Theme: the Presence of God and Glory of God is all around us… in the mountaintops, down in the valleys, and on the plains of life. The goodness of the Spirit of Christ is found in the mountaintops, down at the bottom of the valleys, and in the plains of ordinary living. 
       

First, Christ is present with us in the mountaintop experiences of life. God is present in the exotic times of life, those special moments when you know for sure that there is a God. When you know for sure that Christ has been talking with you.

In the Old Testament, these experiences are called, theophanies. Theo meaning God; epiphany meaning revelation. Revelation of God.

There is that old story about Moses. Moses was walking along in the Sinai peninsula and there was a burning bush. As Moses stood before this burning bush, he heard the voice of God say, “Moses, take off your shoes for you are on holy ground.” Moses knew. Moses knew that God had spoken to him in that moment. Moses knew that there was God and that God was real. It happened to him again a short time later. Moses had gone up to the top of Mount Sinai. For six days and nights, Moses had been up at the top of Mount Sinai. Suddenly, there was a swirling cloud that surrounded the mountain. Moses knew that it was the Presence of God and God spoke to him and gave him the Ten Moral Laws, the Ten Commandments. Moses spoke with God. Moses knew. Moses knew that God had spoken with him. He knew for sure that God was with him, that God was real.

The gospel lesson for today is a similar kind of story. Today’s gospel story is a very similar story to the Old Testament story that was read. Peter, James, and John were up on a mountain, Mount Tabor, an 1800 feet high, not far from the village of Nazareth. They were up on the top of that mountain, and they too had been on the top of that mountain for six days and six nights. Then, as with Moses, a cloud came around them and in that moment, in that exotic moment, in that theophany, in that special and sacred moment in their life, they heard the voice of God say, “This is my beloved Son, Jesus. Listen to him.” And they knew it was a rare moment, an exotic moment; they believed that God had spoken. They knew it for sure.

I would like to suggest to us this morning that God comes to us in those rare and exotic moments when you know for sure that God has been with you. When you know that God has talked with you. When you know and feel the intervention of God in your life.

Sometimes it happens on a mountaintop and sometimes it happens at a healing and sometimes it happens at a worship service. It can happen at one of those special worship services. Any kid or adult who was up at Camp Norwester two years ago, at the edge of the beach, as the stories were told, most everybody will remember that worship service until their dying day. I know that every child and adult who were present will remember that night. They will remember the Presence of God, that God was there.

Theophanies are those moments in life in which God clearly speaks to us. On a mountaintop. In a healing. In a worship service. Over a radio broadcast. In the birth of a child. In those moments, God speaks to you and you know, you know there is God.

Secondly, God never meant us to live on the mountaintop. I wish the gospel story told you the next Biblical story after the Transfiguration. This next Biblical story is never included in the lectionary series, and I feel badly about that. The next story is the key to the transfiguration story. The disciples and Jesus came off the mountain, and they came right down to the bottom of the valley. They came off the mountain and they came down into the valley and they found a boy who was having epileptic seizures. The mother and father were enormously upset and worried about the desperately sick boy, and the little boy fell into a fire and burned himself. In other words, the disciples came down off that mountaintop right into the problems of real life. Home from a mountaintop vacation and into the real world at home. And the disciples discovered that God is also down in the valley and does not live only or even primarily on the mountaintop.

I like the quotation by Henry Drummond, the Scottish theologian when he said, “God does not make the mountains in order to be inhabited. God does not make the mountaintops for us to live on the mountaintops. It is not God’s desire that we live on the mountaintops. We only ascend to the heights to catch a broader vision of the earthly surroundings below. But we don’t live there. We don’t tarry there. The streams begin in the uplands, but these streams descend quickly to gladden the valleys below.” The streams start in the mountaintops, but they come down to gladden the valleys below.

You and I experience the valleys of life. You and I both know what happens the next day coming down from the mountain. It is the real world and the real life. After Sundays of life, there are always Mondays. You know, the tough ones of life. God is with us there.

I believe that God is with us, not only on the mountaintops, but God is with us the next day at the very bottom of the mountain. You know what it is like down at the bottom of the mountain. You know what it means to experience the severe illness and death of children. You know what it means to have trauma in your marriage. You know what it means to have one of your friends die much too early and much too painfully. You know what it is like to be down at the bottom of the mountain. And you know that God is with you and you know that God speaks to you there and gives you the words of hope and strength for that time. For God is with us both on the mountaintops and in the valleys.

Thirdly, God is with us in the plains, in the ordinariness of life. Being honest, we don’t spend much time on the mountaintops nor do we spend a lot of time down in the valley. Where we spend most of our time is living plain, ordinary days. What I have found is that God is in the plain ordinariness of life as well. Such as driving to work, having breakfast, pouring the Cheerios out of the box, making a cup of coffee, a cheese sandwich, listening to the telephone as it rings, talking to a friend, sitting at the kitchen table, reading the newspaper, listening to television, tuning in the stereo, opening the refrigerator door, feeding the dog, going for a walk. Life. Everyday life. You stand underneath the flowering plum tree in the spring time and you look up and see a million miracles, a million flower blossoms. And God is there with you as well.

God is with us on the mountain top. God is with us in the valleys of life. God is with us in the plain, ordinariness of life.

Rev. Edward Markquart, edited by Ministry Depot

“Let down your nets” is a sermon interpretation of Luke 5: 1-11.

Today’s story is a fishing story about Simon Peter. Simon Peter, as you know, was a fisherman by trade. He fished the Sea of Galilee. It was and is a big lake, thirteen miles long and eight miles wide. Like some of you, Peter had his own fishing boat and he was in a fishing partnership. It was a fishing family with his brother Andrew and his good friends, James and John. Basically, they were gill netters. Gill netting was and is hard work. The fishermen would fish all night, so the fish wouldn’t see the nets during the night. In the morning, they would take in their haul of fish, salt their fish, and take it to town to sell their fish at the market.

When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. Whoa!!! There were lots of fish, so many fish that they began to sink both boats. What a miracle. What a parable. What a sign for these first disciples.

The implication is that there will be numerous people "caught" for God/Christ and the ways of God. That will become the primary purpose of the disciples: to catch numerous people for Jesus Christ. That will become the primary purpose of the church: to catch numerous people for Jesus Christ.

There were so many fish that the nets broke and the implication was that there will so many people caught for Jesus Christ that nets/buildings/stadiums can’t hold them.

For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. As human beings, we are always amazed at miracles, at the ways that God enormously blesses us at certain specific times in our lives. In his mind, Peter knew that he was experiencing a miracle, that the Lord God had intervened in his life at this particularly life-changing moment.

Like all good fishermen, Peter remembered the miraculous size of the catch that morning and he knew that the Lord Jesus was sending him in a new direction: to catch numerous other people for Jesus Christ, for the gospel, for the kingdom and the ways of God.

Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people."

Many of us Christians are afraid of being evangelists, missionaries, and fishing for Jesus Christ. We need to hear Jesus’ words to his first disciples. “Do not be afraid.” Jesus spent three years teaching his disciples how to catch people. From our community of disciples today, we want to learn how to fish for Jesus Christ. Many or most mainline denominational Christians are afraid of "fishing for and catching people" for Jesus Christ.

That is the fishing story for today.

From this and other Biblical passages, we know that the mission of the church today is to fish for people, to be used by God to catch people for Jesus Christ. We know that the symbol of the church is a fish, in the Greek language, ICTHUS. If you take the first letter of the following words, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, you get the Greek word, ICTHUS, which means fish. You often see a small, black, rectangular sign, with a symbol of the fish on it. You see this sign on car bumpers and doors. It simply stands for fish. Christians are called to be fishermen and fisherwomen. We are to be taught to fish for people. It is the central mission of the church.

After Jesus said to his disciples, "follow me," he then said "I will teach you to fish for people." The last thing that Jesus said to the twelve disciples was from the Mount of Ascension where his final words on earth were, "Go and make disciples of all peoples."

So the first thing and the last thing that Jesus said to his disciples was: fish for people. Make disciples of all people. That has always been the primary ministry of the church.

from a sermon by Rev. Edward Markquart

To read more about the principles of “fishing for Christ” see Mark 1: 14-20 post.

“Reluctant Mouthpiece” is a sermon interpretation of Jeremiah 1: 4-10.
   

Reluctant. Reluctant to talk. Reluctant to talk about Jesus Christ. Reluctant to talk about Jesus Christ to my unchurched friends. Lutherans are reluctant. You are reluctant. I am reluctant. We are by nature and by culture and by denominational heritage reluctant to talk with our unchurched friends about Jesus Christ.

In a sociological study of Lutherans, it concluded that 90% of all Lutherans rarely or never spoke to anybody about their faith in Jesus Christ. In this study of active Lutheran Christians, active in that they attended church about three out of four times a month, it was found that 40% of these Lutherans never talked to anyone about Christ; 35% of them rarely speak about Christ; 13% of them spoke about Christ to their kids about once a month; and 12% spoke among their family about Christ once a week. Only 12% of active Lutheran church members spoke to their family about Christ on a weekly basis. What a devastating commentary on the Lutheran church. This sociological study concluded that Lutherans, with their Scandinavian heritage, are reluctant to talk about Christ even with their children, not to mention being reluctant to speak with their unchurched friends about Christ.

It is with this mood of reluctance that we approach the theme of today’s Old Testament lesson. Jeremiah was a teenager. He was a reluctant mouthpiece of God who didn’t want to talk with other people about God. In another words, he was a good Lutheran. He was reluctant to speak with others.

The Bible says that Jeremiah was a prophet to the nations, and several words in that statement cause confusion. It seems to me that there are three fundamental confusions before us. Let me explain.

First, when examining the word, prophet, most people who are seated in the pews conclude that you are not prophets. Most of you, when you hear the word, prophet, think of paid preachers. I, standing in front of you today, am the paid prophet of the Lord for you. I am trained to talk about God and the Bible. A preacher goes to the seminary in order to study to be a prophet. Or you often think a prophet is a religious “big shot” like Billy Graham or some other television personality. In other words, you, sitting in a church pew, are not a prophet. … You say to yourself, “ I am not a preacher, who has been through seminary and trained to talk. I am not a famous preacher like Billy Graham. It is obvious to everyone that I am not a prophet.” Such thoughts are erroneous conclusions.

That is, we hear from God’s word in Acts 2:21 where God says, “All of my people are prophets.” Young and old men, young and old women, young and old, male and female, all Christians are my prophets.” On Pentecost morning, we re-enact the Pentecost story. A wide variety of people from our parish read a Bible passage in their own language such as German, Italian or Spanish. The message of Pentecost is clear: all Christian people are prophets, men and women, boys and girls, young and old. We are all God’s talkers. Not just the paid preachers. Not just the famous God talkers like Billy Graham.

A second confusion is this: we don’t realize the word, prophet, refers to a specific part of the human body. In the children’s sermon today, I asked the kids. Does the word, prophet, refer to fingers? No. Does the word, prophet, refer to wrists? No. To hands? No. Does it refer to elbows? No. Does it refer to shoulders? No. To heads? No. Does the word, prophet, refer specifically to the mouth? Yes. Yes. Yes. The word, prophet, refers to a specific piece of the body and that specific piece of the body is the mouth. A prophet is God’s mouthpiece. A prophet is God’s talker. We don’t visualize hands that are willing to serve others in love or visualize feet that are willing to walk the extra mile for someone else. Hands and feet are crucially important, but the word, prophet, refers specifically to God’s mouthpiece.

Most of us want our hands and feet to do the talking; most of us want our example to do the talking. We don’t want our mouths or tongues to say anything. We want to remain silent and say nothing except through our hands and feet. But, in addition to our hands and feet, we also need a mouth that does the talking, that tells of our faith in God. All three parts of the body are needed. … The word, prophet? It refers specifically to the mouth. We, the prophets, are mouthpieces for God.

A third confusion happens when it was said that Jeremiah was a prophet to the nations. When we hear the word, nations, that brings to mind foreign nations like China or Chad or Chili. “A prophet to the nations” means to go to other nations and tell them about Christ. It means to become a foreign missionary. … But, the word for nations is “ethnos” and means ethnic groups. It refers to any group that does not know Jesus Christ. It also means, Gentiles. A Gentile is anyone who does not know Jesus Christ. In other words, you don’t have to go to China, Chad or Chile to be a prophet. A prophet is a talker, a mouthpiece for God, and a prophet can stay right here at home and speak to the ethnic groups and gentiles all around you. It is confusing if you think a prophet has to go to other nations. A prophet, or mouthpiece, directs his or her language to people right at home. If a prophet goes to other nations of the world, I can escape being a prophet, and as a Lutheran, I want to escape being a prophet if at all possible.

These three confusions get in our way immediately. Someone else is a prophet; not me. The prophet must be a paid preacher or the religious big shot. I, a Lutheran, want to be a prophet by simply being nice to someone with my hands and going the second mile for them with my feet, but never use my mouth to say anything about God. The net result is that I avoid being a prophet. That’s what I want to avoid at all costs: being a verbal spokes man or woman for God.

There are many prophets in the Old Testament who were reluctant to speak about their faith in God. When we are reluctant to talk about God and God’s ways, we join good company in the Old Testament prophets. The prophets, like us, are often reluctant to talk. Let me illustrate.

First, we need to talk about Jeremiah, the prophet today’s text. Jeremiah certainly was reluctant to talk with others about God. Jeremiah said, “I am only a teenager. I am too young. I am too new at the Faith. What will my friends think if I talk to them about the Faith? Others will make fun of me, ridicule me, and reject me. I am afraid of their rejection. ” Like Jeremiah, so many teenagers are reluctant to talk about our faith in God because we are afraid of rejection, afraid of the opinion of others, and afraid of ridicule. Of course, you don’t need to be a teenager to be afraid of rejection and ridicule, like Jeremiah was. All people of all ages seem to have this fundamental fear of ridicule by others.

There is another example of a reluctant prophet in the Old Testament and that was the prophet, Isaiah. God said to Isaiah, “Isaiah, I want you to be my prophet; I want you to be my talker and tell of your faith in me.” Isaiah replied, “O no, God. I can’t be your talker. I am a person of unclean lips. You should hear some things I say. I use bad language. I am such a bad example. I am a lousy disciple. How could I talk to anyone else about you Lord, knowing what a bad example I am.” Yes, lots of people then and now use this excuse, “I am such a bad example. How can I witness for God.”

There is another example of a reluctant leader in the Old Testament and his name was Gideon. Gideon responded, “Not me, Lord. I quote, ‘I come from the weakest tribe.’ I come from the weakest of backgrounds. I have a poor education. I only went through grade school, junior high school, or high school. How do you expect me to talk to a college graduate about Christ? That is my excuse, Lord. I really don’t know enough about the Bible. My background in the Bible is poor, and you really wouldn’t expect me to talk with anyone about you.” Yes, lots of Christians still use that old excuse, “I don’t know enough Biblical background. If I had more knowledge, I would talk more.” This is another good but lame excuse, used for centuries.

There was this other leader in the Old Testament and he, too, was a reluctant prophet. His name was Moses. Moses, too, found excuses and he said, “I have a speech impediment. I got this problem with speaking and I have a stutter. I am not good at talking at all. In fact, I am downright embarrassed to talk. I am downright shy. I have this brother by the name of Aaron. He is good at talking and I will persuade him to talk for me.” The excuse of shyness is centuries old. People have been using this excuse for decades. “I am not good at talking. Get someone else to talk about you, Lord.”

So several of these Old Testament prophets had this problem of their reluctance to be prophets. They held the familiar excuses for not talking about God and God’s values. They said, “I am too young, I don’t like being ridiculed or rejected. I am such a bad sinner, such an imperfect example, with no enough knowledge of the Bible. I am a shy person with speech impediments. Let a smoother talker do the talking. Besides, I am from a weak cultural heritage, and we have never done it before”.

But God wouldn’t take “no” from these escape artists, from these mission dodgers, from these reluctant prophets. God would not take “no” from them, and with godly persuasion, God persuaded each one of them to become the spokesman for God. God overcame every one of their lame excuses.

So it is with us. We too are reluctant prophets, reluctant spokes men and women for God. We too are filled with inhibitions and excuses and reasons why we can’t do the job. Like God did to Jeremiah, God touches our courage, touches our spirits, and touches our mouths. God touches us and miraculously, God uses people like us, like you and me. God uses people as common as we are to speak. Not only to silently talk with hands. Not only to silent talk with feet as we go the extra mile. But God always uses common and ordinary people to do God’s work. All of these famous prophets and famous leaders were initially common and ordinary people before they became famous in Biblical history. God chooses you; touches your courage, touches your spirit, and touches your mouth and puts words into your mouth and you, too, become a prophet, a mouthpiece, for the Lord. This is what happened to Jeremiah and this is what happens to you and me.

Rev. Edward Markquart, edited by Ministry Depot

Jesus said, "I have come to bring good news to poor people."  This is a sermon interpretation of Luke 4: 14-21. 
      

For most of us, our day has already begun well. That is, we are all alive. Most if not all of us had a good night sleep in a warm bed in a warm house and then a warm breakfast. Most of us adults had a hot cup of coffee the first thing when we got up. I’ve already had my hot latte today. And then we drove to church or rode to church in a warm car and our car had gasoline in the tank. In other words, none of us have really experienced extreme poverty this morning. We slept in warm bed, in a warm house, and had a warm breakfast and rode in a warm car to church. Saying all of that simply means that most of us are not poor.

Today’s sermon is about poverty and the Lord God’s special affection for poor people. We hear this from the mouth of Jesus in the gospel text for today when he says, "I have come to bring good news to the poor."

That theme of God’s special love and affection for poor people is found throughout the Gospel of Luke.

We need to talk about poor people and poverty here in the modern world and then talk about poor people and poverty in Luke’s world.

Scholars often divide the nations of the world into four categories. The nations of the world are divided into the First World, Second World, Third World and Fourth World, and each category has about twenty-five percent of the Earth’s population. … The First World are the richest nations on Earth, and there are about twenty-two of them. These are the industrialized democracies, with about 700 million people and a per capita income in $4,000.  These nations include the United States, Western Europe, New Zealand, Canada and Japan. Do you want to live in a First World rich country? Do I? Yes, we all do. …. In the Second World, there are about fifteen nations, that have 1.2 billion people, and each person’s income is about $1100. These nations include Russia, China, Eastern Europe, Cuba, North Korea and Viet Nam. … The Third World consists of about seventy nations, a billion inhabitants, a per capita income of about $800. These nations are from Latin America, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, etc. … Then there are the Fourth World nations. These 87 nations nations are at the bottom of the barrel, with a billion people, and an annual per capital income of about $150. These are nations like most sub-Sahara African counties, plus Bangladesh, and Haiti where our new sister church is located. At the bottom of the barrel, there is much inflation, drought, wars, overpopulation, and starvation. … Scholars divide the world into four categories: the first, second, third and fourth world. Think of $4,000, $1100, $800, and $150. None of us would want to live in Fourth World country with a meager $150 per year.

I now have those figures in my mind. $4,000, $1100, $800, $150. Who could  live on $150 a year. These people are the poorest of the poor.

Here in the United States, according to a recent Seattle Times article, we read that there are four classes. There are the upper class who live very rich, the upper middle class who live also very well, the lower middle class who are usually short of money, and the poorer class whose members are truly poor.

Wikipedia, the Internet Encyclopedia, gives us the specific numbers of the four classes in America. The upper one quarter of our population makes $77,500 household income for the year. Could I see your hands about how many of you/us are rich and have a household income of $77,500? Just joking. None of us like to talk about those things. The bottom quarter of our nation makes $22,500 per household income and are poor. Could I see a show of hands of how many of you live in a family that makes less that $22,500? No, just joking. We don’t like to talk about those things. In the middle from $22,500 to $77,500 there are the lower middle class and the upper middle class. From $22,500 to 50,000, could I see the hands of those in the lower middle? No, just joking. And from $50k to $77.5k? The upper middle. We just don’t talk publicly about those things, or ever with our closest friends or even family members. Nope, our financial income is a VERY private matter, but we are ALL keenly intersted in what we and others make.

The poorest of the poor in our nation earn less than $10,000 per household. That is 10% of our population, which is about 30 million people.

Poverty has actually decreased in the United States of America. Way back in 1963, the poorest people in our nation were people 65 and older. 28% of people 65 and older were below the poverty level in 1963. Now, the elderly poverty rate is about 10.1%. From 28% to 10% among our elderly. The government’s war on poverty begun by President Lyndon Johnson did make a positive difference for huge numbers of people, especially those over age 65.

The new poor in America are no longer the elderly but single mothers with children. If you want to get a feeling for poverty and what it means to be poor, simply talk to certain single mothers with kids and you may get a first hand lesson on what it means to be poor in America.

Poor people are usually not found on the membership rolls of the church. For example, of the 700 families in our congregation, I counted what I think are the poor households in our parish and there are fewer than five That is generally true: poor people don’t belong to the church.

This past week, I telephoned every family in our congregation who was poorer. That is, every one of these families can’t afford food and fuel. There were only four families in our church in this group, and I talk today with their permission. I talked to four single mothers and every one of them cried in our conversation. All four said that the tensions got very, very hard, and at times they couldn’t make it. All four households said that someday they hope to make a little more money so they can afford fuel and food. Not one of these four wanted to be rich, but have just enough to pay for their essential needs.

Only one household in our church belongs to the poorest of poor in our society. There is only one household currently on welfare in our congregation, and they are feeling numb but see a possibility for their lives to get better. This person was not happy with the welfare system and said the system punished her for getting a job at McDonalds.

From these five conversations, it is obvious that many “truly poor” do not belong to our churches or similar churches. Often the working poor and the poorest of poor do not belong to churches.

The director of our child- care center said that many “working poor” households use our Child Care Center. There are many more working poor families who are at day-care than are at church.

It is with these images of fourth world nations and four economic classes of American citizens and the lack of poor people belonging to Christian churches, that we approach Luke’s gospel lesson for today. Jesus said to clearly, "I have come to bring good news to poor people."

This gospel lesson is the first event in Jesus’ public ministry in Luke. Jesus has been baptized, went out into the wilderness to be tempted by devil, and now he was ready for the first event in his public ministry. You anticipate that you will hear the story of the call of the first disciples, but not in the gospel of Luke. Luke changes the order of the Gospel of Mark. In Luke, we don’t hear the call of the first disciples at the very beginning. Instead, Luke takes a story that was found in the middle of Mark and he makes it the first event of Jesus’ public ministry. This is important. Luke sets the whole tone for his gospel with this first story. What is the first public event for Jesus in the Gospel of Luke?

It is Jesus’ first sermon. It was Jesus’ first sermon to his hometown crowd in Nazareth where he had been brought up. All of them had seen Jesus grow up as a little boy, and now he was a grown man and now he was preaching his first sermon in the synagogue. What would Jesus say in his first sermon? It had to be important. As a guest preacher in the synagogue, Jesus was free to choose any passage from the prophets that he wanted to preach his sermon on. What passage did Jesus read for his first sermon? What passage? He quoted the prophet Isaiah and said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the good news to poor people, proclaim release to those who are in captivity and prison, recover the sight of the blind, and free those who are oppressed.” The Greek word, oppressed, means “broken to bits.” To set free those who are broken to bits by life.” This is also an exact, word for word, quotation from Isaiah 61:1.

Now, I ask you the question, “Why?” Why was Jesus’ first sermon was from Isaiah 61? Why? Why did he say that the very core of his ministry was to be to the poor, the lame and the fourth class of Jewish society? Why? Because that is the core of whom Jesus was and is.

It is interesting to me that Jesus’ self-understanding comes primary from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Especially from Isaiah 61.If you are going to understand who Jesus is, you have to read Isaiah 61

In his first sermon, Jesus did not imply that he was going to be a king like King David with lots of power.

He didn’t imply he was going to be a king like King Solomon with lots of wealth.

He didn’t imply that he was going to be a military leader like Joshua.

Rather, Jesus chose Isaiah 61 and said, “I am going to be a servant. I am going to take care of and heal the poor, the blind, the lame and the maimed.” I am going to take care of the Fourth Class.
Jesus said, "I have come to bring good news to poor people."

Jesus was going to have an earthly ministry especially to the fourth world and the fourth class. Jesus was coming to help the poor. And so did his followers.

The lepers, blind, lame and poor were the rejects of Jewish society. These were the social outcasts. They were ostracized from the synagogue. They would not come to the temple, not come to the synagogue, and could not be part of Jewish society. It is the same way today. Our American poor rarely participate in our churches and synagogues.

So we ask the question: What does this have to do with us, with my life, with your life, with the life of our congregation? Jesus’ opening sermon revealed the nerve center, the core, the fundamental theme of his compassion for the poor and those who were broken to bits with life, the homeless and hungry. If this is true, what does it mean for our lives and the life of our congregation?

(At this point, you might tell stories of how local organizations need volunteers, how your congregation is supporting mission projects, involved in local homeless shelters, food pantries, prison ministries, head start, children’s camp, etc.

Bringing good news to the poor was the core of Jesus’ ministry, and is the core of our congregation’s mission too.

Rev. Edward Markquart, edited by Ministry Depot

“Water Into Wine” is a sermon interpretation of John 2: 1-11.  
     

Ever since the world began, wine has been a favorite beverage for meals, parties, celebrations, and especially for weddings. Wine and wedding have gone hand in hand for centuries. The Bible says that wine is the oil of gladness; that wine brings further joy to the party. Wine helps people smile. Wine helps people to be happy, and people want to be happy at weddings, so they often drink wine. Of course, not at Baptist weddings, of course, not at Norwegian Lutheran weddings. But with those exceptions and a few others, people often drink wine at weddings, and this happens throughout the whole world. Wine is part of the gospel story for today.

It is a Jewish wedding. Jewish weddings during the time of Christ were gala occasions, festive events, and grand parties. Jewish weddings usually began on Tuesday nights, and the groom and his friends would go over to the bride’s house at night. On the way over, the groomsmen would be swinging their olive-oil lamps, having a fun time. The men would gather in front of the bride’s home, and she would come out to the front steps. Now, for the first time in her adult life, she would take off her veil and showed off how beautiful she really was. This removal of the veil was a special event. Then, the groom and the groomsmen, would again walk down the streets with their olive-oil lamps swinging and they would go over to the groom’s house to begin a seven-day party. Yes, a seven day party. During those seven days, family and friends would bring their gifts, their hot dishes, and their good humor. They would party for seven days.

At such wedding celebrations as these, wine was served. It was Biblical. It was the oil of gladness, a juice that made for joy. Remember that the Jews did not have a problem with alcoholism. Rarely, if ever, do you see a Jewish alcoholic. Why? Perhaps because Jewish families have grown up with wine. Wine was and is part of their daily life, therefore you rarely see Jewish people who become alcoholic.

In the story for today, Jesus came to such a wedding party. Seven days long. Can you imagine? Now, that is probably a disappointment to all those social activists who thought that Jesus should have been down at Capernaum solving all the social problems. That is probably a disappointment to some of those social do-gooders who thought that Jesus should only take care of the lepers, blind and lame, that he should spend all of his time healing the sick. That is probably a disappointment to all the Norwegian and Baptist pietists who think that Jesus shouldn’t go to parties and if he did, he should drink only grape juice. But here was Jesus at a real live party that was going to last seven days, a full week.

During this party, unfortunately and embarrassingly, the host ran out of wine. What to do? No wine! This was a Jewish wedding and not a Jewish wake. It is embarrassing to run out of wine. They didn’t have any 7-11 to run to. They didn’t have a state liquor store down the street. They didn’t have a grocery store nearby with shelf after shelf of various wines to chose from. What to do? They didn’t know. … Mary, the mother of Jesus, intervened. Why? We don’t know. Mary said to Jesus, “They have no wine.” Jesus replied, “What does that have to do with me?” Like so many mothers, Mary seems to ignore her son and speaks directly to the servant, “Do what he tells you.” We can only guess the look on Jesus’ face. Jesus, knowing his mother and perhaps rolling his eyes, said to the servant, “Fill those big jugs out there with water.” Now, these were big jugs. Thirty gallons each. These vats were used for the rite of purification. That is, before their worship services, the Jews would wash their faces, before prayers they would wash their hands and feet. These water vats were for the rites of purification. Jesus said to the servant, “I want these vats filled up to the brim. Not half full. Not three quarters full. Not seven eighths full. Not fifteen sixteenths full. I want them filled right up to the brim. I want them fuller than full.” So the servants filled those six jugs right up to the top lip. Jesus then said to the waiter, “I want you to take some wine over to the maitre’d to see what it tastes like.” The servant took some wine over to the maitre’d. He sipped it and said, “That tastes mighty fine. The groom has saved the best wine until last.” The maitre’d looked at the six vats of wine and said, “That is a lot of wine. There is enough wine here for a whole city. For the whole country. For the whole world.” Then comes a key line in the story and that line says, “This was the first of the signs that Jesus did in Galilee. By this sign, Jesus revealed his glory, the glorious presence of the Son of God. And the disciples believed the sign.”

Immediately, my mind flashed to the previous chapter, in John 1, where the Bible says, “We beheld his glory, the glorious presence of the Son of God, and from his fullness, (the fullness of six large vats of wine,) from his fullness, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.” The law was given through the purification rituals of Moses but grace and truth were given through Jesus Christ. From His fullness, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.

In the gospel of John, the miracles are always called “signs.” The Gospel of John is called the book of the seven signs, the seven miracles. I want to talk with you a moment about signs. If you drive out of our church, you will see all kinds of signs at the nearest intersection. You will see one particular sign painted red, with white paint, that says, “Stop.” It is a stop sign. You never think that this is a piece of metal with red and white paint on it. You don’t examine the ingredients of the metal or the paint. You simply read the message. You ask the question, “What is the message of this sign?” So it is with the signs in the gospel of John. You ask, “What is the message in this sign?” The signs all have messages.

What is the message of this sign of water into wine? The message is not so much the water into wine. The message of the sign is that Jesus took 180 gallons of Jewish laws, the rituals of purification, and transformed them. Jesus took 180 gallons of guilt, 180 gallons of laws, laws and more laws, 180 gallons of don’t do this and don’t do that, 180 gallons of laws that then numbered more than 600 regulations, and he transformed them into a new religion, new meaning, new wine that would burst old wine skins. Jesus transformed the old religion into the new religion. The miracle was a sign. The miracle had a message and you have to get the message. You stop at the intersection outside of church and see red and white paint painted on metal, you better get the message. Stop. It is the message that is important. And there is a grand message to Jesus’ first sign. 180 gallons of guilt are transformed into 180 gallons of grace.

180 gallons of grace. There is enough grace here for a whole city, enough grace for a whole state, enough grace for the whole wide world. From God’s fullness of grace, right up to the brim, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace. I love that line in the text where the vats are filled up right to the brim.

This new religion of Jesus is a religion of joy and happiness. It is 180 gallons of joy juice and happiness. Being a Christian is like going to a party. Being a Christian is like going to a Jewish wedding. The bridegroom is with us, and the bridegroom brings pleasure to our lives.

Christianity is not for sour pusses. Christianity is not for legalists. Christianity is not for people who love to wallow in their guilt like pigs like to wallow in the mud. Some religious people are like that; they seem to enjoy wallowing in the mud of their guilt. The purpose of this new faith is to make you happy and joyful. It is not supposed to make you feel grumpy or guilty. This new faith makes us free to love; it is not supposed to make us feel guilty. This new faith and new religion lets you know that God loves sinners; that God loves sinful people; that God loves imperfect people. This new religion is not to make you say to yourself, “I am a crummy Christian. I am not a very good husband, not a very good wife, not a very good parent, not a very good pastor.” That isn’t what the gospel of grace is all about. This new faith and new religion allows us to be fully human in all of my sorrow, in all of my sinfulness, in all of my guilt, in all my stupidity, in all my bunglings. Forgiven, loved and celebrated. There is 180 gallons of grace for you and 180 gallons of grace for me. Never kind enough. Never good enough. Never loving enough. Never prayerful enough. Always too selfish. Yet there is 180 gallons of grace for you and me.

By contrast, the religion of Moses and the religion of the Old Testament is 180 gallons of religious laws and religious duties. It is all law and all duty and all obedience to laws. Go to church. Give your tithe. Give your alms to the poor. Observe the fast. Say your prayers. More than 600 laws for you to obey. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. You are never good enough, never obey all the laws enough, never as good as Jesus, always falling short, always trying to do a little bit more, offer your sacrifices, atone for your sins, do a good deed, try a little harder, shape up a little more. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. There is a ton of guilt, and you then wallow in a deep muddy puddle and feel that is where you belong.

The religion of Jesus is not like that. This is a religion of new wine that bursts old wineskins. It is a new religion of grace, more than 180 gallons!

Rev. Edward Markquart

“The Baptism of Jesus” is a sermon igniter for Luke 3: 15-22.
         

When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of God came down upon him. This Spirit was the very presence of God. This was the same Spirit that was present in creation, when God created the world. In the book of Genesis, it says, “The Spirit of God was hovering above the waters.” The Spirit was brooding above the waters, ready to create life in those waters. Then, that same creative Spirit that was present in the creation story came on the prophets. The prophets were filled with God’s Spirit and they spoke with boldness and authority. Then, that same Spirit came on King David and King David knew that God’s Spirit was in him to help him to rule wisely. Then, that same Spirit came on Jesus at his baptism, this powerful Spirit of God.

As a consequence of having the Spirit of God inside of him, Jesus had unusual power. By the power and Spirit of God in him, he turned water into wine, controlled the wind and waves of the sea, cured the lepers, healed the deaf and blind. This same Spirit gave Jesus a spirit of gentleness. I love that passage from Isaiah 42 that says, “A burning candle he will not snuff out. A bent reed he will not break.” When Jesus came to earth and was filled with the Holy Spirit, there was a spirit of gentleness to him in all relationships. Jesus would not snuff out any person who was like a burning candle or snap a person who was like a bent reed or twig. Jesus had the spirit of gentleness upon him because the Spirit of God was within him.

As a consequence of having the Spirit of God in him, Jesus had this unusual power to fight the demons, to fight the evil power and forces around him. Immediately after his baptism, Jesus was sent by God out into the wilderness to be tempted and tested by the devil. Jesus stood up to the test. Throughout his whole ministry, Jesus confronted and tamed the demons around him. He demonstrated that God’s power was stronger than evil and thereby taught us an important lesson in our battles with evil.

In our baptism, the same Spirit that came down on Jesus, that same Spirit that was brooding over the waters at creation, that same Spirit that filled the prophets, that same Spirit that anointed the kings to rule wisely, that same Spirit has come down onto your life and mine. In your baptism, the Spirit of God came down into you and you became a member of the community of the Spirit. In this community of the Spirit, you are to grow spiritually, just as James, Julie and Steve grow spiritually from their baptismal days. We are the community of the Spirit and we pray constantly, “Open up the heavens and send your Spirit upon us, upon me.”

When the Spirit lives in the community, several things begin to happen. The Spirit and the spirited community give you strength and power to cope with life and more than cope, to be victorious in life. This Spirit and spiritual community give you strength to cope…with the divorce that you are going through right now. …with the kids who may be driving you insane right now. … with your mother’s aging, your father’s aging, with their death. …with your aging and with your death. … with all the injustices in the world that surround us, with the demonic in this world that has corrupted our food supply and water supply. When the Spirit is inside of you and the people around you, there is power, spiritual power, and that is power indeed. No wonder the demons trembled at the sound of his voice. The evil spirits knows that they are not as strong as the Spirit of God. When the Spirit is inside of you, you are prepared to fight the evil in life all around you and in you.

Secondly, in his baptism, Jesus was declared to be the Son of God. The voice out of heaven declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, in whom my soul delights.”

I have always appreciated those lines. I was thinking about these lines from the baptismal service, on the drive home from work, thinking about this sermon. I came home from work about 5:30. I opened the door and heard the voice of Nathan, our sixteen-month old child. He had just come out of the bathtub and as I walked into the house, he came running down the hall at me, his little body dripping wet. He threw his arms around me and gave me a love. I kept saying the lines from Isaiah in my heart, “This is my beloved son in whom my soul delights.” I take such delight in this child. … As Jesus was baptized, I can see God up in heaven, looking down at Jesus, his child, and saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom my soul delights.” God absolutely delighted in his Son, Jesus of Nazareth.

And so it is when you and I are baptized. God looks down at you and me and says, “This is my beloved son, this is my beloved daughter in whom my soul delights.” I think of my feelings towards Nathan and I think of God’s feelings for his own child. That is the same way that God feels about you and me, whether we are eight days old, eight months, eight years, eighteen years, twenty-eight years, thirty-eight, forty-eight, fifty-eight, eighty-eight. No matte what our age may be, this is God’s fundamental attitude towards us is this: delight.

When you were baptized, you were declared to be a child of God in whom God delights.

There is a third factor that happens in baptism. The voice of God identified Jesus as being the Suffering Servant. The quotation, “this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased,” is a quotation from Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 is a chapter about the Suffering Servant. Jesus is identified as being the Suffering Servant of Isaiah.

In Isaiah, the Suffering Servant is the one who carries the sins of the whole world on his back. In the New Testament, the Suffering Servant carries the whole world of sin on the cross. When Christ carried the cross to Golgotha, he carried the sins of the whole world. This comes from Isaiah. The Suffering Servant is like a pack mule, is like a packhorse. The mule or the packhorse carries the load; that is their purpose and that was the purpose of Christ. The purpose of Christ was to carry the load of sin of the whole world on his back.

You and I were baptized in order to get rid of our sins. That was not true of Jesus. Jesus had no sins. According to the Bible, Jesus was baptized not to get rid of his sins, but in order to carry our sins on the cross. That is very important to understand. So it is with our baptism: when we are baptized, it is guaranteed that Christ will carry all of our sins on the cross. I don’t have to carry my past sins with me, my failures, my imperfections, nor my guilt. All the sins that I have done wrong and all the things that I haven’t done right are placed on his back, on his cross. Jesus is the one who carries the weight of sin. That’s what it means that Jesus is the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 42 who carries the sins of the whole world. His baptism tells us that story, and thereby the story of who carries our sins.

Rev. Edward Markquart, edited sermon by Ministry Depot

“Looking for Logic” is a sermon starter for John 1: 1-18.

“In the beginning was the Word; the Word became flesh.”  The Greek word for Word is “logos” from which we get our word, logic.  “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God” is then translated:  “In the beginning was the logic and the logic was with God and the logic was God.”

Before there was any creation, before there was matter, before there was light and life, obviously, there had to be a set of brains.  That’s the way it always is;  you have to have brains lay out a plan.  There had to be some logic to it.  God was and is essentially a large cranial cavity of intelligence and brilliance.  In the beginning was the logic and the logic was with God and the logic was God.  The mind was God.  The intelligence was God.  The brilliance was God.  What the Bible is saying is before something was created, there had to be a mastermind behind it; and from this logic, all light and life was created.

The Bible teaches that before the world began, Jesus was the logic of God, the mind of God, the brilliance of God.  In the beginning was the logic, and the logic was with God, meaning Jesus, and the brilliant logic became flesh and lived among us.  So Jesus existed far before measured time began and Jesus is the logical master mind of creation. 

The brilliant mind and logic behind the universe became flesh.  The brilliant logical mind of the universe became flesh, a human being. 

Now, when the Greek language uses the word, “flesh,” it uses the word, “sarx,” from which we get our word, sarcophagus. The Greek word, "flesh," doesn’t simply refer to our skin and bones and body that we can touch; the word, "flesh," in Greek, refers to the totality of who we are; it refers to our mind, body and spirit.  In Hebrew and Greek, a human being is composed of three parts: body, mind and spirit, and we still are.  The Bible is saying that the brilliant logical mind of the universe because a full human being, flesh.

Why is this so important?

The Bible is saying that the master intelligence behind the universe did not stay up in the safety of heaven, that God did not remain living up there in heaven, far away from the evil and suffering of earth, that God didn’t live in some kind of eternal suburb, safe from it all.  God didn’t live away from the rough and tumble of the world, but God came down here to this earth to suffer like we do.

Now, in all the other world religions, in their prophets, seers, and angels, God does not dare to become a human being, does not dare to come down to earth and its ghettos.  In the philosophy of Docetism, and even in Greek mythology, God doesn’t actually become a real human being but only pretends to be a real human being.  But in our Christian religion, unlike every other religion of the world, ours is the only religion in the world that claims that the brilliance logical intelligence actually became a real life human being and occupies the same turf that you and I do.  Even our hymn is titled, “From heaven above to earth I come.”  This means that God became Jesus who was a little baby, wet his diapers, messed his pants, burped, upchucked, cried and whined in the synagogue at age two, and later drove his parents crazy during the worship services

Now, this doctrine that God became flesh, is one of the central doctrines of the Christian faith. It is called the Incarnation, incarnal, in the flesh.  Now, if you were a good Roman Catholic, for centuries, any time in the Latin liturgy you would hear the phrase, “incarnal est,” you, as a Catholic, would automatically bow.  For centuries Catholics did not understand the Latin, but when they would hear the phrase, “incarnal est,” they would drop to their knees in reverence.

Martin Luther was also a Roman Catholic from childhood, and in his commentary on this passage, said:  “If you truly believe that the Word became flesh, that the logic of the universe became a human being, this is powerful enough to drive demons and devils away from you.”

Luther, in his commentary, goes on to say that God chose to become a human being and not an angel, and that made some of the other angels jealous that God didn’t chose to be an angel.  He said that the angels became jealous because human beings were selected to be the incarnation of God. This angelic jealousy caused the angel Lucifer to “fall.”

Luther goes on to say that when God took the flesh of a human being, that proves that God is well disposed to us, that God has favor towards us.  God takes on our territory and knows what we human beings feel and believe. God understands our situation.  Incarnal est, and Luther fell on his knees.

And this Bible passage from the Christmas gospel of John asks the question:  Where is God more present?  Where is God most localized and focalized? Where are you to find God living?  In the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth.  If you want to find the localized and focalized presence of God, it is no longer in the moral law of the Ten Commandments but in the flesh of Jesus Christ, in the mind, body and spirit of Jesus Christ. If you want to find God, God lives in Jesus of Nazareth.

In the Christmas Gospel in John, he tells us:  The Mind of God who was with God was at the very beginning, far, far before time ever began.  The Mind behind this universe became a human being and that human being was full of grace and truth. We looked and saw his glory, the glorious shining presence of the only begotten Son from the Father, and from his fullness, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace.  Merry Christmas.

Edited from a sermon by Rev. Edward Markquart