Psalm 136.1-9, Genesis 1.1-19, Mark 1.1-13 - Lectionary for 3/9/11 - Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the penitential season of Lent.

Today's readings are Psalm 136.1-9, Genesis 1.1-19, and Mark 1.1-13.

The refrain in our Psalm for today is, "his steadfast love endures forever" (ESV). How do we see God's steadfast love? We see numerous specific examples in Psalm 136. We see God's loving care and creation of the world in Genesis 1. And we see the beginning of the Gospel in Mark chapter 1. God has taken all the steps necessary to redeem this world which he created and sustains. It is all his handiwork from beginning to end. And this redemption is something God brings about by Jesus, the Son of God, who has been prophesied since Genesis chapter 3. He is the one in whom God the Father is well peased. He is the one upon whom the Spirit of God dwells. And he is the one who overcomes all the temptations of Satan. Indeed, in Christ, God's steadfast love endures for ever.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 41.1-2, 7-13, Job 41.1-20, 31-34, John 13.1-20 - Lectionary for 3/8/11

Today's readings are Psalm 41.1-2, 7-13, Job 41.1-20, and John 13.1-20.

Do we wonder whether the God of power and might cares for us? Like the Psalmist, do we cry out in fear, trusting in God to save us but still wondering if he really will? Are we confronted by God's incredible power when we read in Job about the way God plays with the great sea monster the way I would play with a little kitten? Then let us look at our reading from John today, where we see that our Lord Jesus Christ, even though he knows he is going to be betrayed, rises from the dinner table to wash the feet of all his disciples, even the one who would betray him. He loves his people, and loves them to the end - his own end.

Lord, give us a trust in you that is as great as your love for us.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 121, Job 40.1-24, John 12.36b-50 - Lectionary for 3/7/11 - Perpetua and Felicitas

Today's readings are Psalm 121, job 40.1-24, and John 12.36b-50.

Today is the commemoration of Perpetua and Felicitas, Martyrs

We often hear Psalm 121 quoted, suggesting that we should go to the hills where we will find help. This idea would actually be foreign to the original audience of the Psalms. The hills are the dangerous place where all sorts of evil people are lurking, just waiting to rob and kill you. You lift your eyes to the hills, watching and hoping nobody comes from the hills to hurt you. We don't find help in the hills, or, for that matter, from the people in the valleys or on the plains. We find help from the Lord, who will guard his people from all harm. We get the idea that our Lord is trustworthy in this regard as we read our selection from Job and see that God lovingly knows what all sorts of wild creatures, deadly to people, might be doing. He is able to care for them. He is also able to care for us. Yet once again we are left asking how this can happen. Looking at our reading from John's Gospel we see that God's mercy is poured out on those who look to him in faith and hope. We believe the Lord, looking for his glory, and we see God the Father. And this is God's good pleasure. Jesus came into the world for this very reason, that he might save the world. Let us therefore look to our Lord, receiving the eternal life which he delights to pour out upon us.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 110, Job 38.1-18, John 12.20-36a - Lectionary for 3/6/11

Today's readings are Psalm 110, Job 38.1-18, and John 12.20-36a.

Today, Sunday of the Transfiguration, our daily readings emphasize God's sovereign power. Our Lord is the one who has set the world in motion and has lovingly prepared all its characteristics. He is the one who establishes what we call "natural law." He is the one who establishes kingdoms and a priesthood. And he is the one who, in the person of Jesus, God the Son, is glorified as the judge of heaven and earth, who will draw all people to himself by giving his life for this world.

How do we rightly respond to this mighty God? We look to him in faith, knowing that he is the one who can guide our paths and give us true life. May the Lord transfigure our lives into the image of God the Son.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

"My, How You've Changed!" Sermon for 3/6/11

Sermon: "My, How You've Changed!" Matthew 17.1-9

Our Lord, ruler of all, let us see you in your majesty, but let us see you through your grace and mercy, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

There's a movement within Christianity that raises its ugly head once in a while. You've probably heard of it occasionally. It's been around at least since the second century. And I have heard it asserted by genuine believers even within the past year. This movement will say that the Old Testament is the place where we see God in his consuming power but the New Testament is where we see the God of love. Sometimes people will go so far as to say that God is different at different times, that there's no grace in the Old Testament and that there's nothing but grace in the New Testament.

When we consider today's readings from Exodus, Psalms, 2 Peter, and Matthew, we have to realize there's something wrong with that picture. Here we see the God of glory revealed in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. At the same time, in the very same passages, we see that God mercifully reveals himself to his people, showing them his will which is for their good. Our Lord gathers his people to him and has them dine in his presence. Our Lord gives all authority to his Son and tells us to believe in him. Our Lord reveals his glory in the Son and tells people how to speak of God in faithfulness. Our Lord shows himself in his brilliance to his disciples, telling them to rise and have no fear. We read today's passages and we confess with the author of Hebrews, (ESV) "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13.8).

Yet we look to our Lord anew today. We are at the end of the Epiphany season. This is now the ninth Sunday after Epiphany. We won't have that many Sundays in Epiphany again for 27 years. We've had lots of time to look at our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and see what he's like. We've seen him revealing himself through his interactions with the disciples. We've seen him revealing himself by doing miracles. We've seen his grace, his mercy, his everlasting kindness to those who believe on him. We started with him as a young child back in January. Now he's been an adult for several weeks, walking with his disciples, showing them what he's like. We think we know him pretty well.

Yes, maybe we thought we knew Jesus pretty well. Maybe the apostles thought that also. They had been with him for a few years, day after day, week after week. But he's been saying things and doing things to make the apostles uncomfortable. Peter, James, and John, the sort of "inner circle" of Jesus' apostles, have been watching him closely. He's started talking about his death. He's started giving them signs that something is going to happen and that he won't be with them. They don't quite understand this new agenda. But like the good friends they are, they trust Jesus. They will go along with him. He seems troubled. So they will stick closer than usual.

When Jesus takes his disciples up onto a mountain to pray it seems like a pretty normal trip. I don't know why we do this, but we seem to think going uphill is a good way to approach God in prayer. So the four men go up the hill to pray. What happens? Jesus appears changed before the disciples. He is revealed to Peter, James and John in his glory. He shows them a taste of what he will be like when they see him in the resurrection. His clothes can't contain the light. His discussion with Moses and Elijah shows that he is the very God who has talked with them many times before. He is the God of the living, not of the dead. But Moses died and was buried, though Elijah was taken up alive. Jesus therefore shows that he is the God of the resurrection, that even if we die, we will live again.

What do we say? What do we do? When we are overwhelmed by God's presence? Jesus! You've changed! I thought I knew you, but you sure never looked and acted like this before! Maybe we can do something. Yes, that's it. We're completely overwhelmed so I guess we ought to do something. That's it. We'll build a monument to you and to this occasion.

It isn't unusual for a person who is very excited to start babbling uncontrollably. And we all know that it's nearly impossible to do anything useful with someone who is babbling. So what does God do? He surprises Peter, James and John by speaking to them. That's enough to quiet them down.

What does Jesus then do with these disciples who have been reduced to piles of terrified trembling pudding? He touches them. He tells them to get up. He tells them not to fear. He tells them that he will rise from the dead and that after that happens they can tell what they saw. Jesus takes his disciples who have been shocked by his presence. He raises them up so they can carry on with the vocation he is going to give them.

Likewise, we look to Jesus as we come to the end of Epiphany. We thought we knew him pretty well. But he shows that there's more to him than meets the eye. We say, "My, how you've changed!" And he looks at us. He touches us. He raises us up. He tells us, "I haven't changed. You just see me better."

As we walk with our Lord through the season of Lent, starting this week with Ash Wednesday, we'll see him better and better. We'll see Jesus, the just one, giving himself into the hands of unjust men. We'll see him going to the cross on our behalf. We'll see him dying to bear our sins. We'll see all his disciples fleeing from him. And we'll see that we are like those disciples. We'll see that we are sinful indeed. We'll see that, just like those who denied Jesus, we do not deserve the riches of his grace. And we'll see that the grace of God in Jesus Christ is there for us, just as it was for his disciples. We'll see that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Has Jesus changed? No. We just see him better. And as we see him better, we are moved to repentance. As Peter, James and John were moved to repentance in the presence of God, may we also be moved to repentance, realizing that we are unworthy to be partakers of Jesus' presence, but that he has promised his presence with us always.

We receive the sacrament of Holy Communion today. Do we realize that Jesus is present, really present, in his body and blood given and shed for us? Has he changed? No. We just see him more clearly.

Let us pray.

Our Lord, you have given yourself for us, revealing yourself in your glory, revealing your humility, coming to us. Humble us in your presence. Grant us your grace, your mercy, your forgiveness. Raise us up and give us the fearless spirit which you gave to Peter, James and John in the time of your resurrection. This we pray in the name of ┼ the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

-- 

Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Confirmation

One of the great mysteries to me as an adult convert to Christianity within a baptistic community has been the idea of confirmation. I never really understood it and nobody seemed ready to try to explain it to me. I recall once, when serving as an elder in the church we used to attend, we had a membership interview with a family. Since the church took a baptistic view of things, the assumption of the leadership was that baptism would not be applied to infants, and if it was, it would be typical to rebaptize someone upon an adult profession of faith. This family we were interviewing consisted of a husband and wife of middle age, both adult converts who had been baptized as adults, their two children who were pre-teens and had not been baptized, and the husband's mother who had come to live with them in her old age. It was the mother who presented the difficulty to the church board. She was quite interested in joining the church, as she wanted to be under the nurture, guidance, and discipline of the elders. She had been baptized as an infant and had been confirmed. She stressed the fact of her confirmation as her assertion of her Christian faith. At the time, I was coming to a conclusion of the regenerative efficacy of baptism and was starting to put the puzzle pieces together. My opinion was that her baptism was absolutely valid and that her many years of Christian testimony confirmed her vital faith in Christ. The other elders were more hesitant. After a few probing questions about her faith, one of the elders asked her if she had thought about being baptized as an adult. Her response was that she didn't consider it because she had been confirmed. After a little discussion just among the elders, the family was welcoxmed into the membership of the local church. I could, however, sense some ongoing, nagging doubt, especially in two members of the elder board.

About the same time, I had been studying baptism more closely in part because my younger daughter was professing her faith in Christ and desiring baptism. The more I studied, the more convinced I became of an infant baptism position. Meanwhile, the other elders seemed to be wanting to m/ake more clear definitions of what kind of Christian testimony would allow for a believer to be baptized. We kicked the idea around for many hours, looking at Scripture seriously and prayerfully. At long last, my daughter gave what was apparently sufficient evidence of regeneration to persuade the other elders to baptize her.

This puzzle of baptism and confirmation started coming together for me more clearly in the last few months. After working with this daughter for a couple of years after her baptism, which she and many in the church saw as her public profession of faith and pledge that she would live a life for Christ, then after having the daughter spend a year in a catechism class in an LCMS church followed by the better part of a year working with me on catechesis as I've been serving as a vacancy pastor, it's come time to go ahead and have the confirmation. As I was reading over the liturgy for the confirmation I was struck by how similar the rite of confirmation is to what we did in adult baptisms. Here's what I see.

First, we remind ourselves about Jesus' commands to baptize and his promise of his presence from Matthew 28. We have the confirmand acknowledge the gift of salvation, renounce the devil, and publicly confess the Christian faith in the words of the Apostles' Creed. The confirmand then expresses an intention to remain in the faith, a desire to be involved in the local church, and to remain true to Christ even to death. The pastor then prays for the catechumen. 

This seems like a pretty firm confirmation of the faith. In fact, I can't think of many of my baptistic brothers who call for such a firm pledge of faithfulness to Christ in front of the whole congregation. 

Somehow, though, my daughter still didn't seem to get something about the importance of the confirmation service. She viewed it as something worthy, but recognized it is in no way regenerative. It isn't commanded in Scripture and is not treated as a means of grace. She was puzzled by the fact that so many people around the church seemed to be so very excited for her. I explained this morning that it is what Lutherans see as their public profession of faith and their pledge to live a life for Christ. Her response? "I did that way back when I was baptized." There! The puzzle fits together. Yes! It seems that she encapsulated a baptistic view of baptism and its importance. She knew that she was making a pledge that she had been regenerated, that God's grace was working in her. It seemed irrelevant to her to do so again. So I explained that I was very pleased that she was confirming her faith in her baptism, but that the people in the local congregation wouldn't understand that, as their default is to assume that baptism is applied as a regenerative means of grace, working faith through God's word and promise, as a concrete application of the Gospel. The others in the congregation look to a later expression of the Christian faith, and do not seem ready to affirm it until the person is about my daughter's age and has been through some course material which they assume would not have happened previously.

Maybe this is a bit of what Jesus was talking about when he was baptized "to fulfill all righteousness." Maybe not. But we're hoping the confirmation will go through just fine tomorrow, with no illness striking suddenly in the morning. May the Lord use it to encourage others who are present in their renunciation of the Devil, their desire to live a life dedicated to Christ, and their ongoing ministry of encouraging one another in the faith.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com

Psalm 118.22-29, Job 37.1-24, John 12.1-19 - Lectionary for 3/5/11

Today's readings are Psalm 118.22-29, Job 37.1-24, and John 12.1-19.

John 12.16 makes a very interesting comment. "His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him" (ESV). I think we are very often like those disciples. We see what is happening but we don't really understand it. We endure hardships, we receive blessings, we see our lives flourish or crumble. We don't know what's really happening. We don't know why it might be happening. And we may never understand it all. Yet later, in retrospect, we see God's hand working out all things according to his good will. The pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place.

Did the disciples understand Jesus' death? No. Nor would we, given the same context they had. Yet in God's perfect will, Jesus died to bear the sin of the world, crushing sin which leads to death. We can rejoice, knowing that our Lord has also risen from the dead. We too shall rise, putting on incorruptibility, raised in newness of life in the last day. No, we don't understand that. But we know the Lord does.

--
Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com