Meeting God Face to Face - Isaiah 6:1-8

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If you could drop into any place in the Bible and be part of any Bible story - you would be what Hollywood would call an "extra", in the scene but not one of the major players - what would you pick? I suspect many would select the Christmas or Easter narrative; maybe you would pick last week’s Old Testament lesson to watch the bones turn back into a crowd of living people or the Pentecost miracle of tongues and fire. Still others might choose to be present at one of Jesus' miracles. To be present at the beginning of time and watch creation begin - now there would be a story for the ages! Maybe you would want to watch David go against Goliath, or to be present when the ark first bobbed on the rising waves. Watching Elijah go head-to-head against the prophets of Baal in a bar-be-que cookoff (Elijah won, hands down). There are lots of great events in the Bible that I would love to visit. I guess I need to talk to the kid on the Doritos commercial to see if I can borrow his time machine. 

This morning’s Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah chapter 6. In my list of Biblical accounts to witness and be a part of, this one doesn't make the list. That's right - one I wouldn't want to see is the calling of Isaiah. The scene scares me. Let me explain.

Isaiah was on duty in the temple. Isaiah isn't listed as a priest, so I suspect he is one of the Israelites who is there to worship, or perhaps he helps with the cleaning and maintenance of the temple. But he was there, doing what he did, and he sees this incredible vision. 

Angels swirled around the heavens - two wings were stretched out, carrying the angels across the skies. Two wings were covering their faces, two other wings covered their feet. In their midst was the Lord, Yahweh Himself, sitting upon His throne, His royal robes so vast that the throne room was filled by it. 

As if that weren't enough the angelic chorus sang the Sanctus – “Holy, holy holy, Lord God Almighty." Perfect harmony, perfect pitch, perfectly beautiful in tone and volume. Take any human chorus you have ever heard and multiply it by perfection, and you'll begin to understand the magnificence of the song that echoed in the Temple that day.

The scene is - literally - perfect in every possible way. But Isaiah, the son of Amoz, is terrified. He cried, "Woe is me - I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips... I live among people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord almighty." Why? 

Because that is what happens when sinful man comes in direct contact with the almighty God. God cannot abide sin and sin cannot survive in God's holy presence. "No man can see me and live," God had said. And Isaiah was terrified - He had just seen God! I imagine he expected to be vaporized! After all, when Moses went up the mountaintop, and God's presence settled on the mountain in fire and smoke and cloud, the people were terrified. They didn't want to meet God face to face - they were pleased and relieved that Moses was offering to go in their stead. When the priests carried the ark into Jerusalem, when one slipped and an innocent member of the crowd reached out to catch the ark so it didn't hit the ground, he was killed instantly because he was not sanctified, he was not cleansed, to be an ark-bearer. When the priests entered the temple, they had bells attached to the hem of their albs and a rope to their ankle; if the bells stopped jingling, the people assumed the priest was unclean and - therefore - had died in the presence of the glory of the Lord, and used the rope to pull him out of the temple. Yes, Isaiah was right to be afraid.

God does want us to fear him, but not to be afraid of him. In the mercy of Almighty God, even as He sits on His glorious throne surrounded by winged seraphs, He acts. The Lord sends one of His angels down to the temple and, picking up a burning coal from the burning altar, touches Isaiah's mouth. 

Now, I find this fascinating. Your lips are one of the most sensitive areas on the body. Get a pimple or fever blister on your lip and your whole face is impacted - try smiling sometime if your lips are chapped. If my lips are a problem, I get the Carmex or Vaseline to make them better. If I have morning breath, I brush my teeth and if I need to freshen my breath during the day, I keep peppermints on my desk and gum in my truck. Those sound soothing, those sound pleasant to my mouth. But God chooses fire. Fire is good. Fire cleanses, illuminates, warms, and cooks. But, if you've ever burned your lip on a hot cup of coffee or cocoa, you know the discomfort. Why does God use fire?

Fire is a symbol of the Lord and His presence: a bush burning brightly, yet not being consumed; a pillar of fire leading Israel by night; an altar burning brightly; the candles lit in the Holy of Holies. Here, God does not send fire in anger, but in His mercy, He reaches down and cleanses Isaiah's mouth. It’s as though the coal cauterizes the sins from his tongue. But, more than that - God doesn't destroy Isaiah because God is going to use Isaiah's mouth for His purpose. Isaiah will become one of the most famous of Old Testament prophets and the Lord will use his mouth to proclaim Law and Gospel to Israel. God's presence - His Word - will enter the mouth of Isaiah and He will speak God's word into the ears of His people. 

The reason the Lord showed Himself to Isaiah in this dramatic way was to force Isaiah to his knees in repentance. He needed Isaiah to see his own sinfulness and weakness before he could stand and say, “Here I am.” He needed Isaiah to know that he is a man, a sinner, who is saved by grace and in no way is he above those whom he will serve. He needs to see, feel, and know the fear of the Lord first before he can preach the fear of the Lord among Israel.

Today is Trinity Sunday but you notice I haven’t said much to try to teach or explain the Triune God to you. It’s a difficult concept to teach; an even more difficult thing to understand. We confess the Trinity, and this is a necessary part of the Christian faith. In a few moments, we’ll use the Athanasian Creed to confess this trinitarian faith. You’ll notice, the Creed will state that it is necessary to believe this, not understand it, for salvation. The Trinity is a mystery and, in a sense, it is something that I am not sure we can ever fully comprehend. Thank God, our Lord doesn’t call us to understand it fully; He does call us to believe it. But I appreciate this mystery because it helps us maintain our sense of fear, awe, and majesty towards God. C.S. Lewis captured this attitude in a few lines of his book, THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. In the novel, he portrays Christ as a lion. A girl, Lucy, meets two talking beavers.

 “Is he a man?” asked Lucy.

“Aslan a man!” said Mr Beaver sternly. Certainly not. I tell you he is King of the wood and the son of the great emperor-beyond-the-sea. Don’t you know who is the King of the Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great lion.”

“ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake” said Mrs Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

“Safe?” said Mr Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” [1]

You need to know this fear. You need to know the Lord in His full power and might. You need to know the Lord and know that you cannot stand by yourself in this vocation you will soon begin. You need to begin on your knees, with Isaiah, “I am of unclean lips.” And, when you begin there, you meet the Triune God.

Now, I started this sermon by saying I wouldn’t want to meet God. That’s true, if I were to meet him by myself, on my own merits. But we have met the Triune God. You meet God the Father who sent His Son to die for you, that by the power of the Holy Spirit you might believe that you are saved by God’s grace and not by anything you have done. To assure you of this, you are baptized at the command of Jesus, just as He was baptized, and in that Holy Washing the Spirit descends on you and the Father declares that you are His beloved child. You are continuously reminded of that baptismal gift every time the sign of the cross is made and you are forgiven of all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. You know the joy of hearing the words “Your guilt has been taken away and your sin atoned for.” 

With bodies washed in water and tongues seared in heavenly fire, we know the Triune God, Father, Son and Spirit as He has revealed Himself to us in Scripture. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you: when you walk through fire you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior…I love you.”

In the Name…

---

[1] CS Lewis, The Lion, the Witch & The Wardrobe (Penguin, 1950)

Can These Bones Live? Ezekiel 34:1-14

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“Can these bones live?” Interesting, isn’t it, that it is God Himself who asks the question of Ezekiel. It’s not Ezekiel asking God if the valley of bones has any chance of life returning – it’s God asking Ezekiel; Creator asking Created; Living God asking Mortal Man about Dead Bones. “Can these bones live?” Is it a good question, or is it a silly question? On the one hand, Ezekiel most certainly heard about Elijah and Elisha both raising the dead back to life, and even a dead man being brought back to life merely by touching Elisha’s bones. So, good question – can this valley of bones live? Sure! But each of those examples were recent deaths – the bodies only beginning to decay with bones far from being “very dry” as Ezekiel was seeing. How can dehydrated, sun-bleached and brittle bones have the slightest chance of life returning? Can these bones – these very dry bones – can these bones live?

There was a movie made years ago called “The Princess Bride.” In it, the hero, Wesley, is killed by a wicked prince. Wesley’s sidekicks take him to Miracle Max who discovers he is not dead – only mostly dead – by using (what else?) bellows to push air into the almost dead Wesley so he could say why he wanted to live. In a fantasy movie, someone can be almost dead and be brought back to life. What Ezekiel sees are dead - dead bones. Had I been asked, can these bones live, I would have said “no.” No way. Contrary to Miracle Max’s statement, dead is dead.

Except when the Word of the Lord speaks. “Son of man, can these bones live?”, Ezekiel is asked. His answer: “O Lord God, you know.” It’s as if he is saying, “While from my eyes it appears that there is no life, no hope left in these bones, all thing are possible for you, O Lord.” The Lord commands Ezekiel to preach to the strangest congregation ever assembled. Talk about a dead crowd.

God did not take Ezekiel to merely observe the scene. The prophet is called to declare the word of the Living God that will being life once again to the bones of the dead. As the vision unfolds, God speaks, then the prophet speaks, then the bones rattle as they begin to creep across the surface of the ground, one toward each other. It would be spooky if it wasn’t so miraculous! Each bone joins itself to its neighbor. Ligaments appear and tighten; muscles form and take shape; tendons join muscles together, organs form and then skin spreads across the entire body. The horror of death is being undone before Ezekiel’s eyes. But it’s not done, yet. There are bodies…a valley full of bodies…but they are not yet alive. God speaks again, then the prophet speaks again, and the winds, the breath, the spirit of God, they are summoned to bring and carry life into the dead. The corpses – now living persons – stand on their feet.

It is normal and right that we see in this vision of Ezekiel a foreshadowing of the resurrection of the dead. For Christ has promised to you that on the last day He will join your bones one to another, sinew and ligaments and tendons will join everything together, muscles will regrow, and flesh will again cover you. Breath – His breath of life - will again fill your lungs and blow out the cobwebs of death and you will stand wholly – and holy + - resurrected before the Lord of Life Himself. Your resurrected voice will join the entire people of God, also resurrectedly whole, from every nation and every race, and your living voices will be united at the very throne of the Lamb to resolve the babbling of Babel with the glorious unity of Pentecost in one great Te Deum to rattle the halls of eternity with a hymn of Glory to Him who rose in triumph who conquered death itself.

This Pentecost picture is normal and right. But it is not the point that God is making to Ezekiel in this text. While this picture of the resurrection is true for us as well, it is also not the main point for us, either.  

As Ezekiel stands in the vast army of resurrected souls, three times God makes his point perfectly clear. Three times, God tells the army that the purpose of the restoration and resurrection is that they may know that He is the Lord: in verse 6, when the body is re-made; in verse 13, when the graves are opened, and in verse 14 when the Lord gives them His spirit, each time declaring “You will know I am the Lord.” In this way, God makes his message plain. The resurrection of Israel that God foretells is not an end to itself. It is a means to a greater end. It will teach Israel to know the Lord. For only in knowing the Lord will Israel finally have eternal life.

Through Ezekiel’s vision, God calls Israel to know the Lord. I don’t mean “know” in an academic sense – such as to know that the square root of 9,604 is 98. This is more than head knowledge. This is whole-self knowledge: to know, to believe, to trust, to rely. He is calling them to know that He, He alone is God, and to live in the certainty of that faith. In the same way, He calls you to know the Lord – that is, to know, believe, trust and rely that He alone is God and to live in the certainty of that faith.

Easy to say; hard to do. We look into this valley of bones around us and we wonder how on earth to do that. We wonder if these bones can live – can broken relationship be mended, can broken bodies be healed, can broken minds be at peace, can broken hearts love. We wonder if these bones will live – another school shooting on Friday, this time in Houston; another trip to the hospital for a loved one;  when you stand at the death bed of a loved one. We wonder if these bones will live – the guilt over the words spoken in anger; the shame of failing others in their time of need; the pain of knowing that my sin hurt someone down to their own bones. Lord, have mercy! Can these bones live?

If this is you, hear the Word of the Lord: “I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then, you shall know that I am the Lord. I have spoken and I will do it.” In the waters of Holy Baptism, God showered His Spirit upon you and declared you righteous. By His grace, the Living God – the living Word of God – has made you alive with faith that trusts Him. You - who are frightened, and broken, and hurt, and hurting – you know the Lord. Not just know [touch head] but to know [make sign of cross], believe, trust and rely that in Christ, your sins are forgiven. It is for that reason that God teaches us that the righteous shall live by faith.  He has given you such a faith.

To strengthen you in that faith, as you walk through this valley of the shadow of death, surrounded by dry dusty bones that yearn for life eternal, our Lord gives you His Word of comfort that He is the resurrection and the life and that all who believe in Him will have eternal life. This is most certainly true! But in that same Word of God, we also find a hint, a glimpse, at the what the Lord does in and through those moments when it seems that you are, in fact, nothing but a pile of dried up bones: “that you may know I am the Lord.” In those moments of weakness, God is our refuge and strength. In those moments of dryness and brittleness, His strength is made perfect in our weakness. In those moments when we feel as useless as a valley of bones, God speaks to us and reminds you that you have been united to the body of Christ. You do not go through this valley alone; united to Christ, baptized into Christ, clothed with Christ, fed by Christ, He – who is your great High Priest and knows your joys and sorrows – carries you through the valley of the shadow. That’s when you realize, it’s not about you at all. It’s about Him and His Word. He is the Lord. He has spoken and He will do it.

In Christ, you do know the Lord. You know Him now! You know Him with the same certainty that God gave to Ezekiel’s army.

In the certainty of that faith you live.

Know it. Believe it. Trust it. Rely on it.

And, live it.  

"For All Our Faithful Mothers"

"For All Our Faithful Mothers"

(Tune: The Church’s One Foundation”)

For all our faithful mothers 

Who reared us in the faith 

Of Jesus as our Savior – 

To You, our voices raise. 

We give You thanks, O Father 

For all our mothers dear 

Who birthed and then cared for us 

And loved us, far and near.

 When Adam named creation

No help-mate he could find;

So woman You created

With rib from Adam’s side.

"The Mother of All Living"* 

So Adam named his wife 

Thus promising to women 

God's gift of newborn life. 

Eve literally means "Mother of all living things"

 Eve and all her descendants 

Waited for Promised Seed. 

From age to age You promised 

The sinners' cries to heed. 

When fullness of the time came 

Then Jesus You did give 

By birth to Virgin Mary 

He, as her Son, to live.

To Father, Son, and Spirit 

All thanks and praises be. 

You made, and saved, and blessed us 

Almighty Trinity! 

You give us gifts of mothers; 

Help us this gift to love, 

To honor, and to cherish 

This gift, from You above. Amen.

 

© Rev. Jonathan F. Meyer, Mother’s Day, 2002

In honor of my mother, Janet Meyer; and my mother-in law, Mae Dinan.

Living As Ascension People - Acts 1

The summer of 1996 was wonderfully busy for Laura and I. We graduated from college in May, got married in July, and a few weeks later we were loading a Ryder truck and heading to St. Louis where I would study at the Seminary and where Laura would start her teaching career at St. John Lutheran School in Arnold, Missouri. There was a lot of excitement as we made that trip across the country – it was a new beginning and a new life for the two of us. There was also a lot of fear – would we make it? New school for me, new job for her, new way of living for both of us. We were going to be on our own. My dad and brother went along with us, following behind in their van. Our Ryder truck had one layer of boxes across the floor – that was it – that had books, clothes, and kitchen stuff in them. Furniture was simple: a horribly ugly – but comfortable - rocking chair, two bookshelves, a small kitchen table, two dressers, and a small TV. It didn’t take long for us to get unloaded and unpacked. My aunt and uncle invited us to spend a couple days at their house. Without a bed to sleep on – or even food to eat – that was fine with us, so all four of us stayed with them a couple nights. Finally, it was time for Dad and Joel to go. With a hug and a handshake, they got in the van and with a final honk of the horn, they drove away. We stood there, watching them drive down the street, then make a left turn, and go up the hill, and then over the hill and out of sight. Uncle Bill looked at me. “Well, what are you going to do today?” Go shop for a bed and groceries, we said. “Ok,” he said. “You both know your parents love you. Now, get busy.” And we did.

In this morning’s first reading, you get Luke’s accounts of Jesus ascension in both his Gospel and in Acts. For forty days, Jesus had been teaching the disciples, opening their minds to understand that the Scriptures were all speaking of His ministry – including His life and death – and that in Him, the Kingdom of God had come ad been fulfilled. Also, He was showing Himself to hundreds of people so that they would know, see and believe that Christ had, indeed, been raised from the dead – it wasn’t just a hoax put on by the disciples. The Scriptures had been fulfilled, and the disciples were beginning to understand what that all meant.

Finally, the day of Ascension had come. On the fortieth day after Easter, Jesus takes the disciples out toward Bethany, out to the Mount of Olives, just a short distance from Jerusalem. Both of these places were important: Bethany was the place where Mary and Martha lived and where Jesus foreshadowed His own resurrection by raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus frequently had taken the disciples out ot the Mount of Olives as a place to pray, and it was there – while He was praying – that He was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the Roman soldiers. This time, though, the purpose was different: He gives them instructions to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the promised Holy Spirit. Then, blessing them, He physically ascended to heaven.

The disciples are different. They are the same men, yes, but they have been changed. Jesus taught them the Scriptures and to read them through Easter eyes. They would understand that Jesus had come, not to be a political leader, but an eternal savior. His purpose wasn’t to free Israel from the Romans but to free all people from the tyranny of sin, the devil, and eternal death. With these forty days of teaching, they were given new life, new hope, new enlivened faith in Jesus. The Ascension opened them up so that they were no longer afraid, having to cling to Jesus in fear, but living patiently and eagerly for Jesus promise of the Holy Spirit to come.

They return to Jerusalem, back to the upper room. Ah, yes – the upper room, a place of great emotion and a place of powerful contact with Jesus. Forty three days ago, the upper room was the place where the disciples gathered with Jesus for the solemn celebration of the Passover, but Jesus turned it into something much more as He took bread and wine, saying, “This is my body broken for you; this is my blood shed for you.” “A new commandment I give you, love one another.” Forty days ago, the upper room was the place where the disciples gathered behind locked doors for fear of the Jews, only to have the resurrected Lord enter and declare His peace to them. Thirty three days earlier, He did the same thing, this time speaking His peace to Thomas who wasn’t present the first time. This time, though, the Upper Room was a place of preparation as they joined together, along with the women who followed Jesus, in prayer and study of the Scriptures.

In that upper room, they waited – but not idly. They prayed, they opened the Scriptures to continue studying what Jesus had taught them the previous forty days. And, they also needed to fill their ranks with one more disciple. Going back to the words of King David, “Let another take his office,” the disciples chose another man to replace the betrayer, someone who was with them since the beginning so that He could also stand as a witness of the resurrection.

So, what does this mean for us today? It is said that the Church is Easter people, and this is true. We do focus on Easter, for it is in the death and resurrection of Jesus that we find forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Because Christ is risen, we, too, are risen people of God. We have new life, new hope, and new purpose in Christ Jesus.

But we are also Ascension people. We see all of the Scriptures fulfilled in Jesus and proclaiming Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, this is news that cannot be contained or restrained. We are filled up and opened up to share this new life in Christ with those around us.

We *are* Ascension people. We are Ascension people who are waiting for the day of Christ’s promised return. We are waiting Ascension people, but we are not idle. We gather together for the mutual conversation and support of each other. This is good. It lets the weak be weak and the strong be strong, so we can carry each other’s burdens as we go through this life. We wait in faith, knowing that Jesus will return. We wait in hope, that Jesus will return soon. We wait in expectation, that when Jesus returns He will raise us with Him to eternity of paradise with Him.

But we are waiting people. What shall we do while we wait? Let’s follow in the pattern of the disciples.

First, continue to be together. But, stretch yourself: don’t just be with the same people you’re always with, and the same group of friends. Be open to a new friendship in the name of Jesus. Sit next to someone you don’t usually sit by next Sunday – even if that means you have to try a new pew. At the next potluck, find someone you haven’t talked with lately and visit. Another idea: folks ask me, “Where is so & so – I haven’t seem them for a while.” Good question. Keep a mental “I miss you” list – folks you haven’t seen here in a while – and call them, touch base with them, and see how they are doing. Invite them to be here next Sunday, tell them you’ll save a spot for them, and then sit next to them. Be together.

Second, be a praying church. Pray for the saints of God in this place. We have the prayer list, and this is a good thing. There are several dozen names of people to pray for right there. If you don’t know their specific need, that’s OK – God knows. But we have an even longer prayer list: our pictorial directory. Use it, and pray for a family or two each day – that’s what I do. Don’t pray ABOUT them (“Dear God, so & so is such a grouch, please help him be nicer today…”) but pray for them. Pray for their work or their rest, for their son who is struggling with divorce, or their daughter who is graduating school, or their grandson who is sick. Pray for their health or their joy. Be a praying church.

Third, be in the Word. If you already have a daily pattern of reading the Scriptures, good. If you do Portals of Prayer, or some other devotion, good. If not, start today. Put it in your calendar and read. In fact, I’m going to challenge the congregation to read the book of Acts – it’s 28 chapters long – between now and the end of the month. That’s about 2 chapters a day; plus a Psalm. Depending on how you read, that’s 15 to 20 minutes a day. If you’re not a reader, there are a ton of apps for your smarty phone or on the internet that you can listen to the Bible while you drive, fold laundry, mow the pasture, wait in line at school. Be in the Word. And while you’re doing that, ask a few questions:

              What is the Lord doing in the disciples?
              What is the Lord doing through the disciples?
              What is the reaction around the disciples to the Word?
Then, pay attention to the parallels in your own life:
              What is the Lord doing in you through the Word?
              What is the Lord doing through you because of the Word?
              What is the reaction of people around you to the Word?

Finally, by God’s grace and by the power of the Spirit of God, live what you read. And the God of peace will sanctify you completely as you live and trust in Him.

Here’s a practical, easy way to put this into practice. For most of us, we today celebrate mother’s day with joy and happiness. There will be phone calls made and flowers delivered, margaritas poured and dinners out. We thank God for mothers. But for some, though, today is bittersweet because  your mother is not here, having fallen asleep in Jesus; or because your son or daughter fell asleep in Jesus way too soon. For still others, while so many people think of their mothers with love, others were not so fortunate and only knew a mother who was abusive and whose love only extended to a bottle or another man. The Scripture says rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. We live in a fallen world that even impacts the family unit. If you know someone who is having a difficult time today, reach out to them in love, perhaps with a phone call or a visit this afternoon. Let them know that they are not alone and you, part of this family of faith, connected through our mother church who is the bride of Christ, you care and love them a great deal. And if today is a hard day for you, if I can help, please – let me know.

Well, we better wrap this up so we can get to the restaurant before Rocky Creek gets out, right? Be Easter people. Be Ascension people. Be in prayer. Be in the Word. Be the family of God in this place and to those around. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Love One Another? Are You Kidding? John 15:9-16

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Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

I submit those are some of the hardest, most difficult words in the Bible. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that love is impossible. Love is very possible. Next week is Mother’s Day and mothers, you will get all sorts of gifts to demonstrate your sons’ and daughters’ love for you. You’ll get Crayola-scented, construction paper cards that quote Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…” and are loaded with glitter and a list that includes hugs, kisses, and tickles. You’ll get bottles of cologne that burns, a little more than necessary, when you dab it behind the ear. You’ll get James Avery jewelry that, perhaps, someone helped pick out and pay for. You’ll hear “We love you, Mommy” as your kids – now adults - call from 1000 miles away. Husbands will bring the very best bottle of Boon’s Farm wine and the least-dead rose they can find at the corner gas station. And, for that moment, all will be right in the world as you say, “And, I love you too, sweetie.”

But what about the mother whose last memory of her daughter involves swearing, spitting, and a car racing away into the darkness. It’s been thirty years without a visit, a phone call, or even a card to say, “I just want you to know I’m OK.” There’s no love there.

Or when the husband comes home from work to find his wife of 35 years, sitting on the back porch with two glasses of wine on the table. She says, “I’m sorry…I just don’t love you anymore. I’m leaving.” Wherein is love?

Or when two life-long friends who grew up together and went to the same school together, played ball together, started at the same company together, lived in the same subdivision together, and suddenly the relationship is broken because one got promoted and the other warned about sloppy job performance. Suddenly the relationship is strained, the evening family get togethers become skirmishes between the husbands while the wives snip and snark at each other and the kids wonder what has happened. What happened to love?

The House of Palms, here in town, is a shelter for teenage mothers-to-be. There, the story is almost always the same: a young teenage girl, who naively thought her boyfriend really loved her and really wanted to be with her forever, gives herself to him. When she suddenly discovers she is pregnant, he wants nothing to do with her and her parents, angry and embarrassed, give her the option to get rid of the baby or get out of the house. Scared and alone, abandoned by boyfriend and not wanting to do what the parents demand to remain part of the household, she runs away from home and hides in shame. Love is almost a punchline.

Love one another? How can we love when we experience such hurt? How can we love in a time like this?

You can’t. But Jesus can. He takes into Himself the sins of the swearing daughter and the unfaithful wife. He accepts the sins of the friends who start feuding and the girl who loved and lost, then fled and hid. He dies for every time you fail to demonstrate love to your spouse and your neighbor, your children and your coworkers, your parents and your friends. He pays the atoning price of death for all of the times when the world has failed to love.

It’s as if Jesus says, “Since you do not understand, you do not know what love is, let me show you: Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. So, I will lay down my life for you. Herein is love. Because I love you, I will die for you.”

And, remarkably, Jesus calls the people He dies for – the people whose very sins weigh him down on the cross – He calls them friends. In the ancient, Biblical world friendship was different than it is today. Today, friendships are between people of common interests and ideas, more or less equals. Then, friendship was always from the greater to the lesser, the person of more honor or prestige choosing a relationship with someone of lesser honor. Jesus is Lord and Master. He has chosen the disciples, He has chosen you. The greater has chosen the lesser. In our modern language, we might call this a benefactor. Friendship isn’t based on what the lesser gives to the greater; it’s all about what the greater gives to the lesser. Jesus calls us friends. In His holiness, He gives everything to those who are far from holy. In His love, the Sinless One gives Himself into death for sinners. He doesn’t call us unlovable. He calls us friends.

What a remarkable thing to be called friends of Jesus! It’s not what you bring to the relationship that makes it a friendship. It’s what Jesus gives to it and declares it to be. We, the most unworthy of all, are made worthy by the love of Jesus. The Master of all is willing to lay down His life for the people He chose. That love of Jesus, that self-giving, self-sacrificing love of Jesus is delivered to us from the Cross, chosen through the font, spoken to through Word, and fed through Bread and Wine. Slaves don’t get it; friends know.

How do we love one another as Christ has loved us? By abiding in His love. Abide means to live in, dwell in, be surrounded by, be encapsulated by His love. Do you see the passiveness of this? When you abide in your house, you don’t do anything – you’re simply there. The house does all the work, so to speak, of sheltering and protecting you. So, to abide in His love is to receive all of the fulness of His love. Our translation says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” A better way to say understand it is, “As you keep my commandments.” Jesus is restating what He said earlier in John 15 – what we heard last week – to remain in His love is to remain in His Word. His love in us produces obedience to His Word. Obedience stands as evidence of being in His love. It’s a beautiful cycle of God to us and we responding to Christ’s command by seeking to love others.

And, as a result of being forgiven and loved by Christ, loving others is that easy. But, at the same time, although we are forgiven, we are still sinners living among fellow sinner-saints, and for that reason loving others is hard. On the one hand, we want to love; on the other hand, we want nothing to do with love and seek revenge. Repent. Repent of the sinful need to withhold love until we feel vindicated. Repent of the sinful desire to think that someone is not worthy of our love. Repent of the idea that, somehow, we’re better than those who have sinned against us. Repent of the notion and that God’s love is only for me, not for them. Repent of letting the way of the world determine who we will and who we won’t love. Repent of our unwillingness to love.

And then pray. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you.” This isn’t a general instruction of prayer – ask for a new Ford and you’ll get it. Look at this in the context of love. Jesus is talking about how He has chosen us and appointed us to bear fruit. What is fruit? Good works. And, in this context, the specific good work is to love. So, Jesus is saying if you want to learn to love, ask for God’s help in producing the good fruit of love. But, let me warn you: when you do this and you ask God to help you love that person who simply drives you nuts, here’s what will happen – as you continue praying for God to enable you to love that person, you will discover He is doing just that and your heart begins to soften. When you see them, the top of your head no longer wants to explode. In fact, you even start to see them as a brother or sister in Christ. You note this, you recognize this, and you are amazed that the love of God is filling you and overflowing through you toward this other person. And then the old Adam rears his ugly, sinful head. Wait – this person hurt you, they said bad things about you, they were ugly to your family, and they did it one too many times. The Old Adam demands revenge, not love, and all of those old feelings come rushing back in and love gets pushed aside. Recognize it for what it is: the devil seeking to destroy love. Repent of this. Return to your baptism where Jesus showed His love to you, forgiving you of all of your sins. That’s the beauty of baptism – it never wears out. Return to your baptism, be refilled with the love of Jesus, and pray again that God strengthens you to love that brother or sister who seems unlovable. Even if your love might falter, the love of God in Christ is perfect and fulfilled for you. You may never be best friends with that person again, but God in His grace will let you see him or her at least as a fellow friend of Jesus and loved by God.

How do we “Love one another as I have loved you”? In Christ, through Christ, and by the grace of Christ.

Amen.

Be In the Word (Confirmation Sunday) - Acts 8:26-40

Audio link

How do you read your Bible? Do you “taste and see that the Lord is good,” (Ps. 34:8) while you sip your coffee in the morning? Or maybe you’re a night person, and the Word serves as “a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path” (Ps. 119:105) in the darkness of the night before falling asleep? Ezekiel tasted the scroll and it was like honey (3:3); I am not suggesting to literally nosh on your iPad’s Bible app, but do you read until you are spiritually satisfied? Do you open your Bible to “read, mark, learn and inwardly digest,” as we say in the liturgy, or do you read it like you would a novel – just to get the story? Are you content to simply look at your favorite passages, skipping the difficult texts like Leviticus and Lamentations, or do you dig in, getting a fuller taste for the full counsel of God, understanding that Numbers is there for a purpose?

Well, apparently, you don’t need to worry about it anymore. On April 19, GQ Magazine – Gentleman’s Quarterly – published an editorial titled, “Twenty-One Books You No Longer Need to Read.”^[1]  Usually, such a list wouldn’t get anyone’s attention, unless you are a teacher, an academic, or a recovering English major like myself. Lists like this are published all the time. But this list got more attention than most because it included the Bible as #12. The article states, “The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actually have not read it. Those who have read it know there are some good parts, but overall it is certainly not the finest thing that man has ever produced. It is repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even at times ill-intentioned.” The editors then make their suggestion of what should be read in the Bible’s place.

Now, it’s possible this was just a stunt to generate readership. It’s an old publishing trick: pick one side of an argument that is certain to stir up readership and write as if that’s the only logical choice. It’s guaranteed to stir up the readers who disagree, sell magazines and drive traffic to the website. But, it’s also a sad possibility that in today’s progressive climate that the editorial staff actually believes this: that the Bible is an outdated book with no other purpose than for propping up the couch when a leg breaks off.

What if, instead of what the editors suggest, we, the people of God, read anew God’s Word with wonder and amazement that our God saw fit to inspire men, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to record for us His Word and to do so without error or mistake.  

What if, we read God’s Word with the zeal of the Ethiopian eunuch, traveling down the road in his chariot, studying the ancient text of Scripture, murmuring over it, meditating over it, mulling over it, seeking to understand it, yearning to know what Isaiah was speaking of 700 years prior. “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” The man wants to know if Isaiah is speaking about himself or if he is describing someone else. Who is Isaiah – or, for that matter – the entire Scripture speaking about?

Good question – one which many people seek to answer (whether they know it or not) today. In fact, how would you answer it?

When you open your Bible, you are reading God’s words for you. And what you discover isn’t some kind of secret wisdom, some kind of code, the answer to the mysteries of life, or the key to unlocking the universe. What you discover is Jesus.

From the “In the beginning,” of Genesis 1:1 to the final “Come quickly Lord Jesus. Amen.” of Revelation, the Scriptures tell us of God’s plan of salvation made manifest in Jesus. The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms - what we call the Old Testament, what Philip simply called the Scriptures – these all pointed God’s faithful people of old to the Messiah who was to come. From generation to generation, while the faithfulness of the people would ebb and flow, God’s promise never faded. Think of a funnel: the promise is wide and broad in Genesis, nothing more than the pledge of a woman’s seed crushing the serpant’s head after the serpent bruised his heel. Through the centuries, details were added and the promises become more specific: he would be a son of Abraham, of David’s lineage, a king in the order of Melchizadec, one would suffer mightily to redeem His people, born of a virgin in Bethlehem Ephratha.

Finally, in the fulness of time, the Scriptures – what we call our New Testament - record for us the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus Christ’s birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, not giving testimony contrary to each other, but congruent with and complementary to each other, each inspired by the Spirit to tell the story in their own, unique way and style. Take that same funnel and turn it around: the book of Acts takes the Good News of Christ as Messiah and explodes it as the story of Jesus spreads from Jerusalem to the ends of the world through men like Paul and Peter, James and John. Isn’t it remarkable that these men, terrified for their lives on Easter night, are empowered by the Spirit of God on Pentecost to be witnesses of Jesus. The rest of the New Testament takes that story and shows how it is preached in cities and countries that, remarkably, aren’t that different than our own 2000 years later.

Contrary to what GQ, or others, may tell you, the Bible is as important of a book as it’s ever been. You see, it’s not just a book – it’s God’s Word for you. It delivers the goods: in those ancient, God-given, Spirit-breathed, Christ-spoken words is life. No novel can give life, no book of plays can deliver forgiveness, no anthology of poetry can distribute salvation, but this book – God’s Word – does all of those and more. It even creates the very faith necessary to believe that which is written. All because of the power of God in the written word of God.

In this morning’s first reading, Philip used the Scriptures to teach the Ethiopian about Jesus and he was so overjoyed at the Good News that he asked to be baptized. That’s all we know about the man. He drops into the story; he fades out. But, even in this brief narrative, God included this for a purpose: to show us the power of the Gospel, preached and read, and the gift of life that is given in the water of Baptism. For you three confirmands, Katarina, Gavin and Christopher, you have been baptized and – like the Ethiopian – you have been taught the truth of God’s Word.  Your parents, Sunday school teachers, Mr. Miller and I have dug into the Scriptures with you so that you, too, are able to see Jesus and all the gifts that He has given you in Water and Word, and today, in Bread and Wine.

Today, you will have people congratulate you and shake your hand, you’ll be surrounded by friends and people from this congregation. You’ll get cards and plaques that have Bible verses printed in them. It’ll feel like the top of the world. But tomorrow, or someday soon, the devil will whisper in your ear that reading your Bible is a waste of time. This isn’t just for these three: it’s for each of us, myself included. You don’t need to read God’s Word, the Devil will tell you, because you went through confirmation class – you know what you need. He’ll tempt you to think the Scriptures are outdated, or boring, or unnecessary. He’ll try to get you to stop reading the Bible because he doesn’t want you to see Jesus on each and every page. When that happens, to quote my sister-in-law, you need Jesus. Where do you find Jesus? In the same Bible the devil wants you to ignore.

So, be in the Word. It’s the best tool to resist Satan’s temptations. Open your Bibles and read them on a daily basis. The Holy Spirit will use that to strengthen your faith so that, when tempted, you – by God’s grace – will be better equipped to resist. In those written words, Jesus is there on every page. Jesus, the very Word of God made flesh: who died for you, rose for you, and calls you His own through the water of Baptism, He waits for you in those holy Words to strengthen you, encourage you, forgive you and bless you.

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…with thankfulness in your hearts toward God.” (Col. 3:16.) Amen,

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[1] https://www.gq.com/story/21-books-you-dont-have-to-read

Sawdust: Cutting Board Project

Cutting boards are a favorite project of mine. Laminate strips of hardwood together with food-safe glue, plane it flat, and you have a beautiful and functional kitchen accessory that's worthy of display or use. The best part is that they can be done in a reasonably short amount of time. Waiting for the glue to dry is thr hardest part.

Want to get fancier? You can kick it up a notch by making them end-grain, or with alternating patterns, waves, and other beautiful designs. Think it and you can probably do it.

I was asked to make a board for a client, "whatever's easiest." My kind of client!

Last summer, I found out that the high school was replacing their gym floor. The contractors were tossing the old maple into the dumpsters behind the school. I went dumpster diving and rescued three (small) trunk loads of maple. It takes a little work to salvage the lumber, but when I'm done, each board nets me about a 1.25" wide by 3/4" thick strip of hard maple. Free wood can afford a little time spent for salvage and a higher waste loss.

There's a local sawyer who sells mesquite. Because it grows so slowly in the relatively arid climate, it grows into beautiful grain patterns and dense, hard wood and makes beautiful lumber. I like taking one large piece of mesquite, plane it to size, and then rip it into strips, keeping then in sequential order. I'll then alternate the mesquite and maple strips.

You wind up with a beautiful and interesting piece that is both sequential and contrasting at the same time. Your eyes can see the sequence, but it takes a little effort. This board looks like a mash-up, with mesquite and maple colliding together. Love the look!

My client ordered this as a wedding gift for a friend. I hope the client is pleased. Properly cared for, the newly-weds should be able to still use it at their 50th anniversary celebration.