1 John 3:16-24 Talk is cheap. Go and Do

            There was a poll conducted in 2012 and it asked some interesting questions about Jesus. One of the most interesting questions was this: “Do you think the most important biblical passage that distills Jesus' message is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son," and that salvation is determined by your acceptance of Jesus as savior? Or do you think it's Matthew 25: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me," and that salvation is determined by how you treat the poor and vulnerable?

            Can anybody tell me what is wrong with this question? This question is written like there are two Jesus’ out there; like there is this one that is all about having faith, because the Gospel of John focuses more on having faith in who Jesus is (the Son of God) than what Jesus tells us to do. The writer of this poll acts like we have to choose one or the other. This tells us one of two things: A) that the writer probably doesn’t know how to use the bible, and B) that they don’t spend much time reading the bible.

            As Christians, and READERS OF THE BIBLE THAT WE ARE, how can we answer the question when we know the answer is both? When we look at the Gospel of John, there is faith language all over the place. In the very first chapter we are told that Jesus is the Word made flesh. Every time Jesus says “I Am” in the Gospel of John he is referring to God speaking to Moses from the Burning bush. Throughout this Gospel Jesus keeps telling us that he is the Son of the living God so that we have faith in who Jesus is. AND, so that we have faith in this Good Shepherd as our Gospel says this morning who freely gave himself for our salvation, Free of charge. We don’t have to do anything because God did it all.

            This writer of the poll is almost pitting this John Jesus against another Jesus. He uses Matthew 25 “when you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me.” The CNN writer is saying that if we believe in that Jesus then we believe in a Jesus who calls us to do works and those works are done out of our love for Jesus causes us to do the works in hopes that we grow in our faith.

            That is why this question and all the questions are flawed in this survey. We cannot separate Jesus from faith and love. This second lesson from 1 John helps clarify who we are. We are already children of God. We are born in the light of a God whose only Son went to the cross and paid the price for our sin, as I said free of charge. Here in 1 John we hear that we already know what Jesus has done…what God has done for us. We can have faith in Jesus and in God because of what was freely given to us; forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

            AND it is living in that knowledge that 1 John calls us to do more than words. We are called to respond to that free gift out of love, gratitude for all that God has blessed us with. In this second reading John calls us to truth and action; to acknowledge the blessings and the love of God, the faith in Christ Jesus our Savior and go and DO…love our neighbor, help those in need, and maybe even lay down our lives for the sake of the Gospel. Lay down our lives literally, and figuratively. We all know the literal meaning to give our lives for the Gospel; but figuratively, it means committing ourselves, our hearts, and all that we are to continuing the ministries that Jesus taught; ministries of reaching out into the community as well as the ministries right inside our building.

            It means committing to the ministry of bringing our families to hear the word of God. It means teaching God’s Word from the youngest to the oldest. It means working together to ensure that the ministries of this church continue on for generations to come. To give our family members and those that come after us a place to hear the word of God and to be in fellowship together, just like those who came before us some 250 years ago.

             This past three weeks we have heard some powerful faith stories. Stories of how they were touched by the power of God’s love; how their faith in God was made known in their hearts and how they responded to that faith, in love, in prayer, and in commitment to living out their faith. Next Sunday, we will be making a commitment to God and the ministries of this church, this body of Christ, Immanuel Lutheran Church and its work in the community and in the lives of one another. During this week as we prepare to make our commitment, rest in our faith in Christ and as John said it “Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” AMEN!

Easter Sunday means living in a new reality

2015 Easter Sunday Sermon

Immanuel Lutheran Church

            This is my favorite day of the year! This is an amazing time; not just in my life but in all our lives. It is amazing because the tomb is empty. Friday night we experienced the crucifixion and the closing of the tomb. Through our service of shadows, the lights got dimmer and dimmer. After each reading we saw the light fade. It was the light of the day AND it was the light that is the life in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Finally, we sat in darkness, as Jesus was laid in the tomb, and we prayed.

            It was a solemn time. It was a sad time, a moving time because of all it meant for the one who was coming into the world to save us all. But now, this morning, we woke up to a new world. That sadness that we felt and have gone through these three days is no longer here. This new world is here because we wake up to find an empty tomb. That place that was so dark, cold and held so much in it is, this morning, no more than an empty tomb.

            Why? What has happened? What has happened is that our Lord and Savior, Jesus is no longer in this tomb. He is not there as we are told in the Gospel of Mark. That young man who ran away on Thursday evening when Jesus was handed over is back. He tells both Mary’s that this one they are looking for…the Jesus that they just buried on Friday is not in the tomb. It’s empty and for that we can say Hallelujah!

            This is exciting news isn’t it? Jesus is now going to meet them all in Gallilee. Go and tell the disciples. This young man is a messenger for God. He is telling the Mary’s that what Jesus said will be true. Jesus is alive and back on the earth. The Son of Man is raised…not even death can keep this Son of God down! This is something to celebrate! Because Jesus is alive, God’s promises have been fulfilled to send a son into the world to save the world and THAT IS SOMETHING TO BE VERY EXCITED ABOUT!

            But there is one other thing to get excited about. Today is the day that we know, see, and experience that God gives us a second chance at being disciples. How do I know this? Who does the young man tell the ladies to go and tell? The disciples…that’s right, Go tell the disciples; but, then he goes on to say “and Peter!” And Peter is very important because what did Peter do? All along, Peter wasn’t as steady as a rock as we would like to think, right? HE walked on the water with Jesus and when a wave came up, Peter started to sink. Peter was there at the transfiguration, at the arrest, and sat out in the courtyard…denying Jesus.

            This messenger from God tells the ladies to include Peter; they are to include the person who had little faith, witnessed the transfiguration, started rebuking Jesus, said he would never leave Jesus’ side, and WHO did reject Jesus…far from the death that Peter was proclaiming he would do to walk with Jesus. This messenger is told by God to include Peter and that tells us all something about God.

            This inclusion of Peter tells us that God did not abandon Peter. Despite all his anxiety and insecurity about who Jesus was and was going to happen, despite his faith crises and abandoning Jesus, God did not abandon Peter. God includes Peter to be a part of this Good News that the Son of God is alive…that God will not let death be their end and that God has raised Jesus to show them that forgiveness is real, mercy is a reality, and that eternal life is a promise kept.

            God is showing us this morning those same things. Because of the resurrection of Christ on this Easter morning, we are given a new perspective on the world in which we live. God does not abandon us in our faith journey. We are not abandoned when we have a crisis of faith, or feel that our mistakes and poor decisions are not so big that we cannot ask for forgiveness from God. Because of our broken, human world that we cannot seek out God’s grace in our lives for ourselves and for others.

            Our world is closely tied with the world of that first Easter morning. Easter shows us that we too, live in a world where forgiveness is real. Because of this resurrection morning, forgiveness is more real now than ever before because it was God’s Son, Jesus Christ who went on that cross and died for us. Meaning that there are times when we mess up, say or do hurtful things BUT we are not doomed to that type of life. It is hard but we can always try harder to not make the same mistakes or bad choices.

            We also live in a world where mercy is a reality. Because of that cross and Jesus being upon it, God has given us the second chance. The second chance to see that we are all valuable and worthy of God’s love. That, despite, our faith crises we are not left alone to deal with this world but we are in a community of all of God’s children to care for one another and help one another. It is the mercy of starting our lives new, beginning with this very day; Living in a new body because all that God has taught and showed us through Jesus is now in us; So that, we think a little deeper about what it means to live as a child of God.

            Living this new life in the light of the resurrection can take on many different shapes. It may be helping our neighbors around the world with food or farm animals (through the good gifts program) like our youth did for advent. Maybe it is helping people in our county through NESAP (the local food bank in Hampstead), school children, and their families, across the street (literally) who may need help OR Maybe people in our congregation who need help, who need a Stephen Minister to help them get through a tough situation or sit and listen, or a person who just needs one of us, whether in the church or community, who needs to know that they are important.

            Living this new life helps us to realize the promise kept by God. Living in the light of God’s forgiveness and mercy is all part of this resurrection which is God’s promise kept. It is not easy to do all these things and living in this new way may mean that we need to slow down in life and think about our actions and words and We all know that is like one more thing on the “to do” list. Think about it this way, when we live in the light and the life of the resurrection and we take it to heart, our lives do change. They change in wonderful ways because the resurrection promises us…God promises eternal life; NOT because we check these things off on a list, but because we do it as a way to give thanks to the God who showed the blessings of forgiveness, the reality of mercy, and the promise of resurrection.

            May your Easter be filled with blessings and joy to know that our Savior lives with us, among us, and in us: AMEN!

Maundy Thursday sermon: The tree of life and its changing shape

            Tonight is the night. We have on a journey towards for the last 40 days. We may not realize it, but we have been walking a journey in our faith. It is a journey of reflection. This Lenten season, we have been focusing in our bible studies on the tree of life. Our journey began in the Garden of Eden with the tree of knowledge. We saw it as this big majestic tree, teeming with life…with all the Good things that God had in store for creation and for us; to live in love and peace, God’s love and God’s peace…all the time unaware of anything but all the Goodness that God created.

            Sadly, we did not stay in that Garden. We didn’t stay there because we wanted something more. Through Adam and Eve, we wanted some of that knowledge and that became our big downfall. We were not allowed to stay in the garden. Our journey took us from that tree of life in the middle of the garden out into the world. We began to see through scripture, the difficult world. We saw the pains and sufferings of God’s people. We saw people turn away from that tree of knowledge and the pains that caused.

            As time passed in our journey, we found ourselves going toward another tree of knowledge, a tree of life. And, tonight we are sitting at another tree. This tree is not a conventional tree. It does not have branches or arms; however, it does have legs. I am, of course speaking of this altar…the lords table. Our journey has brought us to this table, to this place of reverence and awe. This altar is the table in which our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, gave us knowledge and life.

            We are given the knowledge of a new covenant. It is the covenant to love one another as he has loved us. It is the language that still comes from that original tree in the Garden of Eden. It is the language to take all those things that Jesus did and taught and live them out in our lives. At this point in our Lenten journey we are at the edge of understanding what it means to be a child of God. We are invited to the table this evening to sit with our Lord and Savior, the Son of God, hear the Words that Jesus has to say with our ears and with our hearts.

            Tonight we are called to the Lord’s table to experience the knowledge of that life giving tree that grew in the Garden of Eden. Tonight we, like Adam and Eve, will experience the loss of our innocence; Just like they wanted to have that knowledge, we are given knowledge that, frankly, we may not want to hear. Tonight we gain the knowledge that because we fall short of God’s glory, there will be a price to pay for our sins.

            All through this Lenten journey we have experienced words. We know the stories and have heard them over and over. Sometimes we might look at these stories as just another story to hear about Jesus. But, tonight and tomorrow at noontime is when we truly experience the reality of those stories. The reality is that living a life praising God IS NOT easy. It is difficult because there are so many things in the world that try and distract us and turn us away from God: a society that wants us to be more worried about ourselves then caring for our neighbor, unemployment, broken relationships, bullying, shaming, anger, hatred toward one another…we all see it in our world.

            Being invited to this table this very night calls us to do something extremely difficult. We are called to come to the Lord’s Table and look at our world in a much different way. We are called to come to this table in humility, to be humble in our lives…humble in caring for ourselves, humble as we stand before God on this night and every day to seek God’s peace and mercy with an open heart and an open eye. We are called to be humble in our faith and in loving our neighbors as ourselves; to realize that we all are God’s creation and that makes us all important and valued.

            We are called, tonight, to bear witness to the humility of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. Even hours before he is handed over, our God’s Son is going to get down on his knees and serve others by washing their feet, to be a servant to the one’s he spent three years teaching. He will teach them that being God’s child is not some place of royalty where we put ourselves above others, but we serve others; we serve the employer who laid us off, serve the bully, serve the society that wants us to put ourselves above all others. We all know that is not an easy task.

            Despite that being difficult, Jesus teaches us that that is who we are called to be. Remember the phrase “be careful for what you wish for, because you just might get it?” We know have that knowledge that life is serving, life is being humble to the God who created us and loves us. This knowledge that we seek in Christ and in God is not at all about us but about loving one another as Jesus the Christ, God’s only Son has taught and loved us.

            There is one more piece of knowledge that we have yet to receive in our human nature. Tomorrow we will learn that the tree of life, which now, looks like this altar, will take on a new form. It will take the form of the cross. It will have arms and legs. It is the reality that in order for us to live, God’s only Son will be nailed to the cross, for our sake, for you and for me, for our sin and our falling short of the Glory of God. Amen