Palm/Passion Sunday

This week there is no sermon.  Instead we read Jesus entry to Jerusalem in the Likturgy of the Palms (Mark 11:1-11).  We also read the Passion Story according to the Gospel of Mark chapter (14:1-15:47).  A question that is often not asked by peoplde of the church is: “What did Jesus do that was so bad to turn the ordinary people of Jerusalem from laying palms and cloaks to shouting; ‘Crucify him!’with such vehemence within 5 days?”  To find out we need to read Mark 12:12-14:1 and imagine how those in authority in our world would react in the same place.

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Lent 5 B Sermon: We Wish to See Jesus

John 12:20-33

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—’Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.  

Conversation

Who of you have met Jesus?

Who of you wish you could meet Jesus in person? Why?

What do the Greeks expect to see?

What do you think of Jesus’ answer?

What does God’s voice sound like?

If God’s Voice is for our sake…what is it saying?

Sermon:  “Sir we wish to see Jesus.”

        Seeing is believing… On week day evenings during the supper hour… we like watching Jessica Fletcher solve murder mysteries.  Along with Jessica and the sheriff we all enter the scene of the crime at the same time… We all see the same evidence… and we all hear the same version about what happened.  The evidence usually includes;…an angry argument…the murder weapon…blood on hands or a piece of clothing…and all point an accusing finger at one particular person.  Based on the overwhelming evidence… he sees the sheriff arrests the obvious person for murder.

          However, Jessica is always hesitant to jump to the same conclusion.  She has a questioning mind… For her obvious clues and signs are too obvious… She sees them as planted evidence.  But to her the small and insignificant details…out of place are far more important.  Invariably she sees some small thing or hears some insignificant detail that is out of place.  At the moment of seeing it…she can’t put a finger on why the detail is important.  Eventually another insignificant unrelated detail…triggers her mind into comprehending why a small item is so important to the case.

Sometimes we are like the sheriff…who comes into the scene and sees everything… but miss the most significant piece of information.  We wish we could see Jesus…if we could just see him and talk to him…then it would be so much easier.  It would be good to hear his voice in person…and learn more about him…what he really is like.  If we could meet him in person…it would be a lot easier to understand and have faith and fully believe in Jesus. 

Today in Jerusalempeople are gathering for the festival of Passover.  People are preparing…their usual plans are being made for the Passover… The usual meal of unleavened bread… bitters…and roast lamb…is being prepared.  

This year though there is a difference at the festival …rumors have been spreading that the long awaited Messiah…may also make an appearance.  Crowds gather around…hoping to see some sort of a sign… Some in the crowd have already seen some of the wondrous deeds Jesus has done.  Others have only heard about them.  But they gather in the hope that they might see something great.  Even foreigners from Greece… have heard about him and are in the crowd…inquiring about seeing Jesus.  It is probable that they are curious about Jesus…wondering whether he might have the leadership qualities…needed to form an opposition to theRoman Empire.

In the church we like to consider ourselves hospitable and welcoming to inquirers.  We want them to feel that they have come to a place where they can feel at home.  I wonder how the Greek inquirers feel about their encounter with Jesus.  Jesus does not seem to acknowledge their presence… instead speaks about the coming of his hour…and glory… and then launches into and agricultural science lesson about wheat production.  Before they are able to grasp the concept about the grain of wheat dying to produce much more … Jesus is talking about loving and losing life and eternal life.  He continues the world wind lesson with the requirements and consequences for becoming his followers…and how they must follow and stay with him.  He ends his speech with resignation and troubled about his destiny with this appointed hour. He sounds unsure wondering whether he ought to ask to be saved from it.  To any observer looking for leadership qualities this encounter…the evidence…does little which might convince casual inquirers…that Jesus possesses any.

On the day in question…Jerusalemis crowded.  They are there seeing Jesus and hearing everything he says …the way we wish we could… They are there to examine the evidence in real time.  No different from us the crowds come with their own interests and agendas.  They have families and they need to work; to put food on the table, clothes on their back and a roof over their heads.  They are looking fro compassionate but strong leaders, who will help make their lives better.  So when they hear about a possible new leader…they are curious.  With great anticipation…they gather to see him…

But what they see in the leader is less that they expect.  After the long journey toJerusalem…rather than doing what they anticipate…Jesus is resigned to die…not taking on a new leadership role.  The evidence all points to the obvious… Jesus is not an adequate leader.

Today we return to the scene with new eyes… Our eyes are not the eyes of the crowds.  Like the detective we see evidence differently.  We see Jesus through the eyes of faith… for us his leadership is not political…and is not about power.  We know about Jesus’ appointed hour…and what it means.  We hear the metaphor about the dying grain of wheat…which produces a large harvest…and it makes sense to us.  We see Jesus willing to lose his life to save the lives of many including us.   We hear the voice from heaven and know that it is more than just thunder. 

We come to the scene with hind sight and see the same evidence… But in addition to the immediate evidence …like the detective or mystery writer…we come to the scene having seen other evidence which helps us interpret what we are seeing.  We know that Jesus is like no earthly leader … We remember hearing that Jesus’ leadership comes out of God’s love for the whole world.  We remember hearing that Jesus comes to save not to condemn.  We remember hearing Jesus speak about his death…but more significantly that he would be also raised.  And we come from the time after all of these significant details have been revealed to us…  Through his death and resurrection the evidence is seen completely differently. 

Today Jesus calls us to see and hear him differently.  When all our common sense and experience questions our faith… he calls us to remember all the things we have learned about God’s love…for us and the world.  He calls on us to follow his example…being willing to lose our lives rather than saving them…for the sake of others.  He calls on us to proclaim God’s saving love for the world…teaching them to see and hear as we have.  He calls on us to teach the world about God’s new way of leadership and glory… where the least as important as any.

        Let us live knowing that God loves us and Jesus saves us.  Let us be thankful for the evidence we have seen and heard about our Savior.  Let us follow and do all the things Jesus calls us to do.  Thanks be to our God.  Amen.

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Lent 4 B Sermon: God So Loved the World

Number 21:4-9

Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22

Ephesians 2:1-10

John 3:14-21

 

Sermon

We live two separate lives.  One is our public life… It is the life we want others to see.  It is best described in our family and out working lives.  As families we want other people to see the best side of our family…to see us in the best possible light.   We want them to see… that we are a normal happy family…who lives in harmony and always agrees with each other.  In public we insist that the children treat their brothers and sisters well and that they look out for each other.  We want the public to see us as a model family…that they could wish for and aspire to.

Similarly in our working lives we also want our employers to think the best of us.  We write resumes which emphasize our best qualities.  We have done research on how we should look, what to wear, and how we can make a good impression on employers at the interview.  As employees we like to make a positive impression on our employer.  We appear to agree with them even when we disagree.

Our private lives are very different from our public lives.  We have many secrets that we don’t want the public to know about.  We don’t want them to see the darker sides of our family.  We don’t want them to see family disagreement or arguments.  We don’t want them to know…too much about the black sheep… who might cause embarrassment for our family.  We try hard to keep our family secrets out of sight in dark closets where the public can’t see them.

We try keeping dark secrets from our employers… We take the wages they pay… while we grumble to some one else…about the things we have to do to earn them.   While it appears that we agree with the boss…privately we voice our disagreements…  We hide in dark corners hoping they will not find out…about what we really are like.

Our two separate lives are not limited…we lead two lives wherever we are.  We even try it with our God.  Where we imagine that God is more present…we try being more holy.  In this place God is more present… Here we talk and act differently than we do in other places…  In this place we pray for God’s love…we sing about it and…we talk about the greatness of God’s love.  In this place we learn that God is all knowing and always present…no matter where we are… or what we are doing.  But when we are not in this place we soon forget what we say here.  We assume that God is too busy doing the big things…like healing the sick or saving the world…to watch us when we are out and away from this place.  We assume that we are able to live two separate lives before God like we can with people.

But while we live these two lives…we are not truly happy and content doing it.  Guilt begins to invade our secret lives.  We worry about our secrets being discovered.  What if people see me as I really am?  What if people discover that my family isn’t the ideal?  What if our employer discovers my true thoughts?  Worst of all… what if God really knows our dark secrets.  What will happen to us…once God gets involved?  

Even though we hope that God is too busy to worry about our secret lives… we worry that God knows it all.  Deep down we worry that God sees the secrets we hide from people…we worry that God can read our thoughts.  We worry that one of these days we will cross the line… and God will finally run out of patience with us… Deep down we worry because God… sees everything even our very thoughts.  Deep down we worry…that God’s eyes will see and count our every sin down to the very smallest one… Deep in our hearts we worry that God will lose patience with us…and God will punish us…for every sin regardless how small…

Sometime we are confused about what our God is really like.  We know that our God is love…but we know that our God sees and knows everything.  We know that sometimes God punishes but we also know that our God forgives.  We just are not sure about our God.  The lessons we have heard today don’t completely dispel our confusion either.  Out in the wilderness the God’s people speak against God and Moses complaining because they are hungry and thirsty…and because they detest the miserable food God does provide.  For their anger and complaints…the people are punished.  It seems that God certainly punishes.

On the other hand in his conversation with Nicodemus …Jesus tells him that God loves the world… He says God’s love is greater than just for God’s people…greater than for all people…God’s love extends to the whole of God’s creation…to the total extent of the universe.  He says that God’s love is so great that he sends the Son as a sign of just how greatly God loves the world. 

God’s love for the world has never been a new thing…during the time in the wilderness God loved.  God loves even during the time God needs to discipline… Let us return for a moment to the wilderness when the people spoke out against the LORD and against Moses complaining about the detestable food… and during the time they are being punished.   When they come to Moses and confess that they have sinned against the Lord and Moses… immediately God forgives them and relents from punishing.  The LORD even instructs Moses to make a symbol…which reminds them about how quickly God’s mind is changed…to remind them about God’s desire to forgive and to save.

Sometimes it is just too much for us to believe just how much God loves.  We keep thinking that God’s love is a response for our loving.  But that is the farthest from the truth…in fact God loves us because we are… God loves everything that is…everything God has made.  Even more God loves when we are far from being loveable… when we are dead through our trespasses and sin.  And when our trespasses and sin are such that we only deserve God’s condemnation…God’s Son comes not to condemn but to save.

Our God knows us very well… and even though we try to hide secrets our God knows every secret big and small… Regardless of whether our secrets are sordid or relatively insignificant… our God loves us anyway.  There are many ways to describe our God’s love…but one of the best descriptions is found in the words of the Psalm; God’s steadfast love endures forever.

 Our God’s steadfast love for us endures…from the moment we are born until we die… It endures when we are good and when we are not so good…  It endures when we wander off where demons dwell…and don’t want anything to do with God…  It endures when we are dead in trespasses and sin.  Our God’s steadfast enduring love is even more than these words are able to describe…

Our God loves us first and calls us to enter into a mutual and loving relationship.  We are called out of the dark shadows of our secret world…into the light which reveals the truth of God’s love.  We are called to return our God’s love…with thankful hearts.  We are called the loved what God loves with a similar steadfast love.   Finally we are called to proclaim the good news of our God’s steadfast and enduring love…wherever we are at home or in the world.  Let us love as God loves. Thanks be to God. Amen

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Lent 3B Sermon: God’s Foolishness

Exodus 20:1-20

Psalm 19

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

John 2:13-22

Sermon

Today is a day of celebration for our congregation and for Jase’s family.  We are here to celebrate the sacrament of Holy Baptism…and to officially welcome Jase into the community of faith.  On special days like this… we love hearing about how being reborn in the waters of baptism … We love being told “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”… And we love learning how in Holy Baptism God liberates us from the power of sin.  For us the sacrament of Holy Baptism is a true celebration.

 However this day of baptism and its celebration is happening during the season of Lent… the time when Christians focus on Jesus’ passion and his journey to the cross where he dies.  During Lent we also examine ourselves closely…and our sins… how we have failed loving our God and our neighbor.  Today we have already heard about the Ten Commandments written on stone tablets by God.  We heard Psalm 19, which tells us how the laws of God are perfect, and we would be wise to follow them… And in the Gospel of John we hear about Jesus’ anger over God’s temple being made into a place of Commerce… rather than a place of prayer. 

When we carefully consider the laws of God…we know that we have not done very well.  To our surprise we see that we are sinful…and even when we try our hardest we are not able to be sinless.  Thinking about it carefully…we know that the laws of God only serve to teach the true depth of our failure.  Most difficult for us is the realization that our sinfulness adds to the load which Jesus carries to the cross. 

 While the season of Lent is a time to examine ourselves… and our relationship with our God and with our neighbors … it is also a time when we look forward to Easter Sunday.  Rather than focusing on what we have done to hurt God…the story of the Passion and Easter… focuses on what God does for us.  The emphasis of the Passion and Easter…is God’s great love for the world… Jesus comes to not to condemn or punish the world… Instead, Jesus comes to save it…  And rather than seeing us staggering under our heavy load of sin…God’s son lifts it off our shoulders… and carries it to the cross for us.  God does this great thing for us…while we are still sinners and even before we have asked.

The good news of God is this… Christ dies for us even though we may not want it…and even though we may be actively working against God’s plan for us and for the world.  That Christ dies for sinners and even the ones who are enemies God… seems to be extraordinarily silly or the height of foolishness.  As heard earlier; “The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.  

We want to ask; “Why would God do such a foolish thing?”  In our simple and easy language…words quickly flow off our tongues.  We say; “God does foolish things for us because God loves us.”  This is certainly true…but it only leads to another question… “Why does God love us when we have not love God with our whole heart…and when we have not loved our neighbor?

 To answer this we must ask; “Why does God love at all?”  This important question is best answered by first considering how we love.  Last week we asked how Mary the mother of Jesus must have felt as she followed her son to the cross… Today we add a piece…and ask how any mother would feel following her son…even if he has sinned against God.  We have young parents and not so young grandparents here…to help us with the answer.  We ask; “Have our children ever done anything to hurt or disappoint you?” ……………. Even though they have… do you still love them?  Why do you think parents still love their children?

We love our children because they are our children… We have a lot invested in them.  We planned for them… we waited for months…mothers and father each had their concerns during the actual birth event.  Most significantly our children are our own flesh and blood.  And even when they do something wrong…we continue loving them.

 Now we are at the point where we can return to the question; “Why does God love?”  Today in the baptism service for Jase…we heard the voice from heaven saying; “You are my son, the beloved.”  In these words we are reminded that God is our Father… Through Baptism we become a member of God’s family.  In the service, we also heard that even if a mother would somehow forget her nursing baby that God will never forget.

We are God’s children whether we are good or bad. And, whether we are good or bad…God loves us with a love beyond our understanding.  Some might even say that God loves us with a foolish love. (But) God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.

 So even though this is the season of Lent…and it is a time which saddens us.  Even though it is a time for us to examine how we have broken our relationships between each other and with our God… This is actually a season… in which we celebrate God’s foolish wisdom of choosing the cross.  On the cross Jesus looks pitiful and weak.  On the cross Jesus seems forsaken and forgotten.  But God chooses the cross…foolish as it may sound… to demonstrate ultimate and unconditional love for us.  It is on the cross of sacrifice… that Jesus frees us from the sins… which weigh us down…and separate us from God.  Through the foolishness we are freed people…and our relationship of mutual love is restored. 

 Living in a loving and mutual relationship with God…makes it possible for us to respond to what God does for us. Because of Jesus’ journey to the cross…because of God’s foolish love for us… and because we are being saved by God’s foolishness…only because of this are we able to respond with love toward our God and our neighbor.  It is only to a loving God…a loving Father…and loving Savior that we are able to love in return…and do the thing God wants.  God gives us continual opportunities to repair and restore our broken relationship.  It is the ministry of reconciliation.  We confess our sins to God and to our neighbor asking for forgiveness… and God forgives us.  The whole purpose for the passion and the Easter story is to give us a new life, and to restore our relationships with each other and with our God.  There is no other reason.

 It is good to celebrate.  It is good to hear the words; “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”  It is good to hear about how God’s foolish love is given to Jase in his baptism…and that it will continue for his whole life.  It is good to hear us respond to God’s declaration…by promising to raise Jase with the knowledge of God’s love.  So let us celebrate our foolish but loving God.  And let us respond to God’s foolish love…by loving as God loves. Thanks be to God.  Amen

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Lent 2 B Sermon: Are You Saved

Mark 8:31-38

 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” 34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Conversation:

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

• What do you think of Peter’s rebuke?
• I want to read to you from a reading of the Stations of the Cross from the point of view of Mary the mother of Jesus.
• As a mother…what do you think these thoughts?
• Do you think that they are the way a mother would think?
• If your son told you that he was traveling to a distant place where he would likely die…what would you say to him?
• What is the difference between divine things or human things?

Sermon

        Sometimes well meaning Christians ask us; “Have you accepted Christ?”  Or maybe; “Are you saved yet?”  If we are not sure of it…we are instructed to get down on our knees and accept Jesus into our hearts…and we will be saved.  Following this prescribed instruction is necessary to be saved… It is said that we must accept Jesus before God’s grace works and God can accept us.  And if we don’t do it in this way…God will reject us.

        There is a problem though.  This process is very rigid…  It implies that…the ones who accept Christ first are saved and thus loved by God…But those who do not accept Christ first are out and not loved by God…and are not saved.  When we decide what we must do to enact God’s grace… and it does not happen in that specific way…we may get the idea that…we must reject them…because they have not taken the necessary steps to save themselves.

        But to day Jesus seems to disagree…he plainly says; “Those who want to save their life will loose it.”  We know all about this.  Recently on the world stage…people have been desperately trying to save their lives.  Until the Arab spring of 2011… many of us did not realize how many countries and their citizens were ruled by long term, 35 to 40 year, dictators.  These dictators maintained their control… through violent intimidation… Out of fear for their own lives and the lives of their families…most citizens just tried to survive hoping not to upset the dictator. 

When ordinary citizens finally came forward and gathered in public squares to protest…the tables were turned…and it was time for the dictators and those who benefited from the system…to try and save their own lives.  And most often in the process of trying to save their own life…they hurt many people along the way.  Ruthless dictators spent a great deal of effort and expense trying to save their live… But in their attempt thousands and thousands of lives were lost.  By trying to save their own lives…these ruthless dictators…have set their minds on truly human things.

Jesus added; “Those who loose their live for my sake and for the gospel will save it.”  After so many years of living in fear…ordinary citizens…moved out into the streets and the squares to protest.  Until that moment they tried to stay out of the dictators’ sight… hoping to save their own lives….  Until then they tried not to upset the president and his secret police… But now they willingly sacrificed and lost their lives in an attempt to save the lives of their fellow citizens.  They have given up their own safety and security…

As Christians we have heard so often about the cross… For us the cross is a religious symbol which comforts…we wear crosses around our necks… We decorate our homes and our churches…with them.  But very often we forget the true significance of taking up the cross.

Jesus knew the significance of taking up his cross.  In Jesus’ time the Roman authorities used the cross and crucifixion as a deterrent.  Taking up his cross is comparable to public hangings…in those old western movies.  Hangings were also meant to humiliate and deter anyone from committing similar crimes.  When a person was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging …the sentence began a whole process of preparation.  Someone was hired to build a gallows in the middle of town…where everyone could gather and watch.  It was built close to the jail so the condemned man could hear and watch the progress.  The hangman’s noose…became a much feared symbol of an agonizing death.

In the same way…the Roman Empireuses the cross to publicly humiliate and deter…citizens from protesting or revolting.  They executed them on the cross… along side busy roads or on the top of hills…where everyone could see… The cross struck fear in the hearts of people…of on lookers… and shame in the hearts of family.  Those wanted to save their lives knuckled under to the Romans.

Jesus calls on us to take up our cross and follow him. It is not about us carrying our personal crosses of sickness, old age, or anything else that weighs us down.  It is not about feeling helpless over our finances or having to care for an aging spouse or parent. This we call crosses… but they are not the ones Jesus calls us to take up.

Jesus takes up his cross…early on his journey to Jerusalem.  Before Peter and the other disciples have any idea about it…Jesus knows the meaning of the cross. His journey to the cross…is a selfless journey.  He willing goes to the cross…with complete knowledge of what will happen.  He goes and lays down his life… He accepts shame and humiliation…and carries it to the cross.  It is not for his glory nor is it for the glory of the Father…But Jesus goes to the cross out his great love for all of God’s created people.  Lovingly and willingly taking up his cross…is truly a divine thing.

Taking up our cross is much greater…than carrying personal burdens.  Taking up our cross and following Christ is comparable to the passer by rushing into a fiery building to rescue a helpless baby or pet…and then succumbing to the flames.  It is comparable to the young students who crowd the squares in large cities to protest dictatorships that oppress citizens… they don’t even know… And who are arrested tortured or even killed… It is comparable to entering a house and standing between the abuser and the abused during a violent domestic attack… and being killed for it. 

Taking up our cross…does have something to do about us…we may physically loose our life…when we take it up.  But taking up our cross is loving the way that God loves.  It is loving as Jesus loves and willingly goes to the cross.  Taking up our cross and following Jesus is doing the truly divine thing.  It is shamelessly being willing to give our life for the sake of the gospel.

Let us always set our minds on divine things…and love as God loves.  Let us take up the cross of Jesus and be ready to lose our lives for the sake of the gospel. And let us proclaim God’s love to all God’s created.

Thanks be to God.  Amen

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