7 March 2010

Isaiah 55:1-9
Psalm 63:1-8
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Luke 13:1-9

I have a friend -- a good Lutheran friend -- with whom I often play golf.  I am not a good golfer; I need to tell you that up front.  But he is such a horrible golfer, that his wife told my wife she is amazed I continue to golf with him, when so many others have long ago refused to do so.  My golfing partner takes lessons, buys the latest equipment, reads golf magazines, but in the years I have played with him I have not seen one bit of improvement in his game.  What I have seen is that he always finds something or someone to blame for playing poorly.  Sometimes its because he did not get to the course early enough to warm up; sometimes its the weather -- too windy, too warm, too cold; often it is because someone is running a mower that he can hear -- or someone in our group coughs or speaks in the midst of his back-swing or just as he is lining up a putt.

I tell you this, not to make myself out as a saint for being his golfing partner (referring to him in a sermon like this proves I am not) but because it seems to be an example of how often we seek to place blame when things go wrong or when bad things happen to us or to others.  In the past few weeks, we’ve seen a number of bad things happen.  Two teenagers were shot in a local school, bringing back memories of the horrific events at Columbine just weeks before we will relive those events once more as the anniversary of that day rolls around. An earthquake created massive damage and widespread death in Chile, just weeks after an earthquake devastated Haiti.

28 February 2010

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Psalm 27
Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 13:31-35

We are barely into our Lenten journey for 2010; not even at the half-way point between Ash Wednesday and Holy Week.  And as we arrive at this point, we hear three Scripture readings that remind us our entire life of faith is a journey.   The first is related to Abraham, who in his 70’s “believed God” and left his home near what today is the city of Baghdad in Iraq, who is considered to be the Father of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, who dared to believe, against all evidence, God’s promise that one day his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in heavens. The second is Paul’s message to the Christians in Philippi, urging them to remain strong in their faith in the midst of challenges from “enemies of the cross.”  Their journey is like our own: traveling through this life, sustained by the hope of our “citizenship in heaven.”  The third reading -- the one we just read from the Gospel of Luke puts us smack dab into the journey that Jesus is taking. Here we read that Jesus has been on a journey toward Jerusalem for some time, stopping at a number of places along the way.  At each stop he teaches and preaches about the reign of God that is breaking into the world, urging them to live their lives under God’s rule instead of the values and demands of the Roman Empire.

At some point in the journey, a group of Pharisees comes warning him to change his travel plans and instead of continuing on to Jerusalem to get as far away from that city as he can.  The reason?  Somehow they have knowledge that Herod wants to kill him, just as earlier he put John the Baptist to death in a city known for its rejection of those who spoke on behalf of God.

21 February 2010

Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13

In Junior High, we had a science teacher who had a unique way of putting the fear of God into us, just in case we might be tempted to cheat on one of his quizzes.  As he passed out the papers, he sang this song: “Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin.  Each victory will help you some other to win.  Strive manfully onward, dark passions subdue, look only to Jesus, he will carry you through.”

No public school teacher would dare to sing a song like that today, not in a time when prayer in school and many other aspects of religion have been removed.  But from what I know about contemporary religion, any serious mention of temptation may also be a relic -- as well as the forty day season of Lent that calls us to a self-examination not only of our mortality but of the reality of sin in our lives that separates us from God and from one another.  The “common wisdom” seems to be that people today are looking for a “feel-good” religion.  Starting a service as we did this a.m. with a confession of sin -- or of emphasizing self control to avoid falling into the “seven deadly sins” is thought to be too much of a “downer” for a lot of people.  If you want your church to grow and attract religious “seekers,” the key is to soft-peddle any mention of things like God’s judgment and instead preach and emphasize things people want to hear, like self-esteem and the prosperity Gospel.