First Lesson: Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16
Responsive Reading: Psalm 22: 23-31
Second Lesson: Romans 4: 13-25
​Gospel Lesson: Mark 9: 2-9

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
The place is Mumbai, India[1].  Mumbai is the twelfth largest city in the world with a population of over 12 million people.  Mumbai is a small city with its square area 1/5 the size of Rhode Island, making it one of the most population dense cities in the world[2].  The time is 7:00 A.M.  A businessman leaves his home for the City Centre 19 miles away.  The problem with leaving the house at 7:00 A.M. is it’s too early to prepare a proper lunch that’ll stay fresh for six hours.  Few people want to eat from street vendors day after day.

In 1890, a lunchbox service was started where men would seek to deliver home-cooked meals to others while away from home.  The process seems to be impossible.  9:15 A.M. lunchboxes are picked up at residences throughout the outskirts of Mumbai[3].  The men that pick these boxes up are called walas.  The boxes are marked without smartphones, scanners, bar codes, or GPS or any other modern technology that would seemingly make the job easier.  Walas then load up to fifteen separate lunch bags on their bicycle.  They bike down to the nearest train station.  They then meet with other walas to sort and separate bags for delivery into separate sections of Mumbai.  Everything for the walas is dependent on getting onboard the 10:51 train[4].  Miss the train the whole system collapses, no lunch gets delivered during India’s normal 1-2 lunch hour.

The Walas upon sorting the bags then sit together in a luggage compartment, where they do their daily joking upon the train ride to Mumbai.  The train stops on the Southern Tip of Mumbai after a 40-minute train ride.  Walas from all over the city gather, they then hop on bicycles left behind by other Walas for them.  They then have to navigate the streets of Mumbai through cars, trucks, rickshaws, and even the occasional cow.  Most days traffic is at a stand-still.  Such a business seems like nothing but a recipe for chaos and disaster.  Present the following model as a business plan and you would be subjected to ridicule[5].

How accurate are the Walas.  Their error rate is reportedly 1 in 16 million[6].  Their efficiency is so renowned that they’ve been celebrated by Prince Charles of England and studied at Harvard Business School.  Walas have no special background most of them have what amounts to an 8th grade education.  Many of them are unable to read[7].  Here’s the thing about the Walas though which makes them so unique, they have managed to establish perfect timing in the midst of all chaos.  The Walas promise to deliver lunch by 12:45 every day and they seemingly never disappoint regardless of how long the odds. 
Today’s Old Testament lesson tells a similar story[8].  It’s a story where the timing seems to be impossible.  It’s a story of the most remarkable of promises being fulfilled in the life of Abraham. 

The story of Abraham’s life is one of God coming through on unbelievable promises given to Abraham.  Abraham’s story spans thirteen chapters of the Book of Genesis and in nearly every chapter, promises of some sort are given by God to Abraham[9][10]. 

The first major promise that God gives unto Abraham is in Genesis 12 where God promises Abraham a land where he would become the Father of a great nation[11]. Abraham is seventy-five years old at the time.  This promise seems unlikely to be fulfilled because Abraham is already getting up there in years.  Today’s lesson takes place twenty-four years in the future.  Twenty-four years after God’s original promise Abraham and Sarah are still childless. Abraham’s now ninety-nine years old to be exact.  Abraham’s wife Sarah not being a young woman herself is believed to be barren.  Within our lesson for Today, both Abraham and Sarah are promised by God that they would give birth to a child.  This child would be the fulfillment of God’s previous promises to Abraham to descend from his blood a great nation. 

Here’s what should be noted about God’s promise to Abraham.  God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah occur without conditions[12].  When Sarah hears she’s about to become pregnant at the age of 90, she laughs at God[13].  She believes such a thing is impossible.  God could have moved onto someone else at this point, yet what the story of Abraham and Sarah illustrates the nature of God’s promises is they are unconditional.  God’s response to us is more important than our response to God.  We call this Grace.  God’s ability to carry out his promises is stronger than our ability to run away from these truths. 

Here’s the thing about God’s promises to Abraham.  Abraham nor Sarah do not live to see all of God’s promises fulfilled.  The most important promise that God makes to Abraham is that through his family tree, a great blessing that will be received by not only Abraham’s family but all the families of the Earth.  God’s promises would eventually be fulfilled through Abraham’s descendant Jesus Christ.   The Cross of Christ which we look ahead to this Lenten season will be the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises given to Abraham many generations ago[14].  Eventually, all the nations of the Earth will be saved from their own sin and suffering.  The idea that a Savior would eventually overcome death seemed like nothing more than a distant dream during the life of Abraham.  Resurrection is no more impossible than a hundred-year-old man having a child with a ninety-year-old woman[15].  The thing about promises is the best promises seem foolish at the time they are given.  The thing about promises though is even if they seem a little unbelievable, there’s something sacred about a promise.

How one fulfills their promises speaks to whether their word is gold or garbage.  Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863[16].  The Emancipation Proclamation announced the freedom of three-million slaves within Southern states.  Among the three-million slaves, there was perhaps one man who was more remarkable than any other slave for how he understood this notion of promise.  Booker T. Washington tells the story of meeting a slave from Virginia[17].  The slave’s master had made a deal with him a couple of years before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation; the slave would be able in effect to buy his freedom from his master[18].  The master set a price from freedom, with an understanding that the slave would be able to find work wherever he pleased.  The condition was the slave promises to pay the master back.  The slave eventually leaves Virginia for better wages in Ohio.  The slave works in Ohio for a couple of years; Lincoln signs Emancipation Proclamation making the slave have no more legal obligations for his master.  Now the Slave would have been justified in never returning to Virginia, yet the man’s promise meant more than anything that had taken place in the past.  Upon earning money to pay off his master, he walked all the way from Ohio to Virginia to place every dollar he owed to his master into his hand plus interest.

Booker T. Washington hears this story and is shocked.  The man said his word would never be broken and he could never be truly “free” until his promise was fulfilled[19]. 

The point of the story of Abraham is this God’s promises are gold.  They will come through, no matter how much the circumstances ultimately change around us.

One last story for this morning as told by Leon Stier, the story illustrates how God’s promises are fulfilled no matter what takes place in our life[20].

Cleo was sixty-two years old.  She and her husband John had just retired.  The future was looking bright.  Cleo and John had all sorts of friends, all sorts of money, and really big plans for the years ahead.  Cleo’s plans collapsed as she heard that she had cancer and it was terminal.  Cleo still struggled to get to church every Sunday even as her body got weaker and weaker.  She eventually calls the Pastor over to plan her funeral.  Cleo had all her hymns and scripture readings picked out.  Cleo had one special request for the pastor.  She asked if he wouldn’t mind preaching her funeral sermon on her favorite Bible verse[21].  The verse came from the very end of the Book of Joshua.  Whereas Abraham was the Father of a great nation, Joshua was the one who led them back into the promised land of Israel after the death of Moses. 

The verse that Cleo picked goes as follows:
“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.  You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God have you has failed.  Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”- Joshua 23:14. 

God’s promises to Cleo did not include a long-life, nor a pain-free life, nor a life free of disappointment.  Here’s what God promised Cleo instead.  God promises to Cleo were instead eternal in nature.   God’s promises would not fail Cleo[22]. 

To quote the Apostle Paul: “Look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal[23].”

Consider how God’s promises work in our own life.  God’s promises were given to Abraham thousands of years ago in a land, far, far away from here.  The promises given to Abraham on this day, Christians believe are eventually fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ[24].  God’s promises have continually reached around the world since Christ rose from the dead.  These promises turned a small group of Disciples into a faith that reached our ancestors in Germany in the 8th Century[25], reaching Scandinavia shortly after that, and reaching nearly every corner of the world in the centuries that followed.  We gather here on this day because God’s promises that a 99-year-old man would become the Father of a great nation with his barren wife Sarah have come true.  No matter how long the odds of God’s promises seem to be.  The cross assures us that in his presence that any meals within his kingdom will be served on time regardless of schedule.  Amen
 
 
 


[1] Pink, Daniel. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. Riverhead Books. New York. 2018. Print. P.177-200. 
[2] Pink, Daniel. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. P.179
[3] Pink, Daniel. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. P.178.
[4] Pink, Daniel. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. P.187
[5] Pink, Daniel. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. P.188. 
[6] Pink, Daniel. When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. P.188. 
[7] “Dabbawala.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 13. Jan.2018. Web. Feb.4.2018. 
[8] Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16. 
[9] Chapters 12-25. 
[10] Fretheim, Terry. “Commentary on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16”. Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 8. Mar.2009. Web. Feb.6.2018. 
[11] Genesis 12:1-9. 
[12] Fretheim, Terry. “Commentary on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16”.
[13] Genesis 18:12. 
[14] Howard, Cameron. B.R. “Commentary on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 1.Mar.2015. Web. Feb.6.2018. 
[15] Howard, Cameron. B.R. “Commentary on Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16.”
[16] “Emancipation Proclamation.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 29. Jan.2018. Web. Feb.4.2018. 
[17] Washingston gives the following example in his book Up from Slavery. 
[18] Moore. Douglas. E. “Promise.” Sermon Illustrations. Web. 4.Feb.2018. 
[19] Moore. Douglas. E. “Promise.”
[20] Steir, Pastor Leon. “Cleo and John (Part one of two).” Email Mediatations. 9.Apr.2015. Web. 4. Feb.2018. 
[21] Steir, Pastor Leon. “Cleo and John (Part one of two).”
[22] Steir, Pastor Leon. “Cleo and John (Part one of two).”
[23] 2 Corinthians 4:18. 
[24] Steir, Pastor Leon. “Abraham and Adamou (part one of two).” Email Mediatations. 26. June.2015. Web. Feb.4.2018. 
[25] Steir, Pastor Leon. “Abraham and Adamou (part one of two).”

First Lesson: Genesis 9: 8-17
Responsive Reading: Psalm 25: 1-10
Second Lesson: 1 Peter 3: 18-22
Gospel Lesson: Mark 1: 9-15

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
“Don’t sit near the fire if your head is made of butter.  The closer we are to temptation, the more it influences us[1].”- Martin Luther

Let me begin this morning with a story about Toad and his good friend Frog[2].  Toad one day decided to bake some cookies; they were the best smelling cookies that he had ever made.  Toad decides to eat one; he’s delighted as it’s the best tasting cookie he had ever eaten.  Toad decides he better share the cookies with Frog. 

Frog takes one bite and agrees with Toad that these are the best cookies ever.

Frog and Toad decide to eat cookie after cookie as their stomachs grow fuller and fuller.

Finally Frog figures perhaps they should stop, so they don’t get sick.

Toad agrees but asks Frog that they eat one last cookie before stopping.  They munch their cookies down in about three seconds.  They see the cookie jar is still full of cookies. 

They quickly decide one more last cookie won’t hurt, so they scarf their cookies down in about three seconds yet again.

Toad cries out “We must stop eating[3].”  Frog agrees but decides that they need the willpower to resist such strong temptation.

Toad asks Frog “What is willpower?”

Frog answers “Willpower is trying hard not to do something you really want to.”

Lightbulb goes on in Toad’s head “You mean like eating all these cookies?”

“Exactly,” says Frog.

Frog hatches a plan.  “We will put all the cookies in a box; then we will not eat any more cookies[4].”

Toad objects “But we can open the box[5].”

Frog agrees, but then says “Well we can tie some string around the box, then we won’t eat any more cookies[6].”

Toad points out “But we can cut the string on the box.”

Frog agrees. “We will then place the cookies on a high shelf[7].”  Frog decides to get a ladder to put the cookies away.

Toad points out “But we’re still able to climb the ladder to get the cookies.”

Frog decides there is one solution to the problem.  He brings the box of cookies outside, shouts for the birds to get the cookies.  Pretty soon, birds come from all around taking away every last delicious bite.

Toad sees the scene unfold and gets quite sad.  “We now have no more cookies to eat.”

Frog says “I know, but we actually used our willpower to resist temptation[8].”

Toad looks at Frog then says “You can keep all your willpower, I’m going back home to bake a cake[9].”

The story of Toad and Frog leads us into our Gospel lesson for Today from Mark 1[10].  It’s the story of Jesus journeying into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil for forty days.  The Devil presents Jesus with three temptations. 

The first temptation of Bread we can understand as the lust of the flesh or doing something because it feels good[11].  No different than eating cookies till your stomach aches.  Resisting this temptation was going to be a struggle as Jesus had been starving for the past forty days. 

The second temptation that Jesus faces deals with pride[12], The Devil takes Jesus to the highest pinnacle of the Temple with an offer to throw himself down to make him save himself.  Jesus rejects this temptation as an abuse of his powers.

The third temptation that Jesus faces deals with power[13].  The devil offers Jesus all the kingdoms of the world plus all the fame and earthly glory that go along with them.

The offers that the Devil presents Jesus with is quite enticing: Jesus can have all he ever wants in This life if he will bow down and worship the Devil[14]. 

Resisting these temptations wasn’t going be easy for Jesus. 

The point of our lesson is this.  We face similar temptations every day.  Giving in to such temptations has the power to destroy us. 

One of the most famous works of German Literature tells the story of Dr. Faust[15].  Dr. Faust’s story begins with a conversation between God and the Devil.  Similar to the story of Job, the Devil makes a bet with God that he can steal Dr. Faust’s soul.  Dr. Faust seems an unlikely candidate for such a bet; he was widely renowned as a brilliant scientist and a good man of faith.  The Devil though understands Dr. Faust’s cookies which he will be unable to resist.  The Devil presents Dr. Faust with an offer of everything he could want for the rest of his life; the only cost would be his eternal soul.  Dr. Faust thinks this is a wonderful deal as he was a young man with death way off in the distance. 

Dr. Faust from this point forward accepts the Devil’s deal. Dr. Faust explains his decision to God as such: “I am not indebted to you for the life you gave me, so I want to forget you, God, and live for myself[16].”

The Devil’s deal produces a wonderful life for Dr. Faust.  Towards the end of his life though, Dr. Faust began to realize something that the deal he agreed to so many years ago wasn’t good at all.  Dr. Faust stared at his upcoming death with nothing but despair.  Dr. Faust’s salvation seemed to be lost in a moment of seeking out pleasure years before.  

Here’s the thing about Temptation, we can have the best intentions to resist it, yet as in the case of Frog and Toad no matter what the rewards: Human willpower is quite weak.  As in the story of Dr. Faust, it’s really easy for us only to see how temptation benefits us today while being unable to see how temptation will damage you tomorrow. 

Tim Zingale tells the following story: Many years ago a king had a beautiful daughter[17].  Everyone within the kingdom wanted to marry the princess.  The princess didn’t care who she married as long as he loved her more than he loved anything else. The king and the princess one day devised a test to the courters’ love.  An announcement was made that on a certain day there would be a race.  The winner of the race would get to marry the princess.  Everyone rich or poor, tall or short, royal or common would be allowed to enter.  The only criteria to enter the race was you needed to profess your love for the princess above all else[18]. 

Race day comes the starting line is filled with every eligible bachelor in the kingdom.  They all intended to run many miles to win the princess’ hand in marriage.  They all hear that the princess would be waiting at the finish line.  Whoever grabbed her hand first, would take the princess as his bride[19].

Right before the start of the race, an announcement was made.  It was announced that the king was one of the wealthiest men in the world, and because he didn’t want anyone to come away from the race empty-handed, he had scattered a collection of his treasures along the course.  Each runner was free to take what he wanted[20].

The race begins; runners quickly get distracted with bags of gold and gems.  They would grab pendants and jeweled encrusted cups.  Runner after runner began to line his pocket with treasures.  Pretty soon, the princess was forgotten[21].

There was one man though who was different[22]; he didn’t run fast, in fact, he kind of limped a bit when running.  Yet the man kept pressing on regardless of the trinkets around him.  It was this man who would eventually grab the princess’ hand in marriage, and become a prince within the kingdom. 

The great hope for this morning is temptation as in the story of the princess has been overcome.  It wasn’t overcome by Frog, Toad, Faust, or any of the men of the kingdom.  The temptation was overcome by Jesus for forty days in the wilderness.  Christ defeated the power of the devil.  And Christ in just a few short weeks will overcome the power of death through his resurrection.  These are forces that we cannot defeat on our own, but Christ overcomes them for us, so our hope is that we look towards the day when His Kingdom shall eventually become our Kingdom. 

You might wonder this morning whatever happened to Dr. Faust[23]? The man who sold his soul to the Devil?  Faust dies, his soul would appear to be the Devil’s for all eternity.  Yet God’s forces intervene regardless of the darkest secrets within Faust’s past.  Even Faust receives God’s grace.  The final scene of Dr.Faust’s story has him carried into heaven for all eternity[24].  Faust’s weaknesses did not lead him to Hell as even he thought they would, victory had previously been won for him as Christ endured for forty days in the wilderness and three more days hanging upon a cross. Yet this story was not over.  Amen


[1] Crockett, Kent. The 911 Handbook. Hendrickson Publishers. Peabody, MA. 2003. Print. P.33 taken from kentcrockett.com. 
[2] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. Navpress. 1989. Print. P.73-74 taken from sermonillustrations.com. 
[3] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74
[4] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74.
[5] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74.
[6] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74.
[7] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74.
[8] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74.
[9] Ortlund, Ray&Anne. Renewal. P.73-74.
[10] Mark 1:9-15. 
[11] Houdmann, S. Micheal. “What was the meaning and purpose of Jesus' temptations?” Got Questions.org.  Web. Jan.31.2018. 
[12] Houdmann, S. Micheal. “What was the meaning and purpose of Jesus' temptations?”
[13] Houdmann, S. Micheal. “What was the meaning and purpose of Jesus' temptations?”
[14] Stier, Pastor Leon. “Led by the Spirit… To Be Tempted (part one)” Email Mediations. 24. Feb.2015. Web. Jan.31.2018. 
[15] Stier, Pastor Leon. “Led by the Spirit… To Be Tempted (part one.”
[16] Stier, Pastor Leon. “Led by the Spirit…To Be Tempted (part two).  Email Mediatations. 25. Feb.2015. Web. Jan.31.2018. 
[17] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.” Sermon Writer. 2006. Web. Jan.31.2018.  Also found on Sermon Central. 
[18] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.”
[19] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.”
[20] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.”
[21] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.”
[22] Zingale, Tim. “To Tempt.”
[23] “Faust”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.  30.Jan.2018. Web. Jan.31.2018.  Plot twist taken from Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe’s story of Faust. 
[24] Faust”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.

First Lesson: 2 Kings 2: 1-12
Responsive Reading: Psalm 50: 1-6
Second Lesson: 2 Corinthians 4: 3-6
​Gospel Lesson: Mark 9: 2-9

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
Argentina and Chile have one of the largest shared borders in the world of 3,000 miles running alongside the Andes Mountains[1].  When both countries declared independence from the Spanish in 1810, the border immediately became disputed.  The primary source of the tension in this dispute is the Patagonia region along the Southern coast of South America[2].  Patagonia is considered some of the most beautiful land in the world.  After nearly a century of border disputes between the two counties, a local bishop decided to erect a statue on the country’s borders called “Christ of the Andes[3].”  The statue was to serve as a message of Christ’s call for peace between the two countries.  The statue’s completion in 1904 was initially a great cause for celebration.  Soldiers from both countries would fire gun salutes together such a thing would have been unheard of a few years prior[4].  Pretty soon trouble arose, the people of Chile noticed something about the statute; the statue was facing Argentina turning its back on Chile[5].  The people of Chile were ready to go to war over the slight produced by this statue.  A newspaper editor in Chile saw things much different from his fellow countrymen; he decided he needed to write an editorial about the statue.  He proceeded to write to the people of Chile not to worry about any slights regarding the statue because “The people of Argentina need more watching over than the Chileans[6].” The people of Chile saw their anger turn to laughter; the countries continued in the years ahead with relative peace and eighty years after the construction of Christ of the Andes, the two countries formally recognized their friendship with each other[7]. 

The border statue had two perspectives on one event; thankfully the newspaper editor’s perspective was ultimately the one that saved the day.

The second story for this morning told by D.L. Moody tells a similar tale of one event with two very different perspectives.  Once upon a time, there was a Christian woman who was bed-ridden because of an illness[8].  Here’s what made the woman remarkable: her attitude was one of perpetual optimism no matter how much pain she felt or how much sicker she ultimately got. The worst things got the woman seemingly got sunnier.  The woman had no earthly reason to celebrate.  Her apartment was on the fifth floor of the most rundown building any of you have ever seen, yet this didn’t bother her.  Not everyone saw things this way, one day a friend came to visit her bringing another guest in one of the wealthiest women around.  There was no elevator in the dark and dingy building, so the two women had to climb the steps from the first floor.  By the time they reached the second floor, the wealthy woman had commented “What a dark and filthy place[9]!"  To which her friend commented, “Don’t worry, it gets better the higher up, you go[10].”  When they reach the third floor, the wealthy woman comments “Things look even worse here."  To which her friend mouths the same reply “Don’t worry, it gets better higher up.”  Finally, the women get to the top floor.  The wealthy woman looks at the surroundings; the room was the drabbest and most run-down thing she had seen in her life.  The wealthy woman couldn’t for the life of her make sense of her friend’s words “it gets better higher up.”  The wealthy woman then proceeds to say to the sickly woman “It must be very difficult for you to be here like this[11]!”  A huge smile breaks out over the sickly woman’s face, “I’m happy here because it’s going to be better higher up[12].” 

The sickly woman and the wealthy woman saw the same room, yet they interpreted the room very differently.  The wealthy woman only saw things regarding what you see Today[13].  The sickly woman saw something much different at work; she knew that regardless of her present surroundings, her mountaintop was still to come. 

Both these stories tell the tale of one event with two different perspectives.  In the case of the Christ of the Andes statue, it’s the difference between war and peace.  In the case of the wealthy woman and sickly woman, it’s the difference between despair and hope. 

You see the human eye is one of the most remarkable organisms in the world.  Consider its complexity[14].  The human eye accounts for one/four-thousandths of an adult’s weight[15].  The eye processes about 80% of information that we receive in this lifetime.  The retina contains 130 million rod-shaped cells to detect light intensity[16], impulses are transmitted to the brain by nearly one million nerve fibers, and the eyes manage to be kept clean by self-producing just the right amount of fluid to clean eyes within one five-thousandth of a second[17].  The amazing thing about the human eye is despite the minor differences in function, the precision of similarities between every human eye out there. 

Here’s the most important thing about the human eye, people can come to very different answers to the same events which they witness out of them. 

In our Gospel lesson for Today[18], Jesus and Peter’s eyes despite being very similar come to two very different answers.  Our lesson begins as such, Jesus and Peter climb to the top of a mountain.  Peter witnesses a jaw-dropping scene, Jesus starts shining as bright as the sun, then appearing alongside Jesus are Moses and Elijah the two previous greatest heroes of Israel’s faith.   Pretty soon, something even bigger takes place than appearances of the long-dead heroes of the faith, a voice comes down from heaven proclaiming “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.  Listen to him[19]!”  Jesus had been proclaimed by the heavens to be a bigger deal than even Moses or Elijah.  Peter and the rest of the Disciples are so amazed at this scene of transfiguration that they fall onto the ground in sheer awe.  Peter figures his life after witnessing such a dramatic scene will never be the same ever again. 

Peter’s first response is “Lord; it is good for us to be here.  If you wish, I will put up three shelters; one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah[20].”  Peter knew a thing or two about marketing having been a fisherman[21].  Peter knew how to sell fish and thought he could do the same here with religion.   Peter wanted to get the word out over a religious catch as he had never seen before.  Peter knew people would travel from far and wide to see Jesus, Moses, and Elijah together.  There would be no more denying among the people of Israel that Jesus was the one to follow. 

Peter thinks he finally has Jesus figured out, only for Jesus to tell Peter that nothing about this most dramatic of scenes will matter until Jesus rises from the dead.  In fact, Peter hears he needed to keep his mouth shut until then.

Here’s what Peter is reminded of on this day, in Jesus’ presence, we do not set the religious agenda.  Jesus continually finds ways to afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted[22].  Jesus has a way of bestowing mercy upon the worst of sinners even when it seems not to be possible[23].  We are reminded that as we look at any one event of our lives from the border dispute of two neighboring countries to visiting a sickly old woman, Jesus’ perspective on what his eyes see is continually so much different from our own.  Where we might only see crosses laid before us, Jesus sees what’s on the other side of the cross. 

As we keep this in mind, let me describe one final scene for this morning, the year is 2018, the place is Silver Bay[24].  It’s a cold day in April, the wind is blowing, and rain is drizzling down.  A woman is gathered at Sawtooth Cemetery along her family plus a few select friends.  She’s staring at her husband’s coffin; her mind is consumed with the last days of his life as his body got more and more ravaged by cancer, till the point that he could not get out of bed.  She stares at the coffin, but she does not cry.  She sees the casket and believes that things will indeed be better higher up.  She sees a day where her husband’s body is strong once again, where he walks out of bed on his very power, where previous hospital visits are now a distant memory[25].  She sees a day when the two of them will eat dinner together again, where they embrace, where they walk, talk, and share laughs together[26].  She does not cry.  Some people only see a casket on this day, but she sees something more.  She sees not their separation on this day, she rather sees the day when they will be together again, and all things are made new once again[27].  Peter upon the Mount of Transfiguration, saw what he thought was the pinnacle of his faith, whereas Jesus knew the pinnacle of faith was yet to come.  Whereas many of us see caskets on days such as this, Jesus’ eyes see the empty tombs which are soon to come. Amen


[1] “Argentina–Chile relations.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 23.Jan.2018. Web. Jan.29.2018. 
[2] “Argentina–Chile relations.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[3] “Christ the Redeemer of the Andes.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 13. Nov.2017. Web. Jan.29.2018. 
[4] “Christ the Redeemer of the Andes.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[5] “Conflict” Bits & Pieces.  25.June. 1992. Web. Jan.29.2018.  Taken from Sermonillustrations.com. 
[6] Conflict” Bits & Pieces. 
[7] “Argentina–Chile relations.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[8] Schultz, Don. “The Mountain Before The Valley.” Sermon Central. 27. Feb.2003. Web. Jan.29.2018. 
[9] Schultz, Don. “The Mountain Before The Valley.”
[10] Schultz, Don. “The Mountain Before The Valley.”
[11] Schultz, Don. “The Mountain Before The Valley.”
[12] Schultz, Don. “The Mountain Before The Valley.”
[13] Schultz, Don. “The Mountain Before The Valley.”
[14] Richardson, Taylor. “Seeing is Believing: The Design of the Human Eye.” Apologetics Press. 2004. Web. Jan.29.2018. 
[15] Blanchard, John. Does God Believe in Atheists?  2000.  EP Books.  Grand Rapids, MI. P.313. taken from Richardson, Taylor “Seeing is Believing: The Design of the Human Eye.”
[16] Blanchard, John. Does God Believe in Atheists? 
[17] Blanchard, John. Does God Believe in Atheists? 
[18] Mark 9:2-9. 
[19] Mark 9:7. 
[20] Mark 9:5. 
[21] Stier, Pastor Leon. “Not on the Same Page (b.) Email Mediataions. 1. Mar.2017. Web. Jan.29.2018. 
[22] Stier, Pastor. Leon. “Not on the Same Page (a).” Email Mediataions. 28.Feb.2017. Web. Jan.29.2018. 
[23] Stier, Pastor. Leon. “Not on the Same Page (a).”
[24] Based on “A Different Kind of Dream.” By Rev. Dr. Mike Graves published on Day 1 on Feburary 19, 2012. 
[25] Graves, Rev.Dr. Mike. “A Different Kind of Dream.” Day 1. 19.Feb.2012. Web. Jan.29.2018. 
[26] Graves, Rev.Dr. Mike. “A Different Kind of Dream.”
[27] Revelation 21:5.  

First Lesson: Isaiah 40: 21-31
Responsive Reading: Psalm 147: 1-11, 20
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 9: 16-23
​Gospel Lesson: Mark 1: 29-39

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”-Psalm 143:8. 

Francis Scott Key was born in 1779 in Fredrick County, Maryland[1].  Key was the son of an officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.  Key was a lawyer by profession[2].  In the year 1814, the War of 1812 was going strong.  The War was not going good for the United States.  Much of Washington D.C. including the White House, the Capitol were in flames; many government officials had fled the city[3].  While the scene was taking place, Francis Scott Key was onboard a British warship seeking to secure the release of a close friend of President James Monroe[4].  On this night, though Fort McHenry in Chesapeake Bay was under attack by the British.  If Fort McHenry fell the city of Baltimore would probably be next and the new nation possibly with it. So Key was unable to leave the ship till the battle was over.  So Key slept, figuring he would learn the battle’s outcome in the morning upon seeing what flag (American or British) flew on top Fort McHenry[5]. 

The next morning by the dawn’s early light, the American flag over Fort McHenry that Key hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming continued to fly.  Key who also enjoyed poetry began writing a poem about what he had witnessed.  Key showed the poem to a few friends, and soon a local Baltimore newspaper published its words in conjunction with a popular tavern tune.  Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner” was a hit. 

Here’s what you might not know about our National Anthem.  Sporting events like our Super Bowl later today, only recite the first verse.  The Star-Spangled Banner has four verses.  The fourth verse might be the most interesting[6].  Let me read the final lines of the Star-Spangled Banner:
“Then conquer we must, when our cause is just; And this be our motto, “In God is our Trust.”

Key based his words on Psalm 143[7].  Francis Scott Key was a man of deep faith.  He grew up a devout Episcopal[8].  He nearly became a priest instead of a lawyer.  He was a long-time member of the American Bible Society.  Key was influential in the founding of multiple Episcopal seminaries[9].  As passionate as Key was about his country, Key wanted to remember forever that the only source that he could ultimately trust in, even as he saw horrific bombings all around him, was his God. 

Key’s life leads us into the tale of a seemingly unrelated character the Mother in Law of Simon Peter.  We hear her story within our Gospel lesson for Today from Mark 1[10].

Our lesson takes place immediately after Jesus heals the man possessing a demon at the synagogue in Capernaum[11].  After the service gets done, Simon Peter and Andrew invite Jesus and the rest of the Disciples to their nearby home to get something to eat.  Now Simon Peter’s mother in law had been sick; she had been bed-ridden.  Simon Peter and Andrew explain the situation to Jesus.  Jesus walks into her presence, takes her by the hand, her fever was gone, and she then manages to serve Jesus and all the Disciples dinner.  Simon Peter and Andrew had just seen something pretty dramatic with the demoniac-cleansing, now they see Jesus heal in their lives in a much, more personal way within their Mother-in-Law. 
The stories of Francis Scott Key and Simon Peter’s Mother-In-Law showcase something to us about the nature of trust.  All of us in this life have our unique share of problems, might be relationship problems, health problems, or money problems.  We often think we know the best way to handle these problems; we might even pray to God saying how our problems can be gone[12].  The thing that makes trusting in God so difficult is his ways are often not our ways[13]. 

Jake Olson was twelve years old and diagnosed with Cancer of the Retinas[14].  Olson’s eyes were going to need to be removed, and he was going to be blind going forward.  Olson’s favorite thing in the world was the USC Trojans Football team.  Olson’s final wish before losing his sight was to see the Trojans play one last time before going blind.  Word of Olson’s wish reaches the coach at the time, Pete Carroll, Olson becomes a fixture at practices and on the sidelines during games.  He draws attention for his ability to encourage the Trojans even with what he’s enduring[15].  Olson has his surgery loses his eyes.  Olson becomes a recipient of a seeing-eye dog.

Olson goes through high-school[16].  Olson becomes a member of his high-school football team.  Olson becomes the team’s long-snapper.  Long-snapping is dependent on muscle memory more so than strength or eye-sight.  Olson had to trust he knew how his teammates would ultimately line-up, or such a thing would be impossible for a blind player.  Olson would run onto the field by grabbing one of his teammate's shoulders[17].

Olson, as he always wanted to, attends USC.  Olson decides that he’s going to try to get onto the football team.  USC is year-in-year-out, one of the best teams in the entire country.  Olson knows the only way he could ever play is as a long-snapper, for two seasons, he practices with the team never getting into a game. 
Coach Clay Helton knew how much his now teammates loved Olson[18].  He made it a goal of getting Olson into a game.  The problem was Olson could be badly hurt by large college athletes in such a setting.  Helton hatches a plan; he contacts the coach of an upcoming opponent then agrees to give them a free kick if they give Olson the chance to do the same.  September 1st, 2017 against the Western Michigan Broncos Jake Olson’s impossible dream becomes a reality.  Olson makes a perfect snap, 90,000 people go wild.  Olson describes the moment as such: “If you can’t see how God works things out, then I think you’re the blind one[19].”
Trust that God will work things out for a greater good as in the case of Jake Olson can be really tough sometimes.  It’s tough to believe your God is going to come through watching your home getting bombed by one of the world’s greatest military powers like Francis Scott Key.  It’s tough to believe when you’re like Simon Peter seeing your Mother-In-Law getting sicker and sicker day after day.  Jesus came through in all these individuals’ life as unlikely as it seemed at the time!

Our lesson for Today closes with word of Jesus’ deeds spreading.  The whole village brings people to see Jesus at sunrise[20].  What’s amazing about this scene is so many people had the faith and trust to bring the sick out of their homes believing that Jesus possessed the power to save them.  People were being carried on cots by multiple people wishing for not only healing but ultimately hope[21].

Our situation with Jesus is different than the people that Jesus encounters in Galilee in our lesson.  We don’t often encounter such direct answers to our predicaments.  Our prayers are seemingly met with silence[22].  We wonder through the course of the night how might the morning after the bombings of our life ultimately look. 

What does trust in God within our lives ultimately look?  Let me close with one final story; Pastor James Brown was a Baptist preacher down in Louisiana[23].  Years earlier, Pastor Brown had wanted to take up flying airplanes.  One day while up in the air for a lesson, the instructor gives the strangest of requests.  “I want you to put the plane in a steep and extended dive.  Fly the plane like you intend to crash it.”  Pastor Brown was confused, but he does what he’s told figuring the instructor had a point he wished to illustrate.  Even Pastor Brown couldn’t believe what happened next.  The engine began to stall, the plane began to plunge out of control, and the instructor just sat there not responding.  Pastor Brown began to panic but soon figured out how to get the plane back on course[24].

Pastor Brown got was quite mad at his instructor for pulling the following stunt.  At which point the Instructor looks at him as calm as can be to say “There is no position you can get this airplane into that I cannot get you out of. If you want to learn to fly, go up there and do it again[25]." 

Pastor Brown at this moment had a Spiritual Epiphany that would never leave him.  “Remember this. As you serve Me, there is no situation you can get yourself into that I cannot get you out of. If you trust me, you will be all right[26].” The lesson of Pastor Brown’s Flight Instructor is the point of our lesson for Today. No matter what you’re going through today as in the case of Francis Scott Key, Jake Olson, or Simon Peter’s Mother in- Law, even the presence of death itself, our God who hanged upon a cross can get you out of it.   “In God is our Trust.” The Cross of Christ shall endure forever!  Amen




[1] “Francis Scott Key.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 9.Jan.2018. Web. Jan. 25.2018. 
[2]  “Francis Scott Key.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[3] Stier, Pastor Leon. “In God We Trust.” Email Meditations. 14. Mar. 2017. Web. Jan.24.2018.   
[4] Stier, Pastor Leon. “In God We Trust.”
[5] Stier, Pastor Leon. “In God We Trust.”
[6] “The Star Spangled Banner.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 22. Jan.2018. Web. Jan.24.2018. 
[7] Psalm 143:8. 
[8] “Francis Scott Key.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[9] “Francis Scott Key.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[10] Mark 1:29-39. 
[11] Zingale, Tim. “Let Go, Let God.” Sermon Central. 30.Jan.2006. Web. Jan.24.2018. 
[12] Zingale, Tim. “Let Go, Let God.”
[13] Isaiah 55:8. 
[14] Moriaty, Morgan. “8 of the coolest parts from the incredible Jake Olson story.” SB Nation. Vox Media. 7.Oct.2017. Web. Jan.24.2018. 
[15] Moriaty, Morgan. “8 of the coolest parts from the incredible Jake Olson story.”
[16] Moriaty, Morgan. “8 of the coolest parts from the incredible Jake Olson story.”
[17] Plaschke, Bill. “USC long snapper Jake Olson delivers in a key moment — 'Certain things are bigger than the game'. Los Angeles Times. 2. Sept.2017. Web. Jan.24.2018. 
[18] Plaschke, Bill. “USC long snapper Jake Olson delivers in a key moment — 'Certain things are bigger than the game'.
[19] Plaschke, Bill. “USC long snapper Jake Olson delivers in a key moment — 'Certain things are bigger than the game'.
[20] Mark 1:37. 
[21] Zingale, Tim. “Let Go, Let God.”
[22] Zingale, Tim. “Let Go, Let God.”
[23] Brown, Pastor James.  Evangeline Baptist Church, Wildsville, LA. Discoveries. Fall, 1991, Vol. 2, No. 4. Taken from Sermonillustrations.com on Jan.25.2018. 
[24] Pastor James Brown. Sermonillustrations.com.
[25] Pastor James Brown. Sermonillustrations.com.
[26] Pastor James Brown. Sermonillustrations.com.

First Lesson: Deuteronomy 18: 15-20
Responsive Reading: Psalm 111
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 8: 1-13
Gospel Lesson: Mark 1: 21-28

 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

“Ephesians 6:12-13a  —  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…”
 
Clerow Wilson, Jr. was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1933[1].  Wilson’s father was a frequently out of work handyman.  When Wilson was seven years old, his mother abandoned the family.  After his mother’s exit, Wilson bounced around to a series of foster homes.  Wilson desperate for a new kind of life at the age of 16 lied to get into the Air Force.  The Air Force was where Wilson’s career took off only not in the way, we would think.  Wilson quickly became known as a great story-teller, he soon began to be sent to other bases as a way to cheer up depressed troops.  Wilson was soon given the nickname of Flip due to his easily excitable nature. 
 
Wilson breaks into the entertainment industry, becomes a regular at the Apollo Theater, The Tonight Show, Laugh-In, and The Ed Sullivan Show.  Wilson eventually gets his own show “The Flip Wilson Show”.  Wilson’s show was so popular that it introduced multiple catchphrases into the American vocabulary such as “When you’re hot; you’re hot; when you’re not, you’re not.” and “What you see is what you get[2]!”
 
Wilson’s most popular character though was when he played a preacher’s wife named Geraldine Jones[3].  Wilson created Geraldine because he wanted to show a woman on T.V. who was both strong and honest[4].  Geraldine’s main claim to fame was never changing her manners no matter the circumstances.  In, Geraldine’s most famous skit, her preacher husband gets mad at how much Geraldine had spent on a new dress.  Geraldine looks her husband in the eyes then claims “The Devil made me buy this dress!”
 
The audience howled in approval.  Wilson’s comedy album of “The Devil Made Me Buy This Dress” went gold and eventually won a Grammy Award for best comedy album[5].  Audiences howled at Geraldine’s excuses.  Wilson’s act made ultimately a T.V. Pioneer with Time Magazine proclaiming him “TV's first black superstar[6].”
 
Geraldine Jones raises an interesting question for us to consider this morning: does the Devil make us buy new dresses or how much blame can we place on the Devil for our actions?
 
Second Story- Jimmy Swaggart was a struggling Assemblies of God preacher in rural Louisiana in the 1950’s[7].  He eventually transitions into full-time revival work.  Swaggart soon develops quite a following throughout the south.  By the Mid 1970’s Swaggart had developed quite a presence on both Radio and T.V becoming famous across the country.  In 1988 Swaggart would see his world come crashing down[8].  When Swaggart gets on T.V. teary-eyed and admits “I have sinned.”  It would soon be revealed Swaggart had acted inappropriately with a woman of the night.  Swaggart immediately receives a one-year suspension from the Assemblies of God for his deeds.  Swaggart then proceeds to call the equally well-known preacher Oral Roberts.[9]  Oral Roberts and Swaggart agree that “Demon-possession” was the reason for Swaggart’s adultery.  Roberts proceeds to call out a demon over the phone from Swaggart.  Roberts described the Demon as having “long fingernails” digging into Swaggart’s flesh.  Swaggart declared himself a new man after Roberts’ intervention.  Swaggart then announced that he was ready to return to his pulpit[10].  Swaggart’s sincerity quickly became debated amongst his denomination the Assemblies of God[11]. 
 
The second question for this morning: do demons actually possess our body as in the case of Jimmy Swaggart leading us to do things we would never do on our own?
 
Hearing these stories of Flip Wilson - Geraldine Jones/Jimmy Swaggart bring us to our Gospel lesson for Today from Mark 1[12].  In our lesson, Jesus is teaching in Capernaum on the Sabbath.  The people are astonished at his teaching.  Right during the middle of Jesus’ teaching, he is interrupted by a man possessed by a demon.  Jesus stops and orders the demon to leave the man’s body.  The crowd then witnesses the demon leaving the man’s body.  The demon even cries out in a loud voice.  The people were amazed.  Jesus’ fame then began to spread fast.
 
So how should we make sense of this story?  Now, this is a pretty unique story within the Bible for a man to be possessed by a demon in a manner such as this.  Very few people have ever experienced such demon-possession. 
 
There is something that we struggle with that is more common.  We’ve probably all struggled with emotions at times with our lives that are difficult to control.  It might be anger, might be jealousy, it might be a longing for revenge; it might be our arrogance and self-righteousness.
 
Albert Einstein was once quoted as saying: “It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.”
 
Let me ask you this[13]: Have you ever said or done something you immediately regretted because you knew it was hurtful?  Even now when you look back at your action, you wonder “What exactly were you thinking?”
 
Perhaps a good way to understand demon-possession is while you’re unlikely to be physically overwhelmed by a demon, what is perhaps much more likely is that unseen forces do possess the ability to help lead one to commit the gravest of sins[14].
 
Last Sunday night, my beloved Minnesota Vikings played for the fifth time in my life for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.  The game was disappointing.  Soon after the game ends, videos are shown on the internet of Viking fans being pelted with beer cans and be called every nasty slur in the books while walking in Philadelphia; along with reports of even greater physical violence than this.  Being a loyal Vikings fan, seeing a persecuted minority in the face of the overwhelming majority, your mind quickly turns to thoughts of comeuppance or revenge.  I know better than this on several levels, I know that you need to resist the temptation to paint Philadelphia Eagles fans with too broad a brush.  I also know that in years of attending Vikings games, all fan behavior that I’ve witnessed hasn’t been exactly stellar.  I also know that violence most often ends up producing even more violence.  Suffering ends up producing more suffering.
 
These thoughts serve as a reminder that the unseen forces wage battle against all of us. 
 
Evil shows its face when the hideously ugly appears to possess a degree of beauty.  As pointed out by Pastor Leon Stier: “Life is a battle, a battle within yourself, and, a battle with others when they yield to the Evil One and wrong you[15].”
 
So why Geraldine Jones’ line “The Devil made me do it” was quite funny, the line also in many cases contains a degree of truth especially if we’re unaware. 
 
Unseen forces tend to attack us where we’re at our weakest.  For example, I don’t much enjoy the taste of beer.  Drinking one beer might be enough for a year.  Whereas there are certain types of chocolate, I better limit what I have in the house.  If you’re Jimmy Swaggart, the weakness might be a younger woman.  Evil forces are effective because they’re clever.  If we’re anxious, these anxious forces make the future increasingly uncertain. If we’re depressed, these forces make the future increasingly hopeless.  If we struggle with shame, these forces keep throwing our past actions in our face. 
 
In the face of these forces, we do have hope.  Jesus in our lesson for today shows the power to cast out an evil spirit out of this hurting man.  We are unlikely to see anything so dramatic within our lives, yet as we go through this Epiphany season, we are reminded that God seeks to touch and heal us through the presence of his son.   The story of the man with the unclean spirit might seem not to have much to do with us, yet if you think regarding unwelcome temptations in life rather than physical demon-possession than the lesson points to our own lives[16].  We rest assured that no matter how dark the forces are that attack us, the Cross of Christ can eventually overcome them all. 
 
So did the Devil make Geraldine Jones buy a new dress[17]?  Think back to the Garden of Eden, Adam blames Eve[18]; Eve blames the serpent[19].  Rather than admit that what took place was their fault, the Devil doesn’t forcibly remove credit cards from your wallet.  Evil forces may tempt us and entice us all the day long, yet he only feeds on our brokenness. And as in the case of the Minnesota Vikings’ last Sunday, brokenness within life always has a way of coming to the forefront.
 
What the story of the Man at the Synagogue in Capernaum illustrates to us this morning is that no matter how broken our situation may get, Jesus promises that he will eventually flip all our demons out of the room.  Amen
           
        
[1] “Flip Wilson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 17.Oct.2017.  Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[2] Flip Wilson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[3] “Geraldine Jones (Character).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 7.Dec.2017. Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[4] Geraldine Jones (Character).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia..
[5] Flip Wilson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[6] Flip Wilson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[7] “Jimmy Swaggart.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 30. Dec.2017. Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[8] “Oral Roberts cast demons out of out of Swaggart, Swaggart friend says.” UPI News Service. 30.Mar.1988. Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[9] Oral Roberts cast demons out of out of Swaggart, Swaggart friend says.” UPI News Service.
[10] “Jimmy Swaggart.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[11] Jimmy Swaggart.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
[12] Mark 1:21-28. 
[13] Stier, Pastor Leon. “I Don’t Know What Got Into Me!” Email Mediatations. 1. Mar.2015. Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[14] Stier, Pastor Leon. “I Don’t Know What Got Into Me!”
[15] Stier, Pastor Leon. “I Don’t Know What Got Into Me!”
[16] Stier, Pastor Leon. “I Don’t Know What Got Into Me!”
[17] Reverend Ed. “Flip Wilson Theology - The Devil Made Me Do It.” Attention Span Blog. Blogger. 11. Apr.2015.  Web. Jan.22.2018. 
[18] Genesis 3:12.
[19] Genesis 3:13.  

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,
 
A few weeks ago, I was watching the Vikings play the Cincinnati Bengals.  What you need to know about the Bengals is this; they weren’t having a good season (5-8) heading into the game, having lost their most recent game 33-7 to the 3-9 Chicago Bears.  Driving from Cincinnati to Minneapolis would take 10 ½ hours.  So because of all these things, you hardly saw much of the Bengals colors of orange and black in a sea of purple on this day.  As My Dad and I looked around, we saw the occasional Bengal fan often sitting alone.  The Bengal followers didn’t have much to cheer about on this day; the Vikings won 34-7.  I couldn’t help but admire the Bengal fans for coming into such a foreign environment because they wanted to do nothing more than support their favorite football team regardless of the odds.
 
Now as we hear the tale of the Cincinnati Bengals fans, our Gospel lesson tells us the tale of another group of foreigners coming to a strange land in the Biblical Magi. 
 
We often misunderstand the Magi as Biblical characters.  In spite of the song “We Three Kings.”, The Magi probably weren’t kings.  The Greek word for King (Va-see-lias) is not used here, whereas (Va-see-lias) is used other places within the New Testament[1].  There is no evidence within the story that Magi are Kings of any kind.  Describing the Magi as wise is probably not the best description for reasons, we’ll get into in a little bit.   
 
So if they weren’t Kings or Wise Men, who then were the Biblical Magi who came to visit Jesus bearing gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.  Magi comes from the Greek term for Magician[2].  Magi appear a few other places in the New Testament both with negative contexts.  Simon the Magi appears in Acts 8, Simon is noted for opposing the apostle before converting.  Elymas the Magi appear in Acts 13 opposes Paul and Barnabas.  Magi in Jesus’ day were known for engaging in things like fortune-telling, and astrology[3].  Even in a story involving an unwed mother, and wandering shepherds, the Magi are the most unique characters within the story of Jesus’ birth.
 
The reason why has everything to do with the Magi’s backgrounds.  From where do the Magi come?  The roots of the word Magi are Persian which would be in modern day Iran.  Magi were traditionally the Priestly class of Zoroastrianism[4].  Magi as a key part of their religious practice would pay attention to the stars as a way of interpreting the astrological significance. 
 
So how do the Magi fit into our Gospel story?  One night while looking at the sky, they see a star rising.  Now in the Magi’s world a rising star that such a sign would speak to the birth of a world-changing leader, so they proceed to travel a thousand plus miles to see the newly born Christ child.
So remember when I said earlier that the Magi weren’t all that wise?  They lacked what some might call “political-savvy[5]?”  As soon as they arrive in Judea, they visit King Herod.  Here’s what you need to know about King Herod as pointed out by Jan Schnell Rippentrop[6].
 
Herod’s career had been building to this moment.  He began his career as a Governor, was promoted to tetrarch then eventually becomes King.  The Magi show up to Herod’s palace then ask Herod “Where can your replacement be found so that we may follow him?”  Herod was a jealous type. Herod had been rising in the political world for years perhaps even decades by this point.   Herod hoped the Magi would return with any information they found so that Herod may kill any potential threat to his throne.  The Magi not being very wise agreed to return to Herod giving descriptions where this child was.  So the Magi not being very wise could have quickly ended the story?  Yet God had other plans. 
 
So the Magi kept following the rising star until it came to rest over the place where the child was.  The Magi bow down and worship the child.  They then proceed to present their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Whether there were just three Magi or three gifts isn’t entirely clear. 
So as the Magi are ready to leave the Christ’s child presence to return to Herod, something happens.  In these days, dreams were considered a way that God communicates with his people[7].  Similar to Mary and Joseph learn in a dream of the need to flee Herod to Egypt; the Magi learn in a dream to avoid the presence of Herod by returning home via a different road. 
So what do we learn from the story of the Biblical Magi Today??
 
The Main point of their presence is that God does not intend to work in the future as he has in the past.  The Magi were probably not Jews.  They were not working in a respectable Jewish profession[8].  What we do know though is they were willing to travel to the ends of the earth, into hostile territory like Cincinnati Bengal fans only their purpose was to worship and honor the birth of a king like the world had never known.  The Magi had been looking at the stars for generations trying to find answers until God knew the time was right to bring them to the presence of the Christ child. 
 
Once upon a time, there was a little boy who ran away from home[9].  His father watched him run out of the house and wasn’t going to stand idle.  So the Father decided that he would follow the boy at a distance so that he could see the boy, but the boy could not see him.  Pretty soon the night falls, pretty soon the sky grows so dark that the boy could barely see.  The Father sees his boy is now terrified with fear.  The boy soon turns to get home, when he realizes that he’s lost, the boy then begins to cry.  It was at this moment though when his father came and embraced him.  The little boy shouts for joy “Daddy, I found you?”  As we hear the story of the Magi, we ponder the question is “Who really found who?”  The Magi didn’t so much find the Christ child, as the Christ child found the Magi. 
 
Perhaps the main point of our lesson is God can move even stars within our life when he needs to.  The most important thing to move stars for is so that the lost get found by the presence of the savior. 
 
Today, we celebrate the first Sunday of Epiphany.  Epiphany is a celebration of Christ revealing himself to all the nations in the presence of the Magi.
 
“There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”-Galatians 3:28. 
 
Epiphany serves as a great reminder to us as Christian people that God is continually using extraordinary means (such as rising stars) to bring all kinds of different people like the Magi into his presence. 
 
Let me close with one final story as we complete Christmas’ twelve days and journey into Epiphany.
 
September 1995, Caryl and Charlie Harvey hear the doorbell ring[10], it was two policeman to tell them that their 20-year-old son Chad had been murdered.
 
Caryl and Charlie in a grief-stricken haze went through the funeral and life in the months after.  Caryl though day by day kept getting angrier at God for how her prayers for Chad’s safety had failed.
 
Caryl one day sits down to pray. “God, if you care about me, I need a miracle[11].  Otherwise, I think I’ll probably die[12].”  Caryl thought not much would happen with this prayer, but pretty soon one night the doorbell rings once again.
 
Caryl’s daughter finds an anonymous gift as she answers the door.  The gift was odd it was a tree branch with apples and a plastic bluebird perched on top. Attached was a note that read the following. 
 
“On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree.
We couldn’t find a partridge,
And our pear tree died,
So you have to settle for a
Bluebird in an apple tree[13].”
 
Attached to Caryl’s gift was a card with a Bible verse describing the birth of John the Baptist. 
The very next night, the doorbell rings again, but no one is quick enough to answer in time.
The gift the next day was too turtle brand lollipops, and two dove chocolate bars underneath read a note.
 
“On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Two turtledoves[14]”
Attached once again was a Bible verse of Gabriel appearing to Mary[15]. 
 
For the next ten days, the same routine followed[16].  On the third day, with French hens unavailable appeared Cornish hens.  On the fourth day, a cassette tape filled with songs about birds “four calling birds.” On the fifth day, the five golden rings were “five” fresh donuts. On the sixth day, the six geese a laying decided to lay pastel chalk eggs.  On the seventh day, seven swans decided to swim on top of a cake.  On the eight day, the eight maids a milking were a new cow candle.  On the ninth day, the nine dancing ladies had become nine gingerbread women who looked like they enjoy to boogey.  On the tenth day, the ten leaping lords were ten wooden leaping puppets. On the eleventh day, came a tape of music from eleven pied pipers.  On the twelfth day, were twelve drums made out of biscuits for the Harvey family to enjoy.  Each of these gifts was presented with an accompanying Bible verse.
 
Each day, each new gift brought a new smile to Caryl Harvey’s face[17].  For the first time since Chad’s death, Caryl Harvey began anticipating the day to come[18].  Caryl Harvey inspite of how unlikely it was for her to see God’s presence in her life, had just encountered God in the most unexpected and unusual of ways.  The following story is no different than one night a group of Magi from a land far, far away from Bethlehem looked out over the sky, they seemed to not fit into the story in any way, no different than Cincinnati Bengal fans looked at a Vikings game.  What the Magi’s story reminds us is that God’s plan includes all sorts of unexpected people coming into our lives.  Just as one unknown gift-giver gave Caryl Harvey hope for the first time in months after the death of her son.  While we might not encounter any rising stars like the Magi, it never hurts to stand and take a look out upon God’s night sky.   Amen


[1] Stier, Leon. “The Wise Men (part one of two)?” Email Mediations. 27.Dec.2014. Web. Jan.2.2018. 
[2] Stier, Leon. “The Wise Men (part one of two)?”
[3] Stier, Leon. “The Wise Men (part one of two)?”
[4] “Biblical Magi.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 4.Jan.2018. Web. Jan.2.2018. 
[5] Stier, Leon. “The Wise Men (part one of two)?”
[6] Rippentrop, Jan Schnell. “Commentary on Matthew 2:1-12.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 06.Jan.2018. Web. Jan.2.2018.
[7] Rippentrop, Jan Schnell. “Commentary on Matthew 2:1-12.”
[8] Stier, Leon. “The Wise Men (part one of two)?”
[9] Stier, Leon. “The Wise Men (part two of two)?”Email Mediations. 28.Dec.2014. Web. Jan.2.2018. 
[10] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Stories for Preaching. Web. Jan.2.2018.  The following is taken from Christianity Today, Vol 39, No.6, 2001. 
[11] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
[12] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
[13] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
[14] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
[15][15] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
[16] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
[17] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
[18] Higgins, Scott. “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

First Lesson: 2 Samuel 7: 1-11, 16
Responsive Reading: Psalm 89: 1-4, 19-26
Second Lesson: Romans 16: 25-27
​Gospel Lesson: Luke 1: 26-38

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
This morning I want to tell you the story of a Rabbit.  Not just any Rabbit, but rather a toy Rabbit who longed to be brought to life.  I want to tell you how this story helps illustrate the meaning of the fourth Advent candle known as the “Love Candle” which we light this morning along with Christmas which we will celebrate early this evening.

Marjorie Williams tells the tale of the Velveteen Rabbit[1].  On Christmas morning, the Velveteen Rabbit was pulled from the boy’s stocking[2].  The boy played with the Velveteen Rabbit for a couple of hours, only to forget about him in the presence of company and other presents.  The Rabbit then proceeded to live in the nursery room cupboard.  The Rabbit was shy around the other toys.  None of the other toys were nice to the Velveteen Rabbit because of its cheap material and lack of engineering.  One day though the Velveteen Rabbit made a friend in the nursery’s oldest toy “The Skin Horse.”  The Skin Horse because of its years in the nursery was the wisest of all the toys.  The Skin Horse proceeded to explain to the Velveteen Rabbit that all the other toys were bitter because they knew “They could never be brought to life[3].”

The Velveteen Rabbit was confused by the Skin Horse talking about being “brought to life.” The Velveteen Rabbit had never seen any real rabbits; the nursery was all he had ever known. Their conversation goes as follows.

Skin Horse begins: “Real isn't how you are made…It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real[4].”

Rabbit responds: “"Does it hurt?”

Skin Horse answers: “Sometimes, "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.”

Rabbit then asks: “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up?”

To which Skin Horse explains: “It doesn't happen all at once, You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand[5].”

As the Velveteen Rabbit hears all this talk about becoming real and being brought to life, it seemed to be nothing but wishful thinking and impossibility for this stuffed rabbit. 

What ends up happening with the Velveteen Rabbit, we’ll get back to its story in a bit.

Now a second story, Mark was an 11-year-old orphan who had previously lost his parents[6]. Mark was now living with his aunt who really didn’t want Mark around.  Despite, Mark’s lack of affection in life he was a good-natured child.

Mark didn’t stand out in school in any way until he started staying after school each day because he dreaded going home.  He began to help his teacher straighten up her room.  Mark didn’t say much, but when he did, he spoke of how much he missed the presence of his deceased mother.

Christmas was coming soon; Mark no longer was staying after class.  Mark’s teacher began to wonder what exactly was happening.  So she asked Mark who informed her that he was busy making her a surprise for Christmas. 

Finally, the last day before Christmas arrives. Mark approaches his teacher with a present.  Mark hands her a small wooden box. 

The teacher is amazed at the effort and beauty that Mark had put into designing the box.
To which Mark said, “That’s not the gift.”

Mark said, “The gift is inside, only you can’t touch it, taste it, or feel it, but mother always said it makes you feel good all the time, warm on cold nights, and safe when you’re all alone[7].”

The Teacher was confused as she gazed into an empty box.  She asked Mark “What will make me feel so good?”

To which Mark answered “Love,” “And mother always said its best when you give it away[8].”

As we hear these two stories of the Velveteen Rabbit longing to receive “new life” and Mark illustrating the nature of love being Christmas’ greatest gift, We come to our Gospel lesson for Today from Luke 1 where an Angel comes to visit Mary to announce the upcoming birth of her child[9]. 

Our lesson for Today is a love story between not only God and Mary, but God and the whole wide world.  It’s a story that illustrates how Our God wants a different kind of life for us than merely drifting off into obscurity upon a nursery room floor.

Mary was a young girl no older than thirteen.  Mary was ordinary and common.  Mary was now being given the most important of all tasks “Bring God into this world as a child.” 

A Velveteen Rabbit becoming real such a tale seems to be nothing but impossible.  But the story of Mary is filled with impossibilities. 

-A Virgin Birth??? Sounds foolish to all who would hear of it[10].

-Joseph risking staying with Mary despite being a laughingstock when people hear the Virgin Birth tale?? Joseph isn't that dumb[11].

-Someone other than Mary would have been worried about being stoned to death for her alleged adultery[12], perhaps because of Mary’s youth she didn’t know any better, or perhaps she figured that her God because of his great love for her had a way even as she wondered “How exactly will this be[13]?”
You see the story of Mary is a tale of the impossible becoming possible.  New life being created apart from traditional ways and methods.  Love being received not in the form of presents, but rather the form of a child.

As we hear the tale of the Angel and Mary this morning, perhaps this causes us to reflect upon the Velveteen Rabbits within our own life.  The hopes and dreams which seem to be nothing but impossibilities[14]. 

These Velveteen Rabbits might be broken relationships; they might be physical troubles, financial troubles, past hurts, these might be obstacles that seem impossible to overcome. 

What the story of Mary giving birth to the Savior of the world should remind us is that God’s purposes are way bigger than your problems.  Like in the story of Mark and the schoolteacher, God’s love is being shown on this day in ways that we can’t necessarily see. 

Princess Alice was the daughter of England’s Queen Victoria[15].  Princess Alice was living in Germany when a diphtheria outbreak began within her family.  Alice had already lost one daughter to the illness[16].  Alice though looked out one night upon a sick son Ernest who was crying being devasted at the recent loss of his sister while fighting his own illness.  Alice serving as the child’s primary caregiver was given very specific instructions “Do not kiss the children or else risk becoming infected then dying yourself.  Alice though looked at her hurting, crying son and just couldn’t help it.  She bent down and kissed her child.  Princess Alice would soon contract diphtheria[17].  Princess Alice would go be with the Lord a short time later. 

Princess Alice’s story speaks to the type of Love that we receive on this day that we light the fourth candle of our Advent wreath.  We receive a love that we cannot touch, taste, or feel.  We are receiving Love in the form of a child born into a dying world, seeking to embrace us with a message of love and forgiveness.  Love poured out on a cross has the power to bring “new life” even to those who believe it to be impossible. 

Back to the tale of the Velveteen Rabbit.  Just like the Angel would come one night to change Mary’s life forever, a special visitor does the same for the Velveteen Rabbit.

One night after losing another toy, the Boy’s nana discovers the Velveteen Rabbit lying in the nursery[18].  Nana brings the Rabbit to the boy.  The Rabbit soon becomes the boy's ’favorite toy; the Velveteen Rabbit even gets to see real rabbits for the first time.  The boy though soon grows very sick, all his toys including his beloved Velveteen Rabbit are ordered to be removed from his room and destroyed seemingly to be gone forever.  As the Velveteen Rabbit is taken outside to face its pending grave, the Rabbit begins to weep only coming out of its eyes are tears no different than Jesus wept upon seeing the death of his friend Lazarus, pretty soon though a miracle happens the Velveteen Rabbit soon becomes real.  The following spring, the boy is standing outside reflecting on his previous favorite toy.  When he sees a Rabbit, the boy looked at the Rabbit’s nose, eyes, and markings of its fur and felt they were strangely familiar[19].  You see the thing about Love and Resurrection is they promise that things do not remain the way they appear to be.  No different than an ordinary, common thirteen-year-old Girl is about to give birth to the Savior of the World.  Amen


[1] Higgins, Scott. “The Velveteen Rabbit.” Stories for Preaching. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[2] Williams, Margery. “The Velveteen Rabbit.” Project Guttenberg E Books. 29. Mar.2004. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[3] Williams, Margery. “The Velveteen Rabbit.”
[4] Higgins, Scott. “The Velveteen Rabbit.”
[5] Williams, Margery. “The Velveteen Rabbit.”
[6] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Box?” Stories for Preaching. Web. Dec.2.2017. Higgins cites an unknown source for story. 
[7] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Box?”
[8] Higgins, Scott. “An Empty Box?”
[9] Luke 1:26-38. 
[10] Gunter, Dr. Dwight. “The Possible Impossible.” Preacher’s Magazine. 2. Dec.2007. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[11] Gunter, Dr. Dwight. “The Possible Impossible.”
[12] Gunter, Dr. Dwight. “The Possible Impossible.”
[13] Luke 1:34
[14] Gunter, Dr. Dwight. “The Possible Impossible.”
[15] “Princess Alice of the United Kingdom.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 18. Nov.2017. Web. Dec.2.2017.
[16] Princess Alice of the United Kingdom.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[17] “Love, sacrificial.” Sermon Illustrations. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[18] “The Velveteen Rabbit.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 26.Nov.2017. Web. Dec.2.2017. 
[19] Williams, Margery. “The Velveteen Rabbit.”

First Lesson: Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11
Responsive Reading: Psalm 126
Second Lesson: 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24
Gospel Lesson: John 1: 6-8, 19-28

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”-Isaiah 55:12.

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.”- Actor Jim Carrey

Arthur Gordon tells the following story[1].  It was early in the morning at a large metropolitan airport.  The weather was very bad on this day.  Passengers were waiting around, awaiting word on whether their flight would be canceled.  Standing in line was an old gray-haired lady.  Standing ahead of her was what looked like a professional business traveler.  The traveler looked rough, he had just flown in on a red-eye flight, never fell asleep, and anyone who looked at him could see his exhaustion.  He had already been waiting around the airport for an hour, now the man was waiting for the second hour awaiting word on the fate of his flight.

The man was already worked up because of the previous flight.  He was mad that there hadn’t been enough coffee for all the passengers (especially him) and told the ticket agent that the airline was an “embarrassment.”

The agent looked at the man as calm and polite as could be, apologizing for any previous inconvenience. 
The traveler though would not calm down about the “coffee.”  The old lady witnesses this outburst and decides to intervene.  She taps the upset traveler on the shoulder, then asks “Mind if I say something to you[2]?”

The traveler was too taken back to respond.  The lady proceeded to tell him “Sir, you have just traveled across the entire continent in five or six hours. You were lifted above the clouds… where you saw the dawn rushing to meet you.  You just experienced a miracle that mankind could only dream about for thousands of years. And you stand there complaining about having no coffee[3].”

The traveler is speechless, before eventually uttering “Madam, you are quite right[4].” The traveler then turned away and everyone who witnessed the exchange realized that delayed air-travel was not as a big deal in the grand scheme of life as they had previously thought. 

Today’s Old Testament lesson comes to us from the Book of Isaiah[5].  Isaiah lived in Jerusalem around 700 years before the birth of Jesus.  Isaiah lived during days when the Assyrian army was in the process of conquering Northern Israel and threatening to conquer Southern Israel.  Isaiah’s message was that if the people of Israel didn’t change their ways, then they too would be conquered.  Isaiah was disappointed by his political rulers who tended to worship “foreign gods.”  Despite all the chaos taking place around Isaiah, he was able to find joy.  Isaiah believed that no matter how dark the days around him got, the Lord was continually looking out for his people.  

To assure the people of Israel of this, Isaiah spoke of a great promise.  A promise that would bring great “joy” to all God’s people, the promise of which Isaiah spoke was how a child would soon be “born.”  This child will be named “Immanuel[6]” as a reminder how Our God is always with us beyond even the end of time itself. 

We hear this message from within our lesson for today which proclaims: “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners[7].”

Isaiah’s message reminds us that perhaps what brings Joy to the World is not what we think it to be.

Money does not bring Joy.  Howard Hughes was one of the richest people in the world.  Hughes made it big in Hollywood as a movie producer around the time of the Great Depression[8].  Hughes eventually became the principal owner of Trans World Airlines.  Hughes was a real estate tycoon owning all sorts of land surrounding Las Vegas.  If money brings Joy, Howard Hughes should be the happiest guy around.  Howard Hughes could not find joy, because of his obsession with minor details.  Hughes would look himself up in rooms for months at a time.  Hughes couldn’t live the last years of life without tissues by his side, obsessing over every bit of dust, as a potential cause for grave harm[9].  Hughes intended to be so isolated from the outside world; he would stay in hotel rooms without even daring to open the drapes for months at a time[10].  Hughes was in great pain for much of his life due to previous aircraft crashes and eventually developed an addiction to codeine.  Howard Hughes died in 1976, at the age of 70.  At the time of his death, the 6’4 Hughes weighed 90 Lbs.  His hair, beard, and fingernails were so long that the FBI could only confirm it was him via fingerprint[11]. One of the richest men in the world died within an intense hatred of the world around him. 

If Howard Hughes serves as an example that we do not find Joy in money, Michael Jackson serves as an example that we do not find Joy in fame.   Jackson was born the 8th of 10th children to a working-class family in Gary, Indiana[12].  Around the age of 7, Jackson joined his brothers in a musical group known as the Jackson 5.  By the age of 11, the Jackson 5 was one of the most popular and well-known musical groups in the country.  After branching out on his own, Jackson’s album Thriller became the bestselling music album of all-time[13].  Did all this success bring Michael Jackson joy? No.  Jackson’s life was marked by broken relationships.  Jackson would die at the age of 51 in 2009.  After his death, a couple of Jackson’s bodyguards wrote books recalling their time with Jackson[14].  What they recalled how seemingly “sad” “lonely” and “lacking joy” perhaps the most famous man in the world truly was. 

Lastly, we do not find Joy in pleasure.  Norma Jean Mortensen grew up living in foster homes with her mother confined to a psychiatric hospital[15].  Norma Jean would soon get recognized as being a very pretty girl Norma Jean wanted to be known for more though than her looks.  Norma Jean moves to Hollywood takes a new name in Marilyn Monroe.  Monroe quickly became a huge overnight success in Hollywood.  She was no longer just a pretty girl, but the most desired woman in the world.  She was now hanging around Joe DiMaggio and President Kennedy.  Marilyn Monroe had the type of appeal that she could bask in pleasure whenever she wanted.  Marilyn Monroe was miserable.  She went through three-failed marriages, and she would confine herself to dressing room “vomiting” because of her fears of performing.   On the night of her death at the age of 35, she called a friend announcing that she had taken enough sleeping pills to kill herself, the actor responded: “Frankly, my dear I don’t care.” These were the last words Monroe would hear before her death. 

What the stories of Howard Hughes, Michael Jackson, and Marilyn Monroe illustrate is how “Joy” is often not found in the things that we think can provide it.  In these stories, darkness seemingly overwhelms light, whereas in the story of the Prophet Isaiah light given in the form of a child will soon overwhelm all darkness.

Today, we light the third candle of our “Advent” wreath.  The candle we light today is known as the “Candle of Joy.”  The candle symbolizes the joy experienced by the Shepherds when the Prophet Isaiah’s promises came true upon the Birth of the Christ Child.  The candle reminds us how Joy does not come necessarily in the quick fixes of money, fame, or pleasure, but Joy instead in an eventual outcome promised to Christian people “A new birth will soon change everything.”  With this birth, darkness will become light and death will become life.  The candle reminds us that true Joy will soon come into our lives, the source of all this will be Jesus Christ alone.

Let me close this morning with one final story[16]- In the third century, there was a bishop named Cyprian who was anticipating death soon. Cyprian had lived a very different existence from the man at the airport, Howard Hughes, Michael Jackson, or Marilyn Monroe.  Cyprian had not seen earthly success, yet he maintained a sense of joy.  Cyprian decided to write one last letter to his friend Donatus to express what he truly believed.  Cyprian wrote the following: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world.  But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret.  They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life.  They are despised and persecuted, but they care not.  They are masters of their souls.  They have overcome the world.  These people are Christians and I am one of them[17].”  Joy to the World!  Amen
 


[1] The following story is told in the July 1989 edition of Guideposts.
[2] Stier, Leon. “Make Up Your Mind to Be Thankful- and Happy.”EMail Mediatations.21. Nov.2017. Web. Dec.7.2017.    
[3] Stier, Leon. “Make Up Your Mind to Be Thankful- and Happy.”
[4] Stier, Leon. “Make Up Your Mind to Be Thankful- and Happy.”
[5] Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11. 
[6] Isaiah 7:14. 
[7] Isaiah 61:1. 
[8] ‘Howard Hughes.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 06. Dec.2017. Web. Dec.11.2017. 
[9] Howard Hughes.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.                                   
[10] Howard Hughes.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[11] Greenman, Amanda. “Surprisingly Miserable Lives of 12 Rich and Successful People.” The Richest.com. 18.Nov.2014. Web. Dec.11.2017. 
[12] “Micheal Jackson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 10.Dec.2017. Web. Dec.11.2017. 
[13] Micheal Jackson.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
[14] Greenman, Amanda. “Surprisingly Miserable Lives of 12 Rich and Successful People.”
[15] The following story was originally told by Father John Powell and appears in the June 1990 issue of Dynamic Preaching. Story found on Sermon Illustrations.com under Love on December, 8, 2017. 
[16] Bright, Bill. “What is Joy?” Christianity.com. 19. Dec.2003. Web. Dec.7.2017. 
[17] Quote by Cyprian found on Good Reads on Dec.11.2017.  

First Lesson: Isaiah 40: 1-11
Responsive Reading: Psalm 85: 1-2, 8-13
Second Lesson: 2 Peter 3: 8-15
​Gospel Lesson: Mark 1: 1-8

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
 
Let me begin this morning by telling a story about Grandma.  Grandma tends to worry quite easily.  Grandma, when she worries, tends to get quite dramatic.  The main source of Grandma’s worries is her only daughter Carol who lives in California.  If Grandma hasn’t heard from Carol for a few days, it’s not uncommon for her to call me up and to ask if I can fly to California to “claim the body.”  Grandma has been making these calls to me since I’ve been about fourteen years old.
 
Perhaps the most dramatic tale of Grandma’s worry over Carol, took place when Carol was twelve years old in 1972.  Carol was playing with her cousin Amy, no differently than other children do.  On this day, Carol and Amy wondered away from the house, not uncommon for a pair of twelve-year-olds.  Grandma hadn’t seen Carol and Amy for a couple of hours, not that uncommon.  Well, Grandma and her cousin Bonnie Jean started to get worried.  You see about a half-mile north of where Grandma lived at that time was the Anderson Family Farmstead.  The Andersons had pigs outside that a person could see whenever they traveled by their place.  These pigs were as normal as pigs can be.  Now when Grandma couldn’t locate Carol in the pre-cell phone age, her conclusion was Farmer Anderson’s wild pigs must have eaten Carol and Amy.  Grandma got on the phone and started calling her other children telling them how their sister had been eaten by wild pigs.  Just as Grandma’s stress and worry reached a seeming breaking point, Carol and Amy came casually strolling through the door.
 
Now wild pig attacks might not be your greatest concern on this day, but worry is present in all our lives.
 
The Reverend Micheal Lindvall tells the following story[1].  Priscilla Atterby worried every day of her life.  Priscilla's worrying nature was such that she drove her children out of town.  One child moved to California, Priscilla always called worrying about earthquakes.  Another child moved to Chicago, Priscilla always called worrying about “crime” and “fire.”  In school, Priscilla had heard of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
 
Now Priscilla’s worrying got seemingly more intense with each passing year[2].  Priscilla Atterby died at the age of 84.  On the day of her funeral,  the minister was reading from the 14th Chapter of John’s Gospel “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid[3].” The minister looked down at Priscilla as he read these words.  Priscilla’s whole life had been marked by stress, anxiety, and worry.  Priscilla’s heart was continually troubled, yet as mourners peered into Priscilla’s casket on this day, they saw a different-looking Priscilla.  Priscilla’s face seemed to be absent of worry lines[4].  For the first time that people could remember, Priscilla Atterby looked to be at “peace.” 
​
You see peace in this life can be a funny thing.  Back to my Grandma, ever since I’ve known her, she’ll blow things out of proportion due to her worry.  When the situation gets dire, when she is at a point that would stress other people, Grandma is as peaceful as can be. 
Today we consider the meaning of peace within our own lives.  On this day, we light the second candle of the Advent wreath known as either the Bethlehem Candle or the Peace Candle.  This candle reminds us how a Savior shall soon be born in Bethlehem that shall bring peace as the world has never known. 
 
The Prophet Isaiah several hundred years before Jesus’ birth proclaimed the following. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.[5].”
 
On the occasion of Jesus’ birth, a heavenly choir began to sing.
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased[6]

Now peace for many people seems like a dream, they might live in war-torn nations, they might live the most broken of home lives, or they might be world class worriers like Priscilla Atterby.
 
Most of us long for peace in our lives, but yet it often seems quite difficult to find. Here’s the thing about peace, we live this life as broken people.  We seem unable to piece our lives back together.  But here’s the thing about Peace as pointed out by Methodist Bishop Kenneth Carter. “He is our peace. Peace is not a human achievement. Peace is a gift from God[7].”
 
Whereas peace might not be in our lives on this day like the Candle Advent reminds us that Christmas is not here, but soon coming, our Lord promises Peace will come soon into our lives[8]. 
 
Today’s scripture lesson tells us the tale of John the Baptist[9].  Now John the Baptist is an interesting person.  John the Baptist ate bugs.  John the Baptist’s camel-hair clothing was so odd that the scriptures feel necessary to mention it.   John the Baptist lived far away from people, living way out in the wilderness.  John the Baptist was so different they people flocked to see him.  People walked miles and miles to hear him[10].  John the Baptist’s message was simple “prepare,” prepare because you will soon meet  “One whose sandals he was worthy to untie[11].” One who was not going to baptize with mere water, but baptize instead with The Holy Spirit[12].
Perhaps the reason that John the Baptist stood out so much from the crowd was that John the Baptist was at peace.  John the Baptist’s judgments about what was worth worrying about were so different from everyone else.  John the Baptist because of this refused to change, even as it would eventually cost him his life.  John the Baptist above all believed that peace would not come via human diplomacy, but peace will only come via the presence of a savior.
 
Now as we hear the story of John the Baptist, we might wonder what might peace look like within our own lives?  To illustrate this let me close with two different stories.
 
The year was 1948; three men robbed a bank in Hoyt, Kansas[13]. They ended up taking about $1000. One of these men was Al Johnson.  The police had no leads and years passed with the case being closed.  Al Johnson was seemingly in the clear; only he wasn’t.
 
 In the years afterward, Al Johnson got married to a devout Christian woman.   Every day after the robbery, Al Johnson’s conscience spoke to him.  Al Johnson began praying about it.  Al Johnson had never had a day of peace since the robbery had taken place.  So four years later, Al Johnson gets in the pulpit at the Seward Avenue Baptist Church to repent that he was the bank-robber.
 
You see Al had recently gone before the District Attorney to confess; he had even taken out a bank loan to begin the process of paying back the stolen $1000.  Johnson or his co-conspirators were not charged though due to the statute of limitations. For the first time in years, Al Johnson was at peace.  Al Johnson’s life was different every day moving forward because of that peace.  Al Johnson spent his remaining days as a devoted father and a prominent Christian layman within the community[14].  
 
What Al Johnson’s story reminds us is no matter how dark your previous days have been, our Savior can bring you peace[15].
 
Final story for this morning, once upon a time a woman was caught in a terrifying storm in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, she began to gather all the children on board of the ship[16].  To keep her and the children from panicking, she kept telling the children Bible stories about God’s people overcoming adversity: Moses and the Egyptians, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lions Den, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the fiery furnace.  The ship’s captain during the voyage had observed this woman.  Like John the Baptist, she was different due to her temperament.  She seemed calm as could be, regardless of the weather conditions around them.  So after the ship reaches the dock, the captain approaches the woman then asks “How were you able to maintain your calm when everyone feared this ship would sink[17]?”
 
The woman began to explain “I have two daughters[18].”  “One of them lived in New York” and “One of them lives in heaven.” I knew I would be seeing one of my daughters within the next few hours, and it didn’t matter which one[19].”  This woman was at peace regardless of the outcome of any storm her life could throw at her.
 
You see peace in life is a funny thing.  No matter how fast technology advances, it doesn’t guarantee it.  We all have our own wild pigs whose encounter we dread and fear.  What our Savior and Prince of Peace tells us on this second Sunday of Advent is just as we soon experience Christmas, one day we will also experience peace. 
 
(Jesus said), “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world, you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world[20].”  Amen


[1] Lindvall, Micheal. The Good News from North Haven: A Year in the Life of a Small Town. The following is from a short story called “Merciful Snow.” 1991. Pages 26-33.  The following story was found on Leon Stier’s Email Mediations entitled “Peace at Last”  published on Feburary 9th, 2015 and accessed on November 28th, 2015. 
[2] Lindvall, Micheal. The Good News from North Haven: A Year in the Life of a Small Town. Pages 26-33. 
[3] John 14:27.
[4] Lindvall, Micheal. The Good News from North Haven: A Year in the Life of a Small Town. Pages 26-33
[5] Isaiah 9:6. 
[6] Luke 2:14.  
[7] Carter, Kenneth. “Our Patience, God’s Peace.” Day 1. 07.Dec.2008. Web. Nov.28.2017. 
[8] Carter, Kenneth. “Our Patience, God’s Peace.”
[9] Mark 1:1-8.
[10] Markquart. Edward. “A Parable: The City and The Wilderness.” Sermons from Seattle. Advent2. Series B. Web. Nov.28.2017. 
[11] Mark 1:7
[12] Mark 1:8. 
[13] Chappell, Pastor Paul. “Confessing a Bank Robbery.” Ministry 127. Web. Nov.29.2013. Taken from May 5, 1952 edition of Lewiston Evening Journal.
[14] Kairos Christian Community of  Lilongwe, Malawi Facebook page published on 16.June.2012. Web. Nov.29.2017. 
[15] Zingale, Tim. “Turning Around.” Sermon Central. 28.Nov.2005. Web. Nov.28.2017. 
[16] Stier, Leon. “Calm in a storm.” Email Mediations.  25. Apr.2013. Web. Nov.28.2013. Adapted from Surprise Endings written by Ron Mehl published by Multnomah Publishers in 1995.
[17] Stier, Leon. “Calm in a storm.”
[18] Stier, Leon. “Calm in a storm.”
[19] Stier, Leon. “Calm in a storm.”
[20] John 16:33. 

First Lesson: Isaiah 64: 1-9
Responsive Reading: Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19
Second Lesson: 1 Corinthians 1: 3-9
Gospel Lesson: Mark 13: 24-37

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
Human history is littered with some of the wisest and most powerful of people making what turned out to be very foolish predictions.

In the year 1773, King George III of the United Kingdom was asked about the possibility of Revolution amongst the American colonies he responded that he didn’t believe the colonists had the stomach for war[1].

In 1903, America’s most prominent Astronomy professor was a gentleman named Simon Newcomb[2].  Newcomb made the following comments on the possibility of Air Travel “May not our (engineers) mechanicians . . . be ultimately forced to admit that aerial flight is one of the great class of problems with which man can never cope, and (should)  give up all attempts to grapple with it?”.  Air Travel at high speeds according to Newcomb was an impossibility.

1903, Henry Ford’s lawyer was a gentleman named Horace Rackham, Rackham was in the process of seeking out financial advice from the President of his local Michigan Savings Bank regarding investing in Ford’s new invention called “the automobile.”  When Rackham was told not to invest, the reason was “Ford’s automobile is merely a fad, whereas the horse is here to stay[3].”

October 21st, 1929.  Irving Fisher was an economics professor at Yale University[4].  Fisher was jubilant about a recent uptick in the stock market.  Fisher then made the following bold prediction: “Stock prices have reached a permanently high plateau.”  Three days later, the U.S. economy is devastated by Black Tuesday’s stock market crash. The U.S. Economy would not recover for nearly two decades. 

In 1962, a gentleman named Dick Rowe was the head of talent for a British record label named Decca Records[5].  Rowe had a long and successful career in the music industry.  On January 1st a young foursome from Liverpool came to audition for Rowe.  Rowe rejected the band deeming “Guitar groups are on their way out.”  The group known as the Beatles that Rowe said “no” has since proceeded to sell over 800 million records worldwide. 

Now all these predictions were made by really, smart people who years down the line ended up looking quite foolish and silly.  This background brings us to Today’s First Sunday in Advent.  Throughout Advent this year, we are going to look at the background for each of the Advent candles that we light.

On this day, we light what is known as the ““ Prophecy Candle.”  The Prophecy Candle seeks to remind us how Christ’s coming fulfilled previous promises given within the Old Testament while assuring us that a second advent shall eventually take place when Christ returns to Earth.

The point of the Prophecy Candle is to remind us how hard it is truly is to predict the future.  Earlier, this Summer, The Superior Hiking Trail had a guided hike scheduled in the Grand Marais area.  The hike was to start at 10 A.M.  So around 6 AM; I look at that day’s forecast.  I see a warning of severe thunderstorms to take place later that afternoon up in Cook County.  I look at the radar, see some weather cells seemingly several hours away that could have caused trouble.  I dreaded being out in the woods with safety several miles away.  I didn’t want to drive sixty miles only to hear “no hike, Today.” So I decided that I was going to stay home.  By noon on that day, the weather was as nice as it was all summer. Seventy degrees without a cloud in the sky, talking to fellow hikers later “They commented on the glorious weather.”  Now Meteorology is not an easy science, but on this Saturday I had certainly been led astray by it. 

So human predictions regardless of the experts behind them promise to have a high degree of error, what makes Biblical predictions different?

Biblical predictions are different because of the nature of the one making the predictions.   No matter how smart we get in this life, we remain unable to control the future[6].

What happens in the life of Jesus?  Jesus’ life is marked by predictions that eventually come true[7].

One-Thousand years before his birth.  Psalm 22 predicts Christ’s death by declaring that his hands and feet shall be pierced, they will divide his garments and cast lots for his clothing[8].

Several hundred years before his birth.  The Prophet Isaiah declares[9] “the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us.”  Isaiah also is specific in tying the Messiahs’ family tree to Israel’s greatest King in David[10]. 

The prophet Micah about six hundred years before Jesus’ birth declares that the tiny village of Bethlehem [11]shall be the birthplace of Israel’s next great religious leader. 

The Old Testament closes in the Book of Malachi by promising a prophet just like Elijah to get people ready for the Messiah[12].  This prediction was known by the author of the Gospel of Luke[13] as he speaks of a “new Elijah” named John the Baptist. 

The overriding theme of the Old Testament shared by both Jews and Christians alike is that a Messiah is soon coming.  The Messiah’s presence will soon change everything. As Christian people, we believe Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection were all predicted and have all come true.

The world is full of all sorts of people claiming to be prophets, all sorts of people claiming to speak for God.  The test of whether prophecy though is ultimately true or false is whether what a person says ends up being reality. 

Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

There is a lot in this world; we can’t say for certain.  The 1998 Minnesota Vikings were the best Vikings team in my lifetime.  They went 15-1, only losing one game by three points.  They set an NFL record for most points scored in a single season.  They were one game away from going back to the Super Bowl.  I had never been more confident in a Vikings game in my life heading into the conference title game versus the Atlanta Falcons, three short hours and Minneapolis would have the greatest party I had ever seen.  The game starts out according to the script; Vikings are up 27-20 with a little over two minutes, left in the game, all that was needed to clinch the game was the Vikings kicker Gary Anderson making a relatively easy kick.  Anderson hadn’t missed a kick all season.  I was convinced that I knew the outcome, only Anderson misses the kick, the Falcons score a touchdown, win the game in overtime, I exit the Metrodome in dead silence along with 64,000 other people.  No matter how much evidence I had, no matter my degree of certainty, I could not predict the future correctly.

As Christian people, there is a lot we don’t know.  When meteorologists can’t get the forecast right, we need to admit the future is more uncertain that want to admit.  The day of Christ’s return. “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father[14].”

The point of Advent is the Savior is indeed coming.  The Savior has said he’s coming bring us into his presence.  We can do one of two things with this knowledge.  We can assume that we possess the ability to sort out these grand mysteries of the universe like so many experts before us, or we can place our faith in the one whose promises continually come true.   We can find our hope in our powers and abilities, or we can place our hope in the one who conquered death. 

Tim Zingale tells the following story[15].  Once upon a time, a tourist was traveling alongside Lake Como in Northern Italy.  The tourist comes upon a castle, which was a sight like a tourist had never seen before in his life.  The grounds were in perfect order, and the beauty was indescribable.  The tourist hoping to look around a little more knocks on the gate.  To his amazement, a friendly gardener answers.  The tourist asked whether the gardener owned the castle? No, he was told that the owner lived far, far away.  The tourist asked, “When was the owner last here?”  The gardener answered, “He hasn’t been here for a dozen years.” The tourist wondered what about the owner’s representatives? The gardener replied, “Haven’t seen a single one of them either.”   The tourist was stumped at this point, he finally asks “Why all this effort, when you don’t know when the owner might come? To which the gardener replied, “Because the owner might be coming, later today!”

Jesus remains with us even when he might seem completely absent, even when we maybe seemingly haven’t encountered his presence for years: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age[16].”

So therefore as Christian people, we are called to remain vigilant “Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning,  lest he comes suddenly and finds you asleep[17].”

The point of Advent is this. Jesus has come. Jesus is coming. Jesus will come again.

Jesus comes as a babe born in a lowly manager[18].  Jesus comes as he hangs upon the cross alongside people no different than you and me.  Jesus comes as he bursts out of an empty tomb, declaring death’s power will soon fade away.  Jesus is coming when we receive the promises of the forgiveness of our sins upon hearing his Gospel.  Jesus is coming as we receive his promises in water, bread, and wine.  Jesus will come again because even if it takes hundreds or even thousands of years, his promises will eventually come true.   Amen 


[1] Found on Sermon Illustrations.com under “Prophecy”on November 27th, 2017.  The following example comes from The World’s Worst Predictions.
[2] “Simon Newcomb.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 8.Nov.2017. Web. Nov.27.2017. 
[3] “Worst Predictions.” Human Science. Wikia. Web. Nov.27.2017. 
[4] “Irving Fisher.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 16. Nov.2017. Web. Nov.27.2017.
[5] “The Beatles Decca Audtion.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 7.July.2017. Web. Nov.27.2017. 
[6] Hual, Jeff. “How Will You Keep Christmas This Year? (Part 4).” Mockingbird Ministries (MBird).  18. Dec.2009. Web. Nov.27.2017. 
[7] Hual, Jeff. “How Will You Keep Christmas This Year? (Part 4).”
[8] Psalm 22:16, 17
[9] Isaiah 7:14.
[10] Isaiah 11:1
[11] Micah 5:2. 
[12] Malachi 4:5-6. 
[13] Luke 1:17. 
[14] Mark 13:32. 
[15] Zingale, Tim. “Hope, Waiting, Anticipation, and Longing.” Sermon Central. 3. Dec.2002. Web. Nov.27.2017. 
[16] Matthew 28:20. 
[17] Mark 13:35-36. 
[18] Based on section of Zingale’s sermon.