Recent Sermons
Jesus said “I am the Good Shepherd.”
That’s a beautiful phrase, so beautiful that the founders of this church made it our name. I think about all the coloring books that we give to our kids in order to help them to understand Jesus, and quite often there he is with lambs in his arms. It may cause us to think about our Good Shepherd window up above our altar. Or you may prefer the Good Shepherd window above our chapel altar. It’s all very cuddly.
Those are beautiful images that comfort our hearts, but it is a much deeper and weightier concept that demands our attention. It is one of seven great “I am” statements that John records Jesus saying.
I’m not much of a gambler. About 46 years ago, I hit three oranges on a slot machine at a small gas station/restaurant in Elko, Nevada that paid for my dinner. About fifteen years later, I lost $20 in a slot machine in Atlantic City. I guess that means I did a little better than break even, which is all I’ve ever heard from any gambler. That’s about it. It’s just not fun to me.
Our oldest son was 11 that day in Atlantic City. Dazzled by the lights and sounds he was begging for a turn, which was illegal. I told him, “Always remember that they did not build all these hotels to give you money.” That was good advice then but it’s better now that gambling is legal just about everywhere in our country and heavily advertised.
But the truth is we all gamble all the time. The old joke is that the only certainties in life are death and taxes, but even taxes aren’t certain. And so, we live by probabilities. For example, we expect the light to come on when we flip the switch, water to come out of the tap or the car to start and on and on. We get on planes. We merge onto I-4.
Every day is a gamble. The odds are our minds and bodies will work tomorrow about like they do today, unless and until illness, injury or aging mean they won’t.
You expect I’m going to tie this back to the Gospel somehow. (I will!)
Another way to frame that reality is to recognize how much we live by faith. Few of us know the intricacies of how electricity gets everywhere, how clean water gets everywhere, how our vehicles work. I mean, I used to know how a car works, not anymore. We have faith the planes will get us safely to our destinations. Thousands of them are in the air right now! We have faith our cars will start and we’ll get to our destinations. Eventually.
Those are all tangible things and processes. What about the intangibles that actually drive our lives? No one lives by things and processes. We live in relationships. We find our niche. We take on responsibilities. We think about how we might be able to make things better. We develop hopes and dreams, plan for our future. How important are those intangibles? How certain are they? They, too, are gambles. The first time we say “I love you” you hope you hear it back.
Oh yes, we are creatures who live entirely by faith, whether or not we admit it or accept it. The issue is where we put our faith and how strongly we put it there.
Before Jesus joined his disciples that first Easter night, traditionally thought to be the same room where they met for the Last Supper, they had no certainty about anything. They didn’t know if or when the authorities might come for them as co-conspirators of Jesus. They had taken out their leader and the next step could easily have been to take out the next layer of leadership. They went “all in” but had no idea what tomorrow might bring, or despite all of Jesus’ instructions what they should do next.
Fear grows in the absence of faith. Unresolvable uncertainty breeds anxiety. Theirs must have been extreme.
When Jesus comes, their fear is displaced although not so much by faith as by the shocking wonder of his presence. And he fulfills promises he made to them the night before he died. It’s really him. He is physically with them. He still carries the wounds of his crucifixion, yet he is perfectly fine. He gives them what they need, first peace then the Holy Spirit. He renews their commission to re-present him.
Upon encountering the risen Christ, their faith in him, in their mission is fully restored. Their fear is gone, never to return even when they are rejected, persecuted, arrested, imprisoned and (most of them) eventually put to death because they refuse to recant or deny this outrageous truth that Jesus is Lord and was raised by God from the dead.
Thomas wasn’t there and refused to take their testimony on faith. But Jesus comes again to give him what he gave the others, with the caveat, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” John 20:29 That would include us!
All that we see in this moment is underscored in John’s first letter. He declares to us what he has seen with his own eyes and touched with his own hands so that we can join in fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. The light of Christ builds our faith, and drives out all darkness, including our sin as we repent from it. He has atoned for all of it once and for all.
We are so very blessed to have the Apostle John’s personal testimony of these events. His witness, along with the other Gospels and books of the New Testament draw us to Jesus and, I pray, opens us to relationship with him and with the power of the Holy Spirit build our faith so as to drive out all fear – including of death and taxes.
That is the great blessing of faith in Jesus Christ. Forgiveness and direction for our whole lives radiate from him. And that is what these parents and godparents hope and promise for Breit, Lexi Grace and Sela.
These girls are all blessed with very good and faithful parents who love them more than they love themselves. They will, to the very best of their ability, provide for them in every conceivable way. They will encourage them in every healthy interest. They each have very good and strong extended families who will support them as well.
Those will all be reliable points of faith for these girls to navigate the probabilities, risks, challenges and opportunities, joy sand sorrows life will bring. Their potential, individually and collectively, is impossible to grasp.
And their very best point of faith will grow out of the relationship they will have with Jesus, which we consecrate today in Holy Baptism through the symbols of water and oil our prayers and our promises. I pray that relationship will bless and guide them all their lives. “We will, with God’s help.” That’s the very best we can offer.
AMEN
I’m going to share a couple of stories about death and life that I hope will help us hone in on the wonder of Easter.
Years ago, I saw a fly in our master bathroom. I managed to swat it down, and while it was dazed crush it in a wad of toilet paper and flush it away. The next morning, I saw a fly in our master bathroom. I managed to swat it down, and while it was dazed crush it in a wad of toilet paper and flush it away. And the next morning, I saw a fly in our master bathroom. I managed to swat it down, and while it was dazed crush it in a wad of toilet paper and flush it away.
This went on for weeks, not necessarily every day, but most days for weeks. I don’t know how or why, but there was something about our kids going in and out plus the layout of that house that a fly, not two, would get in and wind up buzzing against our bathroom mirror.
Back in October 2000, Laura, Chip Thullbery and I traveled to Washington DC for the 25th Annual Marine Corp Marathon. The marathon starts and finishes in Arlington National Cemetery, with the finish line at the Iwo Jima Monument.
As we entered the cemetery grounds, I became overwhelmed at the site. A sea of white crosses as far as the eye could see filled the landscape, perfect rows, and diagonals. They continued along a road, which made a large circle and eventually came to the monument area. I did a little research and I have come to know that there are 400,000 crosses. This scene affected me deeply, I think for the first time in my life, I saw the bitter reminder of the cost of freedom. The hard reality, that the price of freedom is blood.
Back when I was a CPA, my favorite client was a bank. The bank had an officer named Jeanne who worked the front desk and answered the phone. By the time I showed up, she had been there well over 30 years and was clearly the matriarch of the bank. Her nickname was “Mother.” Even the bank president, who had started his career working under her supervision before moving on then coming back, wisely honored and valued her wisdom and influence. She ruled over all she surveyed in the lobby and she held court daily in the break room.
In the break room, her influence was visible. She had post-it notes stuck all over the place. Notes like, “If you make a mess, clean it up!” “If you pour the last cup, please make a new pot.” “Please make sure the refrigerator is closed.” “Anything left in here over a week will be thrown away.” And my personal favorite, “Your mother does not live here. Wash your own dishes.”
Jesus has come from the home of his friend Lazarus and his sisters where he raised Lazarus from the dead and now is in Jerusalem for Passover - for the last time. The crowds who are following him have grown and in this passage we hear of Greeks who have come to Jesus’ disciple Philip saying, “Sir we wish to see Jesus.” The gospel doesn’t tell us why they wish to see Jesus. Are they curious about his message or parables? Are they hoping to see Jesus perform a miracle? Maybe they want to become followers of his.
On the face of it this is such a simple request – “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” - but it cuts to the heart of the question we need to ask ourselves: when we look at Jesus, who/what do we see? Because the gospel of John is the last gospel written, this was probably a question asked by those in the early church.
We were blessed at our Christmas pageant this past December to have a live baby to play Jesus. Carly Jacobs played Mary and she held Lee Porter who was not quite 3 weeks old at the time. His mother, Morgan, was careful to bring him in just before the scene and whisked him away immediately afterward because he was too young to be in a crowd.
It was a very sweet scene. I’m sure everyone watching could see that Carly loves babies. It was either that or she’s just a great actress. Most people couldn’t see Morgan and Kody gazing at their son in the wings, or his grandparents Melody, who has been running our pageant for decades, and Pat seeing their first grandchild playing Jesus. That and 60-something kids created an explosion of love – BOOM! – to convey the joy of Christmas.
Where might we encounter God? Anywhere, of course. Yet, we are also drawn to encounter him in specific places. We have very deep roots on that point.
From the Exodus forward, the people of Israel got used to God being with them in a particular spot, even if when God was moving with them. It began with a pillar of cloud and fire as they were leaving Egypt. It included the top of Mount Sinai wreathed in cloud with thunder and lightning, or in a cloud of fire. God then gave them very detailed instructions on building the Tabernacle, a tent for meeting God that could move with them as they wandered in the desert wilderness. Wherever they went, the people would know that God was right there.
Eventually, after the conquest of the Promise Land, after the time of the Judges, after King Saul and after King David, God gave Solomon very detailed instructions for the first Temple at Jerusalem. That Temple lasted over 400 years, until it was destroyed by the Babylonians in about 586 AD. Then, 70 years later, that’s 2-3 generations later, Cyrus of Persia overthrew Babylon and helped Israel rebuild it, and there it has stood all the way up to this moment.
Laura and I are fans of Science Fiction Movies. For me the best ones are those that have just enough real possibilities in them.
How many of you remember the 1998 movie, “Armageddon”? It had a cast of stars, including Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Ben Affleck. The movie was a commercial success, grossing $553.7 million. Big money back in 1998.
The movie begins with a scene showing a massive meteor shower destroying the orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis, before entering the atmosphere and bombarding major cities. It is then discovered that a massive asteroid the size of Texas will impact Earth in 18 days, potentially wiping out all life on Earth. NASA devises a plan to have a deep hole drilled into the asteroid, into which they will insert and detonate a nuclear bomb to destroy the asteroid, saving life on earth.
Our Gospel for the first Sunday of Lent each year concerns Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by Satan. Mark’s account is very brief, but remember this story is our story. It shows us vital ways that Jesus is bound to humanity’s long struggle with the sin that separates us from God, and vital ways we are bound to Jesus. Some lessons are found in the three types of danger Jesus faced, and some are in how his temptation is framed in the narrative.
The first danger is that Jesus was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness. That wilderness is desert, so very little water or food either.