Thomas Sunday John 20:19-31

Every year, the week after Easter, many churches like ours (which use the Revised Common Lectionary) traditionally read this one story from John's Gospel about Jesus' friend, Thomas. And year after year seminarians, retired pastors, and associate pastors stand up to talk about their belief and unbelief. But the real story isn't about us at all. Its about Jesus breaking into our our stories.

Jesus broke into Thomas' life in an amazing. Maybe this story is so familiar that you don't pay attention to it. I find it hard not to relate to him more and more over time. Its too easy to accuse Thomas of doing something wrong by admitting his doubts. We could beat him up, but real faith involves doubts and outright disbelief in the face of fear and uncertainty. Real faith involves trust in God who we haven't seen but who calls all who believed and haven't seen blessed.

The thing about this story that gets my attention is the emotion that's wrapped up tight with the faith. There's fear, joy, doubt, and hope in this one story.

Fear is real in this story; just like it is our lives.

Jesus' closet friends had seen him dead and buried on Friday. On Sunday morning they'd heard reports from some of the women who'd followed Jesus that he was risen. Peter and another went to check out the tomb and they believed when they stepped in and saw the grave clothes just lying there without a body.

Still, even after these two had seen the empty tomb and after the other 8 heard the Good News, they were so afraid that they locked themselves in when they met together. They feared that the same people, the leaders of their own people, who had killed Jesus, might somehow step in and discover them meeting together and want to kill them too. Even after the 10 met Jesus face to face and heard his greeting of peace they still had the door barred when they met together.

Fear is basic to every human being. It's one of our involuntary reactions to life. We hear a the deep bark of a dog behind us and we fear. We see someone driving fast right towards us and we jump back in fear. Fear isn't a choice; it's an emotion. Fear isn't rational or irrational; but I know one thing for sure; I could sense it walking one night last week. We heard a large dog bark deep. The girls jumped close to me, the dog's ears perked up and he turned back. I stopped in mid step to see what was coming at us. Fear is real.

I sense fear in all kinds of places. There's fear in my daughter who woke up in the night on Thursday as I was writing and called out daddy. She just wanted to be held. There's fear in our nation about economics and war and promises in this year of election. Some might argue that much of what we fear is irrational. But I know that there's fear in all of us whether its irrational or not. Its involuntary; but what we do needs to be product both of our fears and our best judgment.

At our most basic, as creatures, we fear. At our most basic respond to fear either by fighting or in fleeing whatever we're afraid off. Jesus understood this. God knows that he is dealing with people who can be overwhelmed by emotion. He didn't beat down his friends because of their fear. Instead Jesus came to them offering peace and the Holy Spirit in the middle of their fears. Jesus came and as they were fearful they rejoiced. God surprised us in Jesus not by taking away fear and doubt but by meeting us as we are with our fear and doubt.

Maybe, you'll say that your not afraid or that you have no doubts. I don't believe it. People of real faith wrestle with dark nights when the don't know God. Maybe you say that your not afraid of anything. In one of my favorite scenes in Empire Strikes Back a young pilot named Luke Skywalker is talking to an old master, Yoda. The young pilot tells the old master, “I'm not afraid.” And the old master replies, “You will be, You will be.”

Joy is real in this story and in our lives.

Joy in this story came in meeting Jesus. Joy comes from seeing God at work. It comes from meeting him whenever and wherever he chooses to reveal himself.

Ten of Jesus' friends had seen Jesus killed. They had seen Jesus wounded and then they saw him alive. They knew it was him; they knew it was their teacher that they followed for 3 years because they'd seen him and heard him. They rejoiced to be with him. It was a great reunion. Only problem is that Thomas wasn't there to see him

Doubt is real in this story just like it is our lives.

The ten who rejoiced when they met Jesus told Thomas that he was alive.

Their friend responded,

"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."

When they met together again Thomas was there. The door was locked once again; fear is real and it paralyzes. Jesus is just as real as the fear and the doubt. The Good News comes to us not in our own heads or hearts. It comes to us in the flesh and blood person who died and who rose and who came to find his friends and to speak a word of peace to them.

It's too easy to beat up on Thomas and doubters. But I believe Thomas was using the brain that God gave him to make choices and to sort through what he'd seen for himself and what he'd heard from his friends. Garrison Keillor wrote.

Skepticism is a stimulant, not to be repressed. It is an antidote to smugness and the great glow of satisfaction one gains from being right. You know the self-righteous -- I've been one myself -- the little extra topspin they put on the truth, their ostentatious modesty, the pleasure they take in being beautifully modulated and cool and correct when others are falling apart. Jesus was rougher on those people than He was on the adulterers and prostitutes.

Jesus came looking for Thomas. He came ready to find him and to meet him with a smile and a word of hope.

Hope is real in this story just as it is in our lives.

Hope doesn't always make sense. Its crazy, some say, to trust in a God we can't see. But if you've met Jesus you'd know that this isn't crazy at all. Its hope that gives us perspective in this world to know that God has more in store for us than just what we've seen. Being a believer is all about seeing the unseen; meeting the undead Jesus and walking with him through whatever might come your way.

Peter wrote about suffering as a reality in the life of believers; but he also wrote about the hope of an inheritance that waits for us in heaven. He said it's imperishable, that it won't spoil or fade away. Jesus comes for us whether we believe or not calling us to be his disciples.

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.

Epiphany 2a January 20 2007

Slide 1: After John comes...

All four Gospels tell the story of John the Baptizer. John was the one sent to make way for Jesus. He had everything he needed for ministry living out in the wilderness. He had purpose, a voice, and enough knowledge of what God was doing to tell the world: get ready the Messiah's about to come.

‘ After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ^31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel. John 1:30-31 NRSV

Slide 2: Wilderness

John had none of the trappings of institutional religion; but he was ready for ministry. There was no Cathedral or church building out along side the Jordan River. He had no fancy title or degrees. There's no mention of a choir or band that accompanied him at the Jordan when he preached and baptized. He had none of that official stuff. Instead all he had was official suspicion. The king eventually had him arrested. Its obvious he wasn't endorsed or approved for ministry by King Herod or another earthly power. But John had divine purpose and drive; he had mission for God and that's exactly what it took to get him engaged in ministry out there in the wilderness.

Many other people were drawn in by John's message. Crowds came to hear him preach and to be baptized with water. It was surely one of the most moving times in the life of any one who came out to the Jordan for baptism. The crowds would come to let go, to repent. It was probably the most spiritually awake that many of them had ever felt; but most would eventually go back home again. A few stayed close. John's message drew them them in I'm certain they weren't attracted to his wardrobe, the camel skins were probably itchy and my guess is they smelled bad after a couple days. I can't imagine the the diet of locusts and wild honey would have been a real good selling point either.

Despite the challenges of living in the wilderness and calling for people to repent some followed John the Baptist as disciples. I imagine them coming from religious homes. They believed in God and wanted to follow him the very best they could. They were attracted to John and to his message. Leave behind every burden. Let go of all your sins and shames and come out of the villages, towns, and cities out to the wilderness and wade down in the water. Leave all the old stuff behind. Repent so that you'll be ready to meet God. Even Jesus came to meet John at the Jordan and the be baptized.

Slide 3: Agnus Dei

When Jesus was baptized John said he witnessed heaven open up above him. He saw the dove descend; he heard the voice call out, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 NIV) When John saw Jesus he called out, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John's disciples heard his proclamation. They knew John was unique among all men and now John was speaking about somebody else saying that this one man alone was the Lamb of God. They had followed John and sacrificed to live outside of society with him. And now John was pointing to Jesus and telling his disciples not once but twice that Jesus is the Lamb of God.

Slide 4

Two of John's disciples followed behind Jesus. They asked Jesus where he was staying and got an invitation,

³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

Jesus connected with Andrew 1 to 1 that day. And Andrew went and connected with his brother Simon. Our ministry is to help others meet and follow Christ as disciples 1 to 1 just as Andrew did, and just as Jesus had done for him.

Slide 5

John knew Jesus' reason for coming. He came to be God on earth and he came to be the lamb offered in sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus has all power as God and this same one is the lamb offered to take away the sin of the world. John the Baptist knew Jesus had this two fold mission. He knew it. For 2000 years Christians have been blessed to have this God who meets us both as lamb with feet tied ready for slaughter and as the victor who over comes death.

We imagine God based on our experiences and on what others have told us abut God. I've always different pictures of God in Jesus in my head. Reading about the lamb of God two images popped up. The first is of the lamb, innocent and bound ready for slaughter. This painting helps us imagine Jesus as the vulnerable one waiting to die. As you looked at the lamb remember that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who watches over his sheep. We come to know this God and trust that he stands beside us ready to defend us and guide us through this world into the next.

Slide 6: The Whole Story

Sometimes its hard to admit that we've got limited imaginations when it comes to God. Sometimes we think of Jesus who is bold and provides for our every need. Then we meet Jesus on the cross, a suffering servant the lamb sacrificed to take away our sins. To often we think of Jesus as either either as the suffering servant or as God all powerful. But the real Jesus is both. Te God of power but that Jesus is both always the lamb offered up for the sins of the world and the God with power to save. The great Swedish theologian Gustaf Aulén called Jesus Christus Victor. He spoke of Jesus first work as liberating us from all our struggles with sin, death, and the Devil. Jesus victory over death is the turning point when we see all the power of the universe that he controls. But in that same moment we recognize that he is the lamb with the bound feet offered up in our place.

Slide 7: In Christ you have been made rich in every way

The real Jesus strengthens us in all things including weakness. Paul spoke to the church in Corinth telling them that they had been enriched by Jesus, in every way. He told them

in Christ you have been made rich in every way, in all your speaking and in all your knowledge. ^6 Just as our witness about Christ has been guaranteed to you, ^7 so you have every gift from God while you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come again. ^8 Jesus will keep you strong until the end

The Holy Bible : New Century Version , Containing the Old and New Testaments., 1 Co 1:5. Dallas, TX: Word Bibles, 1991.

Slide 8: The whole story

Our promise as Christians is that we have God's every gift in Jesus Christ. We have the gift of the one who takes on evil in all its forms. We have the gift of Jesus who defeated death and who calls to us to follow him in this world and into the next because he is the victor. We also have the God who meets us face to face in the deepest and darkest places. He knows them. He's been there. John called out “Behold the Lamb of God.” He is Jesus the vanquished now victorious.

Epiphany Sunday Jan 6 2008 Matthew 2:1-12

How many of you love Christmas?

How about new years? Maybe we should do a countdown, my girls really love to do this. 10, 9, 8..... happy new year For many people New Years is it. Watch a little football and Christmas is over. But in other cultures the story and the celebration of Christmas are considered incomplete without the full festivities to remember the day when the Magi arrived from the East to meet Jesus. Matthew's story is read in celebrations around the world. It's read widely on Epiphany.

• In Latin America it is la Día de los Tres Reyes Magos.

• In Eastern Europe it is a day for gift giving.

• In North America churches and recent immigrants hold on to Epiphany as a day for celebration. Wal-mart and K-Mart and other national chains market to Hispanics and others who celebrate the arrival of the Magi.

The story has taken on a life of its own in each culture. But in our culture it doesn't seem to get very much attention beyond the church; that's all right because it gives us a real chance to get through the commercial baggage and celebrate the birth of the King.

Lets look at this story and see how it has taken on a life of its own beyond scripture. Look on at Matthew 2:1. How many Magi μάγοι came from the East following a star to visit the new born king of the Jews. Matthew doesn't say three he just says that astronomers came from the east. As a kid maybe you heard that they were named Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior. Matthew doesn't say anything about names but imaginations run fast with a story that's this good to tell.

The plot twists; their first stop in Judah wasn't to see Jesus. They met first with king Herod the man who had the title, king of the Jews. They came bearing gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh, χρυσὸν καὶ λίβανον καὶ σμύρναν, to offer the new king of the Jews. Only after meeting Herod and agreeing to return and tell him about the one they found did they head on to meet the future king. Matthew says they fell down and worshiped him, πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῳ̂.

Herod wanted the visitors from the East to come back and tell him when and more importantly where they met this would be king of the Jews. He said he wanted to go and worship. No he didn't Herod didn't want to bow down to Jesus or anyone. Herod wanted to eliminate this infant threat to his power. The Romans had granted him, Herod, the title King of the Jews and no one would take it from him. Herod was ready to cut off this threat to his reigh at the root. A angel came in a dream to the Magi telling them to stay away from Herod. They headed back in a different direction staying away from Herod. Joseph learned in a dream that he and his family were to leave Bethlehem to protect Jesus from Herod's wrath.

Artists have imagined the different scenes in the Christmas story for years. Matthew doesn't say the race, nationality, creed or even the number of those who came to meet Jesus and family. He says that they were Magi from the east who followed a star and he tells us what they brought. The possibilities for what we do with the rest of this story are wide open. Each of us can easily interpret this story and provide our answer to the question: Who would come to bow down and worship this child?

Elephant and an African

Horse and a European

Camel and an Asian

The whole world was represented by these kings who came to worship. But who else will come and worship this child born to be king.

This question is part of what drives me to be a pastor today. Many of you know that we have a real challenge is the church today; that's sharing Jesus story with an increasingly complex post-Christendom culture. In Christendom everyone was assumed to be part of the church. Everyone was assumed to know the basic story about who Jesus was and what it means to follow him. Years ago it was assumed that everyone had church family and that everyone, especially in a place like Minnesota that is so dominated by Lutherans and Catholics, had a church and a connection to Jesus.

We are engaged in a marketplace of ideas like never before

Our 7^th grader class, every year that I have been here as a pastor, have included many who come sent by parents for confirmation not even knowing the Lord's Prayer. Sometimes as many as 2 in 3 start out having attended church less than monthly.

Our 8^th graders, just this past week, invited 2 of their classmates who came to our Wednesday night worship service curious if they could come and be part of our church. If you've ever wondered how to be engaged in the post-Christendom world just look at our 7^th and 8^th graders because they are living in it every single day. Jesus came to be light and we are sent to carry that light just as they are doing into the world as it is.

Herod feared this infant. Those who love power more than other people always fear Jesus. In the story we find ourselves and others from different cultures worshiping the same God revealed in Jesus. Danger and darkness are real. Herod was ready to unleash death; but Jesus came to bring light and life. And this is our moment as church to share the light and life that he has brought to each of us.

Advent 4a Dec 23 2007

Who's dream was it anyway?

Joseph was asleep and he did what people do in a deep sleep. He was dreaming.

A little while before he thought he knew what his dreams were and what was coming next in his life. He was engaged to marry a young woman named Mary. He most likely dreamed of having children, building a home, and getting on with life with her. Joseph's plans took a turn with the news that Mary was pregnant. He knew that the child wasn't his; and he chose to look away from his dreams involving her and start over in a new direction. Matthew said he was an honorable man who chose simply to let it be leaving her behind quietly rather than expose her to shame and possibly death by stoning for adultery. Its painful to loose a dream like Joseph; much of our identity is shaped by our hopes and dreams. Its tough to see those hopes and dreams fall away.

We've all got dreams. We've all got things we want to do and things we worry about in time and these things surface in our dreams. Christmas is a great time to talk about dreams. The dream that Mary had as she accepted Jesus. The dream that Joseph had, and the dreams that our kids have of toys and food and fun. As our lives change our dreams can be very different. I know from first hand experience that dreams of a little kid at Christmas are different from the dreams of a teenager and those dreams are different than a dad and I can't imagine what all will change in my dreams over a lifetime.

A friend of mine is married to a woman he calls, “an Olympic class dreamer.” He says that he sort of dreams, but her dreams have more detail than real life does for him. He said that one morning he woke up about a year ago sore after she punched him hard in the shoulder. He woke up startled. It must have been about 5 am when he blurted out, “Ouch” She said that he'd been such a jerk in her dream that she just had to let him know how mad she was at him. He muttered something back like, “Honey whatever it was I'm sorry now and I'm sure I'll be sorry if you just get back to sleep.” “I knew you'd say that, you just said it in my dream. I'm sorry too.” He rolled over and went back to sleep pretty fast. She just couldn't fall back to sleep as easily that night; her dream had been too vivid to let go of so quickly.

Dreams are part of maybe a third of our lives if we sleep 8 hours a day. They can haunt us and move us. They can motivate and transform us. Joseph was asleep when this one particular dream came along. His day to day life sure wasn't going as planned anymore. He had huge decisions to make that he hadn't planned to ever make. Mary was pregnant and he wasn't the father. He could walk away, he could stay and keep the child knowing the secret, or he could demand justice and see that Mary's blood be spilled because of her sin and the disgrace she'd brought to both of them. What do you do when you have a huge decision to make. How many people say, “let me sleep on it.”

He was going to leave Mary behind and start over. He went to bed to sleep on this huge decision that he had just about made. He chose to divorce her quietly rather than publicly demanding her punishment. And he settled down to sleep.

God has dreams all his own. His dreams are sometimes very different than ours and at other times God uses dreams to communicate his will so very vividly with all of us that we our will and God's will becomes one. Maybe you remember these prophetic words,

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

Dreams aren't our reality but they point us to the reality that God is guiding us toward. Martin Luther King is best known for speaking about this dream. It was a dream that moved a nation; because it wasn't his alone indeed this dream was God's. God uses dreams repeatedly and purposefully. Being attentive to God's dreams help us see things through God's eyes and not our own. God uses dreams like Joseph had to show us the world not as it is but as God intends it to be.

In the night an angel appeared in Joseph's dream. The angel began speaking to him calling him by name, “Joseph son of David...” Then came these words of assurance, "fear not..." Sure Joseph had dreams before; but this one dream was different. This one dream wasn't Joseph's own personal property any longer. He shared this dream with God too. Angels, when they appeared in scripture, often started speaking with the words, “fear not.” God's presence has to often been softened in our imaginations. Most people think of angels as chubby little kids who look sweet and innocent. We imagine angels as women or children who are delicate and sweet and soft. We think they scoot around on pillow-soft clouds strumming harps. But the angels of scripture appeared so powerfully and dramatically that they would have inspired fear even if they were encountered in dreams. The angels of God were warriors ready to do battle against evil in all its forms. They came not just to strum little harps they brought messages straight from God to let God's will be known in our world.

The angel said to Joseph, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,” this angel knew exactly what Joseph was planning to do. He knew that Joseph was a good man, a righteous man, who was trying to find a quiet way to protect both himself and Mary from public disgrace. And now he asked Joseph to take on a responsibility that he didn't want. He asked him to take on the possibility of shame that would come from raising a child that wasn't his own. The angel explained plainly something that no one could have imagined, “the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Had anyone else said this I doubt that Joseph would have believed. We know where babies come from. But this dream was giving Joseph a sense of peace that he didn't have as he lay down to sleep ready to quietly end his engagement.

In Christmas we see the story of God unfolding in our everyday life. Joseph and Mary were not extraordinary; the child in her body was God in flesh but everything else was so ordinary. The feelings, fears and hopes were so ordinary until the dream came for Mary and she conceived a child without knowing a man and he came to accept that he was called to love this woman and this child regardless of what the wagging tongues in town might say.

Joseph's meeting with an angel in a dream started his life, and the whole world in turn, on a different course than he expected. The prophet Isaiah said, 14 The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be pregnant. She will have a son, and she will name him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating milk curds and honey when he learns to reject what is evil and to choose what is good. NCV (New Century Version)

Joseph and Mary weren't in this alone. God was going with them into history. He was coming, the angels declared his presence to them, now they both were called to live it out. They had different dreams but both pointed them to what God was up to in this one child Jesus. The dreams were one of God's points of contact in their lives. Even before the dreams they had to word of the prophets to reveal the will of God to them.

The point the angels were making in dreams to Mary and to Joseph, and that Matthew is trying to make for us years later, is that they shared shared in a long standing dream with God. They separately dreamed at night of a child they would call Jesus. The prophets dreamed of the one who we would call Emmanuel; God with us. Christmas is about seeing God's dreams made real in our time.

AMEN