First Lesson: Genesis 45: 3-11, 15
Responsive Reading: Psalm 37: 1-11, 39-40
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15: 35-38, 42-50
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 6: 27-38

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”-Romans 13:10.

Ed Markquardt tells the following story[1]. Once upon a time, there was a gentleman out driving, who did the safe thing by braking at an intersection upon seeing the light turn yellow.  The woman driving behind him though was furious.  She knew that both cars could have made the intersection before the red light.  She starts honking her horn repeatedly and cussing up a blue streak loud enough that the other stopped cars could hear her. 

In the midst of her ranting, raving, and honking, she hears a tap upon the window.  She sees a very stern looking police officer staring at her.   The officer orders her out of the car and takes her to the police station. She is fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a cell[2].

After a couple of hours, a policeman approaches her cell and opens the door.  She then is brought out front, where the arresting office greets her[3].

He began to speak: “I’m awfully sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping the guy off in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.  I noticed your ‘What Would Jesus Do’  and Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper stickers, and chrome plated Jesus (Christian) fish on the trunk[4].”  “Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car[5].”

Jonathan Swift was a clergyman born in England in 1667[6]. Swift’s greatest fame though isn’t as a preacher, but rather as a writer. Swift’s most well-known work is Gulliver’s Travels. Gulliver’s Travels tells the story of a ship captain named Gulliver whose ship would get continually get shipwrecked[7].  These wrecks would always lead Gulliver to islands and civilizations that no Englishmen had ever seen.  

First Island, Gulliver visits it’s full of little people, six inches tall where Gulliver towers as a giant.

The second island, Gulliver is an insect surrounded by giants over forty feet tall.

On the third island, the people are of average size but don’t possess the ability to communicate.  They run around like animals within the woods.  On this island, the civilized beings are talking horses[8]. 

Gulliver is immediately struck by the world that the horses have created.  No one steals on this island, is mean, and they are so honest that their language doesn’t even have a word for lying[9].

The horses treat each other with complete respect and peace reigns supreme among them.  Gulliver in all his travels had finally found the perfect place that he never desired to leave[10].  What ends up happening to Gulliver and the talking horses? We’ll get back to his story in just a little bit. 

Today’s Gospel lesson comes to us from Luke 6[11].  It comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain.  Let me set the stage for Today’s lesson.

Luke’s Gospel is written in the earliest days of the Christian church.  The earliest Christians were a persecuted minority among both Jewish and Roman authorities within their homeland. Luke’s Gospel seeks to address: “How should we respond to the name-calling and threats we receive on a daily basis?”

So Luke quotes Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain as an example of how to build up the Christian community around them[12].

The clearest way Luke seeks to build up this community is verse 31 where he declares: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Luke’s saying to his first readers: “If you want a peaceful world like Gulliver experienced in the presence of the talking horses then live this way.”

This statement is what’s known as the “Golden Rule.”

It’s known as the “Golden Rule” because Gold had long been considered the most precious commodity in the entire world[13].  For example, King Tut of Egypt was buried a little over thirteen hundred years before the Birth of Christ[14]. King Tut was buried with a golden mask[15].  Subsequent Pharaohs of Egypt would always be buried with golden jewelry or other trinkets as a way to symbolize their importance amongst the people of Egypt[16]. 

The Golden Rule finds its basis in the earliest parts of the Old Testament:
Deuteronomy 6:5 declares: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Leviticus 19:18 then declares: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

How the Golden Rule is supposed to function is it’s supposed to cause us to question our first instinct about how to respond.  Like the woman stuck at the traffic light, we will all inevitability get angry and tend to say and do things we know aren’t good for us and others.  It’s often tough to prioritize in half a second, the safety and schedule of total strangers sitting at the light on the other side of the intersection. 

Not responding when tempted can be hard,  a few months back, I was watching the Chicago Bears play Vikings.  As the fourth quarter was in progress, it was evident to everyone in the stadium that the Bears were going to end the Vikings season.  Now down at the end of the aisle from me was a Bears fan who had been drinking, as Viking fans were exiting before the end of the game, her mouth got roaring. She started calling Viking fans “losers” and using all sorts of additional taunts. Every Vikings fan around her was getting mad.

Now witnessing this scene unfold, your first instinct is to try something to quickly right the situation.  Jesus’ earliest of followers would have experienced situations and people way more hostile than this. 

We’re all going to have times when we’re tempted to get mean and rude as a way to right both perceived and actual wrongs.  Our sin has a way of only resulting in the death of the world around us. 

Earlier, I told you the story of Gulliver traveling to the land of the talking horses.  Gulliver wanted to stay in such a perfect place as long as he could.  The horses though didn’t feel the same way about Gulliver. They thought him to be nothing more than another unintelligible human yahoo[17].

Gulliver thought he had found the perfect place, only to be expelled for his imperfection.  Gulliver would spend his remaining days isolated at home, dreading further exposure to his fellow humans. Gulliver’s only solace would be found in his stable, talking to his horses for hours on end[18]. 

Gulliver exposed a problem that can arise from the Golden Rule; it very easily can lead to spiritual pride.  The curse of spiritual pride that has brought nothing but death to the world since the time of Adam and Eve. 

The point of Jesus giving the Golden Rule within our Gospel lesson is to highlight the type of people that we are called to respond to as Christians. We are called to confront people in their spiritual despair and darkness.

Let me close with one final story on the true meaning of the Golden Rule.  Mike Adams tells the following story.

 Adams never knew his grandmother, but knows the story of her death shortly before his birth[19].  Adams’ grandmother Nell died a young woman at the age of 48. How she died showcases the meaning of the Golden Rule.  Nell had been diagnosed with cancer; she was scheduled for surgery, where she had a cancer-ridden organ removed. The Doctor thought he had cured Nell’s condition.  A short time later, it was revealed that Nell’s cancer had returned in another organ.  The Doctor had made a terrible mistake in not spotting this. Nell’s cancer was now so advanced there was no possible cure.   The Doctor goes to break to Nell the news; he begins tearfully apologizing for his error[20]. 

Grandma Nell’s reaction though was remarkable as a person of faith[21].  She knew her doctor to be a good one, who had made a bad mistake even though it would cost her life. Nell then begins to tell the Doctor that he’s forgiven. 

As her illness advanced, she also proceeded to write the doctor a letter that was so full of grace and hope that he kept it on his desk for the remainder of his career.  When Nell died, the doctor canceled all his appointments to attend her funeral.  The Doctor proceeds to tell Nell’s daughter how in his years as a doctor, Nell was the only patient who ever tried to console him upon delivering bad news[22].  How Nell’s forgiveness was not only career-changing but life-changing.

Nell’s daughter had not been a Christian before all this. As she witnessed her mother’s grace, she changed herself. She concluded that if her mother could have such faith in the midst of great adversity, there is no greater testimony to the presence of Almighty God[23].

 Nell’s daughter whole life would become consumed with the Church and extending charity to others.  Nell’s death not only changed her children, but eventually her grandchildren, and even her great-grandchildren who she never met[24].  Beyond even this, Nell changed the life of not only her doctor, but every patient he would ever encounter[25].

Here’s the important thing, following the Golden Rule didn’t change people within this story.  Christ changed Nell, Nell’s faith changed others.  It was in Nell’s weakest moments that the greatest triumph of the Gospel within her was revealed.

The reality of this life is encountering people without fault is as likely as meeting talking horses. We will confront instead bad drivers, obnoxious football fans, and even possibly the wrong doctor.  These do not serve as opportunities to prove our perfection; they instead speak to all our needs for grace and charity. 
They point us to Jesus who reminds us that like in the story of Nell’s misdiagnosis; faith and hope will eventually triumph over all circumstances of this world even death.  Spring and Easter will be here sooner than we can even imagine! Amen
 
               

[1] Markquardt, Edward. “The Golden Rule.” Sermons from Seattle. Web. Jan.31.2019. 
[2] Markquardt, Edward. “The Golden Rule.” Sermons from Seattle.
[3] Markquardt, Edward. “The Golden Rule.” Sermons from Seattle.
[4] Markquardt, Edward. “The Golden Rule.” Sermons from Seattle.
[5] Markquardt, Edward. “The Golden Rule.” Sermons from Seattle.
[6] “Jonathan Swift”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 2.Jan.2019. Web. Jan.31.2019. 
[7] Stier, Leon. “Talking Horses (a).” Email Meditations. 9.Feb.2017. Web. Jan.31.2019.
[8] Stier, Leon. “Talking Horses (a).” Email Meditations.
[9] Stier, Leon. “Talking Horses (a).” Email Meditations.
[10] Stier, Leon. “Talking Horses (a).” Email Meditations.
[11] Luke 6:27-38. 
[12] Allen, Ronald J. “Commentary on Luke 6:27-38.” Working Preacher.Luther Seminary. Saint Paul. 24. Feb.2019. Web. Jan.31.2019. 
[13] Markquardt, Edward. “The Golden Rule.” Sermons from Seattle.
[14] “Tutankhamun.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 29.Jan.2019. Web. Jan.31.2019.
[15] Markquardt, Edward. “The Golden Rule.” Sermons from Seattle.
[16] Markquardt, Edward. “The Golden Rule.” Sermons from Seattle.
[17] “Gulliver's Travels.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 29.Jan.2019. Web. Jan.31.2019. 
[18] Stier, Leon. “Talking Horses (a).” Email Meditations.
[19] Stier, Leon. “The Law Written on Our Hearts (part one).” Email Meditations. 26. Oct. 2014. Web. Jan.31.2019. 
[20] Stier, Leon. “The Law Written on Our Hearts (part one).” Email Meditations.
[21] Stier, Leon. “The Law Written on Our Hearts (part one).” Email Meditations.
[22] Stier, Leon. “The Law Written on Our Hearts (part one).” Email Meditations.
[23] Stier, Leon. “The Law Written on Our Hearts (part one).” Email Meditations.
[24] Stier, Leon. “The Law Written on Our Hearts (part two).” Email Meditations. 27.Oct.2014. Web. Jan.31.2019. 
[25] Stier, Leon. “The Law Written on Our Hearts (part two).” Email Meditations.

First Lesson: Jeremiah 17: 5-10
Responsive Reading: Psalm 1
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15: 12-20
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 6: 17-26

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
Once upon a time, there was a man who lived in Northern China whose most prized possession in the world was his horse[1].  Well one day, the horse bolted from his owner’s property crossing over the nearby border.  The owner never believed he would see his horse again.  He was sad for days over his horse’s loss.  Everyone around did their best to comfort him.

 His father though gave him advice different from every other person that he encountered. He told his son: “You never know, it could be a blessing.”  The son can’t quite make sense of his father’s words.

Months go by, the horse finally returns, only this time he brought with him the most splendid stallion that anyone had ever seen.  Everyone but the owner’s father’s rejoiced as he declared: “You never know it could be a curse[2].” The son is once again, confused.

A few weeks go by; the owner is out riding on his horse.  The horse throws him; he breaks his leg in the process.

Everyone tries comforting the man in his misfortune, other than his dad upon seeing the broken leg declared: “It could be a blessing.”  

Well, a few more weeks go by, a group of nomads crosses the border forcing every non-disabled young man to grab a bow to try to defend the village.  The casualties among the men in the village were high.  The father’s words were correct as because of the son’s leg, his life was spared[3]. 
This story reminds us how it is indeed often what seems to be our greatest blessings that can lead to disaster, and our greatest disasters lead to eventual blessing[4]. 

Second story, a little over eight years ago, I was working in Lamberton and got called by a church in Kentucky.   They wanted me to meet with them to be their next pastor. The church wanted a young pastor with experience working with youth.  They let me know that I was the only candidate they were considering.

So I drove twelve hours into Kentucky.  I had dinner with the Call Committee Chair.  I had an open forum with nearly everyone in the congregation attending. I preached Sunday morning what I thought was one of the better sermons I had ever written.

I don’t hear anything back for a couple of weeks.  I then get a call from the Call Committee Chair saying they had a congregational meeting to discuss me.  They decided their only candidate wasn’t what they were looking.

Now, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to move to Kentucky.  Grandma might well have vetoed the move.  Potential job loss like this causes a person to doubt God’s ways within a situation.

A few months later, Glenda Hedin from Sychar gives me a call.  A few months after that, I move to Silver Bay making it my home a lot longer than I could ever imagine living in Kentucky away from my beloved Vikings.

So a situation that seemed to be a woe eventually leads to a blessing.

These stories lead us into our Gospel lesson for Today from Luke 6[5].  Today’s Gospel Lesson has Jesus preaching a sermon titled “The Sermon on the Plain.” Jesus’ most well-known sermon is the “Sermon on the Mount” from the Gospel of Matthew. 

These might be the same sermon as much of the content is very similar though Jesus like any good preacher would repeat important points throughout his ministry.  Both sermons occur right before the Healing of the Roman Centurion in Matthew and Luke’s Gospel[6].  The difference in two sermons has to do with how they begin.  The Sermon on the Mount begins with Jesus walking up a Mountain to speak[7]. The Sermon on the Plain has Jesus coming down to address a gathering crowd[8]. 

Perhaps the most noticeable difference is the Sermon on the Mount is 107 verses long[9], whereas the Sermon on the Plain only 32 verses long[10].

Our section for Today deals with the concept of blessings in life and woes in our lives.  We can define a “woe” as doom or condemnation brought to us[11].  Examples of woe would include: losing a horse, breaking a leg, or not getting a job. 

The critical thing to understand about woe in Jesus’ day is how people thought about it. 

Tim Zingale describes this well when he says: “The people in Jesus’ day thought that if you were rich, successful, happy and popular this was because you were favored by God. But if you were poor, miserable, and rejected, or you had a disability or a terrible accident this was because you or a relative had done something to displease God[12].”

So Jesus within the Sermon on the Plain wanted to change the way that people thought of not only their blessings but also their woes.

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
 Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.[13] Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven[14].

Some years ago, the country music singer Garth Brooks wrote a song titled Unanswered Prayers.[15]  The song is autobiographical from Brooks’ life.  When Brooks was in high school, he had a girlfriend.  He would pray that his girlfriend would become his wife[16].  The relationship eventually crumbles. Brooks is distraught. Brooks keeps hoping that his ex-girlfriend would take him back. Some time passes, Brooks meets his wife.  Years later, he runs into his ex-girlfriend at a high school football game in their hometown.  Brooks only upon running into his ex-years later, realizes that some of the best things in life are indeed unanswered prayers. How even when God doesn’t necessarily answer, this doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care[17].   As he looks at his wife, he thanks God for having better judgment than himself.  How indeed God’s greatest gifts often come from turning our woes into an eventual blessing.

Jesus within our Gospel lesson is hoping to speak a word of hope to those with their unanswered prayers as he declares: “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.”

Jesus’ words intend to give us perspective regarding our situations.  Now we have been blessed in many ways to live in this country[18].  We have a standard of living that wouldn’t have been imaginable 100 years ago.  We still inevitability struggle with a longing for more.

My Mom has undertaken multiple mission trips to Africa.  What’s always stood out to her so much about Africa is the perspective of the men, women, and children whom she has come across. How people that seemingly have nothing, seek to give to those who seemingly have everything continually.  These visits have highlighted to my mom how material possessions don’t guarantee happiness, but can instead be sources of woe.

My mom’s experiences highlight why Jesus closes the lesson with a list of woes including eternal punishment commonly associated with material comforts. 

Here’s the thing about our wealth. It doesn’t guarantee us the Kingdom of Heaven.  Jesus turns our sins into vessels to receive his forgiveness.   Woes often lead the way to the blessings that are to come. 

Let me close with one final story about how we often get the nature of woes and blessings wrong as Christian people.

Once upon a time in Poland lived a very poor man named Isaac who often went hungry[19].  One night, Isaac had a dream.  In Isaac’s dream, he had a vision of the city of Prague where a certain bridge contained buried treasure beneath it.  Isaac kept having the same dream, night after night.  Finally, Isaac decided that he needed to walk on foot hundreds of miles to Prague to try to find this buried treasure.

Isaac finally arrives in Prague, found the bridge in his dream, and went underneath it to try to find his treasure.  A soldier spots Isaac then comes over to question him. Isaac proceeds to tell the solider about his dream regarding the buried treasure[20]. 

The soldier begins laughing hysterically in Isaac’s face.  He calls Isaac “stupid.”  He points out how foolish that he is to trust in his dreams.  The solider continues to make fun of Isaac as he declares his own dream to find treasure buried in Isaac’s kitchen.  The solider though won’t go to Isaac’s kitchen because it would be the most idiotic thing to do in the world. He then kicks Isaac to mock him before leaving his presence[21]. 

Isaac walks home dejected, feeling like a fool.  Upon returning home though, Isaac moves the stove in his kitchen when something catches his eye.  There was treasure buried in Isaac’s kitchen all along.  Isaac had gone from a very poor man to a very rich man within the blink of an eye.  No soldier could ever take this away from Isaac.  Isaac’s greatest woe had become his greatest blessing[22].

As Jesus gives the Sermon on the Plain to us Today as his Christian people, he seeks to remind us that indeed our woes (our poverty, our relationship failures, our job loss, our broken bones, and our lost possessions) might be the sources of our inevitable salvation.  When Jesus would soon breathe his last breath, he was not dying, but merely opening the gate to life eternal instead.     Amen
 


[1] McLarty, Phillip. W. “Are You Blessed.” Sermon Writer. 2007. Web. Jan.29.2019.  Story by Liu An. 
[2] McLarty, Phillip. W. “Are You Blessed.” Sermon Writer.
[3] McLarty, Phillip. W. “Are You Blessed.” Sermon Writer.
[4] McLarty, Phillip. W. “Are You Blessed.” Sermon Writer.
[5] Luke 6:17-26. 
[6] Wayne, Luke. “What is the Sermon on the Plain?” CARM Ministries (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry). 25.Feb.2016. Web. Jan.29.2019. 
[7] Matthew 5:1
[8] Luke 6:17
[9] Matthew 5-7
[10] Luke 6:17-49. 
[11] Wellman, Jack. “What Does Woe Mean? A Biblical Definition Of Woe.” Christian Crier. Patheos Network of Blogs. 20.Aug.2015. Web. Jan.30.2019. 
[12] Zingale, Tim. “The Lifestyle.” Sermon Central. 16. Feb.2004. Web. Jan.30.2019. 
[13] Luke 6:20-22.
[14] Luke 6:23.
[15] “Unanswered Prayers.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 7.Dec.2018. Web. Jan.29.2019.  Reference comes from Rev. Dr. Phillip McLarty’s sermon “Are You Blessed” published on Sermon Writer in 2007. 
[16] McLarty, Phillip. W. “Are You Blessed.” Sermon Writer.
[17] Unanswered Prayers.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[18] Markquardt, Ed. “Luke’s Beattitudes.” Sermons from Seattle. Web. Jan.30.2019. 
[19] Jackson Shelton, Sarah. “Blessing or Curse?” Day 1. 11. Feb.2007. Web. Jan.29.2019. 
[20] Jackson Shelton, Sarah. “Blessing or Curse?” Day 1.
[21] Jackson Shelton, Sarah. “Blessing or Curse?” Day 1.
[22] Jackson Shelton, Sarah. “Blessing or Curse?” Day 1.

First Lesson: Isaiah 6: 1-8, (9-13)
Responsive Reading: Psalm 138
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 5: 1-11

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
In 1918, a boy was born in a small town in Rural Oklahoma.  The boy grew up on a tiny farm milking cows[1].  As he got older, this boy did everything he could to try to make ends meet from delivering newspapers to waiting tables.  The young man eventually gets into college. His first job is with JC Penney for $75 a month[2].  He then serves his country in World War II.  He uses money from his time in the service along with a loan from his father in law to purchase a small variety store in Newport, Arkansas.  The business quickly grew increasing sales three hundred percent within the first three years.  His business model was simple; he didn’t want to own stores in big cities, but instead small towns.  He wanted to have a wide variety of products at the lowest prices possible.  He realized he had only one boss the customer to whom he had to answer.  In 1962, he decided to open another new store; this new store had his name “Walton” in the store’s name.  Within five years, Sam Walton’s store had annual sales exceeding of over 12 million dollars.  Today, Walmart has become the world’s largest company by revenue.  Growing up dirt poor in Oklahoma, Sam Walton could never imagine the direction that God would take his life.  Walton though is not unique.

Second story, in 1928 a boy is born outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The boy had a difficult childhood.  He had health problems such as asthma[3]. He was bullied by other children.  He was made fun of for his weight.   The boy was shy. He spent much of his time alone in his room.  Since he didn’t have any friends, he became a puppeteer to try to create friends within his make-believe world.  He spent the rest of his free-time becoming a talented piano player.  He eventually gets accepted in Dartmouth College, which he couldn’t stand for its hyper-macho environment.    He drops out to transfer to a school far away from home.  He eventually becomes a seminary student back in Pittsburgh.  He felt he was being called to a ministry like no one else in the Presbyterian Church either before or since.  He believed his ministry was to be an educational T.V. ministry to young children[4].  His church body balked at his request.  He eventually begins his show on Pittsburgh’s WEQD[5].  Forty years later upon his retirement, he’s considered one of the most influential T.V. stars of all time. Perhaps the most significant influence in Early Childhood Education this country has ever known.  Mr. Fred Rogers’ ministry had been born in some of the toughest days of his childhood and ended up becoming an influence to tens of millions of children of this country because of it.

The third and final story, 385 A.D. a young man is born within Roman Britain[6]. He grew up in relative prosperity and comfort.   In these days, the Roman Empire in these parts was on the verge of collapse[7].   The British Coast would often be attacked by Irish pirate ships.  In 401 A.D. the young man was captured in one of these raids.  He would spend the next six years of his life living in Ireland as a slave.  His task as a slave was the most miserable of all. He was ordered to be a shepherd.  The young man would be isolated in Ireland’s cold mountains for months on end[8].  Food was always challenging to find and he was unable to speak the native language. The young man with no other place in the world to turn begins to embrace his Grandfather’s Christian faith.  The young man would start to spend his days praying for God to save him from the land that he hated.  The young man eventually does escape Ireland and return to his native Britain.  His parents begged him never to leave Britain again.  God would have other plans! The young man continues studying Christianity! One night he has a vision that he is to return to Ireland so that he may become “The Voice of the Irish[9].” The young man returns to Ireland; his missionary work is so successful that he comes to be known as the “Saint of Ireland[10].” By the time of Saint Patrick’s death, a little over thirty years after his initial capture Ireland, had transformed from a pagan nation to a Christian one.

What these three stories have in common is God taking people from unlikely circumstances and using them to help transform not only people but ultimately nations. 

Today’s Old Testament lesson tells a similar story[11].  To understand the life of the Prophet Isaiah let me give a little brief background.

King Solomon died about 170 years before Isaiah’s birth. Solomon’s death left Israel divided into Northern and Southern Kingdoms over the question of who should inherit his throne[12].  Isaiah lived in the Northern Kingdom which was compromised of ten of Israel’s twelve tribes.  The Northern Kingdom also known as Samaria in Isaiah’s days had seen many of its residents abandon the God of Israel for the foreign God Baal. Baal was believed to control the weather, war, and even human fertility[13]. Many Samaritans didn’t believe such beliefs were incompatible with their worship of the God of Israel. 

So the Lord would frequently call prophets to try to get the people to turn from their false worship before their inevitable destruction.  The most famous prophets of the Northern Kingdom are Elijah who called down fire from heaven, Jonah who ended up in the belly of a whale, and Isaiah whose call story we hear Today.

 In our lesson, Isaiah is standing in the Temple of the Lord.  He looked up and saw a vision.  The Lord was sitting on his throne, the back of his robe is filling the Temple, surrounding the Lord are Seraphim which are six-winged angels singing out: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory[14].”

The impact of the Heavenly Choir is such that Isaiah is in awe.  Isaiah knew this vision meant that God was calling him to be a “prophet” amongst the Northern Kingdom. Isaiah thought he felt deeply unworthy. Isaiah’s unworthiness had nothing to do with growing up poor like Sam Walton, being shy and socially awkward like Mr. Rogers, or not wanting to have anything to do with the people of the Northern Kingdom like Saint Patrick.  Isaiah’s reluctance instead had to do with his tongue:
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty[15].”

A few months back, I was lifting weights.  The previous lifter had forgotten to take their weights down, so before I could begin, I would need to do so.  The problem was the rack had been moved, so I didn’t have much room to maneuver. I bumped my leg, and I proceeded to drop a 45 lb. — barbell right on top of my pinky finger.  The finger soon turned black, and just this week the nail would fall off.  The mark was quite noticeable.  I was down at Zup’s a when Kathy the cashier says she was discussing my finger with another customer.  She then asked me: “Did I cuss when the accident happened?”

 To which I answered that I didn’t, but that the pain was such that I could easily forgive anyone that did.   

You see the reason Isaiah felt that he was unworthy of God’s calling is he had used too much R-rated language throughout his life. Isaiah believed there were all sorts of people that could throw this fault in his face; thereby God could certainly find someone better to serve as a Prophet to the people of the Northern Kingdom. 

God’s response to Isaiah’s excuse is noteworthy.  The Seraphim grabs a piece of coal, flies over to Isaiah[16], touches his lips, and declares Isaiah’s “guilt is taken away[17].” And “sin is atoned[18].”

Isaiah’s attitude would soon do a 180-degree turn.  The Lord would then ask: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us[19]?” To which Isaiah would reply: “Here am I. Send me![20].”

Isaiah would serve as one of Israel’s longest prophets with a ministry that lasted upwards of sixty-four years.  What Isaiah’s ministry centered on was a coming judgment that would fall upon Israel’s kingdoms as long as they persisted in their sin. Isaiah though speaks even more forcefully though of a great hope to be given to the people in the Messiah that is to come.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him,  and by his wounds we are healed.”-Isaiah 53:5. 

It was Isaiah who would quote the words later spoken by Jesus:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;1 he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor[21]

Without God calling the previous foul-mouther Isaiah the story of our salvation is never written.  It reminds us that God’s promises of forgiveness are more powerful than our excuses.  Abraham was already an old man, yet he eventually became the father of a great nation.   We might claim we’re too shy, too broken, too young, or too old. Here’s the point of our lesson made clear by the stories of Sam Walton, Fred Rogers, and Saint Patrick:  “God calls us out of our imperfections, rather than for our perfection.”

A few weeks ago, I was at a Basketball game at William Kelley. A group of students was cussing loud enough that I had to tell them to quiet down.  Isaiah reminds me that this is never an excuse to seek to inevitability run from God’s calling upon our lives.   Amen


[1] Sharma, Arun. “Rags to Riches: Sam Walton.” Wisdom Pearls. 21.Mar.2017. Web. Jan.29.2019. 
[2] “Sam Walton.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 18.Jan.2019. Web. Jan.29.2019. 
[3] “Fred Rogers.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 24.Jan.2019. Web. Jan.29.2019. 
[4] I recently read Maxwell King’s biography: The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers published by Harry N.Abrams in 2018. King’s book heavily informs this analogy. 
[5] “Fred Rogers.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[6] “Saint Patrick.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 28.Jan.2019. Web. Jan.29.2019. 
[7] Higgins, Scott. “St.Patrick.” Stories for Preaching. Web. Jan.29.2019. Higgins’ source is Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilisation (Hodder, 1995)
[8] Higgins, Scott. “St.Patrick.” Stories for Preaching.
[9] Higgins, Scott. “St.Patrick.” Stories for Preaching.
[10] Saint Patrick.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation
[11] Isaiah 6:1-13. 
[12] Butler, Amy. “Marching Orders.” Sermon Writer. 2006. Web. Jan.29.2019. 
[13] “Baal.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 18.Jan.2019. Web. Jan.29.2019. 
[14] Isaiah 6:3. 
[15] Isaiah 6:4. 
[16] Isaiah 6:6
[17] Isaiah 6:7
[18] Isaiah 6:7. 
[19] Isaiah 6:8. 
[20] Isaiah 6:8. 
[21] Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1-2. 

First Lesson: Jeremiah 1: 4-10
Responsive Reading: Psalm 71: 1-6
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 4: 21-30

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
Once upon a time, there was a wife as mad at her husband as any wife could be[1].  She goes to see her minister, where she proceeded to go on and on about all her husband’s terrible qualities.  The wife’s hatred is made-known as she declares; “I not only want to get rid of him, I want to get even.  Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me[2].”  

The minister then proceeded to suggest what seemed to be a genius plan to grant her wishes.  “I want you to go home, and I want you to act as if you really love your husband. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe you love him[3]!”

After you’ve spent weeks convincing him of all this, then you will drop the bombshell, how you demand a divorce!  You will truly crush him at this point!  The wife then thinks the minister’s plan is absolutely brilliant!  She promises to call the minister back once she goes through with this plan.   

So the wife goes home does exactly as the minister instructed.  For the next two months, she sought to be as loving, kind, honoring, patience, and selfless as she could be. 

The minister never hears back from the wife.  Finally out of curiosity, he decides to call her to find how things are going.  The minister asks about her divorce from her hated husband? The wife scoffs “Divorce? Never! I’ve discovered I really do love him[4].” Her new understanding of love had permanently changed their marriage!

Today’s Epistle lesson seeks to do the same thing to members of the Corinthian Church[5].  As I talked about last week the church in Corinth was in conflict. At the roots of the conflict was whether certain members of the church who spoke in the secret prayer language of tongues were extra special within the Kingdom of God[6].   Paul seeks to redirect their focus as Christian people instead.  He seeks to point out that the Christian life is not about accumulating rewards, but rather how your love can lift those around you.  Paul seeks to begin by making the point that love is indeed the most valued of all gifts within the Christian church. 

“If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal[7].”

The gift of love given unto others like in the opening story of the woman, the minister, and her husband highlight love’s power to permanently redeem from even the most hopeless of circumstances.

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who ran far, far away from home because her father was an alcoholic[8].  She vowed never to speak to him again! The years afterward, she becomes a Christian.  She then decides that her calling as a Christian woman is to move back home, so her father may be well again!
Everyone who heard her speak of this was in shock? She had previously described her father as the meanest man; she had ever met!

Someone asked her: “What will you do when he finds fault with all your efforts to please him.”

She replied: “I will try a little harder[9].”

They then asked: “Yes but when is unreasonable and unkind you will be tempted to lose your temper, and answer him angrily. What will you do then?”

The daughter replied: “Pray a little harder[10].”

Finally hoping to get this woman to finally give up hope they asked: “What if he is as awful as you can imagine. Won’t you regret going home? What could you do but leave[11]?”

Only for the Christian daughter to end the conversation by declaring: “Love him a little harder[12].”

The daughter does go home. Things were far from perfect.  The daughter then kept praying, kept patient, kept loving, and her previously lost father saw first-hand the power of salvation[13]. 

Paul begins our passage by establishing Love as the highest of Christian callings.  Paul continues our scripture lesson by defining “love” within a Christian context. 

Now 1st Corinthians 13 is most commonly read at weddings.  While 1st Corinthians 13 gives good advice to a Bride and Groom to be: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast, it is not proud.

1st Corinthians 13 was not written with marital love in mind[14].  Paul’s whole point is instead within the Christian community how love is often uncomfortable. Love’s calling will put you in the presence of undesirables.   Love is not about your emotions in any given moment; love is instead the highest of callings especially when it is the most difficult.

Once upon a T.V. reporter was on assignment in Israel[15].  A bomb explodes, and a mass of people are wounded.  Through the crowd comes a man carrying a severely injured little girl.  The man begged the reporter to help get the girl to a hospital.  He thought that as a member of the press, the reporter would be able to get through the security line that the police had formed.  The reporter agrees. He brings the man and what appeared to be his daughter in his car to the hospital.  Both the reporter and man were unsure whether the girl would survive.

They eventually arrive at the hospital. They wait together to get the news regarding the girls’ fate.  Eventually, the doctor regrets to inform them that the girl had died. The man collapsed in the reporter’s arms sobbing.  The reporter then starts trying to comfort the man: “I don’t know what to say. I can’t imagine what you must be going through. I’ve never lost a child[16].”

The man turns to the reporter to say: “That girl was not my daughter. I’m an Israeli settler.  She was a Palestinian. But there comes a time when each of us must realize that every child, regardless of that child’s background, is a daughter or a son. There must come a time when we realize that we are all one family[17].”

Paul closes our Gospel lesson that Love shall outlast time itself.  Paul confesses within our lesson that he hasn’t always loved like should: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”  

Love though is more powerful than any imperfection within our life.  Paul closes our lesson that even at those times when our world seems to be ending.  “Love never fails[18] “.  Love will outlast tongues, prophecies, and even knowledge itself.  Love will survive even the end of the world. 

Our lesson closes with the following promise: ‘And now these three (things) remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love[19].”

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who had a sister who needed a blood transfusion[20].  Her blood type was rare, and her brother was the best possible match.  The doctor then begins to explain the procedure to the boy explaining that without the transfusion that his sister would die. 

The doctor finally asks the boy: “Would you be brave for your sister?” The boy began to think it over, before finally cracking a smile saying” Sure, for my sister,” I’ll do it.” The two siblings were then wheeled into the hospital room.  Mary was pale and thin, whereas Johnny was looking robust and healthy[21].  He watched as blood as came out of his sister, down a clear plastic tube.  Johnny finally turns to the Doctor as says: “Doctor, when do I die[22]?” for Mary. 

Johnny didn’t quite understand the procedure in that giving his blood didn’t mean losing his life. Johnny did understand love.  Johnny believed that his love for Mary was so great that was willing to die to save her. 

Paul’s point to the Corinthians is that they have already received the greatest of love that can be given upon a cross[23]. A love that not only changes lives, a love that forgives us, and a love that can resurrect from the grave itself.  Human love is an imperfect comparison to the love of God given unto us.

It is this love that shall ultimately heal all broken relationships between not only individuals, but families, and ultimately nations.  Love is not merely an emotion that wavers depending on the moment; Love is a promise given by our savior unto one’s own death itself. 

“For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”-1 Peter 1:18-19. 

Love cannot only change our world; Love made most fully known in Christ Jesus will ultimately change the world that is to come.  Amen
 
 
[1] Petersen, J. Allan. “Love.” Sermon Illustrations. Web. Jan.24.2019. 
[2] Petersen, J. Allan. “Love.” Sermon Illustrations.
[3] Petersen, J. Allan. “Love.” Sermon Illustrations.
[4] Petersen, J. Allan. “Love.” Sermon Illustrations.
[5] 1st Corinthians 13:1-13. 
[6] Mast, Stan. “1 Corinthians 13:1-13.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. Calvin Seminary. Grand Rapids. 25.Jan.2016. Web. Jan.24.2019.
[7] 1st Corinthians 13:1
[8] New Illustrator. “Love's Persistence.” More Illustrations. Jan.24.2019. 
[9] New Illustrator. “Love's Persistence.” More Illustrations.
[10] New Illustrator. “Love's Persistence.” More Illustrations.
[11] New Illustrator. “Love's Persistence.” More Illustrations.
[12] New Illustrator. “Love's Persistence.” More Illustrations.
[13] New Illustrator. “Love's Persistence.” More Illustrations.
[14] Suk Kim, Yung. “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 3.Feb.2019. Web. Jan.24.2019.
[15] Higgins, Scott. “We Are All Family – A Story About Loving One’s Enemy.” Stories for Preaching. Jan.24.2019. 
[16] Higgins, Scott. “We Are All Family – A Story About Loving One’s Enemy.” Stories for Preaching.
[17] Higgins, Scott. “We Are All Family – A Story About Loving One’s Enemy.” Stories for Preaching.
[18] 1 Corinthians 13:8. 
[19] 1st Corinthians 13:13. 
[20] Higgins, Scott. “When Do I Die?” Stories for Preaching. Web. Jan.24.2019. Taken from Robert Coleman’s Written in Blood.
[21] Higgins, Scott. “When Do I Die?” Stories for Preaching.
[22] Higgins, Scott. “When Do I Die?” Stories for Preaching.
[23] Peterson, Brian. “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 31.Jan.2016. Web. Jan.24.2019.  

First Lesson: Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Responsive Reading: Psalm 19
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 4: 14-21

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
I was eleven years old and playing my first summer of Little League.  Here’s the thing that I must confess I was never a good baseball player. When batting lineups were made even though my dad was the coach, I would always bat last.    I would occasionally get on base, as my goal was to do whatever I possibly could not to swing the bat hoping that a pitcher couldn’t throw me strikes so that I may walk instead. I dreaded swinging the bat, as the main reason I wasn’t a good hitter is “I was afraid of the ball.” I would always flinch when it came my direction.

When it came to field assignments, I would always be placed in Right Field next to a seemingly fast center fielder; thereby I’d hardly ever see a ball hit in my direction the whole game where my lack of speed would be a factor. 

Well my first year of Little League, we had a good team.  We had a pitcher named Brant Larson who no one could get a hit off.  If Brant were allowed to pitch the whole game, we never would have lost.  But thanks to Brant, we made it far in the Little League playoffs against the best team in the league. 

Well as the game was entering the later innings, the game was hanging in the balance, my team had kids in position to score, and the last person I wanted to bat was coming to the plate! Me.  I had to stand in and face a pitcher with a game on the line with two outs in the inning.  I was going to have the swing the bat as the pitcher was good and unlikely to walk me.  So I see a pitch swing the bat, make contact, hit a liner over the infielder's heads.  We score! We go onto the win the game.  Sitting in my parents’ house in Lindstrom is the only game ball I ever received growing up for helping to win that Little League playoff game. 

I might have been the weakest player on the team, but my team on this day would not have won without me. 

The second story, Sir Michael Costa was one of the great orchestra conductors of the 19th Century[1].  Legend has it one day he was rehearsing with not only his orchestra but a great choir.  Midway through the session, the piccolo player stopped playing. Now the piccolo is the smallest of woodwind instruments (a half-size flute).  Now to the untrained musical ear in the midst of such a great chorus of sounds, no one would ever notice the piccolo’s absence.   Sir Michael immediately heard something to be off with the rehearsal. He immediately stopped everyone as he shouted out: “Where’s the piccolo? What happened to the piccolo[2]?’

As Michael Costa recognized it is indeed the piccolo player who is indispensable. According to the Apostle Paul within our lesson for Today from 1st Corinthians 12, it is much the same way within the Kingdom of God[3]. 
Here’s what you need to know about the Corinthian Church, it was a church of divided loyalties. Some were claiming to be followers of the church’s founder the Apostle Paul, whereas others proclaimed loyalty to the new preacher the charismatic Apollos, whereas the hardcore traditionalists declared their devotion to Christ’s disciple Peter[4].  So the Corinthians disagreed about preaching, worship, ethics, and belief matter in general.   But perhaps the most hot-button issue among the Corinthian church, in general, had to do with how they understood spiritual gifts[5].  The highest tension centered around speaking in tongues[6].  Basically, the holiest and most active members of the Corinthian Church believed that God had blessed them with a secret prayer language, which second-class believers did not possess. 

So how does Paul respond to the Corinthians back and forth: “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”

Why does diversity exist within the Body of Christ?  To strengthen the entire Body of Christ, no different than Sir Michael Costa thought that his musical piece would sound wrong without the piccolo.

It’s not an issue of which gifts are superior within the Body of Christ; the passage continues with Paul seeking to address how there is no such thing as inferior or superior gifts within the Christian Church[7].

Verse 22: “ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”

The whole point of the Body of Christ is this.  It shows to the world what the Church can be when gathered.

Once upon a highway department truck pulled up alongside a city street[8].  The first worker climbs out of the truck and digs a hole between the street and sidewalk.  A few minutes later, a second worker gets out of the truck, filled the hole with dirt.  The procedure keeps getting repeated every few feet down the block. A senior woman watches this scene unfold and is confused by it all.  She then approaches one of the workers to ask: “What are you doing?”  The worker responded: “We’re on an urban renewal project?”  The woman shakes her head: “The street is way uglier than before, with all these dirt holes.” To which the worker responds: “Well you see, the man who plants the trees is out sick today[9].”

The following story showcases Paul’s point within our lesson about the problem of holes within the Body of Christ:

Verse 25: “so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

The ideal image of the Christian Church is when it ceases being a collection of individuals arguing over whose gifts are superior and instead becomes a Body seeking to proclaim the Grace of Christ to the entire world, even as the church might seem splintered into all sort of unique Church bodies.

While the issues that divide us retain importance, Paul says they should not be burdens in the end to the real mission of why we gather?

I talked this week to my friend Cody in Wisconsin; I was the best man in Cody’s wedding.  Cody is an active and faithful member of the Wisconsin Synod. The Wisconsin Synod is as conservative as other Lutheran bodies get when it comes to interacting with other Christians.   I’ve gone to church services in Cody’s church where I haven’t taken communion out of respect for their beliefs, and I’ve even visited the Wisconsin Synod seminary in Mequon, Wisconsin. 

As I was talking to Cody, he was telling me about the Wisconsin Synod’s television program: Time of Grace Ministry with Pastor Mark Jeske. Pastor Jeske is among the most talented Lutheran preachers that I’ve ever heard.  Cody though remarked to me: “When you watch his show, they tend to downplay the WELS’ distinctive beliefs.” To which I responded: “The goal is to make the Lutheran faith accessible to a wider audience.”

The problem with too many Christians is that we make perfect the enemy of the good.  We go looking for a church that isn’t there to the detriment of the church that we’re truly called to be. 

God has given us some wonderful gifts: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.”

Remember these greater gifts might not seem to be what they appear.  The year was 1981; President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr[10]. The President would be confined to a hospital bed for the next several weeks.  The government managed to keep functioning over these weeks, and little impact was felt daily for the average American.

 In 1986, a seemingly unrelated event took place in Philadelphia the garbage collectors went on strike for three-weeks during the hottest part of summer.  Trash would pile up, the city’s smell turned noxious, and a huge public health hazard became a reality.  Now at first glance, it would seem obvious who is more important the President of the United States or a random garbage collector.  Paul’s point though about the Body of Christ is that everyone’s gifts are needed for the good of the whole body. 

I’ve got a baseball sitting in my childhood bedroom that can tell you why.  Amen

[1] Higgins, Scott. “Sir Michael Costa.” Stories for Preaching. Web. Jan.22.2019. 
[2] Higgins, Scott. “Sir Michael Costa.” Stories for Preaching.
[3] 1st Corinthians 12:12-31a.
[4] 1 Corinthians 1:12. 
[5] Mast, Stan. “1 Corinthians 12:12-31a.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. Calvin Seminary. Grand Rapids, MI. 18.Jan.2016. Web. Jan.22.2019. 
[6] 1st Corinthians 14. 
[7] Mast, Stan. “1 Corinthians 12:12-31a.” Center for Excellence in Preaching.
[8] Mast, Stan. “1 Corinthians 12:12-31a.” Center for Excellence in Preaching.
[9] Mast, Stan. “1 Corinthians 12:12-31a.” Center for Excellence in Preaching.
[10] Parsons, David. “Body of Christ.” Sermon Illustrations. Web. Jan.22.2019.  

First Lesson: Isaiah 62: 1-5
Responsive Reading: Psalm 36: 5-10
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11
​Gospel Lesson: John 2: 1-11

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
Once upon a time, there was a couple who was out for their Sunday afternoon walk when the sky suddenly turned[1].  The couple decided to seek shelter in a nearby church.  As soon as they got inside, they overheard the sound of children.  Sunday School was taking place!  The couple then accidentally hears the lesson.  The Pastor proceeds to ask the children: “What is a miracle?” One little girl raised her hand and proceeded to put every pastor and Seminary professor to shame as she declared a miracle to be: “Something we can’t do, but Jesus can.”

Author Karen Blixen tells the story of two elderly sisters who live in a small remote fishing village in 19th Century Denmark.  The sister's whole life has been defined by devotion to their faith, being the daughters of a Pastor, even being named Martine and Phillipa after the Lutheran Church’s greatest reformers Martin Luther and Phillip Melanchthon[2].

The sisters never married as their father denounced all their suitors as not worthy of marriage.  Now fifty years had passed and the sister's life consists of spending their time in a dwindling congregation all of white-haired believers[3]. Their congregation despite their extensive prayers and Bible study was like any other congregation with bickering spouses and friends angry with each other.  The sisters’ remaining years seemed sealed with an inevitable fate.

One day though a mysterious visitor shows up at their door.  Her name is Babette; she is an acquaintance of one of the sisters’ long lost French suitors.  Babette wanted to flee France in the wake of their violent revolution, so she ended up in remote Denmark with a recommendation to work as the sister’s housekeeper.  The sisters had no means to afford such extravagance.  Babette though offers to work for free in exchange for shelter[4].

Here’s what you need about the sisters, they ate the same thing nearly every meal: dry boiled fish and ale bread[5].  Babette though being an experienced cook gradually improved the sister’s dining options over time.  Babette becomes a great blessing to the sisters.

One day the arrangement seems destined to come to an end. Babette wins the lottery.  She wins 10,000 francs a life-changing amount of money in 19th Century Denmark; the sisters are convinced Babette is off to bigger and better things[6]. 

Babette though wishes to do something with her winnings for the sisters and members of their congregation. Babette wanted to prepare for everyone an authentic French meal, sending a nephew to Paris to pick up the ingredients[7].   The meal was like nothing ever served before in Jutland, Denmark a table was decorated with linen, china, crystal, and silver to serve wines, soup, quail, pig, cheeses, fruits, and the most tantalizing desserts that you can imagine[8]. 

Something strange happens throughout the greatest meal everyone gathered have ever eaten: relationships begin to mend and a great hope comes over the room that seemed not to be present before. 
The sisters upon the conclusion of the meal believe their outcome was predetermined. Babette was now going to leave their presence, never to be seen again.  The sisters are shocked when they find out Babette will be staying.  In her former life in Paris, she was the chef at one of its finest restaurants and had just spent all 10,000 Francs preparing a similar meal to the people of this small fishing village in Jutland[9].

A miracle had taken place within this small fishing village in Jutland whether it was apparent or not.  Grace in the midst of a great feast had been given to those who badly needed it.  A group of aging believers through Babette’s presence had been transformed into a channel to proclaim God’s great grace to their community and ultimately the whole wide, world.

Indeed a miracle is “Something we can’t do, but Jesus can.”

Today’s Gospel lesson further illustrates this theme[10].  It’s the story of the first miracle of Jesus’ ministry taking place at the Wedding in Cana.  Here’s what we do know about the wedding: Jesus attended with his mother, the wedding ran out of wine, the reason that wine was so prominent in Jesus’ day is that drinking water was often unsafe[11], the problem with wine is that it takes months to actually make. So the wedding runs out of wine and with no places to purchase wine[12], the wedding seemed destined to end as a disaster.

Jesus’ mother then begs him to intervene, only for Jesus to say he wasn’t quite ready: “My hour has not yet come[13].”

Mary’s role in the story of Jesus’ first miracle can’t be underestimated[14]. Mary believed now was the time for action regardless of any circumstances that declared turning water into wine is impossible. Mary’s faith causes Jesus to perform the first miracle of his public ministry.

So Jesus orders six nearby twenty to thirty gallon stone jars to be filled with water.  Jesus then commands a cup be drawn and brought to the master of the banquet. 

A miracle is; “Something we can’t do, but Jesus can.”

The bride and the groom instead of tasting water then begin to drink the best wine anyone at the Wedding in Cana had ever tasted.  The good wine had been saved indeed!

People were overjoyed!

Now here’s the thing Cana was an odd sight for Jesus’ First Miracle to take to place. Cana was in the hearts of backwoods Galilee. Galilee was known for being the home to ordinary fishermen. 

Cana was as far from Jerusalem as remote Danish Jutland was from Paris. It was here in remote Cana that the purpose of all miracles in producing faith was first given. 

Roy Harrisville III describes the faith produced by this miracle as such: “Faith is not a matter of coercion but of wonder at the miracle of Christ. It is an overwhelming gift in which the Giver Himself resides[15].”
Today is a big day in the life of Sychar. We gather for our annual meeting. We discuss ways that we can reach our community more effectively in the years ahead.

We face many of the same challenges faced by the tiny Lutheran church in Denmark with graying hairs. We face many of the challenges of the people of Cana in seemingly being too remote a place for God to act.  Like Mary the Mother of Jesus within Our Gospel lesson, this doesn’t mean that we don’t have a role to play in our faith community when it comes to God shaping and giving faith through the greatest of miracles.  Babette never imagined her talents as a chef would bring peace to a small, aging congregation of Danish believers. We never know what ways God can ultimately change the ministry of this congregation in the years ahead[16].  What our water into wine might be?

Let me close with one final story. William Jennings Bryan was the only three-time failed Presidential Candidate to be nominated by a major party.  Bryan was most known for two things: his deep faith and being an extremely gifted public speaker.

Jennings Bryan understood the meaning of a miracle being: “Something we can’t do, but Jesus can.”

Jennings Bryan one day was eating watermelon[17].  He noticed that the watermelon is a beautiful fruit and began to ponder its origins.  Jennings Bryan calculated that it would take 5,000 watermelon seeds to weigh a pound.  He then started to multiply assuming a forty-pound watermelon.  How it only took one of these 5,000 seeds put into the ground, warmed by the sun, and moistened by the rain to produce a miracle.  One tiny seed ends up creating a melon that is tens of thousands of times its own weight.  This one tiny seed scatters other seeds throughout the watermelon each capable of producing new life.  We cannot explain the watermelon, but we can enjoy eating it. I can verify that if a watermelon is put before me, it lasts about ten seconds! 

The message of our Gospel lesson Today is rest assured even if we don’t see water being turned into wine; this doesn’t mean miracles aren’t taking place within the world around us, even this congregation.  Both the Wedding and the Watermelon tell stories of God’s infinite power giving this world an abundant harvest of God’s grace many times over. 

We are indeed an imperfect church made for imperfect people, for all that we can’t do, Jesus ultimately can.  Amen
 
 
 
 
 
 


[1] This illustration originally appeared in Christian Herald. The illustration was found on moreillustrations.com/miracles on January 7th, 2019. 
[2] Axel, Gabriel. “Babette’s Feast (1987) – 1: Creation, Delight, Wonder.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. Web. Jan.7.2019. 
[3] “Babette’s Feast.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 11.Dec.2018. Web. Jan.7.2019.
[4] Babette’s Feast.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[5] Tharp, Right Reverend Robert. “Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: John 2:1-11.” Day 1. 14.Jan.2001. Web. Jan.7.2019. 
[6] Tharp, Right Reverend Robert. “Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: John 2:1-11.” Day 1.
[7] “Babette’s Feast.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[8] Tharp, Right Reverend Robert. “Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: John 2:1-11.” Day 1.
[9] “Babette’s Feast.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[10] John 2:1-12.
[11] Zingale, Tim. “Signing Us.” Sermon Central. 9.Jan.2001. Web. Jan.7.2019. 
[12] Markquardt, Edward. “180 Gallons of Grace.” Sermons from Seattle. Web. Jan.7.2019. 
[13] John 2:4. 
[14] Markquardt, Edward. “180 Gallons of Grace.” Sermons from Seattle.
[15] Harrisville, Roy III. “Commentary on John 2:1-11.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. Saint Paul. 17.Jan.2010. Web. Jan.7.2019. 
[16] Emerson, Keith. “The Bread of Life at Babette's Feast.” Check Out the Sermons. 12.Aug.12. Web. Jan.7.2019.
[17] This illustration was given by William Jennings Bryan. The illustration was found on moreillustrations.com/miracles on January 7th, 2019.

First Lesson: Isaiah 43: 1-7
Responsive Reading: Psalm 29
Second Lesson: Acts 8: 14-17
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Picture a Sunday morning at a church such as this one[1]. A gentleman shows up late to the service. The gentleman was unkempt, he looked like he could barely afford two matching shoes, the guy mumbled in his greetings and the gentleman smelled of cologne not that appealing but way too strong.  The ushers seat this gentleman in the back of the church, and when the service ended the other congregants tended to downplay the man’s presence. He would never revisit the church!

That same Sunday, a different first-time visitor showed up[2].  This gentleman’s grooming was immaculate; he wore a fancy dark suit, he beamed a mega-watt smile and was instantly charming to everyone who made his acquaintance.  His presence was the talk of the congregation: who was that man a doctor, a lawyer, a bank president?

Immediately after the service, the congregation president began visiting with the man[3].  He invited him to Sunday dinner at his house.  He had been the most exciting visitor to come to Saint Martin’s Lutheran Church in years.  The man, his family, and the visitor gather around the table.  The food begins to be passed around.  The first thing handed to the visitor was the potatoes; he opens up his coat and starts loading mashed potatoes into his suit pocket.  The family is dumbfounded that such a well-dressed, a well-spoken individual could have such goofy manners.  They then watched as he stuffed carrots and finally the meat inside his coat while his plate remained empty.  Finally, the congregation president spoke up: “What exactly are you doing?” The visitor remained well-spoken as he declared: “Judging from how you treated the other visitor this morning, I see you invited my fancy suit to lunch, so I’m going to feed it, instead[4]”
Keep this story in mind and let me tell you about an event within Jesus’ ministry. Today’s Gospel lesson tells the tale of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus to begin his earthly ministry[5].

Now Jesus baptism is one of the more commonly misunderstood events within the scriptures. 

Why was Jesus baptized?  Now John the Baptist was even confused why Jesus gets baptized. Jesus answers this question: “It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness[6].”

So what exactly does this mean? Here’s an important thing about Jesus baptism, he got baptized at the age of 30.  Now many churches claim that we shouldn’t baptize babies, because Jesus wasn’t baptized as a baby. 

Now the one story that we have from Jesus’ childhood takes place at the age of twelve when Jesus visits the Jerusalem Temple and proceeds to amaze the greatest religious scholars of his day with his knowledge of the depths and the ways of God[7]. Luke’s Gospel which tells both stories tells us nothing about Jesus’ life from this day until his Baptism by John the Baptist eighteen years later.  So it seems unlikely that Jesus being baptized was merely meant to be a public confession of his faith, when he had already amazed the greatest religious scholars of his day years before being baptized with both his faith and knowledge.

So Jesus gets baptized at thirty for a different reason? The Book of Numbers has God instructing Moses and Aaron to take a census of all the Priests of the land[8]. What were the qualities to be a Priest? Numbers 4:3 “Be between thirty and fifty years old when you begin your work (ministry) in the Tent of the Meeting,” hence why Luke’s Gospel is so specific- Luke 3:23: Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. 

So why was Jesus baptized?  The ritual ceremony to be ordained as a priest in multiple places (Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8[9]) describes washing with water and anointing with oil as a symbol of the Holy Spirit’s blessing.  So this background begins to explain why Jesus was baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” at thirty years of age to serve as a formal entrance to the priesthood so that he may begin his earthly ministry.

So why was this so important that Jesus becomes a properly, licensed priest this is where Jesus baptism begins to connect with our own.

Consider the role of the Priest within the Old Testament. The Priest’s job was to make a sacrifice on account of an individual’s sins on their behalf. 

The Book of Hebrews declares: “For this reason, he had to be made like them,[a] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.[10]”

What does this all mean, let me tell you a story. Earlier this summer, I was coaching Basketball down in Superior.  We were playing Northwestern High School from over in Maple, WI. One of the rules of the UW- Superior Summer League is each school needed to provide someone to keep a score book.

We had no fans at their game, so I was going to have to ask one of the players to do it, which I didn’t want to do because that meant he couldn’t play in the game.  Even if I didn’t need a kid to play, I didn’t want to give a Silver Bay player a permanent seat on the bench when he invested the time to come down to Superior.

Finally, a solution emerges, a couple of kids from Northwestern offer to keep the book in our place.  I enthusiastically agree with this solution.  These kids were fourteen/fifteen years old.  Like a lot of fourteen/fifteen-year-olds, they tried to see how much “cussing” they could do while keeping score as a way to try to look and sound cool.    Like a lot of fourteen/fifteen-year-old boys, their attention span would come and go throughout the game.  I would need to correct Silver Bay’s score on more than one occasion.
Fifty seconds were left in the game; the score was wrong once again. We were down like five points, pretty good considering we were playing a much bigger school. Finally one of the officials had it! He comes over starts yelling at the Northwestern bookkeepers and myself for allowing it.  Like a lot of kids, the young men who had been cussing up a storm the whole game turned “quiet” when confronted by an angry adult. I knew that I had to stand up for these foul-mouthed young men against the quick-tempered referee.  My greatest claim to fame as a Basketball coaches will forever be my only argument ever with a referee involving standing up for kids for the other team! The scorekeeper’s jaws were dropped as they witnessed this! I told the referee to blame me not these kids for any problems he had with the score book.  Get mad at me instead!  I was thanked by every member of the other team as soon the game concluded.    

So why was Jesus baptized? Baptism in John the Baptist’s day was to admit wrong for any sin in one’s life. Jesus lived a life without sin.  Jesus was baptized to claim our trouble as his own.  He was baptized for every foul-mouthed young man, and every poorly kempt gentleman smelling of obnoxious cologne.  Christ’s Baptism points out the words that would be spoken by the Apostle Paul a generation later: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus[11]. “ Christ makes us a part of his church through his baptism.  Christ’s baptism shows us that the Grace of God ultimately shall know no limits as Christ became the High Priest to assume the sin of the world unto the Cross. 

What did Christ do for you at his Baptism? Let me close with one final story[12].  The date was June 5, 1944. General Dwight David Eisenhower was about to make the call to land on the beaches of Normandy with over one million troops to try to crush Hitler’s power over Europe[13].

The night before the attack, Eisenhower spent with the men of the “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne[14]. Eisenhower walked around from soldier to soldier speaking words of hope as tears streamed down his face knowing what the next day would bring. Eisenhower eventually leaves the soldiers to pen a letter to President Roosevelt in the case of a defeat. His letter read as follows:
“Our landings...have failed...the troops, the Air, and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches itself to the attempt, it was mine alone[15]!”

Christ made a similar vow undergoing his Baptism to begin his earthly ministry.  Eisenhower was about to confront Hitler. Jesus was about to confront sin, death, and the power of the Devil.  Jesus claimed responsibility for our folly and failure as his own. Christ was setting the stage for his eventual triumph over all the evil forces threatening to devour the world forever, reminding us that Jesus sees us as much more than a fancy suit.  Remember all this the next time you “Pass the Potatoes.” Amen


[1] Based on Tim Zingale’s sermon “God Alive And Well.” Sermon Central. 2.Jan. 2007. Web. Jan.4.2019. 
[2] Zingale, Tim. “God Alive And Well.” Sermon Central.
[3] Zinglale, Tim. “God Alive And Well.” Sermon Central.
[4] Zinglale, Tim. “God Alive And Well.” Sermon Central.
[5] Luke 3:15-17,21-22.
[6] Matthew 3:15.
[7] Luke 2:41-52.
[8] Slick, Matthew. “Why was Jesus baptized?” CARM Ministries (Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry). 6. Mar.2012. Web. Jan.4.2019.
[9] Exodus 29:1,4,7. Leviticus 8:6.12.
[10] Hebrews 2:17. 
[11] Galatians 3:28.
[12] Seitz, Gregory Rev. Dr.. “"Jesus' Baptism: Solidarity with Sinners to Save Them!". Lutheran Hour.  8.Jan.2012. Web. Jan.4.2019. 
[13] “Normandy landings.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 30.Dec.2018. Web. Jan.4.2019. 
[14] Seitz, Gregory Rev. Dr.. “"Jesus' Baptism: Solidarity with Sinners to Save Them!". Lutheran Hour.
[15] Seitz, Gregory Rev. Dr.. “"Jesus' Baptism: Solidarity with Sinners to Save Them!" Lutheran Hour. 

First Lesson: Isaiah 60: 1-6
Responsive Reading: Psalm 72: 1-7, 10-14
Second Lesson: Ephesians 3: 1-12
​Gospel Lesson: Matthew 2: 1-12

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
Let me begin by asking everyone here a hypothetical question.  “Would you rather have the right directions to the wrong destination or the wrong directions to the right destination?”
Would you rather have the perfect map or the perfect GPS take you to the middle of a traffic jam to a place you discover you don’t need to be or would you rather end up in the right place by what seems to be good luck?

Now let me continue with a story, on Christmas Eve when my family gathered we sat down to play a game of Trivial Pursuit.

Now I was in for a challenge. My Mom’s traveled and volunteered throughout the world, read more books than everybody else I know, she worked for many years as a librarian and possess a Master’s in Education.
My sister is a lawyer; she’ll occasionally recommend books for me.  The reading is so tedious that stuff she has described to me as “easy reads”, I seemingly need to take breaks every ten minutes from mental exhaustion.

My Dad is thirty years older; when we go to museums, they need to kick him out upon closing because he reads absolutely everything upon the wall. 

I was giving away vast amounts of knowledge and life experience in most of the categories: geography, history, arts, and literature. 

Despite being an underdog heading into the game, I did manage to pull the upset!  Now I don’t say this to brag, because in the majority of the categories in which I was asked, I had no idea of the answer.  But how I won was through the process of elimination in true/false, multiple choices, and what would be considered slightly “educated” albeit “lucky” guesses. 

But as the Carlson Family Trivial Pursuit game reminds us; the thing is it sometimes nothing more than pure “luck” that can be the source of one’s greatest blessings in life.

Today’s Gospel lesson tells us another similar story[1].  Today we hear a story about individuals who end up in the presence of Our Lord by nothing more than pure chance.  Men, who every one first hearing the story in Jesus’ day would ask: “What exactly are they doing there[2]?”

Today’s Gospel lesson concerns the visit of the “wise men,” “kings” or “Magi” to visit young Jesus. 

Now despite singing “We Three Kings” earlier, there is no evidence that these men were kings within our scripture lesson. The speculation about these men being “kings” only arose within later Church tradition.
As for being wise men, this is also debatable.  The visitors’ most prominent act involves going to the current King in Herod asking him where they could find his replacement.

They could not have made a less wise move.  You see Herod had already killed multiple sons and a wife just at the mere suspicion that they were thinking of replacing Herod as King[3].   Now the visitors were confirming Herod’s paranoia.  Herod gets so jealous after the wise men’s visit about this “birth” of the “new king,” he proceeds to have all baby boys born in Bethlehem less than two years old killed.  So considering all this “wise men” is the worst name for Jesus’ unexpected visitors.

The third name for these gentlemen is “Magi.” Now, who exactly are “Magi?” Magi appear in two old stories within the New Testament.  In Acts 8, Simon the Magi also known as the Simon the Sorcerer is stated as one who is opposing Jesus’ earliest followers[4]. In Acts 13, Elymas the Magi who is opposing Paul and Barnabas preaching about Jesus on Cyprus[5]. 

Now the word “Magi” comes from the same root word as “Magician’.  Within Jesus’ day “Magi” tended to work with things like witchcraft, fortune telling, and especially “astrology[6].” Magi were often referred to as “wise-men” because they would study these things as a way to understand spiritual truth.    These were the types of things that no good “religious” person of Jesus’ day that gathered every Sabbath within the Temple would involve themselves.

Now from where did the Magi come? All we can say for sure is they came from someplace east of Jerusalem such as Arabia or Persia.  In all probability, they were not “Jewish” like everyone else attending the Birth of Jesus as they proclaimed their wishes to see “The King of the Jews.” 

But the Magi did know enough about both the scriptures and astronomy to realize the Star of Bethlehem as giving witness to the Messiah’s birth. 

So how do the Magi come upon this scene?  Let me throw out a theory, six hundred years before the Birth of Jesus.  The Babylonians conquered the Jewish homeland. The Jewish people were then thrown out of their homes and forced to live as servants within Babylon. During this time though, one man with great faith rose to prominence in Babylon.   The man was Daniel.  Daniel’s faith was so great that he survived one night within the Lion’s Den[7]. 

Why do I mention this- Let me read Daniel 2:48:
“Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men (or Magi) of Babylon.”

Daniel’s presence within Babylon would perhaps explain why these Magi would possibly care so much about the birth of a baby in a foreign land, hundreds of miles away, hundreds of years later.

So the Magi follow a star end up in Jerusalem, in the presence of King Herod.  They figured the big city in the presence of Government and religious big shots was the place where the “King of the Jews” would be born.  No one not even the religious authorities in the Chief Priests and the Scribes knew of Jesus’ birth until the Magi’s visit.
 
The Chief Priests were able to remind the Magi of the prophet Micah’s promise that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.  Only for as soon as the Magi left Jerusalem, the star leading to their destination reappeared bringing them to the very house where Christ was staying. 

 Now here’s the remarkable thing about the Magi when they appear at Christ’s door-step, they see a humble home, seemingly not one belonging to the type of King they traveled hundreds of miles to worship in a foreign land[8]. 

None of this ultimately mattered in the end to the Magi. They were instead overjoyed! They instinctively understood the promise of the long-awaited messiah!   They bowed down to worship him! They presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh[9].  The visit of the Magi ultimately pointed the way to the purpose of the Messiah who had been born.  He was born to save those from far outside the nation of Israel and far from outside the religious structure of his day. 

The Magi might have seemed unlikely to end up as central figures in the story of Jesus birth, but they remind us that even being wrong about directions to the right destination can work out in the end.  The Christ child can bless the most winding and broken of roads. 

To further illustrate the story of the Magi, let me close with one final story as told by Tim Zingale.

Elroy.T. Higgenboom was a seeming nobody from Indianapolis, Indiana[10].   Elroy was in many ways like Sid Hartman describing every one of fame and influence as “his, close, personal friend.” Elroy though seemed to be nothing more than the guy in the coffee shop continually shooting his mouth off and telling all his stories.  No one has ever seen Elroy with any of his supposed famous friends.

Well one day, Elroy’s friend who I’ll call Leonard got tired of hearing all of Elroy’s stories.  He said, “Hey Elroy, if you know so many famous people why don’t you call the mayor of Indianapolis and invite him to lunch.” Leonard even handed Elroy the Mayor’s phone-number[11].  Everyone who heard this conversation thought Elroy was about to look like a fool.  Only for Elroy to tell Leonard to “go ahead.”  Leonard dials the number, the Mayor’s secretary answers, and she relays Elroy’s lunch offer to the Mayor, only for Leonard’s jaw to drop as he hears that “The Mayor would love to catch up and have lunch with Elroy.”

Leonard gets mad at this point, figuring it all to be a fluke.  He invites Elroy to Washington D.C. where a parade was taking place. The star of the parade was President John F. Kennedy.  President Kennedy sees Elroy and shouts out “Hey Elroy how’s everything in Indianapolis[12].” Leonard was so mad that he could barely speak at this point!

Leonard though was determined to expose Elroy once and for all.  So he decides to take Elroy to the Vatican to see his supposed close, personal friend the Pope.  Leonard accidentally loses Elroy in the crowd.  Only to look a short time later at the balcony where the Pope was standing to shaking hands with good friend Elroy T Higgenboom of Indianapolis, Indiana[13]. 

How did Elroy? T. Higgenboom know any of these people?  The answer doesn’t matter in the end.  How did I manage to win at Trivial Pursuit without knowing any of the answers?  Having the right guesses as to the answers can be more valuable than how you got them.  How do the Magi figure into the story of Christ’s birth? No one expected them to be there. No one expected the King of the Jews to be “born” for non-Jews such as them, yet here we are continually in the presence of the Christ child.  That’s what matters as we begin this Epiphany season. I would indeed rather have the wrong directions if it ultimately led me to the right destination of our Savior.
 Amen
 
 
 


[1] Matthew 2:1-12
[2] Stier, Leon. “The Wise (?) Men (part one of two).” Email Meditations. 27.Dec.2014. Web. Dec.29.2018.
[3] Stier, Leon. “The Wise (?) Men (part one of two).” Email Meditations.
[4] Acts 8:9-25
[5] Acts 13:8-12.
[6] Stier, Leon. “The Wise (?) Men (part one of two).” Email Meditations.
[7] Habben, Daniel. “Follow In The Wisemen's Footsteps.” Sermon Central. 9.Jan.2007. Web. Dec.30.2018. 
[8] Habben, Daniel. “Follow In The Wisemen's Footsteps.” Sermon Central.
[9] Matthew 2:11.
[10] Zingale, Tim. “Who Did Jesus Come For.” Sermon Central. 11.Jan.2002. Web. Dec.29.2018. 
[11] Zingale, Tim. “Who Did Jesus Come For.” Sermon Central.
[12] Zingale, Tim. “Who Did Jesus Come For.” Sermon Central.
[13] Zingale, Tim. “Who Did Jesus Come For.” Sermon Central.

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
The night on which we gather is most known for two things. The first is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The second is a man known as Santa Claus bringing joy throughout the world. These two statements might seem to be unrelated from each other.  It was the man who came to be known as Santa Claus, who in a unique bit of history helped define the true meaning of Christ’s birth.
 
The story starts about 270 years after the birth of Christ in a small village in what was then Greece[1].  A young man named Nicholas was born to some very wealthy parents. Nicholas grew up as a devout Christian, which helped sustain him as he lost his parents at a very young age.   So, Nicholas received a significant inheritance that he became renowned far and wide for his giving of gifts to the sick, needy, and especially his love of children.   
 
Once upon a time: Nicholas came across a family that was down on its luck[2]. The Father had been unable to work for months.  The family was hungry and forced to beg on the streets. This saddened Nicolas, so he went to the Marketplace and bought a large sack of food, then in the middle of the night, laid the sack on the door, knocked, and vanished anonymously into the darkness.
 
The most well-known story of Nicholas’ generosity includes the day’s traditions where fathers would pay dowries for their daughters to marry a good husband[3].  Well, one father had three daughters and little money. The daughters without the dowry seemed likely to end up in slavery.  Only for on three different mysterious occasions, bags of gold were tossed into the home’s open windows landing in stockings left by the fireplace.  Nicholas’ secret act was discovered and fame spread.
 
Nicholas’ legend led to children throughout the land, hanging similar stockings awaiting a gift from Nicholas the gift-giver.
 
Well Nicholas above all else dedicated his life to serving God.  Nicolas became the Bishop of Myra as a young man.  When Nicholas was a Bishop, the common wardrobe was the wearing of red robes[4]. 

Well during Nicholas’ life something remarkable happened within the Christian Church.  The same Roman Empire which had forced Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem, the same Roman Empire who appointed Herod the Great that tried to kill the Christ Child.  This Roman Empire during Nicholas’ life saw their Emperor convert to Christianity and the empire along with it.  A short time later, a big meeting took place in Nicea to determine what exactly the Christian Church believed about the Birth of Jesus Christ[5]. 
 
One side argued that on that night in Bethlehem, a child was born, no different than every other child born before him merely possessing the presence of God in his life.  
 
The man who came to be known as Saint Nicholas would argue instead that the child born in Bethlehem was God crashing down from the heavens in human flesh.  The child born doesn’t merely point the way to God’s salvation, but is God’s salvation himself.  Nicholas got so worked up during this debate he ended up slapping his opponents and spending the night in jail. 
 
Saint Nicholas perhaps more than any human being that ever lived understood that there is no such thing as a “Christ”-less Christmas[6], anything that minimizes Jesus in the salvation story misses the true meaning of the season.
 
So how did Saint Nicholas become Santa Claus? Saint Nicholas remained popular like few saints in the years after his death. December 6th the day of his death came to be celebrated through the sharing of candies, small gifts, nuts, and apples being placed around the house as a way to remember Saint Nicholas the gift-giver[7].
 
Martin Luther suggested changing the day of gift-giving from December 6th to December 24th/25th to draw attention to Christ being the true-gift giver to the children of the land[8].  The popularity of Saint Nicholas lived on even as German immigrants moved to this country.
 
In 1823, a very popular poem by a seminary professor was written of which you may have heard titled “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” also known as “The Night Before Christmas[9].” 
 
The Saint Nicholas in this poem was: dressed in red fur, rosy cheeks, a white beard, a round belly, and a bundle of toys upon his back[10].  Other popular poems around this time describe a Saint Nicholas like figure arriving from the North upon flying reindeer[11].
 
The legend of Saint Nicholas helped spread Christmas observance in this country making Christmas carols popular and bringing more children to the newly found Sunday School movement to participate in pageants[12].
 
Eventually Harper’s Weekly which was a very popular magazine in the wake of the Civil War would publish drawings of Saint Nicholas but change the pronunciation to the Dutch translation of Saint Nicholas “Sinterklass[13].”    

Saint Nicholas though did not merely bring gifts on Christmas but saved Christmas’ true meaning.  Saint Nicholas began his life no different than the Shepherds, Joseph, and Mary who star in our Christmas story. Saint Nicholas was an outcast on account of his faith from the world’s most powerful empire. Nicholas was a Bishop in days when Bishops were routinely imprisoned by this same empire[14]. 
 
The most powerful message of the Christmas story is one that would come to define Saint Nicholas’ life: Caeser Augustus might appear to be in control of the story and of the future[15]. Poor shepherds in a field might seem to be nothing more than undereducated, social outcasts.  Mary might be nothing more than a scared, young child giving birth to a baby boy in an a strange/ unfamiliar way.
 
Someday, this child soon to be born will triumph over all the forces of this world. The following is the Good News which the Angels proclaim! God was Born in a Manger; God was born Immanuel “For He Will Save the People from their Sins[16].”  Saint Nicholas spent a night in Jail because he was so convinced of this.  Christians ever since have come to believe it,  On this day: “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.[17]”.  

In 1934, the famous Christmas classic Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town [18]was written.  The theme of the song is that the reason we celebrate the Christmas season is Santa Claus’ presence if and only if we’ve been good enough to make his list. Saint Nicholas saw a much different meaning for the season.   Jesus Christ was born for us, regardless of how good we’ve been.  It is this Christ Child who on this night delivers the greatest of all gifts in the hope of his salvation that is to come. Amen
 


[1] “Saint Nicholas.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 11.Dec.2018. Web. Dec.12.2018. 
[2] Stier, Leon. “Santa’s First Job.” Email Meditations. 28.Nov.2016. Web. Dec.12.2018. 
[3]
[4] Vander Zee, Leonard. “Santa Claus Saves Christmas.” South Bend Christian Reformed Church. South Bend, IN. 25.Dec.2005. Web. Dec.12.2018.  Taken from Saint Nicholas Center. 
[5] Vander Zee, Leonard. “Santa Claus Saves Christmas.” South Bend Christian Reformed Church.
[6] Veith, Gene Edward. “Slappy holiday: Why not take the Santa Claus tradition a little further?” World Magazine. 24.Dec.2005. Web. Dec.12.2018. 
[7] Saint Nicholas Center. “Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus.” Web. Dec.12.2018.
[8] Swartz, David. “A Very Not-So-Merry Christmas: How Protestantism Nearly Killed St. Nick.” Saint Nicholas Center. Web. Dec.12.2018. 
[9] Saint Nicholas Center. “Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus.”
[10] “A Visit from Saint Nicholas.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 12.Dec.2018. Web. Dec.12.2018.
[11] The most prevelant of these being the 1821 work by William Gilley The Children’s Friend which described Sancte Claus. Gilley was a close friend of Clement Clarke Moore. 
[12] Saint Nicholas Center. “Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus.”
[13] Saint Nicholas Center. “Saint Nicholas and the Origin of Santa Claus.” The cartoonist involved was Thomas Nast.
[14] Vander Zee, Leonard. “Santa Claus Saves Christmas.” South Bend Christian Reformed Church.
[15] Saraas, Niveen. “Commentary on Luke 2:[1-7] 8-20.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 24.Dec.2018. Web. Dec.12.2018.
[16] Matthew 1:21,23.
[17] John 1:14
[18] “Santa Claus is Comin to Town.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 11.Dec.2018. Web. Dec.12.2018. 

First Lesson: Micah 5: 2-5a
Responsive Reading: Psalm 80: 1-7
Second Lesson: Hebrews 10: 5-10
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 1: 39-45, (46-55)

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Let me begin by telling you the story of a gentleman named Phillips Brooks.  Brooks was born in 1835 in Boston.  He was the great-grandson of Samuel Phillips Jr. one of the great pioneers in American education[1].  Brooks eventually enrolls in Harvard. Upon graduation, he got a job in Boston teaching Latin.  Brooks was quickly fired and this event drove him into a trigger of despair. Brooks believed himself to be a failure!  Brooks proclaimed “I do not know what will become of me and I do not care much. I wish I were fifteen years old again[2]. “
Brooks with an uncertain future enrolls in Seminary.  Brooks graduates and becomes a Pastor in Philadelphia. In 1865, Brooks took a trip to the holy land.  On Christmas Eve, Brooks makes a horse trip from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.   While in Bethlehem, he saw the fields where the angel visited the Shepherds tending to their flocks on the night of Christ’s birth[3].  Brooks then proceeded to attend midnight services which lasted from 10 PM to 3 AM at the Church of the Nativity thought to be the cave where Jesus was born.  The service deeply moved Brooks.  The memories of his time in Bethlehem never left him.
Three years later, Brooks was back serving his church outside Philadelphia. His church was planning their annual Sunday school Christmas program[4].  Brooks and his organist Lewis Redner were lacking a song to tie it all together.  Brooks sat down in one setting to write a reflection of his previous trip to Bethlehem.  Redner, the Organist on a Saturday night before rehearsal unable to think of a tune for Brooks’ carol, went to bed only to seemingly be woken up in the middle of the night by what seemed to be an angel of the Lord delivering the perfect treble before Sunday’s church services.  The lyrics which seemed to destined for the dustbin of history after the Sunday School program were soon printed by a local bookstore, and eventually picked up for a hymnal for Sunday school children[5].  Brooks’ Christmas Carol is known as “O Little Town of Bethlehem[6].”
The hymn’s tale in many ways mirrors the story of our lesson from Micah 5[7].  Micah’s lesson was written at a time when the Assyrian army threatened to devour all of Northern Israel along with its ten small tribes.  A town as small as Bethlehem would not even be able to muster any sort of army for resistance[8].  The Assyrians would be seeming to claim the land as their own.  What the Hymn reminds us of is Phillip Brooks seemed destined for failure, the people of Bethlehem seemed destined for conquest in the eyes of men, but in God’s eyes, there was a big plan in place having to do with the Messiah eventually being born within this smallest of towns[9]. 
The Book of Micah tells the story of dark days in Israel’s history.  Among the injustices taking place where the rich had schemed to take away land from the poor, widows have been evicted from their homes, and wicked rulers endorse the worship of not the God of Israel, but foreign gods.  Israel was in dark days both socially and spiritually to say nothing about the threat posed by their great enemies in these days the Assyrians[10]. 
In these dark days, The Book of Micah gives a word of great hope:
 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah.
    though you are small among the clans[b] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times[11].”
Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? Bethlehem was the city of David who was Israel’s greatest king[12].  David seemed to be an unlikely choice to be a great king. He was Jesse’s youngest and seemingly weakest son, in a society where older sons would claim double portions of inheritance.   It was David who not only slayed the giant Goliath but would bring eventual peace and prosperity to the land of Israel like no other time in its history.  So now in Bethlehem, not mighty Jerusalem several miles down the road another child would be born in a lowly and unassuming manager to usher in a Kingdom that would go beyond all the kingdoms of the world that came before it.    
In the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men appear before King Herod to inform him of the birth of the Messiah within these smallest of villages[13].   Micah gave the great word of hope to people that yearned for spiritual peace when it seemed unattainable[14]. 
Author Barbara Brown Taylor tells the following story[15]. Once upon a time a small congregation such as this one was having their Christmas Eve service. The congregation was in need of a reader. Finally, a woman signs up to read when no one seemingly would.  The thing was this woman was having a hard time like the people within Micah’s day of her own.  She was in the midst of chemotherapy to treat the most aggressive of cancers.  Her body was weak and she was required to bring an oxygen tank with her to the lecturn.  She began then to read the great word of Gospel hope of what was to come, no different than Micah, as her oxygen tank is humming along with the reading loud enough for everyone to hear[16].  The story reminds us that it is in the harshest ravages of this world that our Lord truly comes with a word of promise for the new creation that soon is to be born in Bethlehem.
To illustrate this further, let me close with one final story[17].  Once upon a time, there was a town in Europe with a beautiful cathedral known far and wide for having a beautiful stained glass window behind its altar.  On one winter day, a great windstorm came to the land shattering the window into thousands of pieces.  The window is cleaned up, placed in a giant box, and brought down to the church basement.  Everyone within this cathedral expected that this window would forever remain memorabilia of the church’s glory days. 
Sometime later though a stranger got word of the cathedral’s broken stained glass window[18].  He asked if he could have the fragments.  The request was strange, and the church’s custodians told him to take the seemingly worthless box.  The custodians figured they would never hear from this peculiar gentleman ever again.  The church thought at this point, good riddance with the broken glass.  Well about two years later, the custodians were invited to a craft show in a nearby village featuring the works of a famed artisian.  The most beautiful piece at the craft show was a stained glass window; only this window was made for the broken glass off the cathedral window[19].  The custodians had never seen such a beautiful sight before their eyes within their entire lives. 
A child born in a manager in Bethlehem! Probably didn’t look like much at first sight no different than the broken glass out of which little good could come.  No great hosts were awaiting this child’s birth.  He was born in the presence of a teenage bride and the first century’s equivalent of long-haul truck drivers in Shepherds.  With the exception of King Herod, the rest of the world failed to take notice[20].  Jesus’ lives some thirty years on Earth with followers coming and going like any other ordinary life.  Jesus dies virtually alone on Calvary[21], just as the women with the oxygen tank appeared to be without hope on Christmas Eve. On the third day, the words written by Phillips Brooks for his Sunday school program show brings us all to Bethlehem. How we are the purpose of God’s plan revealed on that night some 2000 years ago.  I close with words from the third verse of Brooks’ hymn which we will soon sing:
“How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven
No ear may hear His coming
But in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still
The dear Christ enters in.”
For it is this child soon to be born in Bethlehem who will be our peace.”  Who will not only remove warfare from the Earth but remind us to whom we truly do belong. 
Amen
 
 


[1] “Phillips Brooks.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 10.Sept.2018. Web. Nov.27.2018. 

[2] Phillips Brooks.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.
[3] Hawn, C. Michael. “History of Hymns: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” . Discipleship Ministries. United Methodist Church. Web. Nov.27.2018. 
[4] Matthews, Diana Leagh. “Behind the Christmas Carol: O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Diana Leagh Matthews. 15.Dec.2018. Web. Nov.27.2018. 
[5] Matthews, Diana Leagh. “Behind the Christmas Carol: O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Diana Leagh Matthews.
[6] LBW #41
[7] Micah 5:2-5a.
[8] McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central. 5. Dec.2006. Web. Nov.27.2018. 
[9] McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central.
[10] Quirvik, Melinda. “Commentary on Micah 5:2-5a.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 23. Dec.2012. Web. Nov.27.2018. 
[11] Micah 5:2
[12] Donovan, Richard Niell.  “Biblical Commentary:Micah 5:2-5a.” Sermon Writer. 2009, 2010. Web. Nov.27.2018.
[13] Matthew 2:6.
[14] Stewart, Anne. “Commentary on Micah 5:2-5a.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 20.Dec.2015. Web. Nov.27.2018. 
[15] Hoezee, Scott. “Micah 5:2-5a.” Center for Excellence in Preaching. Calvin Seminary. Grand Rapids, MI. 14.Dec.2015. Web. Nov.27.2018. 
[16] Hoezee, Scott. “Micah 5:2-5a.” Center for Excellence in Preaching.
[17] McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central.
[18] McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central.
[19]McFadden, Dave. “O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” Sermon Central.
[20] Stier, Leon. “Where is Bethlehem?” Email Mediatations. 24. Dec.2015. Web. Nov.27.2018. 
[21] Stier, Leon. “Where is Bethlehem?” Email Mediatations.