Marcan Sandwich

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon is entitled “The Marcan Sandwich” and my focus is our Gospel (Mk 3:20-35). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

One of my favorite foods is the sandwich. Ham, turkey, tuna, roast beef, grilled cheese, BLT or PBJ between two slices of white, wheat, rye, pumpernickel, sour dough, French or Italian bread with condiments, vegetables, even fried eggs in between. The sandwich is a meal for anytime at the table, in front of the TV, at a family picnic or while commuting to work.

Sandwiches predate the 4^th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu, by 18 centuries. One hundred years before Christ, the famous Jewish leader, Hillel the Elder, ate flat bread sandwiches filled with sliced lamb, a practice that spread to Western Asia and North Africa. And I am guessing that no one else here besides me has been to Sandwich, Illinois, one of the three towns named Sandwich in America.

I speak of the sandwich, because it is a literary technique characteristic of Mark in which one story is inserted in the middle of another so that each illuminates the other. Mark served sandwiches to Christians orally and in print. Today’s passage is one of 12 found through Mark. In fact, the entire Gospel of Mark is one massive sandwich with 8:29 as the real meat: And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”

In today’s gospel, three scenes are arranged into one block of material. In the first and third units Jesus is misunderstood by his own family; the second (vv. 22-30) involves a far more serious charge from the religious authorities. As we unpack our sandwich, I would like to look at three ingredients: brother, blasphemy and believer, before returning for another sandwich.

First, brother. Our passage opens with Jesus returning home. From the words Jesus spoke throughout his ministry, home should be the place where one is welcome. After Jesus healed the Gerasene demoniac, he instructed him to go home to his people and tell them how much the Lord did for him and what mercy He showed him. In Matthew, after he healed the paralytic, Jesus told the man to pick up his bed and go home. In Luke 15, the father welcomes home his lost son with a king’s feast. Here, however, his family and friends, including his brothers, seek to restrain him or control him.

To understand the reaction of Jesus’ relatives, it is important to recognize what family bonds meant in their social context. An individual existed only as part of an extended family unit, whose authority structure, obligations and customs governed every aspect of life. Any action by an individual was a reflection on the whole family, and any breach of family honor would meet with severe discipline. Since Joseph was no longer alive, Jesus would have to answer to his uncles and senior cousins.

These “brothers” heard that people were saying that Jesus was out of his mind, in other words, mentally ill, often associated with demonic influence. Motivated to protect him from hostile religious leaders, they set out from Nazareth on a 20-mile trip to seize their ordinary young kinsman because they did not believe in him. In v. 31, we learn that Jesus’ brothers arrived, but finding it impossible to get near him they stood outside. Because our passage is a sandwich, we will return to it later. For now, we move from the outside to the inside, from brothers to blasphemy.

The inside passage of Mark’s sandwich transitions from brothers from Nazareth to scribes from Jerusalem. Sent by the authorities to check out rumors concerning this miracle worker, these experts in the Mosaic law carried more weight than the Galilean Pharisees, Jesus’ fiercest opponents. Their chilling verdict is categorical: “‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.’”

Notice how Jesus responded. He summoned them, suggesting that they were saying these things behind his back, and confronted them face to face, answering their charges in reverse order. To their claim that he was using demonic powers to cast out demons is logically absurd. What king would instigate a revolt against his own rule? If this were so, Satan’s dominion would have collapsed.

In his second statement, Jesus used a burglary analogy. The strong man Satan guarding his illicitly obtained belongings, that is, possessed human beings, must first be subdued in order for his house to be plundered. Recall Isaiah’s prophecy where we read: “Can they seize plunder from warriors, or can the captives of tyrants be rescued? But this is what the LORD says: ‘He will seize even the warriors’ plunder, and the captives of tyrants will be rescued. I myself will quarrel with those who have a quarrel with you, and I myself will save your children.’”

Finally, Jesus addressed the scribes’ first charge that he is possessed by Beelzebul not with a parable but with a somber warning. He prefaced his affirmation that all sins, even blasphemy, are forgiven with an Amen, a completely new usage of a word that concludes prayers as an expression of agreement. The closest expression in the Old Testament to Jesus’ phrase, “Truly I say to you,” is the phrase, “As surely as I live,” found in Numbers, Isaiah and Ezekiel.

Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, to religious or holy persons or sacred things, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. The word "blasphemy" came from two Greek words meaning injure and utterance, talk or speech. In the sense of speaking evil of God this word is found in Psalm 74: Remember how the enemy has mocked you, LORD, how foolish people have reviled your name. In Romans 2, Paul borrowed a verse from Isaiah who proclaimed: What is this? asks the LORD. Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long.

Although abusing or insulting the name of God is a sin against God himself, this is forgivable. What Jesus said here is that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit meant to harden your heart so completely that one defiantly refused to recognize the action of God and attributed to evil the good works Jesus did in the power of the Spirit. For we see that when Jesus came up out of the water after he was baptized, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. The scribes who persisted in such willful blindness refused to repent and chose to close themselves to the forgiveness that God offers through Jesus. Now, note that Jesus did not condemn the scribes of committing this sin but warned them of the grave danger that awaited them if they did not open their hearts to the Spirit and repent.

Finally, believers. After the incident with the scribes, Mark resumes the account of Jesus’ brothers who set out to seize him but found it impossible to get near him. Mark highlighted the contrast between Jesus’ family and the audience surrounding him by twice mentioning that his family members stood outside.

This is the only time in Mark that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, appears on the scene. Mark did not indicate that she shared the opinion of those who thought Jesus was out of his mind, but the episode suggests that she did not fully comprehend the scope and significance of her son’s mission. Like others, she must grow in understanding of the divine mystery that only faith can penetrate. Here, as in the finding of the temple and at the foot of the cross, she must undergo a certain detachment in her far greater role in the new family Jesus established. In Acts we read: All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

But when he received word that his family was calling, Jesus immediately interrupted his teaching to answer their summons. His reply must have sounded shocking in the cultural context I described earlier. It is the first indication that all earthly ties take second place to the kingdom of God. We hear Jesus speak this again in chapter 10: Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. In other words, Christian discipleship trumps family ties.

Then, gazing with affection and intimacy at those seated around him, Jesus elevated his new family to an unexpected status. His new family, the family of believers, united around him in a bond of love, familiarity and loyalty was stronger than any blood relationship. For we read in John’s Gospel: to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. This is restated in Hebrews, Romans and Ephesians: You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

Establishing a new community of believers was not a rejection of his earthly family. Eventually, his brothers accepted the new basis of kinship evident from what I read in Acts.

Jesus’ final statement, “whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother,” explained the foundation for his new family. Jesus’ most heartfelt desire was to please His Father. The only condition for entering God’s family is to do God’s will, just as Jesus did. And to do God’s will, one must first learn what it is by sitting and listening to Jesus as the crowd is doing. By doing God’s will, they in a real sense bring Jesus into the world.

As believers, we are brothers and sisters who bring Jesus into the world. We do so by first sitting and listening to Jesus and doing God’s will. That should be our heartfelt desire. To bring Jesus into the world, to nourish others with the Gospel, we must be nourished daily. And so, in closing I ask you, what is your favorite spiritual sandwich?

Think of your spiritual sandwich as your day. How do you start and end your day, and what happens during the in-between moments? I start my day reading psalms, Scripture passages, and early Christian writings from people like Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Ambrose and Augustine. At the end of the day, I reflect, read a shorter psalm and Scripture passage and pray that Almighty God bless us, protect us and bring us to everlasting life. During the day, I sandwich in other times to pray with my wife and whatever family members or friends are gathered with us. I also listen to spiritual podcasts as I drive to appointments or walk the dogs. When I feel some sadness or bitterness because of some event that occurs, I view it through the prism of the Cross. When I feel joy, I think how God was responsible for this uplifting moment. Thus, my day is like a spiritual sandwich.

None of our spiritual sandwiches will be the same. We read different Scripture passages and materials. We listen to different messages throughout the day. We pray for different people and needs. We experience vastly different moments even if the event is the same. But each day offers us the opportunity to bring Jesus into the world as brothers and sisters seeking with heartfelt desire to please our Father. Brothers may not always understand us. Blasphemers will curse us and our God. Still, we remain steadfast believers listening to Jesus and seeking to do God’s will. Friends, may your spiritual sandwich nourish you daily, and it does, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Patrick's Shamrock

 

Do you know what this is? This is a shamrock. A shamrock is also known as a three-leaf clover. Did you know that we Christians use the shamrock as a symbol for God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

St. Patrick of Ireland was famous for using the shamrock as a symbol of the Trinity because there are three leaves to the shamrock. There are also three Persons of the Trinity. Just as there are three leaves to one shamrock, there are three Persons to One God.

I mention this because today is Trinity Sunday. We celebrate Trinity Sunday every year one week after Pentecost. We also remember the Trinity every Sunday when we recite one of our Creeds – the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed or the Athanasian Creed. And we remember the Trinity every time we make the Sign of the Cross because we say, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

What other symbols are like the Trinity? How about a triangle or a circle? We use triangles and three overlapping circles to remind us that God is three Persons in one God.

Finally, our families are like the Trinity. You know what it’s like to be a member of your family. Families help us understand the Trinity, and the Trinity helps us understand what it’s like to be a family. And do you know why? It’s because the three members of the Trinity love each other. As members of a family, we are called to love each other as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit love each other.

With that, let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their parents the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

TRINITY

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My focus is Acts, chapter two, where Peter addressed the men of Israel. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”[1] Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Anthony de Mello tells of a pastor whose ship anchored at a remote island. Since he only had one day there, the pastor was determined to use the time profitably.

He strolled along the seashore and came across three fishermen, mending their nets. In broken English, they explained to him that missionaries converted their village to Christianity. “We Christians!” they proudly proclaimed. The pastor was impressed. In talking some more, he discovered that they had never heard of the Lord’s Prayer. The pastor was shocked. “What, then, do you SAY when you pray?”

“We lift eyes to heaven and say, ‘We are three, you are three, have mercy on us.’”

The pastor was appalled. This would never do. In fact, it sounded almost heretical. So, he spent the whole day teaching them the Lord’s Prayer. Even though the fishermen were slow learners, they were finally able to struggle through it before the pastor sailed away the next day.

Months later, the pastor’s ship happened to pass by that same island. The pastor paced the deck, recalling with pleasure the three men who were now able to pray, thanks to his patient efforts. While he was lost in his thoughts, he happened to look up, and notice a spot of light to the east. The light kept approaching the ship and, as the pastor gazed in wonder, he saw three figures walking on the water. The captain, too, was amazed and he stopped the boat so everyone could see. When they got within speaking distance, the pastor recognized the three fishermen.

They exclaimed, “Pastor! We see your boat go by the island, so we come to see you.” Awestruck, the pastor asked, “What do you want?” “Pastor, we are very sorry. We forget lovely prayer. We say, ‘Our Father, in heaven, holy be your name….’ Then we forget. Please tell us prayer again.”

With a quiet voice, the pastor answered, “Go back to your homes, my friends. And each time you pray, say, ‘We are three, you are three, have mercy on us.”[2]

Have mercy on us. Most pastors like to skip Trinity Sunday because people expect them to explain the Trinity in simple terms. So, in addition to the story of our three amigos, let me outline it for you – Persons, Pentecost and a Postscript.

First, Persons. We often use symbols to explain the Trinity – from Patrick’s clover to geometric designs. We find symbols of the Trinity in many churches – the equilateral triangle and overlapping circles. Mathematicians and engineers may prefer triangles and circles, but they are static. If you want to understand the dynamics of the Trinity, you really have to observe and live the family experience. Families are dynamic. Think of any family – the First Family or the Royal Family, your in-laws or your neighbors. Based on your observations of the outer dynamics of any family, you determine the breadwinner and the spender, the problem solver and the troublemaker. You surmise their mission in life and predict where the children will be in 20 years. You rely on them for assistance or aggravation. We base our assumptions solely on what we know as outsiders.

Hollywood tries to give us an experience of the inner dynamics of family life – be it the Robertson Family, aka, Duck Dynasty or the Dysfunctional Housewives of Any City in America. However, reality TV has limits. You cannot live the experience of that family. The only way one grasps the inner dynamics of any family is by living in it.

So it is for Jesus – as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He knows the Father. The Father knows him. Together, they dwell with the Spirit. John tells us that Jesus revealed himself to believers. Over the past few weeks, we heard Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit. In today’s passage, he discusses the Holy Spirit with Nicodemus. Jesus claimed, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”[3] Perhaps Nicodemus needed an infusion from the Holy Spirit to accept this teaching.

As believers, we accept the truth from Scripture that there are Three Persons of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Spirit. We observe their outer dynamics – creation, redemption and sanctification – all performed with loving-kindness. We surmise that the inner dynamics of the Three Divine Persons is strong enough to overcome Satan, sin and death. We rely on their love.

From Persons to Pentecost, my 2^nd point. Today’s passage picks up where we left last week – Peter’s Pentecost sermon. Pentecost was an agricultural feast where Jews celebrated not only the harvest but also the giving of the Torah. It was known as the Shav – u’ – oth or the Feast of Weeks. This festival was celebrated 7 weeks or 50 days after Passover. It brought farmers from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Asia, Egypt, Libya and Rome to Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot. They came to thank God for the harvest and for the Law. To them Peter made a fundamental presentation of the Gospel. And while Jesus could not convince his hearers, by preaching Christ crucified, Peter stirred the hearts of some 3,000 that day. Scripture tells us that he converted and baptized 3,000 people. Through baptism, Peter brought them into the inner family. They observed the community of believers from the outside, and then experienced it from the inside. Peter baptized the people who heard the Gospel as members of the Church, a believing community, a dynamic community of people that reflected the loving relationships of the Holy Trinity in their inner and outer activities.

Believers are members of a believing community, a Pentecost community. … Are we members of a Pentecost community? Are we a Pentecost people? … We are – liturgically. From now until Advent we are in The Season of Pentecost. Our corporate worship reminds us that the Holy Spirit is active in our lives. Hence, we celebrate the Sundays of Pentecost.

Like the first converts, we too were baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We received forgiveness of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Because we are attuned to the Holy Spirit active in our lives as a faith community and individual believers, we are a Pentecost people.

Are we a Trinitarian community? … Again, yes. These Sundays are also Trinity Sundays. They remind us to focus on the dynamic power of all Three Divine Persons of the Trinity active in our lives. Therefore, according to our worship, we are members of a Pentecost and Trinitarian community.

There is another way to know if we reflect the loving relationships of the Holy Trinity in our inner and outer activities – by asking outsiders what they observe. … This week, ask some outsiders how they see us. Do they see us as Spirit-filled people? Do they see us as a dynamic community? Would they say that we reflect the loving relationships of the Persons of the Holy Trinity? Does our living proclamation of the Gospel stir their hearts to the degree that they are kicking in the doors to enter our church? Think about that this week, and really ask someone. Ask anyone. If we are a Pentecost people, a Trinitarian community, it should be easily observable.

That brings me to my third point: Postscript. … Cindy and I used to enjoy camping. We no longer have to do that because we live on 21 rural acres. We enjoy the luxuries of water, gas and electricity as well as the open spaces. So, these days, we sort of enjoy glamping. Yet, camping is an activity every Christian should embrace.

Camping is Biblical. Abraham and Sarah lived their whole lives in tents. Moses and the Israelites camped 40 years. When David decided to build God a fine house, God revealed His preference for a tent. So, guys, buy your wives camping stoves.

We read in the Gospel of John, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”[4] Many Scripture scholars interpret the verse this way – He pitched his tent among us. During the time Cindy and I have been married, approaching 11 years, we have pitched our tent in nine sites over California, Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois and finally, Pennsylvania.

Less than a month after arriving, you asked me to pitch our tent here and worship with you. As we worship together, we pray to the Holy Trinity for the grace to be grateful, especially to the people who camp or glamp closest to us – family, neighbors, and friends. As we do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.[5]

---

[1] Psalm 122

[2] I changed bishop to pastor.

[3] John 3:3

[4] John 1:14

[5] Philippians 4:7

Jesus Prays for You

 

When you pray, do you ask God for anything? If you do, what is it? When I was your age, I asked God for friends and to be funny. I asked God to help me in baseball and school. When I got to high school, I asked God to help me be popular, and later to be successful. So, nothing I asked for was really important.

Do you know what I ask God to give me today? I ask God to make me indifferent. That means that I want to be okay with whatever God gives me. As I have gotten older, I have learned that it’s better for me to accept God’s plan for me than for me to give God my plans.

Here is what I mean. I prayed for good health, but I got sick and got well many times. I have fallen more times than I can remember and was in a car wreck. I had teeth replaced and surgery on my shoulder.

Maybe your parents have gone through the same thing. They pray to be successful so that they can take care of you, but they may not make as much money as they want.

I say this because in our Gospel today (Jn 17), Jesus prays not for all the things we often pray for. He prays for his disciples to be protected from evil, the evil one and that His Father make them holy. And do you know what? That is Jesus’ prayer for you too. Jesus prays for you to be protected from sin, Satan and for you to be holy. So, the next time you pray, ask Jesus what He wants for you.

With that, let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their parents the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Ask for Anything

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My focus is the First Letter of John where we read: “If we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”[1] Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

What do you ask from God? Are your requests personal, familial, professional, ecclesial, societal or global? Do you ask God for eternal life for yourself and your loved ones? A long life? A healthy body and a healthy mind? A successful, wealthy career? Do you pray for the church? For our Synod’s leaders and pastors? For our members and Christians everywhere? Do you pray for our nation and neighborhood? Our police and border patrol officers, first responders and health care workers, military personnel and judges? Across the globe, do you pray for people’s needs? For families starving for food, religious freedom and relief from oppression? What did you ask from God today?

Let us ask God for anything, but first let us ask God to help us understand this passage. Let us understand this passage as John wrote it, as Luther interpreted it, and as we might apply it.

John opened today’s passage, “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.”[2] We believe an eyewitness’s testimony. When one witnesses an event and shares the recollection with family or friends, on social media or in court, we regard this testimony as reliable. We accept testimony from men, women and children, should we not accept the testimony of God? We believe others when it concerns earthly matters, should we not believe God when it concerns His Son?

God’s testimony to His Son unified the final passage of John’s Letter. Essentially, John said, “Believers have the Son. Unbelievers do not have the Son. To have the Son is to have eternal life and eternal truth.”

To have the Son is to have eternal life and eternal truth. That was vital in a Greek culture that valued the eternal and esteemed the Ancients, e.g., Homer, Aristotle, Plato. Greeks believed no faith was certain unless its object, foundation, origin and end existed from the beginning. That prompted John to write, if you have fellowship with us – apostolic eyewitnesses – you have fellowship with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word.[3]

John urged Christians to be confident, knowing that they alone knew the one true God through Christ and His Church. Think Joe Namath guaranteeing a Superbowl victory. Multiply that superior confidence exponentially and you have John. With an attitude of superiority, he guaranteed victory over Satan, sin and death,[4] and so inspired fellow believers to abide in fellowship with Christ and His Church.

Though John’s letter was classic rhetoric, it appealed to his readers’ deepest emotions. He wrote not only about concepts and ideas regarding Christ and Christians, but also about behavior. John urged Christians to retain their core values against the attacks of the dark powers from whom God promised to protect them.[5] In other words, John taught behavior reflects belief.

Because behavior reflects belief, John galvanized and steeled Christians for struggles against the world, the flesh, the devil and false teachers.[6] If they could endure these things until the day when they would see Christ, they would see Him just as he is. Until then, they could confidently ask for whatever they needed.

Verse 14 reminded them, “To know is to be assured; to be assured is to be confident; to be confident is to ask for the very things that we know that God intends for us to have and to hold.”[7]

This assurance was not merely theoretical or a matter of inner personal experience. Christians discovered God’s assurance in life’s ambiguities through a continual relationship with God through His Son and within the common life of the Church, that is, those who share that relationship. … Here is the heart of John’s letter: Divine indwelling, abiding in God, walking as children of the light and all other expressions of belonging to God are not primarily individual but communal. In other words, Christians have fellowship with God only through the Church, not apart from it. That is why John repeated to church members, “Love one another.”[8] Church members are all God’s children and deserve to be loved as His children.

Regarding our epistle, Martin Luther affirmed that no true prayer is unheard and unanswered. Concerning God’s promise, Luther wrote, “Do you mean to say that this promise is always true even though God often does not give what we have asked for? Did He not let David pray for the life of his son in vain? … I have often said how a prayer must be ordered and arranged. In our petitions we should not prescribe to God [some] measure, limit, place or person; but we should commit all … to Him who knows how to give … what is good for us. This is why He … set up this order … in the Lord’s Prayer [and] … put before us three objectives, which must always have precedence: the hallowing of His name, His kingdom and His will. Then follow our daily bread and deliverance from temptation and all troubles. … If this precedes, then that which is ours will certainly follow. Accordingly, St. John says, “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us …”

Continuing, Luther wrote, “You have His complete will, and God will certainly not think otherwise in His heart than the Lord’s Prayer shows you. …  Therefore, when in trouble and danger … pray for deliverance and help, but in the way the Lord’s Prayer teaches you.”[9]

I admire the simplicity of Luther’s theology. John’s theology, like his Letter, can be complicated, leading to hours of head scratching. Luther’s understanding clarified what John meant. We can ask God “anything, [and] according to his will he hears us,”[10] but we must ask according to how the Son taught us to pray.

As children of God, our common denominator is the prayer Jesus taught. He said, “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”[11]

If we ask for anything according to God’s good and gracious will, we know that he will hear us, but undoubtedly, John’s assurance puzzled countless Christians whose prayers were not answered in ways they hoped. Prayer is not a blank traveler’s check signed by Jesus, which produces results on demand. Nothing should encourage us to suppose that God will grant anything we choose to ask, simply because we want it. It is the will of God, not the believer’s whim, which is the cardinal rule of prayer.[12]

One who prays should know that God considers and acts on all requests to maximize the coming of His kingdom and the fulfillment of His will.[13] Therefore, we can ask for anything because according to his will, God hears us.

According to his will, God hears us, but at times, we doubt. Like Christians, athletes have doubts, especially when the future seems like an incessant uphill battle. In these moments, athletes must find the strength to push forward, work harder and be better. Some are lucky to have coaches and mentors who put things into perspective and motivate them.

John’s Letter motivated Christians not to win a contest or a crown, but to remain faithful to God through fellowship with Christ through the Church. … Friends, remain faithful to God through fellowship with Christ through the Church.

God gave you what you need to remain faithful to Him through fellowship with Christ and His Church. God answered your prayers and gave you the means of grace. God opened His ears to your prayers through His Word and Sacraments. You have those. What else do you need? Perhaps a small catechism to learn your faith. Friends, learn your faith.

“What you learn no one can take from you,” my father often said. He applied this not only to his profession, but also to of our faith. His religious learning did not end at confirmation, but continued throughout adulthood; and his behavior reflected his beliefs. That inspires me.

My father died in 2003. He was one of many from The Greatest Generation who inspired me more than most of us from the Baby Boom Generation. I have often said that old people are much more interesting than young people, and I am serious about that because experience comes through living life, and the longer you have lived, the more you have experienced.

The elderly ask for the Lord’s Supper. They know Christ’s Body and Blood sustains them through their last days. What they learned about Christ, no one took from them, even on their deathbeds. Behavior reflects belief. That inspires me.

When you enter your last days, will your behavior reflect your beliefs? Will a lifetime of learning about your faith and fellowship in Christ accompany you to the grave? Will your relationship with Christ through his Church inspire anyone? What if you do not live to be 90 or 70? Does your behavior inspire anyone today? Does your behavior reflect belief?

As we come to the end of the school year, a test for you. When you get home, make a list of the people you think you inspire or want to inspire. Next, call them and ask them if you inspire them. Prepare yourself for unexpected responses.

If your behavior inspires no one; if your relationship with Christ through His Church inspires no one; if your behavior does not reflect your belief, talk to God. Ask the Holy Spirit dwelling in you to come alive and then, reflect on John’s words: “If we ask anything according to his will he hears us.”[14] Finally, pray as Luther taught. Children of light, pray to the Trinity for that grace. Pray in Jesus’ Holy Name, and may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

---

[1] 1 John 5:14

[2] 1 John 5:9

[3] Bruce G. Schuchard, 1 – 3 John. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House (2012), 92.

[4] Ibid, 566

[5] Ibid, 567, fn 174

[6] Ibid, 567, fn 176

[7] Ibid, 570

[8] Ibid, 571

[9] What Luther Says, 1095 #3502

[10] 1 John 5:14

[11] Matthew 6:9-15

[12] Schuchard, 571

[13] Ibid, 572

[14] 1 John 5:14

Letters

 

Do you like getting letters? Before email, people wrote letters and when they had news to share with other people. I wrote letters to friends when I was in college, and to family when I was studying in Poland. When I travel, I mail postcards. Writing letters and sending them are important tasks, and I hope one day you write letters to your family members and friends.

Today, most of the mail we get is junk, but there are letters that were sent to us by someone very special. Someone who loves us dearly has sent love letters to us. Do you know who that Person is? It’s God. God sends us love letters.

Do you know where to find these letters? They are in a book called the Bible. I mention this because every Sunday we take our book and read a portion of all these love letters from God.

Since Easter, we have been reading the love letters from St. John to his friends and church family members. At times, John tells people about God. At other times, he tells people to love God and each other. He even warns people about the devil and evil people who lead them down the wrong path. He writes all these things because he loved his family members and friends almost as much as God loves them.

Do you know what else, God sends those love letters to you too. Maybe your parents or grandparents can read them to you. When you become an adult, you can read them to others and remind them of God’s love for all people.

With that, let us pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their parents the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What's New?

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. … My sermon is entitled “What’s New?” and my focus is all three readings. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”^[1] Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

You probably know by now that we are having a new house built. If you didn’t, now you know. Our move-in date is May 19^th. That said, everyone loves new things, and there are many new things about the construction of our new home that were not around in 1955, when my dad built his. From poured concrete walls and prebuilt trusses to heat pumps and luxury vinyl flooring.

Not long ago, Popular Mechanics composed a list of the most significant scientific and technological inventions since 1954.[2] The list includes things we use at work or at home: microwave ovens, iPhones, cordless tools, integrated circuits, communications satellites, email, Bluetooth, Facebook and more. There have been inventions that have saved or improved millions of lives: the polio vaccine, Kevlar, high yield rice and Prozac to name a few. And if you think you’re too old to invent life-changing technology, listen to this: In 1980 John Bannister Goodenough invented the cobalt-oxide cathode, the battery that supplies your laptops and cell phones. At the time, Goodenough was a mere 94 years old.

Why all this talk about what’s new? Because while every new invention does not benefit humanity, such as computer viruses and worms, many new ideas do improve and change lives. With that, we look at what was new in Acts, John, 1^st John and the Church today.

First, Acts. The story of Peter and Cornelius is one of the most remarkable in the Book of Acts—and worth reading in its entirety. Yet none of it would have happened if these two men had not been open to the possibility of God doing something new.

Peter, a devout Jew, had never eaten anything unclean. When God gave him a vision asking him to eat a forbidden animal, Peter’s first reaction was to recoil in horror. But when three men arrived asking him to come to Cornelius’ house, Peter realized what the vision meant. Despite the strict separation between Gentile and Jew that had been practiced for centuries, God wanted him to go.

Cornelius was a “God-fearer,” meaning he was a Gentile who worshipped the God of Israel. His openness to God had been nurtured through years of following the Lord. So, when an angel appeared to him and told him to send for Peter, he obeyed. Then as Peter was proclaiming the gospel, Cornelius received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.

Second, John. Throughout John’s Gospel, the Evangelist affirms that loving words and deeds make God present. In the prologue (chapter one) the Father told the Son the whole truth of existence before sending him to earth. The Son is the only one who knows the Father and is the only one who has heard the whole truth. The possession of this truth makes the Son a perfect image of the Father. As this Sunday’s Gospel reveals, Jesus gave us the ability to become such an image for he told the disciples everything the Father had told him.

Today, the monologue that started last week with the reading of the vine and the branches continues. John used two Greek words to describe love: agapaõ and phileõ which for him are synonymous and mean “to love”.

Here’s what’s new in our Gospel. Jesus made a sharp distinction between servants and friends: “those whom one loves.” In the Old Testament, Moses, Joshua, and David were called servants of Yahweh; only Abraham was called a friend of God. Hence, love is the essential word of today’s reading. The mutual love of the Father and the Son provides the foundation for both Jesus’ love for his disciples, and the love that he commands the disciples to have for one another. It is this love that will be the source of the disciples’ joy and the condition of their intimate friendship with the Lord.

In verses 12-13, Jesus focused attention upon one specific commandment, one specific way disciples were to render obedience to Him: the commandment to practice brotherly love. This too is new! And what does this brotherly love look like? What form does it take? It is sacrificial love patterned after the Lord’s own love for his disciples and us.

Finally, 1^st John. This is a pastoral letter to churches in conflict. It was written to address the conflict and to prevent its spread. The problems in the churches were caused by false teachers who left the church. These false teachers were haughty and unloving. They denied the deity of Jesus and His Incarnation. They also claimed not to be sinners. They were precursors of the Gnostic heretics who plagued the second century Church. These false teachers remained influential and persuaded new believers to accept their heretical teachings.

In the first words of our chapter, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,” John directly refuted the false teachers who, because they taught that the spiritual is good but the material is bad – which is dualism. In short, they did not accept the deity of Jesus the man. They did not accept that Jesus is the Christ. They did not accept that Jesus the man was “born of God.” So, throughout his Letter, John counterpunched the heretical teachings of the dualists.

Here, he gave a solid reason why anyone who loves the Father will also love Christian brothers and sisters, who are God’s children. Our heavenly Father loves His children more than any earthly father loves his children. If we have any love for the Father, we need to honor his love for his children by sharing his love for them. This too refuted the attitude of the haughty false teachers, who looked with disdain on those who did not share their spiritual vision of “true Christians”.

Now, there is much more that I can say about our readings, but, in short, you get the point. To sum up our readings, we have something new in Acts, John and 1^st John. This is especially clear in Acts. The Holy Spirit was already at work in Cornelius’s household before Peter arrived to share the Gospel and offer baptism. Peter's preaching helped Cornelius and his family to put words to their experience of God’s presence. Peter’s actions allowed the Spirit, which had been working in subtle ways, to become fully manifest.

To conclude, disciples today must continue the same task. The Spirit fills the world, and many feel the presence of God but lack the words to understand what God is doing. We who know Christ must, like Peter, help others understand their experience. We can do that only when we live by the Gospel that Jesus learned from the Father and passed on to us. We make the risen Christ present whenever we seek out the world’s broken places and, trusting in the Spirit already at work, speak of the love of God. Then we are rightly called his friends.

How can we be open to the Lord and whatever “new things” he may want to do through us? First, like Peter and Cornelius, we need to stay close to God in prayer. Because of their faithfulness, God was able to speak to both men and show them how he wanted to bring salvation to the Gentiles. Second, we should be careful not to place limits on God. Peter had to trust God with a new and different way of living his faith. Cornelius had to be open to receiving new life in the Spirit through Baptism.

Many people experience God at work in the world, but they lack the words to understand that experience. Cornelius already encountered the Spirit before he was baptized. Peter gave him the words he needed to understand this encounter. In this, Peter was living out the resurrection. He became an icon of the risen Christ as he shared his knowledge of the loving work of God. So, how do you make Christ’s love present? What loving words can you speak to help others understand God’s presence? Are you open to anything God might ask of you?

Today, pray for the grace to see where you might have drawn a line in the sand that you have asked God not to cross. God can, and will, use you—as long as you remain open to him. Our life in Christ manifested in our love for him and for others, shows that we are friends of Christ today, living in imitation of him in the world.

Love for our brothers and sisters in Christ may mean the sacrifice of our time, our comfort, our personal interests, plans and desires, our resources and so on. Love for our brothers and sisters in Christ may mean the sacrifice of our pride, our wounded spirit, our sense of moral indignation against offenses perpetrated against us as we extend forgiveness to those who have wronged us.

And although my focus today is on what’s new, we turn to something old. We turn to a sermon that is 1700 years old by one of the Church Fathers, Augustine. In a sermon on Psalm 149, Augustine recited the first verse of the psalm and then said this: “‘Sing to the Lord a new song; his praise is in the assembly of the saints.’ We are urged to sing a new song to the Lord, as new men who have learned a new song. A song is a thing of joy; more profoundly, it is a thing of love. Anyone who has learned to love the new life has learned to sing a new song, and the new song reminds us of our new life. The new man, the new song, the new covenant, all belong to the one kingdom of God, and so the new man will sing a new song and will belong to the new covenant.

There is not one who does not love something, but the question is, what to love. The psalms do not tell us not to love, but to choose the object of our love. But how can we choose unless we are first chosen? We cannot love unless someone has loved us first. Listen to the apostle John: We love him, because he first loved us. The source of man’s love for God can only be found in the fact that God loved him first. He has given us himself as the object of our love, and he has also given us its source. What this source is you may learn more clearly from the apostle Paul who tells us: The love of God has been poured into our hearts. This love is not something we generate ourselves; it comes to us through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Augustine continued to exhort and encourage Christian believers before concluding his sermon with these words. “Now it is your unquestioned desire to sing of him whom you love, but you ask me how to sing his praises. You have heard the words: Sing to the Lord a new song, and you wish to know what praises to sing. The answer is: His praise is in the assembly of the saints; it is in the singers themselves. If you desire to praise him, then live what you express. Live good lives, and you yourselves will be his praise.”

My friends, today, perhaps you have learned something new. Perhaps not. Perhaps my sermon has not inspired you as Augustine inspired Christians of the 4^th century, as Luther of the 16^th century, as Billy Graham or John Paul II of the 20^th century. If not, then perhaps your prayer today will include me as one called to preach God’s Word to you. Do that, and when you do may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your minds and hearts on Christ Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] Psalm 122

[2] The 66 Best Inventions of the Past 66 Years, Popular Mechanics, March 20, 2020.