Author: Mark Mong

³¹ Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’  Mark 8:31-33

Thanks to Hollywood, we live in a world of superheroes.  Whether we know the Iron Man or Black Panther from the Marvel Universe or Superman or Wonder Woman from the DC Universe, we have come to know superheroes.  They possess fabulous powers to counteract the fabulous powers of the supervillains.  Some have weaknesses and vulnerabilities like kryptonite, but by and large the superheroes can do extraordinary things and by the end of the movies or the season, the superheroes always win in some way and the villains are defeated.  We expect greatness and glory from our heroes.

By Superman’s standards, Jesus is a total failure.  Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed.  We can see great suffering in Captain America, but the great suffering of Christ?  Everyone loves the Justice League but rejected by His own people?  Iron Man died, but destroyed Thanos, but be killed and crucified as a felon and failure?  The popular expectation of our culture is greatness and glory, and the world cannot see greatness and glory in the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, they only see weakness and humiliation.  By the world’s standards, Jesus fails.

Perhaps this is why Jesus proclaim this prediction of his passion openly without riddles but when affirming his Messiahship, he commands silence and speaks only in riddles or parables.  What if His priority is not to become the popular identity of political revolutionary or King, which is what they wanted Him to be (and the Superhero we want him to be) but what if His priority is to be One who gave his life for many?  Not to be served but to serve?  Not to conquer but to be conquered?  Not for power but to empower?  Not for glory, but to glorify?  Jesus speaks openly about his cross, and perhaps our crosses also, but silences any talk about revolution.  Messiah? Yes of course, but Crucified Messiah?  Far more important.

It is no wonder then that Peter, and us, does what he does.  He must put a stop to this nonsense.  And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.   Peter leads Jesus and Peter commands Jesus, these are the same verbs used earlier in this chapter about Jesus leading the disciples and Jesus commanding the crowds.  But here, Peter leads and commands Jesus.  Peter claims authority and superiority over Jesus.  Peter is in charge and Jesus will not choose His own destiny of crucifixion, but Jesus will accept the destiny that Peter chooses for Him.  Peter patronizes Jesus. 

We do the same.  We have the nerve to believe that we have authority over Jesus, like Peter believes.  Authority to command what we want: more money for our Church budgets, more people attending worship, more upgrades and expansions to our buildings and campuses.  But do we really have authority over Jesus?  Peter thought his plan was superior to Jesus’ plan: revolution not crucifixion.  Do we know better than Jesus what is a blessing to us: my church not the neighborhood, my cause not the cause of humanity, my glory and power not the empowering of the weak and the glorifying of the humble?  But do we really know better than Jesus?  We make the same mistake and force our destiny upon Jesus, instead of allowing Him to have the sovereign freedom to choose His own.  We patronize Jesus.

What if the words spoken to Peter are the same words spoken to us, when we play God instead being merely human: he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’  Get behind me.  Disciples follow, they do not lead and every time we try to lead, we are corrected and reminded of our place to follow.  Satan.  Satan means adversary or enemy.  Disciples do not need to protect Jesus, Jesus is the one who protects the disciples and every time we try to prevent pain and suffering from Jesus, we really are trying to prevent pain and suffering from ourselves, we are corrected and reminded as Jesus’ enemies of our place as sheep or allies.  You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.  Disciples do not possess or control Jesus, that is the way of sin, the way of God is the way of faithfulness and self-surrender.  Every time we clamp down on Jesus we are corrected and reminded of our place as creatures not the Creator.  Jesus still corrects us, can we be corrected?

Friends, the ways of our world are the ways of the Superheroes, greatness and glory.  But the way of Jesus Christ is the way of the Cross, no power without pain, no glory without humiliation.  The disciples needed to be corrected and taught by Jesus, and today we still need to be taught: a crucified Messiah, means crucified Disciples.  Jesus is still correcting, Jesus is still teaching, Jesus is still rescuing us.  But we must come to terms that that rescue is not like the Avengers, but to truly rescue means crucifixion.  When we are tempted to believe that God’s Anointed, and ourselves, can avoid suffering, rejection and death, let us remember and acknowledge that true power comes through pain, true glory comes through humiliation, true life comes through His death for us.  Messiah? Yes. But Crucified? Amen. 

¹¹So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision” — a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands — ¹²remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. ¹⁵He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. ¹⁷So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; ¹⁸for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, ²⁰built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; ²²in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling-place for God.  Ephesians 2 11-22

I can remember my first few days in my new dorm room in college.  I knew no one.  I had what is now a closet for a room and a roommate from Pittsburgh, who I knew nothing about.  I was on a floor with 30 other complete strangers, with 7 other floors of complete strangers with 2 other wings of complete strangers.  One fall day, I happened to be walking past all the other dorm rooms on my floor and paused in front of one because I heard a familiar song playing on the stereo.  I peered into the open door and saw a fellow student lying on his bed and listening to the music.  I introduced myself and we made small talk about the music and the band, and the rest is history for us.  We struck up a friendship that still lasts to this day.  We worshiped together, we rented an apartment together with other friends, we attended each other’s weddings.  We were once strangers and now we have become family.

Just as I can talk about once being strangers with someone and then becoming family, so too does Paul talk to the Ephesians about being Gentiles or strangers to Israel or the Church.  Once they were pagans but now, they were part of Israel.  Once they were slaves to their fleshly desires but now, they are spiritual.  Once they were in their sins, but now they are forgiven and made new.  Once they were strangers, but now they are part of Israel, the Church and the family of God.  So too with us.  Once, we were three congregations, but now we are one community of people.  Once we had 3 worship services, but now we worship together.  Once we had 3 sets of committees, now we work together.  Once we had tiredness and worry, now we have new energy and courage.  Once we were strangers and now, we are family. 

In our eyes, Paul tells us this is the Peace of God at work in Jesus Christ.  For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.  In him, he has made three groups into one, and broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us.  God’s Peace is not just the absence of war, but well-being or wholeness, and Peace-Making then is making things whole; like 3 congregations become one.  But that Peace has removed the hostility between us.  This does not mean that we hate each other, but it means that the barriers between us are gone.  The separation, the history and the experiences of isolation are now removed so that those that we once called strangers have no barriers from becoming family.  God’s Shalom at work; bringing together.

The good news of the Gospel is that because this is God’s Shalom, that work is effective; he has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace.  Genesis reminds us of God as Creator, created out of nothing and created very good.  Ephesians reminds us that in the new creation, God can create again out of nothing and creating complete, “Shalom”.  Even when the 3 congregations don’t look like one or even when the blockades and red tape hold us back, or even, when we have moments of doubt and uncertainty if this is a good idea, we can hold fast to this Shalom work because it isn’t yours or mine, this work is really God’s.  Once we were strangers, but now we are God’s family.  Who better could bring us and hold us together?

So, over the next few days and weeks as we evaluate the last 3 months and discern the next weeks and seasons, we can in faith follow God’s Shalom work.  But specifically, that means like the Ephesians we can join together and grow into a holy temple in the Lord.  What can you join or maybe even start if we don’t currently have it?  What growth can you make, as an individual or into the community?  Who or what is strange to you that can become familiar and family?  I was pleased to hear a member of our congregation tell me that it was getting harder and harder to find someone in our 3 congregations that they didn’t know.  That is the whole point; to join and grow until every stranger has become family.  Friends, let us live into this new creation which God’s Shalom is creating; let us not start college but let us start being Church, where every stranger becomes family.  Amen.

¹³ Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶ but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ ¹⁹ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹ But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²² Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³ and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ ²⁵ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.  ²⁸ As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.  Luke 24:13-31

I have heard many times from many people asking, “Were you the fly on my wall this past week?”  Apparently, the words I spoke just a half hour before, made a connection for someone and I was preaching to “them.”  I am flabbergasted every time this happens, because I was never the fly on the wall or even aware of what a person was going through.  How could I have known about the crisis or the problem or the situation you were going through, let alone have any kind of answer or solution to the problem? The Truth is I have crisis and situation to deal with.  I always try to politely thank them for the kind words, but also try to shift the attention from me speaking to Christ Jesus speaking.  I am pretty sure He was there in whatever the mire was you were stuck in, and He was the one making a connection, not me. 

I am truly blessed and privileged to be a minister of Word and Sacrament, but the good news and at time challenging news is that Jesus is the real Master of Word and Sacrament.  I might come near and walk with God’s people for a short time, but it is Jesus who truly walks with his disciples, while they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them.  Do I live in your hearts and therefore experience and accompany you in every crisis, joy, and situation?  I can share a space for a time, but it is Christ who shares all space and time with you.  He is really the fly on your wall, I am in another room completely. 

But why should He be there in our hearts to begin with?  We are exactly like the two disciples travelling to Emmaus, completely overwhelmed by the events of Holy Week and the death of Jesus as well as being astounded by the reports of the women of an empty tomb and an encounter with the risen Jesus.  But they don’t get it, they don’t understand, and they don’t believe it, oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!  That’s when Jesus shows up.  Not when the disciples have it together, but precisely when the disciples need Jesus most.  Jesus graces his people in the crisis, the problem, and the situations when we need him most: when we are most fools, most slow of heart, or most in need of faith-help.  Jesus comes near.  Jesus, the fly on the wall.

Then he starts to work, explaining the scriptures and connecting the dots between what was promised and foretold and how he filled it all, then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.  Jesus explains, Jesus interprets, Jesus connects, and Jesus preaches.  Jesus is the real minister that every Sunday Sermon or Thursday evening service, preaches himself to you.  So, who is really talking to you every sermon?  Who is really connecting the dots for you every homily?  Who is comforting you and who is challenging you?  Who is your real Minister of the Word?  That is why you can get it, that is why you can understand, that is why you can be comforted in your sorrows and challenged in your apathies.  Jesus is your Minister of the Word; and your hearts burn because of Him.

But how many of us also get tired on our Emmaus journeys?  How many of us ask Jesus to stay for supper, as they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening, and the day is now nearly over.’ So, he went in to stay with them.  When the Church celebrates the Lord’s Supper or Communion or the Eucharist, who is really presiding at the table, who is really feeding or watering, who is really blessing?  I might break bread, but it is Jesus who is broken.  I might pour a cup, but it is Jesus who is poured.  I might mumble a few words, but when Jesus serves from His table, then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.  Who is the real Minister of the Sacraments?

Friends, as I have been recently extended a call to serve as both Trinity’s and now Eastside’s permanent Minister of Word and Sacrament, I would be amiss if I didn’t remind everyone that Jesus is really your Minister, I am his quite human assistant.  He is the one who comes near and walks with you.  He is the one who ministers His Word to you, as the fly on the walls of your hearts.  He is the one who serves Himself at His table.  He is the one who ignites your hearts, and opens your eyes.  He is the Head to which we are all part of His body.  Remember that Jesus is the Living Lord and not I.  Let us all follow and depend on Him and no other.  Alleluia!  The Lord is risen.

¹⁵ Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves; ¹⁶ and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. ¹⁷ He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
             But you have made it a den of robbers.’
¹⁸ And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching. ¹⁹ And when evening came, Jesus and his disciples^] went out of the city. Mark 11:15-19

With the arrival of warm weather, I have started the dreaded process of Spring Cleaning.  I was able to leave up the garage door in the warm weather, but I noticed all the stuff that needed to go.  Where did all these leaves come from?  I swear I swept and blew them all out in November.  How many spiders can make that many cobwebs in the windows?  How many mice made a nest on my storage racks and dropped feces everywhere?  Where did all the mold on my garage windows come from?  I have a lot of work to do to make my garage presentable but also to make it a space for my car and not for leaves, spiders, mice, and mold.

Not only did I find the wrong thing in my garage, but Jesus also found the wrong things in His House.  On Palm Sunday, after his arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus enters the Temple to pray and to give offerings and he found the wrong things there.  He found people selling animals for the sacrifices prescribed in the Law and he found people forced to buy them at high prices.  He found money changers, to change the Roman coins into the local Jewish coins, which the vendors alone accepted, much like a Visa or Mastercard only, with of course a 20% fee for exchange.  He even found people selling doves, which were the poor person’s sacrifice, do we really think they were sold at cost or at profit?  Jesus expected a space of prayer and connection with God and found profiteers who were nurturing not faith but greed and gluttony.

After finding everything in my garage that was not supposed to be there, I Spring cleaned.  Jesus does likewise, He drove out the animals (and maybe a few people) with a handmade whip, He overturned the tables of the moneychangers (did people grab the money and flee?), and He restored the Court of the Gentiles to its proper function, a light to the Gentiles.  He even went so far as to begin teaching the real and true purpose of the Temple, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?  But you have made it a den of robbers.’  Jesus Spring cleaned the Temple to restore it to its Divinely established purpose, a place to connect with God and Community.

What would Jesus find in our sanctuaries?  Prayer, worship, service, study?  Hearts connecting with God and Community?  Or would Jesus find shows seeking entertained audiences, politically driven rhetoric seeking votes for President, idols and golden calves from ages past, or economic profiteering for personal fortunes?  If we were to look at our spaces supposedly dedicated to Jesus and His mission, would He find them faithfully used or needing some Spring cleaning?

Perhaps this is why Jesus was hated by the religious leaders, the priests, and scribes enough to be killed.  He threatened their purpose for the temple, not realizing of course that they were a threat to God’s purpose for the temple.  Perhaps the greatest problem today is not the outside world living and promoting sin, what did you really expect from them, but the religious leaders who take the things of God and find ways to profit off them.  Instead of nurturing faith and obedience to the Loving, Covenant God, they nurture fortune and glory for themselves.  We end up with leaves, spiders, mice, and mold in the garage; we end up with greed, pride, tyranny, and gluttony in the House of God.  Instead of connecting to God, people are led to connect with Sin and God chooses to Spring Clean.

Perhaps this is why even despite the people hating him for bringing the Kingdom of God into their kingdoms, Jesus dies for all creation.  To cleanse creation, even if creation is the problem.  Jesus dies for creation to save creation from itself.  To cleanse the sanctuaries and human hearts from sin, but also to restore it to its true purpose: gratitude and trust in the Loving, Covenant God.  Friends, as we near the end of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week, we are ever reminded of just how much in ourselves and even our churches needs to be removed and how much we need to be blessed with the new creation.  The good news of the Gospel is that as Jesus of Nazareth, God has done everything needed for our sanctuaries and our selves to be cleansed and restored.  The burden of our discipleship is learning to be a true temple of prayer and connection with God, not with sin.  Grace has changed us, let us be that changed people.  Jesus has Spring Cleaned, let us be His Holy and Faithful disciples.  Amen. 

¹⁶ Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ ¹⁸ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; ¹⁹ Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ²⁰ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these^] what do I still lack?’ ²¹ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ ²² When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

The wind and waves of Lake Erie’s storms can drive a boat of any size far off course or even sink them.  When a Gale warning sounds by the Weather Service or Coast Guard, boats rush for the safety of a harbor and either dock the boat, tying off on cleats or dropping anchor.  By tying off on an immovable dock, the boat ensures that neither the wind nor waves blow them away.  By anchoring in a shallow harbor, the boat ensures that neither the wind nor waves will cause them to drift off.  By being attached to something greater than the storm, the boat will not be harmed and lost during the “gales of November.”

In our story of the Rich Man and Jesus, we are told of a Jewish man who has kept the commandments his entire life but was extremely attached to his possessions.  I believe the entire point of this story is to reveal to us the challenges of attempting to be attached to God and something else, in this story, money.  Not only would a boat being anchored to two fixed points tear the boat apart, but so would a person being attached to God and Money be pulled apart.  How can you serve both?  The difficult reality of this story is that the Rich Man was never really attached to God, he was only attached to his stuff and when called by Jesus to give up one to gain the other, he couldn’t do so.  He was crushed.

Are we not the same?  We profess to be attached to God, but we are also attached to our Churches.  Our Churches have a legacy, and property, and building, and endowments; and we are quite attached to them.  But are they the same thing as being attached to God?  Perhaps the real test of who we are really being attached to, lies in the challenge of Christ to sell everything, and follow me.  If we can’t let go of our buildings and follow Christ, who are we really attached to?  If we can’t let go of our property and our programs and follow Christ, who are we really attached to?  If we can’t let go of our Church’s legacies and the endowments left to them and follow Christ, then who are we really attached to?  Like the Rich Man when commanded by Christ to do this, we go away crushed, because we have much, and we are quite attached to them and are not really interested in being attached to God.

The great problem beginning to be revealed is that over the past century, we as churches have invested heavily in the wrong things.  We invested in property, but the resources needed to care for that property are scarce.  We invested in buildings, but the boiler needs to be replaced, and the wiring needs updated, but we cannot afford them.  We have legacies of our parents and grandparents and endowments left to the Church from estates of previous members, but the interest in them alone cannot sustain mission work, they must be used to maintain the Status Quo.  We have attached ourselves to the Institutional Church instead of God, and the Institutional Church cannot sustain and provide.  We have attached ourselves to a worldly, temporary thing that cannot provide Divine, Eternal Things.  We have docked or anchored in the wrong thing and have been blown away by the wind and waves of Pandemic and Recession.  We have attached ourselves to what we can see and control instead of attaching ourselves to God which we can only see by faith and have no control over but must follow. 

Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’  Perhaps these words of Jesus still stand for us today. Perhaps Church was never just about the tangible things of life, perhaps they were just symbols of the Greater, Divine things of God’s life given to creation.  Sanctuaries were meant to be houses of prayer and connection to God and neighbor; they have become about entertainment and splendor.  Communities were meant to be about nurturing people with love and forgiveness; they have become about suspicion of those different and judgment of the next generations.  Churches were meant to be missionaries into the neighborhood with compassion and justice; they have become about escaping from our neighbors and hiding with like-minded people.  We have become more attached to our blessings than God’s mission in giving those blessings.  We want to have Church, not be Church. 

Now we can see again why Jesus was crucified and resurrected; to forgive these sins of ours and to re-create a community of disciples attached to God instead of our stuff.  This Lent what do we need to let go of; to take hold of Christ and therefore God?  The Sunday Morning Show?  The Sanctuary to hide in?  The Endowment or Golden Calf?  The building, the property?  Through Christ, we are forgiven and being made new.  Will we have any faith to follow him and to obey him or will we just go away grieving, because we are attached to our Church instead of being attached to Him?  Will we anchor ourselves in Him and withstand the storms of life or will we attach ourselves to the Institutional Church and be washed away?  Choose faith and follow Christ!  Choose faith and start truly living!  Amen. 

¹See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?  For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; ³ he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. ⁴ Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.  Malachi 3:1-4

Having worked in a metals testing laboratory, one had to understand the entire manufacturing process of steel; from smelting the ore in a blast furnace which created rods and ingots of iron and steel, to the heat treating of the materials to provide stability but also strength, to the roll-lines which created formed parts, and to the presses and dies which created the finished product.  The entire process involves some intense heat, intense pressure, and intense labor to take iron ore and transform it into a steel product for use. 

Just as you can form and shape metal, the Prophet Malachi, speaks about how God will form and shape the descendants of Levi, the priesthood, until they perform their functions more responsibly.  Just as ore is smelted removing impurities and concentrating the metal, the priests needed to have their sins removed to present worthwhile prayers and sacrifices for the people.  Then the people could worship as they once did in the days of old and as in former years.

God does the same with us.  God forms and shapes us like the refiner shapes dirt into metal.  The intense furnaces of trials and temptations melt and break us refining our character instead of steel.  The pounding from hammers of experience and the forging of hardship, molds and shapes us into the image of Christ.  The carrying of burdens and shouldering of responsibilities tempers our endurance and fortitude as sure as an oven will temper steel with strength and edge.  The blast furnaces, the forges and presses of life in the hands of God shape and form us into the creatures bearing the image of God.

Take faith for example.  How does God shape or form faith in people?  Faith is formed in the furnaces of doubt and overwhelming difficulties.  Greater situations of doubt and confusion create opportunities for people to have more and more faith.  Faith does not remove doubt, but in pushing through doubt greater faith is won.  In experiences of overwhelming problems, these create spaces for us to surrender these “big” problems to our “bigger” God.  Faith does not overcome every problem but surrenders control to our God who is mighty enough to solve every problem.  This is the place where God is forging faith.

We could talk about hope.  God uses sadness and despair to shape hope in the embodied souls of people.  Greater situations of sadness, like the dreaded diagnosis of a terminal illness, or the loss of a job, the grief of a divorce or a death, the house fire which destroys, the war that displaces, the parents that traumatize.  These moments are filled with much pathos and emotion which need validated and acknowledged, but they are also the anvil on which God creates Hope.  Hope in the life without end, Hope in true purpose as God’s church, Hope in perfect relationships in God’s family, Hope in a house not built with human hands, Hope in a promised land no thief nor army can take and a Hope in a Heavenly Parent with love and healing.  Lights in the dark places, opportunities for hope amid places of sadness and despair.  This is the place where God is forging hope.

Most importantly, we can talk about love.  God uses the most profound moments of hate and isolation to refine love and acceptance.  When the world is bombarded by the hate of race, gender, sexuality, politics, religion, or economics, we are refined into a people that are neither Jew nor Greek, Male nor Female, Slave nor Free, just people.  When the world could become a united world but instead breaks into factions and tribes of uniform appearance and belief, that is when God creates spaces to form unity amid our diversity.  Spaces for love to work against hate, openings for unity and acceptance amid voices for bigotry and exclusion.   This is the place where God is forging love.

But the forges are hot.  Forging and beating is painful. Rolling and pressing are costly. Smelting and refining requires surrender instead of control.  Refining and being refined means our crucifixion; and here we pause if not halt.  Our culture wants to avoid pain and suffering, but that is how we are shaped and formed, how character and virtue are formed.  Could the lack of basic respect and virtue in our culture and society be from the pursuit of ease and comfort in our goals and lifestyles?  No furnace, no metal.  No trial, no faith?  No crisis, no hope?  No pain, no love?  What if we have removed the pain and suffering from our lives and we have removed the very means God uses to refine character and virtue?  No crucifixion, no resurrection!

I will be the first to reject the furnace that melts me, or the hammer that breaks me, or the forge that shapes me, or the press that bends me.  But in rejecting the trials, the experiences, the moments of sadness and despair, the times of anxiety and fear, and the spaces of cultures and peoples that are different, what if I lose the very means of having more of and a better quality of faith, hope, courage, and love?  What if by wanting a life of ease and comfort we lose the world of faith, hope, courage, and love, God wants to shape as the refiner shapes his people?  What if discipleship stays in the furnace and we grow?  What if discipleship lives through the lion’s den and we change?  What if discipleship remains present in a diverse and different world and we are shaped into the body of Jesus Christ across all barriers?  We cannot lose our crucifixion and expect our resurrection, we must stay in one, to possess one day the other.  Discipleship means being crucified with Christ to be in the Kingdom of God raised with Christ.  Let us, with God’s help, follow Christ, through furnace, anvil, and forge, and be shaped into faithful, hopeful, and loving Children of God.  Amen. 

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Acts 1:7-8

Americans love their crime shows.  We have watched Law and Order and we have watched shows about true cases and true criminals.  We love to watch the witnesses give testimony and lawyers argue the merits of a case.  We love to watch the guilty be held accountable and we love to watch Matlock defend the innocent.  But America loves to watch the spectacle of justice and the justice system, whether real or fictional.

Perhaps then we can understand what Jesus was speaking about moments before leaving his disciples after his crucifixion and resurrection.  He informs them you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  Witnesses are those people who have watched what happened and then testify to others about what they have seen.  The disciples saw Jesus, dead and then alive.  The disciples saw the descent of the Holy Spirit and the daily work of the Spirit creating communities of faith, building up the people, calling to repentance and conversion, forgiving sins, and making all things new.  The disciples saw these things and testified to others throughout the world about what they saw and what they were seeing.

So, it is with me.  I have been graciously blessed to watch over the last year what the Holy Spirit is doing among our communities.  I have watched how God has merged two faith communities into one.  I have watched how new excitement and passion has been turned loose upon these congregations.  I have watched how these two communities have found a new sense of call, new people to lead and contribute, the growth of those leaders who have been leading for years and new connections we never noticed were always there.  I have watched and I have been floored in wonder and awe at the new things the Spirit of God is creating.  I have watched and I am humbled that God would do such mighty and loving things among and to us.

Take for example our engagement with our communities.  I have seen you embrace the work of ministering to victims of domestic violence with fundraising baskets.  I have seen you gather blankets and sheets, bags of food and hats and gloves.  I have seen you adopt children in Ashtabula and around the world for Christmas.  I have seen you purchase beds and clothes for foster children.  I have seen you give resources to needy families to have holiday meals.  I have seen you buy appliances and food for complete strangers.  I have seen you connect with homeless people through the blessing box and people in the neighborhood adjacent to the garden.  I have seen you bake pies and sell rummage.  I have seen the love of God given to you and you have given it to others and for that I am in wonder and gratitude that I should be able to witness such things.

But it isn’t just our work that God is creating but also our worship.  I have seen you find a new way to sing together and to play instruments together for the glory of God.  I have seen you step out into the uncomfortable and different sanctuaries.  I have seen you wrestling with what is truly important about worship and what can be accommodated.  I have watched you find the joy and community behind worship again instead of the drudgery and isolation of times past.  I have watched you embrace roles of leadership and care for one another and perhaps even connections with other communities that the body of Christ is.  I have seen the timid find their voices.  I have seen the guilty find forgiveness.  I have seen the scared find courage.  I have seen the love you have rediscovered for God and for that I am in wonder and gratitude that I should be able to witness such things. 

Friends, I have watched the last year with a sense of awe and gratitude, that I should be a witness to the work which God is doing among Trinity and Eastside.  I hope you can begin to see all that God is doing and that you would share in the wonder and gratitude also.  I also hope that you can see the major and minor changes that have already happened and see that we have not only survived, but we have prospered and grown because of God.  Celebrate with me all that God has done, all that God has changed, and all that God has blessed us with.  Rejoice with me and let this year be more.  Amen. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.  ⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸ He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹² But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.  ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.  John 1:1-14

A little light makes all the difference in the world.  Every young boy wants to be a helper to his dad.  I was no different, and my job as my dad’s helper was to hold the flashlight on what he was working on.  Whether the job was repairing the car or the furnace, I was responsible for holding the flashlight on what he was doing.  Sometimes, I would get distracted and the light would wander away from the project unto the wall and he was unable to turn the wrench or the screwdriver simply because he couldn’t see it.  So, a little light on the project makes all the difference in the world.

So too is it with us; a little light makes all the difference in the world.  Just as a little light makes all the difference when one is attempting to turn a bolt or screw in the dark; a little light makes all the difference in the world when one is coping with all the difficult burdens of life.  Light brings clarity in a time of confusion or uncertainty.  Light brings hope in a time of sadness or despair.  Light brings truth in a time of error or ignorance.  Light brings compassion in a time of need or want.  Having to live in a world of darkness, a little light makes all the difference in the world.

The good news for us is that as the man Jesus of Nazareth, the light of God has come into the world to enlighten the dark times and places.  In the prologue to John’s Gospel, the author speaks of how the very Word of God which created and sustains all of creation was coming into the world to bring life and light to the world full of death and darkness.  As the man Jesus of Nazareth, the Word was made flesh and lived among us full of Grace and Truth.  As Jesus Christ, the Light of God shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.  The good news for us is that God gives of himself to make all the difference in the world.  

Which of us during the course of our lives doesn’t find ourselves in dark times and in dark places?   Most certainly, we all have been and will be in times of confusion and uncertainty needing clarity.  We all have been and will be in times of sadness and despair needing hope.  We all have been and will be in times of error or ignorance needing truth.  We all have been and will be in times of need and want needing compassion.  We all have been and will be in times and places of great darkness.  The good news for us is that God does not leave us there.  As the man Jesus of Nazareth, the light of God enters into our dark times and places, to bring clarity, hope, truth, and compassion to us.  The good news for us is that as Jesus Christ, God finds us wherever we are and in whatever condition we are in to bring light and love to our darkness.  Such is the love and care of God for us.

If this be the love and care of God for us, then perhaps now is the time and here is the place for us to admit to ourselves that we are in darkness needing light?  If this be the love and care of God for us, then perhaps now is the time and here is the place for us to acknowledge to ourselves that we are creatures living in darkness needing the Creator’s light?  If this be the love and care of God for us, then perhaps now is the time and here is the place for us to recognize our deficiencies needing the Maker’s filling?  If this be the work and will of God the Father for us that the Word would become flesh to enlighten the ones living in darkness; then maybe now is the time and here is the place for us to tell ourselves we need to be found by this God, in faith?

Since a little light makes all the difference in the world, let us remember the good news whenever we find ourselves in those dark times and dark places, as we surely will and maybe are right now.  As the man Jesus Christ, the Light of God came into the world to enlighten the ones living in that darkness.  Since this is the love and care of God for us, let us put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and be found by the Light and Life of God.  On behalf of everyone associated with Trinity and Eastside Presbyterian Churches in Ashtabula, Ohio, I pray the Light of God finds you and your family this Christmas season and every time you find yourselves in those dark times and dark places of life.

A voice cries out:
     “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
          make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
⁴   Every valley shall be lifted up,
          and every mountain and hill be made low;
     the uneven ground shall become level,
          and the rough places a plain.
⁵   Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
          and all people shall see it together,
          for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 40:3-5

As I sit here at my dining room table looking out my windows to the foot of snow sitting on the ground, I begin to ponder the work needed to shovel my driveway.  With the depth of snow and the possible ice underneath, our cars are going to have great difficulty getting to the road.  I will have to shovel the concrete to make the driveway clear for the tires to grip and I will have to brush and scrape the cars to be able to get in them and to be able to see out of the windshield where we are going.  We are not going to be able to just hop in and drive to work or school, I have work to do before that happens.  I must prepare to drive.

Just as I must prepare the driveway and cars to drive after a blizzard, so too did Israel need to prepare for God’s return to them, in the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD.  I must shovel the snow to make a path for our cars, Israel was called by a voice in the wilderness to make a path for the LORD to return.  Being in Babylon meant that if God was to return to them, the road was through the desert or wilderness.  But the people were called to prepare the road for God’s coming, to shovel the snow so that God has a path.  Just as it is with Israel, so too is it with the church.  Advent is about shoveling the snow, or making a path, or preparing the road for God’s coming to us as Jesus of Nazareth. 

In our text from Isaiah, the two main images of roadwork the people are called to do are leveling and smoothing: every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  What are the hills and valleys in our lives that we might need to correct or to level to prepare for Jesus’ coming?  Have we been praying, studying, worshiping, and serving?  Do we have holes in our discipleship or mountains standing in the way of following Jesus’ commands?  What is rough that needs to be made smooth?  We pray but is it always?  We study but do we know more than we knew a year ago?  We worship but is it every Lord’s Day, in community, and is it every day, in our families?  We serve but is it to the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or imprisoned?  The preparations we need to make for the coming of Christ are to start doing what we have not been doing and to do better what we currently are doing: to level/fill and to sand.

Here we come to our problem surrounding Christmas, we think of cookies, presents, decorations and cards as our preparations for Christmas instead of the work of repentance.  We have forgotten that Christmas is about the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together.  Christmas is about the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, the Coming of God to his people.  This is what the Angels announced to shepherds in the desert with the Glory of God in the skies.  God is here among us.  This is what we truly need to prepare for and to take this as seriously if not more seriously than hams, trees, and football games: the revelation of God in glory and everyone will see it.

Are you ready?  What preparations for the coming of Christ do we need to make?  What needs leveled or filled, what needs smoothed, what needs to be prioritized to be ready for the coming of Christ?  More prayer, more study, more worship, more service?  Maybe even to start doing these things that we have never done, or begin doing them again if we stopped?  Now is the time to prepare the road for Christ’s coming, but it isn’t your driveway that needs shoveled, it is your hearts that need shoveled.  Now is the time to prepare, will you be ready?  Amen. 

In Christ, Rev. Mark

¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.  Matthew 4:18-22

One of my most treasured memories as a young boy was the yearly trips to Lake Hope State Park in Southern Ohio.  We would spend a week renting a cabin, fishing in the lake and seeing the local sights.  My favorite thing to do would be fishing in the lake for bluegill and trying to catch more than my dad.  Now the difficult part about fishing for bluegill is finding where there are.  Lake Hope was pretty big and we were constantly walking around the Lake trying to find where the fish were.  Once we did we would stay there until the fish stopped biting and then we would move on to the next area.  Part of fishing is going where the fish are.

Is it not the same with us?  Jesus when calling the first disciples from the shore of Lake Gennesaret, says to Simon Peter, Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.  Not only had Jesus “caught” Simon Peter from a boat after the miracle catch of fish, Jesus calls Simon to follow him and to “catch” other people.  But Simon Peter isn’t going to catch people fishing the Lake. In order to catch people, he needs to go where the people are.  So Simon leaves everything behind and follows Jesus.

Much to Simon Peter’s surprise, Jesus once again starts fishing for people.  Jesus “catches” a leper of all people. Jesus “catches” a paralytic confined to a mat.  Jesus still fishing for people even “catches” Levi, a tax-collector, and all of Levi’s friends who Levi invites over to be “caught” by Jesus.  Jesus a “fisher” of people goes where the people are who need to be caught.

What do you think was going through the head and heart of good old Simon Peter sitting in the house of Levi, the tax-collector surrounded by all of Levi’s unsavory friends and accomplices?  His thoughts, while not written in the text, could be possibly something along the lines of this, “Why are you trying to catch these people and why did you lead us of all places here?”  “Of all the people in the countryside to “catch” why did Jesus insist on these people?”  “Why couldn’t he try and “catch” Mike the Mayor and drag us to his house for a party?”  “No, he has to drag us to the house of Levi and his sinful friends.”

Both Simon and we, both disciples of Jesus, need to be reminded of what kind of people need to be “caught” by Jesus.  Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Jesus came to catch sinners and Jesus calls his disciples to help catch sinners.  But how can we disciples catch sinners if we never go fishing for them where they are?  Can we catch people in our living rooms?  Can we catch people in the safety of our tall-steepled church buildings?  Can we catch people if the only people we are around are those previously “caught?”  A fisherman goes where the fish are, Jesus goes where the sinners are, but Today’s disciples stay at home behind the walls of their church buildings and wonder why they have no caught no people!

Rest assured each of our towns have Levi’s in them.  Rest assured each of our towns have both lepers and paralytics.  Rest assured that Jesus Christ in the power of his Spirit is also in our towns already fishing for them.  But, Jesus also wants us to be his body fishing with his Spirit to “catch” those who need him.  But the question then becomes, are we fishing where the fish are?  Are we around and with the people who need Jesus or are we somewhere else doing something else entirely?

My brothers and sisters in Christ, if we are called to fish for people, we are never going to catch anyone unless we go outside the walls and fish for them.  They are not going to jump into the boat on their own, they are not going “catch” themselves; we are the ones who must lower the nets in order to “catch” them.  Therefore let us be truly fishers of people, even if we must go where the Levi’s of the world are and eat with those people, whoever those people might be.  Rest assured, Jesus is already there “fishing,” why aren’t we?