Author: Mark Mong

Lamentations 3:22-24

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
    ‘therefore I will hope in him.’

Another holiday season is over.  We have taken down the trees with the ornaments that took much time to hang.  The wreaths, snowmen and angels are in their boxes for another long wait.  The pies, cookies and candies have been eaten.  The football games have been played, won, or lost.  The cards, wrapping paper, and boxes have been recycled.  The kids and grandkids are back in school.  The holiday season is over, and we are settling in for another long winter season.

But while the holidays are over, we do have one thing that never ceases or comes to an end.  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end.  God’s covenant with God’s people never ceases and never comes to an end.  We might enjoy the end of the Christmas music on the radio station, but we will never have a time when the steadfast love of God stops loving and creating.  We might struggle with the sadness of an end to the joyous season, but we will never have a time when the mercies of God cease.  The holidays may fade from view, but the good news of the Gospel is that the Grace of God never fades, cease, or stops.

But the Gospel is not just that God never ceases, but also that they are new every morning.  We have a portion for each day that is refreshed daily.  Steadfast love for today.  Mercy for today.  Another chance to be faithful to God.  Another opportunity to act as a covenant community.  While we might enjoy the forgiveness of yesterday and last year, we also enjoy the portion for today and 2023.  Love and mercy for today and this year, fresh for this day and fresh for every day to come.  Daily bread and daily forgiveness but also daily calling, daily mission, daily prayer, daily service, and daily faith.  God’s grace is new every morning, and so must our faithful response be new every day.

Perhaps this response is what is written, ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’  We can live this day with today’s portion granted by God.  Fresh and new is what God gives us for today, but do we responsibly use that portion to hope and live in God for today?  What about our attitudes, do we have hope and joy, the portion of God, or cynicism and despair?  What about our thoughts, do we think on love and righteousness, the portion of God, or selfishness and self-absorption?  What about our actions, do we act in truth and justice, the portion of God, or are we consumed by inaction and wrongdoing?  What about our re-actions, do we respond with grace and blessing, the portion of God, or do we respond to others with hate and suspicion, knee-jerk reactions?  We are graciously given a fresh portion of God every day, to what end and in what responsibility do we use them?

My friends, as we begin a new year and new day, the Gospel reminds us that while the holidays and all the special traditions they convey are over, God is never over, never ceases and never runs out.  That love and mercy is fresh every day with a fresh portion of Grace.  But the Gospel also challenges us that we can respond to what is given to us daily, by daily giving faithfulness and obedience to God.  What will you do today with what God gives you today?  What will you do with 2023?  Great is your faithfulness, O God; by your Word and Spirit, may our faithfulness be just as great.  Amen.     

¹¹ Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; ¹² the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; ¹³ let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. ¹⁴ Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

If you ever needed to wake up at a certain time, you set an alarm.  Many years ago, that was a mechanical device which you had to wind and then a bell rang at the correct time.  Then we had the electronic device which was programmed to turn on the radio or a very annoying beeping sound.  The problem with this was if the power went out, so did your alarm.  Now we have phones with a clock app, which we can set for an almost unlimited number, to remind us to wake up or to do something at a certain time.  But we all have alarms to wake us up or remind us to do something. 

Just as our alarms alert us to wake up from sleep, Paul is giving the Romans, and us, a spiritual alarm to wake us up from unbelief and disobedience.  Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.  A spiritual sleep can take many faces and names, but perhaps a few call our attention.  Spiritually sleeping could be ungratefulness and presumption for all of God’s many blessings.  Spiritually sleeping could be despair and anxiety about the state of our communities or futures.  Spiritually sleeping could be apathy and indifference to our neighbors in a time of inflation and recession.  The church in Rome had these struggles, as does the church in Ashtabula; and for this purpose, Paul wanted to sound the alarm on them, and us.  Because none of these things, and the many more ways one could be spiritually asleep, are a life living in the light of Jesus Christ. 

Paul reminds the Romans, and us, that the Advent or Coming of Christ was closer, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near.   Days have passed, time has come and gone and the glorious coming of Christ is closer now than then.  We are ever moving forward in time and therefore closer to the Day of Lord, and the Advent of Jesus Christ.  The dawn is growing brighter, and the darkness is shrinking smaller.  We should not therefore be hitting the snooze button and falling back asleep spiritually but becoming more and more spiritually awake. 

One lives an “awake” life by putting off one’s pajamas and putting on the work clothes.    Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy.  The clothes to be taken off are deeds of wickedness and unrighteousness like for the Romans uncontrolled drinking and constant conflict.  When we fall asleep these, and many more, are the things that we fall back into.  When we wake up, we start doing the things of Christ, like self-control and mutuality. 

This Advent season what do we need to take off and put on, if now is the time to awaken?  Perhaps the things of the light could be a hopeful outlook and choices or a reconciliation between yourself and an adversary or a peacemaking between enemies.  Perhaps it could be a joyous attitude and encouraging others.  But perhaps most assuredly, the greatest thing of the light is to love God and to love each other sacrificially.  This is what putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires means.  The greatest light to put on is Christ and that means putting on self-sacrificing love.  This advent season we all could use less of our self-interested, sinful ways and we all could use more self-giving ways of Christ.  The alarm is now sounding, now is the time to wake up, now is the time to put on Christ and live in the light.  Now is the time for hope, peace, joy and most importantly, love.  Amen. 

Yet even now, says the Lord,
    return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³ rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
    and relents from punishing.  Joel 2: 12-13

Growing up, I had two dogs.  When I was working late, I had the responsibility to let them outside before we went to sleep for the night.  One evening I came home as usual and let the dogs out.  After fifteen minutes or so, I went to let them back in and I could not find them.  Usually, they were waiting by the door when they were done.  I called and nothing happened.  I took a flashlight and scanned the yard thinking they couldn’t hear me, but I couldn’t find them.   I went back inside with the full conviction of leaving them outside the entire evening for wandering away.  I waited about an hour or so and checked outside the back door and both dogs were sleeping in the flower bed.  They wandered off but eventually returned to be let in.

Just as my dogs wandered off from me, so too do we wander off from God.  They caught the smell of a deer and ran off and when they came to themselves, they came back home.  We do the same thing; something catches our attention or desires, and we wander off from God and from our Covenant community.  In the prophet Joel, the Covenant People of God, Israel has wandered off from faithfulness and obedience to God.  Just as I called out for my dogs to come home God calls out to his people who have wandered off with Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me.  We might be tempted to think that God has wandered away from us, but the truth is that we are the ones who wander off from God and need to return to God.

But how do we do that?  How do we make a sincere returning to God despite everything we have done to God and against God by wandering off.  Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.  It is not our physical bodies that have wandered off from God but our hearts and minds.  So, a mental and spiritual return to Christ needs to involve those things.  So, we return with all our heart, not just a fraction or trace but all our heart needs to come back to God.  Fasting, weeping, and mourning are all signs of remorse and regret.  We return with God with a broken and contrite heart convicted of breaking God’s heart by leaving. 

Many among church people believe and understand that remorse involves a bodily sign: a rending of clothes, sackcloth, and ashes.  We are embodied souls with a complete unity of our inner and outer selves.  We are not two, body and soul, but one, embodied souls.  So, whatever we do in one we do in the other, or at least that is the hope.  For many, remorse is an outer display, but nothing ever changes in their hearts.  The prophet reminds us that whatever we do we must do as a whole person, rend your hearts and not your clothing.  Doing something with our outer person but neglecting the matters of heart, mind and soul are useless.  True remorse is a soul and body endeavor, and the more important element is not what we do with our clothes but the transformation and repentance from the Heart. 

We have understood how we are to return to God, but do we truly understand what we are coming back to.  The text says, Return to the Lord, your God.  The LORD is the covenant name of God.  We are not just returning to God, but we are returning to the life and lifestyle of being in Covenant with God.  We return to a connection and binding of ourselves and God.  We are re-newing our vows made in Baptism to turn away from sin, to turn toward Jesus Christ and to be his faithful disciple.  This simply means that we return to following Christ, our sins are forgiven, and we are made new.  Or simply stated, we commit to wander away no longer. 

But the good news of the Gospel or why we can return is because of the character of our God.  Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.  God is gracious and merciful and our wandering off is forgiven.  God is slow to anger in loyal and unmovable love.  God does not want to punish but to correct and discipline.  The Gospel is that we can return because we are loved, forgiven, and made new by the Grace and Love of God given in Jesus Christ. 

Friends, we will wander off as we each struggle with our natures.  But God has opened God’s-self up to always accept a returning sinner.  But we need to return to God with all our heart in signs of inner remorse.  We are also returning to our covenant life together following the was of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps then through Christ and the Holy Spirit we can learn to stop wandering off and learning to stay with Christ.  But if we do, Christ promises to always take us back, if we return to him with our whole heart.  Amen. 

Acts 16:6-15
⁶They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; ⁸so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

¹¹We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Driving in the city is challenging enough, but then when the water company starts digging up streets to replace the lines and connections, driving becomes impossible.  Day after day it seems, a new detour springs up taking you the long way around or a new closed road sign forces you to have to find a new route around.  If I didn’t have an application on my phone that would give me directions to where I wanted to go, I would have even more difficulty trying to get to work or school.

Just as it is with road construction signs, so too is it with the direction of the Holy Spirit.  In the book of Acts, Paul and company are directed where to go by the Holy Spirit.  But, like the detours, they were forbidden to enter Asia and Bithynia.  The Holy Spirit was steering them to a specific time and place and that meant a do not enter command to those places which were not.  What if the Holy Spirit is steering us to specific places and people?  What if we are being directed to a conversation or interaction under the purpose and plan of God?

The Apostles must have been discouraged because they literally ran out of road.  After coming to Troas, they could not go anywhere.  The only place was across the see.  But that was always the plan and after a vision, the Apostles become convinced this was the direction to go.  Have we ever had a dead end on our journey?  Have we been told not to go here or there, and we are facing a cul-de-sac with no way to move forward?  Even when we cannot see the way forward, the Spirit of Jesus Christ still has a journey in mind, just as Paul was told the way forward and he went.

The results of following the steering of the Holy Spirit is the interaction of Paul and Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth and the founding of the first church in Europe and the one dearest to Paul’s heart.  This was the plan, but Paul was never shown it until he obeyed and followed.  What if it’s the same with us?  What if we are only shown the plan in stages and the stage right in front of us?  We might be kept in the dark as to the whole process and result until we follow and obey, and then the purpose of God is made known.  What if the plan of God is hidden from us until we follow in faith?

Friends, might God be steering us through the Holy Spirit?  Avoid here.  Go there.  Tell Lydia.  Plant a Church.  Speak the Gospel to them.  Like the Apostles the Spirit is still leading and guiding us, keeping us from going there, but steering us to go here.  But the Spirit is also hiding the entire plan and process from us as a test of our faith.  Will we follow in faith instead of seeing the results?  Are we yet like Paul with the faith to trust the lead of the Spirit, and to follow the signs trusting God knows the way and the path and the result?  Maybe we need to entrust our roads and our journeys more into the hands of God and just follow wherever we are led.  Amen. 

10 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. ² He said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest. ³ Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. ⁴ Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!” ⁶ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the labourer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; ⁹ cure the sick who are there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” ¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ “Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.” ¹² I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

As a boy, one of my chores this time of year was the harvesting of the garden and the various trees in the back yard.  When my parents felt the produce was ripe, I was sent out with baskets to collect and harvest everything I was told to harvest.  I dug up the potatoes and put them in a crock.  I picked the apples and the tomatoes and put them in bushel baskets.  I broke off the pea pods and placed them in a metal colander.  When the time came to harvest, I was sent out with an empty container and told to get everything I could, while the time was right and the produce ripe.

Just as I was sent out to harvest by my parents, so too are we sent out to harvest by God.  But while I was sent for vegetables and fruit, the Lord of the harvest sends out laborers into all his creation.  Just as I was the only child at home to do the enormous task of harvesting a large garden and orchard, so too is God’s harvest plentiful but the laborers are few.  God sends us out not for the corn, but sends us out for lost children of God.

Are we all to go out or only some whose specific purpose is to do so?  While this may or may not be the question on many Christian’s hearts and minds, I wish not to answer it, but ask maybe a different question.  Did Jesus go out for us all?  Then why don’t we all go out for Jesus?  Jesus’ obedience was not just to obey the will of his Father to go out, but Jesus’ love was that he went out for everyone.  Instead of some obnoxious rule of what is right or wrong for all Christians when it comes to mission, let us replace it with a knowledge of God who is mission incarnate in Christ Jesus.  Since he came for us all, then let us all go out for him.

Are we to go out into our community or some other one?  While this may or may not be yet another question on many hearts and minds, I again wish not to answer it, but ask maybe a different question.  Did Jesus go only to Nazareth?  Then why don’t we go everywhere for Jesus?  Jesus didn’t just stay in his home town, he went to others as well.  Instead of some rule of what is right or wrong for all Christians when it comes to their mission field, (if we have one at all), let us replace it with a knowledge of God whose field to harvest is all of creation.  Since Jesus went into all creation, let us all go everywhere for him.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, while I share with you all no small amount of trepidation or anxiety when it comes to mission work, we all share the common purpose given to us in Jesus Christ, to be laborers sent out into the harvest field to collect the Lord of the Harvest’s bounty.  While I might want to hide behind the readymade excuse of “I am not called to go out,” in Christ Jesus we see God coming to us all, so that we all might go out.  While I might want to take shelter in the pretext of “I am not called to go there,” in Christ Jesus we see God going every place we are, so that we might go everywhere he is.   Therefore, let us not dwell in our apprehensions and hesitations about being sent out and being sent out where we do not want to go, let us dwell in Christ Jesus through faith and we will find ourselves being Children of God having already gone out.

Hebrews 12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

In the Tour De France, one of the words that the spectator or viewer must come to learn is the idea of the Peloton.  It is the group of bicycle riders that group together to pace themselves during the race.  They ride together in a large clump of riders sometimes with teammates and sometimes with rivals.  But, throughout the many days and the many miles of riding, the contestants draw together to ride and race together.

So is it with the Church.  The Church is an assembly of people summoned by God to follow Jesus Christ.  But the great advantage of being in the Church community is that one does not follow alone.  Every believer is surrounded by other believers just like in the Peloton every rider is surrounded by other riders.  But we are not just surrounded by other believers, but we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.  We are not only surrounded by other believers but also the great heroes and witnesses of our faith.  We are surrounded not just by each other, but by Peter, Paul, Mother Theresa, Dr. King, Archbishop Tutu and many more.  We have the support of not just our faith community, but every person and community in every time and place. 

But perhaps the important word of this passage is the word “since.”  Since we are surrounded, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  The advantage of being surrounded is that we can overcome the obstacles that hold us back and we can throw off the sinful behaviors that tie us up.  Those obstacles can be many and varied depending on the time and season.  But in this moment as we are heading into Labor Day weekend, what we might need to throw off are those bad habits of not participating in our faith communities.  September is our “Back-to-Church” time and season.  Where we re-connect with each other and with God, but also where we re-commit to the life of discipleship that has perhaps waned in the past few weeks and months.  Perhaps what we need to throw off and untangle is the many distractions and priorities which have caused us to float away from the Peloton, from the community of Faith. 

Perhaps then our life together, or to continue the metaphor, is about running the race set before us.  But “since” we are surrounded, we not only throw off the obstacles holding us back and keeping us away, but we run with perseverance, the race marked before us.  The Tour De France is not won in a day, it is marathon mixed with moments of sprinting, and moments of climbing, and moments of descending.  Our church life is no different.  We will have moments marked out for us by God, that will differ depending on the circumstances.  We will have hills to climb, like covid, wars and recessions.  We will have sprints to power through, like rummage sales and picnics.  We will have descents to coast through, like Christmas and Eastertime.  But we run the race set before us with perseverance.  Not just when life together is easy, but especially when life together requires learning, growing, adventure and change.  We run, but we run together with perseverance.

But just as a bicycle rider focuses on the finish line, we are to focus on Christ who is at the finish line and summoning us to himself.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.  A pioneer is someone who paves the road or blazes the trail.  A perfecter is one that ensures the road is finished and drivable.  With Christ as pioneer and perfecter, we can run the race of faith because it has been created and finished already.  We must simply follow the road by fixing our eyes on the one who made it and who finished it, so that we can simply follow along behind him to the finish line.  If we see him having finished the race, can we not finish it ourselves.  The hard work has been done, the victory has been accomplished, we can merely enjoy the ride and be ensured of finishing strong.

If then our eyes are fixed on Christ, then we can consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  The main reason we quit the race is because we grow weary and lose heart.  Times become tough, challenges and difficulties overwhelm, we lose the joy of our life together, and Church becomes tedious and dull.  But if we consider Christ, who endured opposition on his race, we can endure our opposition and run on, fixing on Christ, running with perseverance, throwing off the bad habits that hold back and sins that cling, since we are surrounded by a faithful cloud of witnesses.  But if we consider Christ, we disciple on until the race is finished and God’s Kingdom comes.  Friends, let us consider Christ and let us run the race set before us with perseverance, never quitting, because we are surrounded by fellow believers by also every faithful witness.  Amen. 

Jeremiah 1:4-10
⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

⁵ ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’

⁶ Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’ ⁷ But the Lord said to me,

‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”;
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you.
⁸ Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says the Lord.’

⁹ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me,

‘Now I have put my words in your mouth.
¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’

If you have a phone, whether it be a smartphone, or a flip phone, or even a house phone, someone has called you.  In the days of yore, we had party lines where several households shared one phone line and you had to pick up and see if someone else was on it, and your neighbor always seemed to be on when you needed to call someone.  We had answering machine with those annoying cassette tapes to make sure we never missed a call and to begin screening our calls from annoying credit card salespeople.  In today’s world the caller might be a spam risk or even a robocall, but we all have been called and we have become quite selective in who we answer.

But just as people and organizations have called us, so too has God called.  Just as a salesperson reaches out to us to talk about our car’s extended warranty, so too does God reach out to us.  In our text, God calls Jeremiah by reaching out to him, now the word of the Lord came to me saying.  Your friend takes the initiative to call and invite you over for tea, your family reaches out to invite you to a Sunday evening fried chicken dinner, your boss calls you to ask you to work overtime.  God always is the one to take the initiative to reach out, to move towards, and to begin the dialogue, the discussion, and the relationship.  God always calls us, like God called Jeremiah.

But the purpose of God calling is not to invite your over for tea, nor to gossip about the latest Marvel movie, but to summon us to the purpose and plan that God has prepared for us, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’  Before we were created, God had a purpose for us and for Jeremiah it was to be a prophet to the nations.  For us we have been summoned to be disciples of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and all this before we were created.  Before we were formed and before we took our first breath, God knew us and knew what he appointed and now summoned us to do for God’s sake.  God always appoints us, like God appointed Jeremiah.

But just as you can ignore your phone calls, or screen out your spam calls, or even swipe your calls when you do not want to talk to someone, so too can you do with God.  Jeremiah did so, when called he says, God I can’t, then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.’  Which of us when summoned to our callings has not answered with I can’t, if we even answer at all?  No sooner than God calls us, and we reply with excuses and avoidances.  I can’t be a minister I can’t speak.  I can’t be an elder I have no time.  I can’t be a deacon I don’t like people.  I can’t be a teacher I hate kids.  I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.  We quite often answer God’s call with refusal and disobedience, like Jeremiah refused God.

But even though we can refuse God, God never ceases to call, and God never accepts our excuses, But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a boy”; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’  Every excuse offered by us to God, is met with a correction from God to destroy that excuse.  I am only a boy how can I go; you can go because I am going with you.  I do not know how to speak; you can go and speak because I will tell you what to say.  I am afraid, how can I go; You can go because I am with you to deliver you.  Every “I can’t” offered to God, is met with God’s reply of “why can’t you?” 

The good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God doesn’t just call us to impossible and unfulfillable tasks, but God also equips us with everything needed to do so, then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, ‘Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.’  God not only summons us, but does and gives something to us, to empower us to success for God’s sake.  God empowered Jeremiah.  The challenge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is in the power of God to obey as commanded.  Jeremiah still had to go. 

My friends, we all have a calling, and that calling is unique as you are.  That calling is to a specific task appointed by God, before your creation, to you and to you alone.  But while God may have called you, God also has equipped you with all the gifts necessary to fulfill it.  But we must answer that call from God with the total devotion of our embodied souls.  We must answer that call with the obedience of Jesus’ Christ as His disciples.  Never ignoring God’s call, never screening God’s call, never swiping God’s call, and never giving excuses why you can’t, but always answering that call, with all that you have and all that you are, to the Glory of God.  Amen. 

Matthew 8:5-13
⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.
⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”  ⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. ¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  ¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

As a boy of 16, my worst fear when learning to drive was merging onto the expressway.  I had a terrible fear that I would be driving onto the on-ramp and when I would go to merge over into the right lane of the interstate, a tractor-trailer would be in the place on the road I wanted to get to.  Obviously the two of us could not occupy the same spot on the road and if we did, my little car was going to lose that fight.  What my driving instructors taught me was that if that ever happened, I just needed to wait until the truck passed me and then I could merge in behind.  I just needed to yield to the bigger truck.

We need to yield to the bigger Lord.  When God and we come together, both of us can’t be in the same spot.  Both God and us when we are merged together, cannot be the same thing.  With God united with us through the Son and in the Spirit, we both cannot be in the same driving lane.  Both of us cannot be Lord, one needs to be Lord and one needs to be follower.  We need to yield to the bigger truck, we need to yield to God who is already Lord.

In the gospel of Luke, we have a centurion of great authority, great wealth and great respect yielding to a person of greater authority, Jesus of Nazareth.  The centurion built the Jewish people of his town a synagogue.  The centurion was so well respected by the Jewish elders that they testify to Jesus of how worthy he is. Obviously this centurion is a man with just about everything we Americans desire, power, money and respect.  But with all the authority this centurion possessed, he still lacked an authority over the power of sickness, that his most treasured servant lay dying. 

But his ears pick up the town gossip that a man whose name was Jesus had this greater authority, even an authority to speak and people are cured.  So this centurion who commands Roman soldiers, who can afford to build a synagogue, this centurion yields to the bigger truck. This lord over people, yields to the bigger Lord over all things.  The centurion says to Jesus, Only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.  For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,” and he comes and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.  A centurion with authority over others yields to the one with God’s own authority set over him, Jesus the Christ and Lord.

How slow we are to recognize what the centurion recognized?  How slow we are to see what the centurion saw.  This is what John the Baptist foretold, God has come down to his people as the man Jesus of Nazareth.  If this Jesus is God with us, then how slow we self-proclaimed lords over others, yield to the one with the ultimate Lordship over us, the very Son of God!

But thanks be to God that Jesus is not only Lord over us, but also that Jesus is Brother inside us.  Not only does Jesus possess power over evil and death, but Jesus also possesses humility which yields to his Heavenly Father.  Not only does Jesus have authority over everything making him the Lord.  But Jesus also has compassion to help us yield to God, making him the Brother.  Who better I ask you to help us yield to almighty God, than the Son who yielded his entire life to the will of what his Father asked of him?

So, if Jesus is Lord and Brother to all who will have him as such, then let us so filled and held by the Son’s tender embrace, learn to be sons and daughters of the Father, yielding to God’s will.  I can think of no bigger truck we merge with, therefore let us yield to God and just simply fall in behind.  After all, when we yield to God, we just might find that is where Jesus already is, yielding to God. 

In Christ,
Rev. Mark

Luke 19:11-27

¹¹ As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. ¹² So he said, ‘A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. ¹³ He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds, and said to them, “Do business with these until I come back.” ¹⁴ But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We do not want this man to rule over us.” ¹⁵ When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. ¹⁶ The first came forward and said, “Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.” ¹⁷ He said to him, “Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.” ¹⁸ Then the second came, saying, “Lord, your pound has made five pounds.” ¹⁹ He said to him, “And you, rule over five cities.” ²⁰ Then the other came, saying, “Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, ²¹ for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.” ²² He said to him, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.” ²⁴ He said to the bystanders, “Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.” ²⁵ (And they said to him, “Lord, he has ten pounds!”) ²⁶ “I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ²⁷ But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.”’

In my high school economics class, we learned about the stock market and investing resources.  Our teacher gave us an assignment over the course of several weeks to teach us the basic lessons of playing the stock market.  We were given a fictional ten thousand dollars to invest in any stocks of our choosing and several weeks later we were to see how much we gained or lost over that period.  We learned about how volatile the stocks were and we learned the most important lesson, investing in the market is not for the cautious but for the risk-taker.

Just as our teacher gave us resources to invest in a fictional stock market, so too does Jesus give us resources for us to invest in.  The slaves in the parable from Luke are Jesus’ disciples and the Kings’ going away is Jesus’ departure to heaven.  The King gives his slaves ten pounds or about 3 months’ worth of wages; Jesus gives his Word and Spirit to his disciples to use in the interim period from when he leaves or ascends until he returns at his second coming.  We have been given the Divine resources from Jesus to use and invest for Jesus’ mission until Jesus’ return.  What has Jesus given to you?

In the parable, the King returns to judge or hold the slaves accountable for what they did and did not do.  The two slaves were faithful with their pounds and have returned interest along with the principal.  What do we have to return to Christ as “interest” along with the principal?  We have Jesus’ Word; will we have brought that Word to people and people to that Word?  We have Jesus’ Spirit; will we have brought that Spirit to people and people to that Spirit?  Will we have been responsible investors and brought more than we were given back to Jesus?  Or will we be like the one slave who was afraid to lose the pounds and failed to do anything good with it?  The one slave was cautious and fearful, more afraid of falling short and losing the pounds, than having the risk or nerve to invest even in a basic savings account and earning basic interest.  Fear so overrides the slave that he was even unwilling to take a minimum risk to earn even a minimum reward.  When the King judges him, he has the original principal but nothing to add to it; and he is judged as faithless.

No greater barrier exists to responsibility than fear, because to be responsible implies a modest amount of nerve.  In the eyes of God, being afraid of loss and doing nothing is judged as being faithless compared with a bold and brave community suffering total loss from taking risks.  A community simply cannot gain anything for Christ if it is afraid of losing what it already has.  The Church simply turns inward upon itself, turning away from the source of its life and blessing, Christ her head.  Resources are used not to invest in the neighborhood but instead to pander to its members.  The congregation’s time, people and treasures are spent on personal agendas of staving off scarcity rather than investing in the Gospel and maybe or gaining everything.  Fear and anxiety rule instead of the Power and Love of God’s Messiah.

Perhaps no greater lesson is needed for Churches today, struggling with dwindling resources, than this.  To have a new result, a new growth, or a new life, one must have the nerve to invest everything you do have for the sake of Christ.  You cannot gain “interest” for Christ, if you are clinging in fear to the “principal.”  What today’s Churches might just need to re-claim is the Spirit of Adventure.  Whether it be the nerve to be different, or the courage to witness to the Kingdom of God, or the boldness to sacrifice everything, to gain everything for Christ; this is the Spirit Jesus left for us, not a Spirit of fear to fall back into anxiety, but the Spirit of Adoption which drives us ever forward to risk it all for the Christ and Christ’s Gospel.  But it requires us to let go of what we are desperately clinging to in fear of loss and to invest everything we have and are in order that God might gain the world.

My friends, true faith means nerve.  To truly be responsible stewards of what Jesus has left us means courage and risk-taking not worry and anxiety.  To truly be faithful disciples might just mean we are willing to risk everything, so that Christ might gain something.  But if we are clinging to our somethings for fear of losing what we do have, we will never have the possibility of having anything new: new growth, new success, new energy, and new most importantly new life.  Let us take the risk of investing everything, that Christ might gain everything; and Christ might just judge us good and faithful servants.  Amen. 

Isaiah 43:16-19

¹⁶This is what the Lord says—
     he who made a way through the sea,
     a path through the mighty waters,
¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses,
     the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
     extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
     do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
     and streams in the wasteland.

As I sit here and type these words, I will have been Minister of Word and Sacrament for both Trinity and East Side Presbyterian Churches for 30 days.  Time seems to have sped up as I cannot grasp that my first month has gone by.  But, over the course of this time, I have had to learn not only how to Pastor a second congregation, but I have had to adjust to balancing time between them.  But one thing that remains constant and steady over the entire “yoke” process is the Word from God that says, look, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  New work also means new energy, and God not only is doing this new thing, but giving us a new means and power to fulfill it; and we truly have only begun to see the plans God has for us.

But, with the new energy and joy that comes with a new focus or endeavor also comes new struggles.  Entering into unfamiliar territory means surprise difficulties that no one could foresee but still must be navigated.  Questions of policies and processes and procedures have to be worked out between congregations.  Times must be adjusted and people must adapt to every changing circumstances.  For the people of Israel while in exile about to experience God’s deliverance once again, they also faced the joy and difficulties of God’s new work.  But Isaiah reminds them not only of God’s faithfulness but also of God’s power. 

Not only was God doing a new thing, but God had planned and made a way forward, I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.  God knew the barriers standing in their way.  God knew the difficulties they would have to face.  God knew what they needed to accomplish a second Exodus.  But God made a way through for them in exile, exactly as God made a way through Red Sea on the first Exodus.  Since God was faithful and mighty then, in God’s new thing now, God is still faithful and mighty.

So too with us, we are in the midst of God’s new thing, but we have a long history of God making ways through; through the Red Sea, through the exile, through the cross, through the dark ages, and the middle ages and the reformation ages, and the renaissance, and the industrial age, and the atomic age and information age.  God is still faithful and mighty to make a way through.  Even a way through this time of yoking together one church to another: faithful to love us abundantly and graciously, and powerful to create everything good out of nothing. 

Perhaps then the faithful response on our part is to press forward instead of looking to the past or going back, forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  We are not called to forsake or abandon our histories or those who came before us, that would be absurd and detrimental because those memories and history have formed who we are.  But we are called to be re-formed into the new people God has provided for us to be.  We are called to be formed by our past and to be re-formed by our present situations. 

My friends, no one faces more struggles and daily surprises than I, but I rest content not in my own abilities or strength.  But I rest solely on the foundation that this is God’s new thing and God will make a way.  This means that our Yoke has divine help.  Our Faithful God to love us through and our Mighty God to carry us through.  But if this is our help, then our challenging discipleship is to follow through the waters or the fires with faith and hope and not to quit because we seek the familiarity and security of the past.  Let us press forward through the next 30 days and through all the time God has commanded us to yoke together because God is Faithful and Mighty.  Amen.