Trusting God's Plan

Our gospel lesson this morning, where we see Jesus having dinner with Lazarus and his two sisters, is really the end of a much longer story.

Today we hear how Martha served Jesus his supper and Mary anointed his feet, but what we don’t hear is the “why.”  Why did Lazarus invite Jesus over for dinner?  And what caused Mary & Martha to be so devoted to Jesus?

Well, immediately before this dinner, we hear the story of Lazarus’s death.  This very same Lazarus who’s eating dinner with Jesus in our lesson this morning had died not too long ago. 

And before he died, Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus saying, “Your dear friend Lazarus is dying.  Come quickly and you can save him.”  But Jesus didn’t come.

In fact, when he got the message he waited several days before going.  And so by the time he got there Lazarus had already been dead for 4 days.

And Mary and Martha were both upset.  They told Jesus, “If you’d been here our brother wouldn’t have died.  If you’d just come when we called you everything would’ve worked out fine.”

But Jesus hadn’t come when they called, and so they were left wondering how could he have ignored our plea for help?  How could Jesus abandon our brother like that?  What kind of person does that?  What kind of God does that?

Now obviously, Lazarus didn’t stay dead.  When Jesus got there, he went to the tomb where Lazarus was buried and told the people to roll the stone away.

And then in a commanding voice he cried, “Lazarus come out!”  And sure enough, out he came; alive and well.

And that’s where our story for today picks up.  It’s right after this amazing miracle.  After God’s plan for this family had been fulfilled.

Just a few short hours since Mary and Martha had been so upset and confused and distraught.

Just a few hours since they’d been struggling to understand why Jesus had ignored them and abandoned them in their hour of need.

But now here they are at this dinner, and all that’s faded away.  To paraphrase our lesson from Isaiah, they no longer remembered the former things, for Christ had done a new thing.  He’d made a way in their wilderness and a river in their desert.  He’d raised their brother from the dead.

And if you look at the first couple verses of our Psalm for today you can almost imagine these as Mary and Martha’s words.  “When the Lord restored the life of our brother, we were like those who dream.  Then our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy.”

And I think the lesson for us in all this can probably best be summed up in God’s words from the book of Isaiah, where he says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways.”  And we might add to that, “My plans are not your plans.”

The story of Mary and Martha is a perfect example of what happens when God’s plans don’t match up with our plans and expectations.

When Lazarus got sick, Mary and Martha came up with a plan.  They sent for Jesus and had certain expectations of what he should and would do.  “We want Jesus to come heal our brother.  We need to get Jesus here to fix this.”

But then Jesus didn’t come.  He didn’t do what they wanted.  He didn’t follow their plan.  And so they were confused, and disappointed, and perhaps even a little angry.

And I don’t know about you, but there’ve been times in my life when I wanted God to do something for me.  I’ve had a plan I want him to follow, and he hasn’t followed it.

And like Mary and Martha, when that happens, I sometimes get confused or disappointed or even a little angry at God.

And then I hear God remind me, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways.  And my plan’s not always going to agree with your plan.”

And once I have the advantage of hindsight, I can see how much better God’s plan ultimately is.  But in the moment it’s difficult.

In the moment when Lazarus died, and before Jesus had arrived, it was almost impossible for Mary & Martha to conceive that God had a good plan in mind for them.

And what made it double difficult for them was that Jesus was their friend.  In fact, he was one of their closest friends, and yet he didn’t make them his top priority.

And again, speaking only for myself, that’s where I run into problems when I try to tell God my plans.  I think I should be his top priority.

But in the story of Lazarus, we see that Jesus had a different priority; and that was to do the will of his Father in heaven.  His only goal was to serve his Father, and everything else took a back seat to that.

All Mary & Martha had wanted was for Lazarus to be healed, but God’s plan was so much greater.  He wanted Lazarus to be resurrected.  And that was the plan Jesus made his priority.

And that’s the difference between God and us: he has a much grander view than we do.  And our lesson today shows us that Mary and Martha had finally come to understand that.

They both lavish Jesus, their friend and their God, with the best they have to offer.  He’d given them back their brother, and so Martha offers him the finest meal she can muster and Mary anoints him with her most expensive perfume.

It was their way of thanking him, and honoring him, and worshiping him.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing here today.  Our worship this morning is our way of thanking God for all the blessings he’s given us.  

It’s our way of thanking God for fulfilling the plan he has for us, and for the promise he’s given us of the Resurrection.  For the promise that one day he will stand outside our tomb, and call our name, and tell us to come forth to eternal life.

And at the same time, our worship is also a time to be strengthened in our faith.

Some of you may be feeling the way Mary and Martha felt after Lazarus died but before Jesus raised him from the dead.  And so our worship is a time to be reminded that God does have a plan for us.

If you’ve been wondering why Jesus hasn’t answered your prayers or come to you when you’ve called him; if you’re confused by that, or disappointed, or even angry, then I’d encourage you to take heart from Mary & Martha.

Their story reminds us that no matter how dark things may seem, and no matter how distant Jesus may feel, he hasn’t forsaken you.  He is coming.  And he does have a plan for you.  It may not your plan, but it’s a plan you can definitely put your hope and trust in.

And it’s my prayer that God would use our worship this morning to remind you of his plan, and give you confidence in the promise that he will fulfill it.

• Isaiah 43:16-21  • 
 
• Psalm 126  • 
 
• Philippians 3:4b-14  • 
 
• John 12:1-8

Coming Home to God

As we move our clocks forward this morning and make our way toward the first day of Spring, I figured it was a good time to point out that the word “Lent” we use for the name of this church season is the Old English word for “Spring”.

It’s the ancestor of our modern word “lengthen”, and Spring was called Lent because it’s the season of lengthening days.  It’s the season of growth and gestation; of preparing for renewal and new life.

And the church adopted the word Lent for this season, because it’s a time of preparing for new life, too; the life of the resurrection.  The “new creation” Paul talks about this morning; our rebirth as sons and daughters of God.

And this morning, I want to talk about the rebirth we experience as Christians.  And in particular, I want to talk about the identity we receive in that rebirth.

In John’s gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus that, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. And no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

And when we were baptized, that’s exactly what happened to us.  We were born again of water and the Spirit.  We entered into the kingdom of God and were made children of God.

And it’s that identity that I want to talk about this morning.  Our identity as children of God.  Because, as the story of the prodigal son reminds us, it’s an identity that we often forfeit or forget.

Jesus tells us that the Father had two sons.  And in the parable we see how both sons forget or even reject their identity as their father’s sons.

They both create new identities for themselves.  And the identities they create are so much less than the one their father gave them.

The younger son takes all he has and sets out for a distant country where he lives a life of wine, women and song.  He lives as if he has no father and family.  But in the end, he ends up as a slave sent out to slop the pigs.

The older son also forgot or forsook his identity as the father’s son.  And like his younger brother, he also ends up taking on the identity of a slave.  In verse 30, he’s out in the fields, refusing to enter his father’s house. “All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you.”

And again we have Jesus’ words, “No one can enter the kingdom of God – the house of the Father – unless they are born anew”

And what we see in these two sons is that they both need to be born anew before they can bring themselves to reenter their father’s house.  They needed to reconnect with their true identity; the identity their father gave them.  Their identity as his sons.

And then one day, when the younger son was slopping the pigs, he’s so hungry and desperate that the slop actually looked good to him.  On that day, we’re told, “he came to himself.”

And it’s easy to race by that phrase, so I want to take a moment to focus on those words, “He came to himself.”  Without getting too much into the grammar here, in the original language what the phrase means is, “He took possession of himself.”

He once again took possession of his true identity.  He took ownership of his status again.  He was his father’s son.  What was lost had been found.  He was born anew.  As Paul says, “He was a new creation”

Of course, with this realization came a sense of sorrow and repentance.  He’d sinned against his father.  In fact, he’d sinned so grievously that didn’t deserve to be called his son anymore.

And yet, now that his identity was restored, now that he knew he was his father’s son, it didn’t matter whether his father regarded him as a son or slave.  The son would accept either because he now knew who his father was and that he was his son.

That knowledge became the unshakeable foundation of his identity.  Come what may, he would always know he was his father’s son.

And of course, Jesus tells us that the father was gracious and merciful.  He was overjoyed that his son was home and he wouldn’t hear any talk of him being a servant or a slave. 

He was his son.  Always had been.  Always would be.

The older brother, though, is a different story.  We don’t know what happens with him.  Jesus doesn’t tell us.

The last we see of him he’s out in the field, having separated himself from his father.  And clinging to his identity as a slave, he’s unable to reenter the father’s house.

So his father comes out to plead with him.  He calls him his son and invites to come him into the house.  But the son’s reaction tells us that he isn’t ready to be born anew.  He’s trapped in this slavish identity he’s made for himself. 

In fact, he talks to his father like a disgruntled employee whose boss has bypassed him for a promotion and given it to his “no-good son” instead.

“I’ve slaved away for you all these years and you haven’t given me anything.  And now this son of yours comes home and you kill the fatted calf.”

 “Son,” the father pleads with him, “everything I have is yours.  It always has been It always will be.”

But, having lost sight of his true identity, the older son’s not able to hear his father, or even hear him when he calls him “son.”

And as I said earlier, you and I are often like these two sons; forgetting the identity our Father has given us in our baptism.  And instead ending up as slaves to sin.

How often do we give into sin and temptation like the younger son?  How often do we get lured in by the promise of short-term joy and pleasure only to find that our sin has trapped and made us its slave?

And how often are we like the older brother, enslaved by bitterness and anger and resentment.  We get so busy trying to please God by slaving away for him here at the church, or in our homes, or with our families or at work.

In fact, we get so busy slaving away for him that we start seeing him more as a boss than as the loving Father he is.

If you find yourself resonating with either son, then I’d encourage you to remember that we don’t have to live as slaves to sin and bitterness.  That’s not what we were created for.  That’s not the identity and inheritance our Father intends for us.

And so he comes to us this morning in the midst of whatever slavery we’ve given ourselves to and says to us what the father told the son in the parable.  Our heavenly Father says to us, “My child, all that I have is yours. It always has been.  And it always will be.  Come back home.”

And if you’re like the younger son and you’ve already come to yourself and been born anew.  If you’ve come back to the identity God gave you in your baptism, but now are feeling guilty and wondering how your Father will receive you when you come home.

Then look no further than the feast of Communion we’re about to share.  He’s throwing this feast for you.  It’s a celebration to welcome you home.

• Joshua 5:9-12  • 
 
• Psalm 32  • 
 
• 2 Corinthians 5:16-21  • 
 
• Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing (Pharisees)

Our gospel this morning begins with the phrase, “At that very time…”  And whenever one of our lessons begins with a phrase like that I like look back to see what very time is being referred to.

In this case, “that very time” is described in Luke 12, when a large crowd gathers around Jesus and he begins teaching them.  He tells them the parable of the rich fool, and encourages the flock not to be anxious.

Then right before our lesson this morning Jesus says to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’ and so it happens.  You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

And then he goes on to say, “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?”

And so it’s at this very time, then, right after he had asked the crowds, “Why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?”

It was at that very time that some of the folks in the crowd ask Jesus to interpret the times for them.  They tell him how Pilate had mingled the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices.

He responds by asking them to interpret the times and to judge for themselves what is right.  “Do you think these Galileans suffered like this because they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?”

And then he brings up another example of eighteen people who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them.  “Do you think that they were worse sinners than everyone else living in Jerusalem?” he asks

Of course not, he says.  “I tell you; unless you repent you will all perish as they did.”

So what are we to take from all of this?  What’s the lesson for us?

First off, let’s look at why the crowd was asking this question in the first place.

One of the beliefs that was common at that time, and it’s still common today, is the idea that God causes bad things to happen to people as punishment for their sins.  So if something bad happens to you, it must be because you sinned and God is punishing you.

And we can see examples of this kind of thinking throughout the bible.  For instance, in John’s gospel there’s the story man who’d been blind since birth.  And the people thought it was because one or both of his parents had been sinners.

Or, if we go back to the Old Testament book of Job, when all the terrible things happen to Job, his friends came and told him he needed to repent so that God would remove all these punishments from him.

But of course, in the book of Job we’re told quite clearly that these things didn’t happen to Job as a punishment for sin.  In fact, we hear God say that Job is the most righteous man on earth.

And in John’s gospel, Jesus makes it clear that the man’s blindness wasn’t caused by his parents’ sin or even his own sin.

And in today’s lesson, Jesus says quite plainly that the tower of Siloam didn’t fall on the 18 worst sinners in Jerusalem.  That’s not how God operates, Jesus tells us.

And yet, throughout the bible the crowd keeps thinking that God does operate that way.  And the question is why?

I mean, in both the Old and the New Testaments God had made it clear that that’s not how he operates. And yet the crowds continued to believe that if something bad happens to you it is because God’s punishing you for your sin.

So why did they keep believing it?

Well, again, coming back to that phrase, “At that very time.”  If we look back to see what else was happening at that very time, we see that right at the beginning of chapter 12 when Jesus starts teaching the crowds his first lesson for them is, “Beware of the teachings of the Pharisees because it is hypocrisy.”

It was the Pharisees who kept promoting this false teaching that bad things happen to bad people.  And the reason they were promoting it was because it helped them to retain their power, and maintain the illusion of righteous superiority that they had over the people.

They would point to those afflicted by illness or tragedy like the man born blind or the 18 who died in the tower of Siloam, and say that they were bad people who were being punished by God.

And, of course, what the Pharisees were also implying was that while these were the bad people the Pharisees and anyone who followed them were good people; the ones favored by God.

Of course, in today’s lesson, we hear Jesus’ response to this hypocrisy.  “No,” he says, “you’re no better than the people you point to and say are bad.  In fact, unless you repent, you’ll perish just like they did.”

And the fact of the matter is, this kind of hypocritical teaching is still alive and well today; from religious leaders to our politicians, we have plenty of folks eager to tell us who’s bad and who’s good, who’s right and who’s wrong, and whose side God is on.  And the reason they continue to teach this is because we continue to listen.

We like the feeling of being in the right, and knowing that others are wrong; that we’re good and they’re bad.  It feed our pride and ego, and gives us a sense of superiority.

And so Jesus warns us this morning, “Beware of such hypocrisy,” he says.  “No one is good, but God alone.” (Mark 10:18)  "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)  And we're in as much need of repentance as the worst among us.

So let us resist the temptation to such hypocrisy, and let us instead turn to Christ.  For only he can save us from the perils of this world and the sin which clings so close.

• Isaiah 55:1-9  • 
 
• Psalm 63:1-8  • 
 
• 1 Corinthians 10:1-13  • 
 
• Luke 13:1-9

The Father's Constancy

In our lessons this morning, we see three different stages or phases of our faith relationship with God.

And I’ll unpack these phases in a moment, but to quickly summarize them: in Genesis we see our relationship through Abram’s anxious and somewhat immature faith; in our Psalm, we see the relationship through the Psalmists mature faith; and in the Gospel, we see it through Herod’s disobedience.

And I want to suggest that all of us move back and forth between these different phases throughout our lives.  Sometimes our faith is full and mature.  Other times it’s weaker, and we’re racked with doubts and anxiety.  And still at other times we turn our back on God through sinful disobedience.

What we also see in these lessons, though, is that regardless of where we are in our relationship with God, God remains consistent and unchanged.  He’s the same loving Father no matter where we are in our faith.

In Genesis, we hear the story of Abram, and the anxiety he feels about the fact that he doesn’t have an heir.  God had promised that he would be the father of a great nation, and yet, here he is rapidly aging and still no children.  And so he takes his anxiety to God.

And God tells Abram, “Do not be afraid.  I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Though that’s not actually the most accurate translation of the original Hebrew.  A more accurate translation would be: “Do not be afraid.  I am your shield, your reward; exceedingly great.”

And so what God is saying to Abram is, “Yes, I’ve promised you an heir, and that you’ll be the father of a great nation.  But that’s not the reward.  The true reward, the true gift is me,” God says.  I am your reward; your shield.  And I’m exceedingly great.”

Of course, like most children, Abram completely misses his Father’s point.  God the Father tells Abram, “My love for you is your reward.”  And the son responds, “Great dad, but when are you going to give me my stuff?”

Yet, even though Abram misses the point, he still recognizes God as his heavenly Father.  And he looks to him as the giver of all good things.  And we’re told that that mustard seed of faith was reckoned to him as righteousness.

So that’s the first phase of our relationship with God.  Abram recognizes God as his loving Father and the giver of all good things, but he hasn’t matured yet enough in his faith to recognize that God is the true blessing; the true reward.  Everything else is secondary.

Now Psalm 27, on the other hand, is an example of faith that’s more fully matured.  Unlike Abram’s faith that looked to God for gifts and blessings, the psalmist looks for God himself.

“There’s only one thing I seek after,” he says, “to behold the beauty of the Lord.”

Unlike Abram who looked for tangible blessings from God, tThe Psalmist trusts in God even when no blessings seem apparent.

“Even if an army encamps against me,” he says, “and even if my mother and father forsake me, and evildoers assail me to devour my flesh, I still believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

And so here we see the benchmark of a mature faith.  And this is the kind of faith we hear Paul encourage the Corinthians to have in our second lesson this morning when he says, “Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me and observe those who live according to our example.”

Paul is encouraging them to trust God even when no blessings seem apparent.  It is a mature faith that recognizes that God is “our light and our salvation” even when all else around you is dark.

And, finally, the third example of the kind of relationship we can have with God is the one that Herod gives in our gospel lesson; the example of an adversarial relationship.

Herod was king, and he didn’t want this upstart king Jesus coming in and stealing his glory.

But if course, if you know your ancient history, you know that Herod wasn’t the king of anything.  He was just a puppet for the Romans.  It was Caesar who pulled his strings.

And it’s easy for us to boo and hiss at Herod like some villain in an old black and white movie because he’s the enemy of Jesus.  But if we’re completely honest, we’d have to admit that when we sin we’re really no different than him.

Because when we sin, when we give into temptation and disobey God, we put ourselves in an adversarial relationship with Christ just like Herod did.

We tell him that we’re the king or queen of our life and we’re going to do what we want to do.

But of course, when we give into our temptation and sin, we’re not really in charge.  We’re nothing more than puppets to the one who tempts us; captives to sin, and unable to free ourselves.

And yet, despite our rebellion, God does not change his attitude toward us.  He remains the same patient God who calmed Abram’s fears and anxieties.  The same unwavering God whom the Psalmist depended on as his stronghold.

We see this same patient and dependable God in the Jesus who remains undeterred in the face of Herod’s threats.  His great desire is to gather his children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.  And so he will go to Jerusalem, even if it means facing death.

The whole world may turn its back on Jesus, but he’ll never turn his back on us.

And so while you and I bounce between all these different stages in our relationship with God, he remains the same loving Father he’s always been.

As the bible tells us, “He is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

And so wherever you are in your faith journey, as you come forward to receive Holy Communion this morning, I encourage you to recognize the God who offers himself to you in the bread and wine.

If you’re like Abram and feeling anxious because you’re not seeing some blessing you’ve been asking God to give you, I pray that you would recognize that the God who places himself into your hands this morning is the greatest blessing.

Or if you’re like the psalmist, not looking for blessings just for assurance that God is still with you in the midst of whatever storm you’re going through.  Then come and receive the body and blood of Christ and “behold the beauty of the Lord.”

And finally, if you’ve been in an adversarial relationship with God and given into sin and temptation, then take this opportunity to return to the Lord.

He is still the same loving Father he’s always been.  Come, return to the safety of the shadow of his wings.

• Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18  • 
 
• Psalm 27  • 
 
• Philippians 3:17-4:1  • 
 
• Luke 13:31-35

Jesus' Marshmallow Test

As I’ve mentioned before, my wife is a psychology professor at UCO.And one of the advantages of having your own live-in psychologist is that you get to hear interesting stories about various kinds of experiments that have been done over the years.

And one of my favorites that she’s told me about is the marshmallow test.  The original marshmallow test was done about 40 years ago, but it’s been repeated many times since.  In fact, if you go to Youtube and type in “Marshmallow Test”, you can actually watch the test in action.

The test itself is pretty simple.  Researchers will bring in 4 year olds one at a time and seat them at a table in a plain room.  And then they put a single marshmallow on the table in front of the child and the researcher makes some excuse for leaving the room.

But before they go, they tell the child, “You can eat this marshmallow now, or if you can till I get back you can have two marshmallows.” And then they leave.

As soon as they’re gone, the researchers monitor the kids through a closed circuit camera. And what they find is that some kids grab the marshmallow right away, while others will hold out for a few minutes before giving in.

But then there are some who are determined to wait.  The promise of two marshmallows is just too good!  And so they do whatever it takes to hold out.  Some will cover their eyes.  Others put their heads down.  Some will sing or distract themselves with a game.  And a few even went to sleep.

The point is, they did whatever it took to keep from eating that marshmallow, because they knew that if they waited they’d get two!

And if you do go on Youtube to watch it you’ll get a good laugh at watching what these kids do to avoid eating the marshmallow.

Now the point of the original marshmallow test was to determine whether or not the patterns that are instilled in us when we’re young affect the way we’ll behave later on in life. And so after the original experiment was done, the scientists waited 10 or 12 years for the kids to grow up and then went back to interview them while they were in high school.

And what the researchers discovered was pretty remarkable.  Almost uniformly, the kids who’d waited for the marshmallow tended to be better adjusted, more popular, more adventurous, more confident, and overall more dependable teenagers.

While, on the other hand, the kids who’d given in to temptation and eaten the marshmallow tended to be lonelier, more stubborn, and more easily frustrated.  The researchers found that they kids didn’t handle stress as well as the ones who’d waited, and so they tended to shy away from challenges.

Perhaps you’ve already figured out where I’m going with this in relation to our gospel lesson this morning.  Because in a lot of ways, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness was his marshmallow test.  It happened at the very beginning of his ministry, and so we can use it to gauge how he’ll do later in life.

The Holy Spirit had led him into the wilderness to fast and the devil came and tempted him to break the fast.

Obviously Jesus waited for the marshmallow, and so based on the research we can be pretty certain that later in life Jesus will be more confident, more dependable, better able to handle stress, and more willing to take risks than someone who’d given into the temptation.

And if we fast-forward to the Garden of Gethsemane and the cross, we can see that Jesus proves to be all those things.

When he comes face to face with the cross, he didn’t shy away.  When the salvation of the whole world depended on him, Jesus showed that he was dependable.  He could handle the stress, and he was willing to take the risk.    He didn’t take the easy way out.  Instead he prayed, “Not my will, Father, but yours be done.”

And so we come to you and me.  And I want to suggest to you that at one level our Lenten journey is our marshmallow test.  It’s a controlled experiment; 40 days of fasting. Can we hold out till Easter?  

Can we live without our coffee, or desserts, or television, or whatever it is we’ve decided to give up?  Do we have the kind of spiritual discipline it takes to resist temptation when it matters most?  Will we prove to be confident and dependable when the rubber hits the road?

I can only speak for myself, but that’s something I’m hoping to grow in this Lent.  I’m praying for the Holy Spirit to give me the patience and discipline I need to keep the fast.

Of course, if I fail, or if you fail in your fast, it doesn’t mean we’re bad people or doomed to hell. With Christ, grace abounds.  He’ll always be there to lift us up, dust us off, and start us on our way again.

But he’s also here to lean on before we give into temptation. Before we eat the marshmallow.

Unlike the kids in the experiment, we’re not in the room alone.  We have Christ.  We have his Holy Spirit to strengthen us.  And we have his Word and his Sacrament here this morning to sustain us.

As we journey through Lent this year, let us look to Christ for our example and for the strength we need to keep the fast.

Deuteronomy 26:1-11  • 

   

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16  • 

   

Romans 10:8b-13  • 

   

Luke 4:1-13

The Dangers of Sippin' Sin

During the last century, there was a Methodist pastor in New York named Ralph Sockman.  From 1928 to 1962, he appeared regularly on a radio show called, National Radio Pulpit.  He also wrote several best-selling books on the Christian life, and in 1961 Time magazine called him, “The best Protestant preacher in the U.S."

In one of his articles, Pastor Sockman recounted an experience he had one day while he and his family were visiting Niagara Falls.  It was a clear, cold March day, and while the river had begun to thaw, there were still chunks of ice on the river and parts of the Falls were frozen.

Pastor Sockman and his family watched as some birds swooped down and snatch a drink from the water rushing over the edge of the falls. And while he was watching this, a man standing next to them told Pastor Sockman how he’d seen birds drown doing this maneuver.

It seemed that each time the birds would dip down for a drink, tiny droplets of ice would form on their wings, and if they kept coming back too many times all these droplets would accumulate until finally the ice would weigh down their bodies and they could no longer rise back up above the water.

The man told Pastor Sockman that when that happened, the birds would flap their wings furiously but it was too late.  There was nothing they could do. They’d gone back to the water one too many times and now they were trapped in the water; doomed to go down with the falls. Today in the Word, October, 1990, p. 14

Well, when Pastor Sockman heard this, he immediately realized this was a perfect metaphor for our sins. 

Very often our sins seem to start innocently enough. We go in for a little sip.  And we think, “Well, that wasn’t so bad.”  And so we go in again, and again, and again.

But each time we go back, the sin clings to us a little bit more and begins to weigh us down.  Until finally, we’re trapped and can’t escape.

King David’s story is a good example of someone whose sin started innocently enough.  But before he knew it his sin had him trapped.

One day King David was up on his roof surveying his kingdom, when he happened to notice a woman on her roof taking a bath.  Sure, it was inappropriate for him to watch, but he wasn’t really hurting anyone. And so he watched.  He went in for that first sip. And the droplets of sin began to accumulate.

Well, finally he got tired of watching from a distance, so he sent some of his servants to go bring the woman to his house. And they did. And David went in for another sip.     And this time the sin clung a bit more.

And when the woman, Bathsheba, was brought to him, he liked what he saw.  In fact, he lusted after her.  And so he took another sip by committing adultery with her.  And the sin clung more and more.

Then Bathsheba got pregnant, and David didn’t want her husband, Uriah, to find out. So at first he brought Uriah back from the war where he was fighting and tried to get him to go be with Bathsheba so that Uriah would think the baby was his. 

But Uriah was an honorable man. He told David that it wasn’t right for him to enjoy the comforts of home while his comrades were fighting on the front. And so Uriah didn’t go home to see Bathsheba.  Instead he camped out in front of David’s house and waited for his King to send him back to the war.

So David thought he had no choice but to go back in for one more sip.  He sent Uriah back to the war, but at the same time he told his generals to make sure Uriah got killed in battle.  The final sip. 

David’s sin now had him. And so God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about his sin.  And it was then that David realized he was trapped and that he couldn’t escape –

He so he penned the psalm hat we read together at the beginning of our service here tonight, “Have mercy on me, O God. Deliver me from my bloodshed.  I’ve been a sinner since from before I was born”

It’s David’s mea culpa.  His declaration that he’s doomed to go down with the falls unless God rescued him.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

My friends, you and I are no different from David.  Each one of us from sin just like he did.  And the accumulation of that sin is upon us.  Which is why we’re here tonight.  To confess our sins before God the way David did.  And to ask God to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Often times, Lent is mischaracterized as a time to for Christians to be depressed and to wallow in our failures.  But that’s not what Lent is really for.

Yes, we confess our sins and admit that they’ve got us trapped.  But when we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And so that means Lent is also a time for us to enjoy our salvation. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,” David prayed.

Lent is a time for us to enjoy the freedom Christ came to give us. Freedom from sin, death, and the power of the grave.

And so Lent is about more than just admitting our sin.  It’s about actively struggling against temptation, and removing the sin from our lives.

And that’s what our Lenten disciplines are about.  Whether it’s fasting or prayer, our Lenten disciplines are intended to help us break free from the weight of sin.  Their aim is to help us stop going back in for one more sip of sin.

And so as we ask God to forgive our sins during Lent, we should also ask him to help us struggle against the temptation to sin so that we can enjoy the freedom he came to bring us.

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17  • 

   

Psalm 51:1-17  • 

   

2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10  • 

   

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Thin Places

A few years back, when I was serving a church in Ohio, I audited a course on Celtic Christianity at a seminary not far my church. It was a fascinating class on a number of levels, but the one thing that stuck with me more than anything else was the Celtic concept of “thin places.”

A thin place refers to a place or moment where the reality of heaven becomes apparent to us in our own reality here on earth.  In other words, it’s a place or a moment where we become keenly aware of God’s presence in our lives.

The Celtic Christians didn’t believe in a God who was somewhere far away, in the sweet by and by.  Instead they believed the promise Jesus made to his disciples that, “I’ll be with you always to the end of the age.”

And so even though we may not always have eyes to see him, the Celtic Christians held deeply to the belief that Jesus was imminently and intimately close to us at all times.

Thin places occur when the membrane between heaven and earth grows thin, and the light of Christ shines through.

When we encounter a thin place, it’s like we’re able to peel back the page of our reality and perceive the Christ who is with us every day.

Thin places can occur anywhere at any time.  Certainly here in worship, and I’ll talk more about that in a minute, but not exclusively.

You may stumble upon a thin place tomorrow morning when you’re walking the dog.  It may be you’ve walked that route near your home 1000 times before, but now suddenly you have an awareness that you’re not alone;  Christ is right there with you, just like he’s been there with you 999 times before.

Or it may be when you’re putting your children or grandchildren to bed tonight.  You’ve done it a zillion times before, and not without some headaches from time to time.  But as you’re saying your prayers together this night you’ll have this overwhelming comprehension that the God you’re praying to is right here in the room with you.

Thin places are singular moments that occur within the course of our ordinary, everyday lives.  Moments when we become keenly aware of Christ’s abiding presence with us.  They remind us that he’s present with us in every moment of life; the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

From the most humdrum moments that can seem so ordinary and dull to the moments of tragedy and doubt that we’d just as soon not have, to all those moments of sheer pleasure and joy.  Thin places strengthen our faith in Christ’s promise that, “Lo, I’ll be with you always to the end of the age.”

One of the reasons thin places exist, I believe, is so God can strengthen our faith as we journey through this life.

Certainly we’ve all experienced times of spiritual dryness; times when we get in the doldrums over of the monotonous routine life can be sometimes.  And other times, we may have run upon the shoals of full-fledged spiritual crisis; a trauma or tragedy that shakes the very foundations of our faith. 

And so God provides us with thin places as a means of nourishing us and sustaining our faith.  Thin places don’t necessarily remove the spiritual dryness, or solve the crisis of faith.  But they do remind us that, no matter how much to the contrary it may seem, Christ is in fact present with us every moment of every day.      

And I would propose to you that at one level, the Transfiguration served as a thin place for Peter, James, and John.  It was a moment in which the membrane between heaven and earth dissolved, and they were able to see the fullness of Christ in all his glory. It was a glory that had been veiled up to now, and it would be even more veiled in the days ahead as he made his way to the cross.  But in the Transfiguration, Christ gave a thin place to strengthen them and sustain their faith.

If we zoom out a bit from this particular story in the gospel, we can see how the Transfiguration fits in with the rest of the story. And see that it occurs at a very pivotal moment.

Just a few verses before, Jesus has told his disciples that he’s going to have to suffer and die on the cross.  And what’s more, he tells them that they’re going to have to take up their cross and follow him.

And if you remember Matthew’s version of the story, Peter didn’t react to well to Jesus’ words about the cross.  In fact, Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him.  He told him he was out of his mind to be talking that way.  And in turn, Jesus rebuked Peter and told him, “Get behind me Satan!”

So that’s the scene on the front side of the Transfiguration.  A scene in which Peter and Jesus are at odds with each other.  A scene of tension, foreboding and death.

And then right after the Transfiguration, Jesus again predicts his death, and tells his disciples about the cost of discipleship.  And then a couple chapters later he begins his journey to Jerusalem and finally to the cross.

And so from this zoomed-out perspective, we see that the Transfiguration is a singular bright spot in an otherwise dark and ominous narrative.

It’s a “light shining in the darkness.”  It’s a moment that Peter, James and John can look to when the glory of Christ is hard to see.

So when Jesus seems weak and vulnerable, when he’s being ridiculed by the Jews and spat on by the Romans.  Or when he’s being denied by Peter three times, abandoned by the disciples, and finally dying on the cross …

Despite all that darkness – despite all the fear, and the shame, and the doubt the disciples are experiencing in those moments – this thin place of the Transfiguration will be etched in their memory.  A reminder to them that, despite all the evidence to the contrary, this is still the Son of God. The one who casts out demons, forgives sins, and resurrects the dead.

The Transfiguration was Christ’s gift to his disciples to sustain them in those moments when life gets really dark.

I told you earlier that I would come back to talking about worship as a thin place.  And in particular I want to focus on the two main parts of our worship: The Word and the Sacrament; in particular the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Because every time we gather around Christ’s Word and Sacrament, he reveals himself to us just as he revealed himself to Peter, James & John in the Transfiguration.  His glory is revealed to us through the Gospel and through the body and blood given for us in the bread and wine we receive.

In worship, we have the opportunity to peel back the page a little ways and glimpse the heavenly reality that surrounds us every day; the reality of Christ’s presence with us at all times and in all places.

These two things – the Word and Sacrament of our worship – are what our heavenly Father points to and says, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”

As he places himself in our hands, and speaks his words of grace and forgiveness in our ears, by faith we perceive the Christ who is with us always to the end of the age.

The glorious Christ who was with Peter, James & John at the Transfiguration is present with us in all the moments of our life even the most dark.

In this “thin place” that is worship, the light of Christ shines out of the darkness that creeps into our life from time to time.  It is a light given to us for the same reason the Transfiguration was given to Peter, James, and John: To show us the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and to strengthen us for the road ahead.

• Exodus 34:29-35  • 
   
• Psalm 99  • 
   
• 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2  • 
   
• Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

Faithfully Using Our Spiritual Gifts

Both our gospel lesson this week, and Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, are continuations of the lessons we heard last week. And in both lessons, God teaches us how he intends the gifts he gives us by his Holy Spirit to put to use in our lives.

Last week, Jesus showed us how the Holy Spirit should work in us, while the Corinthians show us how we can thwart the Spirit’s work by misusing the gifts he gives us.

And this week we get the reverse, the people in Jesus’ home town provide the example of how we can thwart the Spirit’s work, while Paul shows us the higher way; the way the Spirit would have us go.

Last week we were told that Jesus returned to his home town, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  And quoting the prophet Isaiah, he said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to proclaim good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And so what can we learn from Jesus’ example is that the work of the Holy Spirit is to lead us outward to others; to share the good news with those who need to hear it just like Elijah and Elisha did in the Old Testament.

The people in Corinth, however, much like the people in Jesus’ home town weren’t allowing the Spirit to lead them outward to the building up of others.

Instead of the Holy Spirit leading them out toward others and using their gifts to build up others, they used them to build themselves up. In other words, they’d been using the gifts of the Spirit for selfish purposes. They’d turned them into status symbols, and used them to establish bragging rights.

So Paul uses the opportunity to correct them, and to teach them about spiritual gifts.  And over the course of chapters 12 through 14, he explains what spiritual gifts are and what their purpose is.

And so what I’d like to do this morning, is briefly summarize Paul’s teaching over the course of these 3 chapters, because there are important lessons for us.

First of all, Paul defines what a spiritual gift is.  At its most basic level, he says, a spiritual gift is an expression of our faith – and it can be expressed in word of deed – but it’s an expression of our faith that’s aimed at strengthening the faith of someone else.

Paul says that each one of us has been anointed by the Holy Spirit in some special way for the purpose of building up the body of Christ; of encouraging others in their faith.  Spiritual gifts are given to us to strengthening someone else's faith.

For me, it’s helpful to think about spiritual gifts this way, because it keeps me from equating them with natural talents & abilities.

Many non-Christians have natural abilities, and whether they recognize it or not those talents are given to them by God. But they can’t truly be called "spiritual gifts" because they’re not an expression of the person’s faith that’s aimed to strengthen the faith of someone else.

And that’s the point Paul makes today when he tells the Corinthians that if the use of their gifts isn’t motivated by God’s love for others, and his desire to strengthen their faith, then they’re not spiritual gifts. They’re just a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.

And so Paul encourages us to use our spiritual gifts to strengthen others; to help their faith not give way when trouble enters their life.

God gives us his Holy Spirit so that we can help one another stay strong in our faith in the midst of life's storms.

And I want to stress here is that using your faith to strengthen someone else doesn’t necessarily require some grand gesture or profound words.  It can often be something very simple.

One of the most powerful spiritual gifts ever shared with me was by a man from my congregation back in Ohio named Richard who had the spiritual gift of encouragement.

           

Richard wasn’t one to talk about his faith or make a big deal of it.  But at one point, when I was in the midst of one of life’s storms, Richard could sense that something was going on.  He’d been through his own storms in life, so he knew that my faith could probably use some strengthening.

And so one day he called me up out of the blue. He’d just made a batch of homemade soup.  And if you’d tasted Richard’s soups, you’d know that was delicious stuff!  He had a big garden in his yard, and so most of the ingredients were home grown.

Anyway, he called and asked if I’d like some soup, and I said, “Sure.” And so he drove over, dropped of the soup, and then just visited with me for a while.  He didn’t say or do anything particularly special or profound.  We just shot the breeze for a while.

His visit, and his smile, and his friendship lightened my heart and encouraged my faith in the midst of my time of trial.

And while we were standing there in my kitchen, I was keenly aware that God had sent him to strengthen my faith.  And it meant the world to me.  First, that God had used his Spirit to move Richard in that way.  And second, that Richard had been obedient.

And I’m sure many of you have stories like that, too; of God putting someone in your path to encourage your faith in the midst of one of life’s storm. That’s what the Holy Spirit does.  It moves us to proclaim God’s good news, in word or deed, to those who need to hear it most.  And in that way, God strengthens our faith and builds up the body of Christ.

And as Paul tells the church in Corinth, when we understand the Holy Spirit that way then we don’t have to worry about what gift we have or don’t have.  That’s not what’s important. 

What’s important, Paul says, is having the love and desire in our hearts to strengthen other’s in their faith.

What’s important is looking past ourselves to see the people around us who may be going through a time of trial. And then, when we see such people to have the love and desire to pray, “Dear God, please use my faith to strengthen their faith.”

If that’s our prayer, the Holy Spirit won’t let it go to waste.  He’ll find a way to use us.

Jan 27:

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10  • 

   

Psalm 19  • 

   

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a  • 

   

Luke 4:14-21

Feb 3:

Jeremiah 1:4-10  • 

   

Psalm 71:1-6  • 

   

1 Corinthians 13:1-13  • 

   

Luke 4:21-30