sermons

The links below are to a selection of sermons in their written form. All sermons are recorded and can be viewed as part of worship recordings on our YouTube page, "Lamb and Flag Ministries". (Click on a worship service and look for the sermon to start approximately 10 to 15 minutes into the service.)

Videos of Select Sermons
Video Sermon August 18, 2024
Video Sermon July 21, 2024
Video Sermon June 30, 2024
Video Sermon May 19, 2024
Video Sermon April 7, 2024
Video Sermon March 3, 2024
Video Sermon Feb 11, 2024
Video Sermon Feb 20, 2022
​Video Sermon Dec 24, 2021

Texts of Select Sermons  
Sunday March 3, 2024
Sunday August 21, 2022
Sunday Feb 6, 2022


Text of Sermons 2021
Sunday November 14, 2021
Sunday July 4, 2021
Sunday, May 16, 2021
Sunday April 18, 2021
Sunday April 11, 2021
Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021
Easter Vigil, April 3, 2021
Good Friday, April 2, 2021
Maundy Thursday, April 1, 2021
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Sunday Feb 28, 2021
Sunday Feb 21, 2021

Text of Sermons 2020
Sunday Nov 15, 2020
Sunday Nov 8, 2020
Sunday, Sept 6, 2020  Pastor Will Moser, guest preacher
Sunday, Aug 30, 2020
Sunday, Aug 23, 2020
Sunday, Aug 16, 2020
Sunday, Aug 9, 2020
Sunday, Aug 2, 2020
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Sunday, July 19, 2020
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Sunday, June 28, 2020
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2020
Sunday May 24, 2020
Sunday May 17, 2020
Sunday May 10, 2020
Sunday May 3, 2020
Sunday April 26, 2020
Sunday April 19, 2020
Holy Week Sermons
Palm Sunday (Apr 5, 2020)
Maundy Thursday (Apr 9, 2020)
Good Friday (Apr 10, 2020)
Easter Vigil (Apr 11, 2020)
Easter Sunday (Apr 12, 2020)


Epiphany 3
Sermon Jan 24, 2021
Redeemer, Ramsey
Pastor Michael Linderman
 
Grace Mercy and Peace from God and from our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
As we settle into our Epiphany season this year, we want to bask in the imagery of the green (referring to the liturgical colors) seasons, the "teaching" seasons. As I mentioned in my sermon last week, we want to let our minds and hearts wander into the imagery of sheep following our shepherd, as he leads us away from the hubbub for a while. Wherever we go, if we follow him, the grass is green, the sky is blue, the sun brings comforting warmth to our shoulders, and our minds and hearts become willing vessels of the teaching of our Lord.
 
Entering into this state of openness this morning, we take our cue from the prayer of the day, and from the Gospel lesson. The words of the prayer remind us of a single truth, that when God calls us, God accepts us.
 
The pairing of God’s call with God’s acceptance is fundamental to understanding how we first became his children, and for understanding our own call in our own lives. The two never come separately, but always together. If God calls you, it means that God already accepts you. If you have faith that God accepts you, then you have been called too. We see this truth in numerous Biblical examples. It is also rooted in our understanding of our Baptisms. God calls us together as his church by forgiving our sins, and we become proclaimers and vehicles of that forgiveness through our lives. We believe that this is the model of a blessed life.
 
Let’s look at just a few of the call stories of the early days of God’s call to his people. Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, Johan and Mary are all good examples of people who were called by God. God’s call to each of these people puts them in a precarious situation, but God’s powerful presence in their lives also sees them through.
 
Noah was called by God to prepare for a terrible flood by building the ark. Noah had to pursue the preparation and construction of this massive boat while all those around him scoffed at him. Why would anyone build such a thing?! He became the laughingstock of his time. In Abraham’s case, he was called by God to pick up all his belongings, his whole family, his possessions, his flocks and herds, and move to a strange country, all for no apparent reason other than that God wished to make him the father of many nations. His neighbors must have been scratching their heads, wondering why Abraham would leave a perfectly productive and commodious living situation in order to “take it on the road” with his god. Think of the lost investment over time that he gave up by moving all of a sudden. Then there’s Moses, who also suffered a bit in his call. Moses’ call started at the foot of the burning bush, when God gave him his mission. Moses was to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let God’s people go, and that God would show Moses where to take them when they finally broke free from Pharaoh’s grip. The problem for Moses was that this calling put him in direct conflict with Pharaoh himself. This was a perilous situation for Moses and his people.
 
In these examples, the particular character of the men was not a prerequisite of their calling. In other words, they had not passed some test in order to be called by God. God simply decided that each was the person God wanted to use for God’s purposes. The call of God was unilateral. There was little negotiation, and even less room to say no. Likewise with Jonah and Mary. Jonah is a good example of what happens when you try to say no to God’s call. The completion of Jonah’s call is in the first lesson today. But in the beginning of the story, Jonah so resisted God’s call to preach to the city of Ninevah, that he was thrown off the boat that he was trying to escape on, and a giant fish swallowed him whole. There he lived for three days until the fish spit him up on shore. After that experience, he finally does what God had asked. Then there is Mary, the mother of our lord, and her almost perfect acceptance of the call of God. Her response is basically, Amen, which in Hebrew means, So be it!
 
Again, the character of the individual is not really an issue. Each of these people who are called by God go on to obey, and to fulfill their calling, but not really by virtue of their own talents or power. They all have God working as much for them as through them.
 
And the implication of all these examples, and the point of our message this morning, is that God’s call is also God’s acceptance. The implication of God’s call is that you are loved by God as you are. And as you are loved by God, you are to become useful to God. And the only thing, in all these cases, that brings this call about is God’s loving regard for you, as if by grace. Of course, being accepted by God does not mean everything you do is also acceptable. We all have certain things we need to let go of, even after we are convinced of God’s acceptance. We are told in the Bible that Noah is a righteous man, but he’ll get drunk and embarrass himself later in the story. Abraham also is a good guy, but he also doubts God at times and makes his life more difficult. Moses, well he’s already a murderer when God calls him. Jonah is as petulant as a small child. Mary is probably the most saint-like from the beginning, but she will reveal her own lack of faith in Mark, chapter 3, when she tries, presumably, to convince Jesus to come home to his family. And you, my friends, even when you are called by God, and therefore accepted by God, there are yet things you will do that are not acceptable to God. Nevertheless, God will stand by you because he has already made you his own. In his loving regard for you, God is committed to forgiveness, mercy, and steadfast love. God doesn’t go back on his own promises.
 
So we know that even though it will take faith to follow God’s call, that faith is also bolstered by the knowledge that God accepts each of these ministers, as they are. Said in a more traditional way, their sinfulness as human beings is not regarded by God, but is overlooked in favor of simple obedience. And true to this pattern, Jesus also calls his own disciples out from their daily work and chores, and into his ministry of the Kingdom. But he does so without regard for their holiness or piety. In today’s Gospel lesson, we see Jesus walking along the beach on the sea of Galilee, and basically calling the first young men he runs across. Simon and Andrew, and James and John, two sets of brothers. There is no examination of their faith or piety, and no indication of their talents or gifts, or their faults or weaknesses. They are simply called out, asked to leave their fishing nets on the beach, and follow Jesus.
 
Now this review of Call stories is meant to encourage us to look at our own calling. God calls us into his service in our baptism, and there he also forgives our sin and sets us free from doubt forever. The Holy Spirit will come along side us throughout our lives to remind us, prod us, encourage and uplift us, to daily receive that forgiveness in faith and accept this calling to serve Christ’s mission.
 
But even as I am encouraged each time I hear these call stories, I also think of how in my own spiritual journey, it all happened kind of backwards. In my story, I had to first be convinced of God’s love and forgiveness for me before the idea of God’s call would open up as a possibility. Indeed, I had been baptized as a child, and raised in the house of a pastor, and so very much involved in the life of the church. Yet that upbringing did not preserve me from doubts about God, God’s existence, and God’s grace that would characterize my college years. And as the burdens of my own self-doubt and self-condemnation grew into a personal crisis, the only thing that rescued me from feeling like a failure was the word of God’s love and acceptance carried to my ears in the lyrics of a song. When I heard those words that spoke God’s love, the burdens of my guilt and shame fell away, and I wept in joy and relief. All my life changed in a moment, even though I would come to understand later on that nothing about me from God’s point of view had changed at all. God had always loved me, always been with me, always had my back. I was smitten in a moment, and from that point onward, began gradually to take the steps in my life to answer the call to service in his kingdom.
 
So when we see God calling people to join in his mission of grace in the world , we really see God accepting people for who they are at the same time. It’s not the particular job you are doing, or particular life you are living, or particular righteousness you may have mustered in your life that opens up your calling to join in God’s mission. It is rather your gracious God, who sees the real you beyond your sins and failings, your fears and foibles and addictions. In you, God sees his own child, beloved, treasured, unique and vital, and he invites you to say yes, to drop your tools, your nets, your hang-ups, and the ideas of yourself and others that you cling to, and open your hearts to following his call. You have been baptized into the life and death of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, so that he may call on you to live in and through the power of his eternal life, now and for the rest of your life, in everything you do. That is your call, and it will be your lifelong witness to God’s love in the world. And from now on, whatever you do in faith becomes the power of God through the holy spirit, turning the radiance and grace of Christ’s kingdom to shine on to the hearts and minds of God’s people in the world.
 
May we all find our unique God-given callings renewed today and every day, in the power of our Baptism, and may the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
 
 
 


Advent 1
​Nov 29, 2020
Grace Mercy and Peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
I want to start Advent this year by starting outside. I’ve been enjoying time outside more over the last several months. Because of the pandemic, I’m home much more of the time overall, and home with the whole family all the time, so, nothing against my family—they’re lovely people—but my desire to get outside is a natural consequence of being cooped up inside so much of the time. My biggest activity is simply taking walks. Then, another blessing of the pandemic was the sudden increase in bicycle rides with my kids. We have put more miles on our bikes in the last 8 months than they ever rode before in their lives. I have been reminded of my childhood so many times, when my bicycle was a crucial part of my life, when it helped me navigate the neighborhood with my friends. Now we use the bikes to get out and about, to explore the nooks and crannies of Ramsey, or just ride downtown to buy some candy at Walgreens. 
 
I know that many of you are also having a similar experience too, spending more time outside. We are not alone. During the pandemic, we are all experiencing a similar desire to get out, to spend more time in nature, and enjoy the weather. The pandemic has imposed several restrictions on our lives, and getting outside is the easiest way of escaping some of the burden of those restrictions. Outside, we can be in closer proximity to others. Outside, we can take our masks off. Outside, we can more safely sit at a table and eat. 
 
What I didn’t know is that this pandemic experience has stopped a trend in our society of spending less time outside. According to an article from Scientific American magazine, dated April 26, 2020, there have been studies of park visitations, fishing license sales, campground attendance and other historical records, which show that humanity’s interest in outdoor recreation peaked in the 1980s and early 1990s and has been steadily dropping ever since. The article’s author writes that, “a massive retreat of Homo sapiens from the natural world is underway, even as our growing global demand for land and natural resources is straining the Earth’s climate and environment.”
 
This surprising trend seems unfortunate to me, given that I feel better when I’ve spent more time outside. And my hope is that our experience of regular time outside will lead us to keep up these habits even when the pandemic is over and life returns to some kind of new normal. 
 
According to expert spiritual practitioners, being outside, and preferably in more natural surroundings, such as parks and trails, is important for building up a spiritual discipline. Being in nature opens up our hearts, takes us out of our busy routines of thinking, and helps us feel more united to the natural world we are already a part of. It helps build a practice of awareness that is not self-centered, but other-centered. 
 
The Christian mystic, and retired Episcopal priest, Cynthia Bourgeault, says that being in nature can help us train our “spiritual awareness”. Our unspiritual, or ordinary awareness Bourgeault calls “egoic awareness.” That is, it is the awareness we have that we used most of the time in our lives, which concerns what we want or desire most of the time. It is driven by our anxiety, and fixates on the distinctions we make in our everyday lives, the hundreds of little decisions we make every day that are just part of keeping ourselves occupied with what we think we want, whether for work or otherwise. Do I want coffee or tea with breakfast? Do I write that email now, or put it off for later? Should I buy that 3-in-1 jacket or not? Is that article from a conservative or liberal viewpoint, and do I agree with it? It is a very future-oriented perspective, because we are usually consumed by issues or decisions that take us out of our present experience and project us forward to when things will be the way we think we want them to be.
 
Bourgeault says that Spiritual awareness is trained by letting go of the time spent on such ordinary awareness and realizing that we are part of a larger experience, part of the whole. Spiritual awareness is teaching us that we are one with the natural world, one with each other, joined together in our relationship with the organisms and systems that make up the universe. The lesson is that more time spent on honing our spiritual awareness will help us put things in perspective. We become more closely aligned with now, the present moment, and our place in the whole, at any given time. The emphasis is not on how we wish things would be, but how things really are. 
 
All of this is to say that if we actually spent more time outside, with nature, and faced things as they are, both in our lives and in the world around us, we would probably be more healthy, and better reconciled to our true kinship with one another and the world we live in. We would probably be able to read the signs of the time better, as Jesus tells us to do in the Gospel lesson this morning. Amid some pretty awful predictions about the end of the world, Jesus tells the disciples to learn from the fig tree: “as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.” That’s local knowledge, common sense awareness that comes from paying attention to what is around you at the moment. In its original context, this saying of Jesus emphasizes the suddenness of the end of time, and the arrival of the messiah, which will be preceded by visible signs and wonders. 
 
The early church lived in vibrant expectation of that event happening within their lifetimes. Down through the ages, as time has stretched on, Christians have been able to use this call to be ready, to expect God to show up at any time, not just in some far-off future moment. God showing up at any time puts emphasis on God’s presence with us all the time. The question is less when will God show up at the end? That leaves God somehow unattached or absent from the present moment. The question is, when will God show up, through grace, or mercy, or forgiveness, or reconciliation, at any given moment? How about now?
 
In this season of Advent, we are called anew to turn our awareness toward God’s presence with us. We are called on to pay attention to the signs and signals of things around us, and call it like we see them. The fig tree’s branches are there for everyone to see. It is simply being itself, out in the open. Likewise with other signs. Are the polar ice caps melting and shrinking? Who says so, and are they out in the open about it? What should we do about it? Are people saying that systemic racism is a thing? Who says so, and are they out in the open about it? Paying attention to certain signs also means not being fooled by other signs. Are the conspiracy theories of QAnon real? Who are they, and are they being out in the open about it? Some claims rise to the fig tree test, and other claims don’t.
 
Finally, whether we are able to get out more in nature, or not, whether we are able to more carefully read the signs of the times or not, we still depend on God’s grace for our grounding and sustenance. Sin has been dealt a death blow. Forgiveness in Christ’s grace is our story now. In this season of Advent, we are called to renew our spiritual awareness. We are called to quicken our waiting, anticipation, and expectation, of God’s grace and presence in our world. The presence of the Risen Christ, who has conquered death and reigns forever in God’s eternal kingdom, is leading us into kinship with others, and into prayerful action on behalf of God’s justice. The presence of the Christ child is calling to enter our hearts anew. The church keeps this watch in faith, until the end, so that it may be said in that final hour, as in the words. Of Isaiah:
 
4From ages past no one has heard,  
  no ear has perceived,
 no eye has seen any God besides you,
  who works for those who wait for him. 
 
O Christ redeemer of us all, we pray you hear us when we call. May the peace Christ that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ jesus. Amen.


​
Nov. 15, 2020
Grace Mercy and Peace from God our father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
A while ago, my son Sam thought it would be clever to take the app I use on my phone for driving directions, and change the voice that talks me through the app. At first, when I started using the app, I enjoyed a pleasant woman’s voice that Johann and I jokingly referred to as “wife number 2”, while on her version of the app on her phone, she chose the man with the pleasant British accent, who we referred to as husband number 2, or sometimes “Mister Butler”. 
 
When Sam got a hold of my phone one day, he switched the voice on the app to Batman. So now, when the app starts up, Batman tells me in an energetic, gravelly voice to buckle up for another day navigating the forces of good and evil. When there is a hazard, Batman tells me, “hazard ahead, reminds me of Gotham city.” When it wants to warn me of police ahead, he tells me, “watch out for Commissioner Gordon, reported ahead.” And when I should prepare for upcoming turns in my route, he says, “Turn right, and then turn left, and then, BE READY”. 
 
That’s what our Lessons from scripture today are telling us: BE READY!
 
And it seems fitting enough, especially given our present challenges and stress points. 
 
We continue to exist in a political holding pattern, as the president fights on to see if he can win a second term, while much of the rest of the world wonders if and when he will accept the results of the national election. Surely, we all feel the anxiety caused by this situation. We may feel even more anxious about the future, since it is so clear that we are a nation divided in the way we see reality. Regardless of who the president is come January 20th, we will need to be ready, be alert, and be prepared to act with the care and confidence that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
 
We are also facing increasing anxiety about the Covid 19 Pandemic. Not only is it not going away, but it is spreading, practically in all parts of the country. Even though there are positive developments on the vaccine front, it remains to be seen how the second wave will impact our corporate life together. We have to be ready.
 
Given this background situation, we find that we are all dealing with stress and anxiety. When we add to this the burden of worrying about our jobs, raising a family, helping our kids with school, or having to move, or dealing with severe illness, we may feel maxed out, as if we can carry no more burdens in our wagons. Given the energy that we are using up just coping, we worry that we might have nothing extra to give, nothing in reserve. We may feel that hope is eluding us. Nevertheless, we are being called to be ready.
 
So we bring these burdens and anxiety to church with us this morning, looking to scripture, and to the means of grace that our Lord uses to minister to us, to help us, and to sustain us. We hear the call to be ready, and we ask God to help us to do that faithfully.
 
The Gospel lesson today is really about being ready for when God shows up. The parable of Jesus speaks of a business tycoon who leaves his wealth in the hands of three trusted servants. A talent in the bible represents the value of about 8 years of wages for a laborer. So the amount he leaves with these 3 servants is substantial. 
 
With one he leaves 5, with another 2, and with a third, he leaves one. The first two take the money and invest it in the market, somehow employing the money in such a way that they make more money. The third servant buries the money in the ground. When the businessman returns home, he demands to see his money. The first two servants produce double the amount they were given, but the third produces only what he was originally given. The master is pleased with the first two, and deeply disappointed with the third, and throws him out.
 
The most typical way to interpret the parable is to look at the master as a stand-in for God. The parable is then interpreted either literally, as an affirmation of God entrusting all of us with the blessings of wealth and resources which we are called on to invest wisely. Or it can be interpreted figuratively, where the resources we are given by the master represent our spiritual resources of faith, hope and love, which we are to invest in the world around us. Those who are stingy or lack courage, in either interpretation, are rejected by God in the end.
 
Another way to interpret the parable is to see the master as Jesus, calling his disciples to greater investment in their ministries. 
 
Others are interpreting the parable more simply as a judgment on the values of thrift and enterprise by which the world seems to run, and which fail to support fairly all workers in the marketplace, but especially those lower down the food chain. In this case, it is a warning about buying into the worldly values of the market, that the kingdom of God is different than the kingdom of this world.
 
But the parable must be carefully situated in the context of these last few chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. We need to take into consideration what we believe Matthew was trying to say to his church when he crafted his version of Jesus’ ministry. Matthew’s historical context was the period of time in the last quarter of the century, about 40 to 50 years after Jesus’s death and resurrection. The temple in Jerusalem was utterly destroyed by the Roman army. Jews were being forcibly displaced from Palestine into other areas of the empire. The new Christian church was struggling with persecution from without, and fighting and disagreement from within. There was turmoil everywhere.
 
In this context, imagery from earlier traditions in the Hebrew bible, such as apocalyptic imagery, and teachings and warnings about the end of the world, were rampant. As one commentator puts it, “This kind of language welled up irrepressibly in the first century, as Jews and Christians alike felt the earth and its old eternal rocks shifting and melting beneath their feet.” Matthew’s Gospel expresses these same instincts, and in the 24th and 25thchapters, this focus on the end times comes to the fore. Matthew uses the stories and parables in these two chapters to teach Jesus’ perspective on the signs that might warn those who are alert and paying attention, as well as speculation on when the end might happen. 
 
Today’s parable comes in that section of Chapter 25 where the question of “when” is paramount. Jesus uses the parable of the bridesmaids that we read last Sunday, and the parable of the talents of today’s lesson, to warn his followers that the time is not set, but when it does come, it will come upon us suddenly. Thus 5 bridesmaids who are not prepared with extra oil, fall out of favor with the groom. And in this parable today, the third servant who buried the money he was given is not ready for the reckoning when his master suddenly reappears. 
 
We also know from biblical scholars that Matthew is concerned to emphasize the burden of responsibility for leaders in the church, who are called to be faithful to the work of the Gospel, and who are called to be ready for when the Lord shows up. Using these two emphases in our reading of the text, we see that first, the meaning of the story of a ravenous business tycoon who banishes a timid servant is not using the parable to say anything about the legitimacy of small venture capitalism, or God’s disappointment with our lack of investment, but simply that, from our experience already, we can understand how unprepared and empty-handed we would feel if we had a master like that as a boss, and yet acted as the third servant did. The master’s arrival would be jarring, even panic inducing, to us. So be ready. 
 
But now we also know of Matthew’s unique emphasis in the context of the turmoil in the church of his day, where leadership is needed more than ever. Matthew is trying to warn the leaders of his church about their responsibility with the talents that have been given to them. Leaders in the church haven’t been given a cushy job, but one that has a sense of urgency to it. That urgency has to do with the fact that the church expects Jesus’ return, and we can sense how badly it will reflect on us when he returns, if the important resources of the church have been squandered or left idle in the meantime.
 
Thus this warning is for Pastors most, and bishops, but also congregational elders, our church councils, and other leaders in the churches. We are the ones who have been given responsibility for the keys of the church, the power to help mold our fellow Christians to see the grace and ministry of the Gospel aright. And the leaders of the church fail if we underprepare for, under invest in, or somehow obscure the truth of Jesus’ presence in the church itself, and also in the world around us. 
 
I could continue to widen the scope of this charge, to include all the faithful in any church, who are called to the same work with the same sense of urgency, but maybe this week, it is enough to remind the leadership, the council members, the elders, the bishops, and pastors like myself, that in the face of the great turbulence in the world around us, and in the shadow of the coming kingdom of God, which will appear when we least expect it, and which will judge the world we live in, we are called to “be ready.”
 
Christians are those people, called on in everyday life to live like the master is coming home at any moment, and probably soon! Yes, there should be some nervous discomfort at this reality. We should be piqued, prodded to cope up to the situation at hand, rise to the occasion and relight our lamps. Take our buried courage and step out boldly in the light of the Gospel.
 
But as Christians who have by the Grace of God, come into contact with the King of love, the master of compassion, and the firstborn from the dead, we also know and expect his full knowledge of our failures, his full understanding of our fears, and his full mercy and forgiveness for our failings. For we know that God is also not like the terrible master in the parable at all. God doesn’t play by the rules of the jungle. God owns the jungle. The dog eat dog world around us, and which we are stuck in too for our own living and working, that world is the world our Lord laid his life on the line for. He has given his life for ours, and the reward for preparation, for being ready, is the joy at his coming. Please Lord Jesus, quickly come, come to us today, in the words of your church, and the meal of grace that you have given us, but also come quickly and soon, to help our timid hearts, and lead us boldly into the freedom that comes from knowing your steadfast and everlasting love. Amen.
 
 





March 22, 2020 
Sermon for the first Sunday under NJ Covid19 lock down
 
[Thanks to the staff, Diane McGregor, Stephanie Doyle, Fran Morton for helping with the development of this service.]
 
Grace mercy and peace to you, from God and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
 
Yesterday, Gov. Murphy closed down all non-essential businesses and organizations, so we are in a holding pattern in our congregational life. The church office is closed, the congregation is not allowed to gather, and we are not being encouraged to visit or gather. If we do, it should be for some official reason, and we should practice social distancing by giving each other 6 feet of space.
 
As for the other aspects of our lives, our home life, our work life, school and leisure, this unprecedented situation is very challenging. There is a high level of confusion and anxiety. We fear for so many people getting sick, we fear that we might get sick. We are anxious for our work and pay. We are anxious for our food and staples. We are dealing with grief on several levels. We are grieving the loss of our spring or summer plans. Especially for our seniors in high-school and college, and for others who had spring experiences lined up, like study abroad, the state and governmental reactions to the spread of the virus collapses our plans for unique experiences and travel.
 
We are coming to understand that this epidemic will change our lives forever in some fundamental ways. We are grieving the loss of our own assumptions of how safe the world is to live in. Our attitudes toward disease management and health care, our attitudes to government and accountability, our attitudes to travel and global interdependence, all changing. Changing too are our views of our interconnected world, and the realization that the human family shares a fundamental vulnerability to certain dangers that are intimately part of the natural world. Yet our main concern continues to be how we and our loved ones can keep from getting sick.
 
In this situation, we gather together in this strange, stretched out and isolated way, gathering digitally, to try and practice being the church. The church is called to be the people of God that God intended, no matter what the current circumstances. And certainly, the church of God has through the centuries been in some very difficult circumstances. But today, these lessons from scripture open up for us the calling of God’s people to trust in God’s presence, trust in God’s salvation, to trust in God’s kingdom. 
 
So we are in a position now to imagine the situation of the ancient Israelites or the ancient church in a new light. Take Isaiah’s situation in our first lesson this morning. The prophet is addressing Jewish people who are being allowed to return from their near 70 year exile in Babylon, the capital city of the Babylonian empire. King Nebacanezzar sacked Jerusalem in 608  BC, destroyed the temple, and forced the entire aristocracy of the city into exile, marching them several hundred miles from Jerusalem to Babylon. Now, in 538, Cyrus the king of Persia has taken over the Babylonian kingdom, and has allowed the exiles to return to Jerusalem.
 
Isaiah’s words are proclaimed to these returning Israelites:
 Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, "Come out," to those who are in darkness, "Show yourselves." They shall feed along the ways, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture; 
 
To the Israelites who were returning from exile, these words remind them that God has been with them all along. From the start of their troubles, a small nation stuck between two warring empires, and overtaken by one, brutalized and forced into exile, God indeed has been with them. They might have thought that God had forgotten them or given up on them. Yet keeping the faith, they find that God has provided a way. And now the words of the prophet announce their redemption: “Come out, show yourselves,” the Lord your God is restoring the fortunes of his people. 
 
And God will even provide for them on their journey from Babylon toward home:
They shall feed along the ways, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.
 
God will turn mountains into flat boulevards, with food and water provided along the way. This is the way in the wilderness that God makes for his people. Even mother nature sings for joy at the release of God’s people from their bondage and suffering. To those who still might say, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me,” God proclaims that he could no sooner forget his people than a mother could forget her nursing child. And how many Israelites waited for years to see the salvation of God in their lives? Indeed, some died before it came. But God so identifies with his people and their experience that he says “I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; Your walls are continually before me,” that is, God continually has his face towards the walls of Jerusalem. God has never turned his back on Jerusalem but turns toward her with positive regard. In the midst of their suffering in exile, they may have questioned the love of God, whether God did abandon his people to their fate. But God never abandoned his people. Faith was urged to trust the promise, and in the end God came through for them.
 
Can we relate to the exiles’ experience? Indeed, in our situation of fear and anxiety, literally a fear of epidemic death and disruption, these promises about God’s actions ring in our ears, and we dare to ask, could these promises apply to us? Could God deliver us from the affliction of this epidemic? Could the time of God’s favor be upon us? Might we hope in God’s day of salvation, or were they only intended for those people in that original historical context? But promises like these are kept alive in the experience of God’s people from generation to generation. Indeed, when early Christians reflected on their experience of Jesus’s ministry, his death and resurrection, they heard in these words the affirmation of God’s promises in their own experience of Jesus. Indeed, Christians believe that when the time was right, in the incarnation, in the time of God’s choosing, the words of Isaiah rang out in angels’ song and shepherds’ joy… “in a time of favor, God has answered us, on a day of salvation, God has helped us!” 
 
And in our generation they must come alive again. Our hearts long to hear God’s words from the prophet’s lips, and from our savior’s tongue. The salvation God sends into the world in the person of Jesus Christ speaks to us in holy wisdom. Indeed, we see Jesus as Holy Wisdom incarnate. This wisdom addresses us in our moment of exile, where we long for peace and security. We too want the encouragement of God’s favor, as Jesus proclaims it:
“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
 
If we are prone to argue at any time with Jesus, it might be now, for when Jesus says not to worry, we say, easier said than done! In fact, we’re so worried about worst case scenarios, hospital horror stories, and our life upended that we spend hours each day weighing different outcomes and strategies; will we get sick, will our family get sick, will there be enough food in the stores,? Will we have to quarantine for a long time? Will we lose our jobs? Will we become financially ruined? What do you mean, Jesus, when you tell us not to worry about our life? That today’s trouble is enough for today? We’re feeling that today’s trouble is enough for a life-time! Jesus, don’t you see what’s happening?! Our world is turned upside down! What do you mean “don’t worry”?!
 
But Jesus never abandoned his people. Faith trusted the promise, and in the end he came through for them. As in the days of exile in Babylon, as in the days of Jesus’ arrest and death in Jerusalem, so too for us now, this will come down to trust. The theme of this part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount is a warning about relying on wealth, but the method, or the attitude, if you will, that Jesus tells us to adopt is one of living in the present moment. Don’t worry, because by worrying you can’t add anytime to the span of your life. Don’t worry about possessions, about the things you spend most of your time worrying about, because they won’t lead you to God’s kingdom. In all your thinking, put the kingdom of God first; in all your living, put the kingdom of God first. In all your stress and anxiety in this age of epidemic, continue to put the Kingdom of God first, and its righteousness, and all these things will be given to you.
 
And what is the righteousness of the kingdom? It is loving other people. Put loving other people first, and all these things will come to you. In our precarious situation, we are being asked to love other people, even if at a distance. How do we show love toward other people? By praying for them, considering their situations with empathy and wisdom. How do we show love toward other people? By not overreacting with anxiety and panic, but by trusting that the things we need will be there for us. And if they aren’t right away, we pray that God will increase in us the gift of patience. How else do we show love toward other people? By not endangering them, by abiding by our stay at home orders, and by practicing mindful social distancing. And we see God’s work in other people all around us; in the messages of encouragement taped to our windows, in the songs that people are sharing in public and on line, in the sidewalk chalk drawings that children are inscribing their hope and faith. We see it in the courage and grit that medical professionals are channeling in their work on behalf of the public; in the calm and watchfulness of our first-responders; and in the dedication and careful work of all whose work continues to make our societies function for the good of all, despite the threat of contagion. We see the righteousness of the kingdom best when we see in faith the love and consideration of humans at their best. We see Jesus all around us in other people, and we seek in this time to see Jesus in ourselves. 
 
That’s what the people of God are called to do, to trust in God’s promises for the sake of the world. Saint Paul is clear when he says to the church in Corinth, “Think of us this way as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they should be found trustworthy.” Think of yourselves this way, as servants of Christ in the midst of a world in crisis. By measures great or small, tragic or comic, hopeful or despairing, we serve Christ best when we love one another, and look for that love above all things. The rest will come in its time. But when we can’t trust, when we lose heart, when we falter, and we will, especially in this crisis, remember that when we aren’t trustworthy, God is. Ultimately, this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not that humanity was found to be trustworthy, but that God in Christ proved yet again that we can trust him always.  
 
So people of God, live in the present moment, love other people, striving for the righteousness of the kingdom. Striving for justice, we love other people, and this will be the way we live our faith in these most challenging times.
And may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
 






Christmas Eve, 2019
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones, and Blessing in the new year.
My message this year takes its inspiration from our nativity scene outside.
 
St Pauls
We regularly get a request from St. Paul’s school for permission to bring their younger classes to view the scene. It’s like a field trip for them. They bundle up in their coats and mittens and walk the quarter mile from St. Pauls to our corner here and stand on the grass and talk about what they see. 
 
Joe M.
A few years ago, I received a letter from a man in his early 90’s who wrote to tell me that he had always liked the scene, and how his family always looked forward to it each year. He included in the letter a photograph recently taken by his kids of himself, supported by his cane, kneeling reverently in front of the manger shed, where Mary, Joseph and the baby sit. It was an amazing testimony to his great faith, and this toward the end of his life-time, that he would reveal his piety so simply, so frankly. It was a way of showing his fidelity to this child, the lord of life, who comes into the world for our sakes, and opens up a sure and clear way to abundant life for us all. Indeed, the church says that the Christ child brings light and life and salvation to all, without reserve. We are confronted by this child and his truth each time we hear the gospel proclaimed and are given again and again the opportunity to respond in love and gratitude for his salvation.
 
Matthew’s story 
Well, this year brought another nativity scene moment. This salvation that the lord of life brings in his nativity has evidently come to a young man in his mid-twenties named Matthew who stopped by the office two weeks ago. He presented to Diane, our office admin, an envelope with a donation, he said. Diane asked why he was doing this, and he said that years ago he had stolen one of the sheep. In the envelope was $257 dollars. He said that recently he had been saved and that he wanted to make amends.
 
This is yet another story of the power of Christ working in the world through the faith of his church. Matthew in his young life has come full circle. At one point in his teenage life, the story of Christ was meaningless, a fairy tale that only superstitious people believed, and which made them dress up department store mannequins for a scene about the birth of the man Jesus of Nazareth. He dismissed the scene, the story behind it, and the faith it expresses, to the point that it was ripe for a gag, a prank. To Matthew at the time, there wasn’t really anything behind it, no deeper truth represented by the scene, and certainly no God in it, just empty religious forms and symbols.
 
In his recent conversion, however, we can see the power behind the scene. It is the power of Christ working in the lives of his children. Now Matthew’s heart has been captured by the love of Christ, and he has been moved from guilt to love and on to penance. Now that he is free in Christ from his sins, he is free to make amends in love. He can reach out in this very specific way, by giving back to the church he once stole from, and he can move on in his new-found faith to serve others in the way of Christ. If Matthew keeps up this kind of generosity, he will continue to touch the lives of countless others through his life, and no matter what he makes of himself, whether he is successful in the eyes of the world or not, he will be a minister of Christ, a priest of the most high God, in the lives of those to whom he reaches out in love and faith. 
 
His story is reminiscent of Saint Augustine, who in his magisterial autobiography, Confessions, lifts up for examination his own youthful act of concupiscence. He reports that in the year 370, when he was 16 years old, he and a group of friends set out in the middle of the night to steal all the fruit off a pear tree that belonged to someone else. As an adult, writing about it years later, he is still pained by the act, and he struggles as he writes to understand what made him do it. It couldn’t be the pears themselves, for he admits he had better pears at home, and they just ate a few and threw the rest to the pigs. It wasn’t to harm the farmer, whom he did not know. And he thinks that it wasn’t just for fear of being left out of the crowd, for he could just as easily have not participated. We might say that Augustine is being too hard on himself. After all, it was just an adolescent prank. But for Augustine, this is evidence of a more serious dilemma. As he writes about it, he searches his soul for an answer, and can only see the desire to enjoy the act of sinning itself, and in that desire, Augustine sees the truth that the human soul really is ruled by sin. And in that bondage to sin, he can see only how far away from God he was at the time. Yet because of God’s mysterious ways, he also sees in hindsight, God’s patient work to bring him back to the fold. 
 
Maybe Matthew’s situation is like Augustine’s, and maybe it’s not. Maybe Matthew stole the sheep for no good reason other than to entertain himself or his friends, or maybe he did it because he relished the experience of doing something wrong. But whatever the truth of that part of his story, the greater truth is now before him, that Christ loves him so much, and forgives him for everything he has ever done, and has given him assurance of that truth so clearly in his life, that now his life is totally reoriented toward God’s love and justice, even above any other concerns. Whereas before he thought he was free in his bedeviled conscience to have a laugh at the expense of someone else’s property, now because of the love of God in Christ Jesus, he is bound to Christ because Christ has set him free from the guilt and shame of the sin that previously ruled him. Whereas before he was only free to act for himself, in fact bound by sin to act in selfish ways, now he is bound to Christ because of Christ’s grace and mercy. Now he is set free, free in a way he has never known before, to love and serve the God of love, and the Lord of life. He may have stolen a sheep from our nativity scene, but now Christ has claimed him back, a sheep of Christ’s own fold, a lamb of his own flock, a sinner of his own redeeming.
 
To you dear church, I lift up this story to you with all the sincerity of my heart, not because it is good sermon illustration, and not because it is so specific to Redeemer and our tradition, but because Matthew’s story is my story too. I too struggled in my later youth to satisfy my desires for pleasure, for recognition, for attention, for satisfaction. I too did impulsive things that I am ashamed of today. I too was ruled not by God, but by my own selfish desires.
And I truly discovered these bonds, these burdens, only when Christ’s love found me, and lifted them off my shoulders. Christ lifted me up out of my feelings of emptiness, doubt, guilt and shame, and set me squarely on the solid ground of the love of God my maker, and the peace of Christ my lord. Like Matthew, I too repented. I was then turned in my life toward God, toward service, toward love of the Church and its stories that I had been taking for granted.
 
Now, when this love burns in my heart, when my faith is inspired by the faith of others like Matthew, I feel that I fear nothing in my future, nothing in our world, no destruction or gloom or injustice, no diagnosis or sentence, or any judgement or the opinions of others--because this child borne of Mary has me, the Lord of my life borne in a feeding trough. He as conquered life, death and the grave, and holds me in his loving arms, come what may. This is freedom, true freedom of conscience and of life. I am not justified in myself, or by my association with any human power or identity, but am justified by him, my maker. Even though I am a sinner, in faith I can see my sanctification. Now in faith, I see the works of humans and the systems we operate for what they are, driven by fear, greed, and disregard for the welfare and dignity of others. I can speak and work most freely then toward God’s justice, which turns the tables on our worldly expectations, and toward God’s love, which reconciles us to one another in a way we cannot yet see.
 
So I implore you dear church, do not be fooled by the cute little stories, and the pretty little scene outside this building. Don’t be fooled by the paper maché and plaster, or the sun-bleached clothing on tottering mannequins that anyone can wreck if they want to. Don’t be fooled by the simple songs and candle light. Most of all, don’t be fooled by the God who is willing to be born a human so that you might even kill him if you want to. He who comes gently and claims us in lowliness has the power to remake heaven and earth. Converting our stubborn hearts into hearts filled with faith, hope and love is just the preamble to the glory that is to come.
 
So in the presence of this child, I do not fear what will become of my life, or what will become of our politics or our world, because I know I am ok, and I know that I will be ok. And this gives me great joy, and peace, and fills my heart with the power of love. In the power of this love, I can direct myself to address with creativity, sincerity, and hope the problems that plague us and the world we live in. And I pray that Christ will preserve me all in this love with peace and joy, and that I may influence a few more to seek the same before my time is over. Because from the perspective of eternity, that is what this child is all about.
 
So thank you Matthew, for you donation, for your act of penance, for giving this act to Redeemer as a testimony of Christ’s love in your life. In our Lord’s name, we have already spent your donation on a local mother who came to Redeemer for help this Christmas for presents for her twin boys, and we also donated two goats to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s World Hunger program. In the new year, some family in Africa will get two goats because of you, animals that are hearty, easy to care for, and provide regular milk for a family. Christmas presents for two of Christ’s lambs, and two lambs as presents for Christ’s people in other lands. Not bad for one small act of penance.
 
And thank you people of Redeemer, for your simple love of Christ that you endeavor to express each year, in generosity, in worship, in music, in fellowship, in service, indeed, in our humble decorations and nativity scene. May our acts of piety continue to bring to greater expression and clarity the love of God in Christ Jesus for all the world, and may Christ inspire us to speak hope and peace to a weary world. We know that Jesus is present everywhere in the mystery of his lowliness. May we always seek the lowly acts of faith in the world, that Christ’s presence may be made manifest for all to see.
A merry Christmas to you all, and all of God’s richest blessings in the new year.
 
 







Sept. 1, 2019
Labor Day weekend is that last weekend of the summer, when we know we all must return to our work and school routines. Lutheran theology holds labor and work in high esteem, as something that gives us dignity, meaning and purpose, as well as the blessings of resources for living. We can be grateful for the chance this holiday gives us to remember the value of our work, even as we take a day off tomorrow to remember this truth.
 
On this last weekend of summer, I am also thinking about and giving thanks for the vacation time I have taken over the summer, and the places I have traveled to, and the friends and family I have visited. I am reminded of all these blessings by the first lines of the final chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, our 2ndlesson this morning:  “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” 
 
I have been on both the receiving and giving ends of hospitality this summer, and in either case, I have been richly blessed. In all these cases, I have not been a stranger, but family or friend to the people I have entertained or visited. Some of these visits provided the opportunity to see friends or family that I haven’t seen in years. In the case of my sister and her family, her visit with me and my family is an annual ritual. In some cases, we are reacquainting ourselves with old friends, and in other cases we might be just checking in on that annual trip or experience that brings us together. 
 
I’m sure that many of you have had similar experiences this summer. My prayer for you is that these visits and reunions have provided an experience of the blessings of God in our lives. Though it’s true that family can sometimes be a burden, yet we all must rely on God’s grace to bless us with patience and understanding, in addition to the freedom of fun in the company of our families. 
 
Summer is also the season of weddings, and I have been blessed to be a part of three weddings this year. So that first part of our Hebrews verse, “Let mutual love continue,” is very significant to me. As a pastor, when I do pre-marital sessions with couples, I always teach that mutual self-giving love and respect are at the heart of every marriage. A couple can be married, technically, and have the ceremony and wear the rings, but if they don’t discover, nurture, and protect “mutual self-giving love and respect” in their relationship, then theirs will be a marriage in name only. Like a shell, it will have the outward appearance of a marriage, without its inner reality.
 
In my marriage mantra, “mutual self-giving love and respect”, I emphasize that the word mutual means to share something, and in the case of a sacred relationship between two people, I teach that it means to share not only love, but also power. We know that different partners in a relationship place different emphasis on different things. They also possess different levels of ability or knowledge. So when we defer to the feelings or opinions of our partners in certain circumstances, we are sharing power. In a marriage between two partners, this should be as mutual as possible. 
 
I add the words “self-giving” as a modifier of the word love. In a marriage, you are called to be self-giving, which encompasses all aspects of the self. It means that you are expected to give of yourself in everything that you are, physical, emotional, psychological, intellectual. All of the things that make you who you are, should be shared mutually with the other partner. This doesn’t mean that we can do this all the time. It just means that we should be looking for a pattern of such sharing over time. Also, we might think that this seems dangerous because we may have experienced relationships with other people where this self-giving has not been mutual, but rather one way. In these cases, there must be some intervention, or else we come to find that we are simply being taken advantage of. However, especially in the marriage relationship, as the self-giving approaches true mutuality, we find that just as we are giving to the other partner, we are also benefiting in return from their self-giving to us. To use a popular image, as we empty our cup for the partner, we find that our cup being filled by their self-giving to us. 
 
I also add the word “respect” to my formula for a good relationship. We often say that respect is earned, but it can also be given to something or someone, even if they haven’t earned it. In a marriage, this respect can be expressed in how we show patience when our partner’s habits or foibles become apparent, or when we respect their privacy and what the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (“Rill-keh”) called our partner’s “solitude”. I think this means to respect the mystery of who our partner is at the center of their being. Just because you have loved and lived with someone for many years, doesn’t mean that you can fully know them in the mystery of their being. Only God knows us that well. So showing respect to our partner grants them that sacred space to be who they are, and not have us prejudge them all the time, as if we always understand their inner most thoughts, beliefs and motivations.
 
Finally, I believe that this emphasis on Mutual self-giving love and respect can also be useful to the relationships we have in the case of a church congregation. My mantra can’t be applied in the exact same way as in marriage, but at its core, it’s the same as the writer of Hebrews’ advice to let mutual love continue. Is there sharing between church members of power, privilege, love and respect? Hopefully. Let it continue. With respect, we should be generous and give respect to other members, even if they haven’t done anything in particular to earn that respect. Jesus’ teaching on “the first shall be last and the last first,” as well as his teaching in today’s gospel lesson that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted, expresses the call to show respect to others who may be below you in experience, understanding, wisdom, social status or privilege.
 
Members should share from their blessings across the boundaries of wealth, power and privilege. You all do this in your stewardship practice at Redeemer, when you give of your time and talent and treasure to the ministries of our congregation. Your mutual sharing makes my position and that of our staff members possible and provides for the maintenance of our physical plant and supports the ministries that we seek to do throughout the year. What also makes it mutual is that sometimes you are called to be on the receiving end of those ministries. That is, when you receive a visitor to your home or, God forbid, when you are ill or distressed by something, when you ask your fellow members to pray for you, when you receive help or advice in some task from other members, or when you are welcomed into the work of one of our ministry or volunteer groups, you are allowing that word “mutual” to blossom. 
 
I believe that mutual love between human beings is possible because of God’s infinite love for every human being, without exception. We can base our relationships, whether those within the congregation, or those within the family, such as marriages, or even those within the world around us, on self-giving love and respect because that is what God has decided to do with humanity through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. God is not considered equal with human beings, but through the person of Jesus, God comes down to our level, and enters into relationship with us, person to person, human to human, sufferer to sufferer, victim to victim, believer to believer. God pours out God’s self through the self-giving of Jesus, through all of the ways he shared in the lives of those around him, and ultimately through his willingness to suffer death on a cross in order to maintain an open relationship with us. It is Jesus’ self-giving love and respect that shows us the depth of God’s love for us and all of creation. And it is Jesus’ great patience, love and forbearance that reveals God’s respect for us, even though we are often doing things that do not deserve such respect. 
 
This is what we mean by God’s grace. God chooses to forgive our foibles, our failures, our inability to more perfectly regard God in return with self-giving love and respect. God forgives our sins, choosing to disregard them, and not let them come between us and God. When we trust this love, and trust God’s promise that this love will never abandon us, then we are reborn, again and again, as God’s children, loved, blessed, and redeemed. We are then called by God to be a blessing to others. May this truth continue to unite and guide the congregation called Redeemer in Ramsey, and may we be blessed this Labor Day weekend to share in mutual love in our daily lives. And may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.




Easter Sermon, April 21, 2019
 
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
 
Grace, mercy and peace, from God and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen.
 
On behalf of the staff and leadership of Redeemer, I wish you Easter blessings to you and your families. Here is the essence of my sermon today. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ grants us eternal life, and is the power of God for our eternal life in the new heaven and new earth to come.
It also empowers us to live fully in the world, now. In other words, Jesus resurrection is for the time to come, and for our time now.
 
God’s power is made manifest in the resurrection of our lord Jesus Christ, and will be for us the power by which we live eternally. As the Revelation of John says in chapter 21:
 
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them; 
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’” (Rev. 21:1-4)
 
This is the hope to which we have been called, a hope you may struggle to believe in sometimes, but which you bear witness to by your presence this morning. May God continue to bless you in this hope to which he has called you.
 
However, the power of Christ’s resurrection calls you back into the world through your daily living, in the world and in your relationships, and it comes to you from God while in relationship with others, despite the difficulties, hardships and obstacles other people present to you in our daily living. 
 
Please understand, I am preaching to myself as much as I am preaching to you! We are called to embrace this power for living with others, and also equally, we must learn to live with ourselves as well. For we know that we can be difficult to live with and work with, especially when we become afraid or unable to act because of our own grief, pain, fear, or anxiety. In other words, we are empowered for daily living, even though we may be difficult for others to deal with.
 
Other people can be really difficult. Sometimes, we’d just like to skip having to work with them. We would get things done so much more quickly. Projects would come together more easily, and we would probably save more money. 
 
Indeed, wouldn’t our religion be more popular if, really, it focused more on our personal relationship with God, and not on the communal aspect of the faith?
 
There is a new company, Alabaster, that specializes in publishing individual books of the Bible in discreet editions.  The art work is beautiful. Amazing photographs of serene natural settings, simple artifacts, flowers, the surface of the ocean. Nothing specific to any particular place or time. But there are no people. As if religion can be a bunch of old stories that I can peruse during my quite time, without getting us involved in the messiness of unreconciled relationships.
 
The resurrection grants us new life, but it is a reconciled life with other people, for the one who is raised from the dead has made us brothers and sisters with each other in the life of God, and you can’t live fully in God and not be reconciled to the others living with you in God.
 
The implication is that in Christ’s resurrection, we are now united one with another along the spectrum of human diversity--cultures, languages, religions, life-styles, identities, and yes, personal and political worldviews.
 
Jesus’ resurrection means we are all one already, now, “in Christ”, and what makes it so hard to be a Christian is that we are called to live with others as if that is true, when on some profound level, we are obviously not reconciled to each other.
 
Yet, we know that we can be difficult too. 
Our faith in the power of Christ’s resurrection comes and goes. We waver, we become distracted, we lose hope. We don’t want to live as reconciled to other people, because we don’t understand or trust them. Particularly if we have been hurt, or suffer from a broken heart, the message of the resurrection can fail to get through. We become like the disciples in this morning’s Gospel lesson from Luke, who hear the message that the women bring to them from the empty tomb and then dismiss it.  It’s an idle tale. Or worse, we just don’t care anymore. We feel that God has let us down for the last time. It’s a true Easter-time “Bah Humbug” moment.
 
But brothers and sisters, hear the Gospel again.
Jesus Christ is risen from the Dead. Death no longer has dominion over him. And he is with his people now. Right now, Christ is with you and showering grace upon you, from moment to moment. And he has been with you all along your journey. You don’t see him, but as in the experience of the women disciples, he is present to you even when you believe most that he is gone.
 
And the resurrection grants us not just Jesus’ presence, but the Spirit of Resurrection gives us power. Just as those women had new found power to tell a bunch of dejected fishermen that their savior and Lord lives, regardless of the reception that message might receive.
 
And not only to the church, the spirit of Jesus’ resurrection brings resurrection’s power to all people. I like to read the writings of the Metropolitan Bishop of Lebanon in the Church of Antioch, Bishop Georges Khodr, and he talks about the cosmic aspect of Jesus’ resurrection, through which, as he puts it, Jesus Christ has baptized the whole world. So we Christians who are conscious of this baptism now see in others this light of Christ, even if they don’t see it themselves. He writes, “This Resurrection is what gives meaning to patience, mercy, and hope. We are compassionate toward others because the Spirit of the Resurrection illumines us, allowing us to see their potential for renewal.” (Khodr, The Ways of Childhood, p.116)
 
This means, the renewal of others, of the world around us, is worth fighting for, so to speak. It is worth getting up for in the morning, it is worth ministering to and serving, because we see it through the eyes of the risen Christ. We see the potential in the world that Christ sees, and we come to love the world with the love that Christ carries for it.
 
This means, also, the potential for the renewal of ourselves, and of our own inner worlds, our broken and mistrusting hearts, and our broken relationships. We must continually return to the eyes of the risen Christ, who sees what God sees in us, his beloved creatures, and the crown of creation.
 
So, to the world around us, and to each other, and to ourselves, we testify, Jesus the risen lord believes you are worth getting up for. You are worth all of God’s self-giving love, and you will become his servants, ministers, witnesses, and peace makers in the world around you, just as we pray in the Lord’s prayer, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
 
Christ is risen! Christ is risen, Alleluia!
Amen.
 
 
Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019

None of this is necessary. 
If you move to another country, where no one knows about Christianity, and you can’t find an Ash Wednesday service, or if you’re stuck on a deserted island, and have forgotten if it is even Wednesday, or if you decide that today is a bad day, because you’re grieving, or are sick, or are feeling depressed, it’s all OK. If you decide that today is a bad day to start Lent, to confess your sins, to offer your body to an ashen cross, to begin a fast, it’s all OK.

None of this is necessary. God still loves you more than you can understand. Jesus still intercedes for you, constantly. The Holy Spirit still guides you and accompanies you on your journey.

However, because we have been given the gift of faith in God’s promise of salvation (even if that faith feels faint), because we have been filled with gratitude for God’s mercy and forgiveness (even if we’re grumpy grateful), because we have hope in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the dead, and the life everlasting, because of this freedom from the fear of death that God’s promise gives, because of all of this, we can begin the journey of Lent.

We can confess our sins more boldly, we can offer ourselves to ashen crosses and the body and blood of our Lord, we can take a vow to fast, we can take on some small sacrifice, to show that we know we depend on God for everything. In this freedom, we begin our journey to Easter, not because it is required, but because God is good. And as we travel these next 40 days, may we depend ever more fully on God’s steadfast love and grace.
Amen.

Sermon for Christmas Eve, 2018
Merry Christmas to you and your families, from all of us at Redeemer, and may God bless you in the New Year!​
I have a question for you this evening. Do you have a big heart? Can it get bigger? Can we expand our hearts, make them bigger, as big as God’s heart? The answer is “yes”—in faith.

Now, before you go reaching for your pulse, I’m not talking about your physical heart. No, I’m talking about your heart of hearts, the spiritual center of your being. It's that mysterious place, unique to you, somewhere between your mind, your conscience, and your desire, where all three intermingle. 

Mary, Jesus' mother, is our role model here.

In tonight’s Gospel reading from Luke, we are told how she responded when the shepherds came and found her, with Joseph and the baby, in the animal shed behind the inn.  With irrepressible excitement, they told her, and all who would listen, about the angel’s words: “to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Mary’s response was muted: she “treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.”

In other words, her heart is getting bigger. This process began 9 months before. Then, the Angel Gabriel had appeared to her and said that her baby would “be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Later during her pregnancy, she visited her cousin, Elizabeth, who was also pregnant with John the Baptist. When Mary arrived, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaimed blessings upon pregnant Mary, and called her the “Mother of my Lord”. In response to Elizabeth’s exclamation, Mary sang a song that came straight out of her heart, a song that has been called the “Magnificat”, after the Latin word used in the song’s first phrase, “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

Then, on the night of Jesus’ birth, she receives the shepherds’ testimony and she is more subdued. 
Exhausted, but at peace. Others are excited, for they have just been let in on God’s action in the world, and they are excited to speak about it. But mary “treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.”

Here we see a pattern that comes into play because of the incarnation, a pattern in the story that we are to begin to try and live out in our own lives. The pattern exists to get us to step back from our mundane routine, to relinquish the rat race, and instead contemplate the promises of God.  Everyday, then, we are called as Christians to Treasure God’s words, and ponder them in our hearts.”

But this involves our hearts in the most serious spiritual work. For in coming to us, to be, to live among us, Christ calls to each of us to stretch our hearts with God’s promises. Don’t let your heart shrink or dry up, but let it grow, let it blossom in love and grace for other people. If the heart can be said to be God’s home, then we are called to add onto it, expand it, let it grow, so that God can fill it.

There is a quote from Dorothy Day, who was told by someone that it was too late for them, that they couldn’t make room for Christ in their hearts. She responded: “It is no use saying that we are born two thousand yearstoo late to give room to Christ. Nor will those who live at the end of the world have been born to late. Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts.”

This is what we are called to as Christians, that like Mary, Elizabeth, and the Shepherds, we might welcome and even abet the widening of our hearts that God wants for us.

Indeed, in the incarnation, Jesus comes as a human like us, a baby, and slips quietly into the openings and fissures of our hearts, and then grow on us, like children do, and not only that, but grow in us, and grows in the world through us.

This growth does not come easy.

1. First of all, once we have made room in our hearts for others, when we lose someone dear to us, especially family or close friends, we now have an empty space which they once occupied. This space now aches for filling and healing by God. And wasn’t this the plight of both mothers, Elizabeth and Mary? Elizabeth’s child would someday be executed by King Herod, and Mary’s child would be executed by Pontius Pilate.

2. Second, Christ doesn’t come once to our hearts, but he comes again and again, and with him always he brings the down trodden, the sick, the oppressed, the unfortunate, the destitute, the unjustly imprisoned, the cranky, the needy and the hard to deal with. He stands with them at the door of our hearts, and invites us to make room.

In the end, we know that we are not that good or consistent at opening our hearts, and we continually open up only to those with whom we are most comfortable and familiar. But thanks be to God, that ultimately it is God who has be born for us, and comes to be a part of our world, and who has opened his heart to us, and who welcomes us in to hisworld, just exactly as we are—scared, untrusting, feeble-minded, heart-hampered people that we are. God comes to us, is born for us, and welcomes us in to his everlasting kingdom. 

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your expanding hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Posted on December 25, 2018 2:52 PM by Michael Linderman