Weekly Sermon
THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
February 28, 2010 * Pastor Ed Foster
Scripture: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17—4:1; Luke 13:31-35
I’m not entirely sure when it started. Maybe it was with the O. J. Simpson’ trial, or it was with the advent of “Talk Radio”, or the invention of the Internet. We have entered into a new time in history; a time called the 24-hour news cycle. From the moment we get up in the morning until the moment we go to bed, anytime we wake up, we can hear news.
What is the news that we hear? It’s often the most horrible of things. We hear about pain and suffering. We hear about death and destruction. We see the ravages of nature; earthquakes, tornadoes and floods. We see all of the cruel things that human beings do to one another; robbing, stealing, beating, and killing. We have this 24-hour news cycle. We have all of these places and all of these ways to see what it is that the world is doing; what it is that’s happening to people.
Sometimes it just becomes too much, doesn’t it? It’s more than we can stand. Indeed, there has been a new diagnosis added to the list of mental diseases that we can have that is related just to this. It’s called “News Overload Stress Syndrome”. People who watch this stuff, watch it to the point of making themselves sick. It becomes too much sometimes, doesn’t it? All of the pain, all of the suffering, and ways that people can hurt one another can be seen on the news.
So, we take a break. I’ve been taking a break lately watching the Olympics. You know, that’s probably a good thing. It’s probably impossible for any human being to absorb, to understand, and to deal with all of the suffering in the world. That famous American philosopher, Andy Rooney once said, “It’s impossible to care about everything that deserves to be cared about.” I think that’s kind of true.
We have this 24-7 news cycle. It’s more than we can bear to see. You know, God can’t turn away. God sees all of this pain and suffering in the world. He sees the damage done by earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes. He sees the pain that we inflict upon ourselves; that we inflict upon one another. God sees every bit of it, and God does not turn away.
In our lesson today, someone comes and tells Jesus, “Herod’s out to kill you. You had better go and hide.” Jesus says rather definitely, “You go and tell that old fox that I’ve got work to do. Today and tomorrow I’ll be healing, and on the third day, I’ll be making my way to Jerusalem, because that’s where prophets are killed.” Then he laments for Jerusalem. He compares them to chicks who will not stay under the mother hen’s wings for protection.
It’s a beautiful image, isn’t it? God is this mother hen who wants to gather us all in; to protect us from that bad old world; to protect us from ourselves and from one another. God wants to reach out and cover us with himself.
Indeed, here we learn something about the mind of God. For on that cross, that is exactly what Jesus did. He covered us with himself and gave his life for us. God is very much like that mother hen.
Sam isn’t old enough yet to have gotten into any really terrible trouble. We have kept him off the roof and out of the street. We make him wear his coat when he goes out into the cold. Still, I understand something of what it is about this love that wants to reach out and take care of your child and watching them resist that.
When Sam was just a little baby, he wanted to stand on the back of the couch. I don’t know why, but he wanted to stand on the back of the couch. As hard as we tried, we could not keep him off of there. We finally put the couch up against the wall where there was something to hold on to, because keeping off the back of the couch was not going to happen.
In these nearly 20 years that I have been a pastor, I have had between 5 & 10 confirmation students in each class. I have to tell you, that you kind of become mine through all of that. It’s so hard to watch when some of our kids go and do things that you know are going to be bad for them. They might get involved with the wrong people or get worried about the wrong stuff and do the wrong things. We all know that love of God, don’t we? It’s that love that watches and says, “If you do that, it’s going to hurt!”
My parents frequently had to keep my sister and I from fighting. They told us, “You know, that’s the worst pain of all; watching two people that you love hurt one another.” God gets to watch all of that too, doesn’t he?
God gets to see all of the ways that these children that he loves so much hurt one another with the mean words and the dirty looks. God sees and is hurt by every one of the ways that we belittle one another and marginalize one another. God is hurt when we hurt one another.
God can’t turn off his 24-7 news cycle. He sees every bit of it, and it breaks God’s heart.
As we approach Good Friday and Easter, we get this vision, this insight into the heart of God. What is it that took Jesus to Jerusalem? What made him allow himself to be crucified? It is this love; this love of God that wants nothing more than to wrap us in his wings, to keep us safe; this God who loves us so much that it breaks his heart when he sees us hurt. Amen
THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
February 21, 2010 * Pastor Ed Foster
Scripture: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16; Romans 10:8b-13; Luke 4:1-13
It is the first Sunday in Lent. One of the ways that you can tell it is the first Sunday in Lent is because we are talking about temptation. All three years of the lectionary cycle that we use has one of these texts about the temptation of Jesus on this particular Sunday. Each year we hear on the first Sunday of Lent that after Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit leads him out into the wilderness. There while he is out in the wilderness for 40 days, he is tempted by Satan.
It’s probably a pretty good thing to hear about temptation at the beginning of Lent. Many of us for Lent have taken up some kind of Lenten journey ourselves. Some of us have given something up for Lent; maybe coleslaw; maybe sugar or candy; maybe it’s going on a diet or all kinds of things. Others of us instead of giving something up for Lent we will add something; that we will do extra Bible study, extra devotions, or we will spend extra time in prayer. Even those of us who haven’t done that, we will spend time with these texts for Lent and be singing the Lenten hymns. We will participate in this journey, this exercise of preparing ourselves for Good Friday and for Easter.
We will be tempted to not do those things. We will be tempted to eat that Double Whopper. We will be tempted to go out and spend the money we had saved to help the poor on ice cream.
I give up something for Lent. I give one night of television a week. Now, before you think that’s a terrible sacrifice, I give up Wednesday night. Since I am here until 7:30 or 8:00 pm, it’s not that big of a deal. On the other hand, it’s a great deal because it’s a part of the day that I get to spend those couple of hours doing something else. I might read or spend the time with Sam, helping with his homework. You know, it’s going to be tempting this year to watch the Olympics on Wednesday night. There may be a gold medal, and I might miss it.
Lent is a good time for us to think about temptation, because we are intentionally thinking more about our spiritual lives and coming closer to God. In truth, it isn’t just these 40 days that temptation is an issue. It is an issue in all of our lives from the moment we get out of bed in the morning until the moment we go to bed at night. We are a part of that conflict between two things that we want to do; one we should and one we know that we shouldn’t. Yet, somehow we are pulled both ways.
It is a part of human life. Everyone except possibly the sociopath deals with this experience of temptation. It is probably more true for people of faith. Those of us who do care what God thinks; who care about sin; who do care about good, evil, right, and wrong, it is a big deal. If you didn’t care if something was a sin or not, the temptation wouldn’t be so great. For those of us who do; for those of us who want to make God happy and do the right thing, temptation is a big deal.
Here at the beginning of Lent, we hear the story of Jesus’ temptation. Jesus was tempted by Satan. In that we learn a number of things; maybe not the least important of those is that temptation is real. It isn’t something that we’ve cooked up in our minds to make ourselves feel guilty. It isn’t a sign of our weak character or a sign of depravity. Temptation is real. Even Jesus himself was tempted. His temptations were real temptations. He was hungry, and he was tempted to do a magic trick to make some food. Can you imagine? If Jesus could turn rocks into bread, he could have fed all the hungry in the whole world.
He was tempted to take up all the power and the authority in the world; to finally take his place as king of this world. He wouldn’t have to worry about convincing people. He wouldn’t have to worry about all of this “giving people faith” stuff. He could have just taken the reigns. He was tempted to prove once and for all that he really was the Son of God. He could have jumped off the pinnacle of the Temple. Then we would have all known that he was the Son of God.
His temptations were real and so are ours. You know, a chocolate ice cream cone tastes awfully good. It is tempting to watch the Olympics. Our days are filled with all manor of temptation, and they are real. If those temptations are real, it is also true that God understands that. Jesus really was tempted. He knows what life on earth is like. God isn’t some God far away that has given us a bunch of rules and has no idea what it is to live under them. Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted. He knows how great the draw is to eat that Double Whopper. He knows how hard it is to turn away from those things that tempt us; to turn away from him. Indeed, if he knows how hard it is, it is surely true that he is there with us when we are tempted.
Jesus was alone when Satan came to him. We often in the midst of our temptations feel like we are alone. It’s just me and chocolate ice cream. It’s just me and that person that I want to yell at. It’s just me driving down the road 90 miles an hour, carefree and happy.
We are not alone. We don’t have to fight those temptations by ourselves. God is with us and in truth, we are all in this together.
Finally, this story gives us hope as well. Because this tempter, this liar comes to us and tries to pervert our will and turn us away from God has been defeated. He is not gone. He is still there tempting us to do all manor of things that we know that we shouldn’t do. He has been defeated. Because of that, we know that we can live this life of temptation. We can live this life of wanting to do both good and not so good. We can live this life knowing that we don’t have to give into the temptation, but knowing as well that God forgives us when we do.
These days of Lent are a special gift to us. During this time of Lent, we consciously make an effort to draw closer to God. Part of the gift of Lent is the temptations that come along with that. In those temptations, God is there with us. He is closer to us. In those temptations, we find the grace and glory of God. He gives us strength. Also, he gives us his forgiveness and love. Amen
THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
February 7, 2010
Pastor Ed Foster
Scripture: Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13]; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11
Somewhere along the way, most of us in our lives ask the question: “What is my purpose? Why did God create me? What did he put me here to do? What is my purpose in life? Why am I here?”
To be sure, the world has given us all kinds of answers to that question. We are here to become self-actualized…We’re here to maximize our pleasure while minimizing our pain…We should see if we can get the most stuff. The world has given us lots of answers as to what our purpose is.
Scripture, as well, has given us a number of samples of ways to understand the purpose in our lives. Our purpose, according to Paul last week was to love; to love one another and to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.
In other places, scripture tells us that our purpose in life is to come to faith. Our purpose is to trust and to believe in God. Our purpose is to teach others to trust and have faith in God. Our purpose is to become the people that God has created us to be. Our purpose is to become those holy, righteous people that scripture talks about; that our purpose in all our life is to become those people. To be sure, those are all true things.
A pastor from Texas, Rick Warren, sold literally millions of books to people who were asking that question. His Purpose Driven Life has helped and changed hundreds of thousands of people.
What is our purpose in life? Today’s gospel lesson says that our purpose is to go out and catch people. Our purpose in life is to go out and make new Christians. For all of the other things that Jesus says and all of the other ways that he describes his ministry, in the end, this one remains consistent. Our purpose is to go out and fish for people.
Most of us don’t have much time to sit around and wonder what our purpose in life is. We may catch a thought of it at night before we go to bed; when we’re in the midst of some task that seems pointless. For the most part, our lives are too busy to sit around and wonder what our purpose is.
Peter, James, John, and the other fishermen were busy with their lives too. They had been out fishing all night long. They were there mending their nets. Along comes Jesus. He asks them to pull out into the lake and go fishing one more time.
We most often find that call to fish for people in the midst of our everyday lives. We find our purpose not off on some search but right in the midst of the lives that God has given us. We find our purpose in our families, in our jobs, and/or with our neighbors. We find our purpose not in some convent or monastery far away. We find it right in the midst of real life. Our purpose is to share this good gift that God has given us; this good news that Christ has come to set us free. We need to share that with all those around us.
What is our purpose in life? Our purpose is to catch people for the kingdom of God. That is true for us as individuals. It’s also true for the church. The church’s primary mission, the reason for our existence is to fill the church with souls for God; to fill God’s kingdom with people. The purpose of the church is to catch souls and to go fishing with God.
So, how do we do that? How do we catch people? I think Sam is right. Worms aren’t going to do it. I’m not sure that pizza will work for very long. How is it that we go about catching people?
To be sure, we have seen some examples of how people have gone about it, and it didn’t sit right with most of us. Those guys standing out on the street corner with sandwich boards signs that say “Turn or Burn!” haven’t been too effective. Knocking on doors and asking folks if they have been saved; those people have used up their credit a long time ago.
So, how do we catch people for God? In the end, the answer probably is not some huge program. It isn’t some exercise or something different, but it is in the midst of our everyday life. It’s while we live that we show how God makes a difference in our lives. It’s how we show that Jesus’ love makes a difference in how we treat other people. We show that our faith makes a difference in how we experience the highs and the lows of life. Our sharing that with one another by telling our friends, our neighbors, our children, our co-workers; that’s how we fish.
This church, how do we go about that mission that God has given us? How do we fill the church with souls and fill God’s kingdom with people? Certainly a part of it is the remembering and knowing that is our first job. That is the thing we are called to do. Our first job is to share the good news with our neighbors, our friends, our children, and our world. Everything else that we do here is really aimed at that; to share our faith with our children; to support the faith of one another. We give God’s love and God’s peace to one another. We reach out with that same love and peace to our neighbors and to our community.
How will we do that here at St. John’s? How will we fish for people? What kind of bait will we use?
Jesus told his disciples, “Do not be afraid. From now on, you will be catching people.” That’s our call as well. From now on, we will be catching people. Amen
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
January 31, 2010 * Pastor Ed Foster
Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30
The calendar didn’t work out quite right. This is the year that Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday. Wouldn’t it have been neat if we would have had today’s second lesson on Valentine’s Day?
Many of you had that reading from 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 read at your wedding. I know you did, because 9 out of 10 weddings have 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13. It would be fun for us to have had that as our text to bring the gift of God’s love shared between husbands, wives, and children.
The last few weeks we have been reading in 1 Corinthians. We’ve heard about that church in Corinth. I think God decided to put all of the problems that anyone could ever have right there in the church in Corinth, so that we can see what it’s like. The church in Corinth had lots of problems. For one thing, they were fighting.
Now, we’ve never heard about churches having fights before, but way back then, they did. For one thing, there were different groups within the church. They had different ideas about just who the leader was. Some thought it was Paul who had come and established the church. Others thought it was Peter. Then there was new guy that came along named Apollos. He had baptized lots of them, so whose church was it? Was it Apollos’ church, Peter’s church, or Paul’s church?
In the ancient world most folks didn’t have Sunday off. When they went to church, they would usually have to have their dinner at the same time. They would bring their lunch with them. They would have worship and then have this common meal. Then at the end, they would have communion. The rich folks would bring caviar and lobster. The poor folks had whatever scraps they could gather. There was more than just a little struggle in the church in Corinth, because there was such a difference in economic standing. The poor and the rich resented one another.
In that church in Corinth God blessed them with many spiritual gifts. Some of them were prophets. Some of them spoke in tongues. They spoke languages that they didn’t even know. Some had the ability to explain what those tongues meant. Some were teachers. Some were preachers, and some were healers. Some had gifts that weren’t nearly so impressive.
So, it came to be in that church in Corinth that there were different levels of Christians. There were the super Christians that had the really cool gifts, and then there were the not so super Christians, who had the not so cool gifts.
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “Now concerning spiritual gifts brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.” He told them that everyone has a gift. Everyone has a talent; something that God has given to them. Every one of those gifts is important.
Do you remember what he said last week? “We are like a body. Each part has it’s own special function, and we need them all. The ear doesn’t say to the eye ‘I have no need of you.’ The foot doesn’t say to hand, ‘I don’t belong to the body, because I’m not a hand.’ So, it is in church. All of the gifts that we have are important. We need every one of them. Indeed, the ones that seems the most common and the most ordinary are often the ones that are the most important and the most valuable.” Then he finishes by saying, “Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Let us strive for the greater gifts. I will show you a more excellent way.”
“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” All of those other things are important. It is important to have teachers and preachers. It’s important to build up our church and to go out into the community. All of the gifts that God has given us are important, but there is something still more important. That’s love.
Whenever I read this text, I’m always reminded of that little cartoon, “Love is…” You remember the little kids. They are so cute. It says, “Love is…” and has some cute saying. “Love is giving her a back rub, or telling him how tough he is.” Love is not asking how much the new shoes cost. This is Paul’s letter of “Love is…”
“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.” You would think he wouldn’t have to tell us that, but we know that you do. It isn’t just in some ancient church half way across the world, where we sometimes forget what God wants from us. Christians who lived long ago struggled and fought. They wondered about who was the most important. We too need to be reminded that it is love that it’s all about after all. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves; to love one another as Christ loved us; to love God with all our hearts, all our soul, and all our minds. It’s about love.
All of those other things are important. They are like the nose, the eyes, the ears, and the body. If there is no love, they don’t matter at all.
I had the opportunity to know of a congregation that did all kinds of great things in their community. They couldn’t figure out why no matter how much great work they did in their community, they kept getting smaller. They spent hundreds of thousands of dollars having a research firm come in and find out what the problem was. The answer was that they did all of those great things, but they didn’t love the people they were helping.
In the end, it is about love. We are called to love one another and to love God; to love our neighbors as ourselves. In the end, what does love look like? “Love is patient and kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude…It suffers all things and believes all things.” In the end, all of those other things pass away; things we build and the things we do will come to be nothing. The love we give; the love we do, and the love we have for the world and for one another will never die. That love will last forever.
It is really what it’s all about. It seems so simple. A little child can get that. A child can do it. It is what we have been called for and what God has made us for; to love the world and to love one another; to love God.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago about a preacher who made a big splash in the press by saying that Haiti was getting what they deserved, because they had made a pact with the devil. He may be right. I don’t know, but it sounds awfully arrogant, awfully rude, and not very loving.
God has called us to love one another; to love him and to love the world. It’s a love that will last forever. Amen
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
January 24, 2010 * Pastor Ed Foster
Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21
Who is Jesus? Who is this Jesus that causes us to get up early on a Sunday morning and drag ourselves down to this building? Who is Jesus? Who is it that we say we believe in? Who is it that we tell the world that we think they should believe in him too? Who is Jesus? Who is this one we call Lord; that we teach our children about; that motivates us and makes us do all kinds of things in the world? Who is Jesus?
It’s an important question. The world comes to us and wants to know; who it is that we worship and who it is that we claim is Lord, King, and Savior of us all? Who is Jesus?
Of course, we’ve heard this question before. Jesus asked his disciples one day, “Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am?” Peter spoke up and said, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus told him that he was right. Who is Jesus? He is the Messiah.
When Jesus finished with his temptations out in the desert, filled with the Holy Spirit, he began to go about preaching and teaching; claiming the good news that the kingdom of God had come near. He traveled about, going from town to town speaking in the synagogues. Then he came to his home town, where all of the people knew Jesus. They remembered him from when he was a boy. People were there who were with him in Jewish confirmation class. They knew all of those things that he did. They knew his parents. They knew his brothers and sisters. They knew this Jesus.
On the Sabbath day he came to the synagogue as was his custom. Jesus wasn’t a Hanukah and Passover Jew. It was his custom to come every week. He went up front as was his right as an adult member of the congregation. He was given a scroll to read. He found the place in Isaiah where it says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bring release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to let the oppressed go free and claim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he sat down and said, “That’s me. Today, this has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
To everyone who had known him since he was a boy; people who had watched him grow up; people who knew his brothers and sisters, his mother and father, Jesus told them, “That text is about me.”
Now, we all didn’t go to Jewish confirmation class. If we had, we would have recognized this text in referring to the Messiah.
Who is Jesus? Jesus says, “This is me. I am the one the prophets have written about. I am the one that people have prayed for. I am the one who will proclaim good news to the poor and set the captives free.”
It’s kind of a provocative thing to do, isn’t it? He walks into his home congregation, gets up front and says, “I am the Messiah.”
The people’s reaction was about what we would expect. He made them so mad that they got ready to go and throw him off a cliff. Were it not for the Spirit leading him away, they might have done that.
Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus picked this verse out of all of the verses from scripture that talk about the Messiah. He picked this verse to describe himself. “I am the one who proclaims good news to the poor; release to the captive; who makes the blind to see and sets the oppressed free.”
Of course, there is difficulty there. Certainly Jesus did those things. He healed a blind man. He proclaimed good news to the poor. I don’t know if he ever knocked down the walls of any prisons. Certainly this is Jesus’ ministry. We learn as we go along what it is that he means by those statements. Jesus didn’t knock down prisons. Instead, he set free all of those that are oppressed by the evil and sin in the world. He didn’t go and break the chains of those who are captive. Instead, he set free all of us who are enslaved by our own sinful nature. He didn’t wipe out blindness in the world. No, he opened the eyes of all of us who are blinded by our own self interest, by our selfishness, by our sinfulness. He didn’t go out and hand out money to all of the poor. Instead, he proclaimed to them the good news that would change their lives and make them different people.
Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Messiah who makes all of us who are blind to see; who sets us free from our slavery; who sets us free from our bondage; who proclaims good news to us, because in one way or another we are all important. He changes us into people who do go and heal the eyes of those who are blind. He changes us into people who do go out and not only proclaim the good news of salvation to the poor but to bring them the things that they need for life. He indeed changes us to people who set the captives free and proclaim release to those who are oppressed.
Who is Jesus? Jesus is the Messiah, but he is this Messiah, who proclaims good news to the poor, recovery of sight to all of us who are blind, sets us free even though we are oppressed and in bondage. Amen
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY
January 17, 2010 * Pastor Ed Foster
Scripture: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11
People studying to be pastors in the Lutheran church go to seminary for two years. Then they are placed out into a congregation as an intern before they return for their senior year in seminary.
I did my internship in the fine town of Wahoo, Nebraska. One Friday evening, I had been visiting folks in the hospital in Omaha. On the way home, I heard this horrible sound come out of the front of my Jeep. It was like I had hit something or had been shot. The evidence of the problem was immediate, because the water pressure went to nothing. Then the alternator went bad. I had broken a fan belt.
I pulled off to the side of the road. I was out in the country in rural Nebraska. I looked around. You know, this was a time before cell phones. Up ahead, I could see a light, so I walked to that light. It was a beauty shop. I thought twice about going in. I had never been in one of those places. They let me use the phone. I called my girlfriend. You know, there was a time before “Caller I.D.”, so I know that she wasn’t just skipping my call. She didn’t answer, so I called my supervisor. There was no answer at their house either. I called Buddy.
Buddy ran one of the local service stations. I told him that I was out on the road near Lulabelle’s Beauty Shop. He went and got in his wrecker and came and got me. He drug me back to Wahoo. When we arrived there, I tried to pay him for the trip, and he wouldn’t take any money. I thanked him and told him how much I appreciated him inconveniencing himself for me. Knowing Buddy, I thought he would say something like, “Oh, it’s no inconvenience at all.” Instead, he told me, “You are worth being inconvenienced for.” I like Buddy.
Jesus, his disciples, and his mother were all at a wedding. Weddings in the ancient world were a big deal. People didn’t have very many reasons to celebrate. So, when they did, they did it up right. They would save for most of their children’s lives to put on an appropriate wedding party. The party would usually last about seven days, so it took quite a bit of supplies. Of all the things that you could do that would be dishonorable or embarrassing; running out of wine had to be close to the top.
Sure enough, that’s what happened. The couple ran out of wine, so now they wondered what they were going to do. Jesus’ mother comes and tells him about the problem. He said to her, “What concern is that to you and me? My time has not yet come.”
Jesus came to die on a cross, be raised from the dead, and save people from their sins. He did not come to save people from not having ordered enough wine for their parties. Yet, Jesus did take care of their problem.
It seems like a minor miracle in the big scheme of things, doesn’t it? It’s impressive. One hundred twenty gallons of wine is kind of neat. In the big scheme of things, what kind of miracle is that? It’s ordinary, common stuff.
Here’s the truth. Jesus does indeed care about our ordinary, common stuff in our lives. He cares about our parties. He cares when we are sad. Jesus does indeed care about the ordinary things that happen in our lives.
One of the big questions, and how could we not ask, “Why is it that God doesn’t do anything about the pain and suffering in the world? Why is it that God allows things like earthquakes in Haiti, tsunami’s, or cancer?” We know all of the list.
Hardly anyone knew that Jesus had done this miracle, did they? There were the guys that drew the water; maybe Jesus’ mother. Of course, the disciples had to have learned about it sometime. No one knew that Jesus had changed the water into wine.
When we ask, “How come Jesus doesn’t do anything about these terrible things?”, the impertinent answer is, “How do we know?” Indeed, how do we know that he isn’t doing something about the suffering in the world? To be sure, he did something big about it. He gave his life so that we might all have eternal life. Beyond that, how do we know that he isn’t doing something for the pain and suffering in Haiti?
We see on the television the people who stop to help, even though they don’t have much more than the person they are helping. We see on the news all of the people who are reaching into their pockets even though they don’t have much money themselves to make sure those people are being helped.
Often Jesus does things in ways that no one knows about and no one would believe. Jesus does care about the ordinary, common things in our lives, not just the parties, but our pain and our suffering. He came so that we might know his love; that we might believe in him; that we might go out and do miracles in his name.
The doctors who will be flying to Haiti; all of the people who will be finding a way to donate; all of the people who take a moment to pray are doing a miracle in God’s name. It may seem like a small thing to help someone who is sick; to provide a little water to someone who is thirsty, but God cares about the thirsty and the hurting.
I think Buddy performed a miracle. He got out of his easy chair on a Friday night. He came and helped this smart-aleck intern pastor get off the road.
God calls us to do miracles too; ones that are anonymous and may not seem like a big deal to share God’s love to all of the world. Amen
THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD
January 10, 2010 * Pastor Ed Foster
Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
Baptisms are special. I sat down and counted up the number of baptisms I have done since I became a pastor. I figured that I had done somewhere in between 100 – 120 baptisms in my career so far as a pastor.
It has always been my goal to do as many baptisms as I do funerals; to welcome as many souls into God’s church as I send on to God’s kingdom. So far, I am way behind on my goal.
Every baptism is special, from the little, tiny babies to the children that come, to the adults; every baptism is special and wonderful. The babies, of course, are all full of life, wiggling, and sometimes crying. I told the folks last night that I always put a couple of ice cubes in the water to make sure that it’s extra cold, so that the baby cries. Their eyes all got really big, so I had to tell them that I don’t really do that.
The babies usually aren’t the remarkable ones at baptisms. It’s the mom’s and dad’s, the grandma’s and grandpa’s that are so thrilled that this new child has been welcomed into God’s family and has been given these great gifts that God has to offer.
I had one baptism for a family that had only been members of the church for a short time. Most of their family had never been in the church at all. One of their friends had been given the job of photographer. Half way through the baptism, I heard this sound. Over my shoulder, here was this poor kid climbing on top of the pulpit for a better picture. Every baptism is special. Some are more special than others.
As children grow, they learn a little more about what is being done for them and to them. They have a whole different experience. They realize that something special and important really is happening to them.
One little girl; I’m not quite sure she really got it. She understood that something powerful was happening and was kind of afraid. She kept dodging the water as I tried to pour it on her head. It took four times, but we got her baptized, none-the-less.
Every baptism is special. One gentleman had an employee who had never been baptized. The man had lived a hard life. He brought the man to be baptized. It was just Bernie, the man’s grandmother, and him. Before we were done, we were all crying, because he knew what God had done for him.
Every baptism is special. Sometimes it may seem like we make too big of a deal about it. In the Lutheran church, in particular, we talk about baptism as if it is a guarantee of Heaven. There probably is some validity to that argument.
Baptism is indeed special. It is God’s promise that we have been marked with his seal; that we have been joined to Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
John the Baptist was not the first to do baptisms. In the ancient world, this ceremonial washing was a way of signifying leaving an old life behind and starting a new life; the washing of one’s old sins off and beginning fresh anew and clean.
John’s baptism wasn’t the first, but it was the first baptism like this. Jesus walked down into that dirty Jordan River. It was dirty not just with the dirt of the river but with the sins of all those people who had been washed there. Ever since, all who have stepped into those waters; all who have been dunked, sprinkled, or swiped have joined his life, his death, and his resurrection.
Every baptism is special, because that baptism was special. The Son of God went down into that water to wash with the same water that we are. Baptisms are special. We are joined with the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ. In that washing, we are made children of God.
Jesus hears those words, “You are my beloved Son…” Now, we too, when we are baptized, those words are spoken over us. We are now God’s beloved children. We are heirs of all that God has in his kingdom. God promises us that he will indeed forgive our sins; that those who are baptized and believe will receive the kingdom of Heaven; that we will have eternal life.
Every baptism is special. I have had a few folks, usually young folks, that come and ask me, “Pastor, we need to have our baby (you have all heard the phrase) done.” That usually means that grandma and grandpa are bugging us to get the baby done.
Every baptism is special. It is a shame that some folks come and give their child this great gift and never tell them that they have it. They never tell them what it is that God has done for them. It is a terrible shame that someone grows up having been given this wonderful gift and they never see anyone use that gift themselves.
Every baptism is special. God has promised that child and everyone who is baptized that they are his children, marked with his sign and heirs of God’s kingdom.
Jesus went down to the water that day and was baptized by John. When he came out, he prayed. While he was praying, the skies were torn open. A voice of the Holy Spirit came through; the voice of God said, “You are my beloved child, my Son. With you I am well pleased.” Because of that special baptism, God says to each of you, “You are my beloved child. With you I am well pleased.” Amen