Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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If you ever have the opportunity to tour the Holy Lands, one of the stops that you will want to be sure to make is the “Church of the Seven Apostles.” The “Church of the Seven Apostles” is located right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee and it marks the village called Capernaum. Capernaum is where Jesus began His ministry after His baptism and temptation and Capernaum is probably where He stayed when He was in the region of Galilee.

This is that area from which Jesus recruited 7 of His 12 disciples; the four which we heard mentioned in our gospel reading earlier, Philip and Nathanael whom we heard about last Sunday, and Matthew the tax collector.

The people in Capernaum were generally receptive to Jesus. This is where He preached His famous ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ and where great crowds came with their diseases and sicknesses so that He could heal them.

In 1998, I had the pleasure of visiting the Church of the Seven Apostles with it’s seven, red domes, each toped with a white cross. Inside, the walls are painted with beautiful frescoes that depict scenes of Christ’s ministry in Capernaum and several of those scenes are of the crowds of people who came to Capernaum with their demons and illnesses and diseases to be healed by Jesus.

One of my most poignant impressions of this building was a wall just beyond the railing at the chancel on which, quite literally, there were hanging hundreds of wristwatches. I asked the monk who was on duty to explain the meaning of all of the watches. He explained how the gospels all speak of Capernaum as the place where people from throughout Galilee and even distant Judea and even beyond the borders of Israel came to Jesus for healing.

In keeping with the gospel tradition, people of faith continue to come to this place. And the custom has somehow evolved that those who have a terminal illness, will take off their watch and hang it on the wall as if to say, “Lord, my life is in Your hands.” Continue reading →

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The philosophers said that a living human being is made up of body and soul and it’s only the soul that matters. The body is meant to give the soul pleasure. Some members of the Corinthian congregation seemed to agree, and so do we. St. Paul says, “glorify God in your body.”

The philosophers said that a truly ‘autonomous person,’ that is, a person who’s got it all together, is not bound by social customs or restraints and is free to do whatever comes natural. Some members of the Corinthians congregation seemed to agree, and so do we. St. Paul says, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved to anything.”

St. Paul needs to address the issue of how Christians are to regard the human body. They’ve bought into the idea that it’s just their soul that really matters before God. They way they see it; the life of faith is a ‘spiritual’ thing, not a ‘physical’ thing, as if the one has no real effect on the other. ‘I’m free to do anything I’d like with my body, it won’t effect my spiritual life,’ they said, and so do we. “I’ll eat what I like. At least I’ll die happy.” “It’s what’s inside that counts.” Continue reading →

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In case you hadn’t noticed, this day is all about Baptism. Jesus’ baptism, Brad’s baptism, your baptism. “In those day Jesus came from the Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” (Mark 1:9). Brad David Grierson, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. See the connection?

“Do you not know that ALL OF YOU who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Rom.6:3-4)

Baptism is a big deal. It takes a certain amount of courage to say that, in this technological age where we routinely split atoms and transplant hearts and fly to the moon and use electricity. To say that Baptism is a big deal takes courage. But that’s what we say.

On a day that is all about baptism, we heard about the creation of the universe out of nothing, over which the Spirit hovered and into which God spoke His creative word, “let there be light.” And there was light. Baptism is that big of a deal. Continue reading →

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The celebration of Epiphany commemorates the visitation of the Magi who came to pay homage to the King of the Jews. Some call it, “The Festival of Three Kings.” But they were probably not actually kings. And no one can be sure how many there actually were. So, a better name for this night would be “The Adoration of the Magi” or simply, “The Epiphany of Our Lord.”

There’s a lot of discussion about who these ‘wise men’ actually were and what they actually did and where they were actually from. Once you get that settled, then there’s even more discussion about the astronomical nature of the ‘star’ that alerted them to the birth of the Christ. I think in the past, I’ve dragged you through a lot of that, and I apologize. Because whether these visitors were “wise men,” (the word in the Greek is “Magi”) or kings, or which country to the East they were from, is not something that makes much difference to the real point of it all, at least as far as I can tell. It is where they do not come from and who they are not that is significant here. That they were either “Magi” or “Kings” “from the east” tells us that they were not from Israel and that they were not Jews, at least not by birth. Continue reading →

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It was early April of 2011, Irma Mytinger, one of my parishioners, called and asked if I would be willing to visit a dear friend and neighbor of hers named John. At a recent visit to his doctor led the doctor prompted the doctor to suggest that John should speak to his priest. John hadn’t had a priest for some time and Irma was asking if I would be his priest. I said, ‘gladly.’ I called. John said, ‘I know who you are.’ I invited myself over. John said, ‘sure, come on over.’ We introduced ourselves, had a cup of coffee and I said, “I hear you’re afraid of dying.” John said, “Everyone thinks that I’m afraid of dying, my doctor, my wife, my neighbor. I know I’m dying. I’m not afraid of death.” I said, “okay then, what do you want to talk about now?” And we spent the rest of the visit talking about the places where he had been a cook and the Red Sox. Before leaving, we read John 14:1-3, the gospel reading we just heard, we prayed together and I left.

Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” And if JESUS says it, then, there’s no discussion, no arguing, no doubts, “let not your hearts be troubled.” He is the One who came down from heaven, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and buried, who descended into hell, who rose again from the dead and who ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. If JESUS says, “let not your hearts be troubled,” then “let not your hearts be troubled.” Continue reading →

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According to the “Official Record,” it was nighttime when God created the world. In Genesis 1:2 we read, “for the earth was formless and empty, and DARKNESS was over the surface of the deep.” And while the Spirit of God hovered over the deep darkness, God said, “Let there be light; and there was light.” The first night of the world was that night IN THE BEGINNING. And the first act of God was to send light into the darkness.

Again, according to the “Official Record,” it will be nighttime went this world comes to a close. In His parable about His second coming, Jesus says, “At MIDNIGHT there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ (Mat.25:6)

After that final night, NIGHTTIME will be a thing of the past. John writes what he sees in his Revelation, “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light.” (Rev. 22:5). In end, the light that shall overcome the darkness once and for all.

Somewhere in between that first and last night of this world stands the holy day of Christmas, where God calls His light to shine in the darkness. “The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.” (Jn.1:9).

If you find it a bit strange that on this Christmas morning we are not talking about shepherds and angels and Mary and Joseph and their newborn baby lying in a manger, but of such things as Creation and Judgment and Light into Darkness, its because of John. As we’ve said before, John sees things differently than the others do. It does seem as though the experience of John’s Revelation had a pretty dramatic effect on him. It must have affected his vision. We see the birth of a baby. John sees the Beginning and the End and the great conflict between the Light and the Darkness. Continue reading →

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Once things finally settled down in David’s life and there was a breather in the constant battles to be fought, David had a chance to reflect on his life and the fine house he lived in. And that led him to give thanks to God for the many blessings that He had bestowed upon him. And that led him to reflect on the house that God was living in. David lived in a fine house of imported cedar. God lived in the Tabernacle, a tent made out of animal skins. David lived in a palace. God lived in a tent. What’s wrong with this picture? David saw the inconsistency and it bothered him. Something inside David said, ‘this is not right.’ ‘This is awkward.’

And David’s immediate reaction was the same one that we would have. We shall make things right with God by reconciling the inconsistency. David vowed to RAISE GOD’S STANDARD OF LIVING TO HIS OWN. If David lived in a palace, then God should live in a palace too. And David went to Nathan to get a building permit to build a proper house for God to live in.

My question is, why didn’t David conclude that since there was this inconsistency between his standard of living and God’s, that he, David, should humble himself and live in a tent like God? Why does David want to raise God up to his standard of living instead of lowering himself to God’s standard of living?

Why have we never even thought of this text in that way before? Isn’t it because our mind doesn’t work like that?

Who strives to humble himself and become least of all that he may be reconciled with God? No one. BUT GOD HUMBLED HIMSELF AND BECAME LEAST OF ALL THAT HE MAY BE RECONCILED WITH MAN. God’s ways are not our ways.

David says, “let me do something great for you God. Let me make you comfortable like I am. It would make me feel better about myself if you let me do this for you.”

And God said, ‘no.’ ‘And if you think that this skin tent is beneath my dignity, wait until you see the skin tent that I will live in for nine months.’ Continue reading →

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We’ve come now to the halfway point in the season of Advent. Christmas is just 14 days away. There’s not much time left to get ready for the big day. I hope you will be ready. So does John. John’s whole purpose and goal in life was to help you get ready for the big day. And for John, it’s not about shopping or decorating or presents. For John, it’s about repentance. According to John, you don’t get ready for the big day by getting into the ‘Christmas spirit,’ but by getting into the Holy Spirit.

This morning, John directs our attention to John. Lets be sure that we don’t get confused about these two Johns. There’s John the Baptist and John the Evangelist. John the Baptist is also an evangelist but John the Evangelist is not a baptizer. John the Baptist evangelizes by preaching and baptizing. John the Evangelist evangelizes by telling us what John the Baptizer was preaching and what his baptism meant. John the Evangelist was a disciple of John the Baptist but John the Baptist told John the Evangelist to go follow Jesus. John the Baptist pointed people to Jesus and so does John the Evangelist. I hope that clears things up. Continue reading →

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Take a deep breath. That’s what ‘nachum’ means. ‘Nachum, nachum,’ ‘Breath deeply, breath deeply. ‘Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.’ If only it were that simple.

How do you comfort someone who has lost a child or a grandchild? How do you comfort someone who has lost a husband or a wife? How do you comfort a child whose friend told them they don’t want to be their friend anymore? How do you comfort a husband whose wife has told him she doesn’t want to be his wife anymore? How do you comfort a wife whose husband has left her for another woman?

How do you comfort father Jacob believes that his son Joseph is dead? ‘And all of Jacob’s sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.’

How do you comfort Rachael at the slaughter of her children? ‘A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15)

How do you comfort Job at the loss of his possessions, his servants, his sons and daughters, his health? ‘Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.’ (Job 2:11) But Job would not be comforted. Continue reading →