Which Jesus? Matthew 16.13-20

27 August 2020

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Matthew 16.13-20 

A couple weeks ago now we took our oldest daughter and moved her into college.  She’s in her second week of classes now – doing well.  One of the classes she is taking is a religion course called: Which Jesus?  In that course they look at how Jesus has been viewed throughout history; how different religions view Jesus; how different cultures understand Jesus; even how each of us have different understandings of Jesus. 

As part of that class she interviews her parents; her pastor; another person theologically trained, and a friend at college asking one question:  Who is Jesus?  And then she writes a 2-3 page paper about the conversation she has. 

How would you answer that question?  I’m going to let you sit with that for a few seconds here.  Who is Jesus for you?  What does it mean when you answer that question; how do you fill that out?

We all have our own preferences for how we see God; we understand the person of Jesus.  Jesus can tend to look a lot like the person who is looking.  So if we are angry and confrontational – so is Jesus.  If we are compassionate and kind-hearted – so it Jesus.  If we prefer traditional time-tested truths – so does Jesus.  If we prefer the creative and unpredictable – so does Jesus.  All this is one way of saying that we tend to create God in our image. 

Jesus asks the disciples:  Who do people say that I am?  Then he asks them:  who do you say that I am?  Peter answers: The Messiah, the son of the living God.  Peter gets it right here.  But he gets it right because, we are told, God reveals it to him.  It is a gift. 

 Some questions for you this morning: 

1.     What words or images from Scripture come to mind when you think of Jesus?

2.     How is Jesus pictured or revealed in some of the hymns that you love?

3.     How is Jesus revealed to us in our worship together?

4.     When have I come to see something about Jesus that I did not expect?

Let’s pray:  Lord God, you are revealed to us in the words of Scripture, in worship, in our service to one another.  Continue to open our eyes to see your presence in the midst of this pandemic; in the midst of our nation’s racial reckoning; even in the midst of this political season.  Walk with us and go through this day.  In your name we pray.  Amen.  

Therefore - Romans 12.1-8

20 August 2020

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Romans 12.1-8

 In 17th century Italy, in the town of Cremona, lived a young boy named Antonio. Antonio was sad because he lived in a town that was famous for its music, but he could neither sing nor play.

 Antonio’s voice was high and squeaky, so he was not welcome in the Cremona Boys’ Choir. When he took violin lessons, the neighbors persuaded his parents to make him stop. Yet, Antonio still wanted to make music.

 

Antonio’s friends kidded him because it seemed that his only talent was carving, but he did not give up. One day the boy learned that a world-famous violinmaker named Amati lived in Cremona. The next morning Antonio went to visit Amati and begged to serve as his apprentice. For many years he studied and worked. Antonio’s knack for carving grew into a skill; his hobby became his craft. Patiently he fashioned many violins, striving to make each one better and more beautiful than the one before.

 

When Antonio died, he left over 1500 violins, each one bearing a label that said "Antonio Stradivarius." Today they are the most sought after violins in all the world. The clarity of tone and careful craftsmanship remain untouched by the centuries. Antonio Stradivarius could neither sing nor play, but he did what he could, and now, over 300 years later, his violins still make beautiful music.

 

This story reminds us that even though Antonio couldn’t play music or sing very well, this didn’t stop him from making music.  He used what skills he did have to enable others to make beautiful music through the instruments he made. And he had someone to mentor him in the use of that gift.  That is precisely what Paul is getting out in our second reading for today from Romans.  I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

 

One of my mentors many years ago told me: “Any time you read the word, therefore, circle it.”  I’ve tried to follow that advice.  The little word therefore is very important here.  Therefore, because of everything God has done, that the apostle Paul has written about in the first 11 chapters of Romans, comes to a head here in chapter 12.  Therefore present yourselves as a living sacrifice. 

 

Why?  Sacrifices are often thought of as a way to please someone.  You sacrifice for someone – you give something up for them, sometimes to please them, or as a duty (this is what I should do) or so that someone else can say, “good job,” or “way to go,” or “I’m proud of you.”  But here it is more the sense of doing it – of being a living sacrifice – as thankful response. 

 

Because of the mercies of God, therefore, present your bodies as a living sacrifice.  So what has God done?  What are the “mercies of God” that Paul refers to?  In a nutshell they are the first 11 chapters of Romans.   

It's like Paul is saying at the beginning of Romans 12, "Since God has given such wonderful mercies to us, the least we can do is present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice!"

Prayer:  Lord, you have given us life; you’ve given us our minds; you’ve given us friends and family; you’ve given us the ability to think and to reason; you’ve given us ways to live a life or purpose.  Guide us in our living, for we open our minds to know you and to fear you.  In your name we pray.  Amen.

Gratitude - Psalm 138

August 19, 2020 

I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

   before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down towards your holy temple
   and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness;
   for you have exalted your name and your word
   above everything.
On the day I called, you answered me,
   you increased my strength of soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O Lord,
   for they have heard the words of your mouth.
They shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
   for great is the glory of the Lord.
For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;
   but the haughty he perceives from far away.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
   you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
   and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;
   your steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.
   Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 138

Did you notice all the words of thankfulness?

• Your steadfast love and faithfulness.
• On the day I called, you answered me.  
• All earth’s kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord.
• And I love that last verse:  Do not forsake the work of your hands.   Or as Eugene Peterson paraphrased it in The Message:  Finish what you started in me God; your love is eternal – don’t quit on me now.

I think it would be good to commit those words to memory, and say them day after day. 

I’m struck here by the thankfulness. 

But notice as well that the thankfulness comes after experiencing a difficult time; in fact the psalm writer said:  “Though I walk in the midst of trouble.”  We don’t know what the trouble is.  It is vague.  It can perhaps be a physical illness, a spiritual struggle, financial difficulties, or what?  But I find it intriguing that in the midst of a day of trouble the response is to cry out to the Lord. 

And very simply, that’s the point of this psalm.  On the day I called, you answered me.  It seems God brings this person through a time of trouble, and no longer thinks of that dark valley as a time of trouble, but as a time when he (or she) called out and God answered.  A time when God “increased my strength of soul.”

Thankfulness.  One of my seminary classmates - Rolf Jacobson - who is now a professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary says about this psalm:  “Giving thanks Old Testament style has less to do with some internal feeling of gratitude and more about sending God a thank you note.  And the thank you note that God desires is to tell others what God has done.”

I like that.  I think that is hard for us to do – naming God.  But I want to invite you to spend some time each day with a simple practice of gratitude. 

People who research such things tell us that we quickly focus on the negative in our lives.  And when we remember events, we remember the bad things that have happened.  Not how God brought us through them, but the negative experience itself.  Further, they say that it takes at least 12 seconds of focusing on the good to move an event from short-term memory to longer term memory.  Take 12 seconds of silence right now. 

I invite you each day to take a few minutes and simply write what it is that you are thankful for.  Where is your gratitude today?  And when you experience God bringing you through something; or giving you something you don’t expect, savor it a bit.  At least 12 seconds to store it in longer term memory. 

Let us pray: Compassionate God, you look with favor upon the lowly.  Keep us safe in the midst of trouble, make known your love in our words and deeds, and bring us to new life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.  

Civil Disobedience - Exodus 2.1-10

 August 18

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him. ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said. Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’ So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed it. When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’

Exodus 2.1-10

This reflection follows the story of Exodus 1.8-22, which begins the Exodus story with civil disobedience of Shiprah and Puah.  

The first reading for this next weekend divides easily into two sections, so we are looking at the second half of that reading today.  We are in Exodus, the first chapter.  We learn the back drop for the Exodus story.  A new king.  A desire to enslave the Hebrew people.  The king of Egypt acts in fear that the Israelites will outnumber the Egyptians and revolt.  So he comes up with the idea to kill off the male children.  He orders the midwives to do just that.  But in a bit of irony here – Shiprah and Puah – and part of the irony is that these two midwives are named while the king – this great king – is not named.  And Shiprah and Puah defy the order of this great king.  And that leads to today’s reading.  Exodus 2.1-10

We have another example this morning of civil disobedience.  This one coming from the daughter of the Pharaoh.  She knows that this baby she has found is a Hebrew boy.  She knows that her father would have this baby killed.  She doesn’t.  In fact this baby’s sister comes forward, and as a result this baby’s Mom gets to nurse her own child a bit longer until she has to hand him over to Pharaoh’s daughter to raise.  And we know that child is Moses. 

A couple other things I want to mention here.  In verse two  we read:  “when she saw that he was a fine baby”  The word is a “tov” baby.  A “good” baby.  It’s the same word that God pronounced over creation.  Each day was “tov”  It was “good.”   

I know my girls have grown older now.  I do wonder how in the world she could keep her child quiet for so long!

When she can do that no longer, in a moment that I imagine must have been heart-wrenching, she places him in a basket and just send him down the Nile.  The word for basket here “tevah,” is used just one other time in Scripture:  Noah’s ark!  Like Noah’s ark, this tevah had no rudder or sail, it just floated down the river, and yet God’s hand was somehow in the midst of it. 

Our lives sometime feel like we are just floating down the river, with no rudder.  We don’t know where we are going.  We don’t know what we can expect.  Is God’s hand in it somehow? 

I think of Forrest Gump when he said:  “I don’t know if Momma was right, or if, if it’s Lieutenant Dan.  I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze, but I think maybe it’s both.  Maybe both is happenin’ at the same time.” 

August 7 - Matthew 14.22-33

Matthew 14.22-33

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the lake. But when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

I love this story.  It is a story that I can visualize rather easily.  The storm.  The boat.  Jesus in the distance, walking on the water.  Peter – who is called the rock - jumping out of the boat, somehow walking on the water, before doing what rocks do on water – beginning to sink.  Jesus reaching out and taking his hand to save him.  I can picture all of that. 

I find this story so appropriate for what is going on in our world today.  Like the disciples we are in the midst of a storm.  And there is so much that causes us to be frightened; to be afraid.  I’m not just thinking about the healthy fear of a virus that is quite wily and deadly to some people. 

I’m afraid that once all this is over, we will too soon forget the gift that it is to be near one another;

 I am afraid that some people will never come back to the church building again; and that we lose a sense of the community of faith. 

I’m afraid that we will just try to go back to the way things were before March 15^th, as if nothing ever happened, and that we will not allow ourselves be changed by all that has been. 

I’m afraid that some churches won’t make it out of this, and will end up closing the doors of their building, and the members of those churches won’t connect with another faith community.

 I think we are in the midst of a storm.  And we hear today that Jesus walks into that storm, focusing his attention on the boat that holds those disciples.  And then he encourages, invites, and maybe even stands back when Peter risks everything and takes a step towards him. 

Of course Peter sinks and “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught Peter.”

That’s the part of the story where we find out who we are.  Notice in the story that when Peter is in the boat, he isn’t sure that it is Jesus who is calling him.  But soon as he is out of the boat and as soon as he starts to sink he cries out:  Lord, save me.”  Peter knows exactly who he is calling to. 

When there are no storms around us, we tend to forget who we are and who Jesus is.  But once we are in a storm, with the water rising quickly around us, we know that we need to be saved, and we know that Jesus is the only one who can do the saving. 

And as we sink, not matter what the fears, Jesus is there.  Right there.  Immediately grabbing us by the hand and pulling us from the stormy waters. 

Let us pray:  Lord, like Peter I am afraid.  Sometimes I will take a risk, step out in faith, and before long I’m crying out to you to rescue me.  Help me know that you are always there.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

August 6 - Romans 10.5-15

Romans 10.5-15

Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’ ⁶But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?” ’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say?
‘The word is near you,
   on your lips and in your heart’
(that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. ¹¹The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

14 But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’

This is again a difficult reading.  I prefer the stories in Scripture to these theological statements that most of Paul’s letters hold.  Having said that, there are some statements here that just kind of stand out:

Verse 9:  If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Verse 13:  Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved

Verse 15:  "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

What I am most struck by here is verse 13:  Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 

My best friend in high school Rex – when he got to college, he “found” Christ.  While Rex was baptized as an infant, been faithful in going to Sunday school and worship throughout his youth, went to college at Illinois State University.  His junior year he did an internship in Boston, and during that time decided that he didn’t really belong to God. That he had never been part of God’s family.  And if he were to die, figured that he would be damned to hell.

He had several reasons for this.  One was that he didn’t know if he “really” believed in Jesus or not.  Some of his the people he got involved with on the East Coast convinced him that he must not, since he wasn’t fully obedient to everything that God asked of him.  He hadn’t followed what they saw as all the rules for what it means to be a Christian.  Beginning with baptism. 

Rex was baptized as an infant.  In his case the pastor poured water on his head.  What Rex came to believe though is that baptism isn’t about something that God does for us.  For Rex, baptism is something that we do for God.  And so because the word “baptismo” means to go under, he believed he needed to do that over again where he would literally “go under” the water.  Rex was convinced that unless he did that, he was not saved. 

A few years later Rex decided that just going under the water was not enough either.  But he decided that a person also needed to go under the water in the Jordan River in order to be saved. After all, that is where Jesus was baptized. 

I’m not sure what all Rex is doing now.  I know one of his ventures and life goals is to discover Noah’s Ark.  He is actively looking for it.  I also don’t know how he reads this verse.  “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

There is no mention here of baptism.  There is no mention of needing to be Lutheran.  We can even add in verse 9:  If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

What does it mean to do that?  I think it is more than simply thinking that something is true – like believing in the existence of the planet Mars; someplace I’ve never seen but accept as true and it has little if any impact on how I live. 

A belief is something on which I am willing to act.  If I believe in my heart that Jesus is raised from the dead, then I act as if death does not have the last word on life, as if God is a God of life, as if no matter how hard or rough the road, God will hear when I cry out. 

Belief in God doesn’t make us people who say the right words.  It makes us people like Abraham and Sarah who hope against hope in the face of life’s greatest challenges. 

Let us pray:  Surround me with your abiding presence O God, so that your word is always near me, on my lips and in my heart.  Amen.   

August 5 - Psalm 85

Psalm 85

¹ Lord, you were favorable to your land;
   you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
² You forgave the iniquity of your people;
   you pardoned all their sin.
 ³ You withdrew all your wrath;
   you turned from your hot anger.

⁴ Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
   and put away your indignation towards us.
⁵ Will you be angry with us for ever?
   Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
⁶ Will you not revive us again,
   so that your people may rejoice in you?
⁷ Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
   and grant us your salvation.

⁸ Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
   for he will speak peace to his people,
   to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
⁹ Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
   that his glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰ Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
   righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
¹¹ Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
   and righteousness will look down from the sky.
¹² The Lord will give what is good,
   and our land will yield its increase.
¹³ Righteousness will go before him,
   and will make a path for his steps.

I am struck by the movement of this psalm.  It begins with a remembering.  You did these things Lord.  And then it goes from there to something of a prayer. Restore us again, Lord.  Do that again, Lord. 

I remember when our girls were quite young, and I would play airplane with them.  They would hold out their arms and I would pick them up and say something like:  Flight 805 ready for take-off.  I would pick them up and they were the airplane and would fly all over the house. They would come in for a landing, usually on their bed – sometimes it would be filled with turbulence.  Other times a soft landing.  They would say:  “Do it again Daddy!  Do it again!”

The psalm writer longs for God to “do it again.”  To do what God did some other time when things were made well.  “Restore us again, O God of our salvation.”  If that’s not a prayer I hear every day as we continue to make our way through this pandemic. 

Then we get to verse 8.  It seems that some sort of a shift happens here.  Let me hear what God the Lord will speak…God will speak peace to his people.  These verses get very poetic. 

Ø God will speak peace, a sense of completeness and rightness. Something has gone wrong between God and the people. God’s peace will restore things to what they should be.

Ø God’s salvation – rescue, deliverance – is at hand, close by.

Ø God’s glory – gravitas, majesty – will dwell in the land, reminding the people of God’s presence with them.

Ø Steadfast love – freely offered grace and dependable kindness – will “meet” with faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness.

Ø Kindness and trustworthiness will meet, come together, and perhaps even form a relationship, so that the people can count on God’s love.

Ø In a remarkable word picture, righteousness – what is right and just – will kiss peace, wholeness and soundness.

And then I love the image in verse 11.  Faithfulness will come up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky.  And in the middle of the two is you and me.  And we have the image of righteousness preceding God, or coming before God.  Righteousness will clear God’s path and guide God’s steps. 

The picture of life in these verses far exceeds what today would be a clinical definition of life as avoiding death.  Here, life is portrayed as a full, complete, and healthy life lived to the fullest in relationship with God as part of a community of faith.  It is another way of describing peace – the Hebrew word is shalom.

 Shalom is much more than the absence of war or conflict. It is a sense of well-being. That kind of wholeness is centered on a life in the presence of God.

Let us pray:  God of grace, you so loved the world that you gave us your only Son to be our Savior.  Help us rejoice in your redeeming grace by showing mercy and following the way of justice and peace, for the sake of Jesus Christ, redeemer of the world.  Amen.