Mark 9:2-9 – The Transfiguration of our Lord – February 19, 2012

Our Gospel reading for the Transfiguration begins with these words, “And after six days…” And this is one of those good reasons to bring your Bible to Church. These words leave us hanging, “Six days after what?” Things are connected in Mark’s Gospel, and so, knowing the context brings clarity. The answers are back in chapter eight, and the first verse of chapter nine.

Six days ago, Peter made the pithy but proper confession, “You are the Christ.” Then, immediately following, Jesus began to teach them what it meant to be Christ. The Christ must suffer many things, be rejected by the religious establishment, and finally be executed at the hands of those who should have received Him. But this was not the end. He would rise three days later. This was His promise. This was Jesus’ mission; the mission of God for us. This is what the Christian faith is all about. But Peter doesn’t understand, not yet.

1 Corinthians 10:19-11:1 – 6th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 12, 2012

Christians don’t belong in pagan temples. This may seem obvious to you. But, let me suggest that it is something that needs to be said. In our Epistle reading today,St. Paul introduces this serious issue in the first century Christian community. Now, you might think we are smart enough to stay out of pagan temples today. But I invite you to withhold your judgment for just a moment.

The Church in Corinth seemed to be a magnet for dysfunction. Everything seemed to go wrong for them. Or rather, they found ways to do everything wrong. If anyone suggested an idiotic idea, they were willing to try it. Their Church was characterized by a culture of ignorance and lawlessness, experience and autonomy.

And in our Epistle reading today, the issue at hand was even a bit more specific. The question was, “Can Christians eat meat which had been sacrificed to idols?” Now, St. Paul was not the first one to address this issue. James and the Church of Jerusalem had begun to address it already.

1 Corinthians 9:16-27 – 5th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 5, 2012

In our Epistle reading today, St. Paul says “I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some.” These words suggest St. Paul was willing to go great lengths to fulfill his task as an apostle and evangelist. He realized the Gospel was a costly treasure and he needed to do all within his power to reach both Jew and Gentile with the good news of the forgiveness found in Jesus Christ.

Now it is difficult to take a phrase like, “I have become all things to all people” and apply it today. Some have understood this to mean the Church must become what the world expects it to be. If the world wants a garage band, then I will be all things to all people and give them a garage band.

If the world wants advice on how to be happy in life then I will be all things to all people and give them advice. In other words, do whatever it takes to fill the seats. But, let’s face it, the world expects a lot of different things. And frankly, not everything the world wants is what the world needs.

1 Corinthians 7:29-35 – 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany – January 22, 2012

Peter, Andrew, James, and John are introduced to us in our Gospel reading today. These four are probably the best known of the disciples. And as Jesus finds them, they are at work in their family business. They are fisherman by trade. And, as they are working with their nets and boats, and whatever else fishermen do, Jesus gives a direct command, “Follow me.” The words are simple, these first disciples understand what they mean, and yet in reality, they have no idea what they will mean.

And here are these four men, gainfully employed, life settled, not looking for the call of Jesus. They had their priorities. We know that Peter had a wife. They had family and friends. They had homes. They had the lifestyle their occupation allowed.

And somehow, at these simple words, they left everything to follow Jesus. All they had heard from Jesus in Mark’s Gospel at this point was this, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” And at this word, they walked away with Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 – 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany – January 15, 2012

I enjoy teaching youth Confirmation classes. It is almost always a pleasure. But then there is always that day when you get to the 6^th Commandment. If you are counting them off in your head, that is the one about adultery. And of course, someone always asks, “Pastor, what is adultery?” And whether the really want to know, or they just want to see me squirm, it is always challenging to find the right words to talk about adultery with teens and preteens.

Luther says it this way, “We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.” And this is a good start. But as we will find, Jesus and St. Paul get more specific.

Matthew 2:1-12 – Epiphany (Observed) – January 8, 2012

It is an odd little story. We often think of it as part of the Nativity of our Lord. The visit of the wise men to Jesus and Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem, at first glance, doesn’t seem to have much consequence. And it almost makes you wonder why St. Matthew would include these details.

Maybe it serves to introduce Herod and his murder of the innocents later in the same chapter. Herod, the one called “Herod the Great,” was worried about losing his throne to his new competition, a new King of the Jews. And so, he had all the infant boys in the region executed. What a great guy.

This explains why Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt. And this allows Jesus to begin where the nation Israel began, in Egypt. Hosea 11 prophetically reminds us that God called His people from this foreign land, “out ofEgyptI have called my Son.” And here Hosea suggests that there will be a future “Israel” that comes out of Egypt.

Luke 2:22-40 – First Sunday After Christmas – January 1, 2012

Happy New Year to you. Although the Church started its new Liturgical year back in November with Advent, today is still an important day. And it is filled with its traditions. New Year’s Eve is an excuse for a party, or at least for us to stay up late.

New Year’s Day means we have to write “2012” rather than “2011.” We start thinking of the changes we want to make in our lives; New Year’s resolutions. Bad habits we want to break. Good habits we want to cultivate. Weight we want to lose. Goals we want to accomplish. Books we want to read.

Now, I am not opposed to New Year’s resolutions, but new habits are tough to establish. It takes hard work and determination. And resolutions also can be very revealing about what is important to us. Whether we are successful or not, our resolutions reveal our priorities. They reveal our hearts. In fact our habits in general reveal our hearts. Our habits reveal our character.

Luke 1:26-38 – Advent 4 – December 18, 2011

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Now these aren’t the words that you typically hear from your Lutheran Pastor. But believe it or not, they almost made it into the Small Catechism.  In fact, they were a part of Martin Luther’s Personal Prayer Book from 1520.

And let’s be honest. To this point, the “Hail Mary,” is simply the Word of God. These words are from our Gospel Reading today. This passage is most often called the Annunciation. The Annunciation of the Lord refers to the announcement by the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus.  The Feast of the Annunciation is March 25, nine full months before Christmas. This is where we get our date for Christmas, by the way.

Matthew 1:18-25 – Christmas Eve Candlelight – December 24, 2011

Each year on Christmas Eve, we hold this Candlelight Service and it is quite an occasion. I am glad you are here. It is one of my favorites, and I know I am not alone. Now, this isn’t our only service on Christmas Eve. Earlier this evening we had our Children’s Service.

I will admit that service always come with a little chaos. Things are a bit unpredictable. We never know for sure if all the kids will show. We have little angels wiping their noses on their costumes. We have competition to get the right seats to see our kids. The whole thing can be a little unruly.

But the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service has a different tone. It is quiet and peaceful. It is even a bit otherworldly. Candles. Soft lighting. Soft music. Ancient words. We sing Silent Night and O Come, All Ye Faithful. Even the late evening puts us into a different frame of mind. It is all a bit magical.

John 1:1-14 – Christmas Day – December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas. The Gospel reading assigned for Christmas Day is John chapter one and it is a marvelous and beautiful reading. But frankly, it is also one of those passages that causes our heads to spin, especially if you were at the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service and stayed up way too late.

It sounds more like a theological treatise than it does like a reading for Christmas. It doesn’t even mention Mary or Joseph. It doesn’t mentionBethlehem, or Angels or Shepherds. But of all the Nativity accounts in the Gospels, it was this reading that really caught the attention of the early Church in the first three centuries.

Theologians often give this section of Scripture the really boring title, “the prologue.” We’ve got to come up with something better. If you have any ideas, let me know. But if you think of the boring title as the wrapping paper, underneath the boring title, there is a wonderful gift.