Reacting to Atrocity

Biblical Texts: Luke 7:18-28, Matt 5:1-12
Full Sermon Draft

St. Augustine, in a sermon long ago, said: Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.

We have been hearing lots of calls for action and change in the wake of another school shooting. But most of the calls that I’ve heard have been forms of taking something away from the other guy. Take the guns away. Lock up or medicate the mentally off. Everybody thinking they are safely on the other side of some bright moral line. Nobody looking at the culture that we collectively produce and allow. Looking at that would put us all on the same side of that moral line. We might have to repent i.e. change. But, such as we are, such are the times.

Until we are willing to really change, to live well as Augustine would define that, things like Newtown will continue to happen. We are simply staring in a mirror. And the deepest gospel, in the middle of this Advent season, is Come Lord Jesus. That is the only thing that finally changes the image in the mirror.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

A Specific Peace

The word peace in the Gospel according to Luke is a big word. This was the First Sunday in Advent and the gospel lesson is often the triumphal entry or Palm Sunday. The theological theme of the that text is the Kingship of Jesus. No different in Luke, but Luke adds this strange cry from the crowd leading Jesus into Jerusalem. “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! (Luk 19:38 ESV)” Did you catch the strange word? Peace in Heaven. The entire phrase is an echo of the Angels at Christmas, but instead of peace on earth, now it is peace in heaven. And if you do the word study, roughly midway through Luke you find this, “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. (Luk 12:51 ESV)”

The peace of God is not a generic peace. The Angels were never singing just “peace on earth”. They sang “on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! (Luk 2:14 ESV)” The specific peace is the Kingdom of God, the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The specific peace is one imposed…through grace. You can take it or you can leave it, but you can’t work for it. You can’t earn the peace. The Father just declared it. The war was over on the cross.

The only question is our response. Do we accept the peace, or continue an insurgent war. Which Kingdom do we choose, the Kingdom of this World, or the Kingdom of Heaven. The tyrant Satan or the humble Christ. Choose your prince.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Standby by for some Announcements…

Sermon Text: Luke 1:26-38
Full Text of Sermon

I’m not sure why but Advent 4 (Mary’s week in the lectionary) and Thanksgiving are probably the two occasions that I almost always feel real good about the sermon. On firm Lutheran grounding I’d just say that they are opportunities to proclaim a very clear gospel. In my theological understanding I’d say they are times that give themselves to Christology – and the gospel is first and foremost a proclamation of Christ. If I was being a little more spiritual and sentimental (or Roman Catholic) – I’d say an extra measure of the Spirit is given to preachers talking about Jesus’ mom or eucharist/thanksgiving. Whatever the reason, this a sermon that all I can really say is take a listen…

If I don’t get back here this week, I hope to see you at Christmas Eve or Christmas day services. If you are a remote reader/listener, Merry Christmas and please find a church to celebrate Christmas with this week in your hometown.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ the Son of God

Sermon Text Mark 1:1-8
Full Text of Sermon

Mark’s gospel as we have it full of odd turns. He boldly states as his first words the title of this post. But the climax of the story is the cross. The demons and the Roman Centurion crucifying Jesus are the only people in the story who recognize the Son of God. Peter might see the Christ, but not the Son. The last scene is the women running confused from the tomb. A reader might ask how such a story is Good News – a Christ who is defeated, disciples who scatter, proclamation of resurrection that causes fear and flight.

It is good news because of the totality of the story. God has acted. God continues to act. God continues with beginnings. God continues guiding beginnings to proper endings. But Mark knows that those stories are not simple. There are no easy epiphanies. We hear the Christmas angels and wonder what that could mean. We read the prophets and are stupefied at times. We run with those women away from that angel in the tomb. We’ve heard the good news, but we don’t know the good news. Not in our bones. As Origen says that requires the heart, not the head. We prepare our hearts. We keep our paths straight. We live under the cross, to instruct the heart. So that we might one day know the depth of the good news of Jesus Christ – The Son of God. The Son of God who knows our beginnings, our middles and our ends.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Pick it up and read it / Prepare for the Coming King

Full Text

First comment, the Thanksgiving sermon was the better sermon this week. Page down and read that one if you didn’t hear it. That one was winsome and inviting and still crunchy, which by that I mean it had a message behind it that didn’t duck reality. This Sunday sermon was crunchy, but winsome…not so much. Which is a deep error when you are trying to get people to do something. In this case pick up the bible and read it.

It was the first Sunday of Advent which means it is new years day in the church. The lectionary rolls over to a different gospel, this year Matthew. The text was Matt 21:1-11 which is the triumphal entry or Palm Sunday. The main textual point is the welcoming of a king. That day 2000 years ago they welcomed a king who came humbly, but wanted the one who came in righteousness. Somewhere in the future, we welcome a king who comes in righteousness, but what is our impression of Jesus? How do we prepare for the coming of a King?

If the Gallup pole is right, we don’t prepare at all. We probably spend more time preparing for Santa than for Christ. And there are many multiple ways of preparing. Reading the scriptures is not the only way of being in the Word. But it is the seedbed. The scriptures are the authoritative way that God has chosen to speak to us. And here I go ranting again. Being open to the scriptures is just that important. Emotionally, I’m grabbing everyone I can by the lapels and shaking – these words are life. Its that important. Make time for it. Make sure your lamps have oil.

I ended the sermon with three questions. Three questions that a Bible literate loving people could chew on. I think these three questions might get to the core spiritual problem of today. I’ve got some personal answers to them, but they are dangerous and tough. And they require a people grounded on the truth of scripture.

1) What does it mean for how we should be living if the first time he came humble, but with righteousness the next time?
2) Where are we like the Galileans hailing the Galilean messiah today, going home and letting Jerusalem do to our messiah as it wills? [That is a question for laymen and women – because we clergy are probably the Jerusalem.]
3) How does a church forced out to the margins of society – forced to live from the Mount of Olives – respond like David – “weeping for the son who forced him out”?

What did you come to see? – Luke 7:18-28 – Advent 3

Full Text

Text: Luke 7:18-28

The middle two weeks of advent are the weeks of John the Baptist. He’s a forgotten figure in modern Christianity. He doesn’t seem to have much meaning or purpose. We continue to read the stories of the patriarchs. We will talk about the OT prophets. We will give due to the apotles. The later church fathers will also be discusses. John the Baptist, who Jesus declares to be the greatest born of woman, gets left out.

One really good reason is that he more or less gets subsumed under Christ. The life and mission of Jesus overwhelm John who doesn’t leave any writings outside of the voice captured in the gospels. But that doesn’t account for it alone. I think it has more to do with the baptist’s message. It is a sparse and clear proclamation -repent, be baptized and bring forth the fruits of repentance. It is a message that Jesus picks up (Mark 1:14-15).

So much of life is spent finding the middle way. And that is usually the course of wisdom. Stay away from the extremes. Find the middle path through the mess. Just that in regards to truth, finding the middle way leaves you with nothing. God’s grace is not found by splitting the difference with the Baptist. I’ll admit I sin, but living the life or repentance seems extreme. Why this thing called baptism? Isn’t there something grander or more meaningful? The middle way would seem to ask for more than baptism as a sign and seal. In Luke even John seems to have questions. John has not followed the middle way, but things aren’t looking like he expected. He asks Jesus, “are you the one?”

And Jesus doesn’t apologize for the form of grace or the proclamation one bit. In fact he turns to the crowds and asks what did they come to see? They all came to see a prophet. They recognized a truth in John (and in Jesus) that was not just natural wisdom. And that recognition requires more than a middle way response. If you came to see a prophet, and the prophet says God’s grace is here, in water and word, in a crucified peasant, then we should align ourselves with that grace.

It is a great question to many people who come to churches. What did you come to see? If you came to see anything other than the presant grace of God, you’ve got the wrong purpose. Ask youself, what did you come to see? Does the answer require you to make changes?

Sermon – Luke 1:26-38 – Mary replied I am the slave of the Lord

Underware. That is the term for too much sermon prep work actually making it into the sermon. That was what this one was. There is a really good 700 word meditation at the end, preceeded by 700 words that should not have made it into the final draft.

It is not that the first 700 words are bad. They helped the preacher in understanding and picking that one thread to tug on, but the hearers did not have to hear that.

This was the Sunday of the children’s Christmas service. The older tradition was that the Christmas Eve was the Children’s pageant. In our hurried world we cancel Christmas Day, mvoe the kids to Advent 4 and Christmas Eve becomes the Christmas worship. So, the kids – who are like the old Hollywood saying about being in a movie with kids or animals – don’t – they do two things. 1) They are so cute that anything after them is wasted breath. 2) Congregations are either packed or empty for the kids program. I’ll leave you to think why that is so. What used to be done over three hours or three services (Advent 4, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day) with the time to actually think about the day and its events is done in one day.

I can’t help but think that might be a problem. It says something about a lack of communion in the body of Christ – especially if your congregation falls on the empty side. When 51 of 52 weeks the kids are banished to the nursery so the adults have their worship and then the adult stays away on the 52 sunday for the kids. Is there a connection between not making time for the Christ child and the fact that most of the children have drifted away from the faith and if not the faith the church?

Advent Sermon – Symbols of Things – Zechariah 3:8

This was the last mid-week sermon. We had been roughly following a chain of OT promises of the messiah. The first grouping was about a savior/prophet. The second group were kingly predictions. The last group was priestly predictions. I didn’t start out with prophet, priest and king, but that was always latent and it became more obvious. It also made sense to work from prophet, a more or less completely fulfilled role, to the king, which is fulfilled but hidden, and end with the priest, which sacrificial respect is fulfilled but the presense of God sense remains.

Like when Paul talks about Faith, Hope and Love with the greatest being love becuase while faith and hope give way to knowing love will remain, two of the roles of prophet, priest and king will disappear. We will not need a prophet as all will be known. We will not need a priest as God will be with His people and they will have been remade. We will still have a King.

Sermon – Bad Coinage – 1 Thess 5:16-24

After preaching in what is called a lectio continua (a continuous reading) for most of the summer, fall and early winter, the advent texts are herky jerky. One moment you are in Mark and the Next you are in John or Isaiah or Paul. Since I used the Markan text for John the baptist last week (and Mark is the primary Gospel this year), I didn’t jump on the Baptist from John. The Paul text just jumped out at me on second reading. I broke a rule about choosing a text and sticking with it as I changed texts last Tuesday after going not the Baptist again.

I am glad I did. There are many things I like about this sermon. I still wish I was better at merging interesting life stories into sermons, or maybe that is just I wish I was a better storyteller. I’m afraid my sermons too often may come off like lectures. The story I feel best prepared to tell is the biblical story, the story behind the readings. And I am getting more confident in talking about intersections of that story and our modern existence. I think this sermon did that as well as I am able to right now.

Too much of religion is just our own version of oral tradition. We make up laws or only look for laws from religion. Christianity gets reduced to ethics. The resurrection of the Son of God morphs into the Judeo-Christian tradition. That is not what we are waiting for – more tradition or laws. We are waiting for resurrection, the revealing of glory, the kingdom come. Our temporary problems with sin and the old order of things passing away are inconsequential to what the Spirit is working in us and the salvation given through Jesus Christ. Religion is about hope and joy and prayer and thanksgiving. Not about do’s and don’ts.

Advent Mid-week Sermon – The Problems of a King

In the modern world Christians who are looking forward to a coming King have a problem. Christopher Hitchens goes right at that problem. The idea of a King is oppressive in a world of democracies.

Somewhat surprisingly the answer is part affirmation of what Hitchens says – a Holy King is a scary dictator. We are sinful beings. Being judged by the Holy is not what we want. But God has demonstrated his Love for us while we were still cowering in fear. He gave up all the opulence of the best kingdom and tool the lowest rung to show his love. That is love we can trust.

I liked this sermon. If you’ve got 5 mins or have read Hitchens before, give it a click and scan it.