John 4:5-42

Sunday, March 8, 2026
Third Sunday in Lent

 Confession and Forgiveness

Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God,

who forgives all our sin,

whose mercy endures forever.

Amen.

Let us confess our sin before God, who removes our guilt

and blots out all offenses.

Silence is kept for reflection.

Gracious God,

have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

For seeking worldly delights that deceive us and dishonor you:

Gracious God,

have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

For desiring self-reliance instead of hungering for your word:

Gracious God,

have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

For failing to recognize your coming reign,

and for hindering the work of the Spirit: Gracious God,

have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

For drawing from the well of self-serving ambition,

and for disdaining the living water Christ offers: Gracious God,

have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

For disregarding voices from the margin,

and for distrusting signs of your healing and hope in the world:

Gracious God,

have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

For dwelling in tombs of self-pity and discontent,

and for disregarding Christ’s call to come forth to life:

Gracious God,

have mercy on us according to your steadfast love.

God’s steadfast love, grace, and forgiveness abound.

Through faith, the free gift of God,

you have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

In the name of ☩ Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.

The Spirit of the One who raised Christ from the dead

dwells in you,

pours God’s love into your hearts,

and gives you life and peace.

Amen.

 

Gathering Hymn: Come to Me, All Pilgrims Thirsty – ELW 777

 

Prayer of the Day

Merciful God, the fountain of living water, you quench our thirst and wash away our sin. Give us this water always. Bring us to drink from the well that flows with the beauty of your truth 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: Exodus 17:1-7

¹ From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” ³ But the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” ⁴ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do for this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” ⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile and go. ⁶ I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

 

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

 

Psalm: 95

¹ Come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before God’s presence with thanksgiving
and raise a loud shout to the Lord with psalms.
³ For you, Lord, are a great God,
and a great ruler above all gods.
⁴ In your hand are the caverns of the earth;
the heights of the hills are also yours.
⁵ The sea is yours, for you made it,
and your hands have molded the dry land.
⁶ Come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
⁷ For the Lord is our God, and we are the people of God’s pasture and the sheep of God’s hand.
Oh, that today you would hear God’s voice!
⁸ “Harden not your hearts,
as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the desert.
⁹ There your ancestors tested me,
they put me to the test, though they had seen my works.
¹⁰ Forty years I loathed that generation, saying,
‘The heart of this people goes astray; they do not know my ways.’
¹¹ Indeed I swore in my anger,
‘They shall never come to my rest.’ ”

 

Second Reading: Romans 5:1-11

¹ Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
⁶ For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more surely, therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. ¹¹ But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

 

Word of God. Word of Life.

Thanks be to God.

 

 

 

 

Gospel Acclamation

Lord, you are truly the Savior of the world; give me this living water that I may never thirst again. (John 4:15)

 

The Holy Gospel according to John

Glory to you O Lord

Gospel: John 4:5-42

⁵ Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.⁶ Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
⁷ A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸ (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) ¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” ¹³ Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” ¹⁷ The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,’ ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” ¹⁹ The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
²⁷ Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” ²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” ³⁰ They left the city and were on their way to him.
³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. ³⁶ The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. ³⁷ For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ ³⁸ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
³⁹ Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of his word. ⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

 

The Gospel of the Lord

Praise to you O Christ

 

Jesus’s dialogue with the woman at the well is his longest recorded conversation in the New Testament.

• He talks to the Samaritan woman longer than he talks to his twelve disciples…
• Or to his accusers…or even to his own family members.
• Also…she is the first person…and the first ethnic…religious…outsider…to whom Jesus reveals his identity in John’s Gospel.
• And…she is the first believer in any of the Gospels to become an evangelist…
• And bring her entire city to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
• The Lord be with you…

Here are some details we should be aware of:

• By the time Jesus meets the woman at the well…the hostility between Jews and Samaritans is long established and bitter.
• The two groups disagree about everything that matters: how to honor God…how to interpret the Scriptures…and how and where to worship.
• They practice their faith in separate temples…read different versions of the Torah…and avoid social contact with each other whenever possible.
• Truth be told…they really dislike each other.

Also…the Samaritan is a woman…and it is not customary or appropriate for Jesus…a Jewish man…to converse…alone…with a Samaritan woman…

• And it is even more inappropriate to ask her for a drink of water.
• To put this in more contemporary language…the Samaritan woman is the outsider…the alien…the heretic…the foreigner.
• But Jesus transgresses and breaks all these boundaries.

We need to remember…the hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans in Jesus’s day is real.

• Each is fully convinced that the other is wrong.
• So…what Jesus does when he enters into conversation with a Samaritan woman is radical and risky.
• It stuns his own disciples…because it asks them to dream of a different kind of kingdom.
• Jesus invites us to look at the Samaritan woman and see a sister and an apostle…
• Not a harlot…a heretic…a foreigner…or a threat.

As John describes the scene…Jesus is sitting by a well in the desert heat at high noon.

• He is tired out from his long journey…and he’s all by himself.
• Along comes a woman with a water jar…and the first thing Jesus says to her is…Give me a drink.
• Jesus wins the woman’s trust by humbling himself.
• By naming his own thirst.
• By asking for something she can give.
• There is no smugness…no arrogance…in Jesus’ approach.
• He is thirsty…and he says so…and she responds.

Of course…we know that as Jesus’ story plays out…he will once again thirst in a lonely place at noon…

• And once again ask for water.
• But on that terrible day…he will receive only the mockery of vinegar from the foot of his cross.
• On this day by the well… though… Jesus’s disarming honesty opens the door for a spiritual seeker to find new life…
• And then share that new life with her entire city.

The conversation between Jesus and the woman turns when he tells her what he knows about her life:

• You are right in saying…I have no husband…for you have had five husbands…and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!
• Perhaps she was married off as a teen bride…
• Then widowed and passed along among her dead husband’s brothers…
• As per the Levirate marriage practice of the day.
• Maybe her various husbands abandon her because she is infertile.
• Maybe she’s a victim of abuse…maybe she has a disability.
• Whatever the case…we know that in the first century…
• Women did not have the legal power to end their own marriages…
• The authority to file for divorce rested with men alone.

So…there is a great deal we cannot know about the woman’s history.

• What we can infer…though…is that she prefers to be invisible.
• That she goes out of her way to avoid the other women in her town.
• For whatever reason…she does not feel that they like her…accept her…or understand her.
• So…she heads to the well in the scorching heat of the day…instead of in the cool of the morning.
• She hopes to come and go…undetected…carrying in isolation whatever trauma…wound…sin…fear…or desperation her tangled history has left her with.

But then Jesus comes along and sees her.

• He sees the whole of her.
• The past…the present…the future.
• Who she has been…what she yearns for…how she hurts…
• All that she might become…and he names it all.

But he names it all without shaming…or condemning her. 

• He sees and names the woman in a way that makes her feel not judged…but loved.
• Not exposed…but shielded…not diminished…but restored.
• Jesus does not shy away from the painful…ugly…broken stuff in her life.
• Instead…he allows the truth of who she is to come to the surface.
• Let’s name what’s real he tells her…Let’s say what is.
• No more games…no more smokescreens…no more posturing.
• I see you for who you are…and I love you.
• Now see who I am…the Messiah…the one in whom you can find freedom…love…healing…and transformation.   
• Spirit and Truth…eternal life…living Water…drink of me…and live.

During this Lenten season…Jesus invites us to see ourselves and each other through eyes of love…not judgment.

• Can we…like Jesus…become soft landing places for people who are all alone…carrying stories too heavy to bear?
• To see brokenness without shaming it is not easy.
• But it’s what we are called to do.
• Salvation begins with clear…tender…and unconditional seeing.
• When Jesus tells the Samaritan woman who he is…she leaves her water jar at the well…runs back to her city…and says:
• Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!  He cannot be the Messiah…can he?

I love that in her excitement…the woman forgets all about her water jar.

• I love that her sudden need to share the good news overcomes her desire to remain anonymous and invisible.
• I love that her history…once the source of such pain and secrecy…
• Becomes the evidence she uses to proclaim Jesus’s identity.
• I love that she says: Come and see… recognizing that Jesus cannot be reduced to a secondhand platitude.
• I love that she shares her experience of Jesus even though her faith is still young.
• He cannot be the Messiah…can he?  
• Even her questions become a part of her evangelism.
• Even her curiosity becomes a tool that arouses the curiosity of others.

Most of all…I love that Jesus honors…blesses…and validates the woman’s proclamation.

• John writes that Jesus stays in the woman’s city for two days…so that everyone who hears her testimony can meet with him directly…
• And see that the woman is a reliable witness.
• She…prepares the way of the Lord…
• And Jesus encourages her to do so.
• Many Samaritans from that city…the Gospel writer tells us…believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.  

Who is speaking the Good News into our lives?

• How are we receiving their testimony?
• In the most unlikely places…through the most unexpected voices…
• The Word of God speaks…and the Living Water flows.
• During this Lenten season…let us have hearts to drink it in…and bless its proclamation.

John 3:1-17

I am a cradle Lutheran…that is…I was birthed into the Lutheran Church…

• I was baptized exactly two months after my birth…confirmed in the eighth grade…
• And was very active in what was then called Luther League…now called Youth Ministry.
• Upon graduating from high school…I matriculated at Luther College…in Decorah Iowa…
• I loved being a student at that place…I thrived there.
• And during my four years there I questioned everything.
• However…I did not question the love at first site…my first year…when I met my future wife…Miss Susan.

My first-year religion professors grew quickly accustomed to my raised hand in their classrooms…as I waited to ask clarifying questions.

• One class session when we were discussing the Apostles’ creed…
• I remember finding the phrase…I believe in the resurrection of the dead…to be particularly difficult…
• It hardly made sense that at some point human bodies would all rise from the earth…deceased souls reaching through soil

My mind could not make any logical sense out of it…so I was sure that this was something we did not really have to believe…given how non-rational it is.

• So…raising my hand…I said:
• Um…do we have to believe that actual bodies are going to rise from the dead…because that’s just crazy.
• Expecting my professor to say…of course not…it is really just a metaphor…
• I was shocked when instead…my professor just looked at me and unapologetically said…yes…Salzgeber.
• Actual bodies.
• The Lord be with you.

I say this because I relate to Nicodemus from our Gospel reading.

• It says that he was a Pharisee…a studied man and a religious scholar…
• Who came to Jesus by night…raising his hand from the darkness…to ask him some clarifying questions.
• Here’s the thing: Nicodemus was just trying to wrap his brain around Jesus.
• He was looking for some basic facts.
• And trying to apply his reasoning to what he was experiencing about Jesus.
• Nicodemus too…was finding it all a little crazy.
• Even to the point of saying one of the dumbest things ever recorded in scripture.
• Jesus said…you have to be born anew…or born from above…
• And literal minded…logical Nicodemus says to Jesus…
• What? Go back into your mom’s womb.
• It is an image we could all do without…
• And I can only imagine how this made everyone totally cringe when he said it.
• But I feel for Nicodemus.

Because in typical Jesus’ fashion…he does not really answer the question…but says even more crazy sounding stuff…

• Like the wind blows where it chooses and that’s what being born of the spirit is like…
• And then some stuff about Moses lifting up snakes in the wilderness.
• And none of it is very helpful in providing some facts which our minds can make sense of.

I understand Nicodemus’s desire for this all to make sense…I do.

• But instead of a religion revealed through philosophical constructs…
• Easily reasoned out and understood…
• Instead…we get a God revealed in people…and food…and wine…and water.
• When God chose to come and take on human flesh and walk the earth…
• And break bread with friends…it was as though God was baptizing the material.
• God was saying: stop looking for me in the heavens when you are not even close to understanding the majesty of a loaf of bread…
• Well…Jesus puts it this way: if you cannot understand earthly things…you will never understand heavenly things.

We cannot make the gospel make sense by only using your head.

• We must use our hands.
• And eyes…and mouth…and ears…and nose.
• Because the kingdom of heaven…Jesus says…is at hand…
• Reach out and touch it…see it…eat it…feel it.
• In other words…take in the glory of God in the common…and unexpected ways in which our Lord Jesus continues to redeem us.

The next time we see Nicodemus…he is trying to defend Jesus against his fellow Pharisees.

• Many want to kill Jesus…who is still ranting nonstop about blood and bread and light and salvation…
• But Nicodemus…who clearly still does not get it…says rather weakly…
• That maybe they should give Jesus a hearing and learn the facts.

There will not be any facts…though…until the unavoidable fact of the cross.

• Which is where…against all logic…we meet Nicodemus for the last time.
• And we know he finally got it because when we meet him again in chapter 19…he is doing something crazy.
• He is carrying one hundred pounds of oils and spices.
• He takes the broken and yet to be resurrected body of his Lord Jesus…
• And he wraps it lovingly in myrrh and aloe and strips of cloth.
• It seems a pound or two of such things would have done the trick.
• But instead…Nicodemus casts his crown of logic and philosophy at the foot of the cross of Jesus…
• And instead picks up an extravagant amount of stuff…material…earthly…touchable…stuff…
• And does what he can in the light of such love…he got it.
• Or more accurately…it got him.
• We know this because carrying one hundred pounds of oils and spices around is just plain Gospel-Crazy.

I am not sure the Gospel makes sense through only facts and philosophy.

• But I have seen it in the coffee and snacks Pat (and Tracey and others) bring to us every Sunday for Coffee and Conversation.
• I have seen it in the presence of Shea and June when they visited Janet at home and the Hospice house…bringing love and devotion.
• I have seen it in the gift cards on Christmas Eve that Lynn presented to me and Miss Susan from all of you.
• Love combined with people and actual earthly stuff is the only way we really glimpse heaven sometimes.

Bread that is the body of Christ and wine that is the blood of Christ…brings forgiveness of sins.

• Water that combined with God’s word brings us new life and wholeness.
• Loving enemies. Turning cheeks.
• It’s all pretty nuts…and the truest thing I have ever heard or experienced.
• And best of all…it is for us…all of it.
• The ashes of Ash Wednesday and the bread and wine…
• All revealing the glory of God…all revealing heavenly things among earthly things.

That whole resurrection of the dead thing I struggled with years ago in my freshman religion class…still seems crazy.

• But a couple of months ago…when I lovingly touched the sick…and yet to be resurrected body of George Rahdert…
• When I gently traced the sign of the cross on his forehead…
• I could not help but believe in the resurrection of his body.
• I could not help but know that all flesh will be redeemed.
• That the suffering in our bodies…due to injury or illness…aging or self-harm…
• That the promise of the resurrection of the dead is that God is able to knit it all back together…
• Just like God knit it together in our mother’s wombs to begin with.
• Perhaps we do re-enter out mother’s wombs in so far as we return to where God put us together to begin with.
• Because…as we heard in our first reading…this is the God who gives life to the dead…
• And calls into existence the things that do not exist.

For me…as I traced the sign of the cross on the forehead of George…

• My fingers along with the oil…to form the cross…
• I was taken back to Ash Wednesday…when I made the same sign with ashes.
• Remembering that we are God’s and to God we return.
• And that all those years ago the skeptic…
• Whose mind could not grasp the resurrection of the dead now could do nothing but hear Professor Ylvisaker say…yes Salzgeber…actual bodies.

I believe. Help my unbelief.

• This is the faith of Nicodemus…like the faith of you and me…
• In a God who saves us despite what we think we know.
• Who works despite our disbelief…beyond our best logical arguments…to bring the dead to life

Which is why for a couple millennia…Christians have gathered to say that crazy thing:

• We believe in the communion of saints…the forgiveness of sins…the resurrection of the body…and the life everlasting. Amen.

Matthew 4:1-11

We’ve all seen the devil in movies.

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

But we also see the terrifying devil in movies.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The second temptation is theatrical.

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

Faith is not flashy…trust is not loud.

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

The third temptation is political.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matthew 17:1-9

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

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

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

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

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

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

But what about the rest of us?

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

Author…Cole Arthur Riley writes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matthew 5:13-20

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is what I mean.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What I am saying is this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matthew 5:1-12

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

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

The passage we heard today is like this.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

These Beatitudes change us…these blessings recreate us.

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

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

• He called those with debt and

doubts and distress in all forms…blessed.

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

Might…but I am blessing all human weakness.

• You may seek power…but I am

blessing all human vulnerability.

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

only admires the strong.

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

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

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

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

if he could help her.

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

face and she asked if he was OK.

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

unexpected understanding…hope and reconciliation.

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

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

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

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

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

Know that you are blessed.

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

Matthew 4:12-23

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Though there are always some who do that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

John1:29-42

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What I am getting at is this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So…someone asked: What do we do?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Abiding in Christ is like this very moment.

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

Matthew 3:13-17

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But it never works.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So…here it is:

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

John 1:10-18

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finally…it is done.

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