Salt in our day is cheap and plentiful. We even spread it on our streets. It was different in Jesus' day and culture. Salt was precious. Sometimes it is easy to forget that when Jesus calls us salt that he is calling us precious. Today we are reminded that we are precious.

SALT & LIGHT

God does not wish for us a world where peace officers beat a man to death, nor does God imagine a creation where shootings happen every day. In fact, God weeps over the ways of the world. In Christ, God has revealed the ways of God – justice, peace, mourning, and meekness. Christ’s way was rejected but in the resurrection, God said “yes” to our no.” We know what God desires. We know what will save us from the mess we’ve made. “To seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God” according to the prophet Micah.

BLESSED

I love the Choose Your Own Adventure books. They give you options as to what happens next as you read, and there is always the ability for a do-over if you don’t like how the story ends. In today’s Gospel lesson, Simon, Andrew, James, and John have a choice. Jesus gives them the choice to follow him. It is the same choice we get to make in our own lives. Whether we chose to follow or not, Jesus chooses us. Time and time again, Jesus chooses us. So, when we choose Jesus, we choose the one who first chose us.

JESUS CHOOSES US

Plants need good soil to grow. We all know this. Jesus tells a parable that affirms this basic bit of science as he teaches that we are the soil that receives the seed of the gospel. Sometimes the world can dry out the soil of our lives, our hearts. The waters of baptism and the call of the Spirit refresh us to be the light of Christ in the world.

GOOD SOIL

The baptism of Jesus becomes his gift to all who follow him into the water. More than just repentance or forgiveness, baptism establishes our identity and purpose.

BAPTISM OF JESUS

Today’s Gospel details the journey of the magi to find the Christ Child. The story of the magi is interesting and full of things that catch our attention. And if we’re not careful, we can focus on all the wrong things about the story. The journey of the magi is a journey we all take in some form or another. Let’s focus on what is important in today’s Gospel: Christ is with us.

It’s Not About That…

John's Gospel account tells of creation. It tells of a God who created and who comes to us in the messiness of this world. Who isn't afraid of the messiness, and in that mess called life, claims us as children.

A MESSY CHRISTMAS

The story of the nativity in Luke’s Gospel is a story of somebodies and nobodies. Augustus and the governor of Syria are somebodies. Joseph, Mary, Jesus, and the shepherds are nobodies. We should note where God shows up in the world. We should note the people to who God is revealed. Love is revealed in places where no one would go to people who don’t matter. That should be terribly good news to each of us.

NOBODY GOD

In today's gospel reading we hear about Joseph's reaction to hearing the news his future wife is now pregnant. His world was turned upside down. It's at times like this God can feel far away. Matthew tells us that God is doing a new thing. That God will send a Savior. That this child that Mary is carrying will save us all.

God With Us - Emmanuel

The prophet Isaiah announces that a descendant of David will inaugurate a day when the “wolf will lie down with the lamb.” This incredible vision of peace that extends to the depths of creation is hard to fathom. How can we hope for such a thing to happen? According to Paul, Jesus Christ is that descendant, that “shoot from the stump of Jesse” and the peace he brings begins with the reconciliation of Jew and Gentile, black and white, slave and free, male and female. The peace begins when we, as shoots from that stump, forgive enemies and reconcile with those we hate. If that can happen, then maybe wolves being at peace with lambs is not such a miracle after all.

AWAKEN PEACE

Holiday preparations are afoot, and they bring us some cheer. Advent, however, is about more than cheer, it is about hope. We hope for a world at peace. We hope that the violence and shootings will end. We hope the hungry will be fed. All these things can seem like wishful thinking, naïve longing for something that shall never be. So, how do we find hope in this season of hope?

AWAKE TO HOPE

This Sunday is Christ the King Sunday. Today’s Gospel text from Luke sure doesn’t seem like it should be read on Christ the King Sunday. There is one word that can trip us up. “If” is a word that can cause us a lot of problems in our lives. Cause us to doubt ourselves. And it can cause us to doubt God’s goodness. On this day and every day, Christ is King and there are no if’s about that.

IF...

When Jesus and the disciples leave the Temple today, they comment on how grand it is. And Jesus, never one to forego an opportunity to teach, tells them that this temple will one day no longer be standing. I am sure that they heard this news as bad news. After all, the temple was the center of Jewish religious life. But this isn’t bad news. It is actually good news, especially to those on the margins of life.

ALL THINGS MADE NEW

The Festival of All Saints is a day to remember the beloved dead who have gone before us. More than that, it is a day to ponder how the faithful people of God face the evil, suffering, and darkness of the world as the “communion of saints.” As people connected to Christ across time and space, we are bound together in love and bound for the promise of the kingdom of God. We are bound by love and bound for hope.

WE ARE BOUND AND WE ARE BOUND

Most of us would proclaim that we are free. Free to do what we want, when we want; free to make choices and plan our life. Jesus questions our freedom. So does Paul. So did Martin Luther. Here is the question: If you have been made in the image of God to love as Jesus does, why don’t you do that? Maybe because you’re not as free as you thought you were.

THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE

Jesus tells a story of a religious leader who didn’t need God because he thought he was a big deal. The result was a joyless, judgmental, life with no room to trust anything but self. Jesus also tells us about a sinner who cries out to God, not with excuses but for mercy. Jesus teaches that the sinner went away with God’s blessing. The truth is that we are nothing and have nothing without God’s mercy and grace. As Luther noted at his death, “We are beggars.”

WE ARE BEGGARS

In our age, anything called a “story” is suspected to be untrue. What is strange about that is that stories are the oldest human means of knowing the truth. Stories are how we get to know each other. Stories – narratives – are what we use to make sense of the world. Today we celebrate the Festival of St. Luke, one of the most gifted storytellers in scripture. Luke’s story of Jesus shapes the way we live, the way we see, and the way we make sense of the world. Luke’s story of Jesus is our story.

TELLING THE STORY

Ten people afflicted with leprosy cry out to Jesus for healing. Their affliction is much more than a medical condition. It makes them outcast, separates them from family, robs them of a livelihood. Jesus tells them to go to the priest to be declared clean. On the way, they are healed. The skin disease is gone, and they will be restored to life. Of the ten, only one returns to give thanks, to express gratitude. Only one is restored fully because gratitude is an essential part of being fully human. Does it seem strange only one returns? Not really. It seems about right. We are not good at gratitude.

GRATITUDE

There are so many challenges in this world and needs that are beyond us. Even those times of reconciliation might be asking more than we can give. The good news from Jesus is that the change the world and we need depends less on us and more on the words and deeds of a surprising God. You of "little faith" take heart as even your small word or action, might unfold into something wonderful for this world.

Surprising God

Jesus tells a parable about a very rich man who wears nice clothes and eats well (like most of us). Outside his door sits a painfully poor beggar. Apparently, as the man comes and goes, he never sees or hears the beggar. How is this possible? To be so callous as not to even notice seems unimaginable. But it’s not, really. The pursuit of material things hardens our hearts. The obsession with accumulation is supposed to lead us to happiness, but it never does. The gospel shows another way.

Holy Trinity Ankeny

Holy Trinity Ankeny

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