4.15.12--Sermon on Acts 4:32-35

Already in my short tenure in ministry, I have had the great blessing of serving beside some amazing Staff/Parish Relations Committee chairs. Now, I know that most of you know what role this group of people fill, but for those of you who do not, the Staff/Parish Relations Committee, known in the biz as the SPRC, is the hiring and firing committee of the church. They are the people who act both as the voice of the church—bringing the questions, concerns, and compliments of the congregation to the pastor—and as the ear of the church—hearing and responding to the questions and concerns of the pastor.

In other words, this is the committee that new hires—and new appointed pastors—makes friends with really quickly.

Easter Sermon--Mark 16:1-8

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Halleluiah!

We are gathered here on this magical morning to remember and celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! So I say again:

He is risen! He is risen indeed Halleluiah!

I love this day, and not just because everyone is dressed in their Sunday best, our pews are just little more full than usual, and everyone has a smile on their face. No, the reason that I truly love Easter is that it is the victory celebration over the cosmic battle between good and evil. The votes have been tallied. The last inning is over. The bell has been rung. And the undisputed champion is, of course, Jesus Christ, the Son of God!

He is risen! He is risen indeed Halleluiah!

Good Friday Sermon on John 19:28-30

Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

We are slowly nearing the end of our time together. There are only two words left, and they are by no means the easiest to understand or the easiest to hear. Let us take some time to sit and ponder together the enormity of Jesus’ last words before his death as the Gospel from St. John records them.

It is finished.

I have often heard that Jesus’ words here are like that of an artist or worker looking at a finished product. Maybe Jesus was like a composer who has just finished his magnum opus. Did he experience, even as he hung broken and bleeding on the cross, something akin to what Beethoven experienced after working for countless hours and days on his 5^th Symphony? It is finished. The music is made. Or maybe it was more akin to the feeling that falls upon an author after writing the last word of a novel. Did Jesus know the relief of completing the task like Leo Tolstoy felt after finishing War and Peace? It is finished. The novel is way too long, but it is completed. Or maybe it was like the since of peace that a master chef feels after toiling in the kitchen all day over a single meal. Everything was added in just the right amounts at just the right time, and now the dinner is done, ready to eat.

It is finished.

Romans 5

(The past few weeks, I have been reading through the book of Romans, which is by far my favorite book in the Bible. Although I by no means understand it completely, God is good and continually opens my eyes to new truths hidden in the text. Romans 5 has been gnawing at me for a while. I read it and re-read it, and God show me something amazing every time. Below is my translation of Paul's chapter. I hope God uses it to show you something amazing too!)


5

¹Therefore, having been justified through faith, we have made peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have also gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we take delight in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also delight in our sufferings because we know that our sufferings will lead to perseverance, ⁴perseverance leads to character, and character leads to hope. ⁵And hope will never disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out and into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.

⁶For just at the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the wicked. ⁷Very rarely will someone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might just dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrated and demonstrates still His love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Therefore, now that we have been justified through His blood, how much more will we be saved through Him from God’s wrath? ¹⁰For if, even though we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of God’s Son, how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved through His life? ¹¹Not only is this so, but we now and forevermore delight in God through our Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have now received reconciliation. ¹²Therefore, because sin- and death through sin- entered into the world through one man, which in turn passed death to all people because all have sinned, ¹³this means that before the Law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken to account without the Law. ¹⁴Even still, death reigned from Adam until Moses unchecked, even over those who did not sin in the same way as Adam, who is made in the likeness of the One to come. ¹⁵But the free gift is not like the offense. For if many died due to one man’s offense, how much more did God’s grace, and the gift in grace- which is of the one Man, Jesus Christ- overflow to so many! ¹⁶And the gift of God shall not be decided because of the one man having sinned, for indeed that judgment was one of condemnation. Indeed, the free gift of God was given after many transgressions, and it led to justification. ¹⁷Therefore, if it was that by the sin of the one man, death reigned on account of that one man, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of God’s righteousness reign in life through the One Man, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸Therefore, just as through the sin of one man all were condemned, so also through the One’s righteous act there was found justification of life for all. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made into sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be considered as righteous. ²⁰The Law was added so that sin might abound. But where sin increased, grace increased so much more, ²¹so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace could reign through righteousness to life everlasting through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

3.25.12--Sermon on Mark 14:32-42

Toward the end of the Gospel of Mark, we hear a story of Jesus going to a garden to pray. He asks Peter, James, and John—his friends—to keep watch with him while he prays. It seems that he is scared, that he is in need of comfort and encouragement. He even tells them: “My soul is overwhelmed, even to the point of death!”

And yet the disciples don’t seem to get just how upset Jesus is. He moves a little ways off to pray… and they fall asleep.

Now, in their defense, they had just finished the Passover feast. I’m sure that, like many of us after Thanksgiving, they were feeling full, and feeling tired. It was dark, the ground in the garden was probably very soft. The situation just lends itself so well to a nap.

But Jesus needed them to stay awake. He needed them to provide him the support that he so desperately craved.

3.11.12--Translation of Mark 5:21-43 (Just for those who are interested)

²¹And when Jesus had again crossed over to the other side by boat, a large crowd assembled around him while he was still by the sea. ²² And one of the synagogue rulers came, Jairus by name, and seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet ²³and, greatly pleading with him, said, “My little daughter is dying! Come, so that you may lay your hands on her that she might be saved and live!” ²⁴And Jesus went with him, but a large crowd pursued him and pressed into him.

²⁵And there came a woman, who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, ²⁶who had suffered greatly under many physicians and spent all that she had; instead of benefitting from this, though, she only came to be worse. ²⁷And hearing about Jesus, she came into the crowd behind him and touched his garment. ²⁸For she said, “If I can but touch his garment, I will be saved!” ²⁹And immediately her surge of blood dried up and she knew in her body that she had been healed from the whip!

³⁰And immediately Jesus, knowing in him that power had gone out from him, turned to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my garment?” ³¹His disciples said to him, “You see this crowd pressing into you and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’” ³²But he searched around to see who had done it.

³³And the woman, fearful and trembling, and knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and told him the whole truth. ³⁴But he said to her, “Daughter, your courageous trust has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your whip.”

³⁵While Jesus was speaking, some people came to the synagogue ruler and said, “Your daughter is dead; why continue to trouble the teacher?”

³⁶But Jesus refused to listen to the words they spoke, saying to the synagogue ruler, “Do not fear, only trust courageously.” ³⁷And he refused to permit anyone to come after him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James. ³⁸And going into the house of the synagogue ruler, he saw a commotion; many people were weeping and wailing. ³⁹And entering, he said to them, “Why are you troubled and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.”

⁴⁰They laughed at him. But casting them out, he took with him the father of the child, and the mother, and those with him and he moved to the child. ⁴¹And taking the child’s hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” that is, “Little girl, I tell you, rise.”

⁴²And immediately the girl rose and began walking, for she was twelve years old. And they were immediately stunned with great astonishment. ⁴³And he commanded many of them so that none would know of this, and he also told them to give her something to eat.

3.11.12--Sermon on Mark 5:21-43

There’s a story in the Gospel of Mark that begins with Jesus crossing a sea on a boat. As he disembarks from the ship onto the beach, a crowd starts gathering around him. Word spreads that this teacher and healer has been spotted and more and more people come to catch a glimpse of him, hear a word from him, or even maybe witness his miraculous power for themselves. As Jesus is walking and talking with some of the people in the crowd, one of the leaders of the synagogue, a high-ranking Jewish official, pushes his way through the throng of onlookers until he is standing right next to Jesus.

Now, up to this point in the Gospel, Jesus hasn’t exactly made the best impression with the Jewish religious leaders. He has been charged with blasphemy for forgiving sins, he’s eaten with sinners, he blatantly ignored their traditions in ritual cleansing, and he messed with their understanding of the Sabbath. They even at one time declared him to be Beelzebub, the Prince of Darkness! And now this synagogue ruler bursts from the crowd, right in front of Jesus…