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.

Christ the King Sunday + 21 November 2010

Jeremiah foretells of a righteous branch that will come from the house of David. He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land, and he will be called “The Lord is our righteousness.” This is a vision of a Davidic Messiah who reigns temporally - a political king. This is the hope of the exiled children of Judah. Move ahead in history 400 years or so and we have Paul writing to the congregation of Colossae and we have a new vision of this kingdom and its king. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. Quite a different vision of the heavenly king. Jesus is the divine king, not only Son of God, but God dwells in Him. Through Him, God grants us pardon and release from our sins. We are granted peace through the blood of His cross.

We have the temporal hope of redemption the prophet Jeremiah proclaims, and we have Paul’s prophetic proclamation of a divine King. These are both a hoped for future. Judah never realizes its hope of an independent Jewish state until 1948. Even today, as we are witness to the state of Israel, does righteousness and justice exist in the land? Paul realizes this temporal world is beyond human redemption. Only the Son of God, Jesus Christ can offer us the promise of salvation in a heavenly kingdom, where Jesus reigns. We work for the kingdom, we pray the kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Until that day arrives we have the promise of the heavenly kingdom offered to us upon our leaving this temporal world.

Yet it is the cross upon which Jesus dies as “King of the Jews” that is the divine scepter extended to us, for our pardon, our release, our redemption. What kind of king is this? The power Jesus gives is not of this world, it is divine power and authority given to Him by God. Jesus is righteous, for he learns to use this power to glorify God, and resists the temptation to use it for his own self aggrandizement. Jesus completely submits to and obeys the will of God. We are called to follow Jesus, even if it leads to the cross.

Are we any better than the thieves who are crucified with Jesus. We may not be thieves, but we succumb to sin in the same manner they did and we sin. Who knows what cross we bear on which we will suffer upon? Could it be illness, financial ruin, heartache from the loss of relationship, chronic pain, that is the cross we suffer upon? One thief rebukes Jesus, taunting Jesus, as if in a spate of anger, Jesus would preform a miracle and free himself and the thieves from this anguish. The other thief confesses his sin, asks for pardon: “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He asks this with the hope and promise that Jesus can grant him divine pardon and redemption. And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Christ our King makes this promise to us. No earthly king can do this, no earthly king lives as righteously and extends justice and mercy as can Jesus Christ. If I want to trust in a King, I will trust and have faith in the promises Jesus extends to me and to the thief with him on the cross. Today you will be with me in Paradise.    Amen.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion + Monday 15 November 2010

NRSV Luke 21:5 -6 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, "As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."

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    On the History Channel I really enjoyed watching - Life After People. I was fascinated by how time and nature slowly deconstructs everything we have constructed. When people are no longer around to maintain structures or build new buildings - time takes its toll on our grand achievements. Our great cities and their great architecture will slowly revert back to nature. It may take 10.000 years before you would not be able to recognize a cityscape, but the change would be complete. All the materials we use to build cities would revert back to the earth, courtesy of the weather, plants, animals, insects and the greatest leveler of them all - time.
  
    Jesus is speaking prophetically about the temple. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E. Not one stone was left on top of the other. The only remnant of the temple remaining is the western retaining wall - The Wailing Wall. We are fragile creatures and the work of our hands, while we are around, endures. But the work of our hands ultimately succumbs to time. So what is eternal?

    1 John 5:11b - 12a; God give us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. John 3:14; And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. John 3:16; For God so lived the world that he gave his only Son, So that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. John 11:25-27; Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"  She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." Jesus, the Logos the Word of God incarnate is eternal and he extends the offer to us, to join Him in eternal life in the Kingdom of God. The world and all our creations may come crashing down around our ears, but Jesus transcends our frail physical world and extends to us a world that is timeless, eternal, everlasting. Jesus asks us the same question he asks Martha: “Do you believe this?” The thin frail thread of faith is all that links us to this promise. Even though it is thin and fragile, it is enough to secure the promise Jesus offers us. We believe Jesus is the Christ, our messiah who comes to save us and offer us eternal live. As Martin Luther would say: “This is most certainly true.”

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    We Pray: Gracious God, the thin thread of faith is all that we have which links us to the promises of Jesus. Even though we may have doubts, this does not mean we lack faith. Help us to gain understanding of your Word to us through faith. Help nurture and strengthen this thread. Help us to grow deep in our faith, confident of the Word Jesus gives to us. In Your Holy Name we pray.  Amen.

25th Sunday after Pentecost

    As we approach the end of the Church year we are in a transition period. The question: What happens to followers of Jesus after he is taken away? Our Gospel text from Luke does not offer his disciples or us much comfort of what they can expect. Yet as we read verses 9 through 11, I would ask us: When has there been a time in history when none of these things have occurred? Human history has had very few instances where there has not been war, natural disasters, famine, plagues. This is part and parcel of the human condition. In modern times it is even brought into our lives with greater presence and timeliness through our mass communication. We don’t hear of rumors of these events, we see the events on our television or computer in our homes, so very far removed from events. Calamitous events are always before us, we cannot be removed from them.

Jesus is saying to us, that our grand plans do not have permanence - everything will eventually break down, be destroyed, whether it be anything we build or construct, information or ideas, time has a way of eventually wearing down and destroying all that we try to do and accomplish. The History Channel offered a show called Life After People. This show graphically portrayed what would happen to our cities and structures, if all of a sudden there were no persons around to care for them. I found this show fascinating. Time will destroy anything we have ever created, if we are not around to maintain it. About the only two things that could withstand the onslaught of time - gold and intact containers of honey - everything else will break down, returning to the earth from whence it came.

Jesus is being very realistic in his assessment of history and time. We all face some sort of calamitous experience in our life times. The Derby Fire is an example of one such instance.
Those who were immediately threatened by the fire know, just how helpless we are before such a natural disaster. In Baltimore, I knew people who were refugees of war. They lived in Lithuania or East Prussia, and when the Eastern Front collapsed they were forced to flee, taking only what they could carry, leaving everything else behind.

Jesus tells us what we may expect if we defend our faith against those who are hostile to our Faith in God and his Son, Jesus Christ. Members of the early church did indeed become martyrs for their faith. They faced persecutions, torture and death for their faith in Jesus Christ. Such persecution goes on in the world today. Christians in Iraq, Iran, India, China face the threat of attack, physical assault, and death for practicing their faith in Jesus and gathering together to worship.

While we here in Absarokee may not face such persecution directly, we face a continual and subtle nibbling away of our faith, by a thousand cuts, distractions and temptations that lure us away from living as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. But is this all hopeless? As Paul would say: By no means. Jesus gives us hope; Jesus promises to give us wisdom and words to respond to those who would disparage or deride our faith. Jesus promises us - we will not perish, not one hair on our head will perish. Jesus will gird us with strength. Jesus will endow us with the mettle to endure. Jesus says to us: “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” No one can take this away from us. Jesus gives us the courage to persevere; Jesus walks with us through that dark lonesome valley. Yes the journey may be terrifying at times, we may be fearful and afraid - this is the time and place where Jesus is with us. We do not walk alone, we do not stand alone - Jesus is with us.      Amen

Immanuel Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion + Monday 8 November 2010

Ephesians 1:17-19 NRSV  I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.

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The month of November is a very active month in the church calendar. We end the month of October with Reformation Day, All Saints Day is celebrated 1 November, just before Thanksgiving we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, we have Thanksgiving and then usually the first Sunday after Thanksgiving is the First Sunday of Advent. There is a slow crescendo as we approach the end of the church year. All through the Sundays after Pentecost we have heard about the ministry of Jesus, we have heard about the parables he told, the miracles he performed. In November we get an understanding of the mission Christ came to accomplish while he was on this earth for such a precious, short time - Jesus tells us of this rich inheritance God offers us.
    All Saints Day we remember the saints who have gone before us who are in God’s eternal care. This is our hope for them and this is our hope for us, too. Jesus promises us, we will join him in the Kingdom of Heaven with all the saints and partake of the heavenly banquet that has no end. This is the Easter promise God demonstrates to us with the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. This is the hope to which he has called us. This is our rich inheritance, an inheritance that we share, proclaim and live.
    The church year ends of Christ the King Sunday. How better to end the year with a bang, than to proclaim - Jesus Christ is our King - thanks be to God. God cares enough to give the very best to us, his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We surrender ourselves to Jesus as his followers and walk his way. It is a hard way, but Jesus leads the way; Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is the sovereign to whom we submit ourselves, whom we obey and follow. Jesus promises us life eternal with all the saints who have gone before us. Jesus offers to us relationship with God, a relationship that is eternal, loving, consoling and rich beyond all earthly measure. This is our rich inheritance - Thanks be to God, now and forever.

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We pray: We give you thanks, O God for the richness of your inheritance to us, your son Jesus. We thank you for his atoning sacrifice of our sin through his blood on the cross for us. Reveal to us this rich gift when we are headstrong and stubborn in our own self centeredness. Help us to see the light, the light that is Jesus in our lives. In your Holy Name we pray.     Amen.

All Saints Sunday + 6 November 2010

   I encourage you to read Holy Scripture, whether you use Taking Faith Home or use the daily lectionary I have in the Sweet Feet Messenger Newsletter, or you just pick up the Bible and start reading. The Bible is not a novel that you can read easily from beginning to end; it can be done, but it is not necessary to do this to gain an understanding of what God’s plan is for us and how we have come to understand it. Holy Scripture is not necessarily black and white - it is multi-hued and varied in tonal shading. There are time when I read scripture and color it black and white and paint myself in the white portion. The truth is I am as multi-hued in my life’s experiences as the Bible is in telling me of God’s relationship with us.
    Our Gospel lesson from Luke is such an example. This is a very multi-hued text. We read of those who are blessed. As I look out over this congregation, I would imagine there have been times when any one of us have been so blessed. There may have been times when we have been poor - not just poor in spirit, but monetarily poor; when we have been hungry, and not just for the Word, but physically hungry; and there have been times when we have been in deep sorrow. For any rational person this does not sound as though it is a blessing. But Jesus tells us we are blessed and that what afflicts us will change.
    Yet we can be included in the woes as well. Any one of us can say: Yes, at any time I have experienced blessing and woe as Jesus defines it in the Gospel of Luke. Life is a continuum, life ebbs and flows, it never really remains static, changes occur - sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse. How are we to make any sense of this scripture?
    Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday. We honor the saints who have gone before us, who from their labors rest. They led lives not too much different than ours. They had their share of “blessings” as defined by Jesus, and they experienced their woes as well. We are both Saint and Sinner, at the same time. This is the paradox of life. We are all capable of very saintly activity and also very capable of satanic activity. Usually, we do not swing to such extremes, our swings are milder, but we still oscillate between saint and sinner. We are not blessed unless God is a part of our life. Even when we have experienced the darkest moments of our life, God was with us.
We may not have been able to experience it, but when it is the darkest for us, God is with us.   
    Back in Baltimore, I spoke with a woman who was originally raised Greek Orthodox, but married into the Lutheran Church. She was telling me of a time when she had returned from a troubled family visit in West Virginia and on her return she came to the pastor and specifically requested communion. She needed to have the physical experience of God’s presence and promise that she could sense in the bread and the wine. We are blessed when God is with us, and God walks with us in the darkest times of our life. At such times we need God’s love and care the most.
    And when are we the richest in our life? The text from Ephesians tells us, our riches are the hope to which we are called, the glorious inheritance of the saints - saints with us today and saints who now share the Glory of God at the feast that has no end. This is the glorious inheritance the saints who have gone before us now receive and this is the promise of us saints who reside here waiting and working for the Kingdom of God each and every day. We are blessed by the saints in our lives today. The ones who are a witness to this hope and inheritance Jesus offers and promises to us.
    Jesus tells us: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. And blessed are you when you are there to be with those who are hated, excluded, reviled, and defamed. You are the face of Christ to those who are hurting, when you are able to be there with them in their darkest moments of despair, when you share and take on their pain, loss and hurt. This is the territory where saints are made, and where those who are afflicted are blessed.
    When ever I am feeling down and discouraged - for what ever reason - I make the effort to go on a pastoral visit to parishioners who live this promise out in their lives. Their witness of faith strengthens me and lifts me up. These are the saints among us who quietly, yet faithfully live their lives. Their faith shines through. Their strength nurtures me when I am weak. We don’t have to be perpetually jolly to lift people up. We just have to be ourselves and offer ourselves as a blessing to others, and we will be blessed, as they are blessed.     Amen.

Immanuel Lutheran Church Weekly Devotion + Monday 1 November 2010

   

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 Romans 3:21-25a NRSV  But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.

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One of the first classes I took when I started my theological education was at St. Mary’s Seminary - Ecumenical Institute of Theology in Baltimore; the class was Spirituality of the Early Church. A husband and wife team where the instructors; they both had Th.D.s from the Pontifical Institute in Montreal. They were very well versed in the early church and very smart. We were talking about Paul and the early church and the instructor asked the class a question and I remember responding with the verse from Romans 3:23. This was only the second class I had enrolled in and I did not have a very secure grasp of scripture. As I had attended church in the years before I enrolled in this class, I must have been paying some attention to what I heard, for every so often I have heard read this third chapter of Romans. I will not claim that I was always paying attention when the lessons are read, but apparently I was able to recall this verse from Romans.
    Many people love Jesus, but hate the church. All to often, modern culture and media portray the church as composed of a bunch of straight laced, moralistic, judgmental hypocrites. People give this as a reason not to be involved in a church. To some extent there is truth in their evaluation of the composition of the church. But, I have heard it said: “there is always room for one more.” If the church were composed of people who have not sinned, we would have no need for church. We all fall short of the glory of God and sin. There is no getting around it. We come together in church to admit we are sinners, and to ask God to forgive our sinful nature. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We cannot redeem ourselves. Jesus has redeemed us by his death on the cross, once and for all. Paul is offering us a liberating truth. We are sinners; sinners of God’s redeeming, through the blood and body of Jesus Christ. As we acknowledge this truth, we can get on with our life.

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We pray: Most merciful and loving God, we come before you as repentant sinners, sinners of your redeeming. Walk with us through life, as we face our struggles, our fears, our concerns. Always remind us that we are your beloved children, even when we sin and fall short of your glory. Our steps may be faltering as we walk with you, you are there to help steady us and guide us on our life’s journey. In your Holy Name we pray.  Amen.

Reformation Sunday + 31 October 2010

I have decided to preach from the Gospel of Luke today. The usual text for Reformation Sunday is from John. This is the Gospel text for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost. The story of Zacchaeus is indeed about being justified by grace. Zacchaeus responds by acting faithfully, by bearing good fruit. Zacchaeus is indeed a son of Abraham, he is living righteously.

This is a story of the one who is a seeker becoming the sought after one. Of all the stories in the Gospel of Luke - this is the one where by the Word of Jesus, a person is justified out right. But Zacchaeus is a tax collector and apparently a very good one at that. Our opinion of tax collectors has not really changed a whole lot since Biblical times. The only difference is that in Biblical times the tax collector was not an impersonal bureaucratic extension of the government, it was an individual who may or may not have been a Jew, who collected taxes for the occupying government of the time - The Empire of Rome. It is one thing to disdain a bureaucracy, but disdain can be much more palpable when it is a person you interact with day in and day out. Zacchaeus is such a person. As a tax collector, the tax collector gets a cut of the taxes he is able to collect. Ironically Zacchaeus means pure one or righteous one. Zacchaeus was not disdained and called a sinner for doing his job of collecting taxes, he was called a sinner for his working with Romans, foreigners, those who are ritually unclean, impure. That he collected taxes and was rich, did not help win him any friends either.

So here is this “little” man who wants to see Jesus. Because of the crowds he cannot see Jesus, so he climbs a tree in order to better see Jesus when he walks past. What the text does not tell us is the motivation behind his wanting to see Jesus. How many of us would want to see the Lord Jesus if we heard he was coming this way? Why would we want to see Jesus, what would be our motivation at wanting to see Jesus? Our motivation or reasons for wanting to see Jesus are as varied as we are. Zacchaeus just wants to see the Lord Jesus; he is seeking Jesus out. Zacchaeus is out on a limb so to speak and Jesus is walking underneath, looks up and says to Zacchaeus: “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. If Jesus turned to any one of us and made the same announcement would we greet the announcement with happiness; would we thing that Jesus was being a bit “forward”or would we be worried that we were behind in our house keeping? I don’t think it would matter to Jesus. Jesus just wants to be with us, us sinners.

As we read this text closely, we realize that things have not really changed a whole lot since the time of Jesus. ‘All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.”’ Apparently the crowd grumbled because they must have assumed that they do not sin, they are righteous and pure, pure as the wind driven snow, and wouldn’t Jesus be more comfortable staying with them? Jealousy and envy are still alive and well and these sins still tempt us today. Yet as Zacchaeus is a sinner, so are we. But that does not stop Jesus from asking to be a home with him or us. Jesus is saying to Zacchaeus, I want to be with you and eat with you. Jesus offers us the same invitation today. Jesus invites us to the table where he offers us a meal he hosts, in his holy house.

How does Zacchaeus react to the presence of Jesus in his life, this gift of grace coming to his home? ‘Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord: “Look, half my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.”’ The text does not say Zacchaeus repents or has faith, but Zacchaeus responds to the Grace of God, through the presence of Jesus Christ in his life. He freely responds to this gift of grace. ‘Then Jesus said to him: “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.”’ Salvation comes through the Word, the Word made flesh and dwelling among us - Jesus Christ. We seek to see Jesus, we long to hear this word of salvation, this promise of Life eternal offered to us. Luther feared God; he was seeking to find the merciful, loving God. Luther realized there was nothing he could do to attain God’s mercy, love and salvation - no amount of works could justify him. Life in our world is just as chaotic and uncertain as it was in Jesus’ Day, as it was in Luther’s day. Life’s uncertainties are so often beyond our control. When we think we have everything squared away, something happens, a decision is made - beyond our control - and all our best laid plans have gone awry. Through the Word of Christ we hear that salvation has come to us today. Jesus does not offer us an IOU - we have the promise given to us now, today. This is what we believe and hold fast to when everything else around us falls to pieces. This is why we gather together - we hear the Word of God proclaimed, we hear Jesus promise to us of salvation, today; we gather at the table and have the meal that is the physical promise given to us of God’s love and mercy. We receive God’s grace of the forgiveness of our sin given to us by the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is how we are made righteous - justified by God’s grace through our faith in Jesus. Jesus who comes to us, us poor sinners and says to us: “I want to be with you, I want to stay in your home; I will be with you always.” Listen, Jesus is standing, knocking at the door - open the door and Jesus will come in and be with you and will eat with you. And we say: “Come Lord Jesus, come and be our guest, come and be part of our lives.”     Amen.

22nd Sunday after Pentecost + 24 October 2010

This parable Jesus offers us is like a unique mirror where we can see both sides of our nature, our character. There have been times when my pride and arrogance of who I am has gotten in the way of relationship. A relationship with people and a relationship with God. There have been times when I have recognized that I am a sinner, and come before God seeking God’s mercy and grace.

So what does this look like in our context of life in Absarokee or America in general today? I read a posting on a blog on the internet about how we are consumed by the disease or sin of Perfection. People put on this façade of perfection because they are so insecure of who they are, their situation in life; they want to project this aura of success and being perfect, so others will not see the truth of their lives. The insecurity, the real truth is hidden by this façade of Perfection. It takes a lot of psychic energy to maintain this façade. It takes it toll in our ability to be real and active in our participation in life; it takes a toll on relationships which suffer when we are out of the public spotlight; it takes a toll on us when we expend so much energy to live a lie. The façade of Perfection, takes a toll on our being real with the people around us, our ability to be a friend to others. The disease or sin of Perfection is not just pride but self righteousness. We try to make others aware of just how righteous we are. Yes, Jesus calls us to be righteous in our living and our relationships with each other and with God. Jesus will determine just how well we do this in living our call as a followers of Christ.  

When I entered seminary, I was determined to do the best that I could do academically. I faced some tough competition from very gifted and bright undergrads. I was bound and determined to show them that this 50 year old seminarian was up to the task. I studied long and hard; I worked to make my papers the best pieces of writing they could be. I worked hard at presenting to the seminary community this façade of a hard working, dedicated student, striving to be the best seminarian. Yes, it is one thing to work hard be diligent in my studies. It is quite another to consciously make the effort to prove just how diligent and dedicated I was in my demeanor and attitude. At seminary our faith is being formed, we are engaged in a process of change, as we study to become a pastor. The process is faith formation and not Perfection. This faith formation is a process you cannot fake. I had to surrender my vain pride and say to myself that I was just a struggling student like anyone else, a sinner of God’s redeeming. When I could do that, then I could really be engaged in my faith formation.

A former professor at Gettysburg told me this parable to illustrate this. There was a man who spent much time and treasure in therapy with psychologists. He felt he had an inferiority complex. Many years and many therapists came and went and he still suffered with this inferiority complex. He was referred to a therapist and he went in for a session and explained just how this inferiority complex complicated his life. The therapist listened attentively and at the end of the session he leaned over to the patient and said to him: “You don’t have an inferiority complex, you are inferior.” When the patient heard this and understood just how this is true, he then honesty live his life.

The times when we behave like the self righteous pharisee, trying to convince ourselves, others and God that the façade is who we are, relationship is broken. When we finally decide the maintenance of the façade is not worth it and we give it up, we become like the tax collector. We can admit to ourselves, our friends and to God, who we really are. We can be real genuine, honest in who we are; we can be in relation ship with each other and with God. The tax collector wants to experience God’s grace, love and mercy. We all want to share such an experience. When we give up our pretense, when we tear down the façade and let go and accept who we are, God’s grace can come into our lives. When we let go and give ourselves to God, we experience God’s grace in our lives we build our relationship with God; when we offer grace, mercy, forgiveness to others we build our relationships with each other. Is it easy to chuck the pretense, destroy the façade - No, it is hard honest work. But the results are so much more rewarding. Instead of looking for friends, Jesus calls for us to be a friend, just be who we are - sinners caring for sinners.  Amen

Monday Devotion + 18 October 2010

NJB Luke 18:1 Then he told them a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart.

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There is a good reason Jesus told his disciples to continually pray. Life is not easy, there are times when we experience hardship, pain, loss; there are times when we become aggravated, frustrated, frightened or anxious. Jesus knew the disciples, as they engaged in ministry, would face such difficulties. We are called to be followers of Jesus - if we accept this call to proclaim the Gospel, to live the Gospel - as Jesus' disciples, we can expect our share of difficulties in doing this, on top of all the difficulties of engaging in living life we normally encounter. Jesus spent much time in prayer as the Gospels tell us. Jesus knew the power of prayer for him in discerning where and how God was calling him; Jesus grew in his relationship with God through prayer. Jesus shares with us this gift of prayer and urges us to use it. God will always hear us. We believe and trust this by faith, that God hears us when we are in prayer with God. God is not the unjust judge in this parable from Luke. The unjust judge finally gave in to the persistent widow. God wants us to be persistent in prayer, but unlike the unjust judge - God will always hear us when we come to our Creator in prayer. We can unburden ourselves before the Lord God Almighty. God can take it and God can handle it when we are angry, hurt, confused, disappointed. We can let go and let God deal with it, especially during the times when we can't. Because when we don't, we can act out our frustration, our anger, our pain; we lash out at others, others who are just innocent of any wrongdoing. Prayer makes a difference in our lives. Prayer can help us diffuse our anger and pain so we do not lash out at others. Prayer changes our attitudes towards those who we care about, about events or situations that concern us, prayer changes us in our attitudes towards those who may aggravate us. Prayer makes a difference for us and those for whom we pray. Prayer changes us; Jesus tells us to use pray continually in our lives.

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We pray: Lord you extend this invitation to us of prayer, persistent, continual prayer. Help us to make use of this gift. Help us to unburden ourselves to you O Lord. You alone O Lord, will take the time to hear us and be with us, when no one else will or can. Forgive us when we ignore such a loving gift of your willingness to hear us always. As we engage in prayer with you Lord, help us to change, help us to grow our relationship with you, so we willingly, continually and persistently come to you and offer our thoughts, concerns, our hurts. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.

Monday Devotion + 11 October 2010

Luke 17:15-19 RSV Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well."

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This is the passage in Luke about 10 lepers who called upon Jesus to have mercy on them. Jesus only tells them to go and show themselves to the priest. Obeying Jesus, they travel to present themselves before a priest and they realize they are healed. Only one returns praising God and giving thanks to Jesus at his feet. Are we to castigate the 9 who did not return to thank Jesus? No, they are only obeying Jesus' command to show themselves to a priest. Does faith have anything to do with being healed? No, for the 9 where healed by the Word of God in Christ Jesus. Faith has to do with responding to the power of God in our lives and recognizing everything comes from God. The Samaritan praises God and give thanks to Jesus. This is worship pure and simple; this is what we do as Christians when we gather together. We respond to all God has done for us and praise God; we give thanks to Jesus for going to the cross for us to forgive our sins. We are expressing our faith and trusting in God's guiding hand in our lives. We express our faith in the promise Jesus offer us to be with us always, even unto the end of the age. We express our faith, exercise our faith and live our faith through praise, thanksgiving and our worship together as children of God. Faith is given to us to be shared, when we share our faith with each other we grow stronger and deeper in our faith.

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We pray: Lord you have the power to heal us. We give you thanks for your healing presence in our lives. At times we fail to respond or recognize your healing presence, forgive our waywardness. Open our eyes to your presence with us. May we recognize your renewing and healing power in our lives - we praise God and give thanks to you, our healing and loving savior, Jesus Christ. In your Holy Name we pray.  Amen.