Lifelong Student: Ecclesiates 3: 1-8 A Change of seasons...we can re...

Ecclesiates 3: 1-8 A Change of seasons...we can relate

            So, this is the beginning of our Lenten journey. It is the beginning of our series on change and we start with the change of the seasons. I have to admit that I am excited about this morning’s scripture reading. I am excited because it is about one of my most favorite passages in the bible; Ecclesiastes. These words are not only famous because they are in the bible. To me and maybe some of you, they became famous because of a song. Do you know the song…To everything turn, turn, turn: there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven?

            This song was written by one of my most favorite songwriters, Pete Seeger. He was a very controversial songwriter but through his songs, he changed parts of our everyday life. He wasn’t the only one who changed the world. The group who brought this song into the mainstream of rock and roll was the musical group The Byrd’s. They recorded Pete’s song and it helped them become stars. While I love the music and how they interpreted this reading from Ecclesiastes, I love the words; “For everything there is a season…a time to plant, a time to harvest; a time to reap and a time to sow; a time to speak and a time to remain silent…” these are all beautiful words.

            For right now, I think it is a time to learn about this book called Ecclesiastes. This book was written long before Jesus. The exact date cannot be pinpointed but the era has been well accepted. This book was written during a time of great change. The world in that time was in the process of changing on so many levels. The languages…typically in the times of great conquest the winner got to choose the language that would be predominant. If it was the Greeks, Greek would become dominant. If it was Rome, Latin, Egyptian, Phoenician. I think you get the point.

            In this time of Ecclesiastes, the languages were in the process of changing over. There was not one predominant language. There were all kinds of references to different languages in the words written here. Some words had their origins in Greek, Latin, and Phoenician. The world was in the process of standardizing its currency. They were trying to get all the nations to use one form of currency because the world was in a state of change. That must have been a difficult time. It must have raised all kinds of concerns in everyone and about everything. I would not be surprised if people felt like there was nothing to trust BECAUSE everything is changing.

            We are confronted with a whole lot of opposites: Birth and death, planting and sowing, Killing and healing, breaking down and building up, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing, and the list goes on and on. These opposites go from some real extremes. With these extremes, I think it covers what the people of the time are feeling. They are being constantly pulled from one direction to another; it appears quite rapidly and that might be so. I am sure they did not know which end was up, which was left and which was right, who is right and who is wrong, and I bet they didn’t even know who they could trust.

            Despite all these opposites and all this turmoil of the times, I do believe in these words we can find hope. These extremes are quite opposite. It shows that these one sides like killing, mourning, weeping, and even planting are not permanent; because even these opposites are good things like: healing, laughing, reaping or harvesting, and dancing. We are seeing that in this book of Ecclesiastes that the evils or the things that we see as evils are temporary. There dark or evil things happening but there are Good and hopeful things that are to come.

            It also shows that these are things that we cannot control. We don’t control everything in our lives, as much as we want to. There are things in our own lives that we can control. We can decide not to get behind the wheel of a car after having too much to drink. We can decide not to say words that hurt one another or do things that intentionally hurt others for our own gain. We can control reaching out to people who are in need and helping to provide a meal, or clothing, or shelter whenever we can. But there are things we do not have control over; the decisions that other people make about getting behind the wheel of a car after a night of drinking, or making a dangerous maneuver in traffic, hurting others through words and actions for the sake of self- gratification.

            These words in Ecclesiastes tell us that it comes down to one thing and one thing only: that it is all about God. Despite these bad and evil things that can happen; these opposites of Good things: eating, dancing, loving, healing, a time to seek they are all gifts from God. This book of Ecclesiastes wants us to know that God wants us all to have these wonderful gifts of laughter and love, and healing. It is God who has created these gifts and despite the evil and bad things that happen that God does not want us to live in the mourning, death, anger, despair, and killing. It is that God wants us to know the gift of life, love, healing and laughter that enable us to enjoy the gift of life and relationship with one another.

            I think we share something with the people of the Book of Ecclesiastes. We are in a time that is highly uncertain. We have international crises going on, it seems like anything we do or say could lead us to war. Our own politicians are fighting and calling each other names, there is this constant looking to blame someone for something. There are changes in dominant languages going on, economic statuses, and even our church world is changing. People are not coming to church like they did in the past. We know about this uncertainty because we are living it AND IT IS SCARY! It is scary not knowing what is going to happen next, what alternatives there are and how we are going to get through all this stuff; so we can definitely relate.

            But we, too, can look to this reading and see hope. We can see the hope in that all this uncertainty in the world is temporary. We can hear these words that God does not want all these bad things to happen to us, but wants us to see the gifts that we have been blessed with. We have been given the many gifts from God in our lives and that God wants us to use the gifts of laughter, love, healing, compassion and helping one another; because those are definitely gifts from God.

            We know this because God sent his only son into the world to show us and teach us these gifts that we have been given. Through the words and actions of Jesus Christ, he has shown us the power of God in love, healing, laughter, and compassion. We have seen it throughout the ministry of Jesus. With all the people he encountered along the way, we experience that God is a loving God willing to go out to the areas of the unclean, gentiles, and the broken people of the world to show them…to show us that God is a God of love and compassion; to show us that each and every one of us is worth the price of God’s Son on the cross for you and me and for our salvation; because of our sin.

            As a side note, I want to address one burning issue that can come out of this reading. It is the first line: “to everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.” Some use that phrase to say “everything happens for a reason.” It is said when disasters hit, someone dies, or whenever a terrible tragedy hits. I do not believe that people are killed because God wants it to happen. I do not believe that takes lives to teach one of us a lesson or to prove a point. I do believe that sometimes things happen because of a decision that is made or the lack of a decision that someone makes. But to say that God kills or takes to prove a point…that is not the God that I know. I believe when lives are lost, for whatever reason, or there are victims of crimes that God weeps right beside us wanting to hold us and let us know that God is right there with us.

            In this day of Ecclesiastes, in this world of turmoil and fear for the future, hear the words of hope in this passage. As we experience what hopes to be the last days of winter, hear the words that there is a time to plant. In this season of Lent, hear the words that our sinful selves are reminded of this season or self-reflection of our sin and bringing them to the cross is at hand, but the day of salvation…the day of new life is coming. AMEN!

Matthew 17: 1-9 Mountain Hiking...it's a nice view, but coming down is harder.

            Several years ago, my wife wanted to go to New Hampshire. She had heard me talking about this one hiking trip that I took and she wanted to see this are of the country. She had never been that far north and always heard me talking about it. So we made plans to go. I made the reservations at my favorite hotel, and got some of the information for the town of North Conway, New Hampshire. The place we were going to go hiking was in the Presidential Mountain Range. It was called Mt. Clinton. It stood 4316 feet.

            Up to this point we were exercising on the treadmill and then switched over to an elliptical. This was her first trip into real mountains. Mount Washington (the tallest peak in the North East was two tops over, Mount Eisenhower was the next one over and the third was the mountain we were climbing. The most she had walked before were some trails but this was a 4300 footer. I kept telling her that it was a serious hike and she kept saying she could not wait. We prepared ourselves for all that we would need on this hike. You always take plenty of water, snacks (or bear bait, as I called it), extra socks, a rain coat (cause you don’t know what the weather will be when you get higher), whistle, bug spray, and finally…toilet paper!!! You don’t skimp on that, you take the good stuff (2-ply).  She looked at me weird when I packed that; but ya gotta be prepared.
            So up the mountain we went. It was a ladder type trail; meaning that you would incline and about 50 feet of level walking. This is a three mile trip up so we would go up several ladders and I would stop and be panting, drinking my water. Robin would get this worried look on my face thinking I was having some kind of heart event. She go nervous a lot and would ask “are you okay?” I would manage the word “yes” and we would move on. I would ask her the same thing and she would say “I am fine, I am worried about you.” I would smile back and continue on.
            We got to the top in a little less than three hours, which was pretty good time. As we hit the clearing, the sky had not changed and the sky was this magnificent blue. There were hardly and clouds in the sky. All the time getting to the top was worth it. There was a gentle breeze but it was not too cold. We could see for miles and miles. It was easy to see God’s work in this part of the world in all the different kinds of Mountain tops, the greens of the tree tops, other hikers taking in what they saw. There was a silence in the awe of looking at our accomplishment and even hearing God’s voice. I kept hearing the words “I am the Lord your God” and it was indeed…good.
            Then came that moment when I looked at my wife and said “it’s time to go.” It was time to go back down the mountain. I said to my wife “remember, go down is harder than coming up.” She joked and thought I was crazy. After 5 minutes, she was telling me “I thought this was going to be hard?” Well, those jokes did not last too much longer. You see, coming down the mountain IS very different. Gravity wants to pull you down the mountain and that would be great to just star running down the mountain; but when there are boulders in your way, tree stumps, sticks and slippery rocks, then you are talking a whole different story.
            About halfway down she asked this question; “what would happen if I just stopped?” I looked at her and she said it again. I said that I would call the ranger but we would have a lot of explaining to do because she was not injured. She harrumphed and continued. In the last quarter of the walk I stopped to ask how she was doing and she said “just keep going, don’t stop!” She got serious real quick because it was harder on the backs of your legs going down the mountain; meanwhile these little kids and older people are walking right by us.
            Today, we are at the top of the mountain. Peter, James, and John are on the mountaintop with Jesus They and we are witnesses to this transfiguration of Jesus. It is this change where ordinary Jesus is now robed in dazzling white. The dirt that may have accumulated on him from all the travelling is gone; then appear Moses and Elijah, the writer of the law and the prophet that announced God’s Word. Imagine seeing all three together! That is a mountaintop experience to beat the band, But that is not all…God’s voice is heard “This is my son, the beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
            This mountaintop in today’s reading has it all doesn’t it? The previous leaders of the faith, Jesus, and God’s own self. Could you imagine how Peter, James, and John must have been feeling? I am sure you can because we have all had some kind of mountaintop experience. We have all had that experience where all seems to be right with the world. Maybe it is that one time where something you have worked for has paid off. Maybe it is when you held your child, or grandchild, niece, nephew…Got the job you wanted, help that was needed or a prayer that was answered. We have all felt those times and we want to build a dwelling so we can stay up in those experiences and keep those feelings.
            Jesus reminds us that we do have to go back down that mountain. We are called to go down the mountain and back into the world. As much as we want to stay with all the Good feelings and God’s vision and words…Jesus reminds us to start doing the hard work of going down the mountain. Going out into the world to do God’s work….be God’s hands and feet in this world.
             This coming Wednesday, we will come together, either at noon are at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s. It is at that time we will begin Jesus journey all the way to the cross. Praise God that we will not end up where Jesus ended up (hanging on the cross); but it is this journey that we will take that we are called to reflect in our own hearts those parts of our lives that are mountaintop experiences and those places that we would rather keep hidden from God.
            It is those hidden things that we want to keep from God that we must face: be it our own mortality, frailties, failures, and we must look our own selves for who we really are… sinful, broken people in need of God’s healing. That is not an easy thing to do because we have said or done things that hurt others.
            But even the hard word work of coming down this mountain shows us one thing. We don’t come down the mountain alone. Just as Jesus is with the disciples, we are not alone. Jesus comes down that mountain with us. Jesus says these words “do not be afraid.” God sent Jesus to die on the cross for you and for me. God sent Jesus to walk with us huffing and puffing up the mountain to our greatest joys and huffing, puffing, and hurting going back down the mountain…when things aren’t so good. No matter where we are on the mountain, Jesus reminds us that we are not alone on this journey; and we are loved by God, because of the sacrifice of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ.
            We know it is not an easy life to go through. But remember today’s mountaintop experience with Jesus. Remember your mountaintop experience when you felt great joy, a sense of peace, and the presence of God. Hold onto those moments and know that they will never go away. Remember this mountaintop experience with Jesus in the presence of a loving God who promises that we will be on the mountain with God and with all the saints who have gone before us where there will be singing, dancing, and feast that only God could create: thanks be to God: AMEN!

Matthew 5:38-48 "eye for and eye" and perfection.

          My wife and I took a short trip up to New York to see my sister. We could not make it all the way out on Long Island so we met in New York City. There was one thing we both wanted to see and that was the 9-11 memorial. It was a peaceful and somber place and I will post some pictures of that on facebook. But, Like all good pastors or maybe it is just quirky ones; we ended up at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It is the place where the cardinal of the New York Diocese resides and worships. When we got there, there was all this construction all over the outside. You know the scaffolding and sheets to catch the debris, water dripping from high above through the cracks.

Then when we went inside we saw even more construction. The sides of the sanctuary had scaffolding that went all the way to the ceiling. Visitors continued to come in and view the station’s of the cross and there was an area of prayer for Pope Francis—to pray for his ministry. We walked all the way to the back of the church, past the altar and there it was, this small chancel area; lighted with the reverence due the Lord’s Table. Much to our surprise, there was a group celebrating 1 O’clock mass. They were worshipping while hammers and wrenches were making this incredible noise. They also celebrated communion and amid this noise of the world and construction went on, this gentle elderly African-American man came and took the elements after communion; he went into the construction zone, put on his hard hat and prepared the elements for the next communion.

This is a wonderful illustration where the secular world intersects with the sacred world. It is the world of the everyday, construction, building, tuning of wrenches and all that comes with society and it intersects, it comes together with the world, of worshipping God, which is the sacred. This is exactly where we are in our Gospel reading. Again today, we hear Jesus telling us “you have heard it said…But I say to you.” Jesus is telling us the ways that we have come to know justice to have been handed out in the days before Jesus. When he says the words “eye for and eye” what is the rest of this saying that we know…”tooth for tooth.” Those are good and biblical words to be used. It is the language of retribution. It is the language of trying to create some kind of balance when it comes to justice.

Jesus is telling us to go deeper than “eye for an eye.” Jesus is telling us his vision for the Kingdom of heaven. We have heard the words “survival of the fittest, only the strong survive, and there are even pastors who will tell you that the whole purpose in this life is to get the best life you can now.” What I just mentioned is called the prosperity Gospel. It is about getting the most you want to get out of this life, because in this way of thinking it is all about you; it is not about anyone else but you and who cares about others.

Jesus vision of the kingdom of heaven is that it is about us all and being in relationship with one another. When Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, he is serious! We can hear those lines (and they are familiar) and pass them off as nice sayings but Jesus means this. These words are some of the most difficult words that we will hear; because it means that we are NOT to let the society norms, “eye for an “eye” be our motto. Ya know why? Because as Mohatma Ghandi once said “if we lived out eye for an eye, we would all be blind!”

Jesus is calling us to a world that does not live by society’s rules. He does not call us to a life where we are to beat people down and use others for the sake of our expense. He calls us to a life of helping one another and taking care of one another. When he says turn the other cheek he is telling us about strength in weakness. In praying for our enemies, he is teaching about love amid hurt and pain. We all have seen this weakness that Jesus talks about. We see it in the life of Jesus when he does turn the other cheek as he is beaten; we see it in the Son of God being lifted up on the cross usually reserved for criminals and he says, “Forgive them father for they know not what they do.” And, we see it in the resurrection, as promised, that God has the last word on ALL things.

All in all, Jesus is teaching us about this one little word in the last lines of this reading; it is the word “perfection..” I looked up the Greek word and it is “Telos” which can mean “perfection.” It may be best described like a tree, let’s say and apple tree, or crops. When these crops, or even cattle, mature they produce fruit. The ultimate goal is not solely to produce fruit; but when they mature they produce this fruit.

That is the kind of perfection that Jesus is talking about. So, as Christians, we mature in our faith, in our learnings and understandings of what Jesus teaches then we produce fruit; when we work with Glade Valley, Community Partners, and when we sit with one another and pray, listen, and worship. It is the kind of maturity when we forgive because anger does nothing gets us spinning our wheels and it gets us nowhere. When we look for someone to blame for this problem or that problem.

Jesus is telling us that this is not easy work but it is hard. It IS difficult. We are just like the people in St Patrick’s cathedral who were worshipping God amid the sounds of all that noise. We are that African-American man who faithfully put on his hard hat to prepare the elements for the next Holy Supper. We see the sacredness in our God while hearing the noise and having the dust attempting to cover up parts of our faith. We are also those who humbly walk in the memorial of one of our most horrific tragedies and hear the peaceful quiet, read the names of those who died and struggle along with the rest of the world in seeing God’s comfort, love and grace through these remembrances of the tragedies.

So Jesus calls us to put our hard hats on and take up the difficult work that it is to be a child of God; Let’s put our hard hats on and praise the God who teaches us forgiveness, and love in our lives so we can live that out in our lives and maybe teach it to others. Thanks be to God: AMEN!

Matthew 5:21-37 Relationship, Relationship, Relationship

             So, aren’t you glad that you plowed and shoveled your driveway to come hear such a happy message? I mean this is the kind of message that makes you want to say “Glory Hallelujah” isn’t it? I mean, today, we get to hear about all the juicy stuff that we can see on television, read and watch in the news. Killing, adultery, and gossip.

            The only problem is that Jesus is telling us the things we cannot do. He is re-telling the Ten Commandments. We have heard these before haven’t we? We have learned them in our Sunday school classes. Some of us memorized them for confirmation so we know these words. It is just the same re-hash of stuff that we have heard before. Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not …Do not…do not. It is the same old list and I am sure that it gets tiring hearing it over and over again.

            This Gospel reading is different than just a repeat of the Ten Commandments. In this reading we hear the Ten Commandments and then Jesus adds the words “But I say to you…” What is it that Jesus is doing when he says, “But I say to you?” Is this tightening the laws that God gave. Is this putting more restrictions on what we can and can’t do? For example, he tells us that God said, “Do not murder” and then “But I say to you (and this is paraphrasing) don’t get made at your brother or sister you will be liable to judgement.” So Jesus is telling us that we cannot even get mad at someone! In fact, Jesus is saying that if you are on your way to the altar to give a gift to God…STOP RIGHT THERE! Put whatever it is you are bringing to the altar down and go make peace. Then come back and continue with your gift.

            He goes on to talk about adultery. He tells us that it is not enough to not commit adultery. Anyone who looks at a woman with lust in his heart has already committed adultery. Jesus says that it is better to lose a limb then have your whole body thrown into hell. Jesus goes on to tell us about divorce and swearing oaths. He says it is better to say the truth in the beginning so you don’t have to swear an oath.

            It does sound like the Laws that God gave Moses is getting tighter and tighter; doesn’t it. We know that Laws are limitations and restrict one’s “freedom” to do whatever we want. It sure seems like Jesus is pulling the strings tighter and tighter on the things we can do and cannot do. So, why is Jesus doing all this? Is Jesus trying to punish us even more or make us feel more guilty about what we do in our daily lives? Why do we need to hear this?

            It is because Jesus is telling us more than what we can or cannot do. Jesus is teaching us that there is more to this God than we think. Jesus is teaching us about why God has created these laws that we call commandments. He is teaching us that God gave us these laws because God loves us just like a parent loves a child. Many of you know what I am talking about. When we tell our children or Grandchildren not to touch the stove because it is hot, we are doing this out of love; and because we don’t want them to get hurt.

            That part is easy to get but why does Jesus tell us not to even get mad or look at someone with lust, or tell us about divorce? Jesus is telling us more about God than we think we know. Jesus is telling us that the relationship that God has with each and every one of us is special. He is telling us that God loves us all, individually, more than we can imagine; more than we will ever know. Jesus is teaching us that it is important to know God’s relationship with us. It is important to see that we all are a creation of God and that we are valued.

            Today, through this Gospel lesson, we see, hear, and experience the love of God through God’s own law. These laws are not so restrictive that we cannot do anything to have fun. It’s quite different. Through Jesus teaching, we can learn how to be in a right and loving relationship with God by knowing that God has a right and loving relationship with us. It also means that God’s law created out of love for us carries over to one another…to you and me.

            It means that once we understand that God has a relationship with us that our relationships with one another change. Because we are all created by God, then how will we be in relationship with one another and how will we treat one another? Jesus calls us all to treat one another knowing that God created us. Jesus words are opening up to us that it is more important to reconcile…seek and ask for forgiveness whenever possible; do not treat people like objects or property because we all are created AND Loved by God. How do I know this? Because God’s only Son, Jesus went to the cross because of our not listening and touching that stove when it was hot.

Because we got angry with someone and did not try to seek or ask forgiveness; and yes because we may have looked with lust in our hearts at someone. Jesus went to the cross, the place we are supposed to STOP and drop everything and settle our disagreement before coming back to this cross and thanking God for our deliverance. Jesus did not stop but suffered and died on this cross for our sake. AND Jesus was raised on the third day, Sunday morning, so that our sinful self, died and we are born into a life of love, forgiveness and life free from sin.

       Jesus teaching calls us to take pause about our relationships. There is never a guarantee that we will always agree on things. That does not mean that we cannot disagree peacefully. It does mean that we can respect each other’s opinions and seek a better understanding of one another. It means that we can help one another through times of struggles as well as times of joy. Jesus teachings today and his “But I say to you” means that we are called to interact with one another; people we know and strangers. Theologian, David Lose suggested that if we were to go out on the corner and ask “what do you think about God?” he suggested that God might be described as an old gray haired distant person. I think the answer might be much more depressing. I think the answer would be more like “I don’t think about God at all.”
    That does not mean that the conversation has to stop there. God is active in our lives through the good and the bad. There are many people out there who do not care or cannot see God’s activity. But, we might be able to talk to people and build a relationship with that person. That is God in action right there. Maybe it is just praying for that person, sharing lunch, listening OR even learning something.

God calls us into relationship with God and with each other. It is there for the taking. It may not be a walk down easy street, but we are not alone in this journey. AMEN!          

Matthew 5: 13-20 In the house of salt and light...

            My favorite movie actor is Jimmy Stewart. He did some great movies. My most favorite movie of his is called It’s a Wonderful Life. It was never recognized as a great movie when it first came out. It helped make him a superstar but he never won an award for that movie. Today, we see it as a Christmas Classic. It’s not Christmas if we don’t see It’s a Wonderful Life on television somewhere.

            There is one scene from this movie that goes directly to our Gospel reading today. It is the scene where the Martini’s (the restaurant owner) family is getting ready to move into their house and in a little ceremony before they get the keys, Donna Reed holds up several items; one of those items is a can of Morton Salt and she says “salt, so that this house will always know flavor.” How fitting is that for today. I know it is not Christmas but here are her words about salt. How salt can add flavor to life.

            I think Donna Reed’s character knows a little something about our scripture reading for today. Last week, we heard the presentation of Jesus from our Gospel of Luke. It was a festival day. There was an alternate reading for last Sunday and that reading was the Beatitudes. It was those words that we have heard to many times. “Blessed are you the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry….” Jesus reveals to the listeners on this Sermon on the Mount that they are blessed. He is telling them about the blessings that God has given despite their situations.

            What is it about their situations that makes them blessed? That is a sermon for another time but part of their situations is that they are all different. Jesus is addressing these people who have come to hear him preach. They did not all come from the same place. They did not all come from the same background. They came from different economic situations, financial situations, ethnic situations, and the list could go on and on. This is a large group of different people coming together who have heard about this Jesus, listened to him, and think there is something to this man. So they are listening to him speak and he is blessing them all.

            And we come to the end of the Beatitudes where he gives them this little tidbit; “you are the salt of the earth.” What in the world does that mean? It means that despite their situations, economic, spirituality, racial, nationality…whatever it is that brought them to hear the Word of God is not a bad thing. In fact, it is part of what makes you who you are and Jesus welcomes those differences. What do we know salt to be? It is a preservative. They used it in the days before refrigerators to keep meat from going bad. That is not a bad thing is it. That would mean in Jesus time that salt can be used to maintain their faith…preserve their faith.

Salt is also considered a spice isn’t it. It gives flavor to our foods. As the famous chef Emeril Lagasse would say “when you add spice you add BAM!” To the food. It brings out the goodness of the food and accents the food…it makes it taste that much better. So Jesus is telling these people that he just spoke to about blessings that they are preservatives, they are important regardless of their situation. He is telling them that God sees them as important and valued in the world that God created. He is also telling them that they add flavor to the world. Their backgrounds, financial situations, nationalities, genders is what adds flavor to the world; not only as God’s creation but as children of God. That would be something to feel really good about.

But Jesus does not stop there. He also tells them that they are the light of the world. We all know what happens to light. When you light one of these candles in the dark, there is a cone around it. If you light a bunch of candles, then the room gets a little brighter and brighter. When we light a lamp when the power goes out, we want the light to spread into the whole room. We all want to see what we can see in the dark. Inventors have figured out how to make these lamps work on batteries rather than oil, electricity so that when we flick that switch, the light shines and depending where you are, not much or nothing is hidden.

This light is not just about a lamp. Jesus is teaching the listeners that there is something good inside of them because God is good and it is God who created them and so there is something good inside them. What is it that is inside them? It is the goodness that is God. It is that creation and praise for the Word of God coming to them in the flesh to teach them about the God of love, grace, and mercy. It is Jesus, Immanuel which means God is with them that is deep within them that is being revealed. It is NOT to say that we are God. I am saying that God’s goodness; God’s love, grace, and mercy is inside each one of them to accept the diversity of situation and accept one another as God’s creation.

This reading is for us as well. We hear the blessings of the Beatitudes and can take comfort in the God of compassion for God’s creation. We too are salt of the earth. We come from different situations in our lives; different nationalities, races, financial situations, and yet God created us all differently but with goodness in our hearts and souls. We come together from our backgrounds to hear the Word of God. We don’t sit in a particular pew based on social standing but we sit because God invites us…calls us to come and see, and hear, and experience the gift of God’s love and forgiveness; because of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ on the cross.

We, also, are not just a preservative. It is because of our situations that give us flavor. Not one of us has the same exact personality. Truly, I think that might be a little boring. We all have very different personalities, sense of humors, and gifts. It is because we are all so different that we make up the church as a whole. We have carpenters, farmers, accountants, lawyers, contractors, people who work with people, people who work with animals, educators, I mean the list goes on and on. All these salty people make up the church and thank God; because we can celebrate this world of diverse Christians and still worship together and share all that God has made.

There is kind of one drawback with all this saltiness. It means that we are not always going to agree on everything. Who here is shocked by that? Not everyone is going to agree with everyone else because that would be pretty boring wouldn’t it? Believe it or not, that is something to celebrate as well. It is because of the saltiness we come up with different ways of solving problems, inventing things, and even worshipping our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; it also means working together, as the body of Christ, to give our thanks and praise to God who created us and to Jesus who revealed God’s love for us; in many different ways and expressions.

We, too, are light. We have light inside of us. It is the light of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who taught us all about God’s love and forgiveness. We have a piece of God in us through our baptism in being marked with the cross of Christ forever; and through the gift of Holy Communion. Through the bread and the wine…the body ad blood of Jesus, we have the gift of God within us; the Goodness of God blessed with the gifts of compassion and love for one another. But Jesus tells us not to let that light hide. He says, “Let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven.” Jesus is telling us to go out and share that light. Share it with our family, our neighbors, and with the world. The light of Christ is not to be hidden and kept in our little corner of the world but that light is to go into the world.

So let us go into the world letting God’s light that is in us shine so that God’s love is never hidden: AMEN!

Luke 2:22-40 What Simeon says about death...and us

Do you ever remember your strictest teacher? I had this one who was intimidating from the first day of school. She was way taller than me. She had short hair and for some reason, that meant, to me, don’t mess with this teacher. She had a strong voice and did not take any guff from anyone; I’ll be honest in that she frightened me. When she asked a question, I felt like I had to have the right answer or don’t even bother. One day, she asked this one question out of the blue “Would any of you in this room give up your life for any of your classmates?” That was an odd question; especially for eighth graders and in English class. I can’t remember the reason for the question but I remember be scared enough to raise my hand; and I was the only one who did.

            Today’s Gospel gives us some strange behavior. Mary and Joseph have had their little boy Jesus circumcised eight days before this reading. Now it is forty days after his birth and they are taking him to the temple. That part is not odd. Mary and Joseph were Good Jewish parents. They went to get registered as they were directed on the way to giving birth; so they were just doing what was according to the law. Good parents they were.

            What is the purpose of taking him to the temple? They had to bring a sacrifice to the temple because, according to the Law of Moses, that is what was needed for this Jesus to be made Holy in the eyes of the Lord. So can you imagine this couple coming into this huge temple and I am talking huge! The size of the Temple was about as big as downtown Frederick; if not a large chunk of Frederick. I can imagine that would be pretty intimidating…but not strange.

            What is strange is when they enter the temple. Imagine being in awe of this huge place and as you are going where you need to go, this elderly man comes up, snatches this child and holds him up and starts praising God. I think that is what we could call strange. Who does this guy think he is? I know that there would be a different outcome if that were to happen in today’s world.

            This man, Simeon, then says some strange things.

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant^* in peace,
according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”

            It sounds as if this man is asking to die, doesn’t it? It sounds pretty clear that when he says “master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace…” what else could he be talking about? We can add to that that our scripture says that “it was revealed that he would not see Death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.” It sounds pretty cut and dry that he is saying “okay, I have seen the Messiah and now I am ready to go!” We are finishing up the season of Epiphany which is the season of light. So Simeon has seen the light and is ready to go.

            Well, not so fast is what I say. Simeon is saying that he has seen the light. His is witnessing this little bitty baby who will take away the sin of the world. He is witnessing the Son of God entering God’s house. This Simeon is a righteous man whom our scripture says was devout. This meant that he prayed, did what was according to the laws of Moses and worshipped and praised God; and Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit rested on Simeon.. So, this was no “fly-by-night” prophet or false prophet. He heard the Holy Spirit speaking to him about not seeing death.

            In all of these words that Simeon is speaking, he is speaking clearly about death. He is speaking that he has witnessed the salvation that will not only save Israel, but that will save the Gentiles. In this one encounter with this baby, Simeon has seen God’s precious Son delivered to the people of Israel and in the temple…in His Father’s house. Simeon’s faith and Jesus’ presence has assured Simeon that God’s presence is real and God’s salvation is for Israel and for the Gentiles as well.

            Simeon has now seen God’s promise fulfilled in this little child that he is holding. Simeon is confident in his faith and in God’s promises of life eternal because of this boy Jesus, God’s Son. I don’t believe that Simeon is asking for death. I do believe that Simeon is accepting of death. He is accepting of death because of the promises that God gives life through this little baby that will save the world. He is accepting death because of God’s promise to life eternal; because if God is keeping this promise, as Simeon sees it, then keeps all God’s promises.

            So where does that leave us? Where are we in the Big Picture of this reading? Friends in Christ, we are right, smack in the middle of this reading. You see, this presentation that is happening to Jesus is equal to our baptism in a way. We are brought to the water and with the water and God’s Word we, too, are made righteous. The Holy Spirit comes to us through God’s Word and the water and it is there that God claims us and names us children of God. It is at this time that our sinful self dies…is drowned in the water and from that water we are born anew into the body of Christ Jesus, God’s Son.

            It is easier said than done to accept this notion of death. It is easy when we think of Jesus death because that is what is supposed to be. That is what our scripture says happens and it is down in black and white. However, when it comes to us and our loved ones it is a whole different story. That is understandable because we are human. We don’t read things like this coldly and we have feelings for friends, family, spouses, and those whom we have relationships with. Although it is not easy, we are given the promises of everlasting life through  God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. The cross is the place where God’s ultimate sacrifice of love was given for you and me; so we can lay this human hurt and pain of loss and disappointment at the foot of this cross; and it is at the tomb where we see God’s promise that death does not have the last word. It is indeed God who has the last word and God who promises to raise us to life eternal in God’s kingdom.

            So, like the question my English teacher asked that one day “would you give your life for anyone in this room?” Are you willing to give your life for someone or something other than yourself? In one respect…you already have because you have been drowned in the waters of baptism. Are you ready to accept death because of the promises of God? Again, I believe that we all do because at the end of communion we sing this song of Simeon. We come to the Lord’s Table, not because we ought to but because we are able…because of the promises of God and the invitation of Jesus Christ to come and see…taste and see the Goodness of God.