Christ the King Ephesians 1:15-23 Matthew 25:31-46

Today our church, and thousands of other congregations around the world (Lutheran, Catholic, Anglican, Methodists, and still more), are marking Christ the King Sunday. As we celebrate Christ's Reign, our church, like many others, listens in to Matthew's Gospel and to the words from Paul to the church in Ephesus about the reign of Christ. Paul talked at length to the Ephesians about our inheritance as believers.

Paul wrote,

^In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, (Ephesians 1:11 NRSV)

I like that word, inheritance because its the kind of gift that a king can pass on. It appears in both our second reading and our Gospel lesson today. Inheritance, a gift that is passed on, usually from one generation to the next. If we receive an inheritance from Christ the King that means we are getting the very best. A Christian's inheritance is a legacy that's been passed on to us that is beyond earthly measure and price; we are given everything even life everlasting is given to us by faith. We have not earned it; it's a gift that's been given.

having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, (Ephesians 1:11 NRSV)

God the Father has plans for us. He has hopes and dreams for all who he chooses to call sons and daughters by adoption. There's a popular poem that says, “If God had a refrigerator your picture would be on it. If God had a wallet your picture would be in it.” I'd like add to that poem that there would be more than just pictures of you and people in your family on God's refrigerator and in God's wallet. There would be pictures of all God's adopted sons and daughters. The people of God have an inheritance, you have family, you have brothers and sisters of every nation, tribe, and tongue who call Jesus Lord. We all receive this great inheritance by faith. We all regardless of where we are on this earth receive the gift of faith and life in Christ.

God's plan is to spread the news of Jesus into world. Paul wrote that it was God's will,

^12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:12 NRSV)

God's idea isn't to limit the gift just to us; but rather it is to send us out into world with gifts to share with all of God's family. To put it simply we are sent out with an inheritance that we are meant to share in service.

We serve a lot of powers and lesser gods in our day. Wealth, pleasure, popularity, comfort, power, sex, prestige, the list of other gods is endless. 2000 years ago the writer of Matthew chose Jesus' own words to help his hearers imagine themselves in the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We are called to serve him above all others. Imagine him sitting in judgment on the throne as Christ the King.

In Matthew we hear Jesus very own description of the final judgment. We talk about the last judgment all the time and we don't even realize it. It's in the words of the Apostle's Creed right at the very end of the second article about Jesus. Every week we confess our faith that, “he will come to judge the living and the dead.” And today we hear straight from Jesus himself that his followers will serve him in unexpected ways.

The place of judgment will be huge. All the nations will stretch out before the King. The sheep and the goats will be sorted out. As you imagine the scene remember that the King has set a standard to select sheep from goats...

...the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Matthew 25:34-36 (NRSV)

Those on the right will enter into paradise. The others on the left didn't meet the standard and they will be sent out of paradise into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels. The part of the story that disturbs me the most is how unaware the righteous were of their service to the king. The surprising thing is we've already met the king. Jesus said,

³⁷ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?³⁸ And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹ And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’⁴⁰ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’Matthew 25:37-40 (NRSV)

Jesus standard for entrance into the Kingdom of God isn't hidden away. He's laid it out for all to hear and understand. The part we don't expect is that we've already seen his face in the face of his family. Jesus gives a great inheritance to us that we've never earned and now he asks us to give it away to the members of his family who we meet everyday. Paul prayed rightly for the early church asking,

^17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, ^18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, ^19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. Ephesians 1:17-19

Pentecost 22 A wedding Feast and a God who is near Matthew 22 Philipians 4

Jesus parable about a wedding feast which the invited guests chose not to attend is rich with images and power.

The first image in my mind is of invitations being sent out by the king on behalf of his son, his beloved child, to the wedding feast of his son and his new bride. Most people know what wedding invitations look like. They arrive in special thick envelopes with beautiful embossed fonts. The envelope is made from high grade paper, it's thick and heavy, rich with texture. There's no plastic window like on the phone or electric bill so that your name and address peek through. Your name is often hand written in fine calligraphy on the outside of the envelope. When you open up the outer envelope you find a special inner envelope to pull out. As you open up the inner envelope you might notice that the invitation is printed on even fancier paper than the envelopes. You might even notice a third enveloped with an RSVP card inside so that you can respond to the invitation. Once you finally get to the actual invitation you might find an extra little sheet of tissue paper meant to help keep the words clear and un-smudged.

Couples who send invitations out for their weddings expect some of the people they invited to come. But in Jesus' parable no one came when the king invited them to his son's wedding feast. The king sent servants out reminding the guests of the feast. But the servants weren't received. Some of the king's servants were ignored as some of the invited guests went back to their business or to their farms. Others were received rudely, some were brutally mistreated. Some of the Kings servants were killed. And the King responded with rage. He sent soldiers in to the city to wipe out the murders.

The king sent out his servants into the streets again with new instructions.

Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ ^10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. Matthew 22:9-10 NRSV

Many people just came invited in, by surprise, to the wedding feast by the king's servants.

Imagine being invited into a banquet you didn't ever expect you'd ever be invited too. This was a royal party and now everyone, both good and bad had a place at the table, whether they were ready or not. For some reason the king singled out one man who wasn't prepared. Maybe you'd ask, “how could he be ready.” After all this man was out on the street and the kings servants invited him to come. Some people say that this point is where Jesus' story breaks down; but this may very well be the moment in the story that is the most poignant. The King's invitations went first to invited guest who didn't come. Then the invitations to the feast went out to both the good and the bad. The King saw the man at the feast and asked him, “Friend how did you get in here without a wedding robe?” The king ordered his servants to kick the man out of the feast and put him in the the place where people gnashed their teeth and wept.

One fellow told me that he and his wife were driving on the interstate in Montana and that they'd run out of gas. He could see an overpass and he knew there was a town up ahead and he told his wife he was going to get some gas. His wife was in the middle of a good book and didn't seem too worried. So he started walking. After walking for a while an old car pulled up along side. A couple of young men were inside. They asked him if he needed a hand. He got in, unsure if it was the best idea. Turns out the bridge he saw ahead wasn't as close as it appeared. He was miles away. And there was no gas at that exit. The nearest filling station was a few miles further down the road. They had no gas cans so the men in the car took him to the Wal-Mart on down the road to get a gas can. The man said he was grateful for the help. When he got back to the car his wife looked up from her book and said, “glad you're back” not realizing how far he'd gone to get gas.

Every person has had this kind of experience. We've all found ourselves entirely unprepared and unready. Maybe as a kid you came to class and the teacher passed out a test, as you walked in the door, that you weren't expecting or that you'd forgotten was coming. Maybe as a parent you got a call that your child had just gotten sick and that you needed to come right away. This man met the king and he wasn't prepared. He was ushered out of the party into the darkness.

There's an uncomfortable truth here. We'd like to believe that we are always ready to meet God. Real crosses work this way. But maybe we aren't ready to meet the Lord. But Jesus tells us to pick up our cross and follow him. God call to follow in the way of the cross comes into our lives often at unexpected hours. God asks us to get into ministry now.

I've spoken with people who thought they were ready for everything until the past few weeks financial news. One man told me that he'd lost $300,000 in a few days time. There's uncertainty around the coffee tables where seniors, who depend on investments and dividends, visit. There's anxiety in the homes of parent's worried about their mortgages, kids, student loan debt, and jobs. We've been caught, as a global consumer culture, unprepared for this moment. Nobody was ready. We don't have the right plan or the right garment. People know this experience first hand today. In time some may just view today's struggles as a blip; but for many others this is no blip. Maybe your house is on the line. I've spoken to a few who fear their jobs are on the line. It feels, for many, like its the end of the world as they know it.

Maybe we aren't ready. Or maybe we just have to be ready whether we think its the right time or not. You see today's been set aside by our Stewardship Team, to invite people to make pledges in support of ours ministry for the next year. I asked Frank earlier this week if this was the right weekend and he just smiled.

Talking with other Lutheran preachers in the neighborhood this week I know that we aren't alone. October's the month when we Lutheran's often talk about money and budgets and future ministry. Part of me says this isn't the time; but part of me says this exactly the moment to talk about money and ministry. Maybe we don't think we're prepared today and that's why we should think about it.

Over the past 4 and a half years here I've been reminded that we have a mission to Invite, Nurture, Serve, and Send so that all may know Jesus Christ. People in two different generations, the baby-boomers and their kids, are wondering out loud if a church like ours is still relevant. We have a mission right now. We have families in our area who aren't connected to Christ. And if we meet people in the world as it is, not as we think it should be, we will be relevant. Let's stay focused on mission when everything distracts us from serving Christ.

We are the church who co-hosts the food-shelf. We are the church who visits and leads worship in the nursing home. We are the church who's pastors visit in the hospital. We are the church who a few years ago had 8 to 12 5^th and 6^th graders come for Sunday School in a week and now have 50 or more coming on Wednesday evenings for Club 56. We are the church we over 100 students in Sunday School and Bible School. We can be the ones who have hope when everything else on the cultural landscape looks bleak. We are the church who can reach two missing generations.

There's real ministry happening in this congregation that you won't hear about on CNN, NPR, or FOXNews. There is real ministry happening, and much of it goes unnoticed and uncelebrated. Ministry happens when any of us bring Christ's greatest gifts, faith, hope, and love into the world. People who've been caught unprepared need to hear the Good News. Paul said it beautifully in Philipians 4:5. “The Lord is near.” Paul's advice isn't pie in the sky. It's an honest word for us. Jesus is close enough to hear your prayers. He's near enough to meet you in the Word of God. He's close enough to touch you in worship and to inspire you as you read the Word. Its a very good time for all of us to be the church.

The Lord is near. ^6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ^7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philipians 4:5-7 NRSV

We are living in an anxious time. Young families with kids are struggling to balance student debt, careers, mortgages, and the responsibilities of parenthood. These struggles aren't new; but the wave of foreclosures is evidence that many are being hit hard right now. Seniors who depend on investment income are worried too about dividends and keeping everything together. As we think about pledging to plan for the budget for next year it's vital that we name this often unspoken reality of fear and anxiety. Our ministries, all at some level, use money. Still its time to preach Christ. It's time to be church together.

AMEN.

Pentecost 20 Two brothers serving or not Matthew 22

Our Gospel story today is from Monday of the week Jesus' died.

He arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday as the crowd cheered, "Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." They waved palms and received him as a prophet laying robes and cloaks on the ground preparing the way to meet Jesus.

Jesus' first stop in Jerusalem was the temple. It was the very heart of his people's religious life. Jesus walked in, not in silence, but burning with passion. He drove out the money changers and those who sold doves for sacrifice.

He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.” Matthew 21:13 (NIV)

He kicked over the cages that held the doves and the tables filled with money that the money changers used. Imagine doves and money scattered all over the temple court. It was chaos; holy blessed chaos in the Temple.

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. Matthew 21:14-15 (NIV)

Anger bubbled up among the priests and others responsible for the temple: "Who is Jesus to teach like this?" Jesus boldly challenged them and they way they ran the temple. He was pushing, literally driving away the money changers and dove sellers, challenging the whole lot of them to see the temple as God's house and not a market. He said they were using the temple not as a market place but as a place to relate to God and to care about people.

Maybe you are uncomfortable with this real Jesus. He made people squirm because he saw right through their actions to the motives that lay behind. He does the same with us. We often picture God as loving and accepting of everything we do; but the true God has plans for our lives. The true God yearns for us to make the right choices to follow him with courage and faith. This is the real Jesus who calls us to faith and to live out that faith. This is not a baby you can control; this is the real God who seeks to lead you totally. This is the real God who asks you to put aside everything, even your very self, and follow him. After healing and teaching the crowd in the temple Jesus left and headed out to spend the night in Bethany a village near Jerusalem.

Our story picks up when Jesus returned to the temple and started teaching again on Monday. There was a crowd there just like when he'd arrived in town. They wanted to hear him speak and be healed by Jesus.

...the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Matthew 21:23 NRSV

Jesus wouldn't answer their question unless they would answer one of his: who gave John the Baptist his authority. The chief priests and elders couldn't or wouldn't answer. Jesus responded to the silence of the priests and elders with a story about a father and two sons. The father asked his boys to go work in the vineyard. One son said he wouldn't work and later changed his mind and did go out to help. The other agreed that he would go out to work, but he didn't. Jesus asked them,

Which of the two did the will of his father?”They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him. Matthew 21:31-32 NRSV

Jesus understands, better than we think, just how much our lives effect the lives of others. Jesus faced death for his words in the temple. As a person of faith this story speaks volumes. Forget what looks good or sounds good. What matters is what you do not just what you say. He understands that your life's not about you as one person alone.

This is a story I heard from Rick Warren. Imagine if you and I were out in a boat. Maybe you were fishing off one side of the boat and you thought I had started fishing on the other end. You're having a good time, you get a couple of hard bites, you try to get the net out to land that lunker you've got on the line. And then you look over at me. And instead of fishing imagine that I started drilling a hole in the bottom of the boat. Are you going to still be able to fish? No way. What you do with your life effects mine and my life effects yours. God the Father sends us out into the world. He asks us not to live for ourselves but to live with and for others.

Today is Confirmation Sunday. Today you'll be asked what you'll do. Will you commit to a life of faith. You can see it on page 236 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.
“Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy Baptism?
to live among God's faithful people
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord's supper
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word a deed
to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
The response to this question is,
“I do, and I ask God to Help and Guide Me.”

Jesus tells us plainly that the real deal isn't what you say you'll do; it's what you do. So what's life about, Jesus said that there are two things that matter above all else in this world,

”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

A relationship with God and your relationships with other people are the most important things in this world. Maybe you believe that what you do won't affect anybody else. But as part of the church we learn that we are in this together. The same goes for families; when one member is struggling or sinking in a storm everyone is effected. As a church we are called to uphold one another praying for each other in joyous and awful times. And the same goes for us as citizens. We don't live in isolated compartments. We live interconnected with the people, nation, and world around us.

People like to think that they can make in on their own. They believe that nothing can sink them and that all they have to do is look out for their own. Pastor Rick Warren used the example of the Titantic. It was supposed to be unsinkable because it was built with multiple compartments in the hull. That meant that the ship was supposed to be able to get a hole in the hull and still stay afloat. Water might rush into one compartment but it was supposed to be contained. The crew battened the hatches that connected the compartments and they thought that was enough. But soon the ship started to list and the water started to go over the walls at the top of one compartment quickly filling in the other compartments.

We need each other. God invites us not to live like we are the only ones that matter. He invites us to commit our lives. If we've turned away he always welcomes us back. He invites us to come and join him all other believers working as members of the body Christ. AMEN

Pentecost 17A What you need to be a church.

Growing up people told me all kinds of things that it takes to have a church.

it takes a building

it takes a pastor

it takes a priest

it takes music

it takes an organ

it takes a band

as an kid growing up in a Catholic Church I was told that it takes the official approval of the Pope in Rome and the local Roman Catholic Bishop in order to have a legitimate church. But then I here Jesus say something so bold as,

It only takes 2 or 3.

That's all the people you need, 2or 3 people gathered in Jesus name and he's there in the middle of the meeting. He's there in the middle.

He's right there at the supper table or the breakfast table when people say, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed. I was sitting at breakfast a few weeks ago with our girls and I asked them to imagine this prayer and who we are inviting in to sit with us right there at the breakfast table. Gracia asked where his plate and fork were. Faith said doesn't Jesus need a waffle. Jesus says he's there. Jesus the risen one. Jesus the one with holes in his hands and feet from where the spikes pierced him and a whole in his side where the sword went in. Jesus the risen one is right there in the middle of our everyday lives. Where two are three are gathered in his name he's right there.

Human beings, over the centuries, have made some enormous lists of the people and things they believe are required in order to have church and be church. But when I hear Jesus words at the end of our Gospel today and everything that I'd ever heard about all the people required to have a church or the special things that people were supposed to do went out the window.

On my internship I was 30 miles form a town devastated by a tornado. Two church buildings were destroyed. Another had only one standing wall and another was damaged, but still usable. The things we humans might look to and thing of that define a church were gone, but these two congregations were still church. The music was gone, the organ, the altar, the pews, the stained glass, the art. All of it was gone. But they were still church. They were still church a body of people gathered in Jesus name around the Word of God, bread, wine, and the water of Baptism.

We think that we need all kinds of extra things; but for those two congregations what mattered was being alive together. They were grateful to know that the other members of the church were still there. Homes were gone, farms were gone, the school was wiped off the map, businesses were destroyed; but they were still church together gathering in Jesus name.

Today, Rally Sunday, when we rededicate ourselves to worship and to children's ministry is a great day to remember that the church, at its core, starts small, with 2 or 3 gathered in Jesus name.

Church life starts with relationships. (Matthew 22:35-40 NIV)

an expert in the law, tested [Jesus] with this question: ^36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

^37 Jesus replied: ”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ^38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ^39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

In the first commandment God invites us into relationship with himself. Jesus taught that the second most important thing in this life are relationships with other people. Now the church is one place in our culture where people deal with one another. We live in a world of personal space and cocoons. We live in a world where we can be alone right in the middle of a big city. The church is uniquwe in our world because everyone regardless of age or status can be present in a church. Everyone—young or old—rich or poor—can be part of the church.

The TV lately has been full of election year rhetoric. One group tries to talk about another. One group labels another. There's no conversation. There's just opinion verses opinion. But if you watch Hardball or any other political talk show you aren't seeing Christian community. Jesus doesn't want us to search for ups or downs ins or outs. Jesus invites to think like family. He doesn't want us just to win arguments. He wants us to be church.

Jesus words in Matthew 18:15-17 are instructions for human beings trying to relate to one another in the church that we see on this earth. Some times we do well listening to one another. We live side by side as brothers and sisters. Other times we do terribly. We all have had times when we had a failure to communicate with one another.

Jesus invites us to meet each other face to face. He calls us to name the times we've been wronged. We are not to seek revenge; rather we should seek the ear of the neighbor who has wronged us. It's a painful time in ministry and fellowship when you turn to a brother or sister and tell them they've hurt you or let you down.

Jesus invites his followers not to seek a way to kick another out of fellowship but to restore them to fellowship first. Some will seek forgiveness. Some will grow enraged that they would be confronted. Some will just walk away facing the painful truth of what they have done. Its deeply painful, if you're the one who has been asked to sit down and listen as another shares their grievance with you. It's hard to listen but it your chance to be restored.

Bound together.
Jesus' words about casting someone out of fellowship are haunting. We are to treat the former member as a tax collector and sinner. We are to bind and lose them as members not only of a local church; but as part of the unseen mystical body of Christ. These words are not only about binding and releasing sin, they are about binding and releasing brothers and sisters.

We underestimate the organic and relational nature of the church. The church is Christ's body made up of living breathing believers called together by the Holy Spirit. We gather around the Word of God, water, bread, and wine. The Holy Spirit, people, and these 4 basic elements make up the true church. The church is not buildings or budgets. Pastors serving in established congregations might have buildings or budgets; but they are not and will never be the truly constitutive elements of the church.

The church will never be constrained by physical or monetary limits. Jesus is present when a few, maybe 2 or 3 people, gather in His name. We need no building or money. We need faith, hope, love: Gifts of the Spirit binding us together around the Word and Sacraments.

The story of Joseph and his brothers from Genesis tells a deep truth about every person. You can't tell what's in the heart. Maybe you know the story. Joseph's brothers were jealous, their father loved him more, and they got even with him. They sold him into slavery. They told their younger brother Joseph was dead. And they went on with their lives not worried about what would happen to Joseph. Times weren't easy for Joseph. He spent years in slavery in Egypt; he ended up in prison. But finally after years Joseph ended up in serving in the house of the Pharoah.

After many years later the tables were turned. Joseph was in a position of power and his brothers who'd sold him came looking for help. They came to Egypt seeking help. He recognized them; but they didn't know it was Joseph. He finally revealed his identity and they brought their elderly father.

When their father died Joseph's brother's were in deep fear. They'd been cared for by their brother as long as their father was alive; but now fear crept in. They worried because they feared what they didn't and couldn't know. What was in Joseph's heart. Would their brother still hold a grudge and now after their father was gone would he get justice. Joseph replied to his brothers not just with words but with action. What they'd meant for evil God had used for good. Now Joseph's heart was clear. He didn't turn his brothers out. He brought them closer in to himself.

The human heart heart is hard to pin down; its a lot like human faith in God. People of faith walk a fine line between what's seen and what's unseen. It's kind of like an old joke I found online about a preacher who was working on his sermon at home.

His son was watching him work hard trying to write a sermon.

"How do you know what to say?" he asked.

"Why, God tells me."

"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"

We Christians are always trying to balance God's will with our own, our hearts and minds with God's heart and God's mind. We try and often fail to understand where God is calling us. Jesus has always had a powerful way of cutting through everything and getting beneath people's facades to see what's really inside of us. We have lots on the surface that we think matters. But Jesus is more concerned with your heart and your faith than how good you might appear to be or how religious you might act.

Listening to Jesus interaction with the Pharisees and the Canaanite woman in Matthew 14 allows us, 2000 years later, to hear the presumptions of power or weakness that existed in Jesus' day in Judah and to hear Jesus getting the heart of each person.

The Pharisees assumed they held a unique position in Judah. They were close to God because they followed the law completely and dedicated their lives to following God as the law and tradition revealed. They questioned Jesus from this position of power,

“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat.” Matthew 15:2 NRSV

Jesus responded to their questions naming their own broken laws. They assumed they were always faithful to God through but Jesus turned the law toward them...

... God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ ^5 But you say that whoever tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,’^ then that person need not honor the father. ^6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. Matthew 15:4-6 NRSV

Jesus words went to the very center of their lives and faith. Outwardly following the law was everything for them. But Jesus' would hear it. He used a different standard; what's inside the heart to judge a person. And now turning toward the whole crowd he challenged the Pharisees again. His disciples could tell that the Pharisees were offended. Jesus wasn't deterred by their offense. The unseen human heart is what matters. You can see what a person does, but you can never see what's inside of a human heart.

A new world view begins. In the old world view shaped by law ritual purity mattered; for Jesus purity of heart matters. In the old world view the appearances that other humans saw mattered; in Jesus world view the intentions that God sees matter. Jesus did not end the law; rather he put everything into a different perspective.

The Canaanite Woman presumed no position of privilege in her interaction with Jesus. She just believed he could release her daughter from demons; she begged for help. Jesus was silent. The disciples wanted to shoo her away. He answered her requests and not theirs, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 15:24 NRSV The desperate mother kept begging. She was pushing Jesus begging him to reach out.

^ He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” ^27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ^28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:26-28 NRSV

Jesus words about dogs and the children's food stun us. But she was not about to stop. She believed Jesus could heal her daughter. She was ready to hold on in faith trusting that he had the power to set her, body and soul, free. Martin Luther compared her to Jacob wrestling in the night in Genesis 32.

In this manner God is conquered when faith does not leave off, is not wearied, and does not cease but presses and urges on. So it makes its appearance in the Canaanite woman, with whom Jesus was wrestling when He said: “You are a dog, the bread of the sons does not belong to you” (cf. Matt. 15:26). The woman did not yield here but offered opposition, saying: “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” And so she was victorious and heard the excellent word of praise: “O woman, great is your faith!”

Such examples teach us that faith should not yield or cease urging or pressing on even when it is already feeling God’s wrath and not only death and sin. This is the power and strength of the Spirit. Luther's Works, Vol. 6 : Lectures on Genesis: Chapters 31-37, Vol 6:139 (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1970).

Jesus boldly invites us to hold on in faith. Now the outsider is truly the model for all people who are distant from God. She teaches us to hold on. She teaches us that the appearance doesn't matter to God, but the faith and the heart count for everything.

Pentecost 12 A Wrestilng in Deserted places Genesis 31, Matthew 14

We've got 2 great stories from our reading to talk about today. 1 night and 1 day when God intervened directly in people's lives.

God's there in our first story in Genesis and in our second story from Matthew. God's found right in the middle of human affairs and human events.

We start this first story about a man named Jacob who wrestled in the night by remembering his family tree...

Abraham and Sarah

Isaac and Rebecca

Esau and Jacob twin brothers

Jacob was coming home. He'd run away from his brother years before. Now he was on his way to meet and hopefully reconcile with his brother. Many year earlier he'd stolen his brother's blessing from their aged father. Jacob's brother Esau was so enraged that Jacob ran for his life to another country to stay with his uncle Laban. While he was there he work for his uncle for 14 years, taking Laban's two girls as his wives, and growing prosperous.

After many years with Laban he returned hoping to the land promised to Abraham and Sarah as their future homeland to reconcile with Esau. In the night he left his family on one side of the River Jabbock while he stayed alone on the other side. Some guess he sent his family first to meet his brother and make peace for him.

That night, while Jacob was alone, a mysterious individual came and wrestled with him through the night. Neither one would let go. Both kept on striving to win giving no ground through the whole night. As light grew in the sky the unnamed wrestler struck Jacob's hip putting it out of joint. Jacob still refused to let him go.

... he said to Jacob, “Let me go. The sun is coming up.”

Jacob said, “I will let you go if you will bless me.”

^27 The man said to him, “What is your name?”

And he answered, “Jacob.”

^28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel This name means “he wrestles with God.” because you have wrestled with God and with people, and you have won.”

^29 Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

But the man said, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

^30 So Jacob named that place Peniel This name means “the face of God.”saying, “I have seen God face to face, but my life was saved.” ^31 Then the sun rose as he was leaving that place, and Jacob was limping because of his leg. Genesis 32:26-31 NCV.

Scholars have debated for years if Jacob's opponent was an angle or the very divine being. Jacob was a strong man who simply wouldn't let go of his opponent in this fight. Looking back at the story its seems pretty clear that Jacob could have been flattened if his opponent wanted to do it. But his opponent had to allowed him to wrestle all night long. This powerful other who could have laid him out flat; but he didn't, Jacob was allowed to hold on and struggle all night long.

Anyone who's wrestled in their faith can tell you its not easy; but they can also tell you that they weren't crushed as they wrestled. Jacob might have been in what seemed like the struggle of his life that night. He kept on refusing to let go not even knowing the name of the one he held onto through the night.

Jacob's not alone in wrestling in the night unsure even of the name of the one he's wrestling against. There are many women and men who've stayed up late in the night wrestling in prayer trying to understand God's will and God's calling for their lives. There are many who wrestle within themselves looking for certainty and not finding it. Wrestling is part of authentic faith, Jacob struggled not wanting to let go. Faith for all of us means holding on to God's promises no matter what; faith is believing and holding onto the promises of God even when it might seem that the promises don't count anymore.

A lot of guys can probably remember wrestling over a football at lunchtime on the grass in 6^th or 7^th grade. Maybe you remember the way the knees on your pants turned green from being dragged as you just held on refusing to let go even if the other person would just keep on dragging you trying to move forward. Jacob was wrestling physically and spiritually that night. He left with an injured hip as the final proof that his spiritual wrestling was real and true.

Sometimes we underestimate spiritual challenges. But they're just as real as our physical challenges. Jacob walked away from his night of wrestling with an injured hip, changed by the experience, we walk away changed too within our bodies and spirits from wrestling in the night in prayer.

Jesus knew something about wrestling too. Jesus was looking for a place to be alone, a place to pray and seek comfort from God. Tings were going very badly for Jesus. He'd been rejected in his hometown (Matthew 13:53-58) His cousin and forerunner John the Baptist was beheaded (Matthew 14:1-12). Now he wanted to find place to be alone.

Jesus had gone away from the crowds looking for a quiet place. Jesus had good reasons to look for a quiet place. There's a spot along Lake Galilee where nothing grows and no animals can be grazed. That's where Jesus was going, a deserted place, a place with hard inhospitable volcanic soil that's unfit to grow anything.

Jesus was looking for quiet; but the crowds came looking for him. Someone spotted his boat out on the water and started on foot knowing, because the lake wasn't so far across, from east to west, exactly where he'd gone.

Everyone in the crowd had their own reason to come looking for him. Some came believing Jesus would heal, some came wondering what he would teach, some came hoping they could meet him and hear him, some came just because their parents said they should come. Some came seeking revolution and Jesus taught the crowd who'd gathered out in that deserted place for some time. There's no mention in Matthew about what he taught, just that he taught for some time that day.

As the day passed the disciples started worrying about food for the crowd. Jesus replied to their worries, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." (Matthew 14:16 NIV) They were flummoxed naming what little they had. We can say the same things in our daily ministry. We don't have enough money, time, people, knowledge, experience, patience, will, or strength. Jesus replied to the disciples doubts instructing them to go ahead and pass out the food to everyone. Craig S. Keener observed,

God is not intimidated by the magnitude of our problem. The disciples saw the size of the need and the littleness of the human resources available; Jesus saw the size of the need and the greatness of God's resources available. Often God calls us to do tasks for him that are technically impossible-barring a miracle. IVP NT Commentary Series Matthews

Jesus miracle didn't start with human faith. It started with the power of God to create and to keep on creating. Jesus' power alone was enough to feed thousands. The disciples faith wasn't needed; but God will to make it happen was. There are plenty of times in the church when we would be wise to remember that Jesus' strength was revealed often in the Gospels when things were going from bad to worse.

God's involved in ordinary everyday life just as much as he is involved in the miracles that catch all of us by surprise. God provides for us. Sometimes its as blatant as 5 loaves and two fish turning into a meal for thousands with baskets full left over to spare. Sometimes the miracle is hidden within creation.

Everett Cook, a retired Pentecostal minister running a street mission, confronted an associate who had a growth on his nose but refused to see a doctor. "God will heal me," the man insisted.

"If you needed a miracle, God would give you one," Everett retorted, "but right now he's given you a doctor and medical insurance. You need to use what he's given you."

The next time they met the man's growth was much bigger, but the man still insisted, "I am healed." The third time they met the growth had spread further, and finally the man was thinking that perhaps he needed to see a doctor.

God performed a miracle when he created the world and set its laws in motion, and we are often wise to start with natural means when those are available. God performs miracles to meet our genuine needs, but he will not perform them merely to entertain us. IVP Matthew Commentary.

People still come to church looking for Jesus.

We are Christ's body after all. We are the place where his Word is preached, we are the people who wrestle trying to understand God's will and trusting that we are walking in his ways even if we can see him.

People come looking for a chance to meet God and looking for a place to belong. People come looking to be changed looking to meet the very God alive in our world. Thank God he comes just as he promised in bread and wine right into our midst.

Pentecost 11 A Parables of the Kingdom in Matthew 13

Over the last two weeks the Gospel readings have included some of Jesus' parables.

This week we have five more of Jesus parables to listen to and read over and over. Jesus is inviting us to imagine the kingdom of God through his words. As we listen our imagination catch glimpses of something majestic and awe inspiring that may not see everyday; but that is just as real even if we don't perceive it.

A little over a week ago our family was driving back to a motel in Hot Springs South Dakota after seeing the night lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore. We thought that it was a neat way to end the day. But we were going to see something even more unexpected. As we drove through Cave of the Winds National Park the two cars, about a half mile in front of us on the highway, slowed way down almost, but not completely, stopping. I woke my bride up not sure what was going on and put on the breaks myself. As she looked ahead she spotted a buffalo on the right side of the road next to one of the other cars. It was big and dark, and just as we prepared to pass by the first buffalo we looked to the left and saw two others silhouetted in the moonlight on a small ridge just a few feet from the road.

It was a once in a lifetime glimpse into the majesty of the prairie and great herds of buffalo who roamed there freely years ago. I wish now that we'd had our camera ready to get that once in a lifetime shot of two buffalo silhouetted by the full moon.

We came back through the same way the next day and got pictures in the daylight of buffalo in the very same field where we'd seen them the night before, but it was not the same at all this time. We had a glimpse of something majestic, and now in the day light it all seemed different. The buffalo were still huge and wild, but that moment of awe was gone.

Jesus words to the crowd gathered by Lake Galilee were an invitation to imagine the Kingdom of God. He talked plainly about the kingdom of God and comparing it to everyday ordinary mustard and yeast. Jesus told his listeners what the kingdom of God is like in his own terms. The crowds glimpsed the kingdom through his words. He didn't tell us the physical dimensions of God's kingdom; he told us it can start small like a mustard seeds. He didn't tell us the reach of God's kingdom he compared it to yeast's ability to transform flour and water from paste into bread. Mustard seeds are tiny; but Jesus said likened one to the kingdom of God pointing out the way something so small can grow into something so substantial and life giving.

Jesus talked about yeast's power to transform flour into risen dough for bread. When yeast is added to water and flour the basic ingredients are transformed into something more.

People yearn for moments of awe and wonder. We're spiritual beings who hunger for spiritual experiences. Real faith starts small and grows. We mistake faith for moments of awe and wonder. Faith's not chills running up and down the spine. Faith is believing that God can do what he says. In Matthew 13 Jesus revealed glimpses of God's Kingdom in the poetry of metaphors. He used words that we know are true because we believe. 2000 years later Jesus' words still start faithful imaginations running, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed..." "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast..."

Matthew 13 is really two different sets of parables. The first parables were spoken to a great crowd who came to visit him by the shores of Lake Galilee. The crowd was so great he went out a little way off shore in a boat to speak to them all.

Isaiah 6:8-9

Jesus friends ask him why he spoke in parables and he pointed all of them to Isaiah 6:8-9 about stubborn minds who heard but didn't listen. Then he just went on teaching parables. Martin Luther said that the parables, “...are like pictures of a sort, which show things to ... people as though before their very eyes Martin Luther, vol. 26, Luther's Works, Vol. 26 : Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4 26:433

The second set of Parables in Matthew 13 were spoken to the disciples behind closed doors. Some people say that Matthew chose these parables of Jesus for his Gospel as words of comfort and hope for the early church who faced turmoil and persecution.

Many commentators believe that Matthew wrote for believers who lived in a painful no mans land as members of the first century church. They were not accepted as Jews and they were not accepted as Romans or Greeks. They were on the outside and still they clung to their faith. I believe Matthew put Jesus words together reminding the early church just how much they mattered to God and just how valuable their faith was not only for them individually but for every member of the church.

^44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Imagine hearing these words if you've been forced out of your home and kick out of your family because you believe in Jesus Christ. Imagine the promise of treasure beyond any other for a believer who'd given up everything because they now believed that Jesus was the risen Lord.

^45 “ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; ^46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Jesus knows what's in out hearts and minds. He knows what we value. He knows that we care about money and stuff and now he invites us to consider an earthly possession of great value, a pearl of great price, that would be worth the some total of everything else that we ever had or ever would have. Jesus didn't say this to the crowd; instead he spoke to his friends who would one day risk everything to share the Good News at the ends of the known world.

^

^47 “ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; ^48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. ^49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous ^50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus spoke these words to believers who would risk everything for his sake sharing the Good News that Jesus had died, risen, and that he would come again. He spoke these words inviting them to imagine the kingdom and those who would be inside and those who would be outside. He start simple, with every things, but his words invite us to see heaven and earth, paradise and hell not in our own terms but in terms that we can barely begin to imagine.

For 2000 years believers have pondered these stories. We've examined facet after facet of the God's kingdom. We look at these stories with wonder and fear as we glimpse our place in Jesus' kingdom through faith.

Pentecost 4a June 8, 2008

I owe thanks to Nancy in Belize for some wise help with this sermon.

Jesus had a mission. Matthew makes that abundantly clear; Jesus taught, healed, died, and rose because he was on a mission. Matthew's Gospel concludes as Jesus sent his followers out to all nations with a mission based in his own.

Our first reading about Abram introduces us to God's call from day one as a people of faith to go out in trust on a mission.

5000 years ago the call was to go

leave behind the things you know

trust

have faith

2000 years ago Jesus came with a mission and he called his followers to join. Go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now Jesus invites us to join him in mission.

Jesus mission of healing meant calling all people back to God including "those people" who the religious would call "sinners." Jesus' mission lead him beyond preaching to the spiritually healthy. He came to heal broken spirits and broken bodies. Jesus ate with the tax collectors, traitors who would shake down their own people to help out the Romans. Jesus ate with publicly known sinners who couldn't hide their shameful actions any longer. When they asked why he replied,

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13.

Jesus had a mission that led him beyond acceptable company. He went to the hurting and sometimes the hurting came to sit with him. If everything is fine, you don't need him, but if you are hurting you can reach for him and be made whole in him again.

So who is at Jesus' table?

The sinners were part of Jesus company. They wanted to be near him. They were part of the crowd who left everything behind to follow Jesus and his friends. These were prostitutes, traitorous tax collectors and others. The “...sinners were sitting with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him." Mark 2:15

Jesus mission was to heal. He healed a broken girls body and he healed sick mens' souls. He healed in unexpected places focusing on the health of each person as a whole being. He even healed when a woman suffering from a hemorrhage reached out to touch him. We can debate what caused her suffering. Was it a simple problem that modern medicine could resolve; we don't know. But we know she was hurting and she reached out to Jesus and found healing. Jesus mission led him to meet the contagious, the long suffering, and outraged those who believed they we healthy enough to judge others. Jesus' mission sent him to those people over there who no body else would touch. Jesus' mission led him out of comfort further and further from God.

"The church" has its moments where we try to decide who is in and who is out. But Jesus challenges us. Don't stop her, don't stop him; let them come to me if they are hurting. Jesus was a sinner magnet (thanks Nancy in Belize). He had something that everyone wanted. He came to heal. He knew his mission; he came for the healing of the world. And people in need were drawn to him hoping just to touch him and be healed

Mission is a commonly used phrase in churches today. We have missionaries, we are called to mission work, we have home missions and international missions. A friend said that, "Everything is about mission in the church these days." The challenge is to keep our mission, our work, in line with Christ's mission. We cannot force Christ to do what we would like rather we must shape our lives around his ministry and mission.

The Pharisees didn't like Jesus expanding fellowship. But he had a mission independent of their opinions and authorization. We can't stop Jesus mission; but if we jump on board with him we can and will see healing happen in our own lives and in others.

One woman knew Jesus power and reached out just to grab his garment. One woman wanted that badly to be healed. And she was made whole.

Pentecost Sunday Year A May 11 2008

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth trying to help them understand how to be church together. They were debating who was in and out of the church. Paul saw a church that was much bigger than one congregation in one town. He wrote inviting them to see the church as so much bigger than just one person or group of people. We don't choose who is in and out of the church, the Holy Spirit is the one behind the whole church calling, gathering, sanctifying, and enlightening. Paul challenged the Corinthians,

I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor 12:3-14 NRSV

What makes a church isn't our human presence alone; what makes a church is Jesus' presence through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Paul understood this 2000 years ago. And he looked at the church way back then he saw that the Spirit working in very real ways in the church. Why the Holy Spirit works is mysterious; but looking around me today I can see how the Spirit of the Living God is at work the lives of so many lives in this room.

Paul said it this way

^4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ^5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ^6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ^7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ^8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, ^9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ^10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ^11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

^12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ^13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.^14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many 1 Cor 12:4-14 NRSV

The Holy Spirit is the very real presence of God alive and at work in our world. But if the Holy Spirit doesn't show up in the church we're sunk. In the book of Genesis there's this one story about a city called Babbel.

Eugene Peterson told the story this way in the Message. Genesis 11:1-9. "God Turned Their Language into 'Babble'"

1-2 At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.

3 They said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and fire them well." They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.

4 Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."

5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.

6-9 God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.

The Holy Spirit is the very real presence of God alive and at work in our world. When the Spirit enters into the church nothing: not sin, not death, not the devil can block God from entering into and transforming every corner of our lives. Our readings this Sunday tell us two distinct occasions when the Spirit came into believers' lives. There are many more stories that could be told about the work of the Holy Spirit both in Scripture and in our own lives; but these two stories speak volumes for all of us about what God is doing.

Jesus is up to something big by passing the Holy Spirit on to us; but there's more to this gift than might be first expected. God's Spirit isn't given in a neatly wrapped package (with gift receipt) at one point or time in history and that's it.

• The risen Jesus breathed out and told his friends receive the Holy Spirit. They gathered in a locked room fearing the same people who had killed Jesus. They'd heard the first reports of the resurrection and still feared for their lives. Jesus came and stood among them breathing out and telling them "peace be with you" and "receive the holy spirit (John 20).

• The Spirit was seen as fire in tongues on the Apostles' heads in Jerusalem. The believers gathered together in Jerusalem praying and praising God together. Beyond human explanation they began to speak, each one in their own native tongue, and understand one another regardless of where they came from or what language they spoke (Acts 2).

God's on the loose. We can impose no limits on where the Spirit moves in flame, breath, wind, or whatever other form God might choose. One of the most profound mistakes that the church can make is getting in the way of the Holy Spirit. 500 years ago a man named Martin Luther stood at a spiritual crossroad. He was a priest ordained to serve in the church, but he was deeply unsettled in his spirit. What he understood is that God works freely; we make rules and God doesn't care. We set limits based in our attempts to control God and God isn't going to stop moving and changing and challenging.

In Religion After 2000 Andrew Greeley offers a helpful challenge to the church asking two questions that are great for Pentecost.

Why, I wonder, are we so afraid of mystery?

Or to put it another way why are so eager to budget the Holy Spirit's time for Her when on the record She is determined to blow whither she will?

The gift of the Spirit is a promise of future relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God comes to this relationship freely and unfettered by our judgments and ideas about what God can or can't do. Jesus' gift of the Spirit is a mystery that we don't solve or resolve; instead the Spirit is the very real presence of God meeting us together with God's Word over and over. The Holy Spirit meets us not as we humans would choose; but as God would choose. The Spirit comes freely to comfort, chastise, enliven, and move us.

Jesus is giving away a part of the divine self in Pentecost. What happens at Pentecost isn't the grand finale; God's promises to be with us from here on into the future; and as we go into whatever future might be in store we know that we don't go alone.

Jesus what comes next John 17:1-26

Jesus, what comes next?

Its a great question to ask in our prayers today, Jesus what's next? And as we ask the question what's next its good to remember all that Jesus has done for us and has asked God the father to do for us.

Our Gospel reading today from, John 17, retells Jesus' prayer from the night before he died. Its a chance in one rare moment to listen in to the conversation between God the Son and God the Father. Jesus had just finished supper. And as they sat back after eating Jesus started in on a great discourse with his friends. Jesus words were the words of someone with inside knowledge about the Kingdom of heaven and the will of God the father

Jesus spoke words of comfort to his friends, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14:1) And as he comforted them Jesus offered insight into his reason for ministry and what he was leading his friends toward, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6) We can debate for years just what this means; and still we'll never figure it out. Jesus was peeling back layer of mystery unveiling still more mysteries about himself and God, "I am in the father and the Father is in me" (John 14:10) and he even explained his friends place in salvation telling them they are the branches and he is "... the true vine" (John 15:1).

As he finished speaking Jesus he looked up to heaven. He spoke to the Father with his friends listening in as he prayed. We listened in to the prayer a few minutes ago ourselves. If you want to read on go ahead. Jesus spoke of what he'd done, said, and taught. He named the dangers we face, even the world's rejection his teaching. Jesus asked that...

• he might return to the Glory he shared with the Father before the world was made (John 17:4)

• his followers be protected through the power of the Father's Holy Name (John 17:11)

• we might be one as he and the Father are one (John 17:11)

• we have his joy in us (John 17:13)

• we not be taken out of the world but that we be protected from the Evil One (John 17:15)

• we be ready to serve God in truth (John 17:17)

• others might believe through the teaching of his followers (John 17:20)

• we be one so that the world can come to know the Father(John 17:21-23)

• we might be with him and see his glory (John 17:24)

Jesus spoke directly to God the Father asking for help for our sake. Listening in reminds us of all God's help is needed to live out our faith every day. We need the Father's protection, unity, joy, hope, truth, teachings, and love to make it. And that's exactly what Jesus asked the father to give us. These great gifts don't grow from with in us; instead Jesus asks that the father bless us with these gifts. We might try to fake it pretending that we have it all together; but all these gifts come not from with in; but from God who gives them freely.

After praying, the Gospel of John tells that, Jesus' next stop was the garden across the Kidron Valley where he would be arrested. This prayer, the night before Jesus died, gives us a moment both of deep insight into the relationship between Jesus and the Father and into all that Jesus asked for us.

So what's next? 2000 years ago it was the cross and then Easter. And even int eh joy of Easter Jesus friends still didn't know what God was going to do next. We heard about it in our first reading today about Jesus' friends looking up to heaven afterhe had been taken up into the clouds.

And the angel looked at them and said, “ They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? Jesus, whom you saw taken up from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw him go.” Acts 1:11 NCV

What's next is living in God's amazing grace until Jesus return. What's next is trusting in the Word made flesh and knowing that he died and rose and will come again. Peter says, Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Remember friends that we don't go into this world alone. The Holy Spirit comes with to move us and to guide us. We need the Father's protection, unity, joy, hope, truth, teachings, and love to make it. And that's exactly what Jesus asked the father to give us. So what's next? I'm really not sure. I pray thy will be done and still haven't received a clear road map. But I trust that God will use each of us.

AMEN