Scripture:  Luke 3:15-17; 21-22

When you stop and think of all the scientific progress and knowledge that we as a species have acquired it is truly staggering.   Scientists in a wide variety of fields are discovering new things all the time.    While we may not always be aware of or understand these new scientific findings or breakthroughs, I think we are generally aware that there are smart people at the top of their field who are always expanding the boundaries of human knowledge.   One of the things that might surprise us though is that despite all that we have learned, there are some very common, everyday things that scientists are clueless about.   For instance, science cannot explain why ice is slippery.   Ice, as a solid, is not particularly smooth or frictionless.  The best explanation for why ice is slippery is that it has a very thin layer of water on top of it, but science cannot explain why solid water does this and no other substance does.  Science also cannot explain what causes this thin layer in the first place.   Science also cannot explain what makes magnets work the way they do.   Scientists can observe the effects of magnetism, and they can explain how magnetic forces work, but the “why” is a mystery.  In much the same way, gravity is also a mystery because science currently has no good answer for why gravity is.   It is seeking to answer these unanswered questions that drive scientific discovery in the first place.   Isaac Asimov once said, “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries is not Eureka! But that’s funny. . .” 

 Science and faith share a common denominator in that both disciplines are seeking truth, just from different angles.   In the same way many of our spiritual insights come not from flashes of brilliance but from thinking “that’s funny” and asking questions.   The bible is full of all kinds of instances that can make us say “That’s funny... “There are several scriptural stories that we may be familiar with, but when we really start to ponder lead us down a path of asking questions and discovery.   I think this morning’s scripture is a good example of this.  We believe that Jesus is God incarnate.  So, it is funny then that Jesus had to be baptized.   Why did Jesus get baptized?  I think by exploring this question we can gain a better understanding of our own baptism and the amazing grace of God.  

Baptism is one of the oldest Christian traditions.    The book of Acts as well as Paul’s letters mention the importance of baptism as a way of signifying faith and a new life.  There is an ancient Christian document called the Didache.  This document dates all the way back to the first century and contains a baptism liturgy in it.  For as long as our faith has existed, baptism has been part of it.  We often trace this back to the fact that Jesus was baptized, and his disciples went on to baptize.  Baptism is one of the basic building blocks of the Christian faith and the Christian experience.  So, understanding baptism should be important, but one of our primary examples, Jesus being baptized can leave us with some questions. 

The gospels tell us that John the Baptist offered a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  As this morning’s scripture tells us, he used water.  In doing so, he was utilizing a Jewish concept that has roots in the law that God gave the Israelites in the Old Testament.  In that part of the scripture, we find water being used to wash away spiritual uncleanliness.  The physical outward act of washing with water represented an inward spiritual change.  John built on this concept by emphasizing repentance instead of cleanliness.  The idea was the same.  The outward, physical act of being baptized in the water represented an inward change.  For those baptized by John, baptism was a physical act that marked their desire and commitment to turn away from the sins they had been committing.  It was a symbolic act of a fresh start.    

To this day, the idea of a fresh start, of renouncing a life of sin and embracing a life of following Jesus is still part of how we understand baptism. In our United Methodist baptism part of the baptismal vows is to renounce sin and confess to live a new life with Jesus as Lord and savior.  There are some branches of the Christian tree that particularly emphasize this aspect of baptism above any other element of what baptism is.  However, it is in this emphasis that we can begin to say, “that’s funny”, because If the baptism of John the Baptist was primarily about repentance, then Jesus should not have needed to be baptized.  We believe that Jesus is the Messiah.  That means we believe that Jesus lived the perfect, sinless life.   He literally had nothing he needed to repent for.  He did not need to turn away from what he was doing and live differently.  Jesus was not baptized because he needed to repent.  This means while we can find value in baptism representing an act of repentance, it can not be the only reason why we get baptized as Christians.  The baptism of John the Baptist was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but Christian baptism is to be more than that.  This morning’s scripture gives us two clues to what other inward, spiritual changes the outward act of baptism represents. 

The first clue is found in what John the Baptist says at the beginning of this morning’s scripture.  John the Baptist speaks of Jesus and says that he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.  When Jesus is baptized and emerges from the water, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus as a dove.   From the very beginning of our faith the Holy Spirit is linked with baptism.  This is especially evident in the book of Acts.  One of the inward changes that the outward act of baptism represents is the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.  This is demonstrated in our Baptism liturgy.  Right after the water is administered in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the pastor then prays over the newly baptized saying, “The Holy Spirit work within you, that being born through water and the Spirit, you may be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.”  Baptism marks a new chapter in our faith journey, and it is the Holy Spirit that continues to guide us along the path.

In how we live our lives and in our walk with God, baptism marks a specific time starting point where we are declared to belong to God, and we recognize the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives to make us new creations in Christ.  Baptism is the physical act that signifies and makes the inward change tangible.  However, this change tends not to be a one and done event.  It is a process, where the Holy Spirit working in our lives, molds us and shapes us to be more like Christ.  Being baptized does not prevent us from choosing sin, we can still fall short of the mark.  When we do, then we need to return to God to experience the grace of forgiveness and the grace that entrust God’s Spirit to us in the first place again.   The formal theological word for this is regeneration. The UMC articles of religion put it this way, “We believe, although we have experienced regeneration, it is possible to depart from grace and fall into sin; and we may even then, by the grace of God, be renewed in righteousness.” 

This act of regeneration happens in our lives, because we believe the Holy Spirit is with us and works within us to change us.  The Holy Spirit can work in our lives to improve upon the work begun in our baptism.  As we continue our faith journey the grace of God, the love of God that was declared over us in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can become more real to us and we can better live into it.   Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can become more patient, more generous, or more loving people.  Through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can take steps of faith we never thought possible, we can do more than we thought possible, we can meet real needs, and we absolutely can make a real and lasting transformation in the world today.

The second clue as to what kind of inward change that baptism signifies in us is found at the very end of this morning’s scripture.  Here a voice from heaven, attributed to God the Father, states, “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”  In Luke’s accounting of the baptism of Jesus, God the Father speaks directly to Jesus.  Jesus is baptized, and God then tells Jesus who he is.   This is a fundamental aspect of what baptism should do in our lives.  Baptism, and the fact that we are baptized should inform our identity and who we understand ourselves to be. 

I greatly appreciate, in fact I love, how our United Methodist liturgy sums up what baptism does for us.  Our baptismal liturgy begins with: “Brothers and sisters in Christ:  Through the sacrament of Baptism we are initiated in to Christ’s holy church.  We are incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation and given new birth through water and the Spirit.  All this is God’s gift, offered to us without price.”  Friends, the truth of this statement should inform who we understand ourselves to be.   Through baptism it is acknowledge, that God wants us to be part of God’s church.  Through baptism it is acknowledge that God believes that we are worth saving.   Not only are we worth saving, but God believes in us enough that God has invested in us with the Holy Spirit and God believes we are capable of being better versions of ourselves.  This is not transactional; this is not what God provides to us in exchange for worship.  Grace, forgiveness, inclusion into God’s church, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, all of it is a gift, freely given.  It is a gift given out of the great love that God has for us. 

I don’t know if you have ever had the experience of having someone believing in you, someone who encouraged you, told you that you can do it, and inspired you to push yourself to reach the heights they believed you are capable of.  I also don’t know if you have ever had someone in your life who would not give up on you , who would help carry you when you fell and who made sure you had all that you needed to not just succeed but thrive.  If you have been fortunate to have those kinds of people in your life, then you know that when some believes in us and when someone pushes us to be our best, it informs who we are.  We internalize their message and make it part of who we understand ourselves to be.   This is exactly, what baptism does.  A large part of baptism is that it is the ritual we used to acknowledge that God believes in us, God will not give up on us, and that God has entrusted us with all we need to be a thriving disciple of Christ.  Baptism is the physical act that reminds us that our identity who we believe ourselves to be should be informed by what God thinks of us.  

Martin Luther, the great reformer believed this.  When he would wash his face, he would look in the mirror and tell himself, “Remember, you are baptized.”   In fact, when he was discouraged or afraid he would splash water on himself and say, “But I am baptized!”    If you are a baptized believer, then it can be both affirming and powerful to regularly remind ourselves that we are baptized; That we have been claimed for and by God’s love.   As often as we need to rinse and repeat, we can remind ourselves that we are baptized.  In doing so we  remind ourselves that our imperfections, our flaws, and failures do not define us because we have been baptized because God believes in us, God does not given up on us, and that we have the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.   We are defined by the confidence that God has in us to be faithful disciples who can make disciples and transform the world. 
 
​This morning’s scripture can cause us to pause and say “that’s funny” as we consider why Jesus was baptized in the first place.  Jesus was not baptized because he needed to repent.  Jesus was baptized to signify a new beginning as he began his ministry with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus was baptized so that God the Father could speak to his identity.  These too are part of the reasons why we are baptized.  If you are not baptized, then may you anticipate your baptism-knowing that the waters communicate God’s gifts to you.  If you are baptized, then may you remember your baptism and be thankful.  May you be thankful that our baptism communicates to us that we are God’s children, that God loves us, and that God believes we can be exactly who God created us to be. 
 

Scripture: Luke 2:41-51
 
            It was a beautiful Spring Saturday in 2014.  At this time Connor was four and was enjoying the weather playing outside.  It was my job to keep an eye on him while also doing some Spring Cleaning.  In doing so, I left the backyard to take something or another to the front yard, and when I came back he was gone.  I had just been in the exterior garage and the door was open, so I checked that.  He was not there.   Assuming he had went inside, I went to check and did not see him.  Abigail confirmed he was not inside.  At this point I started to get a little panicked.  I went back outside and checked the alley, no there.   My heart really began to race.  I ran around the block calling his name.  True panic was setting in and I began to jump to all of the worst case scenarios. We lived in a parsonage that was right next to the church.  It was Saturday, and no events were happening so it should have been locked up.  However, completely out of options I check inside the church and that is where I found him.  It turns out that in the time I had went to the front yard, his Sunday school teacher had walked to the back kitchen door, Connor saw her and followed her in.  All told he was missing for less than three minutes, but those were some of the scariest moments of my life.  I tell this story, because I can in some small measure begin to appreciate how Mary and Joseph must have felt.  However, my experience only barely compares to the one in this morning scripture.  My child was missing for three minutes not three days and I did not have to search an entire city to find him. 

            On Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus, but after that event the bible skips ahead.  In all four gospels we only get two or three stories of Jesus before he is a full grown man.  There is a story just after Jesus is born and presented at the temple.   Some point when Jesus is a toddler, the Magi visit him in the gospel of Matthew and then we get this story of the age of twelve.   The bible is quick to celebrate baby Jesus but then moves on to Jesus the rabbi.  Within the entire scope of the gospel narrative the birth of Jesus is not that big of an event. 
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            This is different than some of the cultural messages that surround Christmas.  A strong and pervasive cultural Christmas message is this idea of keeping the spirit of Christmas year round.  This message is repeated in various ways in a variety of Christmas specials but perhaps none state it so clearly as the Sesame Street Christmas special which ends with a song where Big Bird and friends sing, “the goodness of loving; the gladness of living these are Christmas too; So, keep Christmas with you all through the year.”

            While the goodness of loving and gladness in life are important, I would argue they are not the true spirit of Christmas.  The true spirit of Christmas is the incarnation, it is the reality that God is with us, and is a light shining into the darkness.  The bible does not dwell much on Jesus as a child but this story we do have I think points exactly how we can keep Christmas with us all through the year. 

            The story in this morning’s scripture can cause us to have some questions.  I think the first and biggest one is how did Mary and Joseph lose Jesus for a whole day?   I do think the context can help fill in the details.   This event happened at the end of the Passover festival.   Passover was and is to this day a big deal in Jewish worship, and it is likely that many of the towns and villages of Galilee emptied out as those who were able made the journey to Jerusalem for the festival.  If everyone is going to the same place by the same way, it makes a lot of sense to travel together.  There is safety in numbers, there is immediate help if needed, and resources can be pooled and shared.  It is likely that every year Mary, Joseph, and Jesus made the same trip, with the same people.   They were not journeying with strangers, they were traveling with a large caravan of family, friends, and close acquaintances.   Given that, it begins to make more sense how they lost track of Jesus.  They were with people they felt safe with, and they had made this journey for several years.  They were probably used to a young Jesus running to be with friends as they walked the journey.  There had probably been other years where they made the journey and from the time they started in the morning, to the time they made camp, never saw Jesus as he was somewhere else within the group.   I can imagine that first night, probably somewhere around Jericho, when everything began to settle and Jesus did not come and find Mary and Joseph.  I can imagine how the initial uneasiness, turned into panic, which blossomed into full hysteria as they began to imagine the worst case scenarios.  

            The other head scratching thing about this story, is how Jesus spent three days without parents in the temple courts.  After all, that is the same amount of time that Kevin Mcallister is Home Alone and apparently everyone seems to be fine with a lone child hanging out in the temple courts.  Again, in the context this begins to make a bit more sense.  First, Jerusalem still would have had excess people.  Passover was the biggest of the three annual Jewish celebrations, and it is likely that those who had to travel far may have planned a longer stay in the city.   Second, the temple courts was the “third place” of the city.  It was the place people congregated and went to.   There were always traveling rabbis, teachers of the law, and other people present to engage with, learn from, or debate with.   Given all of that activity, a single boy would not have garnered that much attention initially.   It was not even that odd for a twelve year old boy to engage with the teachers of the law.   The book of Jewish tradition, the Talmud, records oral traditions that date back to before the first century.  One of the things it contains is the “age of majority”, at what age a boy is to fully engage in Jewish religious life.  The Talmud sets the age of majority at 13, but does state if a child is ready before then, they should be included before then.  At twelve, the teachers of the law would have seen Jesus as a boy moving into the age of majority.  Jesus was at an age where he was supposed to begin carrying and engaging fully with the Jewish religious practices, and likely the Jewish religious teachers were thrilled when the young Jesus first showed so much interest.   That initial impression likely developed into absolute awe as Jesus began to show how much he knew and understood.

The response that Jesus gives to Mary and Joseph when they finally find him point us to how we find the Christmas Spirit year round.  Jesus said to them, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”   Jesus was compelled to be where God was.  The Jewish belief at the time is the temple was a sacred location.  Inside the temple there was the “holy of holies”.  This physical place was understood to be the single spot on earth where the presence of God was greatest.   It was the understanding of the time that it was only in the temple that one could truly encounter the actual presence of God.   From the first century Jewish perspective, Jesus was saying that he would naturally be as close to God as possible, that he would be where God was going to be.  

            This means that we too, should seek to be where God is.  From our modern, Christian perspective, we believe that the presence of God is more than just in the temple.  We believe that because of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God is with us.   We believe that we can encounter God anywhere in the world, but in the gospels we can find at least two specific instances of where we can encounter Christ.   First, Jesus said “wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am among them.”   When followers of Christ gather together, we can and we should encounter the divine.  If we take Jesus at his word, then that means whenever we gather together it should be possible to experience and know the grace, love, and peace that can only come from God.   We often refer to the sanctuary as “God’s house”, and that is because we build our buildings dedicated to God and as a place to gather to worship and encounter God.  However, it is not the building that brings God’s presence here.  God is here in this place because whenever two or more gathered in his name, then God is with us.   We keep the Spirit of Christmas year round when we regularly seek to encounter God and the most reliable way to do that is when we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ in our Father’s house. 
    
        However, gathering with other believers to worship is not the only way we can encounter God.  If we could only encounter God inside church walls, then that would not be much different than the temple system.  Jesus also made it clear that we encounter him outside our buildings because Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did for me.”  We encounter God when we go to where God is.  The bible is consistent from book to book that God is where the people need God the most.  We find God among the lost, the hurting, the marginalized, and those in need of hope.  When we leave our sanctuary and go out into the world to serve those most in need then we encounter God.  When we give of our time and resources to serve those who have the least then we work side by side with our Creator.  When we have compassion and mercy on those that others past judgement upon, then God is with us.   When we serve in love and in the name of Christ then we do find the Spirit of Christmas is with us year round.    
            Over the next week our holiday celebrations will wind down, decorations will be put back into boxes, and we will settle back into normal routines for a new year.  May we not stop celebrating and marveling over the true reason for Christmas, the incarnational truth that God is with us.   May we continue to seek this true Spirit of Christmas by committing to worshipping God in fellowship with one another and may we celebrate that God is with us by living our faith out and serving the people God cares for.  For it is only in doing these things that we find the true spirit of Christmas and keep it  with us throughout the year. 
 

Scripture:  Luke 1: 39-45

I do not remember my exact age at the time, but I remember being a child in the basement at Milan UMC for children’s church one Sunday.  It was around this time of the year, and the teachers had decided for this particular Sunday we were going to sing Christmas Carols.  We had just finished singing one song and the next song requested was “Jingle Bells”.  I immediately responded “Hey! That’s not a Christmas song.” 

Elementary school me, was both right and wrong about that.  The song really has nothing at all to do with Christmas.   However, years of tradition have paired the song with Christmas so even if the lyrics have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus or the celebration of the holiday it is still considered a Christmas song.  There are several songs that are considered Christmas music that actually are not about Christmas.  Like Jingle Bells a lot of these are winter themed songs such as Winter Wonderland and Let it Snow.  However, there is one Christmas song that has nothing to do with Christmas but most of us do not even realize it.   That song is “Do You Hear What I Hear? 

If you quickly run through the lyrics, it sounds like it fits this time of the year.  It has a star, it has shepherds, and it has a baby shivering in the cold.  However, if the song was referring to the birth of Jesus it would be at best a very stylized and loose retelling that was taking a lot of liberties with the story found in the bible.  It is close, but it does not quite fit.  That is because the song was not originally written as a Christmas song. Do You Hear What I Hear was written in 1962.  The song writer, Noel Regney, was known for a poetic, avant-garde style.   The song was written during the height of the Cuban Missile crisis, and the song is a plea for peace during that time.   Given the context some of the lines become chilling.  Consider the verse: Said the night wind to the little lamb, Do you see what I see? Way up in the sky little lamb, Do you see what I see?  A star, a star dancing in the night With a tail as big as a kite.  

That is not a reference to the star the Magi followed.  It is about a nuclear missile. The song is not some artistic rendition of the Christmas story it is a plea for peace in the light of potential nuclear holocaust.  This is not just me reading into the song, the song’s author has explicitly stated this as well.   It is a bit ironic that the song is called “Do You Hear what I Hear?” because most people when they listen to it do not actually hear what the song’s author intended them to hear.   I think there is a faith lesson for us as well.  Much like we miss the meaning of the song, we can miss the work and wonders of God all around us. God can be at work in the world, inviting us to join and we do not see and we do not hear what God is up to.    This morning’s scripture from Luke gives a great example of how not to miss God at work. 

To place this morning’s scripture in full context, it takes place in the gospel right after the angel appeared to Mary and announced that she would bear God’s son.   From a practical standpoint it makes sense that Mary left her small hometown of Nazareth and headed to visit her relatives.  She was unmarried and pregnant.  Nazareth was a small town, so you people would have been talking.  It made a lot of sense to lay low someplace else for a while.  The scripture states that Elizabeth lived in the Judean hill country.  This would have been days of travel away from Nazareth.  The relationship between Elizabeth and Mary is not clear.   It is likely that Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin or Aunt. Like a lot of the people we meet in the Bible, we do not get a full snapshot of Elizabeth.  We must read between the lines to get a fuller picture of who Elizabeth is. 

 From the gospel of Luke, other than a relation to Mary, we know Elizabeth was married to a man named Zechariah.  Zechariah was a Levite, which means he spent part of the year serving at the temple.   We also know that before the birth of John the Baptist, Elizabeth was childless.  We do not know how old Elizabeth was, but Luke 1:36 references Elizabeth’s old age.  It was likely she and Zechariah had been unable to conceive for quite some time.  It needs to be mentioned in the culture of this time, when a couple had difficulty conceiving it was always viewed as the woman’s fault.  It was seen as a divine judgement against her and it would have been a source of great shame.    I imagine for Elizabeth it felt deeply unfair as others began to have children but she could not.  As the years went on, she could have gotten bitter and blamed God.   Being childless was a mark of shame and hurt in the lives of Elizabeth and Zechariah, but all indication is despite that they remained faithful to God

The fact that Elizabeth was with child was a miracle.  It was so unlikely that even Zechariah did not believe it was possible.  In the gospel of Luke it is recorded that while Zechariah was at the temple serving the Angel Gabriel came to tell him that Elizabeth would conceive the boy who would grow to be John the Baptist.  In response to this angelic message, Zechariah questions how this is even possible because of his and Elizabeth’s age.   Elizabeth’s response was much different though in Luke 1:25 it is recorded, “The Lord has done this for me,” she said.  “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” 

Elizabeth had experienced the miraculous nature of God, she had experienced God’s favor.  She knew God was willing and capable of doing good things.  Elizabeth had experienced God’s favor so she was more attuned to what looks like.  When Mary came to visit Elizabeth, Elizabeth was herself six months pregnant.  It is not uncommon in the sixth month of pregnancy for the baby to be kicking and moving quite a bit.  Yet she was able to discern that this was not an ordinary kick.

The scripture does give us a bit of a clue as to what is happening here.  Verse 41 states “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”  Upon the greeting of Mary, the baby kicked as if to ask “Do you hear what I hear?” and thanks to the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth did indeed.  The scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is what helped Elizabeth discern what was happening.  However, Elizabeth was able to recognize Mary and the child that she was carrying for what they were because she was in a place where she could hear the leading of the Holy Spirit. 

Elizabeth had ears to hear and eyes to see enough to know this was not just an ordinary kick.   She was receptive to the possibility of God being at work in the world, and she was open to the leading of the Holy Spirit which brought her to the truth:   The Messiah was coming, God was moving, and soon it would come to pass that God is with us.   Considering God’s goodness, Elizabeth responded in the most appropriate way:  with uncontainable joy!   Elizabeth did not miss what God was doing in the world.  Thirty years before Peter would be the first disciple to declare Jesus was the Messiah, Elizabeth was already stating as such in this morning’s scripture.   Her heart soul could loudly hear what God was communicating.   She absolutely did not miss it.  As we consider this morning’s scripture, there are a couple of pointers we can get from Elizabeth about how we can better hear and see the movements of God. 

First, Elizabeth recognized God’s provision.  Perhaps this might have been a little easier for her.  She had spent years feeling like she was cursed, only to have God show that God had a special plan.  Perhaps because Elizabeth had experienced God’s provision in her own life she was more likely to be looking to see where God is going to show up next.   This is what allowed her to recognize that the kick was more than kick and it is why she was open to the Spirit’s leading to the revelation that Mary carried the Savior of the world.   Perhaps because Elizabeth had experienced God’s provision in her own life, she was more likely to be looking to see where God is going to show up next. 

Our personal experiences with God providing for us may not be as dramatic as Elizabeth’s but we all have stories about God’s provision.  One of the things I appreciate about our United Methodist tradition is that we believe God’s grace is previenent in our lives.   This is a fancy way of saying that God’s love, God’s grace, and God’s provision is always present in our lives.   We believe it does not matter how far someone is away from God, God’s love does not give up on them and God continues to provide.   This means that when that unexpected blessing comes, that means when a series of seemingly coincidences aligns just so, that means when exactly what we need seems to fall right in our lap, it is God.   It is not Karma, it is not fate, it is not the result of good vibes, or a reward for doing good work.   The book of James states “Don’t be deceived my dear brothers and sisters, every good and perfect gift is from above.”   God provides, and we are the proof.  We could probably sit here all afternoons sharing stories of how God has answered prayers, how God worked in our lives, and how God gave us exactly what we needed when we needed it.

Because God has proven God’s self to us time and time again, then like Elizabeth we should be expecting and looking for what God is going to do next.   When we are looking for God at work in the world, then we will find God at work because God is a loving God who provides out of God’s goodness.  When we expect God to show up then like Elizabeth, we will hear the leading of the Holy Spirit and we will be the ones asking those around us, do you hear what I hear? 

The second pointer we can get from Elizabeth is how she reacted to what God was doing.   She reacted with joy.   When we consider how good God has been to us, how perfect the works of God are, joy is truly the most appropriate response.  And yet, I realize that there are times when joy seems far away.   I realize there are times when the weight of all that we are going through can be so crushing and suffocating that it takes all the wind out of sails.  I know some of us have gone through some rough patches over the course of the past year, but even in the valleys and hard spots of life we can still find reasons for joy, because God is still at work, and God’s care is still there for us.   God is good-all the time.   This is true even when things are not going quite like we want them to go.   

A simple exercise can help us see how true this is.  In this season of gift giving, consider taking a few moments to list out all the ways that God has provided for you over the past year.  Focus on the good, on all the reasons you have to be thankful.  I have confidence we will be amazed when we do this.  As we begin to consider the ways God was there for us we will likely become aware of God’s goodness and provision in ways we were not previously aware of.  Being aware of God’s provision makes us more likely to hear, to see, and to notice just how truly good God is.   When we become more aware of how God provides when we catch glimpses of God’s goodness, then our reaction should be like that of Elizabeth’s:  She proclaimed in a loud voice a mixture of surprise and joy.

​So may you have ears to hear and eyes to see how good our Great God is.  May you know that God has and God will continue to provide for you.   May you remember that every good and perfect gift comes from God.   May that fill you with joy.    May you be able to exclaim in a loud voice, God is good, all the time.   And all the time, God is good.  
 
           
 
 
 

Scripture:  Luke 3:7-18

  Every holiday season there seems to be some sort of hot toy that a lot of kids want and that sells out everywhere.  This year one of those toys is a remote-controlled Minecraft creeper that explodes.   I realize that some of you have no context to understand what I just said, but I am sure you kids or grandchildren can help explain it to you.   Every now and then though a toy comes along that leaves most parents at a complete loss as to why it is so popular and unable to understand why kids would ever want it.   As I look over a list of popular toys from the past, one that really rises to the top in my mind as a real head scratcher is the pet rock.  The pet rock only had one year of breakout popularity in 1975, but during that time it sold more than a million units at $4 each, which equates to over $20 today.  The pet rock was literally a rock in a box.  That is it.  The pet rock was before my time, so I am missing whatever it was that made the joke appeal to a million people 49 years ago.  A lot of things that get inexplicably popular are like that.  Either you had to be there for it or you just have to kind of get it, because from the outside looking in or from the present looking back it can be hard to see what the appeal was. 

This morning’s scripture gives me the impression that John the Baptist might have been the same way.   The gospels mention that John garnered quite a lot of popularity.  In fact the gospel of Mark quite hyperbolically states, “The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.”   While it probably was not the whole countryside, John managed to draw a crowd.  He managed to do this despite being based in an isolated area and despite insulting his audience by calling them a brood of vipers.  Despite these obstacles, John was inexplicably popular during his time.  While what worked for John, would very much not get over today, we can still learn from the message of John the Baptist today.  If we take that message to heart, I think we can find it is a gift that keeps on giving and can fuel our faith all year round. 

 When we consider the ancient context that John lived in, his popularity and ability to draw a crowd is even more remarkable.  The traditional baptism site that John operated at was along the Jordan River outside of Jericho.  From Jerusalem to Jordan would have been a day journey both ways.   John the Baptist was not some sort of roadside attraction that people stopped at because they happened to be passing by.   It required real effort and intentionality to get to him.  Plus, it is not like John the Baptist had a marketing campaign and mass media advertisements to get the word out.   Some people came out to see him for the specactle of it all or because they were curious if the rumors were true.  As verse 15 of this morning’s scripture states, “The people were waiting expectantly  and were all wondering their hearts if John might possibly be the messiah.   However, those with curious expectation could not have been the entirety of the crowds.  There were those who were drawn to the wilderness for John’s message and what he was offering.  As we read last week, John’s message was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 

For the people of John’s day, the idea of baptism would not have been a new one.   The idea of immersing one’s self in water for ritual cleanliness was a common Jewish practice.  In the Jewish law there are several things that can make someone ceremonially unclean.  Immersion was a physical act to symbolically show cleanliness.   In ancient Judaism this was done through a ritual bath called a mikveh.  In Jerusalem, outside of the ancient temple steps, there are the remains of several of these mikvehs.  When the Israelites would go to the temple, they would first bathe in one of these as an act of worship to present themselves clean and unblemished before God.  A mikveh has steps that lead down into the bath, and there is a clear division on the steps indicating two sides.   A person would walk down on one side, unclean, immerse themselves in the waters and come up the other side clean.  The ritual bath of the Mikveh was to wash away the imperfections that made someone unclean, John’s tweak to this formula was repentance.   

The baptism that John was offering out in the wilderness would have felt like what the people were used to, but at the same time a baptism for the repentance for the forgiveness of sins was something new.   To repent is more than just to be made ceremonially clean.  As my endless piles of laundry and dishes attest to, being clean is only a temporary status.  That which has been washed can get dirty again. Repentance is meant to be more. Repentance means to turn around completely, it is a true 180.   John’s message was an invitation to re-focus on God because God’s kingdom was coming.   Those that came to John the Baptist wanted a fresh start, they came too baptized to acknowledge their need for repentance, and their desire to start over. 

In this morning’s scripture we get a glimpse at some of the types of people that this message was highly appealing towards.  Verse 12 and 14 specifically mention tax collectors and soldiers.   These are people who probably would have been interested in second chances.  Tax collectors and soldiers had a reputation, likely somewhat deserved, of using their authority to take advantage of others for personal gain.  Socially they would have been considered traitors with how they served the Roman empire and spiritually they would have been considered unclean because of their association with non-Jews.  However, John makes the point that it is not just the soldiers, the tax collectors, and the known sinners that need to repent.  That is the point that John is making in verse 8.  Here John refutes a theoretical argument by saying “And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘we have Abraham as our father,’”.  John is trying to cut off anyone from saying they do not need to repent because of their background or who they are.  One of the major points being made by John the Baptist in this morning’s scripture is that all needed to repent and turn away from their sins.  

 John offered a baptism that was a symbolic action to represent an act of repentance and a turning from a life of sin, but as John himself said there was one to come who was more powerful, who is the real messiah.  Jesus offers real forgiveness of sins and grace that fully reconciles us with God.   Because of Jesus when the day of judgement comes, we can be confident that we are gathered with the wheat because the penalty of our sins has already been erased and by his righteousness we are fully redeemed.  This is possible for all who earnestly repent of their sins and seek forgiveness.  There is a good chance that if you are here today, you know this and you have experienced this saving grace in your life.  
The problem is that even after we have been saved by grace and forgiven we still struggle with the “go and sin no more part.”  We find ourselves falling into the same habits we thought we escaped.  Even though we are forgiven, we still find ourselves turning back to the same unhelpful things we repented and turned away from in the first place.  Now thankfully, grace is not a one and done proposition.  Nor is it even a three strikes and your out situation.  The grace and love of God is greater than we can fathom, and we can have an assurance that when we fall short, God will forgive us again. 

I am thankful that God’s grace and patience does not run out, but I also would like not to need it so regularly.  I cannot speak for you, but I want to be able to repent and mean it.  I want to turn away from that which I know I should not do, that which I know is not right, and that which I know is not best for me and stay that way.  As followers of Christ, I hope we all want to be more like Jesus in our everyday life, and that means we go and sin no more.  It means that when we repent and we turn away from the sins we committed, me are able to stay away.    It can be a struggle, and I am thankful that when I stumble God’s grace is there, but I do think the words of John the Baptist can be helpful to us here. 

In this morning’s scripture John urges the crowd to repent, but he urges them to do more than repent.  He states, “produce fruits in keeping with repentance.”  He then gives several examples:  Share with those who are without, he tells the tax collectors to act with integrity, and the soldiers to be content with what they have.  John’s message is more than just repent, it is more than just stopping doing the things you know wrong, but it is stop doing them and replace those actions with something better.  That is what it means to produce fruits in keeping with repentance.  It means that we make the mindful choice to do something that brings us closer to God and more Christ like instead of taking actions that move us away from God.  

When I think about this works practically in our lives, I am reminded of the time I spent at Edinburgh UMC.   That church had a gym, and the teens would play basketball every Sunday night before youth group. And since I wanted to be involved with the youth ministry, that meant I played basketball every Sunday night.  I am not very good at basketball, I am too short, and I was never that great at handling the ball.   At the beginning my goal was not to embarrass myself too much.  After doing this for five and a half years I was still not a great basketball player.  But I was much better than I was when I started.  While I had not got any taller every other skill needed for basketball, especially shooting, was notably better than it was before I started playing basketball once a week.  It is a simple truth about human nature, the more we do something the better we get at it.  The same is true for repentance. 

We can tend to treat faith development in our lives as a checklist.   Once we accomplish a task, such as reading a book of the bible, we mentally cross it off the list and consider the job done.   We often treat repentance in the same way.  When we become convicted of our sin and seek forgiveness.  We treat it as a one and done thing, where we said the prayer and now we hope this time is sticks.  That’s now how repentance is supposed to work though.  It is a process.  It is a commitment to turn away from set of behaviors and instead embrace a better set of behaviors.   Repentance is like showing up to play basketball once a week.   There are going to be a lot of mis-steps, missed shots, and questionable plays but eventually all of that practice and experience will add up and there will be noticeable improvements.  If we consistently seek to say no to that which pulls us away from God and say yes to that which makes us more Christ like then there is only one possible outcome.  We become more like Jesus and our lives bear the fruit of repentance. 

John the Baptist found popularity, because his message of repentance connected with a lot of people.   Perhaps, that is a message that connect with you today.  Perhaps, there are behaviors or choices you keep making that you know deep down are not what is best for you.  If you feel that in your soul today, then may you repent.   May you turn away from that which is wrong for you and turn towards God.   May we not treat repentance like a single moment in time, but may we commit to the process.  May we trust that God’s grace is there for us when we fall short and may we consistently strive to be the righteous person we know we can be.  Wherever we are in our walk with God, may we all seek to live righteously may we all be committed to repenting of our sins and not turning back to them, and may we find that the provision and strength that God gives us to do that is the gift that keeps in giving.  

Scripture:  John 18:33-37

In the middle of the 1920’s, dark clouds were gathering on the edges of the world stage.   The war to end all wars, was still a recent memory, it’s scars still being felt.  Across the world various nationalistic and ideological forces were on the rise.   For instance, In 1924 a communist led coup was fended off in Estonia, while the growing power of the Soviet Union violently put down a rebellion in Georgia.  Then in 1925 Mussolini came to power in Italy on a platform of fascism and nationalism.  That same year in Germany Adolf Hitler published his manifesto Mein Kampf, and in the Spring of 1925 the overtly racist and nationalistic Ku Klux Klan held a parade where more than 35,000 of them marched in their hoods and robes on the streets of Washington D.C.  It was at this time when nationalistic forces, allegiance to ideologies, and violence was gaining momentum that Pope Pius XI issued a Papal bull that declared the creation of the feast of Christ the King.  This special holy day was meant to remind Christians across the world that their primary allegiance was to Christ- not to a leader, not to a party, not to a political ideology, not to a flag, but to Jesus the king of kings and Lord of Lords. 

Unfortunately, throughout the 1920s and 1930s, nationalism and violent political ideologies continued to rise.  This led to more and more Christian denominations to think that Pope Pius XI had a point, and they also began to see the important of recognizing and celebrating Christ the King Sunday.  By the middle of the 20th century, it became enshrined in the lectionary, the three-year cycle of scripture readings, as the last Sunday before Advent.  Which means today is Christ the King Sunday. 

It is somewhat surprising that having a day to emphasize the kingship of Jesus only came to being less than 100 years ago.  Especially from our American perspective, it feels like something that belongs to medieval times.   As Americans, we tend to not think that highly of the idea of kings.  I mean we did kind of fight a whole war over the idea of being able to declare our independence.  The idea of a person having power and authority as birth right goes against the rugged individualism, self-determination, and emphasis on choice that is at the core of our cultural identity.  Yet this morning’s designation and this morning’s scripture is there to remind us that if we consider ourselves a Christian, then our knees should bend because we do have a king.   This morning’s scripture can challenge us to pause and consider what does it mean for us if Jesus is truly Lord of our lives. 

Referring to Jesus as Lord or even king is so common in our flowery religious language, that we lose sight of the fact that declaring the Lordship of Jesus was (and is) a deeply political statement.   In the Roman Empire there was supposed to be only one lord, and that was Caesar.  Caesar was the emperor.  The Senate, the representatives of the people, answered to him.  The military, the greatest fighting force the world had ever seen, obeyed his command.  In the first century, as far as the Romans were concerned Caesar was the sovereign ruler of the civilized world.

 This is what landed Jesus in front of Pontius Pilate in this morning’s scripture.  The Scribes and the Pharisees wanted Jesus dead, and they knew the only way they could get that done legally is if they got Jesus punished for treason- for declaring himself king instead of Caesar.  In this morning’s scripture Pilate is examining Jesus to see if he can find cause to execute Jesus for challenging the authority of Caesar. Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world and that he came into this world to be a king that testifies the truth.  Even a mighty king, an Emperor like Caesar was temporary, and even an empire like the Roman Empire eventually falls.   The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, because it is an eternal kingdom.  Pilate struggled to understand what Jesus was saying, because he was thinking only in terms of earthly political movements and conserving the status quo, but the kingdom of Christ is based in a truth that makes all things new in a world without end. 

Trying to come to terms with what Jesus meant when he claimed Jesus was king was difficult for Pilate, and I think it can be difficult for us as well.  Pilate struggled because Jesus was a king completely unlike that of the Roman Emperors.  We find it difficult to relate to Jesus as king, because in our modern context we really do not know what it even means.   As already mentioned, as Americans we do not like the idea of someone having full authority over us, so we tend to greatly minimize that part of following Jesus.  In the abstract we acknowledge that Jesus is the son of God and our Savior.  When it comes to how we relate to Jesus, we tend to overemphasize a personal connection.  I realize this really dates me, but I can remember a phrase from when I first started in youth ministry.  This was twenty years ago and at that time there was marketing and T-shirts.  that stated “Jesus is my homeboy.”   I think homeboy is about as far away from King as we can get.    The implication of calling Jesus our homeboy is that Christ is just another friend, another acquaintance, another part of our large social circle.   

Jesus as homeboy might be the most cringe example, but there has long been a push to emphasize Jesus as our buddy.  A common phrase from the 1970’s and the 1980’s sums the problem up well.  At that time, it was popular to say that “Jesus is my co-pilot.”  The implication is that we have just as much authority in our lives as Jesus.  The implication in the statement is that Jesus is our equal, or that we are the ones in control and we just hang out with Christ when it is convenient for us (like Sunday mornings at 9:00).   Jesus is unlike any king because in Jesus we have a savior who does understand us, who has walked our path, who knows our pain, and who will listen to our every trouble in prayer.  What a friend we have in Jesus, but our relationship with Jesus must be more than a friend.  Jesus walks along side us in life as a friend, but ultimately Jesus also sits on the throne as king. 

In this morning’s scripture Pilate tries to figure out what kind of king Jesus is, and if we want to get being a follower of Jesus right we also need to know what kind of king Jesus is.  Pilate wanted to know if he is the king of the Jews, but Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world.    Jesus is a king by birthright.   Jesus is of the line of David, but more importantly Jesus is the son of God, who came to rule all who are God’s people.  More than that Jesus is a king of character, a king of integrity, and a king of righteousness.  Jesus is honest, Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind, and Jesus is loving.  He is a king of action and a king of deeds.  He healed the sick, made the lame to walk, and the blind to see.  The demons fear him, but the outcast, the marginalized, and the forgotten love him. 

 He is a king on a mission.  He came to serve-not be he served.  He delivers the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed, and he forgives the sinners.   He is a king of love, and it is out of love that he was obedient even to the point of death on a cross.   It is out of his amazing love that our king died for us.  Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place, and give him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.   He is the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.  His kingdom is not of this world, because this imperfect world cannot contain his perfect kingdom.   He sits at the right hand of God the Father.  He is faithful and true.  The alpha and the Omega.  The beginning and the end.   He is worthy of all praise and glory, and honor for ever and ever and ever.   That, my friends, is the kind of king that Jesus is.   And I must ask, is he your king? 

Jesus is our savior, and Jesus can be our friend, but Jesus must be our king.  He must be the Lord of our lives.   As Americans in the 21st century we have little concept of what it means to have a king, but history can serve as our guide.   In medieval times there was a ceremony that I think still teaches us about what it means to follow Jesus as our king.   When someone, usually called a vassal, swore to serve a king they did so through a ritual called homage.  In Homage the king promised the vassal that he would care for them, always look out and act in the vassal’s best interest and consider the life of the vassal equal to his own.  In return the vassal would bend the knee, put his hands between the king’s and promise that the will of the king would be greater than his own, and that his life was entrusted into the hands of the King.   In homage, the vassal was willing to follow the will of the king over his own desires.    Through his death and resurrection Jesus has proven that he cares for us to the point that he is willing to go up on a cross for us.   Jesus has proven himself as a king worth following. 

The way that we follow Jesus is that we keep his commands and do what he told us to do.    Jesus commanded to love God with all of our being.  The examples Jesus gave us to follow in that regard is to seek time alone with God, to rely on God to provide, and to truly pray not my will but your will be done.    Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves.  The example Jesus gave us to follow is to have compassion for the vulnerable, to pay attention to the outcast, to serve the poor, to forgive the hard hearted, and to love those who are different than us.   Jesus is a king, but instead of being first he made himself last.  He was a servant to all and that is the example we should follow.   Those are the directions Jesus led us in and if we are not seeking to actively follow the lead of Jesus then we are not really following Jesus.

 When it comes from our American perspective, perhaps this is the biggest change in thinking we need to make in regarding Jesus as king.   We tend to think of leaders as a bit more temporary.  The leaders we follow change a lot.   The average tenure of a CEO of a company is only five years.  Professional sport coaches lead for even less time as they average only four and a half seasons.  And we decide every four years who the leader of our country is going to be.  We are used to short tenures in leaders.  If Jesus is our king, that means we are following him for the long haul.   This means that over our entire life Jesus reigns and has absolute authority.  His will be done, his kingdom come.  Not ours.  That means Jesus is not our co-pilot, Jesus is supposed to be our king.   Jesus is not just our king for an hour on Sunday morning.   If Jesus is our king, then he is the leader of our life every day and he is the Lord of all. 

​Over the next few weeks, we will almost certainly be singing carols like “Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king” and “Joy to the world the Lord is come! Let earth receive her king!”.”   May those not just be songs that we sing because we like the tunes, but may they be declarations of our faith.  May Christ be the leader that you follow in your life.  May you follow his examples and keep his commands.   May Jesus be your King.  And may you give all praise, honor, and glory be to the king of kings and the lord of lords!  Jesus is the king who was and is and will come again.   Long live the king!
 
 

Scripture:  Hebrews 10:19-25
               As I may have mentioned before, I really love Star Wars.   One of the aspects that I like about the movies are the incredible soundtracks.  Every time a soundtrack for a movie, or a remastered release of a soundtrack, became available I made sure to get it on CD.  Unfortunately, I cannot do that anymore.  There are still new Star Wars soundtracks available.  For instance, all the Star Wars shows on Disney+ like the Mandalorian have official soundtracks, but they are now only available digitally.  The availability of media and the format it is available on has changed a lot.  In regard to music, I think Gen X, people in 50’s to late 40’s have it the worst.  For a lot of them their first music was on records, but they were encouraged to replace their records with a new music format, the 8-track.   Unfortunately, those did not last long before they had to replace their music with cassette tapes, but by the 1990’s those were largely replaced with CDs, which had a good run.  However, with the release of the iPod and then the iPhone portable CD players were faded out by digital music players.  For a lot of people today they no longer have music on physical media or even digital files but instead must pay a monthly fee for the privilege of streaming the music they used to own across a lot of different formats. 

It might be my age showing, but when it comes to media like music or movies or books, I really prefer having it in a physical form.  However, I imagine that is not the case for most of the people younger than me.  In our era of technological development, it seems the only constant is that something new is coming.  As soon as a technology starts to gain prominence in the marketplace, upstarts come along to supplant it, make it obsolete, and become the next new thing.  I suppose that is how it has always been isn’t it?  In recent decades the time it takes for something to be obsolete has become a lot shorter, but throughout human history we have consistently looked to innovate, push the envelope, and change the paradigm in a way that makes the way it used to be done obsolete. 

This applies to more than just media formats and other forms of technology.  For instance, over the past several years there seems to be a constant trickle of think pieces and editorials that put forth that church has become obsolete.  The arguments are with podcasts and online services, no one really needs to go to church anymore.  They can get the message of their choice, on demand, whenever they want.  Others argue that in our busy world asking people to give an hour for a worship service, especially on a Sunday morning, is unreasonable and unrealistic.  Often these opinion pieces are being written in response to some sobering statistics.  54% of churches report that when it comes to attendance they are declining.  One quarter of all Americans consider themselves as religiously unaffiliated, and this is not just a younger generation issue.  Of boomers, that is people between the ages of 59-78, that attended church before Covid, 22% of them do not attend any church now.  

These statistics are not great news, they can be troubling and disheartening.  It is easy to see why some have begun to wonder, if in American culture, church has become obsolete.  Which is why scriptures like this morning’s are so important.  This morning’s scripture does a great job of reminding us why we are Christians in the first place, and why it is so important we do not give up meeting together. 

Hebrews can be a tricky book of the bible, and it can be especially tricky to pull individual sections out of, because it is written in such a systematic way.  Many of the books of the new testaments are epistles, they are formal letters that follow a conventional format.  Hebrews, is not that.  Its composition is more like ancient speeches and public speaking rhetoric.  Hebrews builds a systematic case for the supremacy of Christ as the ultimate savior.   This morning’s scripture comes from a transition point in Hebrews where the primary argument for Jesus has been made and is being summarized before the sermon shifts to its last point.  

The main point being summarized in this morning’s scripture is a poignant reminder to us today, but for the original audience it would have been a new way of thinking.   Because Hebrews was written to an audience of a Jewish background, the argument is made from a Jewish perspective. Under second temple Judaism, the primary way people worshipped God and atoned for their sins was through bring a sacrifice to the temple, where the priests then made the sacrifices on behalf of the people.  Using this framework, Hebrews make the case that Jesus is our ultimate connection to God because Jesus is the ultimate priest and the ultimate sacrifice. 

In the ancient world priests were the intermediaries who were the middleman between people and the deities.  Hebrews offers up that it is Jesus who serves as the ultimate and final high priest because Jesus is able to fully unite us with God in a way that no other priest can.   In Hebrew 4:14-15 we find these words, “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.”   Jesus, being both fully God and fully man, is able to understand us as we are, but also sits at the right hand of God the Father.  It is Jesus, who understands us, that connects us with God. 

Not only does Jesus connect us to God the Father unlike any other priest has ever been able to do so, but the sacrifice also that Jesus made on our behalf does more than just represent the punishment for our sins, it erases them.   Jesus, the high priest, by the sacrifice of his own blood, obtained eternal redemption for all who claim him.  Hebrews states this plainly right before this morning’s scripture in 10:10 where it states, “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

These two points that Hebrews spends most of its space to make that Jesus brings us to God as both the ultimate high priest and ultimate sacrifice reach their conclusion in this morning’s scripture when the author of Hebrews wrote: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a since heart and with full assurance that faith brings.”   

The statements made in Hebrews were revolutionary for their time, but today the idea that Jesus forgives our sins, reconciles us with God, and connects us with our creator is foundational doctrine of Christianity.  Even though it is a fundamental part of what we believe, we still need to read scriptures like this morning’s from time to time because we need the reminder of the foundational truths we hold to.   This morning’s scripture makes the claim that because of Jesus we can draw near to God.  We can have assurance that God hears our prayers, that God forgives our trespasses, and that God leads us to love and good deeds.

This morning’s scripture reminds us that because of Jesus we can draw near to God with confidence.  This morning’s scripture urges us to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess.  That can be easier said than done.   It can be hard to hold to that hope, and it can be hard to remember who we are in Christ, because life can be hard.   It can feel like we are constantly lying to ourselves by saying, “we just need to get through these next couple of weeks, and then things will slow down.”   But it never seems to pan out that way.  We never get that breather we were looking for.   Because when it comes to living our day in and day out lives, It’s always something isn’t it?  There seems to always be a new complication, a new set of bad news, a new burden we were not ready for, or a new emergency we just don’t have the time for.  We can be left feeling empty, hollow, like we are just going through the motions.  We can feel like we don’t even know who we are or who we are supposed to be anymore.  Our modern world comes at us fast and we are left feeling constantly behind, constantly overwhelmed, and constantly so, so tired.  In the middle of all we go through, it is hard to remember the joyful truth of this morning’s scripture and it is hard to remember hope.

Thankfully, this morning’s scripture ends with an encouragement on how we can persevere all that life has for us, hold unswervingly to the hope we have, and remember ourselves as those redeemed by Christ.  This encouragement is for us to “not give up meeting together.”  Our faith is not supposed to just be me and my Jesus.  We were never meant to do this, any of this, alone.  Jesus himself surrounded himself with his disciples.   The experience of faith we read in the bible is always done in community.   When God founded the church in Acts, I think God knew what God was doing.  Christianity, following Jesus, is not a path we are supposed to walk alone.  By design we are supposed to be a Christian as a community. 

I understand the temptation not to do it.  I understand the temptation to think that my faith is between me and God, and I got Jesus so I am good.   I can appreciate how busy everyone is, and how nice it would be to just have a lazy Sunday morning.   I am a preacher’s kid.  In some capacity I have been involved in church my whole life.  I have seen the bad.  I know from painful experience that church people are not always nice people.   So I understand and I  can appreciate why some people are tempted to give up the habit of meeting together. 

And yet, I have also seen the good.   I have seen the beauty of we are.  I have seen how a faith community has come around it’s members who are in need and supported them.  I have seen how churches have included and made a place for those who have struggled to fit in any place else.   I have seen how two people who don’t see eye to eye on anything can still manage to look each other in the eye and pass the peace of Christ.   I have seen we can spur one another one towards love and good deeds, how together we can make a real difference in the world.   Yes, there can be some bad because all churches are full of imperfect people who struggle to get it right at times, but there is good in the church and it is a good worth holding to.  

I am convinced that as people of faith, we need each other in this life.   When the dark comes crashing through, it is within the community of faith that we are reminded that the light of the world has come.  When you need a friend to carry you, the body of Christ is there to pick us up off the ground.   When we feel lost, then we should be able to remind each other that we have been found.  It is in the community of faith that we best remember ourselves, remember the hope we have, and push each forward to being more Christlike. 

As a community of faith we should strive to be a place where we spur one another on toward love and good deed and always encouraging one another because even the our country is moving towards attending church less, the statistics also show that our culture needs us now more than ever.   There is a loneliness epidemic in our country, where 1/3rd of all adults report feeling lonely.   Those between the ages of 50-80 report the highest levels of loneliness.  Loneliness is more likely to impact men, where 15% of all adult men report not having a single real friend.  While Jesus is the only one who can truly satisfy the longings of our souls, this morning’s scripture reminds us that we should not be alone, that we are part of a community of faith.   We proudly will sing what a friend we have in Jesus, but may we strive to be a church where we can say what a friend we have in each other.   There are a lot of hurting people in our country and our community who need a friend, and as a community of faith we should be the place that can meet that need for them. 

​This morning’s scripture reminds us of who Jesus is.  It reminds us that it is only Jesus that has the power to reconcile us with God.  It reminds us that this is possible, that forgiveness is possible, because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice of himself on behalf once and for all.   This morning’s scripture reminds us of the hope we have in Christ and it encourages us to hold to that hope unswervingly.   It reminds us that in order to do that, we have each other.   So may we not give up on meeting together.   May we encourage each other.   May we help one another.  May we be the body of Christ, where no one needs to feel alone.  May we be a place where others can found.   May we be welcoming and inviting to all.  May people come to know they have friend in Jesus, because the first found a friend in us. 
  
 
 

Scripture: Psalm 127

One of the unspoken requirements that I had to agree to when I got married was to be a White Sox fan.  Since I did not have a huge stake in Major League Baseball, that was fine with me.  I do not know how much any of you follow baseball, but this was a rough season to be a White Sox fan.  This year the White Sox set a major league baseball record by having the worse win/loss record in history.   They only won 41 games while losing 121 of them.    While every team has the goal to win, and every fan has high hopes that this year is going to be the year the reality is that it often becomes clear for some teams that this is not going to be their year.  Those years when the losses pile up and the team never quite comes together are often declared building years.  In a building year the focus becomes less on winning and more on preparing for the future.  It is a time for young players to get experience, for the team to focus on being a team, and for necessary changes to be made.   A good building year can make the difference.  While I know it is not popular to point out in this area, IU football is a good example of this.  Last year they had a mediocre 3-9 season, but the players learned, new players were smartly recruited, and a head coaching change has led to what so far has been an undefeated season. 

Sports teams have building years, but I think the concept applies to more than just sports teams.  It can apply to our personal lives.  Often the goals we set for ourselves are not immediately achievable.  To meet those goals often requires intentional work, the gathering of experience, and making some necessary changes.   Often meeting our personal goals requires a building year or two before we get there.  The same can be true corporately as a faith community.  Better living into our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world can require building years.  It can require intentionality, a willingness to learn what works, what does not work as well as it used to, and an openness to change if necessary.   This morning’s scripture reminds us of the final and most necessary piece of what it takes to build to something new: “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” 

This morning’s scripture comes from a particular part of the Psalms.  If you happened to read along in your bible, then you might have noticed that Psalm 127 is labeled a Song of Ascents.  There are fifteen songs of Ascent found in Psalm 120 through 134. These psalms have a strong worship focus, but they also tend to focus on daily living.  There is a focus on the concerns of everyday people like family and harvest.   With one exception all these Psalms are short which would have made them easy to memorize.  The length of the psalms and their down to earth focus as long led biblical scholars and commentators to understand that the psalms of ascent are called that because these are the songs that pilgrims sang as they journeyed to Jerusalem to worship God at the temple on days like the Passover. 

This morning’s scripture reading is a little different from the other songs of ascent.  It is the only one attributed to Solomon, the King of Israel that followed David and was famed for his wisdom.  Which might explain why it reads like something that sounds like it came out of Proverbs instead of Psalms.  In fact, it almost feels like this Psalm is composed of two completely different wisdom sayings that have been smushed together.  That feeling is an unfortunate byproduct of translation because when we translate this Psalm to English, we lose a lot of the poetry.  In Hebrew this Psalm is composed of two stanzas each with four poetic lines, and each being exactly fifty-seven syllables.  This scripture is not two crammed together thoughts, but two thoughts connected and balanced with one another.  

The first of these thoughts is centered on the importance of centering God.   If our plans for the future, the dreams we want to build on, the work we seek to do is not centered on God then it is done in vain.  All our efforts and short-term gains in the end are fleeting.  This does not mean that we sit back and do nothing.  The scripture does not say the builders do not build or the guards do not watch.  It states without God, their work is for nothing.   As Eugene Peterson, author of the Message paraphrase, wrote about this scripture in his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, “Psalm 127 insists on a perspective in which our effort is at the periphery and God’s work is at the center.” 

The second of these thoughts shows how the theory of the first part is put into practice.   Verse 3 states that children are a gift from God.  This verse should not be read or understood as a judgement upon those who cannot or choose not to have children.  Rather it should be understood within the context of this scripture.   Verse 3 states that “children are a heritage from the Lord.”  The Hebrew word translated as heritage is a complex word.  The other times it is used in the Bible it gets translated as inheritance and is often in reference to the land God promised the Israelites.  The word is one that implies access to life and happiness.  It is a word that looks towards the future.   The idea is that not only are children a blessing to one’s own life, but in the context of the Israelites living in the land that God promised them, children as a heritage from God is part of how God builds for the future. 

This morning’s scripture belongs to a very specific context.  It was a song sung by ancient Israelites on their way to worship God.  It reminded and encouraged the worshippers ascending to the temple, that God should be the center of all their efforts, because unless the Lord builds the house-unless the Lord builds for the future-it is all in vain.  As an illustration of how this is true, the Psalm then lifts up the example of how it is God that provides children, who were necessary to secure the ongoing future of Israel.  We are not ancient Israelites.  The way that we worship God, our social structures, and our context are radically different.  Despite the Psalm’s context not directly applying to us today, I think the greater truths of this scripture are something we can still learn from and take to heart.  This scripture helps us keep in mind what we need to build for the future.  I think this is a message that we here at Trinity United Methodist Church need to hear, because I think we are in a building year. 
 
I think that is true, because of what I have heard from you.  Back in September I met with several of you over the course of six different listening sessions, so that I could learn more about this church and I could hear what your hopes and dreams were for us going forward.  Across all six sessions the most consistent thing I heard from you is that you want to grow.  The number one dream for the future that I heard in every single one of these sessions is that you want to grow.  The dream is that these pews will be full once again.  In listening to you as a congregation, I am confident that you are all in agreement that you want to grow, you want to build towards something more than we are now.  That is a great goal to have, that is something worth pursuing.  As we think about what it means to grow, as we think about how we are going to be strategic in this building year-I think this morning’s scripture should inform our actions in a couple of ways.  

First, we must remember that unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.  It is a laudable goal for a church to want to grow, but we have to be clear about our motivations.   What we want is an easy question to answer: More people in the sanctuary every Sunday.   The harder and vastly more important question is why do we want that?  If the reason why we want to grow is based solely on survival, if the motivation is to get more people so that we can keep on existing just for the sake of existing, then I fear we are building and laboring in vain.  If the reason we want to grow is just to grow because we think that bigger automatically means better and more successful, then we are building and laboring in vain. 

If we want to grow, if we want the Lord to build this house, then our reasons for doing so need to be in the right place.  The reason we want to grow should be because we believe that people need Jesus.  The reason we want to grow is because we believe that the more of us that seek to become more like Christ, then the more effective we can be in transforming this world into a more kind, compassionate, and just place.  The reason we want to grow must be grounded in sharing the grace and reconciliation offered by Jesus so that more people can know the life changing love of God.  The reason we want to grow should be because we are passionate, we are fired up, and we are all in realizing the kingdom of God here on earth. If our hope is built on Jesus Christ, if our motivation is share Jesus so that all the people can be saved, then we can do the work with confidence knowing that the Lord will build the house.  

The second way this morning’s scripture should influence our actions is that it can inspire where we direct our efforts.  This morning’s scripture lifts up children as an example of building to the future.  If it is our dream for the church to grow, then we too, should prioritize young people everywhere.  To reiterate our motivations for doing so should not be out of survival or growing for the sake of growing.  Our motivation should be that young people need Jesus just as much as anyone else.  One of the things that I find most encouraging is that by and large it seems that you as a congregation get that and believe that.   Coming out of the listening sessions, when I asked you all what your biggest dreams were for this church.  The second answer, right after growing, was ministry with young people.  Based off the conversations I have had with many of you over the past few months, I have a strong impression that you all want to love young people, you want to share Jesus with young people, and you desire to see the gospel make an eternal difference in their lives.  

That is all good and worth celebrating.  Yet, I am as aware as you are of our current situation.   We currently do not have a lot of young people, to use the analogy this morning’s scripture uses our quiver is a little low right now.   There are fewer young people than we would like to see and there are more holes in the pews than we prefer right now.  That is our current reality, but there is not a single reason why that must be our future.  We are in a building a year.  Make no mistake, building years take work.   Building years require putting in effort just to figure out the best way forward.  Building years often require making changes.   Building years require learning and stretching outside of our personal comfort zones for the greater purpose of making disciples and transforming the world.

​   There is no way to sugar coat it, all of this is work.   It requires the hard work of introspection, self-examination, and making the necessary changes in our own lives and hearts so that our motivations are truly in the right place.  It also requires the hard work of showing up, of volunteering, of giving from our of time, talent, and resources to invest in a mission greater than ourselves.   Because we are in a building year there is work to be done, but if our motivations are in the right place, if our desire to grow is rooted in sharing God’s love and furthering God’s kingdom then we can be confident that we do not labor in vain.   We can be confident that any growth we eventually see is because it is the Lord that builds the house.  We can be confident of this because  our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  Friends, it is on Christ the solid rock we stand so may we be willing to get to work. 
                
               

Scripture: Psalm 146

In recent years there has been a big rise in people working from home.  This is because it became a necessity during the height of the pandemic, but it has continued because many workers, especially younger ones, have found they prefer it this way.  The results speak for themselves.  One study found that employees that work from home are 47% more productive than those that work in an office.  However, there are some unintended downsides to this, such as a loss in social skills.  One survey of young adults, ages 18-27, found that for those who work or attend school remotely 50% reported feeling like their social skills have decreased.  This is not just a young person issue.  The findings of a 2020 study found that for most people social skills begin to deteriorate in their late 30’s and into their 40’s.   Social skills, like all skills, deteriorate if we do not actively develop and use them regularly.   Even though remote work is not going anywhere, all people still need the ability to interact face to face, which is why a lot of professional focused media has focused on this.  For instance, Harvard Business Review, the job finding website Indeed, a professional educators website, and more have all published articles in the past two years about how to introduce yourself to someone else. 
While these articles have different authors, they essentially all say the same thing.  Introducing yourself, according to these articles, requires three steps.  First, focus on the present, establish who you are and what it is you do.  Second, focus on the past and explain where you have come from and what you have accomplished.  Third, focus on the future and push the conversation forward with what clearly stating future expectations are goals.   All the articles are confident that this is the secret formula to a perfect introduction that is not long and rambling but also not too abrupt and short.  While the order may not be quite right, this morning’s scripture serves as an appropriate introduction to God.  This Psalm gets to the point of who God is as revealed by scripture.   This morning’s scripture should give us a better understanding of who God is, but as God’s people it should also help us see who we can be. 

It is not by random chance that this psalm serves as an introduction to God is.  Psalm 146 through Psalm 150 are a set of psalms that all go together.   Each of these songs begin and end with Hallelujah which means Praise the Lord.  These Psalms are a unit that go together to express all the reasons why God is worthy of all our praise.  It makes sense then that the first psalm in the series would serve as the introduction.  This introduction to God does not follow the recommended past, present, future format recommended by all of the articles.  This is because God does not change life shifting shadows.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.   So, what this scripture states about who God is, is just as relevant today as it was when it was first written.  There are four major things that this scripture states about who God is. 
 
First, verse 6 state that God is the maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.   Understanding God not just as our creator, but the creator of all, is a fundamental way we understand God.  After all, Genesis 1:1 begins with in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  We believe God is the Creator, but I am not sure we always appreciate how remarkable of a creator God is.  This morning’s scripture states that God created the sea and everything in it.  Do you know how much is in the sea?   It is estimated that there are over 30,000 species of fish in the oceans.  It is an estimate, because one thing scientists are sure of is that we have not found them all yet.  That is just fish, that says nothing about all the creatures that God created that live in the ocean, or the creatures that live on land because then there is even greater diversity.  For instance, there are more than 17,000 different types of butterflies on our planet, and it is estimated there are more than 350,000 different species of beetles.   That says nothing of the more than eight billion people alive today, all who have been hand crafted by God and are fearfully and wonderfully made. 
That does not even touch the heavens, whose size and scope is almost beyond our comprehension.  Our galaxy alone, the Milky Way, is believed to have more than 100 billion stars, and the low-end estimates put the number of galaxies in the universe at over 200 billion, each with billions of stars.  If you were to count every single grain of sand on every beach on earth, that number would be less than the number of stars in the universe.   All of it is created by God.   God as a creator is more imaginative, more productive, and more awe-inspiring than we can wrap our mind around.   God is an infinite creator of infinite creativity. 

 The scope and scale of God’s creative nature, can be incredibly intimidating, which is why the next thing this scripture teaches us about God is so encouraging.  Verses 7-9 of Psalm 146 make it clear, that even though God is a creator on a massive scale, God cares about people.  God cares about us.   This morning’s scripture points out that God cares for the righteous; that is those who seek to follow God.  This morning’s scripture also points out that God has great care for more than just those who already love God.  Verse 9 states, “The LORD watches over the foreigner, and sustains the fatherless, and the widow.”
 
In a tightknit and patriarchal culture foreigners were the perpetual outsiders while widows and orphans were the most vulnerable and marginalized members of society.  This morning’s scripture states that God cares for the very people who are easily forgotten, vilified, or taken advantage of.   Throughout the scriptures, from the Torah to the prophet, to the teaching of Jesus, and then the early church we find this is a consistent message.  God is on the side of the powerless and disadvantaged.  This morning’s scripture tells us how God is there to help those who can not help themselves.   It states that God upholds the cause of the oppressed and God frustrates the way of the wicked.  This is because God is a God of justice.   God is a God of love who cares for all the people that God created, because that is an essential part of who God is. 

The final aspect of who God is that this scripture reveals to us is that God is forever.   God is faithful forever and God reigns forever.   This morning’s scripture begins by pointing out the folly of putting our trust in human leaders, who cannot save.   They are fleeting, but God is not.   This morning’s scripture states that God gives sight to the blind, that is to say God meets the needs of those in need.  It also states that God lifts up those who are knocked down.    Because God is forever, those are not fleeting promises.  

This Psalm does a wonderful job at summarizing some of the aspects of who God is that we see in scripture.  It gets right to the point in stating that God is the Creator of all, God cares for the vulnerable, and God is forever.  This scripture seeks to communicate to us who God is, and if we take what it states to heart then this can shape how we interact with God and how we interact with the world.   Keeping in mind that God is forever, can really help ground us and keep us from getting consumed with worry and dread.   We may feel knocked down, we may feel things are not right, but we can trust that the Lord lifts up those who are down.   We can trust that God is never early, God is never late, and that God is going to do exactly what God states because God is forever.   Because God is forever, and because God is the one who saves, then our anxieties can be tempered.   Because no matter what the results of this Tuesday are because The LORD reigns forever; God is God of all generations. 

This morning’s scripture tells us that God is a God of justice. Because this is part of who God, is we can have confidence that in the end good wins out.  I think the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best, “the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.”   If part of who God’s nature is to have special care for those who are vulnerable, then as people who seek to follow God we should too.  God upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food for the hungry, so we should as well.  We care for those in need because God cares for those in need.   We act with love and compassion to those who can not help themselves, because that is the attitude that God has towards them and us.  

Finally, when we consider the vastness of God’s creation and the creative nature of God, when we consider that God created stars beyond number yet still loves us on an individual level, then there is really only one response we can have:  Praise the Lord!   Praise the Lord, O my soul!  I will praise the Lord all my life.  I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.   Friends, how can we not?  

​This morning’s scripture gets right to the point of who God is, and if we take it seriously it also tells us who we should be.  We should be God’s people, whose hope is in the LORD, because God is forever faithful.  We should be God’s people, who seek to love the oppressed, the disadvantaged, the marginalized, and the needy because God loves those people.   We should seek to be God’s people who declare Hallelujah!   This scripture tells us who God is, and by the grace of God may it define who we are.   May we praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!   

Scripture:  Mark 10:46-52

The fad has long since faded away, but do you remember “magic eye” pictures?  These were a product of the 1990s which had brightly colored, bizarre, patterned picture.  Allegedly if you stared at it then you could see the hidden image underneath.   I have to say allegedly because I absolutely to this day cannot see those things.  Back in the day it was a frustrating experience when it seemed everyone but me could see the hidden horse or dinosaur.  People would often offer up a bunch of tips like “just cross your eyes” or “stare at one point” or “stare at nothing in particular”.  They would say it like this was the most obvious and easiest thing in the world, but no matter how hard I tried to follow their less than helpful advice I could not see what was so obvious for them. 

            You could tell me exactly what I am looking for, give me all the instructions on how to see it, I can stare at it until sunset.  There is no way I am ever seeing that hidden image.  For whatever reason my brain cannot parse out the visual cues it is seeing and put it all together to reveal the hidden image.  Magic Eyes were only around for a minute.  In 1994 they were all the rage, but in a couple of years pop-culture had largely moved on.   I know that I was not sad to see them go, because it honestly annoyed so much that I could not see them. 

            As annoying as not being able to see the Magic Eye images are to me, it was just a mild inconvenience.  Considering this morning’s scripture makes that abundantly clear.  Magic eyes are something that I cannot see, but that does not even begin to compare to the plight of Bartimaeus.  Bartimaeus knew that he was missing something important in his life, and he believed that Jesus could fix it.  In a similar way, we all have areas in our lives that Jesus can transform and make whole.   However, like me with those silly magic eye pictures we might not be able to see what is right in front of us.   We can be encouraged by this morning’s scripture because if Jesus has the power to make the blind to see, then Jesus has the power to help us see our own shortcomings we might not be aware of.  This means if Bartimaeus can be healed and made whole by faith, then so can we. 

In this morning’s story Bartimaeus asks Jesus for something that no one else can give him.   We do not know a lot about Bartimaeus.  The gospels of Matthew and Luke also contain a version of this story, but the gospel of Mark has more details including his name.   We do not know if he was born blind, lost his sight in an accident, or if he suffered from a degenerative condition that led to him being blind.  We do not know the details of his life, but if he was reduced to begging on the side of the road things were not going well.  We must realize that Bartimaeus did not have an easy life.  In the first century there was very little work that a blind man would be allowed to do.  Many in his community would have viewed his condition as a judgement from God due to sin.  We know this is the case because of a different incident regarding Jesus healing the blind that is recorded.  This meant that Bartimaeus would have been on the outskirts of his community.  He would have been known to many, but likely he was ignored at best and constantly judged at worst.  This meant that he was likely resigned to a solitary life of begging.  He had to scrap by on the begrudging kindness of strangers.   Every day he had to hope he would get enough money so that he could go to sleep at the end of the day without feeling hungry.   If he could only see, then he could live a very different life.  He would not be cut off and alone, he would be able to work and support himself, he would be able to be a blessing to himself and others.  

Of course, Bartimaeus wanted to see, so when he heard that Jesus of Nazareth, the miracle worker, was passing by he knew this was his chance.  We get a clue though, that Bartimaeus had more than just a passing familiarity with Jesus.   He knew that Jesus was more than just another holy man, more than just another traveling miracle worker.   Bartimaeus addresses him as “son of David.”   There is no mistake that this is a messianic title.  It is a title reserved for the one chosen by God to usher in God’s kingdom.  Bartimaeus was not just hedging his bets that this traveling rabbi could be the one who could heal him, he was declaring that he believed sight was possible because Jesus is God’s chosen one. 
I think there are a couple of important lessons we can learn from Bartimaeus.  First, I think it is important to focus on what Bartimaeus first asked Jesus.  Even though Bartimaeus probably wanted to see more than anything, even though sight would have vastly improved his life, and fulfilled many of his wishes, Bartimaeus does not shout out “Son of David, heal me!”   He says “Son of David, Have mercy on me!”    The concept of praying for mercy is not something we hear a lot about today, but perhaps we should.   One of the oldest Christian prayers, dating back to the very beginning, is Kyrie Elision: “Lord, have mercy.”    To ask for mercy is an acknowledgement that we have nothing to give.  Asking for mercy is asking for special privilege from a position of weakness.   To ask for mercy is a confession that we are not truly deserving, but we still greatly desire or need a special kindness given upon us.  To ask for mercy is the somewhat audacious request to ask for a gift; specifically, a gift that is given without strings attached and with the acknowledgement that it cannot be paid back.   When we ask God for mercy we should do so from a point of humbleness and reverence, as we acknowledge that God is the only one capable of granting that which we ask.       
 
            In an attempt to make faith more accessible, we sometimes make errors by oversimplifying.  We often simplify the act of prayer down to “We can ask God for what we need and because God loves us he will give it to us.”  There is a downside to simplifying prayer too much because when prayer is all about what God gives us, we treat God like some sort Cosmic Santa Claus, or worse a divine vending machine that we can always go to when we want to be happy.    It is true that God loves us a great deal, and that God answers prayers, but when we take “Lord have mercy on me a sinner” out of our prayer life something great is lost.  When there is a need we should take it to the Lord in prayer, but not because we deserve or expect God to answer our prayer.  We take it up in prayer because what we are in need of is God’s mercy.
  If mercy is humbly asking for a great gift, we have no chance of achieving on our own, then the opposite of mercy is entitlement.  Entitlement is when we believe we deserve something just because of who we are or what we are owed.   If seeking mercy is based in humility than entitlement is based in pride.   Bartimaeus could have easily felt that he was entitled to being healed.   He could have been bitter about living a lifetime with a disability he did not want; he could have demanded that he has paid his dues and it was his turn for something to go right. It would not be a stretch for him to believe he deserved to be healed after all that he had gone through.  Yet, that is not what he does.

 His request is not one based in entitlement it is based in hope and faith. Bartimaeus approaches the messiah by saying “Lord have mercy on me.”  Jesus, overflowing with grace and mercy, calls him over and asks how exactly he can do that.   This morning’s scripture should cause us to take a moment of self-reflection and ask ourselves some pointed questions.  When you pray, what is the attitude you approach God with?    Do you approach the throne saying “Lord have mercy on me” or do you approach God expecting him to give you what you feel entitled to?   Now clearly, none of us are going to God in prayer and verbally say, give me what I am entitled to, but this is not about the words we use, it is about the attitudes of our hearts.  In our relationship with God do we see ourselves as seeking mercy or demanding entitlements?   

When we approach prayer with an attitude of entitlement in our hearts then what we take to God is often a list of our wants.   However, if our attitude in prayer is Lord have mercy on me, then what we are seeking is not a vain list of wants- it is the very grace of God.  Bartimaeus asked first for mercy.  Jesus then followed up and asked, “what do you want me to do” and then he was able to say he wanted to see.  When we start with mercy, then the needs we end up asking God to meet our less based in our wants and more based in what we need to be restored, healed, and made whole. 
For Bartimaeus it was clear to him what he needed to be restored, healed, and made whole.   Perhaps it is a bit harder for us to answer that question, because we cannot see what we are missing.  If Bartimaeus suffered from a form of physical blindness perhaps we suffer from a form of spiritual blindness.   Perhaps our hearts can be hardened, so that we cannot see the needs all around us.  We miss the people God has put in our path, because we look just right past them.  Perhaps just like those stubborn Magic Eye pictures we cannot see what God has put right in front of us.

            Historically, this has been a problem in Christianity.  Even people who demonstrate righteousness and desire to follow God can have places where their hearts were hard and the missed a chance to love their neighbors right in front of them.  A good example of this is Martin Luther, the famous reformer and founder of the Lutheran Church.   Many consider him a righteous man, and the writings of Martin Luther were instrumental in John Wesley’s conversion.   Yet, Martin Luther was still imperfect.   Because he wrote several books on the subject, it is well documented that Luther was a very strong anti-Semite.  He advocated for the burning down of synagogues, expulsion, and even violence against Jewish people.   Even someone like Martin Luther allowed hate to blind him from seeing all of God’s people.   Lord have mercy.   

            It just is not Martin Luther; many people have a hardness in their heart and struggle to see certain people with compassion.   I have spent years working with teenagers in some capacity, and I have met my fair share of good Christian people with a spiritual blindness to young people.  It has hurt my heart to hear people I respect complain about “kids today.”  Too many people in too many pews are quick to dismiss young people as spending too much time on phones, not enough time outside, and being too entitled.  It bothers me deeply when I hear people who confess to follow Jesus belittle an entire generation of people younger than them as whiny snowflakes.   We cannot complain about a whole generation and then wonder why that generation wants little to do with churches today.  When we refuse to empathize with young people and when we do not communicate that they belong and there is a seat for them, then we miss that God loves these children just as they are.  We miss the fact that young people are not just the future of the church, they are the present of the church if we are willing to include them.  In too many churches instead of working to include people of all ages in age-appropriate ways in the work of God’s kingdoms, teenagers are either shoved out or hidden in the church basement.   Lord have mercy

            We can be so focused on ourselves and our own lives that we do not see the great need in the world today.  We are quick to get upset when the price of gas jumps up by 30 cents a gallon, but there is very little outrage over the fact that 273 million people do not have access to safe drinking water in the world or the fact that every minute of every day around the world 21 children under the age of five die from easily preventable causes.   Why, church, does our heart not break over this?   Imagine if all churches, collectively were as passionate about ending world hunger, as NFL fans were passionate about their favorite teams.   We would be able to end world hunger before the Colts make it back to the playoffs!   Lord have mercy.
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            In this morning’s scripture, Bartimaeus ask Jesus for mercy and in response Jesus heals him, gives him eyes to see, and Bartimaeus responds by following Jesus.  In the same way, when we seek mercy then we can be made whole.  We can be transformed to better be the person God intends us to be.   So may the prayer of our hearts be “Lord have mercy on me.”   May we seek the Lord’s mercy with an attitude of humbleness not entitlement.  May we have eyes to see, hearts to love, and hands to make a difference.   May we be a people who can testify to the almighty power, grace, and mercy of God by proclaiming “I once was blind, but now I see.   The Lord had mercy on me.”  
 

Scripture:  Mark 10: 35-45
               After twenty-one years of marriage I have learned that there are certain ways that Abigail and I think and interact with the world that are fundamentally different from each other.  For instance, she will occasionally like something so much like a movie or a restaurant and declare it her favorite.  By and large though she does not naturally rank things against other things of the same category.   Using pie as an example, she will take any given pie and either like it, think it is ok, or not like it.  It is possible to really like, really dislike it, or if she is not sure then “it’s different.”   This is not how I work at all, because I naturally evaluate and rank everything.  So using pie as an example, I can easily give you a top ten list of what I consider to be the best kind of pie (Since you are now curious it is Strawberry-Rhubarb as number one, followed closely by blueberry and pecan.  Apple, Boston Cream, chocolate chip, sugar cream, pumpkin, blackberry, and Cherry- in that order- round out the top ten).  I do not just arbitrarily rank things.  I tend to know what I like, and why I like it.  I feel like this would be a weird personality quirk, except for I am clearly not the only person who does this.  David Letterman made the top ten list into an art form, and since then a lot of people have found organizing our likes into list a helpful practice.  In our digital age this has become even more popular.  Many websites and YouTube channels are dedicated to making top lists for all kinds of things.   I naturally rand and put everything into a list and order.  While that might be a quirk today, in previous eras I think it might have been second nature to a lot of people. 
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            For most of human civilization it was the nature of humanity to rank people.  The idea of “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” is a fairly new ideal, and it is one we still have not been able to fully live into yet.  For most of human history the default way of thinking is that everyone was not created equally, but that some people deserved a hire station in life.  This morning’s scripture gives us a glimpse of people thinking that way.   In this morning’s scripture James and John, the Son of Zebedee, shoot their shot.  They swing for the fences and try to secure for themselves a top spot in the kingdom of God.  They wanted to get themselves in at least the top 5 if not the top 3.  Jesus’ response shows that the kingdom of God did not work like any earthly kingdom.  Today that is still true, and to live as a citizen of God’s kingdom requires living like no one else. 

While I think we get the gist of James and John’s request, to sit at the left and right of Jesus when he comes into his glory, a little cultural context helps give a fuller understanding.   At a formal banquet in the first century, there was a very strict seating order.   Often at the head or center of the table would sit the person of honor.   If this was party thrown in honor of someone, they would sit there.  Otherwise, the seat would go to the most important person in the room.    This might be the host or depending on the event it could be a powerful official or ruler of some sort.   From this person, everyone else would fall in line.   The second most important or prestigious person would then sit to this person’s right, and the third most important or prestigious person would then be the left.   It would go back and forth like this from right to left filling the table.   Again, it was human nature of that era for everyone to rank each other.  It was baked into the culture, and everyone knew their place and they knew where they were in relation to everyone else.   Even if they did not understand what it truly meant, James and John believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and they believed that he would usher in a new kingdom.   They wanted to secure their position early.    By asking to sit at the left and right of Jesus they were essentially asking to be the second and third most important, respected, and powerful people in God’s eternal kingdom right after Jesus.

It was a bold and brazen move.  This is probably why when the other disciples heard about it the scripture records “they became indignant.”   There was probably a bunch of “just who do you think you are?”   and “someone’s a little too big for their britches” comments thrown around. 

At the same time though, we cannot really fault James and John.  After all they were only doing what some of us might have tried to do.   They were doing what we have all been taught to do.   We do not rank everyone in a strict social hierarchy anymore, but our culture in general celebrates winners.  By and large our culture sends messages that winning is everything and reaching the top is the most important thing we can do.  We want to be the MVP, we want to be #1, we want to be the king of the hill, and we want to be the person at the top of heap.   James and John were just being ambitious.  In most situations, we would applaud their move as one that shows a boldness that should be rewarded.  If the other ten disciples were being honest, they wanted the same thing.   They were not indignant because of the audacity of James and John’s request.  They were indignant because they got beat to the punch!  

   Seeking to be the first of greatest is the way of the world, and we know it.  Ambition is celebrated as a character virtue, those with wealth and power try to promote themselves as role models, and people run themselves ragged in an attempt to get a head.  A constant pressure to be viewed as winners or number one might be the way of the world, but it is not the way of Jesus.  Jesus flips the script.  He turns everything upside down.   Jesus points out that the way of the world during his time was the same way it is today.  People carve power and authority, and then they “lord that power over others.”     Jesus though offers a different way.   The world of Jesus day and the world of our day defines success by reaching the top, by having the most, and by being regarded as the best.   Jesus though redefines success.   Jesus tells us what success looks like in the kingdom of God.  Success is not based on how much you get, it is based on how much you give away; it is not based on what you earn, it is based on how you put others first.   Jesus is clear, we should not seek or measure success on the same terms the world uses. 

This is a point that gospel of Mark hammer again and again.  In chapter 9 the disciples are arguing about who is greatest and Jesus tells them “anyone who wants to be first must be the very last and a servant to all.”  Then at the beginning of Mark 10 Jesus lifts up the little children.  We looked at this scripture two weeks ago, and the reason why Jesus says the kingdom of God belongs to those like little children is to reinforce the idea that the kingdom of God inverts the worldly power structure.   This is then followed up with the scripture of the rich young ruler that we looked at last week, where Jesus confirms the rich and powerful cannot buy their way into heaven, that the way the world measures success is not how God measures success in the heavenly kingdom.   This small section of Mark find different ways to hit the same point.  As my college history professor, Dr. Parks, said, “If the teacher repeats the same thing more than once you need to pay attention and write it down.”  Hopefully we are paying attention, because in this morning’s scripture the theme that Mark’s gospel has been coming back to time and time again gets laid out in the bluntest way.   When James and John ask to be the top guys in the kingdom of God, Jesus responds by saying, “Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” 

This is the example that Jesus gave us.   If anyone could have achieved power, authority, and success by the measure of the world it was Jesus.  He had the ability to rise above his station and claim whatever seat at the table he would have wanted.  Being the very nature of God, he could have accomplished whatever he wanted, but Jesus was obedient to the point of death to serve others.   He put the needs of the world before his own on the cross for he “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom of many.”

            This is an example we should follow, but our natural impulse is more likely to follow the example of James and John.  They sought the best and most powerful positions for themselves, because they were motivated by putting themselves first and getting the most for themselves.  The example Jesus gives though is one that is motivated by putting others first and it is motivated by love.  James and John assumed the kingdom of God would work like the way this world works.  They thought it was like a pie, where there was only so much to go around and so they wanted to ensure that they got the biggest piece.   In this morning’s scripture and throughout the middle of the gospel of Mark Jesus makes it clear that this is not how the kingdom of God works.  The kingdom of God is based in the love of God, and friends this love is an unlimited resource.  It is not like pie because there is more than enough to go around.  The love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ never gives up and never runs out.  Since there is grace enough for everyone, then instead of trying to get ours the best thing to do is share it with everyone. 

            The kingdom of God is one that is based in abundance, so we can consider others first because we know there is still room for us.  The way of this world is one that is based in scarcity and scrambling to get something before it is all gone.  In this morning’s mindset Jesus urges his disciples to live with a kingdom mindset of abundance in a world based around scarcity.   There is a modern-day example that I think shows us how we do that.

            While we may not have places of honor and rank everyone today, there are still some people who by nature of their office get a lot of difference.   There is a lot of pomp and circumstance that surrounds them, and they are treated as a step above most people.   A good example of one of these people is the Pope.   While is health makes it a lot harder for him to get around, Pope Francis caused more than a few headaches for Vatican officials early in his term as the head of the Catholic church.  Pope Francis got caught sneaking out of the Vatican.   He would leave the Vatican dressed as a regular priest in order to feed, pray with, and minister to the homeless of Rome.  Pope Francis would leave behind the trappings of palatial living to serve others.  He is arguably among the upper echelon of influential and powerful people in the world, but it was important to him to continue the practice of putting others first and serving them.  

            The example that Pope Francis gives is one that follows in the example of Jesus.  None of us are too important to put others first.   When we seek to follow Jesus we find that the place of honor is not to his left or right.  The place of honor of is not the one that gets in first place or the one that gets us the most power.  In the kingdom of God the place of honor is the one that serves others.   The place of honor is the one found where we put others first, because in the kingdom of God honor is not measured by what we can get for ourselves, it is measured by what we can share with others.   So may we not approach life as if there were a limited amount of pie and try to get the biggest piece for ourselves, but may we approach life so that we ensure there is always enough to go around for everyone.  May what motivates our actions be the abundance of the kingdom of God.  May we live like no one else, may we live like Jesus, may you live like a citizen of God’s kingdom.  May we seek the place of honor in God’s kingdom by continuing to see the needs and meet the needs of this community.