The Fourth Sunday in Lent ---- 28 February 2016

Luke 13:1-9

1 At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ² He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? ³ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. ⁴ Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem?⁵ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did." ⁶ Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. ⁷ So he said to the gardener, "See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' ⁸ He replied, "Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.' "

but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.

·        Who here has seen their own face?

·        Not a photo or a mirror’s reflection, but your own face. It sounds silly, but it really can’t be done. We know what we look like but we’ve never seen our own faces with our own eyes. We’ve seen photos and reflections in a mirror, but those aren’t our own faces.

·        As it is with so many things in human life, it is usually easier to see another’s sins than to see our own. Other people’s sins may be glaring errors, annoying faults, or down-right crimes. But our sins are peccadillos or less-than-perfect character traits or things to be ignored. I don’t know of any person who really, really enjoys having their sins pointed out to them. It’s a hard lesson and a tough row to hoe. Yet we are reminded of our faults and failings at almost every turn. In fact, we remind ourselves of that almost every time we begin our worship in this space. To look into that mirror can be depressing.

·        What sin leads to is also a concern. In Luke, Jesus takes on the people’s idea that those who were massacred by Pilate or the people killed in the accident where a tower collapsed. The prevailing wisdom held that those people were sinners specifically punished by death in those events. Jesus tells his listeners that sin and death are not cause and effect. You can’t say that this sin caused the suffering of a person in some event or that punishment followed the crime. This idea was quite current in Jesus’ time and can be found in the book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. Among other things, this book tied suffering and death to specific instances of sin and sinfulness. The really odd thing that comes from this is the fact that the Book of Job asks why the innocent suffer all through-out the book. Jesus’ understanding of human life is in line with this.

·        He then goes on to say but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did. Those deaths were independent of any sinfulness of those who suffered, and unless his hearers repent, death without repentance will surely come.

·        What Jesus is telling his listeners is that life is uncertain and although there always appears to be time to repent and change our ways, there is no guarantee of that. Jesus uses well-known current events as examples. Those Galileans whom Pilate put to death were not the worst sinners and they suddenly died none-the-less, very possibly without any warning. Pilate was known for his cruelty and that cruelty was probably unpredictable.

·        In the same way, the people killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed were neither the worst of sinners nor were they able to know of the coming fall of the tower. As with most disasters, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, not because their sins drove them there, but because they happened to be at the tower when it collapsed.

·        What Jesus is saying is this: the time of salvation is now. The time for repentance is right now. You can put it off, but you don’t know what tomorrow or even this afternoon will bring. He says don’t wait and put your life and spirit in jeopardy.

·        We are in the same boat today. We live our lives often without a care or a thought for our spirit and how we stand before God. We forget (or at least I forget) that the judgement of God is certain. We might forget that the life we live is given to us by grace and is sustained by grace. It is grace that leads for both repentance and forgiveness.

·        This is a very “Lutheran” concept. The first of the 95 Theses is this: When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. Repentance is not something reserved for pastors or for members of other churches; it is meant for all of us.

·        In the same way, forgiveness is meant for all of us.

·         A few years ago, a member of the congregation I served asked me a question. This question troubled me and a much as I’ve thought about it and considered it over the years, it still troubles me. This congregation member asked me this: “Why do we do the confession every week? None of us really sin, do we?” I have theological answers to that, but speaking as a pastor, I still don’t know just what to say to that question. I can only respond as I know myself to be.

·        Personally, I don’t need to hear that I’ve sinned. My own conscience keeps me quite aware of that. Of course, I often ignore sins I’m unaware of or would like to avoid. Often my own sinfulness is not pointed out to me until something I do or something I read helps me to see it. It is easy for me to fall into the trap of seeing only sin and hearing that interior voice that condemns me. What I DO need to hear is a voice outside of me telling me that God forgives me. That’s why I rejoice in the confession.

·        What it comes down to is this: The time to repent is always NOW. It is always now since the future is uncertain. The fragile nature of our lives lends a sense of urgency to the call to repent. The Good News is that God understands and when God calls us to repentance, it is not to heap on condemnations, but to welcome us back to the surprising love of God that we might have forgotten. Remember the words of Isaiah:

Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The Second Sunday in Lent ---- 21 February 2014

Luke 13:31-35

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." ³² He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, "Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. ³³ Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.' ³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! ³⁵ See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' "

Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. 

v In the Gospel reading, some Pharisees have come to warn Jesus about Herod’s plots against him. Commentators are not sure if these people were friends of Jesus trying to save him, or manipulators their own political agenda, or enemies of Jesus trying to stop him from fulfilling his mission in Jerusalem. We’ll never really know.

v What we know is that Jesus refused to change his mission and his desire to go to Jerusalem despite any warnings about Herod and his plots.

v Jesus knows full well that he faces opposition. Herod and the Roman authorities see him as someone after their power. The Temple authorities see him as a threat to the moral leadership they see as their right. Some of his followers see him as the right man to lead the people in revolution and to restore the Kingdom to Israel (and themselves, of course.)

v Yes, Jesus knew and expected to be opposed. After all, what he had to say was opposed to everything that the powers of the world stood for and still stand for.

v As followers and disciples of Jesus will can expect to be opposed as well. The really surprising thing – to me anyway – is the attitude among some people that the Christian life should lead to health, wealth, and the pinnacle of daily happiness.

v Being a Christian is no easy thing. Jesus was quite clear that to follow him means to take up your cross and follow him. There is very little that is clearer in the Gospels, especially when we are speaking about discipleship.

v It would be great to think that faith in Jesus would make everything find and dandy, but we’d be kidding ourselves with that. It’s been said that the promise of all bogus religion is the promise of a peaceful life without pain. We’re all adult enough to know such promises not to be true.

v The opposition we face can be the same sort of persecution, ridicule, or misunderstanding that Jesus faced. The opposition might also be internal – temptation, fear, or doubt, for example. When we’re in the midst of these, there is no need to lose heart. We can remember that Jesus faced these as well.

v Jesus is intent upon going to Jerusalem, even if it means his death. In a way, this might be the reason that the Pharisees warned him of Herod’s plots; if he was warned, he might avoid Jerusalem. This would not be the case. Jesus had to go to Jerusalem and complete his work there and only there.

v At the end of the passage that was read today, Jesus goes on to say I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' " which is exactly what was said as he entered Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. His ministry and his travels throughout Judea are all tied to his final work, which can often be seen as the sacrifice of the Cross.

v There is more to it than that. Even the opposition he endures shows his message. If the message of Jesus opposes what all the powers of the world uphold and stand for, then the message of Jesus exposes all that the powers of the world stand for. To preach justice exposes the injustice around. To really preach concern for the poor and the oppressed shows the poverty and the oppression that people endure.

v In a similar manner, to preach about forgiveness requires that sin be realized and acknowledged.

v Finally we come to the greatest opposition – the opposition of life by death. Jesus preached new life and to preach life acknowledges that death exists. This, of course, is fresh news to no one at all. Death is the constant companion and constant opposite of life. It is the great leveler and the destroyer of all our dreams and hopes… or so we think. Jesus is thinking otherwise. His casting out of demons and performing cures today and tomorrow shows his constant concern for and opposition to all that could bring death to the human family.

v Jesus says that his work is finished on the third day - and on the third day I finish my work.  Whenever the Gospels speak of “the third day”, the Gospels are telling the Good News of one thing and one thing only – the day of Resurrection. With the defeat of death, Jesus final work is done for all time… and for us.

The First Sunday in Lent ---- 14 February 2016

Luke 4:1-13

1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, ² where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. ³ The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." ⁴ Jesus answered him, "It is written, "One does not live by bread alone.' " ⁵ Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.⁶ And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." ⁸ Jesus answered him, "It is written, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.' " ⁹ Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, ¹⁰ for it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' ¹¹ and "On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.' " ¹² Jesus answered him, "It is said, "Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' " ¹³ When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.

§  Is today’s reading about Lent? No, Lent is about today’s reading.

§  A short time ago, I met with other Lutheran pastors of our district. We do this monthly for most of the year. One pastor – a pastor I greatly respect – said that he was “giving up Lent for Lent.” He felt that Lent was the “least Lutheran” thing anyone could do, so he was not going to keep Lent.

§  Okay, fine. I respect his point of view… even if I don’t agree with it. Personally, I think that Lent is important.

§  What is Lent about? Lent is about preparation for Easter and all that Easter celebrates.

§  Where did it come from? The way we keep Lent comes from the early church’s way of preparing people for Baptism. In times long past, the church only baptized at Easter and actually at the Great Vigil of Easter, an all-night vigil of prayer, readings, and hymns culminating in Baptism and Holy Communion. Before Baptism, the candidates were not present for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper; they were dismissed after the sermon to attend teaching. The forty days just prior to their Baptism were an intense time of prayer and preparation. The forty days was set to reflect both Jesus’ time in the desert and the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert of Sinai.

§  As time went on and the Church became more “mainstream” and part of the local society, some Christians desired ways to live the Christian life more intensely. Some chose to become monks and nuns, living lives of solitude, prayer, poverty, and work in deserts or wilderness areas depending on where they lived. (For example, there are deserts in Egypt, but not in Italy, so they went up the mountains there.) Other believers stayed in their homes and took on the discipline of those preparing for Baptism – prayer, fasting, community living, voluntary poverty, and study.

§  …Which leads us to today. There’s no sense harping on what we can do or give up for Lent. Sometimes that can lead to one-upmanship among believers. “Oh, you only gave up chocolate? I gave up meat!”

§  If we keep any sort of Lent, it should lead us to this question: Does Lent lead us away from an understanding of salvation by grace? If all the attention in Lent is on what we give up, what we take on, and on what we do, what does that say about the grace of God, the grace by which we are saved? Some of this does sound like that dreaded Lutheran concept – “works righteousness” or in more modern terms “Do-it-yourself salvation.”

§  DIY is great, if you’ve got the skills and the tools and the time. It just doesn’t work for eternal life and salvation. To think we can do it ourselves actually turns us away from God.

§  Our Gospel reading is full of this DIY salvation. The Devil tempts Jesus with the full belly, the earthly power we all want, and the desire to call the shots for God. “All you have to do is worship me… or misuse your relationship with the Father… or put your belly rumbles over everything else.”

§  I’ll always remember and be grateful for the insight of a rabbi I knew. He said the first sin of all humans is against the first Commandment. The other nine on the tablets are commentary. What is the first Commandment of the Ten? “I am the Lord. You shall have no other gods.” And it’s very easy to make ourselves our own god whose will may not be denied.

§  Jesus was tempted but did not give in to those temptations. He quoted scripture and fixed his eyes elsewhere, beyond his own desires and needs.

§  So Lent can be a time of effort and works done for the wrong reasons, but I think it can also be a time in our year that reinforces our need for grace. If Lent does nothing more that remind us that we are not the author of our own salvation and that we are not the centre of the universe, its true purpose had been accomplished.

§  The only thing left then is gratitude, gratitude for the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. If we keep a Lent that reminds us that we are not gods or even angels, it’ll be a good Lent. If we keep a Lent that reminds us that we are not cattle, but heirs of the Father’s promises.

§  When Jesus went into the desert, it was after his baptism in the Jordan. He faced hunger, thirst, temptations, and God only knows what else out there. Deserts and wilderness places have a way of clearing the head and driving away common distractions. There are those who see Lent as the Christian’s time in the desert, facing temptation like Jesus or following the light of God to the Promised Land like the Israelites.

§  Whatever we might make of Lent, if it unmasks the temptations we all know, then we will also know our own need of grace. We can remember that Jesus was tempted just as we are tempted. Luke even goes on to say that the tempter left Jesus until an opportune time.

§  Whether we see it as a wilderness time, a time of temptation, or a purple-vested pain, it can be a time of grace, if we remember that we are saved by grace. And if that memory leads us to say “thank you” more often, all the better.

§  Be open to grace, and seek the Lord in all you do. You never know where God and God’s grace might be found.

Transfiguration ----- 7 February 2016

Luke 9:28-36, (37-43)

28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³⁰ Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. ³¹ They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"—not knowing what he said. ³⁴ While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ Then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" ³⁶ When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen. [37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸ Just then a man from the crowd shouted, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. ³⁹ Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not." ⁴¹ Jesus answered, "You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here." ⁴² While he was coming, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And all were astounded at the greatness of God.]

and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. 

·        Jesus took his friends up the mountain and was transfigured before them. That’s just what our reading says. Of course, the presence of Moses and Elijah and the voice of God coming from the cloud are added to the mix.

·        Our reading begins with a reminder of what went before: Now about eight days after these sayings…  The sayings are Jesus’ question to the disciples regarding his identity, Peter’s declaration that Jesus is the Messiah of God, and Jesus’ words about his own death and the necessity of each of us taking up our cross.

·        Just a little more than a week later - Now about eight days after these sayings  - Jesus is transfigured on the mountain, spoke with Moses and Elijah, has his identity confirmed by the voice of the Father, dealt with the terror of Peter, James, and John, and returned to everyday life as we might call it.

·        In one brief incident, the past, the present, and the future are all there. The past can be seen in the presence of Moses the Law-giver, and Elijah the prophet who is the model for all the Hebrew prophets. Whatever Jesus said and did built on the foundation of Law and the Prophets. Jesus even said that he was the fulfillment of the Law. His concerns for justice and for the poor and the alienated is in line with all that any of the prophets said.

·        The present is seen in the experience of Jesus and the disciples and in the incident that is seen the next day with the possessed boy and the inability of the disciples to cast out the unclean spirit. The exorcism of the unclean spirit, as fantastic as it may seem to us, is the everyday in the understanding of the people of the times. To come down the mountain after an even like the Transfiguration and to be faced with an unclean spirit that the other disciples failed to cast out would be a cold slap of reality.

·        The presence of the future needs some explanation. What the disciples experienced on the mountain was extraordinary to say the least. They saw Jesus in a different light and they saw him in his glory. I don’t think we can say the three saw Jesus “as he really is”, because they knew Jesus as he really is – a human teacher in the flesh, born of woman and teaching the truth in the everyday world. What they did see was the entirety of Jesus. In the Transfiguration, they perceived Jesus in his full divinity as the glorious Word. Revealed as both God and man, Jesus was the person they always knew; they just didn’t know all of him.

·        The future yet to be experienced holds the full revelation of just who Jesus is. The disciples experienced this in a way that they could not understand. Because of that, they were terrified. Peter even began to say things that did not make sense, asking to build three dwellings on the mountain for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Luke says Peter didn’t really know what he said. That’s no surprise since Peter is always the first among the disciples to speak his mind, whether or not his thoughts were fully formed.

·        After the events on the mountain, Peter, James, and John remained silent about what they had experienced. Silence was probably the best response. I don’t know what they could have said. They must have spent time trying to make sense of all these things, especially digesting the new understanding they received of a “suffering Messiah.”

·        This section of Luke’s Gospel reveals a lot about Jesus, who he is, and what his mission is.

·        He will not be the Messiah that people expect, setting up an earthly kingdom with all its privilege, court etiquette, and power politics.

·        He expects his disciples to follow him in the way of the cross, the way he walked. He also makes his disciples part of the story of the Kingdom and of salvation, not simply spectators.

·        He would reveal his glory in two ways, both of which are absolutely true; his glory is seen where we’d like to see it - in the cloud, the voice, and the presence on the mountain. His glory is seen every bit as much in the place we’d rather not see it – on the cross.

·        Luke says the three disciples, apparently Jesus’ closest friends, were terrified by their experience on the mountain top. Going aside to pray, they would expect; these are the same disciples who accompanied Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. What they say and heard on the mountain, they did not expect and they had to mull it over for quite a while. It would take the Resurrection for it all to make sense.

·        It might not be any different for us. We build on the revelation of the Hebrew Bible. We hear the words of Christ, calling us to a new life and a new creation. We don’t live on the mountain of light and cloud, but on streets where we and all sorts of people travel to a hopeful and an as-yet unknown future. We know the story and we still look to the greatest of mysteries, the Resurrection, to make sense of it all.

·        Fellow disciples, don’t be afraid… even if you’re confused and scared to death. Remember what the voice on the mountain said: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"