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Luke 3:1-6

Confession and Forgiveness

 

Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,

alive in the world, reviving creation, arriving soon.

Amen.

 

Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

Silence is kept for reflection.

God of mercy,

we confess that we have sinned.

We trust earthly powers and human authority alone.

We grow fearful. We cling to false comforts.

 

God of might,

we confess that we have sinned.

We have turned away from our neighbors.

We have trusted false promises.

 

God in our midst,

we confess that we have sinned.

We plead: come to us.

Bring your mercy to birth in us.

 

A righteous branch springs forth: it is Christ the Lord, our Savior, in whom we have forgiveness, life, and mercy.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, receive the grace and forgiveness of God through ☩ Christ Jesus, whose day draws near.

Amen.

 

Gathering Song:

Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah

 

Prayer of the Day

Stir up our hearts, Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son. By his coming give to all the people of the world knowledge of your salvation; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

First Reading: Malachi 3:1-4

¹ See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; ³ he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. ⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

 

Psalm: Luke 1:68-79

⁶⁸ Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel,
you have come to your people and ^| set them free.
⁶⁹ You have raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of your servant David.
⁷⁰ Through your holy prophets, you promised of old to save us from our enemies,
⁷¹ from the hands of all who hate us,
⁷² to show mercy to our forebears,
and to remember your holy covenant.
⁷³ This was the oath you swore to our father Abraham:
⁷⁴ to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship you without fear,
⁷⁵ holy and righteous before you, all the days of our life.
⁷⁶ And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
⁷⁷ to give God’s people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
⁷⁸ In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
⁷⁹ to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

 

Second Reading: Philippians 1:3-11

³ I thank my God every time I remember you, ⁴ constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, ⁵ because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰ to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

 

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia. Prepare the way of the Lord. All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Alleluia. (Luke 3:4, 6)

 

The Holy Gospel according to Luke

Glory to you O Lord

Gospel: Luke 3:1-6

¹ In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, ² during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. ³ He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth;
⁶ and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Prais to you O Christ

 

Here’s the thing…Advent is like the vestibule (narthex) of Christmas.

• It is an entryway…a transit-point…a place to take off coats and overshoes…a mud room.
• But not a place where we linger very long.

The Lord be with you.

Because this is so…it is difficult to give Advent the attention it deserves.

• But Advent is so much more than just a waiting room.
• It is a beautiful…holy…hopeful season of the Church year.
• So…we should not rush through it.

 

I was with a group of tourists visiting the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in Rome.

• It is the historic chamber whose painted ceiling is one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces.
• The entire Christian story in pictures…from Adam and Eve through Jesus enthroned in the heavens.
• The Sistine Chapel’s size comes as a shock to most visitors.
• It is a surprisingly small room.
• Well…this guy dashed in one end of the Chapel and out the other before he even realized he had been there.
• He mistook the Chapel for a sort of antechamber.
• Somebody had to go after him and call him back…saying:
• Hey…you missed it.
• Come back into the chapel…and this time…remember to look up!
• It is the sort of thing that is so easy to do during Advent.
• It is tempting to dash through these four weeks…arms full of preoccupation…eyes cast downward.
• Advent is a destination.
• We miss the beauty and simplicity of these days of preparation if we only have eyes for Christmas.

 

All the preparations for the secular Christmas holiday have to do with things.

• There are cookies to bake…presents to wrap…a tree to decorate and wreaths to hang.
• When John commands: Prepare the way of the Lord…he has something more spiritual in mind.
• What John is talking about is repentance.
• Luke tells us he proclaimed: a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

 

Repentance is not something most people are inclined to think about in the days leading up to Christmas.

• When the secular holiday culture encourages us to believe…
• It is a vague…uninvolved and uncommitted sort of goodwill.
• It is about dreams realized and wishes fulfilled.
• It is about the pursuit of happiness.
• Not the pursuit of virtue or decency or integrity or civility.
• There is a major disconnect between what our faith suggests we do during this season…
• And how the larger culture is inviting us to use our time.

 

John urges us to: Prepare the way of the Lord.

• The word prepare comes from a Latin word:
• Composed of the prefix prae…or beforehand.
• And parare…which means to make ready.
• Most of us have…in our kitchen drawer…a little knife with a small…sharp blade…called a paring knife (taken from the Latin praeparare: prae…or beforehand and parare…which means to make ready).
• The word paring or to pare means to make something ready by cutting away all that is not necessary.
• So…you take out your paring knife and peel off an apple’s skin.
• Also…digging out the core with its seeds.
• This is how you make the apple ready for its role in the recipe.

That verb pare is embedded in our word prepare.

• So…when John the Baptist clarifies what he means by preparing the way of the Lord…
• He uses exactly this sort of cutting image.
• Talking about an ax lying at the root of the trees…ready to cut down those trees that do not bear good fruit.

 

John’s idea of preparation has to do with radical simplicity.

• Cut away from our lives…he is saying…all that is unnecessary.
• All that detracts from our spiritual journey.
• Confess our sins and practice justice and righteousness…
• So…we may be ready to greet the Messiah when he comes.

 

This morning…John has laid out before us a contrast.

• These weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are…for the larger culture…a time NOT of simplicity… but of excess.
• It is not that we are…kind of…ignoring John the Baptist’s message.
• We…sort of do…precisely the opposite!

 

So…how should we prepare for the coming of our Lord?

• Why not try…amid our holiday rush…to do some paring.
• To carve out some islands of time to stop doing and simply be?
• There is much joy to be found in reflecting on the simple details of the story of Jesus’ birth.

 

And yes…we would do well also…in these days…to find some time to repent.

• That is…to turn from our preoccupation with material things.
• And discover new ways to live more simply and more faithfully.
• It is what preparing the way of the Lord truly means:
• Cutting away the excess…and focusing on what is true and new.

 

For that kind of change…change in thinking and change of heart it takes truth and promise.

• Namely truth and promise that is external to us.
• And it comes only from God reaching into the graves we dig ourselves into.
• And then bringing out new life.
• Because if repentance comes from something other than an external word of Truth and Love and God…
• It is not repentance…it is self-improvement.
• And what happened that day by the banks of the Jordon was way more than just a massive wave of self-improvement.

 

John’s preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was not so that sinners would confess and stop being bad.

• Instead…it was so that all would hear the truth about this God who comes near to us in the person of Jesus Christ.
• Not so that we might only be good…but that we also might be new.
• John says to them: Prepare the way of the Lord. 
• Get ready for something new…there is one who is coming who will change everything.

 

So…John prepares the people to receive the Gospel by making room for it.

• How? By washing away their old ideas and expectations.
• The untruth and sin and shame and all competing identities float away in the Jordon…
• Because the real thing was finally here.
• Because in Jesus…God is doing a new thing…
• Not only to make us good but also to make us new.

 

• Now is the time: prepare the way of the Lord!

 

Song of the Day:

On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry

 

Prayers of Intercession

 

As we prepare for Emmanuel, God-with-us, let us pray for all people and places that long for God’s presence.

A brief silence.

Refining God, move through your church. Root out practices that harm your people, and kindle a fire for sharing the gospel among bishops, pastors, deacons, and all the baptized. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

Renewing God, transform your creation. Steer us from habits that harm what you have made, and guide us in practices that preserve and restore creatures and habitats. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

Ruling God, teach the nations your ways. Strengthen organizations and communities that broker peace and care for refugees, immigrants, and all caught in the center of conflict. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

Rescuing God, restore your people who are in any need. Heal all who are suffering 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, Ellen Cuoco, Vicki Salzgeber, John Satino (June’s son’s dad), David Wilfong (Esther Gustason’s son-in-law), Clinton Nelson, Clementine, Annie Clapper, Stacey Bryant, Pam Hendry, Betty Hurley.   Provide comfort and strength, and nurture sustained wholeness for the future. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

Reforming God, fill this congregation with your presence. Enrich our seasonal preparations, and bless the efforts by worship committees, music ensembles, staff, clergy, and lay leaders as they work in the weeks ahead. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

God of community, your Spirit holds us together. Sustain our care for one another especially: Church of God – Pastor Troy…SDA – Pastor Ralph…Bay Point Christian – Pastor Randall…DayStar Life Center…Canguros Day School.   Inspire us to seek new ways to live together and to embrace the diversity of thought and identity in our communities. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

 

Reassuring God, we remember those who have died and rest in you. Guide us in deep gratitude for their life, and allow us to learn from their faithful witness. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

Savior of the nations, come, and receive these prayers and the pleas of our hearts, in the name of Jesus Christ.

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

God of endings and beginnings,

God in the darkness and the light,

God, our hope for the journey,

☩ bless and keep us now and forever.

Amen.

 

Sending Song:

The King Shall Come

 

Dismissal

Go in peace. Prepare the way for Emmanuel.

Thanks be to God.

Luke: 21:25-36

Sunday, December 1, 2024
First Sunday of Advent

 

Confession and Forgiveness

 

Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,

alive in the world, reviving creation, arriving soon.

Amen.

 

Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.

 

Silence is kept for reflection.

 

God of mercy,

 

we confess that we have sinned.

We trust earthly powers and human authority alone.

We grow fearful. We cling to false comforts.

 

God of might,

 

we confess that we have sinned.

We have turned away from our neighbors.

We have trusted false promises.

 

God in our midst,

 

we confess that we have sinned.

We plead: come to us.

Bring your mercy to birth in us.

 

A righteous branch springs forth:

it is Christ the Lord, our Savior,

in whom we have forgiveness, life, and mercy.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, receive the grace and forgiveness of God through ☩ Christ Jesus, whose day draws near.

Amen.

 

Gathering Song:

Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah

 

Prayer of the Day

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come. By your merciful protection alert us to the threatening dangers of our sins, and redeem us for your life of justice, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

 

First Reading: Jeremiah 33:14-16

¹⁴ The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

 

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

 

Psalm: 25:1-10

To you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.
² My God, I put my trust in you; let me not be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
³ Let none who look to you be put to shame;
rather let those be put to shame who are treacherous.
⁴ Show me your ways, O Lord,
and teach me your paths.
⁵ Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long.
⁶ Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love,
for they are from everlasting.
⁷ Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions;
remember me according to your steadfast love and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
⁸ You are gracious and upright, O Lord;
therefore you teach sinners in your way.
⁹ You lead the lowly in justice
and teach the lowly your way.
¹⁰ All your paths, O Lord, are steadfast love and faithfulness
to those who keep your covenant and your testimonies.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? ¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. ¹³ And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

 

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

 

 

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia. Stand up and raise your heads – your redemption is drawing near. Alleluia. (Luke 21:28)

 

The Holy Gospel according to Luke

Glory to you O Lord

Gospel: Luke 21:25-36

 

Jesus said: ²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. ²⁶ People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
²⁹ Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰ as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
³⁴ “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, ³⁵ like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you O Christ

 

In this season there is an anticipatory feeling in the air.

• A waiting…a longing…a yearning.
• This is a time filled with preparations and signs and symbols.
• Everything leads to this promised future.
• Stuffed with turkey…we wake up from a tryptophan-induced coma to the coming of what feels like the end time.
• For there will be sales and rumors of sales.
• So…stay awake because the door-busting shop-a-thon is upon us.
• Yet my heart was glad when they said to me…let us go at 5 am to the house of the Lord and Taylor.
• For on that holy mountain…people will stream from east and west…north and south…and all nations will come.
• They will turn plastic cards into shiny promises of love.
• They will go down from this mountain to wrap it all in paper…to wait for that day.
• The day of mythical hopes and dreams of love and family.
• And the children will believe that they will be always good and never bad.
• For Santa will come like a thief in the night.
• No one knows the hour…so you better be good for goodness sake.

The Lord be with you.

So yes…it can be difficult to discern the real contours and dimensions of our actual Christian story…

• During a time of the year when TV specials and billboards and radio ads are telling it.
• So blended are the symbols of faith with the symbols of culture…
• That it can be hard to discern the difference.

 

But this is it…the season of Advent.

• If we did not know better…we might easily mistake the opening words of our text for headlines in a news story about events happening in space in our own time.
• Just this year…millions of people witnessed a rare total solar eclipse.
• Researchers have also been working on using a nuclear warhead to prevent an asteroid from striking earth…which could cause deadly consequences.
• Here on Earth…we have seen wave after wave of increasingly devastating natural disasters.
• Floods and droughts…deadly storms…volcanic eruptions…earthquakes and fires.
• Untold numbers have suffered and died due to the recent pandemic.
• More people have been displaced by war and environmental degradation than at any other time in history.
• Political upheavals and increasing costs have led to anxiety…confusion and despair.
• With rising rates of mental illness and suicide.
• It appears that Jesus’ statement…that people will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world is being fulfilled before our very eyes.

 

It is strange to open the season of Advent…which leads to the celebration of the birth of Christ…with such a gloomy passage.

• Jesus was teaching his disciples about the events that would precede his return.
• The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem…persecution…martyrdom.
• And in the next two chapters Luke writes about Jesus’ arrest…trial and crucifixion.

 

But if we look closely at the birth narrative earlier in Luke’s gospel…

• We see hints that the salvation God was bringing through the Christ Child would come at great cost.
• Shortly after Jesus was born…Joseph and Mary brought him to the temple in Jerusalem to dedicate him to the Lord.
• There they encountered Simeon…who had received assurance from the Holy Spirit that he would see the Messiah before he died.
• Simeon took the child in his arms and praised God that he had been given the honor of seeing God’s salvation.
• But then he told Mary that her son would be opposed…and a sword would pierce her own soul.

 

And at that very moment…the prophet Anna…an 84-year-old widow who lived in the temple…joined Simeon in praising God…

• And spoke about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
• The birth of any child usually brings a notable measure of happiness.
• And it was no different for the birth of Jesus.
• Jesus’ birth…his first coming…was an occasion of great joy for all the people…
• Because he was born to be a Savior…who is the Messiah…the Lord.
• Jesus said that he came to give his life as a ransom for many.

 

But in our gospel for today…Jesus begins to talk about another time when he would come.

• Not as a helpless babe…nor as a suffering victim.
• But in a cloud with power and great glory…bringing redemption to his people.

 

Jesus knew that his disciples would be traumatized by his brutal murder.

• They needed to know that his death would not be the end of the story.
• Nor would the calamities he foretold be the last word.
• Yes…the Jerusalem temple would be destroyed.
• And many disasters would befall the inhabitants of Earth.
• But these were all signs that would precede his return.

The apostle John reported that shortly before his arrest…Jesus told his disciples:

• So you have pain now…but I will see you again…and your hearts will rejoice…and no one will take your joy from you.

 

Jesus’ words in our gospel are meant to give his people comfort and encouragement.

• When all these troubles come…he said:
• Look up! Lift up your heads! Your redemption…your emancipation is drawing near.

Jesus wants us to know that there is more going on behind the scenes than we realize.

• It may seem that evil is winning…
• But the armies of heaven…with Jesus in command…are in this fight as well.

 

We struggle with fear and anxiety because our eyes are glued to our screens as we gaze at the latest horrific and terrifying news report…

• And conclude that we are no match for such forces of evil.
• But here…this morning…Jesus gives us the antitoxin to the poison of panic:
• Look up! See the Son of Man is coming!
• Jesus is reminding us to refocus our eyes…not on the world’s threats…or on our own sense of inadequacy…
• But on Him…our redeemer: the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

 

So then…what should we be doing before Jesus returns?

• Jesus tells us in the last few verses:
• Be on guard…be alert…watch…pray!
• Guard your hearts! He urges his disciples.

 

The original meaning of the word “watch” comes from the Greek word…agrupneo…meaning:

• To be sleepless…to keep awake.
• The way a soldier on guard duty keeps alert for any sign of the enemy.
• Jesus is talking about the kind of watchfulness General Douglas MacArthur alluded to when he said:
• No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.
• Jesus is calling for a high state of spiritual alertness.

 

St. Paul reminds us to:

• Pray without ceasing and to pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end…keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

 

Song of the Day:

Savior of the Nations, Come

 

Prayers of Intercession

 

As we prepare for Emmanuel, God-with-us, let us pray for all people and places that long for God’s presence.

A brief silence.

God of righteousness, your people live in hopeful expectation of your coming. Fill your church with renewed passion for our shared mission, and deepen our relationships with other Christians and other faith traditions in our local community and across the world. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

God of the cosmos, all creation shows that your presence is near. Help us sense your goodness and love in the sun and moon, in sprouting leaves and bare branches, in the roaring sea and quiet breeze. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

God of the nations, your reign extends over all principalities and powers. Give leaders and all in authority hearts for justice and peace. Encourage efforts to enact policies that benefit the common good. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

God of change, you accompany us through life’s transitions. Be near to all who are changing jobs, moving, welcoming children, or facing the loss of loved ones. Sustain those who are ill or suffering 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, Ellen Cuoco, Vicki Salzgeber, John Satino (June’s son’s dad), David Wilfong (Esther Gustason’s son-in-law), Clinton Nelson, Clementine, Annie Clapper, Stacey Bryant, Pam Hendry, Betty Hurley.  In times of change, remind us of your steadfast love. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

God of community, your Spirit holds us together. Sustain our care for one another especially: Church of God – Pastor Troy…SDA – Pastor Ralph…Bay Point Christian – Pastor Randall…DayStar Life Center…Canguros Day School.   Inspire us to seek new ways to live together and to embrace the diversity of thought and identity in our communities. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

God of memory, we give you thanks for faithful ones who have died especially our friend Willis. Tend to our grief and sorrow with renewed trust in your promise of abundant and eternal life. Lord, in your mercy,

receive our prayer.

 

Savior of the nations, come, and receive these prayers and the pleas of our hearts, in the name of Jesus Christ.

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

God of endings and beginnings,

God in the darkness and the light,

God, our hope for the journey,

☩ bless and keep us now and forever.

Amen.

 

Sending Song:

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

 

Dismissal

Go in peace. Prepare the way for Emmanuel.

Thanks be to God.

John 15:9-17

In our Gospel for today Jesus is saying this long goodbye to his friends before his death.

• He is facing betrayal and abandonment and beatings.
• And a crucifixion and what does he talk about?
• Now listen to this.
• He talks about Joy and Love.

 

He is about to go through hell…and he chooses to remind his friends of his commandment to love one another so that (now listen) so that his:

• “Joy might be in them…and their joy might be complete”.
• O Jerusalem.

 

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

It seems to me that the culture around us tries to convince us that joy is only possible in the absence of suffering.

• Which makes what Jesus is saying here hard to hear.
• I mean…if joy was so important to Jesus…why would he not have avoided a painful…humiliating death?

 

Now…I do not want to pawn this off as some fake notion about “redemptive suffering” since I do not find that at all helpful here.

• But here’s the thing…as I have grown older…I have begun to think that the depth of our joy is oddly related to the depth of our pain.
• That is…suffering excavates…digs up…something out from inside of us that in turn allows joy to fill more deeply.
• I mean…if the noisy and disorderly laughter at AA meetings…that I have attended…is any indication…I think I may be on to something.

 

What I mean is this: Since we have gone through something devastating that we are beginning to finally emerge from.

• And here I am thinking a lot about what those days after Jesus’ resurrection were like for his friends.
• After the initial shock of it wore off…
• I just know there must have been so much feasting and so much laughter and so much joy.
• I do not think they argued much.
• That whole “who will be greatest” thing had to have faded into the background.
• And no one looked at their cell phones all day.
• There must have been joy.
• And that joy must have been at least as deep as the pain of the previous days had been.
• The pain had dug something out so deeply in them and joy filled it.

Joy…especially joy that is shared…is not avoiding all the things that are so very horrendously awful.

• It is not pretending the forces of evil are not raging around us.
• Joy is not a delusion.
• Joy is resistance.
• It is resistance to a kind of individualism that seeks to isolate us…
• And tell us that narcissism is happiness.

 

Joy is resistance to the forces that seek to dehumanize our less than perfect selves.

• Joy is the effervescence…the sparkle of the Holy Spirit bubbling up out of the caverns of suffering…
• Saying to the forces that try and keep us in the tomb that:
• “No – love is stronger.”

 

I have had delicious times with friends and family when…holy cats…I joyfully laughed so hard.

• Years ago…we had fallen on some particularly difficult and hard times that literally scraped out our insides.
• But afterwards…on the other side…on the other side of our shattered experience…
• Our joy and laughter were so much deeper than before.
• The kind of laughter and joy that comes from having just gone through Hell.

 

My friend Jodi Pritchard says it like this.

• Jodi is a flight nurse and a major in the United States Airforce.
• She writes: We must treat patients while also dealing with the stresses of flying.
• Like the g-forces which can be a detriment to a patient’s IV bag.

 

On one of my flights someone screams…he wants to get off the litter…but he can’t because he’s missing a leg.

• I check on another soldier who is missing half of his face.
• He looks at me and says:
• Ma’am…I need to know when this plan is going to land.
• I need to know when I can get back to Iraq.
• You’ve been shot, honey. Why don’t we give you some time, Okay?
• You’ve been through a lot.
• No, I want to go back.
• I want you to go back but first we’ve got to get you to Ramstein so doctors can take care of you.
• He’s not the only soldier who says this to me during that flight.
• All the guys on board want to go back…every single one of them.

 

I don’t want to talk about all of this with anyone.

• It becomes a problem.
• A friend of mine suggests I seek counseling.
• The psychologist is awesome.
• I learn that it’s okay to feel angry…or hurt or sad.
• I learn that what I am is human.

 

I remember what I have seen overseas.

• The horror and panic and fright.
• But listen…I wouldn’t trade my life for anything in the world.
• I love wearing the uniform.
• I love my fellow soldiers who watch my back and hold my arms up when I cannot.
• To this day…I love the joy of that fellowship.

 

Just as Jesus had done with his disciples on the lakeshore.

• Preparing breakfast for his friends.
• And then eating all together.
• Filled with joy.
• It makes me realize how much I want to trust joy.
• And not just look over my shoulder for when the next wave of awful is going to hit me.

 

How nutty is it that after all Jesus went through.

• After being beaten and killed and betrayed by his closest companions.
• After all that…he commands us to basically throw a party.
• To come together and drink wine and eat carbs and laugh and love each other.

 

If this is what it looks like…I am ready for more resurrection.

• OK then…bring it.

 

Matthew 20:1-16

Ever since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because of their disobedience…society has been plagued with labor problems.

• Without fruit and vegetables right there for the taking…
• Adam and Eve would have to work for a living.
• No more pomegranate juice cocktails at dusk in a grove of palm trees.
• No more grapes…figs and dates just for the asking.
• No more free lunches of cucumber and tomato salads.
• The free ride was over.
• The house was no longer going to comp all this good stuff.

 

God minced no words:

• “Cursed is the ground because of you…by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground…for out of it you were taken…you are dust…and to dust you shall return.” (Ash Wednesday).

 

So…labor issues are common in the Bible.

• The squabbles Abraham and Lot had over where their cattle could feed.
• That we must sow before we can reap.
• That laborers are worthy of their hire.
• That the harvest is plentiful…but the laborers are few.
• That if we don’t work…we won’t eat.
• And today…labor strife is not uncommon…The United Auto Workers are striking as I talk.

 

Today…many day laborers are paid in cash at the end of the day.

• They get no raises…no holiday pay…no paid days off and no promise of continuing or future employment.
• They show up for work every day with the knowledge that they are always disposable.
• And they may be working alongside someone who is a company employee who does get raises…holiday pay…paid days off and who is getting paid more for the same work.

 

Unfair labor practices were rampant when Jesus walked the earth.

• The story he told stirred up his listeners…the hired hands.
• The United Farm Workers do not have their backs.
• They cannot submit a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
• They know that Jesus’ little story about the angry workers is all too true.
• A person who is hired in the afternoon might indeed get paid as much as the guy who started work at 7 a.m.
• We identify with the guys who worked like crazy for 12 hours in the scorching heat.
• And we do not identify with those who were hired at the last hour and were paid a full day’s wage.
• And we are jealous of those who get it.

 

We are a bit like the prophet Jonah here.

• The ancient prophet preached in Nineveh and told its people that the city had 40 days to repent…
• Or the one true God of Israel would dispatch the entire lot of them to kingdom come.
• They repent. God spares the city.
• Jonah sulks and complains:
• “O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?
• I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful…slow to anger…and abounding in steadfast love…and ready to relent from punishing.
• And now…O LORD…please take my life from me…for it is better for me to die than to live.”

 

Jonah wanted God to be fair.

• He is much like the disgruntled day laborers.
• Jonah…like the workers…is not pleased with how God is conducting his affairs.
• God does not seem to be fair.
• Jonah and the hired do not care for generosity…
• They do not care for the grace and mercy granted to latecomers…sinners…people unlike them…people not of their tribe.

 

We spend valuable moments in life being grumpy about and jealous of the good fortune of others.

• Complaining about our own perceived lack of most-favored-person status.
• We are like the apostle Peter who…
• After receiving marching orders from Jesus on the shores of Galilee after the resurrection…
• Looked at the disciple John and asked Jesus: “Lord…what about him?”
• Jesus responded much like the owner of the vineyard.
• The vineyard owner said:
• “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?”
• Jesus said to Peter:
• “If it is my will that he remain until I come…what is that to you? Follow me!”

 

There is no more common complaint of a child than “It’s not fair.”

• We adults have enough life experience to know that life is not fair.
• We tell others to suck it up…get a life and move on.
• In Jesus’ comment to Peter…Jesus destroys all questions about preferential treatment and perceived notions of fairness.
• Jesus has a point: “What is that to you?”

 

Look at Peter on the shores of Galilee after they had just enjoyed a breakfast of buttered toast and tilapia.

• A breakfast that Jesus had prepared…by the way.
• Peter saw his colleagues…and singled out John…
• Who along with himself and James was a part of the Big Three.
• Jesus’ celebrated inner circle.
• Look around at family…relatives…neighbors and associates nearby.
• So…what if some have lucrative careers…bigger houses…better health…greener lawns and can afford Hulu…Netflix…Prime and the NFL channel?

 

And then we might get all resentful about freeloaders who abuse government food programs…people who get Section 8 rent reduction assistance…the elderly who get an assistance check every month and deeply discounted medical care.

• Oh…and farmers who get government subsidies.
• Oh…and CEO’s and CFO’s and COO’s who commit felonies but are never arrested.
• Oh…and politicians who take bribes.
• Oh…and insurance companies who do not pay hurricane claims.
• Oh…there is a lot of unfairness out there.

 

In Jesus’ words: “What is that to you?”

• His second comment is a direct order:
• “Follow me.”
• Jesus is telling us that it is not about fairness.
• It is about following.
• Will we…or won’t we?

 

If we follow Jesus…we are surrendering our ill-conceived notions of what is fair and what is not to a trustworthy God.

• We are saying that we will follow Jesus and surrender our lives to God.

 

Saint Paul said that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…of whom I am the foremost.”

• That is why he understood that the worst possible outcome for all of us would be that God is fair.
• In this he agrees with the psalmist:
• “He does not deal with us according to our sins…nor repay us according to our iniquities.”

 

The worst thing that could happen to us would be to wake up to a world in which God decides to be fair.

• Fortunately…we need not worry.
• Because now we know the Good News:
• God is not fair…and we will follow him faithfully.

Matthew 18:15-20

A long while back we had an amazing welcome brunch to St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Wilmington NC.

• About 35 people gathered to get to know each other and the church a little better.
• And to of course…eat breakfast casseroles.
• As was our practice…we all shared what it was about church that drew us there or kept us there.
• And we tried our best to share with the new folks what St. Matthew was about.
• What we did and how it ran.
• I always had a list printed out in front of me so that I did not forget to mention things one could be involved in and things one could sign up for.
• It has never dawned on me until this week as I was producing this homily on Matthew 18 that I should have also added: Things you can get excommunicated for.
• If you are unfamiliar…excommunication is a fancy church word for shunning people – for kicking them out.

 

Only once in my ministry have I threatened to excommunicate a parishioner.

• And I cannot remember the exact details…but I’m pretty sure it had to do with food.
• The two perpetrators were in charge of food for a church event and suggested ordering…Little Caesars’ Pizza.
• And since cheap dough-y chain-store pizza is an abomination unto the Lord…
• I suggested that excommunicating them would be a better option.

 

Well…Our Gospel text for today is sometimes called the excommunication text.

• And there’s more than one reason why this passage makes me a little skittish.
• Here’s why…I know the stories of the good people I have served for 49 years now.
• I have heard of how…as a divorced person…or as a fallen away church person…or as a backslider…or as someone with a different sexual orientation…some were shunned or denied baptism or communion or marriage and even burial.
• I have heard how…when wielded with precision…this text has been used as a tool to eviscerate people you love.
• While some smug…far-superior Christian then gets to stand above you thinking they have “spoken truth in love”.

 

This text makes me skittish because Jesus is talking about how to treat someone who has sinned against you.

• But instead…it has been used to turn away someone who the nice people think is a sinner…and that’s different.

 

This text makes me skittish because I wish Jesus had said:

• “If someone has sinned against you…then go talk directly about them to a few other people before posting a thinly veiled remark about it on Facebook.”
• But he did not.
• So now I must think about all the times in my life that I have chosen to triangulate others into a drama about someone else.
• Rather than just going to that person privately.

 

This text makes me skittish because Jesus is giving instructions for what to do if someone in the church sins against you.

• This text is often misused as an excuse to not take responsibility for our own feelings.
• Because it is really about when someone does you actual harm.
• So…you need to confront them about how hurt you are.

 

This text makes me skittish because I just don’t trust us to get this kind of thing right.

• I have a hard time trusting myself to be clear of my own self-interest and emotional triggers enough to not get this kind of thing wrong.
• So…I started to go back and search for the promises we have in this text.

 

There is a promise in Matthew 18.

• But to hear it we need to read the three verses that precede our reading for today.
• “If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”
• Next verse: “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.”
• This text is about Christ promising to be present in reconciliation because that is God’s nature.
• O Jerusalem…leave it to humans to take something Jesus taught about reconciliation…and his presence in forgiveness and instead use it to judge and exclude others.

 

But…stay with me…because there-in lies the good news.

• OK then…no matter how much Jesus’ words have been twisted.
• No matter how badly this text has been used against us.
• Or that we have used it against other people.
• That cannot cancel the promise.
• The promise is that God desires to be reconciled to us.
• And we to each other.
• And that when we seek reconciliation…Christ is present.
• Contemptible…obnoxious behavior is never powerful enough to nullify the promise that God can bind together that which our sin has ripped apart.

 

What I mean is this: We Christians have done our best to kill this thing…the Gospel…and yet here it still is.

• The Church of Jesus Christ has survived papal corruption…the inquisitions…the crusades…sectarianism…racism… gender bias and slick toothy TV preachers.
• And it will survive us too.

 

The power of the death and resurrection of Jesus will not be nullified by the church’s inability to live up to the promise of life and life abundant.

• Because God’s ability to make things right is always more powerful than our ability to get things wrong.
• I mean seriously…if I believed more in the church than I did in God’s ability to redeem our dirt…
• I would have gotten out of the ministry long ago.

 

Let me say this: This church will let us down.

• The pastor will say or do something stupid or someone else will hurt us and we will fail to meet someone’s expectations.
• But that if someone leaves because the church let someone down…
• We might miss the way the gorgeous…shimmering grace of God comes in and fills in the cracks left behind from our brokenness.
• And it is just too wonderful to miss.

 

So let us not put our trust in this church.

• Let us not put our trust in our ability to be a good Christian.
• Let us not put our trust in the preacher.
• Instead…let us put our trust in God’s ability to not be hindered by our messes.
• Instead…let us put our trust in Jesus who keeps showing up despite us.

 

Let us put our trust in Jesus…who says…where two or more people who get things wrong are gathered…I am here.

• Who says…where two or more people who don’t bother to sign up for jobs or give money to church are gathered…I am here.
• Who says…where two or more people who triangulate and gossip about each other are gathered…I am here.
• That’s the promise.

 

He is here with a power that is not our own.

• He is here with the power of one who has given all for us.
• He is here with the power of reconciliation for people who do not deserve it.
• He is here in bread and wine and water and the stranger sitting next to us.
• He is here again loving his broken church into being something beautiful.
• Trust that.

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

“God…grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…the courage to change the things I can…and the wisdom to know the difference.”

• Those are uplifting words from the pen of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.
• They have come to be known as the “Serenity Prayer.”
• They have become precious to many people.
• Many who cherish them are involved in 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.
• Central to the whole AA movement is the concept of serenity…inner peace.
• Calm the storm within and you will be able to handle the storm without.
• Good advice but easier said than done.
• And that is what a young man named Martin Luther discovered over five hundred years ago.

 

One July day…young Martin was walking through a wooded area.

• And when he saw dark thunder clouds rolling in…he doubled his speed.
• Too late…the storm caught him while he was still deep in the woods.
• As the unnerving thunder grew closer…Martin began to fear for his life.
• Just then…the hairs on his arm stood on end…as a bolt of lightning blasted a tree a few yards away.
• Martin fell to his knees…and the prayer he uttered was not spoken…but screamed:
• “St. Anne…help me…and I will become a monk.”

 

Well…That’s how the founder of the Reformation chose for himself a religious vocation.

• Even after joining the Augustinian order…Martin continued to be afraid and worry.
• The one thing he worried about most was his salvation.
• Whether…in the last judgment…when the Lord separates humanity into two groups…would Martin belong to the sheep or the goats?
• When Martin Luther…now a young priest…celebrated his first mass…he was terrified.
• Who was he…a sinner…to dare address God?
• It was all he could do to quell the fear long enough to finish the liturgy.

 

Martin’s fear drove him to the scriptures.

• He studied Hebrew and Greek…becoming a leading scholar in his order…and…indeed…in all the church.
• The passion that drove his studies was not the love of learning.
• But a desperate desire to know he was accepted by God.
• Martin was looking for peace.

 

Those dark days Martin would later describe as a spiritual trial of terror…despair and religious crisis.

• He prayed…he fasted…he mortified his flesh…but to no avail.
• God was punishing him for his sin…he was certain.

 

Finally…Luther discovered his answer.

• Verse 17 of Chapter 1 of Romans.
• “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”
• It spoke to his heart that day as never before.

 

Later…in his famous hymn: “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” Luther would write:

• Did we in our own strength confide…our striving would be losing. Were not the right man on our side…the man of God’s own choosing.
• That God-chosen man…is Jesus the Christ…God’s own son.
• Have faith in him…and salvation comes to the believer as a gift from God.

 

Finally…after all those years…Martin Luther found serenity:

• Accepting the things he could not change…courageously changing the things he could and wisely seeking to discern the difference between the two.

In today’s reading from Second Corinthians…Paul ends his letter with words of encouragement and benediction:

• “Put things in order…listen to my appeal…agree with one another…live in peace…and the God of love and peace will be with you.”
• What the apostle means is that we receive God’s peace at the same time when deciding to live at peace with one another.

 

Also…in Romans…Paul promises:

• “Therefore…since we are justified by faith…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• God is no longer the dread adversary…sternly judging us.
• To Martin’s surprise…God turns out to be the author of grace and forgiveness…the giver of peace.
• OK then…deliverance is one of those things we cannot achieve ourselves.
• It is the work of the Christ of God.

 

Here are the remaining…seldom-quoted lines of Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer:

• “Living one day at a time…enjoying one moment at a time…accepting hardship as the pathway to peace…taking…as Jesus did…this sinful world as it is…not as I would have it…trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to his will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with him forever in the next.”
• If you end the serenity prayer with the first sentence…serenity can become a kind of goal for which we strive.
• Even though the prayer says: “God grant me the serenity” …it is easy to skip over that.
• The result is to misunderstand serenity as a washed-out positive-thinking wish.
• Just think peaceful thoughts and everything will be all right.

 

The peace we crave is not won through some persistent self-discipline.

• It is peace with God that Paul is speaking about here.
• Not peace within ourselves!
• Peace does not depend on what we have done for God.
• But rather on what God has done for us.

 

Ask people what they must do to get to heaven and most reply: “Be good.”

• Jesus’ reply is this: All we must do is cry “Help.”
• God welcomes home anyone who will have him.
• God has more faith in us than we do in ourselves.
• Like Martin Luther…we must learn to have faith in God’s faith in us.
• God’s belief in us enables us to believe in ourselves.

Somewhere along the line…perhaps in our younger years…we absorbed messages that we were inadequate…ugly and unexceptional.

• That we were lacking in essential goodness and beauty.
• That we were not truly created in God’s image.

 

Jesus came that we might discover otherwise:

• That we might have true spiritual peace.
• Jesus’ desire is that we may “have life…and have it abundantly.”
• His wish is that we may find the peace that passes all understanding.

John 20:19-23

People are different.

• God created us that way.
• It is in our genetic code.
• Some of us are emotional.
• Some of us are cerebral.
• God speaks to engineers differently than he speaks to artists.
• Engineers need all the nuts and bolts of faith.
• Artists sense a larger canvas.
• God speaks our language.
• God speaks to us according to our own needs.
• God uses different means to speak to us according to those needs.

 

In worship…some respond to scripture…others to the liturgy…others to the music…others to the proclamation of the Word.

• People are different.
• Christ came to St. Paul in a different way than he did to Simon Peter.
• God comes to us…at Pentecost…where we are.

 

Let me illustrate what I mean: I will read a section of the Prodigal Son story from Luke 15.

 

• “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So, he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So, he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his field to feed the pigs. He would have gladly filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating but no one gave him anything.”

 

My friend read that story to seminary students and gave them a pop quiz: One question.

Why does this young man end up hungry…in a pig pen?

Now…let me share the answers that he got:

• You need to know that he did this three times in three different places:
• First…in the United States of America.
• Everyone answered: “the boy ends up hungry…in a pig pen…because he squandered his inheritance.
• He took the money he received from his father and spent it all. On wild parties and who knows what…anyway…he spent it. And now here he is.”
• This is a story about an irresponsible kid who in a few months manages to blow what his father had spent years saving for him.

 

He also asked this question in East Africa and he got this answer:

• Everyone there said: “The boy ends up hungry in a pig pen…because no one would give him anything to eat.
• It is a story about a society that does not care for the poor and especially does not care for the alien.
• The fact that the boy lost all his money is a small matter.
• Emigrants often don’t know how to live in a foreign land. They don’t know what to do and they lose everything.
• But the Bible tells us we are to care for the stranger and the alien among us.
• This is not so much a story about a sinful boy as it is about a sinful society that allows such a boy to end up like this with no one but God to help him.”

 

Well…notice the Bible does say both things:

• It does say that the boy squandered his inheritance…and it says that no one would give him anything.
• Interesting…Americans always notice the one part and Africans notice the other part.

 

In America squandering one’s inheritance is a very bad thing.

• In a capitalist country that’s one of the worst things that you can do.
• In East Africa…such things happen but people are supposed to look out for each other.
• This is a culture where hospitality to strangers is a primary virtue.

 

Then my teacher friend went to Russia.

• And he asked seminary students…in St. Petersburg…the same question:
• Why does this young man end up hungry in a pigpen?
• Almost everyone he asked…84%…said the same thing.
• “Because there was a famine.”
• After the boy squandered his inheritance…the story says…a severe famine came upon the land and he began to be in want.

 

American readers might notice that…but they do not think it’s the main point.

• Why? Most American readers have never experienced a famine.
• In 1941…the German army surrounded St. Petersburg and held it under siege for over two- and one-half years.
• During that time 700,000 people starved to death.
• It was not because they had squandered their money.
• It was because there was no food.
• “So…what if the boy squandered his inheritance” the Russian students told my friend “That’s no big deal.
• You can always live off the land.
• You can always plant potatoes.
• If the boy wasted his father’s money…that just meant he was going to be poor…
• Like most people who do not have an inheritance in the first place.

 

Poor people get by.

• But then a famine came upon the land and that’s why he ended up hungry in the pig pen.”
• The story those Russian students told him is not about a sinful boy who needs to repent.
• It is not about a sinful society that should take care of strangers.
• It is about a sinful world where nature itself behaves in terrible ways.

 

People from differing nations understand the Gospel message differently.

• Why? Because…the message was meant for all nations and all peoples.

 

Like all the people on earth…we in this land are somewhat ethnocentric.

• Meaning…we think everybody on earth ought to be like us…look like us…talk like us…think like us.
• And we think God ought to favor us.

 

God is a universal God.

• Intellectually we understand that it is true…but at a more basic level we want a God who is like us.
• Surely God speaks English.
• Surely God has western values.
• And then we meet a Christian from Africa…or Asia…or Europe who has very different ideas about God.
• B. Phillips said to us a few decades back that Our God is Too Small.

 

There are wonderful Christian people in every nation in the world.

• Naturally they see the world through the lens of their own culture.
• And they think their way is best as well.
• We give God a good laugh at our provincialism.

 

God is a universal God.

• God is the God of the Chinese and the Congolese…of the Iraqis and the Afghans…as well as the Canadians and the Americans.
• God has no favorites.
• What God favors is mercy and justice and righteousness and compassion and graciousness and civility and love…
• Wherever those characteristics are found.
• What God is seeking is the day when all the world’s people will know God’s love and God’s peace.
• And will know themselves to be brothers and sisters in Christ.

John 11: 1-45

A long time ago a coworker came into my office to tell me her cancer had returned after two years.

• Her doctor did not think she could survive surgery to remove her cancerous kidney.
• Because her previous bout of cancer had so compromised her lungs.
• What was there to say?
• Our silence said everything.

 

Finally…I managed to say: “I am so sorry”… and started to tear up but she said… “Stop it”…so I stopped it.

• After a while she said…‘I’m fine…I believe in the resurrection”.
• Which just about knocked me over.
• We went on to talk about Do Not Resuscitate Orders and other grim topics.
• But my mind kept returning to: “I’m fine…I believe in the resurrection.”

 

There are ten million miles between me saying that to her and her saying that to me.

• If I say it…it’s a religious platitude offered in an attempt to avoid entering her pain.
• But when she says it…it is a confession of faith.
• Raw and authentic and true and full of courage and hope.
• I don’t know where that kind of faith comes from.
• I don’t know if I have it.
• I thank God she does.
• And I believe she has that kind of faith because of Lazarus in our story today.

 

So……would not we be confused beyond imagining if we were Lazarus?

• Alive…after being dead for four days.
• Think about it.
• When you are dead time does not exist.
• There is no such thing as time.
• Time…seconds…minutes…hours… days…years…decades…centuries…

are for the living.

• Lyrics from a song by the rock band Chicago come to mind.
• The thoughts they express must have come to the mind of Lazarus…Listen:
• “Does anybody really know what time it is?
• Does anybody really care?”
• And Lazarus must have wondered not just what time it was but what day…what year…what century.

 

Was not Lazarus a little disappointed that life had gone on without him?

• Even though he had not been dead long.
• Had Martha already rearranged his room.
• Or had she rented out his room to someone else?
• Had she given his dog away?
• Had she given his clothes to charity?

 

I had a man in a congregation I served in Pittsburgh who was preparing to die.

• He desperately needed a heart transplant but had given up all hope of receiving one.
• He had but a few weeks to live.
• And he had given his most prize possessions to family members.
• Most valued…his skeet shooting side by side shot gun.
• But then at the eleventh hour he got a heart. And fully recovered. He was a new man.
• And now? He asked for his stuff to be returned.
• Well…his family was glad to have him back…and happy to give him his stuff back.

 

It is important to remember that the Lazarus story led the Sanhedrin…the temple leaders…to decide that Jesus had to die.

• A few verses after what we read today from John 11…it says this about the Sanhedrin:
• “So…from that day on they planned to put him to death.”

 

The Lazarus experience was also what led Martha to become a more deeply committed follower of Jesus.

• Martha already believes that Jesus is the Messiah…and she says so.
• But Jesus draws Martha into a deeper faith and only then raises Lazarus.

 

Now listen to this…Lazarus comes forth from the tomb in his burial garments because he will need them again when he dies a second time.

 

• His being raised is a sign pointing to the resurrection of Jesus.
• Who will leave his burial garments behind in the tomb…never to be needed again.

 

The Lazarus story was written nearly 60 years after the death of Jesus.

• (John was the final gospel written of the four…between 90 – 100 BC).
• So…it reminds the early community of Christ followers that the Jesus who raised Lazarus is as present to that community…
• And to those in centuries to come.
• Including us…
• As he was to the witnesses who directly experienced him.
• What Jesus did for the community of Judea or for Lazarus…
• Jesus continues to do today through the Holy Spirit…who dwells within us.
• This Jesus…so dear a friend of Lazarus that he wept at his tomb…is our friend…too.
• And that is our assurance that death does not have the final word.

 

Which means we can quit worrying about our eternal future and get to work fixing what is broken in this life.

• Jesus…after all…began his ministry by promising that people could live in the kingdom of God today.
• Which means that our job is to demonstrate…in small ways…what that kingdom looks like when it comes in full flower.

 

So…if in the kingdom there will be no poverty…

• We work today to eliminate poverty.
• If in the kingdom there will be no hunger.
• We work today to eliminate hunger.
• If in the kingdom there will be no racism…
• We work today to eliminate racism.
• If in the kingdom there will be no illiteracy.
• We work today to eliminate illiteracy.
• If in the kingdom there will be no homelessness.
• We work today to eliminate homelessness.
• If in the kingdom there will be no human trafficking.
• We work to eliminate human trafficking.

 

We can be so focused on heaven that we are no earthly good.

• But……that is not what Jesus wants for us.
• Because our eternal future is safe in God’s hands.

 

When Lazarus came out of the tomb…Jesus looked at his friend and said:

• “Unbind him…and let him go.”
• That is what he is saying to us today…too.
• He desires that we be liberated.
• From whatever enslaves us.
• He desires that we be liberated from death.
• So today…we hear his voice and come out from whatever has entombed us.

 

We have been liberated to live the generative life Jesus desires for us.

• Thanks be to God.