Lent 1 C Sermon on Luke 4:1-13

How quickly fortunes changes.  Earlier in the week I spent time watching the Olympic Games.  I watch competitors who have worked and trained hard to get to the top of their sport.  Some have continued unchallenged to stay on top… But others met with sudden and unfortunate circumstance… I watched a Dutch speed skater… who had the fastest opening hundred meters …suddenly loose her footing and crash when she couldn’t negotiate the corner and lost her opportunity to compete for the Gold Medal.  I saw a Canadian who was way out front in Pursuit Snowboard… poised to win Gold… suddenly another competitor from way back appeared in mid jump as he streaked by to the finish line.  A Canadian down hill skier was also having one of the better runs in the Down Hill and had a very good chance of a medal but in a moment his dreams were dashed as his lost his balance and tumbled off-course.  There are many more stories of athletes from numerous nations who were destined for medals… but momentary changes in their fortunes suddenly snatched their opportunity away.

Before the Games even started other competitors… who were seated close to the top of their sport… lost their opportunity to compete…because they chose to use performance enhancing substances.  They had hoped that the substances would go undetected… And all their hard work was sacrificed because of their desire to win regardless of the costs.  Now instead of being able to remember their achievements… they can only think about what might have been.

Today Jesus finds himself in a similar situation.  At one moment he is riding high right at the top of his game.  He has just come out of the Baptismal Waters of the Jordan River… where the heavens open… the Holy Spirit descends on him… and a voice from heaven says; “You are my Son, the beloved, in you I am well pleased.”   Now in the next moment… when he is filled with the Holy Spirit and with the word from heaven still ringing in his ears… Jesus is tempted.

Isn’t this the way it always seems.  We remember leaders of countries or large corporations succumbing to temptations… who abuse their power… over their employees… over other countries… over their own citizens. 

We remember top professional athletes at the top of their sport succumbing to temptations… who use their position and popularity having inappropriate relationships with women… who allow so called recreational drug to dull their senses reducing their skills…

We remember gifted performing giants… musicians and actors at the top of their craft… succumbing to temptations… Some believe that they can order their personal doctors to prescribe illegal substances for pain or for sleep… Some believe that their good looks and talent entitles them to live promiscuous lives… Some believe that their lives are theirs alone and no one else should be concerned about any of their indiscretions. 

It seems that temptations come when people are having success… In fact… when people’s achievements and triumphs are booming… when they appear to be most blessed in our eyes… it is then that temptation is appealing. 

When we are at the top and most successful… temptation becomes more insistent and more persistent.  The greater the achievement or blessing… the longer the temptation tends to lure people into questionable behaviors.  Today…for Jesus… in comparison to the momentary glory of his baptism… which lasted for the time to speak one sentence… the temptations in the wilderness lasts a long period of forty days…  

Satan uses Jesus’ blessings to try to entice Jesus.  Knowing that Jesus is hungry… Satan reminds Jesus about the words he has heard at his baptism…the words; “You are my Son.”  He uses these words to tempt Jesus asking him; “If you are really the Son of God…you could make this stone into a loaf of bread… couldn’t you?” 

Secondly…Satan reminds Jesus that on earth the Son of God is usually the king of countries.  Satan shows Jesus… the Son of God… all the kingdoms of the world… and offers him the glory and authority over every kingdom.  He is telling Jesus that he only needs to exercise his authority as the Son of God…in each one of the kingdoms…

Then Satan uses the age old Father-Son relationship to tempt Jesus.  In Satan’s proposal Satan questions what Jesus has heard at his Baptism speculating and questioning Jesus essentially asking; “Are really the beloved Son of God… Maybe you ought to test that love…just to be sure.”

Yes when Jesus is right at the top of his game.  When he is filled with the Holy Spirit… and when the voice from heaven has named him the Beloved Son of God… and when he has received the God’s approval… that is the time when he is most vulnerable to temptation.  And temptation is most lasting. 

If Jesus is tempted for the whole time that he is at the top…it is no wonder that elite athletes… political and corporate leaders… and famous performers are continuously vulnerable to all sorts of temptations.  But temptations are not just reserved for the rich and famous… Ordinary people like us are also vulnerable to temptations.  Invariably what tempts us is closely associated with the blessings, which they have received from God.  Invariably Satan uses our gifts to try and separate us from the giver of the gifts.

But today Jesus refuses to be separated from God when he is tempted.  As the Son of God he could have claimed entitlement of the position.  He could have said; “Yes I am the Son of God and should never go hungry.”  He could have exercised and claimed glory and authority over all kingdoms.  He could have tested God claim of love by jumping off the pinnacle.  Instead he clings and relies on his relationship with God.  Instead of move away from God, Jesus moves closer to God… strengthening his relationship.

From Jesus we learn to look for temptations… when we are at the top…especially when our relationship with God seems strongest.  From Jesus we learn to recognize the source of our blessings…our God.  From Jesus we learn to rely on our relationship with God to resist the temptations.

 So let us learn and as Jesus relies on God let us do the same.  Thanks be to God.  Amen

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Transfiguration C Sermon on Luke 9:28-36

 28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. 33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” 36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. Luke 9:28-36 (NRSV)

Sermon

Most of us believe in a higher power.  We believe that God is the creator.  We believe God controls what happens in the world.  And we even believe that in the past especially during Bible times God communicated directly with people… We are pretty sure about the Bible stories and how God appeared and spoke directly to people.  But even if the Bible stories are real for us …we are skeptical about whether God continues to appear or to speak directly to people today.  We think that in those ancient days… God said all that was really needed… and no longer needs to speak to people in person.  In short we suppose that God has gone silent.

Sometimes we wish we could have lived in a different time with Jesus…walking with him…listening to him speak and teach us personally about God.  We can’t understand why Jesus or God doesn’t appear here and touch us so that we are miraculously healed… We are more than a little envious of Moses and Elijah who have personal conversations with God at the top of mountains…or of Peter, James, and John who accompany Jesus to the mountain top.  We wonder what is so special about these particular disciples that Jesus invites just them and not the other nine.  Why are the nine not also witnesses to the changes of Jesus’ appearance?

While most of us have not personally heard God speaking to us…I know of some modern day stories of God’s presence.  I am reminded of a friend of mine telling how God spoke to him personally.  It happened while he was studying at University.  He and a friend went out ice fishing for the day.  They both brought some snacks to munch on… Not knowing about his severe allergy to nuts… his friend brought cookies made with peanut oil.  Immediately upon biting into a cookie… his throat started to swell and his air-way started to restrict… By the time they got out onto the highway my friend was beginning to go in and out of consciousness.  About half way to the city when he was in very bad shape he heard God’s voice saying; “I am with you. You will be alright.” This was a life changing experience for him…

I don’t have any personal stories that are nearly as dramatic… And I can’t remember any times when God has spoken out loud to me… but there are a few instances in my life in which God seemed very present.  Some of you may have heard the stories of how Sylvia’s Bible… which had not been used for some time…was book-marked on the very passage I was frantically looking for… or how at another time…my Bible fell open to a particular passage about wagon tracks…which I did not even know was in the Bible.  Each time something like this happens… I am caught completely by surprised… I am surprised by the calm which recognizing God’s presence brings… I am surprised by the changes which come over me.  And I wish that my relationship with God would always be like it is at that moment.

Today… when the three disciples are invited up the mountain to pray…they have no idea about what is about to happen.  To their great surprise Jesus’ prayers are interrupted by a sudden change in his appearance…and then they see the ancient prophets Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus… the surprise is even bigger.  They know that something important maybe even monumental is happening …and want the moment to continue.  Aware that the prophets are about to leave…and not wanting the moment to change… Peter suggests making some dwellings…to keep them.  He wants this surprising event to last for a long time.

What surprises me most… about times when I have felt God’s presence…is how quickly that I forget it… and how quickly the moment looses its freshness.  It isn’t very long before the next big crisis looms and panic or fear of the possible outcome causes me to loose confidence in God’s presence.  I forget about how close I felt when God helped me through the previous situation.  It seems that very often we approach crisis situations… forgetting that God is with us… ready to help us through…

 Again today after having had such a wonderful mountain top experience with the visit from the prophets and after seeing how Jesus’ face and clothing becomes so brilliantly bright … It does not take the disciples long to forget and loose confidence in this special event.  Moments later, when a cloud approaches and casts its shadow and then totally covers them…they are terrified.  If that is not enough… the voice of God from the cloud silences them completely… saying: “This is my Son, my chosen; listen to him!” 

True to their instructions the disciples keep silent and tell no one about the things they have seen.  We are not sure why they are silent.  Maybe it because they are afraid or terrified of what God might do for recounting their experience.  Maybe they don’t understand what happened and need an explanation.  Maybe they are just embarrassed and don’t want to say what happened in case no-one believes them.  Maybe they think to themselves that it is their own personal encounter with God and no-one else needs to know about it.  Regardless of the whys… the disciples remain silent.

However they are not silent forever.  After they have had sufficient time of listening to Jesus and after sufficient time to reflect on everything that has happened to them since meeting Jesus… And after Jesus dies and rises…and after the Day of Pentecost when they have an even more surprising encounter with the Holy Spirit…their tongues are loosened.  They are no-longer silent.  Instead every encounter and every moment with Jesus and with God is spoken and written about.  They have remained silent listening to Jesus… They have learned about God through his teaching…and his healing.  They have learned about God’s kingdom…in which the least important… little children… the poor… sick untouchables…sinners of all kinds… are all equally important in God’s eyes.  And the disciples are eager to tell everyone what they have discovered.

So today we can learn from the disciples… We can learn to be surprised by God.  We can learn patience to listen for God’s instructions.  And we can learn to speak about our God with confidence.  

So let us open our eyes and prepare to be surprised by God’s presence… Let us open our ears to listen for the teachings and instructions of God’s Son.  And let us open our hearts to fully understand what God’s words mean for us and for the world.  Then lets us open our lips offering God’s words of love for our world. Amen

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Epiphany 5 C Family Conversation

Isaiah 6:1-8

Psalm 138

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Luke 5:1-11

Family Conversation

Today I have three stories about people from the Bible.  In the stories we learn a lot about what our God is like. 

First is the story of Isaiah.  One night he had a dream that he was in the king’s palace.  Suddenly God and a bunch of angels came there.  Isaiah was completely amazed.  There is God sitting on a throne… which is hanging in the air high above the room.  The Angels are singing a song “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord, the whole earth is full of God’s Glory.”  Suddenly Isaiah thinks to himself, “This is weird that God should come into the same place as me.”  All of a sudden he remembers some things about himself.  He remembers that he is not all that holy… In fact he has quite a foul mouth and says many bad words…and he has friends who also use bad words. 

Isaiah thinks to himself, “What if God knows and has come to punish me for saying all those bad words? If that is the case I am in for big trouble.”

The second story is about Saul.  It begins when he is a young man.  As a young man he thinks that he knows everything about God.  And because he thinks he knows everything… when he hears about people who pray differently and who follow in Jesus’ ways…Saul assumes that these people are against God… So Saul tries to stop them… He threatens them…and puts them in jail.  But one night when he is going to find people to punish… suddenly he is blinded by a bright light from heaven which flashes in front of him.  Jesus appears and asks him, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?”

When he hears the voice of Jesus… Saul is terrified.  He thinks to himself, “Oh no, now I am in really big trouble.” 

The third story is about a fisherman named Peter.  He and his partners are ordinary fishermen.  They quit going to school… In fact they quit even before they learned to read.  They said that they could learn all they needed to know about fishing while working on the lake.  Like Isaiah… probably Peter and his friends also use bad language when they don’t catch any fish. 

One day when they are washing their nets beside the lake… Jesus followed by a large crowd…comes up to them asking Peter, if he can use a boat for teaching.  After Jesus is done teaching the crowd… he asks Peter if they can do some fishing.  Before Jesus has come though…Peter fished all night and had not caught any fish… But he agrees to take Jesus out anyway… knowing it is the wrong time of day to fish… Peter reluctantly puts the nets into the water.  Immediately they catch so many fish…that Peter’s partners have to come… and they fill two boats with all the fish. 

Seeing this Peter begins to think about what he is like.  He remembers using bad words when he is fishing.  He remembers getting angry with his friends.  He remembers cheating when he is weighing the fish to sell.  And he thinks to himself, “What if Jesus knows?”  So Peter tells Jesus, “Go away from me because I am a sinful man.”

So what do you think about these three people?  Are they good or are they bad?  

What about us?  Are we like these three?  Have we ever used bad words?  Have we hurt people?  Have we ever done things we know are wrong? 

What does God do to the three people in the stories I told you?

What do you think God does to Isaiah… who is afraid… for using bad words?

What does God do to Saul…who is afraid… for threatening and hurting the followers of Jesus?

What does God do to Peter…who is afraid… because he is a sinful fisherman? 

Let me tell you what God does.

God does something really special for Isaiah… God touches the Isaiah’s lips and tells him that he is no longer guilty.  God forgives him. Then God asks Isaiah to be a prophet. 

God changes Saul’s life completely.  God cures his blindness and changes his name to Paul…so he will have a fresh start.  Then God invites him to be an apostle… for Jesus.

Jesus says to Peter, “Do not be afraid.”  God does not want sinners to be afraid of being punished.  Instead Jesus tells Peter the sinner that God has a job for him.  He asks Peter to be a disciple and says; “From now on you will catch people.”

What do you think about us?  Do you think God wants us to feel guilty for using bad words?  Do you think that God want to hurt us for hurting other people?  Do you think that God wants us to be afraid? 

God does not want to do any of these things.  Instead God wants to FORGIVE us!

What do the people in the Bible stories do when God forgives them?

Isaiah becomes a prophet for God.

Paul becomes an apostle for Jesus.

Peter becomes the first disciple of Jesus.

Today’s Bible verse:The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Psalm 138:8

This is what our God is like… God loves us forever.  Amen

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Epiphany 4 C Sermon (Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 4:21-30)

Sermon

“Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.”

I have three little grandchildren…two boys and one little girl.  Early in their young lives they began speaking… They all enjoy speaking…in fact they are constantly chattering whenever they around.  The other night the youngest, Charlie, called to talk to us.  He wished us a happy day.  He told us about his trip to the doctor.  Then while talking he got out the bat and ball ready to place ball with his mom… Moments later we heard him clearly yell; “Touch down” when he threw the ball into the imaginary end zone.  His mom also told us that in church when the congregation was congratulating someone by clapping, Charlie stood tall on the pew and threw his hands in the air shouting; “Go Riders go!”  Many of you have seen and more importantly heard our other two grandchildren who are also far from timid.  They too like to speak to any one who will listen… In fact none of our grandchildren are afraid of speaking their minds.

In general all of us also like speaking… and we are very good at giving our opinion… especially when we are not asked for one.  We like giving our own opinions on politics…on the economy… on wasteful spending… on how people’s values are no longer the same… or on any number of topics… We have no worries or reservation about speaking or maybe even gossiping about other people… especially if they have encountered some difficulty… or done something wrong.  And we like talking about ourselves…about what interests us… about our achievements… or anything else that may raise our importance.  No, we certainly are not afraid of speaking. 

But today young Jeremiah is appointed to speak out for God.  He is appointed to be a prophet to the nations… He is appointed to bring an unpopular message to the leaders of Israel…to speak the words God puts into his mouth.  Suddenly Jeremiah is not so interested in speaking… He does not want to be the one who puts voice to God’s disappointment.  He is afraid that the words God wants him to speak might not be so popular with God’s intended audience. (We ask: “Who is the intended audience of the words God put in his mouth?” We find the answer in very soon in the book of Jeremiah.  Each time Jeremiah begins with the words: “The word of the LORD came to me.” And here are just a few verses; “I will utter my judgments against the cities of Judah, for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have made offerings to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. 17 But you, gird up your loins; stand up and tell them everything that I command you… against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you.” The audience in named… in order of God’s concern… beginning with the king, the princes, and the priests… who are all leading the people away from God.)

 It is no wonder that Jeremiah doesn’t like the idea of having to speak God’s words to these leaders of powerful nations and kingdoms.  He is afraid that God’s words of disappointment, criticism, and even anger… and may just cause them to take their anger out on the messenger.

There is good reason for Jeremiah’s concern.  God’s prophets are rarely appreciated by the intended receivers… especially those who have power to cause them harm.  Even Jesus the all time ultimate prophet is not accepted by the leaders and priests of his home town.  They are not happy to hear how God’s prophesy is coming true in Jesus… They don’t want God to be more generous then they would prefer.  They are angered when Jesus tells them about how God cares about widows from enemy lands…and worse yet when Jesus reminds them of how God even cures… cleaning the leprous skin of a powerful enemy leader…rather than cleansing lepers from Israel.  On hearing Jesus’ words of how wide God’s love is…the priests and people are so offended and filled with rage… that they are ready to throw him off a hill.

 So when God calls us… asking us to speak God’s words… we are afraid… Like Jeremiah… we are suddenly reluctant to speak… We are afraid that they may be words of judgment… We are afraid that they may be words which offend people who have power to harm the messenger… So filled with fear…we beg to remain silent… And we are suddenly full of excuses… We are too young…and don’t know enough.  We can’t speak clearly… we don’t know how to express ourselves properly.  We are afraid that God’s words will only land us in trouble.

 Never-the-less God appoints all people to speak God’s love to the world.  As Jesus is anointed to bring good news to the poor and proclaim the Lord’s favor to all people… God appoints us to be prophetic…proclaiming God’s favor and good news for all people … We are appointed to speak to powerful leaders and nations… calling for justice for the poor, and the oppressed.  We are appointed to stand up for any people that are loved by God… especially for those who are least able to claim it for themselves.  Sometimes this is unpopular…and sometimes God’s prophets are persecuted for the words which God puts into their mouths.

God does not just appoint Jeremiah and give him the words to speak… but God also assures Jeremiah that he will not be alone to speak the words… Jeremiah is assure that God will stand with him saying; “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”  Similarly, when God appoints us to speak… God does not abandon us to helplessly defend ourselves…against powerful kingdoms and nations… But God promises to be with us and deliver us.  God is not a hard difficult task master with just high expectation… Instead God gives us resources and support to speak God’s words.  As Paul asserts in his letter to 1 Corinthians we all have gift but without love these gifts are worth nothing.  It is the same with God… God lovingly gives us gifts.  God appoints us to use the gifts… And God lovingly supports us to use the gifts

 So let us use what God gives us… let speak the words God put into our mouths… let us call for justice… and let us build and plant… And most importantly let everything we do be done with God’s generous love in mind.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

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