Not a sermon for March 29 (Palm Sunday)

For Palm Sunday, we did not have a sermon at church. Instead, we had a short walk around the church and read the story of Palm Sunday outside (in the cold).  This year, for the first time, we bought our palm from a company called Eco palms.  They grow the palm in environmentally sustainable ways and pay the harvesters a fair wage for their work (think organic, fair trade palm). This was another part of my attempts to help people think about the products we use, where they come from and who made them.  At church we read the passion story from Mark’s Gospel (Mark 14:1- 15:47). These 2 chapters tell the story of Jesus final days as he is betrayed, put on trial, tortured and executed as a religious / political subversive.  Outside and during the service, I did share a very brief reflection on the meaning of Palm Sunday in our faith and lives. This is sort of what I said:   

Today, we remember Jesus triumphant and celebrated entry into the holy city of Jerusalem. We are reminded that Jesus went to that city and community first and most importantly to complete the work of our salvation through his death and resurrection. Jesus also went to Jerusalem to show signs of God’s presence and power, to heal the sick, teach the uncertain, correct the lost, comfort the suffering, console the frightened, encourage the struggling, provide for those in need, welcome the outsider and to announce God’s forgiveness.  We cannot do the first part, none of us can die and rise again for the forgiveness of sins. We can however do the other stuff.  That is, is fact,  our work here in this community, in the places we live, serve, pray for, help, take care of and announce God’s love to in word and deed. 

Sermon for March 22, 2015

The readings

Jeremiah 31:31-34

The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt--a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Hebrews 5:5-10

So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"; as he says also in another place, "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."  In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.  Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.  "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say--' Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.  Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.  Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."  He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

The message

I am going to start with two assumptions this morning, 1: nobody here can list the formal responsibilities and qualifications for the High Priest in Ancient Israel and 2:  that nobody here has any idea who King Melchizedek was.  With that said, a lot of what I am going to talk about this morning is historical. It is also necessary to understand this sad but beautiful idea of Jesus as the great high priest.   St Paul uses a metaphor of Jesus as the Great High Priest while trying to describe and explain God’s saving work through Jesus life, death and resurrection. This idea of Jesus as high priest is prominent in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews.  It is found in our second reading this morning and in Hebrews 4:14  where Paul writes, Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. 

The high priest was a special and important part of the Jewish faith.  He was the supreme religious leader of the people.  Because the high priest was the ultimate religious authority, his responsibilities included overseeing all of the other priests and making decisions during disagreements. Although the high priest could participate in ordinary priestly work, there were certain functions that only the high priest could perform. The most important duty entrusted only to the high priest was to conduct the service on the Day of Atonement.  He was the only one allowed to enter the most sacred place in the temple and stand before God.  On this day, the high priest would make an animal sacrifice for himself and for all of the people. After that he would bring the animal’s blood into the most sacred place and sprinkle it there.  He did this to make atonement for himself and the people for all their sins committed during the previous year.  This responsibility of making the atoning sacrifice is what Paul picks up on as he argues that Jesus is the great High Priest, the one whose sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins was his own life and blood.  Jesus sacrifice was also not good for just enough one year for the people of Israel, it was good enough for all time and all people.  Nothing else would be needed again.   

There was one big obstacle for people to accept and understand Paul’s argument. The office of the high priest was inherited, an authority and great power passed down from generation to generation. This hereditary link was traced all the way back to Aaron, the brother of Moses.  Paul needed to explain how Jesus could be the great high priest although Jesus was not part of Aaron’s family line or even from the priestly tribe at all.

For this Paul turns to the story of King Melchizedek (since we’ve been introduced to him, I am going to call him Mel for short) . The books of the Old Testament chronicle and tell the history of very person, place and event. The genealogy and stories of kings, prophets and leaders in particular, go back many generations.  Mel is one of the very few who appear suddenly and then disappears just as quickly

In fact, there is only one brief story about him in Genesis 14: 18, 2000 or so years before Jesus was born. There we learn that after Abram led a surprise attack and defeated the armies that had previously captured his nephew Lot along with many others, Genesis reports:  Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.  And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” After this, Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

Psalm 110: 4 also mentions Mel   “The Lord makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it: You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.” Despite how little we know about him, Mel became a model for the priest king. Although not even part of Israel, Mel was a priest of God with great authority and power.   Since Abram gives Mel a tithe, 10 percent of the spoils of war and accepts a blessing from him, that indicates this little known outsider is actually superior to Abram, the great father of many nations.  This is the same reason Kings David and Solomon could perform priestly jobs although they were not priests.  

Paul answers that question about how Jesus could possibly be the great high priest by saying Jesus was like Mel, a priest outside and even above the ordinary system.   Paul goes on to note that like Mel was superior to Abram, Jesus was superior to any high priest before or after. Unlike their sacrifice, which needed to be repeated every year, Jesus sacrifice, his life and death on the cross, atones for everyone’s sins, once and for all.   

Of course, the role of the high priest in our faith today is gone, there are no longer any animal sacrifices or even any real set and sacred places we believe God dwells in to offer them.  We believe that God is present with everyone, in all places and that God hears our prayer, no matter where we offer them. We are not worried about our salvation and we are not afraid of our sins being forgiven because we are an Easter and a resurrection people.  Through Jesus life, death and resurrection, we are living in the vision promised by the prophet Jeremiah “ I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the LORD," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more”

We are all these things because Jesus is our high priest, whose atoning sacrifice has led to our salvation from the punishments of sin and power of death,   Amen

Sermon for March 15, 2015

The readings

Numbers 21:4-9

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way.  The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food."  Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.  The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.  And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a poisonous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live."  So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

Ephesians 2:1-10

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.  All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.  But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God--not the result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

John 3

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.  "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.  For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.  But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."                     

The message

From time to time growing up, I would do something that people were not supposed to do.  Nothing too bad but there were times when I could have been in real trouble or been seriously hurt. I am not going to get into any details, (although my mom is here today and she’s the one who often had to take care of these things, so maybe she feels like talking). Each time I did one of these, for lack of a better phrase, very dumb things, there were honestly never any lasting consequences. If I was in trouble at school, there would be a meeting with the principle or teacher and they would note, I was doing great academically and was never a problem before, so I would go with a warning not to do it again.  If I was hurt, I would heal up in the next few days and be fine. After a while, I started to believe that punishments and consequences were only for bad people who did just terrible things all the time. Everyone else was basically okay and the full rules about consequences didn’t really apply.  Things that could harm your life like having a criminal record, being suspended or thrown out of school, or being seriously hurt, were things that only happened to other, much worse people.

As I grew up, I started to meet and hear about people who did get in trouble, people who were seriously hurt doing the same things we did, people who were actually arrested and had records, which ruined their chances at getting their lives right and people who were thrown out of school and had their access to a good education limited.  I learned that my views of the world, where full consequences were only meant for the very bad and where everyone is entitled to a few warnings or get out of jail free cards, were all wrong. No one is entitled to avoid consequences and no one deserves to be burdened by them for a lifetime.     

As we look at our readings this morning and the state of our faith in the world today, it seems like a lot of people are making the same mistake I did. People of faith seem to think we are not like those bad people who will face the consequences and end up in hell.   There are dangers here:

First, we can stop being amazed and thankful. We start to feel like we are entitled to being saved, like God’s grace is a reward for being good and believing what we are supposed to, like the cross is a little thank you gift from God for trying our best to follow the law. We forget that God could send us snakes

Second, we can start to believe that membership has its privileges, that these groups have doors between them and it is up to us to decide who can enter and leave.  We try to hoard God’s grace, as though there is not enough for everyone.  To be blunt, we almost seem to enjoy when other people get bit by the snakes, since it makes us feel better, that we are not like them.    

Third, we can actually re-write Romans 3 “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and we start to believe “some have sinned more than others and those people fall short of the glory of God”. We start to believe we don’t really even need saving from sin and death, we can handle it ourselves. We forget that the consequences of our actions should be sin and death, that all of us deserve those snakes.            

In some ways this ideas can come from today’s readings, if you take them out of context and pick and choose your verses you can find a focus on the separation of people, There is the division of those in the light and those in the dark,  the saved and the condemned, those alive in faith and those dead in sin, the ones who call out “we have sinned” and look at the snake, and those who take their chances against the poison, those who know the joy of God’s life and the ones who are slaves to the flesh, the ones joined to Christ’s death and resurrection and the ones trying to earn God’s favor by being good. We can very comfortably believe that as long as we maintain our membership in one of these first groups, we’re fine and our work is over.    

The truth is the texts this morning, read together and completely all pull us away from these dangerous ideas. The strange and uncomfortable story of the poison snakes in the wilderness, Paul’s words to the people of Ephesus about being saved by God’s work of grace, not our own work of being decent or good hearted people, and the part of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus where Jesus shares one of the most well-known verses in the bible, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him, will not perish but have eternal life, all work together to carry us to Jesus and the life giving cross.  

Our first readings, the one from numbers about God sending poisonous snakes upon the people as punishment for their complaining and lack of faith. It is one of many stories in the bible where God tries to drive the people back to faith by famine, plague, illness, destruction, defeat and other brutal and harsh ways.  I would have changed it this morning, except for the fact that Jesus actually references this obscure and really odd story right before talking about God’s love for the world. This reading sits with us, showing us what the consequences of sin could be and what alternatives to the cross might look like. We do not always live as God asks, we do not always follow the law, we do not always keep the faith. We deserve snakes and we receive snakes.    

In Paul, we are reminded that faith is not just something we do in our free time, it is a new life.  We go from being dead in sin to being alive in God. By the cross and only by the cross, by Jesus suffering, death and resurrection, we are set free from the brutal consequences of sin and death. This is God’s work, God’s act of love, God’s decision for us. To be honest with ourselves, we should spend every moment of this new life overcome with thanksgiving, well aware that we deserve snakes and we receive grace.   

Finally, in our reading from John, we deserve snakes and we receive “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life”.   Amen 

Sermon for March 8, 2015

The Readings

Exodus 20:1-17

Then God spoke all these words:  I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.  Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work--you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.  Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.  You shall not murder.  You shall not commit adultery.  You shall not steal.  You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Psalm 19 

The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat.The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.  For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."  Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.  For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.                                                                                                      

John 2.

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.  Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"  His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."  The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?"  Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?"  But he was speaking of the temple of his body.  After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken

The message

(I actually preached this sermon without the manuscript. I tried my best to write down what I said but if your interested I can email you an audio file as well, just let me know) 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.   I know and have heard many pastors who begin each sermon with those words from the end of Psalm 19. They begin every Sunday message, wedding or funeral, Baptism or special service with asking for God’s guidance over their words.  I think that’s a good start but we should do more.  Really pastors should begin with a time of confession and admitting how unworthy we are to share God’s word, there should be a sense of great thankfulness at the opportunity to do this work, and many of us should probably think of sitting down and shutting up before we say anything confusing, hurtful or plain wrong.  At the same time, sharing God’s word is part of our call as God’s people.   That is where the power and meaning of today’s readings all come from. 

As we prepare for Confirmation in a few months, I am teaching a series in class that I am calling the last 9 (named since we have 9 sessions left).  I am trying to review, reinforce and tell the story of what we believe.  The first class was called “God speaks to us”.  I started there because that is how we know about God, about the mysteries of faith and about God’s care for us.  We know these things are true because God tells us.      

In our first reading, right before the list of rules and statement of God’s power,  there is simply “Then God spoke all of these words”.  We can easily get lost in trying to remember all 10 commandments (I can usually)  or assess how were doing with keeping them (I’ll leave that one alone).  We often miss the amazing fact that God spoke these words to the world  In this case, God’s word teaches us how to live, how to work, grow and survive together, and how to always remember we are known, loved and cared for by God.  

With the psalm, the last verse about seeking guidance for our words, always gets the most attention but really most of Psalm 19 is not about us at all.  It is about the power of God’s word and what that can do.  We are told about a silent voice that is heard throughout the earth, reaching all places and touching all people.  God’s word is described with a poetic and serious list of adjectives, pure, right, perfect, reviving, rejoicing, wise, enlightening, enduring and more valuable than gold. We must seek guidance for our words because God’s word is not something we cannot ignore, trifle or play games with.       

With Paul, the cross is proclaimed and God’s love is communicated. Here God’s word is somehow shared by this feared and hated tool of execution used by the oppressive Roman empire.  Paul talks about the cross with power, reverence, and hope. Paul is honest, telling the faithful something along the lines of “when you talk about the cross with people , they are all going to laugh at you”.  Paul also knows that we did not come to faith by wisdom, reason, or signs, we came by God’s word to us.  We did not figure out that the cross is the way of our salvation, we know because God tells us so.   

Last, we come to our Gospel reading. This passage is certainly cited by pastors and other church leaders when they yell at their congregations or advocate for very aggressive actions or unpopular decisions.  Jesus anger and intolerance for those who interfere with the Gospel is part of the reading, To allow money changers and dove sellers to operate there border line scam businesses in the temple meant distraction and interference. It gave the sense that God’s power and love could be bought and sold just like sheep or cows.

Jesus is also angered because the people entrusted with sharing God’s word, were not taking that work seriously. The temple is the place of God’s word. It was built in obedience to God’s word and according to God’s instructions, The temple is where God’s word was kept, proclaimed, gathered around, heard, praised, taught properly, and celebrated. To lose that would mean disaster for everyone.    

Just like the people of ancient Israel, the writer of the psalm, Paul, the priests and caretakers of the temple, Jesus, and his disciples, we too have been entrusted with God’s word, with God’s instructions, the voice of pslam 19, the good news of the cross, the care of God’s word and the revelation of God’s love through Jesus life, death and resurrection.  We need to take that responsibility seriously.  It is our hope, comfort, joy and our life. 

This is not only the work of priests, pastors and religious leaders either. One time I had to prepare a funeral service for a family I did not know. During my first conversation with the deceased woman’s daughter, we started to talk about the sermon and what parts of her mother’s faith and life she wanted most to celebrate. At that time, she casually asked me “if my part was going to make any sense”. She did not mean to be rude, she wanted to know because she had experienced so many sermons that didn’t make any sense, she sat through church so many times and had no idea what the priest was talking about and she had been to so many funerals where no comfort was shared and no hope was proclaimed.  I respected her honesty. I also did quite a bit of editing on my message for that night, since I didn’t want her to tell the next pastor “I hope you make more sense than the last guy did”

No, this work of sharing God’s word is too important to just leave up to the professionals.  We have all heard God speak, calling us in Baptism, telling us we are sinners and then telling us our sins are forgiven, promising to be present with us, asking us to love one another and showing us a good way of life, Each of us is asked to share those things.