Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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The Magi came from the east in search of a king. “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” they asked. They knocking on the door of the royal palace, because where else would you look for a king? But He wasn’t there.

The star in the sky that they had followed from the East said to them, “this way. Follow me.” And they did until they came to a house in a village called Bethlehem where a man named Joseph and his wife named Mary and their baby named Jesus were staying. And when they saw the LITTE CHILD, they knew they had found “he who has been born king of the Jews,” which is a real stretch, if you ask me. But it was their ‘eureka’ moment and “They opened their treasures, and offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:2, 9-12).

The gold would come in handy for when Joseph would take Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt for security reasons. Do you remember how, when Israel made their great escape OUT of Egypt, that before they left, the Egyptians loaded them up with all their gold and silver jewelry as their way of paying homage.

Now, the New Israel, which is located in this virgin-born child, is loaded up with gold from foreigners as He goes back into Egypt. It was their way of paying homage to a king.

But what’s with the frankincense and myrrh? Incense and spices like these were only used for one thing – to cover up stink. Frankincense and myrrh were particularly used to pack around a dead body to cover the stink of decomposing flesh. Continue reading →

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Today, we come to the fifth Sunday in the season of Lent – which, if you like things neatly counted out and ordered is a fine thing to call it – but it’s not nearly as interesting as “Judica Sunday,” which the church has called this week for a whole lot longer. “Judica” is from the Latin, “iudicare” which means, ‘to judge.’ The ‘name’ for this Sunday is taken from the first verse of the Introit appointed for 5th Sunday in Lent – Psalm 43:1 – “Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!” (Ps.43:1)

“Vindication” is ‘judgement’ of a particular kind. “Vindication” is that ‘judgement’ that proves that you were right and not wrong, innocent and not guilty of the charges filed against you.

‘Vindication’ is the ‘judgement’ that clears your name that had been smeared. ‘Vindication’ is ‘judgment’ that is in your favor. It’s the ‘acquittal’ of the crime you were charged with. ‘Vindication’ is GOOD NEWS.

The opposite of “vindication” is “condemnation.” “Condemnation” is the ‘judgement’ that declares that you are indeed guilty of the charges that have been brought against you.

If you are on trial before a judge in a civil court, you hope and pray that the judge declares ‘good news’ and ‘vindicates’ you of whatever it is that you’re charged with. You hope and pray that your lawyer is able to present your case and convince the jury that you’re are ‘not guilty’ of the charges filed against you.

And as we ALL well know, these kinds of ‘trials’ take place in many settings other than civil courtrooms. They happen on the playground, and in the classroom, and at the office, and in the neighborhood – and even, maybe most frequently – right in our own homes.

Accusations are made, and with that, a trial begins. Evidence is gathered and presented. Some of it is gossip, some opinion, some is just malicious rumor. But it’s all presented as though it were fact. Sometimes the internet and the media are employed to persuade the jury. And men and women, boys and girls, children, husbands and wives, are ‘judged,’ and reputations are threatened, and friendships are questioned, and families are broken – long before the trial is over. And the accused cry, “vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people, from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!” (Ps.43:1) Continue reading →

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Anyone who has had to live out of a suitcase for more than a couple of days knows how fast it gets old. Traveling is exciting, but after a while, you’d gladly trade the nice hotels and restaurant food for your own bed and a home cooked meal. Nothing beats home sweet home.

Likewise, no one enjoys moving. Moving is one of the most stressful things in life, second only to divorce. But imagine that you’ve sold the house, packed the truck and set out for your new home. And a month later, you’re still driving around looking for it. And two months later you’re still on the road and you don’t know if you’re getting any closer to where you’re headed. And in fact, some of the scenery is starting to look a bit familiar.

And ever since you’ve been on the road, you’ve eaten at all of the McDonalds and Burger Kings along the way and you swear you’d rather starve than eat another Big Mac or Whopper. And TWO YEARS LATER, you’re still on the road, still living out of the same suitcase and still eating burgers and fries, burgers and fries, burgers and fries.

When we get to Numbers 21, Israel has been on the road, moving to their new home, FOR 38 YEARS. They moved out of their old place in Egypt because things got really bad there. They’re headed to a new home – a place that the DIVINE REALATOR described in ‘gastronomic terms’ – “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

But 38 YEARS later, they’re still moving. And every day, they’re eating the same manna and quail, manna and quail, manna and quail. They’ve made it every way you can make it – Quaildogs, quailburers, quail nuggets. Manna bagels, manna muffins, manna bread.

We read, “From Mount Hor they set out by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom.” We can’t appreciate the situation until we appreciate the significance of the geographical details that Moses just gave us. Continue reading →

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“The Passover of the Jews was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple, he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.”

When Jesus went to the Temple, John says, He ‘found’ it to be a real mess.

I’m not sure this is totally fair, but what if, when you came to church this morning to fed and nourished on God’s Word and Sacrament, you ‘found’ that to get from the parking lot to the front door you had to go through a maze of merchants selling all kinds of stuff. And then, once inside the doors, you had to literally walk sideways for all of the vendor displays, and that long line of folks crowding in on the Starbucks coffee station – ‘make that a tall, non-fat, latte with caramel drizzle, please.’ And then when you finally come through the doors to find a seat, you discover that half the pews in the sanctuary had been removed to make room for the LWML ‘left-overs from the craft fair blowout sale.’ All while a boom box was playing praise hymns to give it all a feeling of spirituality.

Anyway, that’s the way I picture what Jesus ‘found’ when He went to the Temple, just before Passover.

And I know that some might say that all this is sounds pretty cool, and a sign that there’s a lot going on, and this church is really alive. But if you come here to confess your sinfulness to God, and hear the Absolution from the pastor as from Christ Himself; if you come here because you’re Jesus’ little lamb, hungry to be fed with His holy food; if you come here because you’re lost and frightened and in need of the comfort which only His voice can give; – then an ‘emporium’ is not what you want.

I think it’s important to understand here that when John writes that when Jesus went to the Temple, “He found” all this stuff going on in the Temple, it wasn’t as though He was surprised or shocked – as if He didn’t know. HE KNEW. And that’s why He went to the Temple.

Jesus doesn’t look for what is in good order or wait until we exercise proper worship before He is willing to enter and be present. He knows the deplorable condition of His Father’s house, and He enters it to make it clean.

He doesn’t wait for the sinners and the tax collectors to clean up their wretched life before He eats with them. He eats with them and in the eating, He makes them clean. Continue reading →

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“What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world yet forfeits his soul?”

A small businessman who emigrated to the U.S. from another country, kept his accounts payable in a cigar box, his accounts receivable on a spindle, and his cash in the cash register. His son, who had just graduated from a business college said, “Pop, I don’t see how you can run your business this way.” “How do you know what your profits are?” “Son”, he replied, “when I got off the boat, I had only 36 cents and the pants I was wearing. Today your sister is an art teacher, your brother is a doctor, and you’re an accountant. I have a car, a house, and a good business. Everything is paid for. “Just add it all up, subtract 36 cents and the pants, and there’s your profit.”

If it were only that simple.

Jesus asked His disciples, “who do people say that I am?” And they replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets. But then He asked the zillion dollar question. “Who do you say I am?” And Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”

But it quickly becomes obvious that Jesus counts profit and loss differently than we do. “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.”

Peter’s a savvy businessman and feels the need to instruct Jesus. Actually, he “rebukes Him.” The word in the Greek is, “epitimao.” The root of “epitimao” is “timay” which is a word that comes from the world of finance. “Timay” is the value or the price that is set for something. “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the “timay” the price of him on whom a “timay” a price had been set…” (Mat.27:9)

To ‘REBUKE’ is to publicly declare that the price that’s been set is TOO HIGH. When Peter “rebuked Jesus” he wants to ‘devalue’ the price that Jesus has set for being THE CHRIST. He tells Jesus that the cost is just too high.

In the Old Testament, the Prophets have to REBUKE the people of God, telling them that they’ve set the wrong price on the false gods. They’ve over-valued them. The prophet’s REBUKE tells them that their idols are actually worthless.

In the gospels, Jesus REBUKES the demons and the wind and waves that have overestimated their power against Him.
On several occasions, Jesus REBUKES His disciples.
• When they want to call fire down from heaven to fry the Samaritans He REBUKED THEM.
• When they try to forbid parents from bringing their little children to Him for a blessing, He REBUKED THEM.
• The thief crucified next to Jesus REBUKED his fellow thief crucified on the other side for UNDERVALUING Jesus. “Don’t you fear God?” he asks.

But our gospel today, which is also reported by Matthew and Luke, is the only time in the NEW TESTAMENT where anyone ever REBUKES Jesus. What Peter does here is unprecedented in the Scriptures – but quite common among us really.

Jesus hears the devil’s voice coming out of Peter’s mouth just as it spoke through the serpent in the Garden of Eden. And this second Adam did what the first Adam failed to do. “Turning and seeing his disciples, he REBUKED Peter and said, ‘Get behind me Satan. You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’”

Peter has ‘overvalued’ the “things of man” and drastically ‘undervalued’ the “things of God.”

The “things of God” are not priced the way the “things of man” are. “Having in mind the things of man” we weigh something ‘worth’ or ‘value’ and that determines how much we’re willing to pay for it. And if we later discover that it’s really not worth what we paid, we REBUKE the merchant who overcharged us, or we REBUKE ourselves for being so stupid.

But “having in mind the things of God,” we’re struck by the fact that this is not how things work at all.
• God sees what is utterly worthless and He pays the highest price for it – and then delights in calling it ‘HIS.’
• God sees what is rotten and corrupt and useless – and He “spends all that He has in order to acquire it.”
• God sees the poor and the widow and the homeless and blind and the diseased and the outcast and the lowly – whom this world declares to be ‘worthless,’ but that He declares, “they are precious in my sight.”
• God sees ‘enemies’ who want to kill Him – AND DO – and sheds His blood for them and reconciles them, and says, “you are my friends.”
• God sees that which is dead, and what is more worthless that that which is dead – and He pays the price to ransom them even from the grave. Continue reading →

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“After these things, God tested Abraham.”

I suspect that we can get no further with this reading until we deal with this whole business of God testing Abraham. What is this all about and what is God up to with Abraham?

The tempting answer is, ‘God wants to see what Abraham’s made of. How faithful is he REALLY?’ Because that’s what we would do.

Like when a teacher wants to know how much his students have learned from all he’s taught them he ‘tests them.’ How else is he / she to know what they know?

We’re all very familiar with testing and being tested. Nations test other nations to see how they’ll respond. Employers test their employees to see how much they can produce. Parents test their children to see responsible they are. Children test their parents to see if they can trust them. Spouses test their spouses to see if ‘you really love me.’ We all ‘test’ others and we are all tested and we know the pressure of being tested and always having to prove ourselves to someone else.

But none of that FITS when we hear that “God tested Abraham.” This is God. And God knows Abraham better than Abraham knows himself. There is nothing in Abraham that is hidden from God or that God needs to discover about him.

God is not ‘testing’ Abraham to see if He can ‘trust’ him or to determine if he has the right stuff for the job that God wants him to do. Continue reading →

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“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them…”

Three summers ago, Deb and I took a vacation out west and split a week between Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming. Both parks are spectacular, each their own way. Of the two, my favorite was the Grand Tetons.

Only later did I learn that, at one time, The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod owned a sizeable piece of property right in the middle of the present park. It gave to property to the National Park Service for free – something that, from what I hear, some old-time Lutherans in the Wyoming District have not forgotten or forgiven the Synod for doing.

The Episcopalians have always been much shrewder about these kinds of things than we Lutherans. They were given a piece of property in the Park on which to build a chapel which is there to this day. The “Chapel of the Transfiguration” was built to serve the employees of the local dude ranches in Moose, Wyoming. We visited it when we were there. It’s a rustic log cabin construction has a bell tower and wooden benches that seats about 60 people.

The main attraction of the “Chapel of the Transfiguration” is the large window behind the altar which provides parishioners with a full view of the Grand Tetons and is meant to inspire a visual object lesson of the glory that the disciples saw when they saw Jesus transfigured on the mountain.

No one is quite sure which mountain the Transfiguration took place on. One suggestion is Mount Hermon which rises to an altitude of 9000 feet above sea level. If that is true, it would mean that Jesus led the three up a mountain comparable to one of the Grand Tetons, which is quite the hike.

A more likely prospect is Mount Tabor, just south of the Sea of Galilee. The summit of Mt. Tabor is only 1000 feet in elevation which doesn’t sound like much of a mountain unless that area of the region of Galilee were like Nebraska or Iowa which would make it a sizeable mountain indeed. Continue reading →

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As we flew from our Old Testament reading to our Gospel reading this morning you may well have experienced a sudden drop in cabin pressure. And I wouldn’t be surprise if your ears didn’t pop. Isaiah had us flying so high we were looking down on the stars and planets. And then Mark brought us all the way down to Peter and Andrew’s house and we were looking down on Peter’s mother-in-law, lying in her bed. So just in case your ears are still stopped up so that you can’t hear right, let’s go back up with Isaiah and make a more gradual decent to Mark.

Our Old Testament reading, the prophet Isaiah is preaching to those who think that God is so small that He can actually fit in one of their little handmade idols that sit on a table or fit into their pocket. We can almost picture the prophet grabbing them by the shoulders and shaking some sense into them. “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?”

The God whom you think you’ve got confined in your stupid little statue is “he who sits above the circle of the earth…” And suddenly we’re up in the stratosphere where you and I can’t breathe without the divine oxygen of the Holy Spirit. “The Most High God” looks down on the “circle of the earth” that divides the northern and southern hemispheres. And He sees both the North Pole and the South Pole and those for whom it is day and those for whom it is night, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Continue reading →

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The word “Deuteronomy” is a Greek word that literally means ‘second law.’ It’s ‘deutero’ which means second and ‘nomos’ which means law. The book of Deuteronomy is a second telling of the law that was given to the people of God through the prophet Moses. Moses RETELLS what God had spoken through him and connects it all the experiences and all the lessons learned over the last 40 years beginning with the great Exodus out of Egypt and now about to culminate in the entrance into the Promised Land.

The journey is coming to its end and Moses RETELLS it, not as reminiscence – “oh, remember that time when the sea parted and we walked through it on dry ground and we watched the whole Egyptian army perish in the same. Wasn’t that the coolest thing you ever saw?” Not as reminiscence – but as instruction on how you are to live and reminder of what you are never to forget when you come into the Promised Land.

The particular point before us this morning has to do with the role of the Prophet. Through the 40 years in the wilderness, Moses was God’s prophet. God spoke to Moses and Moses spoke to the people – mostly because that’s the way the people wanted it. They didn’t want God to speak to them directly. That was too frightening.

It was at Mt. Sinai that they heard God speaking from the mountain. And to them it was “thunder and flashes of lightening and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, and the people were afraid and trembled and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:18-19)

This is what sin has done to us. It’s not like it used to be back in the Garden when God would speak to us ‘face to face’ and it was like talking to your best friend. Continue reading →

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Today, we commemorate the “Conversion of St. Paul.” I have no idea why the church picked January 25th. I’m pretty confident that it’s not because anyone thinks it actually happened on January 25th. But if you ask me, it’s a good choice because it falls squarely within the season of Epiphany. And if there was ever a great example of bright light breaking into the darkness, revealing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ – the conversion of St. Paul is certainly that. This is Paul’s ‘epiphany.’

I think that we hear this story best if we begin with a bit of the background. After the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles with His holy breath on the Day of Pentecost, and the Apostles begin to preach the gospel publicly. And lots of people hear the Word and say, ‘what must we do to be saved?’ And within days, 3000 confess this crucified and risen Jesus to be none other than the Son of God and are CONVERTED through holy baptism.

Most of those 3000 were Jews. And as you can imagine, their conversion doesn’t sit well with the Jewish leadership at all. And because the majority has always been able to make it pretty miserable for the minority when they want to, a persecution against the Jews who have become Christians breaks out.

The first to actually die for the faith is Stephen who is stoned by the Jews. In order to throw the stone with some accuracy, you’ve got to take your flowing robes and outer garments off, which they do. In Acts 7, Luke tells us, “they laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.” And when their crime was fully accomplished, Luke writes, “And Saul approved of his execution.”

At that point the CONVERTED Jews, now Christians, flee Jerusalem to safer places. The city of Damascus to the south on the way to Egypt was one of those places.

There have always been those who become convinced that persecution and the use of force is perfectly justifiable for the right cause. That’s what the practice of abortion is about. Saul was one of those. Luke writes that he was “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” And Saul did this in the name of the Lord. And his church, rather than confronting him and telling him to repent, actually gave him an official letter of permission and protection. Continue reading →