Luke 3:1-6 - "Prepared to Turn Around & Upside Down (12-6-09)

I chose to read the Gospel lesson from the back of the worship space today to get you turned around. With all the preparation for Christmas, it is so easy to lose focus on the real purpose of the season. With all the preparation and decorating, we can easily get turned around. John the Baptist was preparing the way for Christ. When John began his ministry, he arrived in a specific historical context that the word of the Lord came to John the Baptist. The mention of the emperor and leaders frames this preparation.

It was in our own historical context, that we remember in the year when George W. H. Bush was president, James Edgar was governor of Illinois, the Great Chicago Flood took place; Tiger Woods became the youngest PGA player at age 16; the American With Disabilities Act went into effect; and on this day Jerry Rice caught his at the time NFL record 101st touchdown.[1] It was in that context that word of the Lord came to the ELCA, to presiding Bishop Chilstrom, to the Mission Director Gary Wollersheim and to Pastor Dennis Heaney. The word of the Lord came to Pastor Heaney in the wilderness of this growing community to start a new church in Lake in the Hills and south Crystal Lake. It was on this day that they word of the Lord was first preached in 1992 at Living Waters at Crystal Lake South High School. We held our first worship service this day! The word of the Lord came to Pastor Heaney, to Pastor Wayne Stoutenburg, to me to come here in 1992 and will come to the Interim Pastor this week and to your new pastor in the year to come. Every year, we’ve had the opportunity to prepare again and again for the word of the Lord. Pastors, leaders and rulers will come and go but the word of the Lord will continue to be spoken in the wilderness of our lives.

The word of God came to John the Baptist in the wilderness! The wilderness is the place where the faith was formed for the people of God. After 40 years of preparation in the wilderness, they were ready to enter a promised land, not a perfect land, but a hoped for land. The word came to John the Baptist, the voice of God spoke to him and he listened. He repented and turned around and then warned others to prepare the way. John the Baptist proclaimed a Baptism of Repentance – turn around! Advent use to be the color of purple, the color of repentance.

What is the first thing you will do with the arrival of Christ in your preparation? Repent! The preparation calls us to turn around and hear the call of God to remember the real meaning and purpose of Christmas! I took my kids yesterday to see the movie “A Christmas Carol”. There were moments in those dreams of ghosts that reminded him and warned him to be set upon a path that leads to cold and hardness of heart.

We repent by turning away from the things that distract us in our daily lives, falling to our knees and asking God for mercy. We stand up and turn around in a new direction. Repentance sometimes means we get turned upside down! Our world view changes. Repentance acknowledges that we are lost in the forest and we are looking again for the path.

The word of God that is our salvation is near to us as we repent. When we are turned around and our world is turned upside down, God’s word speaks to us. This past week, I went out to look at the garage. As I looked at the incomplete garage, I thought about all the unfulfilled dreams and hopes for ministry that I will be surrendering. Some type of confession started falling out of me as I recall all that I have done and left undone. I then decided to go and walk the faith walk in the woods that Jordan Marshall started. It’s almost through to the back and as I walked out of the back part of the woods, I walked through the small pine trees that are growing a little taller. In the cold wilderness of an early December morning when I feel my world being turned around and upside down, I heard the word of God speaking to me again to turn around and see the salvation of the Lord is near.

One day St. Francis heard the coming of a great army against the city in which he resided. In the face of the anxiety which would naturally attend to such a rumor, St. Francis thought to himself how great this city was, how high its walls were, how strong the parapets. Then the voice of God spoke to him, “Francis”, it said, Go out of the city gates.” And Francis obeyed. Once outside the walls, the voice bade him, “Francis, turn around and look at the city.” Once again, Francis did as his inner voice told him. And once again he thought of how secure that city was with its great walls. Then the voice of God said, “Francis, stand on your head.” “What Lord, you want me to stand on my head?” he asked. “Francis stand on your head.” And once again Francis did as he was told. And as he stood on his head, he saw that great city outlined against the greater sky and the voice of God asked, “Francis, what would happen to the city if I did not keep it from falling into the sky?” Then Francis understood. Only by looking at the city upside down could he truly understood where his security rested.”

Let us pray: Gracious God, we come before you to be turned around and to that our salvation is near. Guide us today to hear your word speak to us in this wilderness; we pray in Jesus name, Amen.

[1] http://www.historyorb.com/events/date/1992

Luke 21:25-36 - "Leaning Into The Future (11-29-09)

Today’s lesson addresses the second coming of Christ. We believe that Christ has come; the Christ is here and that Christ will come again. This is a very apocalyptic passage that is one of prophesy and not prediction. Today, people question if we are living in the end times. We believe there is no rapture, where Jesus will come again a second, then seven more years and then he will come again a third time! People may think this apocalyptic passage reveals a secret clue and we must unravel it to find out when! Some may feel anxious about the end times. Revelation references in the Bible are not prediction.
The gospel lesson is a small apocalyptic future. Apo=off. Calyse = cover. Off with the cover. Off with cover and you look into the contents of the pan. Off with the cover and you see the contents of the future. It doesn't at first seem to instill us with any sense of hope at all. In fact, after reading this passage, we can be overwhelmed with a sense of hopelessness. We hear of these mysterious signs in the sun, moon and stars. There are images of people fainting. Heaven and earth pass away, there is talk of a trap, and our hope for escape, and by the end of the reading, it seems the walls are closing in on us. And yet, in the midst of the chaos, there are some words of hope in the midst of the confusion. When will it happen? We don’t know. Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul all thought they were living in the last days but they were wrong. Only Jesus was right. He said in Matthew that “You do not know the hour or the day!” Stop trying to predict!
When that day comes, Jesus says to us, "When these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near . . . when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near." We are called to stand up, raise our heads and lean into the future.
When my children want to whisper something to me, and I can’t quite hear, what is the body’s response? I tend to lean into where the voice is coming from. So listen in and be prepared to stand up, raise your heads and lean into the future.
We are living in a new season in the life of the church. On this the first Sunday of Advent, you are leaning into the future of Living Waters and I am leaning into the future at Zion Lutheran in Rockford where I will start in the New Year. Martin Luther King, Jr said, “I don’t know what the future holds but I know who holds the future.” We have different futures in parish ministry as I prepare to leave Living Waters, but we serve the same heavenly Father.
Yesterday, Robert and Linda Gallet were married here at Living Waters. It was my last wedding service. Bob and Linda are 67 and 72 years old. When they got said “unto death parts us” they know what that means and yet they were leaning into the future with the love and hope of Christ.
This fall, as I’ve been looking out my window here at the church, I couldn’t help but notice the road construction on Frank Road. The process and progress was slow going as they tore off the old surface, redid the sidewalks, put new blacktop down and the painted on the various stripes on the road. What stands out for me is the sign facing Miller Road and the church, “Road Work Ahead: Expect Delays”. I had wanted to take a picture of that sign. It was a reminder of the season of my life and now the season for Living Waters. But then one day, the sign was gone. The road has been prepared and now completed for those to travel to and from this place for worship.
When we gather at this table (stand behind altar) and we eat of this feast, we say that this is the “foretasted of the feast to come”. We sing the words: “This is the feast of victory for our God… for the lamb who was slain has begun to reign!” This is the foretaste of the feast to come. When you come forward, I want you to lean into the words, “given and shed for you”. Trust in these promises as we all lean into and upon the promises of God.
Let us pray: Gracious God, we gather to lean upon your words and your promises. We gather to get just a foretaste of that feast to come. Grant us courage to lean upon you, in Jesus name, Amen.

"Allegiance to the King" - John 18:33-37 (11-22-09)

Christ is at his own trial before Pilate and is about to receive the Royal Treatment! Christ stands before the throne of Pilate. Jesus is facing the greatest test and challenge in his calling by the Father to be a sacrifice for sin and an example of love to us. Pilate enters the room and Christ is summoned and questioned! Pilate, the representative of the dominant Roman Empire is concerned that the King of the Roman Empire might be threatened by someone here in this small outpost who has been causing enough trouble with the locals that they have accused him of a political crime.

Are you the King of the Jews? Pilate asked him. The life and ministry of Jesus is not in alignment with the powers of allegiance of the kingdoms of this world. Jesus said that his kingdom is not of this world. The reign of God is both hidden and revealed. Jesus was born that the reign and kingdom of God might break into our lives! When we hear this good news, God’s reign breaks in and pulls us into alignment and allegiance to a different way of doing life!

Today is Christ the King Sunday. It is the last Sunday in the Church Calendar year. We do not order our faith lives around the Roman Calendar of January-December; or around the budget year or around the school year. Our Allegiance to time and order is based upon the King of Kings. Someday, Jesus will come on the clouds the way the Revelation, chapter 1 passage says.

Christ the King Sunday is always the last Sunday of the Church Year. It is the end of the season of our spiritual journey and next week is the beginning of a new spiritual journey starting with Advent. Advent is the first Sunday of the church calendar, a season of waiting and preparation. So it is with this ending and this new beginning that we remember the promises of God that have been with us throughout our lives.

I know the announcement this week was a surprise. The resignation was something that took many by surprise. I wasn’t expecting Oprah to announce her resignation. She will be done on September 9, 2011 so that gives us over 600 days to worship her as the Queen of Day time talk shows. I’m not sure if that will give us all enough time to grieve her resigning from her role in the church that Oprah built. Perhaps she is close to royalty in our culture so it with sadness that we heard that she will be surrendering her throne.

Well it was not easy for me to resign and surrender to the king. You must be willing to surrender your will and ask God to lead and guide. When I told the council president of the upcoming call to serve Zion Lutheran Church in Rockford, IL a few weeks ago, it was not something I was looking forward to. I wasn’t looking forward to standing in front of you today and tell you about my resignation as the Pastor at Living Waters. You all have received the letter that I sent out this week announcing my resignation as the Pastor here. Today we remember the ministry we have shared together. We have seen the reign of God break in through the various joys and sorrows we have shared. We remember the trials and tribulations that have taken place in our personal lives and the body as a whole and wondered when the hiddeness of God’s kingdom will break in.

As I gathered with the Church Council on Tuesday evening to formally resign as the Pastor of Living Waters Lutheran Church, we joked about whether or not they would accept the resignation. The church council unfortunately had to accept it. Today we all need to resign. We need resign as general managers of our little world. We need to resign from trying to fix every person, problem and place in our world. We need to resign to the truth that we must lay our crowns down! Wonder of wonders, God will accept your resignation.

About seven years ago, I went to visit the Francis family in their new home to offer a prayer of blessing. As we visited, Luke showed me a label maker he was getting using. I was wearing my cleric that day and I let him put a label on my cleric that read, “Pastor Mike”. I never took that label off and actually never used it. I saw it this morning in my pile of clerics and decided to wear it. I too must pledge my allegiance to the king and lay down this role as the pastor of Living Waters.

We are being called to lay down our crowns at the foot of the cross. We are the subject of the king and we lay our crowns down again today. God is calling you and me to recommit our allegiance to Christ and to lay down our crowns. Our allegiance calls us to place all of our time, talent and treasures at the throne of the cross. God will bless them for the sake of the God’s kingdom.

Let us pray: Gracious God, it is never easy to pray “thy kingdom come and thy will be done” but we gather today again to seek your will and to renew our allegiance to your reign and rule. Guide us as we kneel before you today. Renew us as your subjects, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.