Sunday before Lent MMXVII
[II Cor. 5:14-21; Mk. 10:32-45]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also known as the 'sons of thunder' (Mk. 3:17) which tells us something about their impetuous character.
As soon as Jesus has prophesied His death for the third time, they jump at the occasion so to speak and try to secure their place in the Kingdom, one on Jesus' right hand side one on His left. In Matthew's version it's actually their mother who intervenes with Jesus on her sons' behalf...the love of a parent... (Mt. 20:21).
These days we would probably define their actions as ambition, perhaps even cutthroat ambition, making good use of those elbows, if the reaction of the other disciples, their colleagues after all, is anything to go by.
Jesus' reply is simple: 'Are you sure? To gain the place, the seat you desire, are you willing to submit yourselves to the trials that I will be submitting myself to?'
They say they can but we know they wouldn't have been able to go to the lengths our Lord went to.
We all have our moments of pride, of overconfidence, of ambition even, and perhaps in our lives we have tried to get into the top spot first. We all have our moments of thunder.
Perhaps we didn't necessarily elbow others out, but we may not have allowed for them to prosper either, for them to find their place where they could contribute to the Kingdom in their own way, as equals.
In a way it all relates to a general human instinct that there's not enough to go around, that we'll somehow miss out, even when talking about God and His grace.
Sometimes there seems to be a deep rooted fear that we have to work for God's love, for His forgiveness, for His attention and kindness even, even among faithful Christians.
Many feel that they must drink the same cup Jesus drank and be baptised with the same baptism.
For some this becomes such an overwhelming ordeal, such a inner turmoil that they loose heart and faith altogether.
God than no longer is a loving Father but an insufferable tyrant.
Luther struggled with those same feelings and it took for him to surrender to God's grace to find inner peace.
The gift of the Reformation, even after 500 years, our contribution as Lutheran Christians to the whole of the Church is: no, God isn't a tyrant, He is a loving Father! It's not fear that compels, it's His love, as we read in ii Corinthians this morning.
We don't have to go through what Christ went through in order to be with Him, to be close to Him; in our baptism we're already connected to His death and resurrection and as such made new, a new creation!
His ministry of reconciliation has set us free, by grace, through faith.
And the wonderful consequence of this free gift is that we ourselves too can give others a free gift of reconciliation.
We're set free in order to serve.
God has made us righteous so that we can be righteous for the world and our neighbours, so that we can bring hope and love.
We don't need to try to get into the top spot first, we can share it with others, even encourage them to get there.
This way we don't have to be competitors in a world driven by cutthroat ambition and greed, but instead we can be Christ's ambassadors for good, for fairness, justice and peace, in order to share the Good News with everyone.
Amen.
Mothering Sunday MMXVII
[I Cor. 10:1-6; Jn. 6:48-59]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
It feels as if this year seems to be passing by even faster than other years, and Lent also seems to hasten by at a rapid pace, because we're already Lent iv or Mothering Sunday, the day when we thank not only mothers for the incredible jobs they do, but also all in a position and profession of care.
Now Mothering Sunday traditionally means we get a break, a pause in the period of fasting, that's why in some churches the liturgical colour of the day isn't purple or violet but rose instead.
It was the time when staff was allowed to return to their mother parish and visit loved ones; they would go 'a-mothering', picking wild flowers along the way to give to their mothers.
So a break from the Lenten discipline.
A time to reflect on the time of reflection.
While the seasons of the Church are a blessing to remind or prepare us, they're of course not set in stone; every day is the right day to start over again, every day God forgives and renews ('a daily regeneration' the Small Catechism calls it in the chapter on Baptism), every day we're encouraged and inspired to pick ourselves up by our boot straps, dust ourselves down and start afresh.
The Gospel, the Good News of God incorporates many wonderful messages and one such message is: keep going, it's worth it!
It's worth it to keep the faith.
It's worth it to keep believing in God, in people, in yourself.
It's worth it to keep hoping the World will be a better place, that the Church will keep reforming, that nations will learn peace and justice, that we will learn trust and patience.
It's worth praying, learning, singing, praising, celebrating, etc...
It's worth living!
One of these celebrations, undoubtedly the most important of all celebrations is Holy Communion, or Eucharist or Mass or Lord's Supper...Lutherans are allowed to use and do use various words for this incredible celebration; we call this choice adiaphora or 'non-essential or indifferent'.
What isn't indifferent however, is that all Lutheran Christians celebrate this holy Sacrament, this free gift from God; next to Holy Baptism, Holy Communion is pivotal for the faith life of the Church!
Our Gospel text this morning is almost identical to our text in the liturgy booklet: 'Whoever comes to him shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in him shall never be thirsty.'
Christ coming to us, physically, intimately, lovingly; Christ truly present with us and for us; in, with and under the elements of bread and wine, 'given for you.'
'This is my flesh, this is my blood..whoever has part of this, has part of me.'
It must have caused quite a stir and quite a few frowns; flesh and blood?!
What's this preacher from Nazareth talking about?!
Even now, it makes people nervously giggle or dismiss Christianity completely.
Was Jesus a vampire? Was Jesus a cannibal?
It's a historic fact that the Romans accused the early Christians of practising cannibalism during so-called love- feasts.
But that's to misunderstand the meaning of the Sacrament: God so close that you can literally smell, taste, see, touch him -even hear him as the words of Scripture are spoken: 'given for you.'
'I am,' God spoke to Moses in the burning bush, 'I am very existence and I exist here today for you, all that I am is yours! All I am, is you!'
'Come to me,' God speaks to each of us, 'cling to me, feed and drink from me; I am your resting place, your place of love and renewal, of refocus, and a pause in all what troubles or ails you, a moment of reflection, even at this time of reflection.'
”Jag är”, Gud talade till Moses i den brinnande busken, ”Jag är varandet och jag finns här idag för dig, allt jag är, är ditt! Allt jag är, är du!
And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.