The Pastor’s Words

Text:  Apostles’ Creed
7 March 2010
Topic:  What Does It Mean
 
The Ten Commandments, of which I spoke last week, in my series of sermons on the Catechism by Martin Luther, are the rules that practically every organized society follow.  Yes, the first three commandments pertain particularly to ONE God and honoring that God with respect and care, but, even in non-religious societies, there is a presumed acceptance of a ruling authority that has made the rules by which that society lives.  In one sense, the Ten Commandments are simply the same rules by which most societies live.
Today’s topic is the APOSTLES’ CREED.  And again, you can find Martin Luther’s comments on page 1162 of the red hymnal. 
The first two words of the creed are, I BELIEVE.  As opposed to a set of rules in the Ten Commandments, in the Apostles’ Creed we have a statement of belief.
When we say on a Sunday morning, as we will today, right after this sermon, “I BELIEVE,” we will be doing something that ordinary people around the world will NOT be doing, unless they are Christians.  In fact, only Christians who believe that the apostolic creeds of the Church are important to know and recite regularly, will be using these words today.
Secular people who otherwise are upstanding citizens of their communities, people who don’t cheat, lie, commit adultery, or steal, won’t be saying these words.  Only Christians who have learned the words of the Apostles’ Creed, only Christians who have come to accept these words, only Christians who have come to believe what they say, will stand up in churches across the world and declare something about their life and their faith that non-believers will not.
As you know, we have confirmation classes to teach Luther’s catechism to 7^th and 8^th graders.  At the end of those two years it is our expectation that the young student will say for themselves, “I BELIEVE.”  It is one thing for parents to have their children baptized, raise them to believe certain things about the faith, it is quite another for a child, or an adult, to stand up, on our own, and say the words, and truly mean them, “I BELIEVE.”
Sometimes, after two years of catechetical instruction, an 8^th grader will say, “I don’t believe these words.”  And, of course, we honor their decision and the youth is not confirmed, they are not asked to affirm their baptism, sometimes disappointing parents and relatives. 
We don’t agree with those who choose not to believe, but we still respect their decision, and pray that one day they will affirm their baptism into Christ.
The Apostles’ Creed was formed early in the history of the Christian Church.  By the third century, a basic form of the creed was already in place.  It was used as a way of identifying the basic beliefs for Christians and became a kind of litmus test for identifying who was a true believer in the apostolic witness of Christ.  It was put into its final form in the eighth century and is the creed used at all baptisms in our church.
At the Council of Nicaea, in the year 325 A.D., another creed, the Nicene Creed, emerged.  It originated in the Eastern churches and was quickly adopted in the Western churches as well.  The result was that by the end of the fourth century after Christ, there were two creeds that Christians in both the East and West could recite regarding their beliefs.
Turn with me now in your red hymnal to page 1162 to look at Martin Luther’s comments regarding the Apostles’ Creed. 
The Apostles’ Creed has three paragraphs, or articles of faith, about three different manifestations of God.  The first article is “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”  The second is “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son our Lord.”  And the third is “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.”
Regarding the first article of our faith, “I believe in God, the Father almighty,” Luther says this means, “I believe God has created me with all that exists.”  And I believe “God has given me and still preserves to me my body and soul: eyes, ears, and all limbs and senses; reason and all mental faculties.”
There are those who say there is no God and that we have simply evolved from some primordial gas in the universe without any rhyme or reason.  Christians proclaim, with the absolute certainty of faith, that God created the heavens and the earth – in however many days, or years, or millennia – and that even if we did begin as some kind of germ that multiplied into living organisms, it was God who put that germ on its path to creating the world as we know it. 
When we say, “I believe God created me and all that exists,” we are submitting ourselves to the Creator and decide, then and there, to serve and obey that same God.  This is what we expect of those who affirm their baptism, be they long time members, 8^th graders, or sojourners among us.
Regarding the second article of faith, the one proclaiming a belief in Jesus as the Son of God, we must begin by saying, there is no absolute physical or historical evidence that Jesus ever lived on this earth.  Yes, we have the Bible and its record of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, but outside of our Bible, there is only one historical reference to a prophet in Israel during the time period of Jesus’ life.  Outside of the biblical witness, there is no mention of the name of Jesus in that time.
So, when we say, “I believe Jesus is my Lord, [the one who] freed me from all sins, [the one who freed me] from death, and [the one who freed me] from the power of the devil” we are declaring to the world we believe in someone which secular history does not recognize.  We are declaring to our neighbors and friends, “I believe that God’s Son came to this earth, died and rose again, and gives me life.”  Nobody else has done this, no other religion claims this.  In this regard, Christianity very unique.
Finally, regarding the third article, the one in which we profess a belief in the Holy Spirit.  We believe that God the Father and God’s Son, Jesus, gave us an eternal presence, an eternal comfort, an eternal guide in the Holy Spirit.  We don’t know how this really happens, prompting Luther to write, “[On my own,] I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit … calls, gathers, enlightens, and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith.” 
The Holy Spirit is God’s ongoing presence, God’s ever present comfort, and God’s daily guide while we are on earth.  When we say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit,” we are affirming that the God who made the heavens and the earth, the God who made Jesus our Lord and Savior, THAT God is with us today, right here, among us now.
The Apostles’ Creed is what Christians have used for 1700 years to ask those being baptized, “Is this what you believe?”  It’s what we will be asking our sojourners today.  It’s what we ask of all of us who gather in this place.
Do we believe?  Can we state with the absolute confidence of faith, “I believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?”  If so, then we are in the right place.   AMEN

Text:  Genesis 15 & Ten Commandments
28 February 2010
Topic:  “I am the Lord your God”
 
A long, long time ago, before you and I were ever born, before there was a United States of America, before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, before Jesus, even before King David who wrote the Psalms, there was Moses. 
Moses was a man of God, God’s chosen leader of the nation of Israel.  Moses was an Israelite who ended up in Egypt, along with his fellow tribesmen and women.  His tribe were refugees, out of place, away from home.  And they yearned to go back to their homeland, a homeland which their ancestral father, Abraham, had received from God. 
Our first lesson for today tells of the covenant God made with Abram to give Abram and his descendants this land, a covenant that God would keep.  Ultimately, Abraham and Sarah had children, and those children had their children.  For generations the children of Israel lived in the land God had promised them.
But, as the biblical story tells us, times got tough in the promised land, and many of God’s chosen people went to live in Egypt where they thought things would be better.
They lived in that foreign land, had lots of babies, so much so that the government in Egypt said, “You know, we have too many foreigners, too many illegals living amongst us, too many Israelites in our country.  We need to do something about this.  Let’s create some really hard jobs for them to complete.  Let’s enslave them and cause them to suffer.   And then, we can control them.”  And so they did.  The Egyptians made it really hard for the Israelites to live there.
It didn’t take long for the Israelites to want to leave Egypt and go back home.  That’s when Moses arrives on the scene and gave the children of Israel some hope.
The story is described in its full detail in the book of Exodus but for now, suffice it to say, God gave the Hebrew people a gift, a gift that has endured for thousands of years, from then until now.  It was gift to help them grow in faith together.
After the children of Israel left Egypt, while they were still on their journey in the wilderness, on their way back home to the promised land, God gave Moses the TEN COMMANDMENTS. 
These commandments were given to a people who needed a path to follow, a way to live, while they were on their journey, and again, once they arrived in their homeland once again. 
The commandments were given, no so much as a way to keep people in line but as a path to follow which would give them peace and joy in their lives.
The Ten Commandments, if you want to read them, are found on page 1160 and 1161 in your red hymnal.
The first three concern themselves with our relationship with God.  The last seven concern our relationship with one another.  But if you and I were to read them in the book of Exodus, God began by saying, “I am the Lord your God.” 
God made a decision about the children of Israel, and about us.  God said, “I am the Lord your God.”  God continues to announce that decision at each and every baptism, saying, “Child, I am the Lord your God.”
We weren’t asked, and we didn’t get to vote.  God, who made the heavens and earth, who made you and me, and everything else, simply declares “I am the Lord your God.”
The consequences of this decision are at least three-fold:  First, when God says, “I am the Lord your God,” this means we have life.  God gives us our mind, our body, and all our powers.  We can count on God to furnish us with all we will ever need.
Secondly, God accepts us the way we are, with strengths and weaknesses, warts and pimples, gifts and talents.  God does not say, “I will be your God when you are good, or when you are better, or when you give so much money to the church.”  God loves us and accepts us the way we are.  God’s love for us is unconditional.
Thirdly, God is going to be our God forever.  We have a future without end.  We have the forgiveness of sins and the freedom to live in God’s protective embrace, forever.
But there’s a problem in all this, and it’s us.  No matter how great and gracious God’s decision is, there are two sides within each of us. 
There’s the side that’s really happy God is our God.  But there’s also a selfish side, a side that is unwilling to acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our lives and we rebel.  We call this rebel within us “the old Adam,” like the Adam in Genesis who rebelled against God.
The old Adam’s favorite words are me, myself, and I.  The old Adam’s favorite phrase is, “I’d rather do it myself.”  And this is why God delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses and has made them available to all who will acknowledge God’s sovereignty.  In giving us the Ten Commandments, God intended to confront and hopefully shape human behavior.
There are three basic purposes of the Ten Commandments:  One is to show us how we are to honor and respect God.  Another is to keep the world from falling into complete chaos.   And the third is to drive us to God’s promises in the gospel.
As I stated earlier, the first three commandments speak of our relationship with God and lay out a plan for how you and I can stay close to God.  The first commandment tells us to believe in only one God, the one who made us.  Second, we are not to use God’s name disrespectfully, but rather use God’s name in praise and thanksgiving.  Third,  we are to come and worship God regularly.  These first three commandments keep our relationship with God a priority in our lives and help us focus on God and not on ourselves.
The last seven commandments help us keep our relationships with one another healthy and whole.  If we honor our parents, don’t murder anyone, commit adultery, steal, lie against our neighbor, or get jealous of what our neighbor has, we’ll do very well in life.
The problem is, the old Adam never leaves us, and in the end, it becomes impossible for any one of us to completely keep the Ten Commandments.  There is no one on earth who can say, “I have kept the Ten Commandments completely.” 
A young man once came to Jesus in the New Testament saying he’d kept all the laws of God.  But when Jesus asked him to then go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor, he couldn’t do it because he wanted his riches more than he wanted to love and serve God.
The commandments are meant to convince us that we cannot make it in life alone and that all of us need God’s promise in Christ.  God’s commandments drive us to confess our sins and seek forgiveness.  As Martin Luther said, the Ten Commandments are the “whip” or the “goad” that drive us to Christ.
May we find in Christ the fulfillment of the Law he intended them to be.   AMEN

Text:  Luke 4:1-13
21 February 2010
Topic:  Confession of Sins
 
Here I am, back up here.  I’m back in the pulpit, not down at the lectern.  For Lent, I want to preach from here.  And I am going to preach on Martin Luther’s catechism. 
As you have seen, we have begun our GIFT process for this year.  They will begin their journey doing basic Bible study and praying together in a group.  Just as they are looking at the basics of their faith, so, the rest of us would do well to look at the basics of our faith too.
Martin Luther was a Lutheran pastor and teacher at a German university in the 16^th century.  He noted how poorly the folks in his congregation knew even the basics of the Christian faith.  In fact, you could say he was appalled.  People were coming to church for worship but they didn’t seem to have a clue about what they were saying or believing.
So, he wrote a handbook of the Christian faith for the people coming to worship on a Sunday morning.  He wrote a catechism for farmers, for shop keepers, for bankers, for the fathers and mothers of children, for peasants and rich alike to help them understand what they were doing on a Sunday morning and to give them insight and depth to their faith.
You will find a copy of Luther’s catechism in our red hymnal, at the end of the book, on pages 1160 and following.  I am going to discuss with you THE CONFESSION OF SINS as printed on page 1165 which is part of what Luther wrote about Holy Baptism.
We come to worship each week and confess our sins.  We start our worship by saying to God, “I’m sorry I wasn’t the person you called me to be this week.  I’m sorry I didn’t treat the people around me the way you expect baptized children of God to act.  I’m sorry I haven’t lived up to the standards you set for us in your Holy Word.”
The reason ‘confession of sins’ is part of Luther’s writings about ‘The Sacrament of Holy Baptism’ is because when we were baptized, be that as an infant, or as an adult, God said, “Behold, here is a child of mine.”
God made a covenant with us in baptism that said, “I will be your God, no matter what.  I will love you, no matter what.  I will walk with you and talk with you as long as you are alive.  And when you die, I will give you a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
God also declared in our baptism, “Not only are you my child, I am calling you to be a disciple of mine in the world.  I want you to love and serve others.  I want you to declare to people how much I love them and want to be their God.   I want you to give your very soul to this because you are my ambassadors on earth, you are my hands and legs and voice to people who have no idea who I am.”
The problem is, we don’t live up to our end of the relationship God began with us in baptism.  We don’t do well as God’s disciples.  We don’t always love and serve others.  We don’t even try to tell others about God’s love for them.  In fact, sometimes, we actually get in the way of what God is trying to do for others through us.  We resist God, and we resist our baptismal calling.  That’s sin.  And so, we need to confess that sin each and every week.
A big part of sinning is giving in to temptation.  A temptation is thinking about doing something we know to be wrong.  Generally speaking, we know what God wants from us, but sometimes we are tempted to do exactly the opposite. 
We can see what temptation is by looking at today’s gospel.  Jesus was tempted to do things and be ways God didn’t intend for him to do and be.
But what if Jesus had given in to the temptations he was faced with?  What if Jesus, who was baptized and declared to be the Son of God, who had gone into the desert to pray, only to find himself hungry and tired after forty days, had given in to the devil and commanded the stones around him to be made into bread?  He could have eaten his fill and gone about his day.  Who would have known?  He was all alone.  Nobody would have seen him.  He could have gotten away with it easily.  He was tempted.
Or, what if Jesus had accepted the powerful notion of becoming the earthly king and political ruler over all nations of the world?  He could have lived a life of power and glory and never had to concern himself with dying on the cross.  Sure, he knew he was God’s Son, but, what difference did that really make to the humans he was living amongst.  Wouldn’t it have been a better life to have all that power, power that every living person around him would have coveted? 
Or, what if Jesus had jumped down from some high and lofty place and dared the angels of God to catch him before he hit rock bottom?
Thankfully, Jesus didn’t succumb to any of these temptations. 
Sadly, the same can’t be said of you and me.  You and I are constantly bombarded by time constraints, shortages of money, ill health, cranky and impatient people, and we just don’t see any way out of the messes we are in sometimes except to take a short cut and bypass God’s baptismal expectations of us.  In short, too often, we give in to temptation, take the easier way out and it results in sin.
So, at the beginning of the service, we confess our sins because we know we haven’t done what God expects of us.  We list our sins, not out loud, of course, but silently, to ourselves and to God. 
And then we wait.  We wait for the absolution.  We listen for the words, “Your sins are forgiven.”  These words are spoken by the pastor, as if they are from God.  We are told our sins are not held against us.
That’s the Good News for us each week.  Even though we have given in to temptation and have sinned, time and time again, in the confession of sins and the absolution, we are forgiven for not being the way God intended us to be. 
If we do nothing else on a Sunday morning, we need to make sure we hear the words, “Your sins are forgiven.”  And then, we need to believe it, for that’s the gospel each and every week.   AMEN
 

Text:  Luke 5:1-11
7 February 2010
Topic:  We are SENT
 
Today, I am talking to you about being SENT.  This is the last of my five part sermon series in which we have talked about liturgy being an instrument for faith formation, about how our Gathering helps us focus on the theme for the day, about how the Word of God can come to us a variety of ways, and how the Meal of Jesus feeds us and Sends us on our way.
1.      To be SENT is to be a DISCIPLE. 
2.      To be SENT is to engage in BAPTISMAL LIVING. 
3.      To be SENT is to give of our TIME, TALENT and TREASURE. 
The actual part of our worship that involves SENDING includes the blessing, the sending of communion, a sending song, and the dismissal.  By far, it is the shortest part of the liturgy, if you only consider the time it takes on a Sunday morning.  But, if you include what it means to be a disciple throughout the week, to live out our baptismal promises – day in and day out, and to give of our time, talent and treasure throughout that same week, then the SENT portion of our liturgy involves much more than the hour we are gathered here today.
To be SENT is to be a DISCIPLE.  At Good Shepherd, we are making the transition from being a congregation of members to a congregation of disciples.  We are moving away from a “membership model” where people “sign up” for membership, like you’d sign up for a class, or join the YMCA, or some other kind of group and moving toward a “discipleship model” which stems from Jesus’ words in today’s gospel in which he called three fishermen to become fishers of people.
When Jesus called the original disciples to become his followers, he didn’t ask them to commit an hour a week to worship.  He didn’t ask them to pick up a newsletter and see what others are doing for the sake of the kingdom.  He didn’t even ask them to put money in an envelope, drop it into the offering plate, and expect that was enough.
No, when Jesus called upon those fishermen to follow him, he expected them to leave everything behind.  He expected them to commit their entire lives to the gospel cause for which he came into this world and ultimately died and rose again.  Jesus didn’t just want an hour of their time, he wanted everything they could offer, all of their time, all of their talent, and yes, all of their treasure, if that’s what it took.
Membership is easy, discipleship is not.  Membership expects only the minimum, discipleship expects total commitment.   Jesus didn’t ask Peter, James and John to become members of his group.  He called them to become disciples.
Membership in the church is an old concept that needs to be laid to rest.  Discipleship is what grew the early church.   But when “membership” came along and became the dominant way of being connected to the church, the church’s mission and passion waned, and almost killed the church.
Discipleship is what will revive the church.  That’s why we are embracing this concept once again.
To be SENT is to engage in BAPTISMAL LIVING.  I was talking to a Roman Catholic friend the other day and we began talking about “holy water.”  Holy water is used in the Roman Catholic Church for baptisms, for blessing oneself upon entry into the church, and at other holy moments in their worship life.  My Roman Catholic friend said, “But you know what, I’ve been thinking about this whole ‘holy water’ thing and isn’t it the case that all water is holy?  I mean, didn’t God create everything, and in that sense, isn’t every drop of water, and, indeed, all of creation ‘holy”?
My answer, of course, was, “YES.”  All water is holy, so is the earth on which we walk, and so is the air we breathe.  That’s why, as Christians, we need to care for all of God’s creation, that’s why we pray for God’s creation each week, that’s why we don’t use Styrofoam which never de-composes in our kitchen, that’s why re-cycle as much material as we can here at Good Shepherd. 
All of creation is holy, including you and me.
Baptismal Living is the active pursuit of living out our baptismal promises each and every day of our lives.  In baptism, God blessed us and said, “You are holy.  You are my child.  I love you, today and forever.”  In baptism, God covenanted with us to be our God and our guide, no matter what. 
We affirm our baptism in a formal way through a confirmation program and become a “confirmed member” of the church.  We also we affirm our baptismal faith using in one of the creeds in worship on a Sunday morning.  In affirming our baptism, we accept God’s baptismal claim upon our lives and determine to live our lives faithfully and with the same commitment of the early disciples.
Practically speaking, baptismal living means that everything we do in our jobs, at school, on the playground, at the gym, at the grocery store and in our homes, matters.  How we treat others, what decisions we make, what kinds of things we spend our money on, and whether or not we include God in our daily lives determines whether or not we are living baptismally.
To be SENT is to give of our TIME, TALENT and TREASURE.  As the gospel reading said today, “[Peter, James, and John] left everything and went with Jesus.”  (Luke 5:11 CEV)  They didn’t become a disciple in name only, or, for just an hour a week, they gave their time, their talent and their treasure to the gospel mission to which they were called.
Every one of us has a gift to share for the sake of the gospel.  As St. Paul reminded us a few weeks ago, “The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does….God’s Spirit baptized each of us and made us part of the body of Christ….God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem least important are valuable.  He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others….Together [we] are the body of Christ.  Each one of [us] is part of [Christ’s] body.”   (I Corinthians 12:12, 13b, 24b-25, 27 CEV)
Your gift of time, talent, and treasure, and my gift of time, talent and treasure is just as valuable as the person sitting next to you in the pew.  God blessed each of us in baptism.  God blessed each of us with the ability to give.  Each of us has a function and a purpose in God’s creation.  Each of us has something to offer. We are disciples, chosen and called by Christ, to become fishers of people.
Last week, Jon Roth gave us a wonderful quote attributed to Martin Luther.  Luther said, “Every believer needs three conversions, a conversion of the heart, a conversion of the mind, and a conversion of the purse.”  If we allow Christ to convert our hearts, our minds, and our finances, we will indeed become the disciples he calls us to be.
We know what gifts God has given to us.  We know what gifts we are holding back.  We know that Jesus called fishermen to do what they’d never done before.  And we know that God didn’t let them down when they began to give of things they never knew they could give. 
As we leave worship today, let us accept the blessing that is given.  Let us truly believe that throughout this week, the Lord will bless us and keep us.  Let us truly believe the Lord’s face will shine upon us with grace and mercy.  Let us truly believe the Lord will look upon us with favor and give us peace.  And when we do this, we will be free to give of ourselves and become the disciples Christ calls each of us to be.   AMEN

31 January 2010               
Topic:  MEAL – Embodiment of Christ
 
Today, we will be receiving Christ in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine.  Today, even if you don’t see the face of Christ in another person, or hear of his saving grace in the scripture readings or this sermon, Christ promises to come to you and me in the meal we will share.  Christ makes himself known each and every time we gather at this altar.  We have this promise.  We have this reality before each and every week we gather in this place.
I am giving the fourth sermon in a series of five sermons on why we do what we do in worship on a Sunday morning.  The first sermon talked about how our liturgy, our worship, can lead to faith formation.  The second sermon was about our how our gathering helps us to focus on the Word and the Meal that come later.  Last week, I spoke about the Word and how that Word is delivered to us in a variety of ways.  Today, I will speak about the pinnacle of our worship, the MEAL of Jesus.
Indeed, it was on the night in which Jesus was betrayed, the night before he died on the cross, that he gathered his disciples into one room for a final conversation and meal.  In the midst of their conversation, it the midst of their meal, Jesus took some bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke the bread, and gave it to each of the disciples and said, “Take and eat.  This is my body, given for you.  Do this for the remembrance of me.”
And then, he took a cup of wine from the table, blessed it, gave it for all to drink, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.  Do this for the remembrance of me.”
The disciples in that room must have been absolutely overwhelmed by what Jesus said.  First, they didn’t really understand that this was their “Last Supper” with Jesus, and they certainly didn’t grasp that the body and blood of which he was speaking would be broken and shed in very real terms the very next day. 
The “communion meal” which Jesus gave his disciples was something brand new in their experience.  No doubt, they had sat at table with Jesus many other times.  But this time, Jesus said some things at the meal that literally changed the way they, and we, believe. 
Jesus said, “This is my body.  This is my blood.   Eat it and drink it remembrance of me.”  And from that day forward, Christians began feasting on the very Presence of Christ as he comes to us in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine.
We literally take Jesus at his word when he says, “This is my body, this is my blood.”  That’s why we can confidently come to this table, week in and week out, knowing He is here among us.  It is also why we take on a new persona as we “take Christ into our bodies.”  By “taking in Christ,” Christ’s body becomes part of our body and we, by our actions in the world, become embodied sacraments.
Mother Teresa, who worked among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta, India just a few years ago said this about her work, “I see Jesus in every human being.  I say to myself, this is a hungry Jesus, I must feed him. This is a sick Jesus.  I must bring some healing to him. “   Mother Teresa saw Jesus in the face of every human being.
Like Mother Teresa, with respect to Haiti, we could say, through our donations and by our prayer, we have been serving Jesus.  As members of the Body of Christ, indeed, as people who embody Christ in who we are and what we do, we become sacraments to those who need love and healing wherever in the world. 
I want to say three things about the way Lutherans today celebrate what we call Holy Communion. 
First, over the last 100 years, the Lutheran Church across the world has been undergoing liturgical renewal and has been re-establishing the norm of celebrating Holy Communion at each and every Sunday service, each and every week.  This renewal has taken on greater numbers of adherents in the last 50 years, but probably none more than in the last 10 years.  Why?
Because, as the book of Acts tells us, the earliest church gathered each week for “the breaking of bread and prayers,” (Acts 2:42)   This “breaking of bread” was Holy Communion and it reminded them of the life, death, and resurrection of their Lord and Savior.  It helped create and sustain community, and it energized the earliest Christians for mission.
The disciples, from their Jewish background, were very accustomed to worship that included the singing of hymns, reading of scripture, a sermon and prayers.   Now they had something that was uniquely Christian to add to their worship, namely, the MEAL which Jesus gave them on the night of his betrayal.
This congregation, Good Shepherd, has been celebrating weekly Holy Communion at each and every Sunday service for almost 20 years.  Christ has graced himself upon us each and every time we gather.  If you haven’t seen Christ yet today, you will when you come to the MEAL.  If you haven’t encountered the Risen Christ anywhere else today, you will when you come to the MEAL.  For Christ promises to be present to us in, with and under the forms of bread and wine each and every time we receive the MEAL.
Secondly, I want to say something about who should be receiving Holy Communion.  As many of you have heard me say at funerals and at weddings when people from other denominations are present for the service, I say what Lutherans believe, namely, “This table is not so much a Lutheran table as it is the Lord’s Table.  As such, everyone who believes Christ is present in the bread and wine is invited to receive at this table.” 
We come to this table at the invitation of Christ.  And insofar as I understand Christ, Christ welcomes all to feast upon his presence, welcomes all to receive the forgiveness of sins, and welcomes all to fellowship with others who also believe.
Children are included in this invitation.  We all know the admonition of Jesus when the disciples wanted the children to leave Jesus alone.  Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of heaven belongs.”  (Matthew 19:14)   Hence, we invite children to commune.  Right now we prepare third graders for the reception of Holy Communion but the Lutheran Church actually has no age barrier for the reception of Christ’s MEAL.  In fact, some argue that if we can baptize infants, why can’t we commune infants?  The Orthodox Church communes children as soon as they are able to eat.  Our congregation council is going to wrestle with this very subject at our next council meeting.
Finally, I want to say something about this feast which is but a “foretaste of the feast to come.”  In our creed, we say, “I believe in the communion of saints.”  We also know of the scripture references to heaven as a place where a huge and magnificent banquet awaits all who believe. 
If, indeed there is a communion of saints, and if, indeed there is a banquet in heaven that awaits, then, our eating and drinking here at this table is a wonderful way for us to commune with those who have gone before us.  Our loved ones, our friends, our fellow believers, all who have died and are in heaven commune with us when we gather at this table.  For me, and I expect for you, there is great comfort in knowing that Jesus gave us a wonderful MEAL that brings us close to those whom we love.
So we gather in worship to focus on God’s Word and to receive the Meal which Jesus gave us.  Next week, we I will conclude this series of sermons and talk about what it means to a disciple of Christ and to be sent back into the world from which we have come.   AMEN

Text:  Luke 4:18-19
23 January 2010
Topic:  THE WORD
 
Our congregation’s mission is “To Know, To Live, and to Share God’s Word.”  It seems to me pretty important for us to then come to a common understanding of what this Word of God is all about.
I am in the third part of a sermon series on what our liturgy is all about, why we do what we do in our worship on a Sunday morning.  My first sermon explained that liturgy can be used for spiritual formation.  My second sermon last week was on the first part of what we do on a Sunday morning, namely, to gather, to focus our corporate attention on Christ and to ready ourselves for what follows.
Once again, if you look at the bulletin extension with the Order of Worship, you will see the underlined portions that read, In worship we gather to hear God’s Word, receive God’s Meal, and are sent to share God’s Word.  Today’s sermon is on Hearing God’s Word.
Two items I want to address before I speak about the subject of Hearing God’s Word:   First, in John’s gospel, he speaks of the Word – the Greek word Logos – as being among us.  “In the beginning was the Word—Logos, and the Word—Logos became flesh and lived among us. (John 1:1,14)  This is John’s way of saying that Christ was from the beginning and is with us now. 
It is also a way of saying that the Word—Logos is something that is not far away and distant, but close and even in our face at times.  The Word is not just words printed on a page but a LIVING WORD that comes to us in a whole lot of ways, breaking into our lives , into our history, shattering old ways of living, and creating NEW LIFE, NEW VALUES, and NEW COMMITMENT. 
In the LIVING WORD, through Christ, God woos us, pleads with us and says, “I love you, I forgive you, I want you to trust me.  Enter the joy of my kingdom.”  When we hear this call, we are hearing THE LIVING WORD of God that leads to discipleship.  (cf. Baptized We Live, Erlander, p.11-12) 
Secondly I want to make a simple distinction between “hearing” and “listening.” Hearing is the act of perceiving sound by the ear. If we are not hearing-impaired, hearing happens whenever there is sound to be heard, whatever that sound is. 
Listening, however, is something we consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that our brain processes meaning from words and sentences.  Listening leads to learning.  And learning leads to action in our own lives, confession, re-alignment of our life, re-commitment to a Christ-centered life, and care and comfort toward those around us.
In our Order of Worship, you will see that we give listeners many different options for hearing the Word of God each week.  Following a three cycle of readings shaped by an ecumenical community, we begin with an Old Testament reading, usually connected to, or which complements, the gospel reading which comes later. 
After the first reading is a psalm, sometimes sung, but mostly read responsively, which is a response to, and complementary to, the Old Testament reading. 
Then comes a reading from one of the epistles, one of St. Paul’s letters or some other portion of the New Testament that helps us understand how the earliest church believers lived and died in the faith.
This is followed by the gospel which comes to us in that same three year cycle, with Year A’s readings from Matthew, Year B from Mark, and Year C from Luke.  We are currently in Year C.  John’s gospel is read at various times throughout each of the three year cycles.
Those who compiled the lectionary, that’s the word used to describe what lessons from scripture we read each week in our worship, have sought to bring as much coherence to Bible readings as can be achieved with such a short amount of time on a Sunday morning.  A mere fraction of the Bible is read on Sunday mornings.  That’s why it is important to see that the reading and study of Holy Scripture happens not just on a Sunday morning but throughout the weeks and years of our lives.
On most Sundays, the readings from scripture take place in our church from the pulpit, a high and exalted place from which to hear the Word of God read.   The lessons are read by lay members of the congregation, by old and young, by men and women.  Traditionally, the gospel is read by the pastor. 
All of these readings could be presented in dramatic form.  In fact, during the middle ages, when a vast majority of people were illiterate, the scripture readings were presented in the form of skits with lots of props and story-telling genius. 
Today, even though most of us can read, we live in visual age which requires us to adapt our ways of communicating the Word.  This is why many of today’s churches use power-point presentations of scripture with projections on a screen in church.  We do this on Christmas Eve, with lessons and sermons visually enhanced by pictures and images on the wall behind me. 
The sermon, which I am doing right now, is now being given from this place, on the same level as you.  Indeed, at this level, we all share in the common work of understanding the meaning of God’s Word to us on this day.  The sermon is intended to be that time when God’s Word is explained and applied to our daily lives.  It is sometimes interactive, and helps when people are actively listening, and not just hearing.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus gave one of the shortest sermons I’ve ever heard.  It was one statement.  First Jesus read the scripture text for his sermon, a text from Isaiah, which said, “The Lord’s Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers, and to say, `This is the year the Lord has chosen.’ “   He then sat down, which is what Hebrew preachers did, and gave his sermon.  This is what he said, “What you have just heard me read has come true today.”  (Luke 4:18-19, 21  CEV)  That was it.  And the people had to figure out the rest.
Sermons are not intended to tell us everything there is to know, but to prod us into probing deeper into God’s intent for ourselves and for our community of faith.
In our congregation, we also include a children’s sermon at each every service.  We do this because children need a special word, a word on a level they will understand and grow with.  It is never just a cute follow-up to the theme for the day, but always intended to help the youngest among us grow in the faith along with us.
The WORD part of the service also includes a Hymn of the Day which highlights the theme of the day, and is yet another way of interpreting and explaining the scriptures that have been laid before us on any given Sunday.
We respond to the proclamation of the Word by confessing what we believe in the words of one of the ancient creeds of the church.  And we conclude this portion of the service with prayers, prayers that can be written by members of the congregation, or even freely offered from everyone in the congregation. 
Finally, in a transition moment between the WORD and the MEAL, we share the peace of Christ with those around us, in response to the Word and in preparation for the meal that is to come.
Our congregation’s mission is “To Know, To Live, and to Share God’s Word.”  We have to hear and learn God’s Word in order for us to know it, live it and share it.   AMEN
 
 
 
 
 
 

Text:  John 2:1-11
17 January 2010
Topic:  We GATHER to worship           
 
We have Gathered for worship today to confess our sins, to sing the praises of God, to hear  God’s Word for today, to feast on Christ’s presence in the Meal and hopefully look forward to being Sent back in to the world from which we have come to be a manifestation of God’s physical and spiritual presence in the world.
As I said last week, I have begun a series of sermons on what we do in our liturgy, why it matters, and how we can see our liturgy as part of our faith formation.  The liturgy is what we do here on a Sunday morning, liturgy is our worship, liturgy is our gathering, liturgy is our singing, our praying, and our praising the One in whom we believe.
This morning I am going to talk specifically about the very first part of our liturgy.  In the Order of Worship as you see it printed on your bulletin, it is the portion under the section that reads In Worship We Gather.  It includes everything from the confession of sins to the prayer of the day.
You might think that our GATHERING begins when we confess our sins, but in fact it begins long before that.  What do I mean?  Well, as soon as we get up in the morning, make the decision to come to worship, get into our cars and begin the drive to church, our gathering has begun.  When we enter the parking lot, we are in the process of gathering.  When we enter the door of the church, and are greeted, or not greeted, we are gathering.  When we sit in our pew and the people around us are talking – which is a good thing – unless it excludes those who are not known to us – we are in the gathering portion of our worship. 
Long before we ever begin with the confession of sins, we are gathering, we are preparing, we are getting our minds and hearts and spiritual selves ready for an encounter with God that day.
When we gather, we do not gather alone.  We gather not only for ourselves, we gather on behalf of those who are not here, on behalf of those who cannot be here.  We have over 30 shut-in members who used to sit in these very pews and your worship becomes their worship.  We have members who are working this morning, people who are at home caring for sick members of their family, we gather on behalf of them as well.  We do not gather alone.
When we gather, we gather with our Christian brothers and sisters who live in far off lands.  We gather in solidarity and with prayer for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.  Their churches, their schools, their hospitals, their homes are all broken.  We gather on THEIR behalf.  We gather with THEIR prayers and THEIR hopes and THEIR dreams forefront in our minds and hearts.
We do not gather alone.  We gather with all the saints and angels in heaven and on earth, with all who desire to worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  With everyone, we lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving for all we have been given and ask God how we might be best used to be God’s loving servants in the world.
The gathering part of our service is designed to help us focus our attention on the purpose for which we have come.  And so, when we come into this room on a Sunday morning, it would be good for each of us to kneel or sit in our pew, bow our heads and say a prayer that God’s Spirit will guide our worship for the day, to help us calm our troubled spirit, to open our hearts to God’s Holy Word, and to prepare our lives for Christ’s living presence given to us in the meal.  If it would help you, come up and dip your hand in the font, to remind you of how close you are to God.
As we begin the service, Al Spotts and other musicians help us focus with a quiet meditation.  And then, we confess our sins.  We confess our sins because, as Christians, we know we are sinners.  We know there are things we have done and things we have NOT done that have caused separation between us and God, and tension between us and others. 
We begin our worship to “come clean” with God and “clean” with others.  We acknowledge we have not been all that we want or need to be.  And that’s why we begin our liturgy, our worship, with the confession of sins.   Sometimes we begin with a Thanksgiving for Baptism but I’ll save that explanation for another day.
Our confession doesn’t have to be worded in the way it is our hymnal.  Here’s an example of a prayer of confession from a church in Brooklyn, New York:
Congregation:            “Merciful God, 
We confess we have sinned against you and our neighbor.
                        We have not done right by you. 
We have not done right by other people.
We are sorry.
We want to change.
Remember us Jesus.
Have mercy and forgive us.
From now on, may we try to do what you want
To the glory of your name.  Amen. 
Presider:
                        It’s cool!  God forgives you.
                        It’s a done deal.
                                                            (From the Hip Hop Prayer Book,  [citation?])
 
            Now, some of us today would like to use a confession like this.  Many others would not.  With whatever words we choose, the important thing is to confess our sin and to receive the absolution, the actual forgiveness at the end.
            The absolution are the words I say at the end of the confession, “In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins.  As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins.” 
            Absolution is what bridges the gap between us and God.  Absolution is what re-connects us with others.  Absolution makes reconciliation possible once again.
And then we sing.  We sing a Kyrie and a Hymn of Praise.  The songs we sing during the GATHERING change according to the season, and in fact, can be changed even more often than that.  In our GATHERING, we could sing a whole lot of songs, as long as they help us focus our attention on what’s coming later.  In some congregations they spend a lot of time singing what is called PRAISE MUSIC.  We could do that, or, we could sing lots of quiet, reflective songs.  Whatever we do in the GATHERING, the purpose of our Gathering is to get us ready for receiving the Word and the Meal.
            We conclude the Gathering portion with a prayer, a prayer that seeks to sum up the day’s theme and, yes, give us the focus we need to go farther into the service.
One final comment:  What we bring to worship is what we’ll leave with.  If we bring an open heart, we will leave with a warmed heart.  If we come with an attitude, we will leave with more of an attitude.  Because underneath an attitude we bring to worship is the expectation that someone else needs to change when, in fact, it is ourselves that needs to be open to God’s Spirit.
We GATHER to worship God with people of every tribe and race, with rich and poor, with young and old alike.  We gather to focus on worshipping our Lord and Savior and await God’s Holy Word and Sacred Meal.   AMEN
 

Text:  Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
10 January 2010
Topic:  Worship as Spiritual Formation
 
A blessed new year to one and all!  We have begun a new year, a new decade, and a new way of baptizing in this congregation.   I am standing closer to you, at a lectern next to the baptismal font which has been moved from its original location, because the Word of God and our baptismal promises need to be close to each of us, because the Word of God and our baptismal promises should be foremost and paramount in our hearts and in our daily lives.
In November of last year our synod had visitors from our companion synod in Tanzania.  One of those visitors, Pastor Jonathan Mwamboza, dean and assistant to the bishop for the North Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, told of their mission to the Massai people, a semi-nomadic group of herdsman and their families.
He said, “The Maasai have responded to the gospel from Lutherans better than from other groups of missionaries because we have the Lutheran liturgy.  After we share the gospel with them, our liturgy provides the faith formation they need to grow in their Christian faith.”
I was literally stunned by his pronouncement, “The liturgy provides faith formation.”  And yet, when I thought about it, he was absolutely right.  Lutherans, and others who use the forms of the ancient liturgies of the church, have a marvelous resource for not only understanding the Christian faith but a resource for living out of our faith as well.
For the next five weeks, my sermons will be commentaries on our liturgy and reflections on how using the liturgical forms of the Lutheran tradition not only engage us with God’s Holy Word but help shape our spiritual journey.
To assist me in this task, I want you to first look at the extension of your bulletin, the part that says, Order of Worship at the top.  The list you see shows the entire worship as we proceed from the confession of sins to the dismissal.  Look at the underlined portions of that list and see that together, those underlined words make up one entire sentence, “In worship, we gather to hear God’s Word, receive God’s meal, and are sent to share God’s Word.” 
In that one sentence you can see the purpose of our worship.  We gather here and there, in beautiful churches like this one, in store fronts, in cathedrals, and in God’s great outdoors to hear God’s Word, feast on God’s presence in the meal and return to the world from which we have come to share what we have received.   
We come here to listen to God’s Word, to hear it proclaimed and explained in a sermon.  We affirm that Word in our creed and in our prayers with and for one another. 
We come here to eat and drink of God’s holy presence in, with, and under the forms of bread and wine.  In the Lutheran Church, in the meal we call Holy Communion, we believe we receive Christ, the resurrected and powerful presence of Christ.  When we eat and drink of Christ’s body and blood, He enters us and we become Christ’s body in the world.
            After we have heard God’s Word and share in God’s meal, we are sent back home, back to our work place, back to school, back into the world to share what God has given to us, namely, His Holy Presence and the Power of the Holy Spirit.  We are sent from this place to share the challenging and comforting words of the Gospel.
Now, turn with me to the red hymnal, the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book, to page 1154 in the very back of the book.  There you will find a page entitled, Scripture and Worship.  And there you will read in the very first paragraph, “Worship in the Christian assembly is biblical.  From ancient times the church has read publicly from the Old and New Testaments and has drawn upon the scriptures to shape the whole of worship.” 
To illustrate how the Bible is the backbone of our liturgy, following this page, you will find five more pages that detail the biblical references of each part of the service you see printed on your bulletin’s Order of Worship. 
What we do on a Sunday morning in worship is not some random order of events.  It is something that has grown up over thousands of years and has been inspired by the Holy Word of God.
 
We begin our worship with the words, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  We begin each and every service identifying under whose name and authority we are gathering. 
We gather using the name under which we are baptized.  For it is in baptism that we begin our relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  There is no other name under which we gather.  Indeed, for Christians, there is no other name under which we live.
Young children will often ask the question, “Where was God born?”  or “Where does God live?”   or, “Who made God?”  All of these are perfectly good questions and sometime or another, we as parents and grandparents have to give some kind of answer. 
Ultimately, the answer is God is God.  God existed before all of us ever existed.  God lives wherever God wants to live.  And God is everywhere where God wants to be.  But mostly, God lives in us and wants to share our every breathing moment. 
And so, we begin each and every service naming the God in whose name we are gathering and under whose name we live each and every day of our Christian lives.
Someone has asked me what the little red cross stands for in the Confession of Sins on page 94.  It is placed there to remind us that it was on the cross Jesus died and it is by the cross that we live.  Whenever we see that little red cross in the hymnal, we are free to simply remember what the cross of Christ means to each of us, or, we may choose to make the sign of the cross as many of us already do.  There is nothing that says we MUST make the sign of the cross, it is simply indicated to let us know this would be an appropriate time to do so.
When John baptized Jesus, it marked the beginning of his ministry on this earth.  So, too, when we are baptized, as Jameson was today, it marks the beginning of our ministry on earth as well. 
We begin our worship in the name of the Triune God, the name under which we are baptized.  In fact, you are welcome to come up to the font each week and run your hands through the water, to remind you of your baptism, to give you the focus you need to begin your worship. 
Liturgy gives shape and meaning to our faith and life.  Liturgy gives us the focus and the purpose we need in life as we Gather to hear God’s Word, receive God’s Meal, and are then Sent into the world to share what God has given to us.  
Next week, I will be talking about the purpose of our gathering, and what some of our options are  for that portion of our service.  If you want to comment on this sermon, please feel free to talk to me or make suggestions.  AMEN
 
           
 

Text: Luke 1:39-55
20 December 2009
Topic: Mary, Mother of our Lord

            Over the years, I have had interesting conversations in Bible studies concerning Mary, the mother of our Lord, and how we, as Lutherans, as Protestants, should regard her. 

            Generally the conversations have concluded that we ought not worship Mary, but that we should venerate (honor, respect, and revere) her more.  We should honor her as the one who gave birth to the One who is God; we should respect her for her life-long commitment to her Son; and we should revere her as a faithful witness to the faith.

            Our Gospel reading for today tells the story of Mary who has just learned that she is pregnant with God’s Son and has gone to tell her cousin, Elizabeth, the good news.  Upon Mary’s announcement, the baby within Elizabeth leaps for joy.  And then, Mary responds with her own song of joy by singing what has come to be known as the Magnifcat.

            I’ll never forget a conversation that took place in my first congregation in Macomb, Illinois some 25 years ago regarding this story about Mary.  Jed Griesaber, a woman in a Bible study in that congregation, said, “You know, people shouldn’t get all worked up over the fact that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus.  If God had REALLY wanted to perform a miracle, he would have had a MAN give birth to Jesus.”

            Obviously, having a man give birth to Jesus wasn’t part of God’s plan.  But what WAS part of God’s plan was that Mary would be chosen to give birth to Jesus who, in turn, would become the salvation of all women and men, for all time and in all places.

            Our Gospel text has two paragraphs.  The first one speaks of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, and her response to Mary’s visit. The second paragraph is Mary’s song of praise. 

            In Elizabeth’s response to Mary’s announcement, twice she uses the term “blessed” to describe Mary.  We are all familiar with the phrase, “Blessed Virgin Mary,” or its abbreviation, “BVM.”  Indeed, Mary, who was a virgin, was blessed and given a very special mission in her life, a mission that has resulted in our salvation.  This is why the Lutheran church, today, honors Mary with a festival on August 15th in our church’s calendar each year.  We want to venerate and honor Mary appropriately for her role in salvation history.

            In the second paragraph of our gospel reading, we hear of Mary’s song of praise, the Magnificat.  In her song, she praises God for all the great things God has done for her personally and for what God has done for faithful people everywhere.   Here’s what Mary says God has done:

·        God has blessed her with a special mission, a mission that will result in you and me finding a place in heaven.

·        God shows mercy to those who worship him which is evidenced by the grace we discover each and every day that we rise.

·        God shows His strength by scattering the proud.  And who among us hasn’t felt God’s condemnation at one time or another because of our pride?

·        God drags strong rulers from their thrones and replaces them with people who have a sense of humility about them.            We don’t see much evidence of this lately, but we can always hope.

·        God gives the hungry good things to eat, and sends the rich away with nothing.  By the world’s standard, we are rich, every one of us in this room.  And, as I said last week, we have learned how to share.  We are part of God’s plan to feed the hungry of this community and the world.

·        God is merciful to his people forever, wherever they live, for all time and for all places.  This is true for faithful followers in Tanzania, in the Czech Republic, in Liberia, and in Pennsylvania.  God is merciful, all the time.  All the time, God is merciful.

            What Mary found truly amazing is that God found anything of value in her.  She was truly struck by God’s acceptance and regard for her. 

Indeed, this is the gospel message for us as well.  After all, who are we that God would find favor in us either?  Who are we that God would send His only Son to be born on earth and to die for us?  Mary was humbled by God’s selection of her to become the bearer of such Good News, even as we are humbled by God’s grace and mercy in sending Jesus to become our salvation.

            Prior to the Reformation, a cult had grown up around Mary and the worship of her.  Rightfully, the Protestants protested that Mary was not to be worshiped. 

            But, now, it is time to honor Mary for what she DID do.  She was the one chosen to give birth to the One who is God and she said “yes!”  She could have said, “no” but she said, “yes.” She was one who was faithful to her Son, even to the end of Jesus’ life.  And she is one who deflects the attention away from herself and instead points us to Christ who is our salvation.

            And so, as we approach this anniversary celebration of Jesus’ birth, let us also remember and give thanks for Mary, His mother.  Let us feed off of her humility.  And let us truly venerate her as an essential part of our salvation.   AMEN

John explains that his baptism of repentance, which is not unlike our own baptismal call of radical obedience to Christ, expects those who are baptized to share their wealth, to share their food, to treat others fairly.  In a word, John expects us to be generous and not greedy.

And thankfully, this congregation gets the point of what John is saying. This year, once again, this congregation has responded marvelously to the appeal for stuffing mix to be given to who are not as well off as us in our community.  Over 800 boxes of stuffing mix were collected and delivered to the Salvation Army in Coatesville for Operation Thanksgiving/Christmas.

In addition this, people made over 30 cans of cookies which I have been delivering as I am visiting our shut-ins.  You have also purchased over a 100 gifts for our “angel tree” which will be given to people who really need them.

Yesterday, members of our congregation took turns ringing the Salvation Army bell at Kmart in Thorndale.  Their shift began at 9 a.m. and didn’t finish until 9 p.m. last night. 

Over the years, I have spoken with a few of our members who have taken a turn at ringing the Salvation Army bell and each of them tells of how rewarding an experience it is.  One common thread to their stories is that poor people seem to give more generously than those who appear to be well dressed.

As radically obedient followers of the message which Jesus gave us, which John the Baptist prepared the way for, we must continue to share something of ourselves to show that our faith is not just so much tinsel on a tree.

You and I, through this congregation, have responded to the ethical demands placed upon us when we came to faith.  And now, we must continue lest John the Baptist comes back and calls us a “bunch of snakes.”

When we made the promise in baptism to follow Christ, and re-affirmed that promise at our confirmation, our lives changed.   When Jesus said, “Love God and love your neighbor as you love yourself”, a lifetime goal was given to each of us, a goal that we seek to live out on a daily basis.

John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah’s birth by reminding us to pay attention to the needs of others.  And that’s what we are doing when we give food to the hungry and clothes to those who need them.   It is part of  “loving our neighbor” as Jesus taught us to do.

So, may these final weeks of preparation for Christmas find us continuing to care for the needs of others even as we grow in our love for the Savior.  AMEN