Words of Welcome

Exodus 34:29-35 Today we bring to a close the season of Epiphany.  We began Epiphany by traveling with the Magi to the home of the Holy Family so homage could be paid to Emmanuel, “God with us.” From there we encountered other manifestations of God’s presence in the world. Now we come to the moment when we get to climb the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, so we can witness  Jesus’ encounter with Moses and Elijah. We watch with them as the  divine radiance within Jesus shines through, revealing the glory of God which Jesus embodies. Then, even though we are already overwhelmed with wonder, a cloud envelopes us, and  we hear the voice of God declare: “This is my Son, the Chosen; listen to him.” ( Lk 9:28-36 ). The reading from Exodus 34 reveals another divine encounter on a mountain top. While Jesus took three disciples on his journey to the mountain top, Moses goes alone on this journey lasting forty-days and forty-nights. And l...

Romans 16:25-27 According to Luke’s Gospel, angels appeared in the sky near Bethlehem on the day of Jesus’ birth. With only shepherds and their sheep in attendance, the angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors” ( Lk 2:14 ). The angels sang this song of praise to God, because this child would be the messenger of peace and divine favor to all of creation.  According to the church calendar, we must wait a little longer before we can hear the angelic chorus. Although we stand at the eve of Christmas, we gather this morning to celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Advent. This is one of those strange years, when we light the fourth candle of Advent and the Christ Candle on the same day. We have already lit the fourth candle, which symbolizes love, and soon we’ll light the last candle, which gives off the light of God’s glory revealed to us in Emmanuel, the one born in Bethlehem. The four Advent candles, which we have already li...

Revelation 1:4-8 Easter Sunday was once again glorious! How can you beat trumpet and timpani accompanying the organ as we sang “Christ the Lord is Risen Today?” It’s hard to move on from the glories of Easter Sunday, but the journey of faith must continue. As we go forward, the spirit of Easter remains with us as we worship the God who raised Jesus from the dead. Yes, to this God be glory and dominion forever! The Book of Revelation is one of those books of the Bible that many find to be strange and even off-putting. Because the imagery and the language are so difficult to decipher, there have been many both ancient and modern who would like to evict it from the canon. Luther declared “It is just the same as if we had it not, and there are many far better books for us to keep.” Since the lectionary rarely offers the book, preachers rarely visit it. Despite the preachers mixed feelings, there is good news to be found in this book, and the creators of the lectionary set out a ...

Exodus 33:12-23 Is it okay to argue with God?  Moses thought so.  So did Abraham. You might say that to argue with God is to intercede with God. And it seems as if God invites us to bring our concerns into God’s presence. As we bring our journey through Exodus to a close, the people are about to leave Sinai. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  There’s only one problem, God isn’t sure whether to continue on with them.  God has had enough dealing with this “stiff-necked people,” and while God hasn’t unleashed his wrath on them, he’s not sure how long this can continue.  Apparently, that Golden Calf affair was the last straw. If God isn’t sure whether it’s a good idea to continue on, Moses won’t hear of it.  To Moses, there’s no point going on to the Promised Land without God. This story pictures God as something of a frustrated parent.  Like parents often do, God has thrown up his hands because these children won’t sto...

Psalm 96 Music has the power to stir our souls and enliven our hearts and minds. Whenever Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus is played or sung, nearly everyone stands. They may even join in singing the chorus. It happened just the other day, when Pat concluded his recital with this very piece. Why do we do this? Is it just habit or expectation? Or is it because this piece of music is so inspiring that we cannot take it in sitting down? What is important to point out is that the Hallelujah Chorus , like Psalm 96, calls forth from us, a declaration that God is sovereign, not just over our personal lives, but as the Psalmist declares, over “all the earth.” And so we sing: “Hallelujah For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, hallelujah” And then, we proclaim: The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, And of His Christ, and of His Christ; And He shall reign for ever and ever . . . “Hallelujah For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, hallelujah” In this song of praise, we hear ec...

Luke 11:1-4; 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 It’s Easter, which is a day of joyous celebration. We’ve come to share in the Easter story with song and with word. We’ve come to offer to God words of praise, declaring our allegiance to the one who is risen from the dead. We’ve come in the hope of the resurrection, seeking to find strength and peace in the presence of God. It is in this context that we hear the call of God: Lift up your hearts, lift up your eyes, and behold what great things God is doing in your midst! On this Easter morning, as we join in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, we also bring to a close a series of sermons that focus on the Lord’s Prayer. You won’t find the closing statement of this prayer – “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever” – in either of the two gospel accounts of the Lord’s Prayer, at least not in our modern translations. As you may know, this is because this phrase isn’t found in out the oldest of our manuscripts. But, this closing ...

Isaiah 40:1-11 To be blunt, this Advent/Christmas season isn’t all that joyous for many of our neighbors. Indeed some of you are wondering what the new year will bring. Will you have a job? Will your retirement benefits be there? Our region stands at the center of America’s economic downturn. There is great suffering in our midst. I wish I could say that everything is going to be okay, that the jobs will be there come January. But I can’t. Things look bad! And as the President-Elect just said, things may get worse before they get better. That’s not the kind of news that we want to hear just before Christmas, but that’s what they’re saying. We live in a time of great uncertainty. I. An Anchor in a Changing World I know that Advent seems to get in the way of the Christmas Spirit, but it’s at times like this that the words of Isaiah, words that we often read only at Advent, speak most clearly to our hearts. This morning we’ve been invited to look at our ever-changing an...

John 17:1-11 We get anxious when change is at hand. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad, change makes us nervous. And we’re getting ready for change, and I think we’re just a bit nervous. Although my future is somewhat clearer than yours, I share in your anxiety as we both head out in new directions. It is in the midst of this anxiety that we come to hear Jesus praying in the garden. In John’s telling of Jesus’ final hours, we hear him pray for his community. It’s often called Jesus’ high priestly prayer, because he takes on the role of an intercessor with God, and in this role he asks God to see them through the difficult times ahead. But more importantly he prays that they might share in God’s glory, even as he has shared in God’s glory. He asks that they might experience the same intimacy with God that Jesus experienced. And in the midst of this prayer, Jesus brings up eternal life. To experience intimacy with God is to share in eternity with God, so what does this mean? I. SHARIN...