Sermon – The Mission of God – Mark 1:29-39

Full Text

Not a very Lutheran sermon, but I think it is spot on. (It was not very Lutheran becuase the overly simple condensation is Jesus was/did this, so we should do this. Lutherans tend to frown on Jesus the example which drifts to close to Jesus the law giver.) I liked it enough that I used it with the circuit meeting today. Lutherans love talking justification, and law/gospel and freedom from the law. The freedom from the law is absolutely correct, but it is freedom in Christ and not a general freedom. Even Paul’s response to that thought (should I sin so that grace may increase?) was absolutely not! Sometimes the simple Jesus the great example is called for especially when the issue is His mission to save sinners. It is directly out of that mission that the gospel comes. If we get the gospel we are part of His mission. We make his mission ours.

Sermon – Mark 1:21-28 – Sacred Spaces

Text of sermon

One of the comments on this sermon on Sunday was the “it could have found a nice home in the pulpit next door.” That could either be the Bapist Church or the African-American church. From this person I took that as a compliment. We Lutherans tend to be envious of the pulpit skills of both of those types of preachers, but we find it hard to break out of the cultural, emotional and theological strait-jackets. If my seminary professor had said that, I’d be looking for the heresy I just endorsed with passion that would be leading my flock in the wrong direction. Part of the strait-jacketing that comes with the M.Div.

I think I’ve quipped before that some days you’re preaching the Word and others you’re talking. This one certainly felt like the Word. Feelings are not always a great indicator, but I’m not quibbling this time.

Sermon – Mark 1:14-20 – The Risk of Contact

I guess I’ve been too tricky for my own good linking the file with the full text to the word cloud picture, so I’m going to start also putting a hard link to the text here –MS Word Link

Wanting to be called or to feel like someone has a job for you is an almost universal desire. Thomas the Tank engine is my son’s favorite toy/book. The original books were written some time ago by an Anglican minister. When you read those early books or see the early cartoons the main virtue being taught is interesting. The highest value for Thomas, given by Sir Topham Hatt, is to “be a really useful engine.” Men fall into that thinking more than women do – basing their entire self-worth on society’s definition of being useful. That requires a sense of call. Someone finds this useful. We are constantly looking for that Sir Topham Hatt character to contact us and affirm us.

The trick is sorting the true call from the all the things that might just be useful. In the Sermon I used the example of SETI. People desperately looking for that affirmation and sometimes salvation from contact from the stars. The people in SETI maintain an almost desperate hope that someone is calling them, but they just need to look in the right place.

We so want that contact and we often look so hard that we overlook our true calling. God has called us in Jesus Christ. It does not depend upon our skills or abilities. God takes the action. God has made first contact. And he does have something useful for you, tell someone else what Jesus has done for us.

Sermon – John 1:43-51 – What you believe effects what you see

This sermon is counter intuitive in its message. We naturally think that first we see something, then we sort it out, and eventually form beliefs based on those observations. That is not what John in the text or the small catachism say about faith.

Third article of the creed…what does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason of strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel….

In the text Jesus asks Nathanael if he believes because I told you you were sitting under a tree? The answer is no, but becuase he does believe he will see greater things than that. John is full of these encounters with Jesus and how people come to believe or has deficient belief. The Strongest might be Mary Magadelen at the resurrection (John 20:10-18). She “sees” Jesus, but doesn’t believe it. She thinks he’s the gardener, but then Jesus calls her, and she “sees” Jesus. If your firm belief is dead people don’t rise, you can’t see the risen Lord, at least not without intervention.

The true Israelite, unlike the original Israel is Gen 28:16, “sees” the Lord in this place. The Son of God might be hidden behind a cross, the face of a homeless person, bread and wine, the frailty of a minister, but surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.

I putting the sermon together I stumbled accross the scientist story. I thought it was a great example coming from the ultimate ground of seeing in believing where seeing was shaped by belief.

Ultimately we as Christians have a vocation more like Philip who called Nathanael. Can anything good come from Nazareth? Come and see! We invite the blind to see. And leave the miracle to Jesus.

Sermon – The Baptism of Jesus

Liz made a comment on the way out that as a teacher an object lesson – i.e. a real baptism – would have been nice. I had to say a whole hearted yes.

Just a couple of stray thoughts. For many of us, remembering our baptism does two things – 1) it draws us toward our family and the community of God and 2) it points us in the right direction for living. For many of us were baptized as infants. Not being baptist, a rememberance of baptism immediately directs us to parents or grandparents or elders in the church. We are reliant upon them to tell us, yes you are baptized. We are reliant upon the church to be the people of God and remember who has been brought into the family. That is not a bad thing to remember that there is a corporate entity – the church – that has a role to play in our lives. It is not just us alone or me and my personal Jesus. Remembering baptism also points us in the right direction in that while the sacrament is a once for all act, the life it enables is an ongoing thing. Luther’s small catechism would say, “it indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned…” When we live the Christian life we are baptized each day or each hour when we recognize our shortcomings, but most importantly when we see the way through the water that Jesus sanctified.

Sermon – Luke 2:40-52 – Pondering Growth

I need to ask forgiveness from the Saturday service attendees. I had written the sermon and ran through it and thought good – or probably more closer – the in-laws are at home, there is a football game on, I’ve been thinking about these other presentations, and my head is in that game and those presentations and not this sermon right now. Only when really delivering did all the obvious problems creep out. It needed a couple of more dry runs.

I got it updated by Sunday morning. The sermon linked to in the Wordle is that Sunday morning sermon. But that does not help the Saturday group who got a much more muddled presentation.

Two key ideas: 1) Jesus’ life was one of growth through submission, the ultimate example of losing your life only to find it and 2) we just aren’t good at seeing those growth opportunities, but God loved us anyway. God loved us enough to submit to our cross. Jesus submitted where we could not, and so He is the the one directing growth from the right hand of the Father. Next time you feel growth stalled or advance stopped, take and second to look at Jesus and what does He want you to submit to in order to grow?

Sermon – Luke 1:26-38 – Mary replied I am the slave of the Lord

Underware. That is the term for too much sermon prep work actually making it into the sermon. That was what this one was. There is a really good 700 word meditation at the end, preceeded by 700 words that should not have made it into the final draft.

It is not that the first 700 words are bad. They helped the preacher in understanding and picking that one thread to tug on, but the hearers did not have to hear that.

This was the Sunday of the children’s Christmas service. The older tradition was that the Christmas Eve was the Children’s pageant. In our hurried world we cancel Christmas Day, mvoe the kids to Advent 4 and Christmas Eve becomes the Christmas worship. So, the kids – who are like the old Hollywood saying about being in a movie with kids or animals – don’t – they do two things. 1) They are so cute that anything after them is wasted breath. 2) Congregations are either packed or empty for the kids program. I’ll leave you to think why that is so. What used to be done over three hours or three services (Advent 4, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day) with the time to actually think about the day and its events is done in one day.

I can’t help but think that might be a problem. It says something about a lack of communion in the body of Christ – especially if your congregation falls on the empty side. When 51 of 52 weeks the kids are banished to the nursery so the adults have their worship and then the adult stays away on the 52 sunday for the kids. Is there a connection between not making time for the Christ child and the fact that most of the children have drifted away from the faith and if not the faith the church?

Advent Sermon – Symbols of Things – Zechariah 3:8

This was the last mid-week sermon. We had been roughly following a chain of OT promises of the messiah. The first grouping was about a savior/prophet. The second group were kingly predictions. The last group was priestly predictions. I didn’t start out with prophet, priest and king, but that was always latent and it became more obvious. It also made sense to work from prophet, a more or less completely fulfilled role, to the king, which is fulfilled but hidden, and end with the priest, which sacrificial respect is fulfilled but the presense of God sense remains.

Like when Paul talks about Faith, Hope and Love with the greatest being love becuase while faith and hope give way to knowing love will remain, two of the roles of prophet, priest and king will disappear. We will not need a prophet as all will be known. We will not need a priest as God will be with His people and they will have been remade. We will still have a King.

Sermon – Bad Coinage – 1 Thess 5:16-24

After preaching in what is called a lectio continua (a continuous reading) for most of the summer, fall and early winter, the advent texts are herky jerky. One moment you are in Mark and the Next you are in John or Isaiah or Paul. Since I used the Markan text for John the baptist last week (and Mark is the primary Gospel this year), I didn’t jump on the Baptist from John. The Paul text just jumped out at me on second reading. I broke a rule about choosing a text and sticking with it as I changed texts last Tuesday after going not the Baptist again.

I am glad I did. There are many things I like about this sermon. I still wish I was better at merging interesting life stories into sermons, or maybe that is just I wish I was a better storyteller. I’m afraid my sermons too often may come off like lectures. The story I feel best prepared to tell is the biblical story, the story behind the readings. And I am getting more confident in talking about intersections of that story and our modern existence. I think this sermon did that as well as I am able to right now.

Too much of religion is just our own version of oral tradition. We make up laws or only look for laws from religion. Christianity gets reduced to ethics. The resurrection of the Son of God morphs into the Judeo-Christian tradition. That is not what we are waiting for – more tradition or laws. We are waiting for resurrection, the revealing of glory, the kingdom come. Our temporary problems with sin and the old order of things passing away are inconsequential to what the Spirit is working in us and the salvation given through Jesus Christ. Religion is about hope and joy and prayer and thanksgiving. Not about do’s and don’ts.

Advent Mid-week Sermon – The Problems of a King

In the modern world Christians who are looking forward to a coming King have a problem. Christopher Hitchens goes right at that problem. The idea of a King is oppressive in a world of democracies.

Somewhat surprisingly the answer is part affirmation of what Hitchens says – a Holy King is a scary dictator. We are sinful beings. Being judged by the Holy is not what we want. But God has demonstrated his Love for us while we were still cowering in fear. He gave up all the opulence of the best kingdom and tool the lowest rung to show his love. That is love we can trust.

I liked this sermon. If you’ve got 5 mins or have read Hitchens before, give it a click and scan it.