the hearts of all leaders, especially those who serve in the armed forces, that they respond to their commission with wisdom and patience. Ensure that all who serve are kept safe in body, mind, and spirit. We pray for an end to all war and armed conflict. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

 

Fill with your compassionate presence all who are suffering from addiction, mental illness, injury, or illness of any kind especially: John & Lisa Mountain, Terry Vernon, David & Carol Beazley, Margaret Miller, Bill Treichler, Shirley Treichler, Hope Garrett, Julia Busby-Morgan, Lisa (Bob & Doris’s daughter.  Chad Rudzik, June Gust, Vicki Salzgeber, John Satino (June’s son’s dad), David Wilfong (Esther Gustason’s son-in-law), Clinton Nelson, Clementine, Stacey Bryant, Pam Hendry, Betty Hurley, Erin Shayota, Michael Bender, the family of Andrea Shultz, Don Bevers Draw helpers to their side so that they find relief from their burdens. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

 

Call our faith communities to do marvelous things. Bless the labor and efforts of this congregation, that we may be a sign of your presence in the world. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

Spirit of peace…we pray for neighboring congregations and ministry sites especially: Church of God – Pastor Troy…SDA – Pastor Ralph…Bay Point Christian – Pastor Randall…St. Barts – Father Ethan… Blessed Trinity…St. Matthew…DayStar Life Center…Canguros Day School.  Nurture our shared commitment to embody Jesus’ love. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

 

We thank you for those who have courageously gone before us in the faith. May we too show a deep trust in you throughout our lives. God of grace,

hear our prayer.

 

We entrust our prayers to you, O God, in the sure and certain hope that your promise is revealed among the people.

Amen.

 

Pray with me:

 

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.

Amen.

 

Blessing

The Spirit of the triune God

☩ bless you with joy,

anoint you with compassion,

and send you in love.

Amen.

 

Sending Song:

How Clear is Our Vocation Lord

 

Dismissal

Go in peace. Live in hope.

Thanks be to God.