The Festival of the Transfiguration of Our Lord ---- 23 February 2020

Matthew 17:1-9

1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

§  Our Lutheran Church puts the festival of the Transfiguration just before the beginning of Lent for much the same reason it appears in the Gospel. In the Gospels, the event is placed just before Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem and his death there. The story of the Transfiguration is place to show encouragement to the disciples before the horrifying events of Calvary… and possible as a foretaste of Easter Sunday.

§  Jesus is show in glory and in normal human guise and he touches his disciples and tells them not to fear.

§  So we might ask: Is he a Divine being masquerading as a human or a human raised to the status of Divine being? Just who and what is this Jesus?

§  The answer is not really simple. In Matthew’s Gospel, this even takes place just after Peter’s confession: You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus also declares that his disciples must take up their cross and follow him. It seems there is no following of Jesus without the cross.

§  As for what we call the Transfiguration, it shows the disciples and us that Jesus is who he is; not “either/or” but “both/and.” Heaven and earth meet in him and because of him, they are not separated any longer.

§  I realize that this will be confusing to us. We like things in nice clean and defined categories. We don’t like “messy” things that flow over into other things. But that is not reality as we perceive it if we look closely.

§  Jesus show us that heaven and earth are not really separate places. In his birth, what is considered divine becomes part of our earthly reality on a full time basis, not simply a visit.

§  In the Scriptures, the places where the separation of heaven and earth is least powerful and least seen are the so-called ‘high places’, the mountains. Some ancient cultures even built artificial mountains for their temples. I suppose to the human mind the higher a thing is, the closer it is to heaven.

§  The Gospels speak of three mountains, each of which are the site of a special and specific revelation about Jesus and the Kingdom. They are – the mountain where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount; Mount Tabor – the mountain of Transfiguration; and Mount Calvary – the hill of crucifixion.

§  Looking over the entire Bible, we’d need to add Mount Sinai where Moses receives the Law. In all cases, the high places are high points in the history of salvation.

§  On that mountain with Jesus’ face shining like the sun and his clothes becoming dazzlingly white, the disciples – Peter, James, and John – saw him transfigured and they saw him in his everyday ways. And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. That would be how they continued to see him until his Resurrection and seeing him there took some recognizing.

§  We don’t often – if ever – see Jesus transfigured as he was on the mountain, although we may have seen his disciples around us transfigured in a way. I think we’ve all seen Jesus through the lives of the Christians around us and I hope we always will.

§  It is possible that each and every one of us can be transfigured so that the presence and maybe even the glory of Jesus could be seen through us. Whether that is the case for us or not, there are things we can  take with us today.

§  The three disciples heard the voice from the bright cloud tell them “This is my Son, the beloved... Listen to him!” As disciples of Jesus, this listening will be part and parcel of our lives. Hearing his Word in the Scriptures, whether preached or read is vital. We are called to be ‘hearers of the Word.’

§  When those terrified disciples finally looked up and saw Jesus by himself. He touched them and told them “Get up and do not be afraid.” No matter what they’d been through, he was with them still and he wanted them to walk with him and not be afraid. That’s both good advice and a good calling for each of us as well. Whenever something important in the Gospels happens, the watch word is “Do not be afraid.” The angels say it to the shepherds at the Nativity. Jesus says it to the disciples when he joins them after the Resurrection. Just so, we too are to get up and not be afraid as we get on with following Jesus. We are called to be ‘do-ers of the Word’ as well as hearers of the Word. This is how we follow Jesus today, tomorrow, and for as long as we live.

Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany --- 16 February 2020

Matthew 5:21-37

21 "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not murder'; and "whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, "You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. 27 "You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. 31 "It was also said, "Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, "You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let your word be "Yes, Yes' or "No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times…  But I say to you…

§  The Gospel passage we’ve heard this morning is a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount from Luke’s Gospel… and it is tough to hear. It doesn’t seem to be comforting like the Beatitudes and it is challenging, but maybe not in the way we think.

§  We might take note that Jesus is not giving a new law but rather is pointing out a renewed way of looking at the Law. A few verse prior to this in the text, he says not one stroke of any letter of the Law will be done away with. What he is talking about here is a radical reading of the Law and the life that surrounds it.

§  Radical is the right word for what is going on here. “Radical” come from a word related to “root” and Jesus is getting to the root of what the Law is about. It reads like a tougher interpretation of the Law and we’d have to say that it is. It is more radical and takes its base from something other than obedience to the letter of the Law and a fearful pleasing of God. Rather, Jesus interpretation is based on relationships and on a community centered around love rather than power and some sort of self-righteous obedience.

§  I have to be honest with you. This passage is hard to preach on because it is hard for me to hear. These words of Jesus continually convict me of my own sinfulness for I have sinned against (God …and others) in thought, word, and deed, by what (I) have done and by what (I) have left undone, to borrow the words of our confession. With this in mind, I can’t point fingers at anyone because – as Fr. Demetrius, the seminary librarian used to say – pointing one finger leaves three others pointing back at me.

§  Since this is part of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is still speaking to the poor and those considered to be sinners. To them, he says (as we heard last Sunday) For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. For some of these people, holding to the letter of the Law was the point of the Law. They used it as a club to belittle and intimidate those they called sinners, many of whom could not afford to keep the law perfectly. In short, many of them used their observance of the Law for the sake of power. That power built them up while pushing others down.

§  This keeping of the letter of the law is to focus on the self and how to stay pure and free from what might be called sin. There is even a possibility to define what sin means. The only relationship involved is the relationship with the self and how perfect “I” can be. What Jesus is teaching about is an outwardly focused relationship where the other person is not exploited for some more selfish purpose. It is not enough avoid murdering someone, since murder flows from anger within the person. The same goes for lust and name-calling and oath-taking. The failure and sin is not simply in the act but in the heart and spirit where the true break with God and with others can be found.

§  Should we take this message as one of condemnation and despair, we will have missed the boat. Yes, the bar is raised beyond a collection of deeds and actions to include the motivation to those actions, whether or not the thing is done. Yes, we are told that calling someone a “fool” or insulting someone leads to condemnation. Yes, we don’t like to be told we’ve done wrong, especially if we haven’t ‘done’ anything beyond feeling or desiring it. If it is the case that we wallow in despair, we forget the Gospel message of grace and salvation by grace.

§  We can’t deny we have all sinned some way or another. We also can’t deny that we can’t save ourselves, but rely solely on the grace of God for forgiveness and salvation.

§  As hard as this Gospel passage might be to hear, that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ for us. This is the Good News of God – salvation by grace and new life through that grace. That grace overcomes all sin and can even turn things to the better in a flourishing life of grace.

§  To end, I’d like to use a quote attributed to the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was executed in Flossenbürg concentration camp. In his written works, he is believed to have said “Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively going God’s will.”

The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany ----- 9 February 2020

Matthew 5:13-20

13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15 No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

You are the salt of the earth

·        What is salt used for? (asking the congregation)

o   Spice

o   A symbolic welcome and sign of hospitality in some places (bread & salt)

o   Preserving food (salting & brining)

o   Preparing food (dairy & cheese)

o   Cleansing wounds

o   Scrubbing wood cutting boards & Coffee pots (with ice)

o   Melting snow & ice

o   Removing water (hay barns)

o   Conditioning water (for soft water)

o   Retaining water (salt tablets)

(added by congregation members) - Killing weeds

                                                   - basic nutrition

o   What would pretzels be without salt? An edible toothpick maybe?

o   Are there any other uses? Admittedly, too much can be a problem, resulting in high blood pressure and other ailments. Too little is a problem as well. In another way, rough and truly plain speech is sometimes called “salty”, although this might not be a problem for many.

o   We can’t live without salt. Animals crave it. Our blood is said to be of a similar salt percentage as the oceans of this world. Salt and the need of it has caused political upheavals in history. It’s even been considered so valuable that it has been used as money.

o   In the sermon of the mount, Jesus tells his disciple “You ARE the salt of the earth…” He does not say “You will be the salt of the earth”, but that Jesus’ disciples are already the salt of the earth. They (and because of that, we) are already the spice, the preserving agent, the cleansing substance that the world needs. Without being too proud, we might say that the life of the human race – the people that need the mineral salt to live – need Jesus message lived out, shared, and spread by his disciples in order to have the fullness of life.

o   This is what discipleship is all about. One writer put it this way: We exist for mixing it up with the world. There are other passages of Scripture that compare Jesus’ disciples to leavening in bread dough. Without leaven, the bread would be flat and quite possibly tasteless. If we are “the salt of the earth” as Jesus says, it is not our own selves and our “saltiness” that we share, but the grace of God that we have received and live in, the grace our lives are meant to show.

o   What about the salt that has lost its taste? Such salt is really no longer salt. It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. There isn’t much to say about this except that we need our “saltiness” renewed all the time – in the reading and hearing of Scripture, in the Lord’s Supper, in the community of disciples found in the Church, and in sharing the common mission we all have.

o   Remember… we are already the salt of the earth. Jesus has declared us to be so, not at some future time or at some time when we get our act together and live in perfect faith and sinlessness. Jesus takes us just as we are and seasons the world… unfreezes the world… preserves the good in the world… and prepares a welcome in the world for the Kingdom of God… using us like good salt, the mineral and spice humans can’t live without.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany ---- 2 February 2020

{Because of weather, the congregation was unusually small. The brief announcement time prior to the Confession & Forgiveness included a short discussion of today as Palindrome Sunday (02.02.2020) and Groundhog Day as a church festival in some places.(a.k.a. Grundsautag)

Matthew 5:1-12

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.

2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

·        There are weeks when I sweat and strain to come up with a sermon to deliver on Sunday. Some of those days, I think that you and the Gospel would be better served by silence.

·        Then there’s days like today. I could preach on the passage from Micah: He has told you, O mortal, what is good… Or from Paul: but we proclaim Christ crucified… or "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." Or the Gospel which is Matthew’s telling of the Beatitudes. An embarrass-ment of riches, as the saying goes.

·        Let’s look at Matthew’s Beatitudes. “Beatitude” is derived from the Latin word for “Blessed” or “Happy.” The wording in English shows how that came about. Each of the “blessed” statements declares a group of people to be “happy” even though common wisdom would say the opposite.

·        How are the poor blessed? Does owning the Kingdom of Heaven put food on the table or clothes on their backs? How are the persecuted blessed? Or the mourning?

·        That doesn’t seem to be the point. Once again, Jesus is turning the common wisdom about God, God’s Kingdom, and grace on its ear. Everything is being turned upside down. Those who would most likely be pitied are being called blessed and happy. The turning turns everything around and it goes further beyond that.

·        The poor are not blessed because they are poor, but because they are part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Poverty itself is no blessing; in fact, in many ways it is a curse. Even those who voluntarily choose poverty as a way of life do not find it easy, even if they choose poverty to be aligned with the poor of the world. It’s still not easy.

·        The point of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is not to bless poverty or mourning or persecution, but to show that those who endure such things are no less the children of God than those who enjoy the material blessings that many have in this world. If fact, they are often the people who have a special place in the Kingdom.

·        This has been misused by a number of people in history to say that the poor will be blessed and their reward is in heaven, but they have to suffer here on earth. Some people have called this the “pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die” theology. That really doesn’t help anybody and it has been used as a tool of oppression.

·        Another point comes to light here. Jesus declares various people to be “blessed” or “happy”, even though we would be hard pressed to see them as such. If we look at the list of people declared blessed or happy, it appears that the circumstances noted there are things that each and every one of us goes through in some way or another during our lives.

·        Poor? Yes, some of us have been poor, but all of us – every last one of us – entered this world with nothing and will leave it with nothing. I may be taking it further than I should but we are all poor and all we have has been given to us, whether we think we’ve earned it by the sweat of our brow or not.

·        Mourning? Which one of us has not mourned the loss of a loved one, of a home, of something or someone that has influenced our lives? We all mourn and we are promised that we will all be comforted.

·        Meek? Meekness may not mean quietly accepting and never speaking up for ourselves. It can mean getting out of the way of another, restraining our own power to make room for others. We’ve all done that; every parent I know has done that.

·        Merciful? Where would any of us be without the mercy of someone else in our lives? Haven’t we all experienced the move toward mercy in our lives?

·        Pure of heart… peace making… persecuted “for righteousness sake”… hungering and thirsting for righteousness, a righteousness beyond ourselves… Jesus is offering a view of a blessing on every part of everyday life. He is calling for his disciples to take on a different mindset, one that searches for and rejoices in blessings in the everyday. That is what we are to share with each other as Christians.

·        As followers of Jesus, we take on a different outlook without sugar-coating anything. We can also come to know that the ordinary is far from ordinary, even if it is painful. Christ is with us in all these things. And so the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.

Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”