Lent 4A March 2 2008 Eye opening Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41

The story that we just read is all about seeing. We all have different perspectives in life and we all have very real blind spots. John's gospel tells us this great story of a man who was born blind who gained sight. John 9:1-41 details Jesus' ministry to this one man. He and his disciples saw the man sitting. Jesus' disciples asked him a karmic sort of a question, "Who sinned, him or his parents that he was born blind. " There must have been some cause in their minds that would have made him blind. The world, it seems reasonable, works on cause and effect. If a person is blind there must be a cause. But Jesus didn't see a cause. Instead he saw in this man, and in all of us, a chance for the will of God to be made clear.

In John's story about Jesus healing a blind man everybody saw things very differently.

The disciples saw a man who couldn't see and asked, “why?” There must have been some cause in their minds.

Jesus saw a man born blind and saw the opportunity to help. Jesus probably shook his head saying, neither one. "He's blind so that God's work's might be revealed in him." Jesus made a paste with spit and dirt and put it on his eyes. Then he told the man to go wash in the pool. He opened the man's eyes.

The man's neighbors saw that he was healed and they started to debate if he was the same man they'd watched begging in the street year after year or if he was somebody else. Even his own relatives saw with their eyes that he was able to see but they just couldn't believe it. The man told them what happened, about Jesus and the mud of spit and dirt and washing in the pool of Siloam. They brought him to the religious officials.

Up until the opening of the eyes we might have argued that there was only one blind person who needed to be healed in this story. But as I listen to this story; and as I look at my own life and the world around me I see lots of people with working eyes who are blind and in need of a good eye opening like the kind that Jesus gave this man.

The teachers of the law kept asking this man born blind, who now could see, how it happened. He kept on telling them the same story and they kept asking how. Jesus made a paste and put it on my eyes. They debated amongst themselves if this was a miracle from God or from some other power. God says rest on the Sabbath, but this man was healed on the Sabbath. “Who can this man be if he would heal on the holy day?” Some saw signs that Jesus had power from god, some saw other dubious signs that Jesus was not of God but of some other power.

This man who could now see had heard enough of these people making such a fuss and he asked them, “Why do you keep asking to here about my healing, do you want to become Jesus' disciples?” The pharisees were mad now. “You might be his follower; but not us. We follow Moses and not this Jesus. We don't know where he's from.”

There's plenty of blindness to go around in this story. The man who could now see said back to the Pharisees “This is astonishing, I was blind, now I can see, you claim you don't know anything about him, but he was the one who opened my eyes. I know that God listens to those who do his will. If he hadn't been from God he would have been able to help me see. The pharisees and the scribes saw the situation very differently than this man and they kicked him out; they were blind to the power of God at work right around them.

The scribes and Pharisee's expressed their disbelief and disgust that they hadn't authorized such a healing; after all it was the Sabbath. Jesus didn't need their permission to heal and he doesn't need ours either to start making all things new right now. He came to do ministry. The time is right to jump in with him.

We all have blind-spots. Some of them are rather large; and others are quite small. Every driving adult knows about blind-spots. It's not just that spot in the corner of the car that you can't see in the mirrors, or even if you look over your shoulder. Blind-spots are often very close in which makes them all the more dangerous. I've spoken with people who've been in accidents. More than one has told me about hitting another car that they just didn't see. It's frightening to realize just how blind another driver can be to your presence. It's even more frightening to realize that I can be blind to the presence of another driver.

I heard a great story from a pretty regular traveler. He was waiting for a plane in a pretty large airport and a man dressed in a pilot's uniform came past wearing dark glasses and a walking with a seeing eye dog. He turned around and did a quick double take when he realized this man was headed toward his gate. Just as he was about to go ask for another flight he saw the pilot bring the dog to a woman with a white can waiting on the other side of the terminal.

There were absolutely no cars in Jesus day. But there were still plenty of blind spots. It's no different today. We've got lots of blind spots to worry about. It's very dangerous, for Christians, to live like we've got no blind spots. We've all got blind spots. We've all got limits to what we can see and what we don't. The man who was born blind probably had the easiest time admitting that he had blind-spots. It was obvious to everybody; he couldn't see. But there are other blind spots that are equally real even if they're not so immediately visible.

In our time we look for medical or clinical explanations behind blindness, hearing loss, or any other physical challenge or disease. We look to doctors, nurses, researches, lab worker and medical technologists to explain what's going wrong and to help us sort out some course of treatment to return us back to full health.

In Jesus day they didn't have MRI's, CTScan, or even x-rays. When they saw a person born blind they looked for a moral cause of the blindness. They asked him who sinned that this man was born blind; was it him or was it his parents. Jesus probably shook his head saying, “neither one.” Jesus didn't see the disease as the reason to be there a that moment, “He's blind so that God's work's might be revealed in him.”

There are lots of blind-spots in our world. Somebody recently said our congregation, and our denomination are "sinking ships." He asked me if I could see what's happening.

He points to demographics; I think he's right, it's time to pray as a church but not just for numbers it's time to pray for the enlivening eye opening work of the spirit. This brother in Christ pointed to the numerous studies (they can easily be found) to shore up his argument that our church, our Lutheran Church, is just a generation away from death. I say its time to turn to scripture and to start listening to Jesus and to start living like new life and resurrection are real. This brother in Christ pointed to a lack of people at a particular program; I told him that it's time to invite people just as Jesus did, "to come and see." I asked who he invited, sadly I already knew the answer; he'd invited "nobody."

Anxiety and fear are real. They overwhelm and paralyze and blind us. My brother and sister pastors tell me that we're in, "sinking ships"; I say listen to Paul and Jesus. Yes, we are sinking; but Jesus is not. We aren't the only ones with a mission and ministry, Jesus has a mission and ministry in our world.

We need to remember that God's mission is primary to any mission that we might have. He came to heal, preach, forgive, challenge, die, and finally to rise. When we know our part in that mission we catch fire. When we are disconnected from Jesus mission we go dim or worse yet sink in doubt and despair. Paul says that we aren't meant to lament, we are to be light,

"For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:8-10, NRSV)

Jesus came into the world brining a new vision and a new hope. The old order of the world is broken. People live in sickness in spirit and body. We need all things to be made new. We need a savior. We need Jesus.

Jesus made a paste with spit and dirt and put it on blind man's eyes. Then he told the man to go wash in the pool. The man's eyes were opened. It doesn't matter what the world thinks or doesn't think about the church or Jesus. It matters that He opened the man's eyes and that he opens yours to see his love that is with you now and always.

Lent 1A Feb 10 2008

The very first sentence in Matthew 4 has me really troubled. "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil." Matthew 4:1 NIV If you were just following along in Matthew's Gospel you'd realize that this story of Jesus' temptation comes immediately after his baptism by John. I imagine Jesus coming out fresh from the water of the Jordan and the Spirit sending him out into the desert to be πειρασθη̂ναι ὑπὸ του̂ διαβόλου (tested/tempted by the Devil). The devil is even given the name πειράζων (tempter) in verse 3. Here in the beginning of his ministry Jesus is being tempted 3 times by the devil.

A very gracious lady who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part of the country. "Is there anything breakable in here?" asked the postal clerk. "Only the Ten Commandments," answered the lady.

We live in an age when evil is real. We live in an age when the devil is at work in many situations trying to tear things apart through temptation. Above all else the Devil fears that we will be full of faith, hope, and love. The diabolical one is so very subtle in his efforts trying to pull us away from God and God's great gifts. Temptations are one of the devil's many tricks. He uses them all to tie us up and keep us from focusing on God's good and gracious will. Sometimes the Devil tempts us to do nothing. Sometimes the evil one finds us so convinced that we are right and our brother or sister is wrong that we refuse to do anything. The evil one is so crafty using either our actions or our inactions against us. Temptation is very real.

There are two very distinct times when I've found temptation to be most real. The first is in the low points. The Devil sought Jesus out in the desert at the end of a 40 day fast. He was sure to be hungry and the temptation of food alone would have been powerful for him. Jesus was alone here waiting to be tempted. The other time in our lives when we get tempted is when we think everything is going right. Jesus was at the height of the temple and he was offered all power if he would only bow down to the devil. The evil one has a habit of creeping in to the best earthly situations and sowing doubt, fear, and hate. Temptations are more that just physical actions that we take. We can even be tempted to turn away from God in many places.

As a kid I was taught to pray, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Maybe you were taught these very same words. When we pray like this we are asking God to keep us safe, right? We are asking God to protect us; but Matthew makes it clear that God left the avenue open for the diabolical one to come and tempt Jesus. So, you might ask, “what's going on here; why is God leaving the door open for temptations to come our way if they can be the opening that allows so much evil to come into our lives?”

There are some in our time who deny that evil even exists. There are others who insist that they have seen evil at work in the lives other people; but that it couldn't exist in their lives. The devil is real and crafty. He's always tugging at us and pulling at us.

An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his IRS agent and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home. When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything. Both the IRS agent and the attorney were touched and flattered that the old preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moment. They were also puzzled because the preacher had never given any indication that he particularly liked either one of them.

Finally, the lawyer asked, "Preacher, why did you ask the two of us to come?" The old preacher mustered up some strength, then said weakly, "Jesus died between two thieves, and that's how I want to go, too."

Martin Luther wrote about temptation and evil when he was explaining the Lord's Prayer 500 years ago in his Small Catechism, you can find this on page 1164 in the back of the red ELW.

And lead us not into temptation.

What does this mean?

God tempts no one to sin, but we ask in this prayer that God would watch over us and keep us so that the devil, the world, and our sinful self may not deceive us and draw us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins.

And we pray that even though we are so tempted we may still win the final victory.

Luther was clear. God is not the one who tempts us; but Luther leaves out any mention about God stopping or not stopping the Devil. God has never been the one to tempt any one of us. God isn't the one doing the tempting these days for any of us either. But the devil has plenty of advocates who will do the job for him; including me and you.

A pastor parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES." When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note. "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket, I'll lose my job. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."

The reality of temptation is all too real these days. Watching the Super-Bowl adds this past weekend, with my old roommate Peter, I was reminded that God isn't the one to tempt us; quite the opposite, we are the one's who tempt each other. This was the first year I can remember paying attention the game more than the adds. The adds draw us in. They make us laugh and guess and even say, “what are they talking about?” Temptation works by drawing us in little by little. But you might say, “What could be evil about new cars, politicians, or a bunch of sales leads; or for that matter what's wrong with anything else that's advertised during a football game. Taken one at a time there's nothing wrong with new cars, politicians, or sales leads. But if we follow every temptation and the directions of every advertisement give us we'll find ourselves turning away from what's good and what's Holy.

We've got to remember that the devil revels in our efforts to tempt each other. The devil has been crafting ways to pull us apart for thousands of years and he's really gotten very good at what he does. He uses us as his diabolical advocates at any turn he can find. And he has no trouble finding opportunity after opportunity to break up what we would call good and holy. The promise of Christ in the cross isn't that we go through life un-tempted; rather the promise is that we will still have the final victory in Christ over all things: sin, death, and the devil.

But deliver us from evil.

What does this mean?

We ask in this inclusive prayer that our heavenly Father would save us from every evil to body and soul, and at our last hour would mercifully take us from the troubles of this world to heaven.

Jesus promise is life. We are given choices in this earth and the evil one knows how to make the most of our choices. But God also has choices to make. He can turn away the evil not 1 time or 3 times. God is in the business of pushing the enemy back insuring that we are never out God's reach.

Paul put it this way,

I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ^39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 NRSV

Jesus is our hope and rock in the storm. He is the one to cling to. Call on him when you face temptation. Call on him when you meet evil. Keep it simple, “Jesus this is bigger than me.” or “Jesus help...” That's enough.

AMEN

Ash Wednesday Feb 6 2008 Matthew 6 & Galatians 1

Ash Wednesday is a solemn day in many churches. The human made traditions of Lent begin with a day of remembrance and awe. We come to church clean and leave smudged with ash. We hear these words as the ash is placed on our heads or hands, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." But right at the very same time we hear Jesus' own words about prayer, hypocrisy, and our true treasure as God's people not being on this earth but in heaven.

Jesus' word's about prayer and worship in Matthew open us all up to some real tough questions. Jesus told his hearers not to do anything just for public show. He told them to pray in secret and not to make a spectacle with their words, actions, or appearance. Even before day one of the church at Pentecost Jesus recognized the tension that we live in as his followers. We want to live in Christ; yet we struggle because we want some external sign, some evidence that we can show the whole world to let them know that we are in close with Jesus, that we are in tight with God. But we don't have an external sign for what's going on inside of human spirits, human heads, or human hearts. The ashes today might mean everything about your honoring God or they just might be a motion that you go through tonight. Still we know that our feelings and our decisions alone aren't ever enough to save us.

Even before the cross there was a real tension in Israel about who was in and who was out. Jesus went to the Samaritan people who lived right along side Israel but who were considered unworthy even though they worshiped the same God. He ate and drank with tax collectors, traitors, and prostitutes. He knew that the kingdom of God was bigger than just the people who acted holy. After his death Jesus' followers were sent out by the Spirit far beyond Israel. They met with Ethiopians, Greeks, Romans and many others spreading the message of Jesus to the world. We spread it today welcoming in young people who live in a post-Christian culture that doesn't know God. We spread the promise today not in some far away land, but right here and now in this space, in this town and wherever we work and play.

The Apostle Paul was one of the great missionaries of the early church. He traveled to many places talking about his own life changing experience of Jesus Christ. But he had been a prosecutor of the church first. Before he met Jesus he had been called Saul. He hated Christians. He was the one who held the coats of those who killed Steven. It was this very same man who Jesus gave a new name to: Paul. Jesus sent Paul out as an apostle. He went on many journeys telling about Jesus and visiting churches. He often sent letters to churches he had visited encouraging and challenging them as they learned to live out their faith together. Some of the churches he wrote to were in Galatia. Galatia was a tiny region in the western part of modern day Turkey. In known history this land has been home to the ancient Hittites, Celts, Romans, Greeks, Turks, and more.

It was in this land, where one of the earliest churches got its start, that one of the greatest debates of the early church happened. Paul intended to just pass through Galatia on his journey. But he ended up spending considerable time with them instead because he got sick. Rather than just passing through and talking about Jesus he was got to be a part of the new churches growth and seeing faith transform the people of Galatia into Jesus' followers. Many, if not most of the people in Galatia who came to follow Jesus were not Jews. They were among the first Christians not to come from a Jewish background.

Paul's health restored he traveled on from Galatia. The church he left was young and wrestled from day one, just like all Christians do, with how to best follow in the way of Christ Jesus. And Paul heard about their wrestling. They wanted to be followers of God. When he was there, Paul had told them the Good News. It's right there in the opening of his letter to the Galatians.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ^4 who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ^5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:3-5 NRSV

For Paul, for Martin Luther 1500 years later and for all of us today this Gospel, this good news is our hope and our freedom and our promise. Jesus gave himself for us. We are set free from our sins. There is nothing more to do but to live today in that freedom. This is the very promise that we cling to at every funeral, baptism, Good Friday, and above all every year at Easter. Jesus has died and he has risen. The bondage of death has been broken for all of us today; right now we are free.

I believe Paul left Galatia hopeful because this new church was experiencing the freedom that come in following and serving Jesus Christ. Paul ventured away from Galatia, but news came to him. The new church was struggling with old rules. Something new was happening the church in Galatia was starting to live under old laws of Moses and not in the new freedom.

The apostle sent a letter to the churches in Galatia that he knew and loved. It was not an easy letter to write. If you've ever had to confront and challenge someone in the church or in your own family you know that its not easy to be the one making these judgments. It can be especially tough when you are challenging people you love and care about as brothers and sister when they are close to you. I finished a letter just like this today. It was incredibly tough for me to write and very hard for the person who got it to receive, but I judged that I must speak at this time. I knew that I could no longer remain silent without eating up myself. Jesus warned us, “judge lest you be judge.” Certain times and circumstance call us not to be silent no more, but to stand up and live in the freedom of Christ: to sin boldly as Luther said to the early church. Sometimes we have to take risks and challenge each other. Even so knowing that We are called to action in it is still tough to be the one to challenge another. I know what it is to confront someone close by, still I can't imagine what it was like to write this letter to brothers and sisters at a distance.

Paul felt the same exact way when he wrote to the church in Galatia. He wrote bluntly not to be mean but to challenge his friends.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ^7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ . NRSV.

If you have ever received or written this kind of a letter you know the hard part of being in the body. We are here to support one another; but we are also here to be challenged and to challenge one another.

Our old friend, Gordy on the organ, says it so wonderfully about Zion, “We're in this together.” Paul felt the same way about the church. We are all in this together. We all need to be challenged and to challenge. Paul heard about the church in Galatia. He heard that these people who had never been Jews were being told that they had to take on all the old traditions of Judaism in order to be Christians. Paul was so very upset. He'd come to them promising freedom and now in place of freedom they were being told to follow the rules. He heard that they were choosing to follow rules and laws and he had to write to them. He couldn't be silent any longer. His own conscience wouldn't keep silent. Jesus death made the Galatians and all who believe in Jesus right with God, but they wanted to do something and to show something more for their efforts as proof. They'd heard about the old law and now they wanted to follow it.

Paul was hot. How could they give up freedom. How could they give up all these gifts. For what; for old rules about diet and circumcision. Oh he was so frustrated. He'd come and declared freedom and they'd taken on all these rules. He wrote to them from experience. He knew what it was like to follow the rules and to live as people told him. And he also knew freedom in Christ...

You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. ^14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. ^15 But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased ^16 to reveal his Son to me,^ so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles... Galatians 1:13-16 NRSV.

Sometimes the stakes are to great to sweep things under the rug. Paul knew what the freedom of a Christian meant for himself and the whole world. Paul wanted the church in Galatia to breath free. He wanted them to know Jesus love. But he knew that he could not be silent while they gave up the promise for another Gospel.

This same letter is for each of us today.

• What is your freedom? Is it Christ?

• What rules do you follow to be right with God?

  • Love God and Love your neighbor as Jesus taught;

  • or do you follow another set of rules

Paul talked about freedom that he knew first hand and he wanted everyone who believes to know that same freedom. We come today out of tradition for the ashes but God's word calls us to freedom. AMEN.