Immanuel Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion
    Monday 10 December 2012

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    NRSV Isaiah 12:2-3  Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

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    Salvation - is a word used by the Church quite a bit, after all, it is our mission to tell people about salvation. In the study of theology there is even a special branch of theological study called soteriology  - the study of the doctrine of salvation. So how well have we done our job as the Church? How would you define salvation; what does it mean to you? I asked my congregation to ponder this question during my sermon. I had a father of a young man, who is a 6th grader, tell me his son’s response: salvation means to be rescued. This works for me. But what are we rescued from and what are we rescued for? Martin Luther said salvation means we are rescued from sin, death and the devil. This is one side of the equation, but what are we rescued for? We have to be rescued  for something otherwise why be rescued at all?
        Sin does take its toll on us. Because of sin we are in need of rescue, so our lives can be salvaged. We are like a ship, we are at the helm and we have ignored the charts telling us about the reef; we have turned away from the advise of our pilot who warns us to be careful of the danger of obstacles ahead; we have been clueless regarding the weather and the impending storm breaking around us; we and we alone are responsible for running our ship up on the reef and wrecking the ship. We are on the reef and we can’t get off. Jesus is in charge of this salvage operation, Jesus will rescue us. Why would Jesus do this? Jesus sees the value in us, even though we are a shipwreck. Jesus gives his life to rescuing, restoring and salvaging us. Jesus wants us to reach the safe harbor, safe from storm and strife, where we will know peace, the peace that passes all human understanding. That safe harbor is timeless reunion and restoration with God. Through Jesus, we are able to be rescued and experience this divine fellowship with our creator, because God loves us.
        Right now our life is on the reef, the wind and waves batter us; we are in peril of breaking up. We seek to be rescued from our destruction and have our lives salvaged so we can experience this love of God and be secure in our relationship with God. Jesus is our salvation, Jesus rescues us and will pilot us to God’s peaceful and loving harbor. We wait for the one who will come rescue us and save us from destruction.

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    We pray: We have turned from You, O Lord; we face destruction. Only through Your Son, Jesus can we be rescued, saved from destruction and renew our relationship with You. Help us to wait and watch, and be ready. In Your Holy Name we pray.  Amen.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion

Monday  26 November 2012

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1 Thessalonians 3:10 - 12, NJB
We are earnestly praying night and day to be able to see you face to face again and make up any shortcomings in your faith. May God our Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, ease our path to you. May the Lord increase and enrich your love for each other and for all, so that it matches ours for you.

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      In this passage from 1st Thessalonians, I would say, Paul is being a little presumptive regarding his judgement of the faith of this worshiping community. Yet you can insert any congregation here. We all have shortcomings regarding our faith. But Paul’s prayer is an earnest request for God to be at work in this congregation. Paul wants to desperately visit with them. Paul loves them and cares for them. He wants them to grow in their love for Christ and for each other. It is my prayer, that Paul’s prayer would be for all congregations, in all times and places. Our human fallibility is not only open to doubts regarding our faith, but distrust, hostility towards one another. Unless you were living very primitively, far from American society, you were a witness to just how depraved and hostile we can be towards each other during this past political campaign. Our political campaigns now celebrate how debased this process has become, rather than being an enlightening and uplifting political process. We have sunk to the lowest common denominator, rather than aspiring to a virtuous ideal.
      Paul is calling on the Thessalonians to love each other and all people, but he is not saying they have to agree with all people. We all can love and care for each other. This is not that difficult to do. What is difficult to do, is setting aside our differences so that we can love and care for each other. Our humanity gets in the way of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God. We engage our divine calling of Kingdom building in fits and starts. It is hard to be a disciple and to be a Kingdom builder. Paul is calling us – with God’s help – to engage this process, to be faithful to this process, not to be successful at this process. We ourselves will never be able to bring about the Kingdom of God; only when Jesus returns will He be able to usher in God’s Kingdom. We start and work on building the Kingdom, Jesus will come and finish the job with us. This is God’s plan for us, this is how God fulfills the divine promise made to us. He sends His Son – to us. This is what we wait and watch for, patiently, with hopeful expectation.

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We pray: The apostle Paul prays for us to love and care for each other. Yet our human vices get in the way of our virtues. Forgive our shortcomings, help us to have courage to strive towards virtue and be righteous before you. In Your Holy Name we pray.  Amen.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion + Monday 6 December 2010

KJV Isaiah 11:6-7  The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

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        Since Susan and I have moved to Montana, we have met a few ranchers and learned about the faith filled but precarious business of ranching. Ranchers raising cattle or sheep faithfully care for the animals in their charge. Animal husbandry is part and parcel of the make up of a successful rancher. They are very attached to the animals in their care. If they want to be successful as a rancher, they have to be attentive to the cattle or sheep they care for.  Ranchers monitor the weather and work to protect new born calves or lambs from the elements. They check the pastures to insure the animals are able to eat nutritious grass and have access to water. The one thing ranchers are continually on the watch for are predators who would prey upon their animals, especially the new born. Coyotes, mountain lions, bears and as of late wolves, are a threat to the animals a rancher cares for; they are a threat to a ranchers livelihood.
        Isaiah is telling us of what to expect when the Messiah comes and initiates the reign of the Kingdom of God. This reign will be transformational for all of creation. There will be no predation of one animal against another. I dare say it would be very hard for a rancher to ever believe that the wolf would dwell with the lamb, that the mountain lion, bear and calf would lie down together - and no harm would come to the lamb or the calf. Just as astounding and unbelievable for us to accept would be that a little child will them. Yet this is what happens. We are awaiting the coming of our Messiah. Our Messiah will come to us as a child born in dire circumstances. This is the child that will lead us to the Kingdom of God. Our Messiah - Jesus, has come to us once and we wait for him to return again. We are in the mean time of almost but not yet; the Kingdom of God has not yet fully arrived. Coyotes, mountain lions, bears and wolves still prey upon lambs and calves. Ranchers continue to protect and defend their animals. The promise of a child to come and lead us has been fulfilled for us and we believe. We continue to believe and hope that Jesus will return again and the reign of God will come - the wolf will live with the lamb, the lion and the calf will lie down together. With anticipation, we wait and we hope for that day when sin is forever banished from creation and our Messiah reigns.

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We pray: Most merciful Lord, we struggle each and every day against sin. There are times when we resist and there are times when we sin. Forgive us when we sin, help us to resist temptation and follow where you lead. Sustain us with the hope of your return and the ushering in of your reign where there will be no more sin.
        In your Holy Name we pray.  Amen.

Advent II- year A - 2010

The prophet Isaiah tells us about the hope and expectation of the one who is to come. For Isaiah, the Messiah will usher in the Kingdom of God. Where else - other than the Kingdom of God - do you find this occurring? Isaiah 2:4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. I can not speak for you, but I am not optimistic on experiencing this in my lifetime, by anything we can accomplish. We ourselves are not capable of bringing about a time when we will beat our swords into plow shears, only the Messiah will bring peace and arbitrate our differences to the point where we don’t need military hardware to defend ourselves.

Isaiah 11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. This prophesy of Isaiah is closer to home. Do we ever think that the wolf or mountain lion will ever lie down with the lamb, fawn or calf elk - without eating it? Then the prophet says a child will lead them - A Child! Who would ever believe this. For a child to be our Messiah is as inconceivable as the U.S. doing away with its military, as wolves and lions not eating baby animals and instead eating grass. Isaiah has some pretty high expectations of just what the Messiah will accomplish. We do expect this in the Kingdom of God. Paul expresses these expectations as well when he writes to the Romans: Romans 8:22-25 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. During this season of Advent we wait with patience. But just exactly what are we waiting for? John the Baptist does not offer us a rosy picture of the coming of the Kingdom of God. John the Baptist’s Messiah is not an innocent, charming child, is it?

The axe and the winnowing fork are the tools of the trade John the Baptist uses to illustrate the coming of the Messiah. The axe fells a tree, leaving a stump. It is out of the Stump of Jesse that our Messiah will come. John calls the people to repent - to turn and live righteously; be a tree that bears good fruit, fruit worthy of repentance. The axe and the winnowing fork are the tools at hand. The axe cuts down the tree that does not bear good, repentant fruit; the winnowing fork will separate the grain from the chaff - the chaff and the unfruitful tree will be burned with unquenchable fire.

What John is prophesying and proclaiming is a rite of purification in order for us to be ready for Messiah. Num 31: 23 everything that can withstand fire, shall be passed through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall also be purified with the water for purification; and whatever cannot withstand fire, shall be passed through the water. The purifying fire of the Holy Spirit will cleanse us, burn away the impurities. John baptizes with the water of repentance. People receive it and live righteous lives - in right relationship with God. Either way we will be purified by God and welcome into his Kingdom. A kingdom the Messiah will come to establish. We wait with hope for what is unseen and unbelievable at the same time. We light our candles and wait for Messiah, the anointed one who will establish peace, justice and harmonious living. We wait for the child who will lead us to the Kingdom of God.    Amen.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion + Monday 29 November 2010

NRSV Matthew 24:44  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

RSV Romans 13:11-12  Besides this you know what hour it is, how it is full time now for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed; the night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

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        The season of Advent is upon us. This season of the church year is eclipsed by Christmas and is lost in the shuffle of our business of getting ready for Christmas. But the message of the season does not take us away from our expectation, of the arrival of our ultimate gift from God - the Christ child, Jesus. During Advent, we await with hope, anticipation and expectation, the arrival of our Messiah. The lesson from Matthew says we are to be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an unexpected hour. In the letter Paul writes to the Romans, he tells us how we should prepare. Paul is telling us salvation is at hand, the light of day will soon dawn. Paul tells us to put on the “armor of light.” So just what is our armor of light?
     Our armor is everything Jesus and Paul calls us to do as followers of the most high God. Jesus and Paul knew and used Hebrew scripture as a guide for moral living. Following the Ten Commandments is a good start in getting armored up. Following the admonition of the prophets and of the Psalms to care for the widow, orphan and resident alien in our midst is added armor we wear. Caring for those who need help, those who are lost in the shuffle of life, those who are on the margins, who are ignored and left behind, those who are hurting - as we care and help them, our armor of light shines. This is what it means to put on Christ. Jesus Christ is our armor of light. We lift up, we build up our community and not ourselves - this is kingdom building - getting ready and prepared for Jesus to come.

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    We pray: O Lord God, we wait with hope and anticipation the return of Jesus. We fall short of your glory, we are your lost sheep. We humbly repent and seek your forgiveness, your mercy, your steadfast love. Help us to be prepared for the coming of your son, who lives and dwells among us. Help us to recognize your message he gives to us of your love and life eternal in your kingdom. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.

First Sunday of Advent + 2010

Last Sunday Jesus told the repentant thief: "Today you will be with me in Paradise." Today’s lesson we are told to be ready: "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

The domain of time belongs to the sovereignty of God. Who are we to question or judge? That does not mean we don’t have expectations or we don’t anticipate Jesus’ coming. But during the season of Advent the question of when and how Jesus returns is on our minds. Therefore be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Do not look to me to be the model of the Boy Scout motto - Be prepared. I have a tendency to put off until the last moment; I have a tendency to get distracted; I have a tendency to avoid my duties and I procrastinate. Every once and while I am able to get ahead of the curve and wrap up a responsibility or assignment ahead of time. But it takes a lot of intentionality on my part to do this.

So how do we live intentionally? How are we to be ready for Jesus’ return? Our Gospel lesson does not offer any proactive ways for us to live. It basically says don’t be surprised if you are working with someone and one of them is taken away and the other is left. We are not told who is better off - the taken away or the one left; or what happens to either of them. We are told: "Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."

Paul gives us some instruction in his letter to the Romans: "Let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy." In this epistle we know what not to do and Paul tells us what to do: "Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ."

Paul calls these newly minted Christians to live honorably, to put on Christ. Paul in his letters, never really tells us about Jesus, so how does this translate to the Gentiles? Greco-Roman society did hold morality and social order in high esteem. They also could live rather depraved lives at times. The more things change, the more they stay the same. As contemporary Americans, we seek to have an orderly society, we have high moral expectations. But all you have to do is read a newspaper and realize just how far we are from such ideals. Paul uses the Hebrew scriptures a lot in his teaching and preaching. He is knowledgeable and familiar with Hebrew Scripture. Christian morality has its genesis in Hebrew scripture. Jesus preached and taught from it as well. If you want to put on the armor of Light - just look to the Ten Commandments as a starting point. Paul wants us to live as an uplifted community; a community working for the coming of the Kingdom of God. This is how we prepare, this is how we are ready for Jesus return.

There is a bumper sticker that says: Jesus is coming  - Look busy. Yes, Jesus is coming. But rather than be engaged in busy work, it is just as easy to be engaged in uplifting work, productive work, kingdom building work. Such work is not busy work, it is the work Paul and Jesus calls us to do - care for each other, build each other up, proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in our lives. This is how we put on the armor of Light, this is how we wear the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes we wait for Jesus to come, we wait with hope, promise and anticipation. Jesus is coming, let us prepare, put on your armor and shine.    Amen.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion + Monday 22 November 2010

RSV Luke 23:41b - 43 “For we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he (Jesus)  said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

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    This past Sunday was Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of our Church year; Advent marks the beginning of the Church year. The Church year starts with us waiting in anticipation for the one to come; the one who will be our Messiah, our king. The year ends with our proclaiming Jesus as our Christ, our king. The Gospel text we used is a portion of the passion of Jesus according to Luke. We may think this is a rather strange passage to use if we are proclaiming Jesus as king. Earthly kings may offer pardon. But only Jesus offers us pardon and release from our captivity to sin. Only Jesus offers redemption; the promise he makes to the thief - Jesus offer to us as well: “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Jesus says this to the thief who is being crucified with him. The cross is the scepter upon which Jesus reaches out and touches us. The touch of this scepter, a symbol of divine authority, grants us pardon and forgiveness of our sin. We are no different than the thieves who are hanging on their crosses. We are sinners. Our sin convicts us and it is this sin upon which we are crucified.  Jesus is the covenantal Passover sacrifice given for us, which redeems us from sin death and the devil. We are released from our cross and granted life eternal by the blood of Jesus on his cross. Christ our king extends this scepter of his authority to us so we may be touched by it and redeemed, freed from our captivity of sin and released from the cross we bear.

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    We pray: We acclaim and profess - Christ is our King! When we are shackled by the chains of sin, we seek your redeeming presence in our lives. Help us to be like the thief who confesses his wronging and repents. Help us in seeking  Jesus’ promise of pardon and redemption. As we hang on our cross, we pray to you Christ our King: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
        In your Holy Name we pray.  Amen.