Sermons

For those who like reading my sermons, here are my preachings from the last 3 weeks...thanks to Rebecca for more than a little inspiration on Christ the King Sunday. Updates about the kids are below this post. Enjoy.

ADVENT 2

Perhaps you’ve watched the TV show “Survivor Man” on the Discovery Channel. On the show, our fearless host Bear Grylls takes us on adventures to far off places all over the world. He shows us how we would survive if we were lost in the wilderness, with only a knife, a jacket and our wits. He’ll demonstrate how you can live on native berries, bugs and rodents, start fires and get out alive. This former British Special Forces agent will lead you, over glaciers in Iceland. You do have to suspend reality, as you ponder, why would I be lost and alone on a glacier? Another day, Bear treks through the Amazon rain forests, and takes you on an adventure in the Sahara desert, and. But, our inventive British friend does sometimes have good, practical advice for us. As he walks through 120 degree heat in the Sahara, he tells us about mirages. On the salt flats of the desert, heat radiates off the ground and will create an illusion that an oasis is to your left or your right. Bear explains “if you chase these mirages around the desert, you will never find water, and you will die. You need to keep your eyes straight ahead, to the mountains. That’s where you will find an oasis.

Maybe none of us will get lost in the Sahara and need advanced survival techniques to get us out alive. But, I think we all may have times in our lives when we are wandering through the wilderness. Times when it feels like we are weakened by the barrenness of our surroundings and need to hear the promise that we will find an oasis and not simply a mirage. Have you ever felt you were lost, running to your left and your right, only to find when you arrive, the answer you hoped for was only a mirage? The promises that you thought were real, are only illusions, your dreams evaporating into the hot desert sky? Even though you know you need to go straight ahead to find relief, you keep going off in any and every direction, getting more lost and thirsting for an answer and never finding an oasis? Hope can’t come from the wilderness, from a barren place where nothing survives….

To often we think only despair can come out of the wilderness. We think the parched, dry places of our world can never bear fruit. We buy into the lie that the wilderness of our own lives will never bring forth a living stream. Deserts don’t bear fruit. Our personal pain can never provide us with a drink of living water. Our Gospel tells us different. Mark 1:3 proclaims “prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight!” IN THE WILDERNESS, John the Baptist’s promise breaks through telling us Christ will give us relief. The people of Jesus’ time who were hearing this message were not that different from us. They never expected to find a living stream in the desert, a place full of mirages that leave us thirsting. However, out of this barren place comes the promise of a Savior. John the Baptist tells us to make straight the path—he guides us to the oasis. Keep moving forward, towards the mountains, and you will thirst no more. John proclaims “I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” IN THE WILDERNESS hope, that not only will our thirst be quenched, but our souls will be washed clean of all sin.

Last week, I reminded you how we are coming up on darkest days of the year, how the sun’s light is falling, how some people, in the midst of the joyous holiday season, may feel separated from the light. We remember that hope can come to us in dark places, This week, we hear John the Baptist’s promise, that the light is coming to us. We don’t have to chase mirages in the middle of the desert, but instead we can keep moving towards the mountains. The source of our light, our living water, our life is in Christ. There will still be difficult times, but the bread of life and the cup of salvation we receive every week at this table will quench our thirst. We aren’t LOOKING for an oasis, Jesus, our permanent oasis stays with us.

I’ll leave you with one final thought—people never expected a voice like John the Baptists to come out from the desert. A simple man, eating wild locus and honey prepared the world for the coming of Christ. When we, as God’s people, are in our desert places, feeling like we’re in an episode of Survivor Man, with little more than a jacket, a pocket knife and our wits to keep us alive, what messages can we proclaim? When we are in our desert places, knowing an oasis is not far away, what strength will we find the strength to share the good news of Christ’s coming? When we are in our desert places, knowing the light of the world surrounds us, comforts us, empowers us, what love will we share with others who are still chasing mirages? Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the pathways of our God. Amen.



ADVENT 1

Perhaps you already know, but we are coming up on one of the darkest days of the year. December 21 is the winter solstice, a time in which we have the shortest amount of sunlight during the year. Today in Muncie, sunrise is at 7:42 am and sunset at 5:17. The people of Nome Alaska will notice the lack of sun a bit more than us, with sunrise at 11:18 am and sunset by 4:21 pm. It seems a little odd to be talking about dark days at the start of advent doesn’t it? We are awaiting the birth of Christ, the light of the world coming to our lives. As we hear in the Gospel reading for today, it tells us that before the Son of Man comes, “the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.” Before Christ’s birth, God’s chosen people experienced darkness, despair and sadness as they waited for the Messiah to come. Today, as we prepare our hearts in this Advent season, we still experience darkness, sadness, and pain, don’t we? In a season when it appears everyone is happy, everyone is joyous as they prepare for Christmas, the days are getting shorter, and darker. And we know that darkness and sadness are still present in people’s lives. We look to our own congregation this week after experiencing the loss of R* and D*. It very well may feel like the sun has been darkened, and the moon is not giving forth its light. Some of us don’t need proof that the days are getting shorter, the nights longer. Others may be experiencing uncertainty due to the economy, wondering how dark it can get. For families who are in the midst of brokenness, or illness, this season of anticipation may just be a reminder that the world isn’t as it should be, things aren’t the way they used to be, and it may feel like a thief has come in the night.

So, perhaps this reading, with its reminder of darkness, of images of thieves coming in the night, really is appropriate as we prepare our hearts for Advent, for the coming of the Christ child. Now, no one knows for sure, but Jesus probably was not born on December 25 on a cold, snowy hillside in Bethlehem. But for various reasons, it was decided that Christians would celebrate the birth of Christ in the midst of winter, right after the winter solstice. During the coldest, darkest part of the year. We are constantly fighting darkness and trying to bring light into the world, aren’t we? The nights get longer, and we need to turn on more lights. Our hope dims, and we need a sign of hope. We read in our Gospel today that the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give out light. But this is not all that we hear. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my WORD will not pass away.” God’s word will live on. When you look at the Greek translations for WORD, you find it has a variety of meanings, any of which you can place in this passage and find hope. Here are a few examples “my LIGHT will not pass away.” “my TRUTH will not pass away.” “CHRIST will not pass away.” So even as heaven and earth fade, even as it seems that darkness is winning out in our lives, we hold on, know that our HOPE, our WORD, our CHRIST will never pass away.

For some people, this may not be a dark time in their lives—you may not be experiencing the loss of a loved one, worries about the health of your family, job security or other woes. And for you, we light the advent wreath. For you, we light the first candle, to remember the prophets who first told of Christ’s coming. The light shines brightly for you, in the midst of winter, to remind you of the hope that we await in the birth of the Christ child in a manger. The light shines brightly as you await the birth of your savior.

For others, this IS a dark time. Many are mourning R* and D*’s deaths. Some are mourning the brokenness in their homes and families, which is only magnified at this time of year. Others are worried about what 2009 will bring. And for you, we light the advent wreath. For you, we light the first candle, to remember the prophets who first told of Christ’s coming. The light shines for you, in the midst of your darkest days as a sign of promise and hope. It is to remind you that heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s WORD, God’s light is with you always. We light this candle as we wait with anticipation. In times of light, and in times of darkness, we may find comfort, knowing that Christ is with us, and the love of God will never leave us.

CHRIST THE KING

“I’ve never heard of a king helping poor people. Whenever some news get published about poor people asking for help either from diseases, or children's conditions or others, they just turned a blind eye.” These are the words typed on a blog written by a young person who escaped from Burma. It seems there are a lot of times that our earthly kings let us down. Doesn’t it? There are countless stories from history, past and present, about kings slaughtering the masses, denying them food, justice, peace. I’m sure YOU have wondered if a “king” or leader was turning a blind eye and ignoring the pain in our world. This was certainly the case in Jesus’ time when Roman authorities reigned and those outside the royal circle were left to fend for themselves. And then, Jesus speaks these words: “I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me. Those who did not do it to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.” There will be punishment for those who do not follow Jesus’ command. But this isn’t a text telling us that the only way we get to heaven is by doing. Instead, it begs the question: What does it mean to have faith in Christ?

Is faith just an intellectual belief that something is true, or is faith something more than that? Does faith mean we sit idly by while God does his thing, or is faith actual participation in God’s Kingdom? Does faith mean that we ignore the things that were important to Christ, or that we take up our crosses as Christ commands? Do we live our lives for what we see, or do we live our lives in faith—faith that Christ has not only redeemed us from our sins, but that God actually wants us to be a part of His Kingdom? That we aren’t just observers in the Kingdom of God, sitting on the sidelines not playing, but that we are active participants in helping bring God’s kingdom to earth? And God has invited us and said, “YOU can help!”

If you go back and read Genesis, you’ll God did not create us to be slaves. We aren’t some accident. He created us to partake in “kingly” duties. Not only does God hand creation over to us to care for, but it says God created us “in his image,” and part of God’s image is the image of a King. Because a king, while yes, is a ruler, is also a servant. Luther described a Christian as being “Lord of all, servant to none; servant to all and Lord of none.” This is what Christ is saying: those who have faith in my kingdom will also be a part of bringing my kingdom about. And in my kingdom – we clothe the poor, feed the hungry, and work for justice.
Because the problem is, when we stop partaking in being a part of building God’s kingdom, we forget who our king is. We forget who we belong to. It’s for this very reason that Christ the King Sunday was instituted.

Christ the King Sunday is actually a fairly new “holy day” on the church calendar. It was started by the Pope in 1925. Now you have to realize what was going on in Italy in 1925. Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy in 1922 and by 1925 had declared himself the “supreme leader” of Italy. During Mussolini’s reign, he committed unspeakable atrocities against his fellow human. The King of Italy turned a blind eye, however, because he was fearful of Mussolini and his party. Christ the King Sunday was an attempt on the part of the Pope (who lives in Rome) to make a statement—CHRIST is the supreme King of us. And they remembered that their King was not a tyrant—but a servant. Their king was a king who entered into the depths of hell rather than causing it. Their king was a king who invited them to partake in helping bring heaven to earth. Their king was a king who didn’t seek to escape the harsh realities of life. In fact, their king did the opposite – he entered into those harsh realities—even to the point of death. Their king was a king who didn’t turn a blind eye to the suffering and unpleasantness in life. A king who did not worry about what the rulers of this world were going to do to him. A king who did not seek to save his own life at the expense of others. In fact, he handed his life over in order to save others.
Now this passage naturally instills a certain amount of nervousness in most of us—because we begin wondering, have I done this?—am I going to be a sheep, or a goat? Have I done enough? While this judgment seems terrifying—let us also remember the nature of our judge and King… the one who rules with love. Instead of ruling from a distant Heavenly throne, he enters into the “hell” of being human. Not only does he enter into the sometimes hellish human experience, but look at the throne he rules from: a cross.

thus a passage like this is both a warning, and a promise. A warning that our king commands us to care for those in need. It is also a promise, that we have heard of a king who cares for the poor. The poor sheep and the poor goats.