ADVENT

Advent Sermon: Matthew 1:18 - 2:1 

Sermon Title: 180 degrees turn around

        Mary is engaged to Joseph. 

Imagine Mary’s excitement as her father discusses a potential wedding engagement for her! Joseph’s father meets with Mary’s father, and asks for her hand in marriage. Imagine both fathers come to a wedding agreement perhaps with a toast of wine as they arrange the wedding. Joseph then tells Mary that he loves her and asks her to be his bride. Mary gleefully accepts Joseph’s proposal. Then Joseph binds his commitment to Mary by a gift, perhaps a ring, which he gives her in the presence of at least two witnesses. Imagine Joseph as he gives the ring to Mary and says to her “Behold you are consecrated unto me with this ring according to the laws of Moses.” Then a written contract is made, stating the terms of Joseph and Mary’s marriage. Imagine how excited Mary must have been at her betrothal or engagement ceremony! After the engagement party, Joseph leaves Mary for a year to prepare a home for his new bride. How excited Joseph and Mary must have been as they prepare for their formal wedding ceremony. Imagine their anticipation of that festive seven-day celebration, which follows the wedding ceremony. But instead of a wedding let alone a celebration their lives were changed forever.

         Have you ever made plans for your life, when all of a sudden wham! something happens to challenge your very existence, your very survival? In some case something so pungent, so overpowering, that it not only challenge you, but turn your life around 180 degrees in the opposite direction.

Similar thing happen to Mary and Joseph. Mary’s engagement party is long over. She is at her home in Nazareth waiting impatiently, but excitingly for her wedding ceremony, so that she can finally be with Joseph!  But their wedding plan was challenged!  By what God had asked them to do. You see the God of heaven whom we worship on Sundays and every day of our lives, this same God called on Joseph and Mary to be father and mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was a privilege, but it was also a challenge for both Mary and Joseph.

What has God asked you to do?

How has it challenge you?  

What is your answer?

God asked Joseph and Mary to do something that would change their lives and the world forever.

You see, God needed to come to us in person; because God had promised to save the world by sending us a savior. And in order for that to happen, God chose Mary and Joseph to be the mother and father of the Son of God, and savior of the world. So while Joseph gets busy building a home for his bride and while Mary waits eagerly for their wedding day they were blindsided, taken off guard by what God had asked them to do. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary and announces. Mary! “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God, and now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” Say what! This would probably be our response. I haven’t even had my wedding yet! Let alone a honeymoon! This must be a big joke right Gabriel! But this would have been a natural response. Mary was perplexed and she questioned the angel.  “How can this be since I have not been with my husband?  But the angel assured Mary saying, Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” And in case Mary had any doubt at all, the angel tells her, Mary your cousin Elizabeth who could not have a child is also pregnant in her old age and will have a son.  Mary later visits her cousin Elizabeth and found her pregnant with child.

Mary received a call form God to be the mother of Jesus – the Son of God.

What is God calling you to do today?

What is God asking us to do? 

        According to the Luke 1 passage, it seems as though it did not take Mary long to be persuaded to answer God’s ‘call.’ She did not even wait to discuss this with Joseph. Mary was obedient. She believed the angel, and her response was Yes Lord, I will be the mother of the savior of the world. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

When Mary’s pregnancy came to light, Joseph was bewildered, perplexed. He thought Mary had betrayed him. He thought that she was unfaithful. Joseph’s only answer to all this is to quietly dismiss Mary from his life. But this we know, in the midst of bewilderment and perplexity God is always present to assure us that we are not alone – that God who calls us is with us and will never leave us stranded when we answer His ‘call.’  When we are most vulnerable, when we are at the point of despair and hopelessness, God comes in and saves us from hopelessness and despair. God saved Joseph at his point of hopelessness and despair by sending an angel to him in a dream while he tossed and turned in his despair. "Joseph! Son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." Joseph woke up in God’s obedience, and like Mary he said yes to the call of God.

     Whenever God is working God’s purpose in the midst of God’s people, whenever God is working God’s purpose in your life it seems in the beginning as though everything is going wrong. Then the blaming game begins the pointing of fingers, gossiping, dissension, quarreling, jealousy, slandering, grumbling, division, and disunity. But in the midst of all this there are also prayers of intercession, a stirring-up of the Holy Spirit, a shifting of priorities, and a reviving of what was dying in our lives, and a strengthening through the Word of what remains. Then God’s people become pregnant with the things of God, with ministries and give birth to something new, fresh and wonderful as they become obedient to God’s call.

God sometimes asks us to do something so difficult that it seems to us to be impossible. God asked Joseph and Mary to do what seemed to be the impossible. But God reminds them and us that nothing will be impossible with God.   Because of their obedience Joseph and Mary became parents of the savior, the one who went on the cross to fulfill the command of His father’s promise to save his people from sin. And through our savior’s Salvific work on the cross, through His death and resurrection, we have eternal life.

 And this is the savior for whom we wait expectantly in this Advent season. This is a time of happiness and joy since we know for whom we are waiting. We are especially reminded that Emmanuel “God with us” has come to us! And He is with us.  Joseph and Mary waited for the first coming of the Messiah, but in this Advent season we not only celebrate Christ first coming but the Word of God encourages us to wait for His second coming. Yes, he is coming back.

        Joseph and Mary’s life’s plan was challenged by what God asked them to do but they said yes to God.

What is God asking you to do?

Whatever it may be, will you say yes to God? 

Let us pray:

Lamb of God, you once came to rid the world of sin; cleanse us now from every stain of sin.

 Lord, you came to save what was lost; come once again with your salvific power for your redeemed. We have come to know you in faith; may we have unending joy when you come again in glory.

By: Pastor Salome

ON THE BEATITUDES

  On the Beatitudes: Matthew 5:12-37

In the previous passage Jesus calls the Christians the ‘light of the world.’ Christians are the light of the church! Their light is radiant and shines forth from the presence of Christ within our hearts. And our lives are evident to the world!

Last week Pastor compared the Christians to one of the zesty spices, which spices up or gives good taste to our foods along with the salt that Jesus calls us. Some pastors compare the Christians, to cinnamon spice. Pastor encouraged us as Christians to be salt and peppers of the earth. When we eat or even smell pepper it wakes us up! Christians are to spice up the earth!

In the Gospel passage today, Jesus continues His sermon on the mount as he taught his disciples the full meaning of the law.  

In the passage Jesus uses the illustration of four laws: murder, adultery, divorce and swearing falsely, as prime examples of why merely observing the law might prevent a person from entering the kingdom of heaven, the reign of God, the shalom of God. (The reign of God is to let God control, rule or influence one’s life in daily living). (The reign of God in daily living brings shalom which means the piece of God in Christ).

In verse 20 Jesus expresses to his disciples, that unless their righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, they will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Wow!

This is one of the most shocking statements Jesus made in His whole Sermon on the Mount. In this statement Jesus put forth the profound nature or character of the Law.

For example, Jesus explains to his disciples that even though they may not express outward angry towards a person and yet in their heart they harbor anger towards that person they are subject to the same judgment as if they actually broke the law.  Jesus made it very clear to them that it is not about ‘works of righteousness and it is not about keeping the law perfectly. But it is about the condition of the heart.

Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that if they have a pure heart, a pure motive; it would lead them to right actions.

In Jesus’ day people took pride in keeping the law. For many of the religious leaders, practicing works of righteousness made them feel superior to those they thought of as law breaking sinners. Jesus, while he made it clear that He did not come to abolish the law; but to fulfill it, peels away at the façade, and exposes the condition of the hearts of those who practiced the law religiously. 

Again and again Jesus refuted what the religious leaders laid down as the law in order to set free those who were oppressed and condemned by the law.  For example, the law forbade healing on the Sabbath day, and Jesus went about healing the sick on the Sabbath day. 

You see, what the law could not do, God did, by sending Jesus Christ to fulfill the requirement of the law, to show us what it really means to love and to worship God, to give God reverence and to be a recipient of the marvelous grace of God.

It is not rules and regulations that draw us to God. Instead it is ‘GRACE’. It is the grace of God that draws us to God, and consequently leads us to repentance. Obeying a host of rules and regulations does not lead to right actions; it is having a pure heart enabled by ‘GRACE’ through faith in Jesus that leads to right actions. 

Many of you may remember growing up with what we had considered to be a barrage of rules and regulations given by our parents.

In my home there were a lot of rules. That’s how it was back home for plenty of Jamaicans. I love my father. He was very gracious as a person and as a pastor. I think somewhere in my father’s lifetime he was probably a Lutheran. This might account for my love for Luther’s theology of Justification by grace. Growing up in Jamaica when we wanted to do something adventurous as kids my father would say ‘go for it! And my mother would say, ‘Let it go!

My mother was a Salvation Army officer when she met my father. This might explain why she never waited for our father to come home to reprimand us kids for breaking a rule.

I love my mother. To me she is what the Bible calls a prudent (wise) woman.

In our home, it seemed as though the Ten Commandments were not enough for us kids.

So my mother would make up additional rules to spruce up the Ten Commandments for us kids to obey. She probably thought that she could make us follow the commandments perfectly by making up additional rules.

I remember this one particular rule:

“Thou shalt not fight at school and if one of your peers should hit you, thou shalt turn the other cheek.”

          After my sisters and I received many beatings at school from our peers, mother finally gave us permission to use “the eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth rule.” Well, you can imagine how relieved we were, since we were tired of taking beatings and turning the other cheek.

My sister Nora and I were one of a kind growing up. In some ways we still share elements of twin-ship to this day although we are not twins. We both did not think very   highly of those rules, but our sister Judy would obey the rules to the letter. In our parents absence, whenever Nora  and I decide to break a rule, my sister Judy would remind us to honor  our  father and mother so that our days may be long upon the land which the Lord our God gives us. But Nora and I would simply ask her whether this meant she will not be joining us on our adventure.

As I grew older, I realized that the reason for the rules in our home was to keep us safe. It was so that we would have Reverence for God, respect for our parents, respect for our life and for the lives of others, respect for property, and respect for the truth. So that wrong desires may not be our master. 

Rules and regulations are usually well intended. But they do not teach the Grace of God which brings freedom in Christ Jesus. Jesus wanted to minister to the hearts of his disciples and he wants to minister to our hearts too. He wanted his disciples as well Christians to understand that it is a ‘heart thing.’ He wants us to understand that it is not a matter of keeping rules and regulations, it’s not a matter of working hard to be perfect, and it is not about works of righteousness. But it is about the condition of the heart.  

What the law could not do, God did, by sending His son Jesus Christ into the world to offer up himself as a sacrifice for our sin. Yes, he went to the cross for us. And on that cross Jesus declares, “It is finished.” Our hard works of righteousness is finished, our endless attempts to be perfect by obeying the law is finished. We are saved by Grace through Faith in Jesus. Christ is our righteousness. And we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are the redeemed of the Lord. Through Christ’s death, His finished work on the cross and His resurrection, we are guaranteed life eternal. 
Every day I am reminded that you and I are God’s royal priests. And in our baptism, you and I are marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

By: Pastor Salome

THE UNFAITHFUL MANAGER

SERMON on Luke 16:1-13

Sermon Title: ‘The unfaithful Manager’

Do you find this parable of the unfaithful manager confusing? Well, you are not the only one! This parable has discombobulated or confused many, many, people down through the ages. It is difficult to comprehend how an unfaithful, steward who is about to be relieved of his position ends up receiving praise from his master.    

Another thing I have noticed is the many different titles that are given to this passage: The unjust steward, the shrewd manager, the unfaithful servant and much more. My title today is fifty-fifty. Thus making it the ‘unfaithful manager.’

But in order for us to really get a clear grasp of this parable, we need to look at the context in which it was presented.

The story of the unfaithful manager is one of four parables given in a series, and begins in Luke 15.  Luke 15 tells us that tax collectors and sinners drew near to Jesus to listen to him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. So they concluded that since Jesus hangs around sinners he has something in common with them. He must be a sinner also – an attack through association.  But Jesus responds through his most potent means of defense and that is through telling parables, in this case, four parables.   

Luke 15 encompasses three of the parables. The first is the parable of The Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7). This parable expresses the great effort that is made to rescue the one sheep that was lost and when it is found the owner lays it on his shoulder, rejoices that the sheep is found, brings it home and calls all the neighbors to rejoice with him.  The parable of the lost sheep communicates to us how precious every single person is to God. And is worth every effort to save. The scribes and Pharisees that were present, had their focus on the sins of sinners but Jesus had his focus on sinners who needed to be saved

The second parable is about a Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10). A widow loses her 10th silver coin, and searches thoroughly until she finds it. When she finds it she calls her friends and neighbor to come and rejoice with her.  

Jesus reminds us in this parable that we put a lot of effort in something that we feel is valuable to us. The coin that the widow lost was about a day’s wage, and like the one sheep that was import to its owner, even though the widow had nine more coins she searched thoroughly for the one that was lost because it was valuable to her. Just imagine, if so much effort and excitement was placed on finding a lost silver coin, how much more God rejoices over a sinner who was lost and is found.

          The third parable is about the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32).  We learn in this parable that no matter how we turn our backs on God, when we return to God, God is able to forgive us and takes us back. There is nothing a sinner can do that will let God disown the sinner. Here in this parable, the prodigal son represents the sinner drawing near to Jesus, and the son who was always at home represents the Pharisees who because of his focus on himself was unable to celebrate the return of a son who was lost and now returns home.

Today’s Gospel passage tells about an unfaithful manager (Luke 16:1-13). The passage may seem obscure or confusing to us but the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day understood it well. And they knew that Jesus was talking about them. (Verse 14) 

 Jesus uses this Parable to make a point about unrighteous stewardship.

 This unfaithful manager was entrusted with his master’s possessions and was given the task to manage it. How often we expect a steward who is entrusted with a master’s possession to be faithful in management. But are we not all guilty of wasting valuable time and resources on the job, which we could use productively in the master’s service?           In today’s gospel the unfaithful manager is forewarned that he is about to lose his job.

 He did not want to work for a living and from what we gather from the passage he was too lazy to put out much effort. Does that describe us? How often many of us look for a way out that demands the least effort.

In the other three parables we see the great effort that was put forth in finding whatever or whoever was lost. All around us, in our communities there are people who find themselves lost in some way or other. If we make an effort to search for them we will find them. That is part of being a faithful a manager – a good steward.  This unfaithful manager refused to beg. It was beneath his dignity. Many of us find that there are things and even people beneath our dignity.

After the manager was forewarned that he is about to lose his job, he brilliantly uses his master’s resources to provide for himself.  When the master learns how clever the unfaithful manager was, he praised him. It is here that we need to see that the master did not praise the manager for the mismanagement of his master’s resources, but instead he is praised for his very clever planning.

          Verse 8 tells us that people in the world who are ungodly know how to use the world’s system to get worldly thing, while godly people don’t even know how to get the most from spiritual things. The Pharisees were squandering precious resources. While there were people in their midst who needed to be brought back to God, But they refused to see the importance or worth of these people. And they refused even to use God’s rich resources to bring them back to God.

As Christians we can become so caught up in the daily activities of our lives, that we lose sight of the spiritual goal. Thus we find ourselves living our lives through temporal means. Vs. 13; goes directly to the root of the Pharisees problem. It gives them a choice either to serve God or their wealth, and reminded them that no one can serve two masters.  We are faced with these same problems and the passage also speaks to us.

     Questions: What will you do with your life? What will you 
do with your resources? And what will you do with the people in our midst? What will you do with the people who need to be brought back to God? 
Will you reach out for the one who is lost and guide him or her back to the cross of Christ. Amen.
By: Pastor Salome

THIS ODD AND WONDROUS CALLING

 Sermon

Passage: Matthew 4:1-23

Sermon title:  “This Odd and Wondrous Calling”

Let us pray:

Your ‘Word’ O God is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Light our path with your Word. Amen.

I started reading a book entitled “This Odd and Wondrous Calling.”  I fell in love with the title so much that I seem to have taken more time to put my own life story on the pages of that book, and less time reading it. In fact, I believe this title is a perfect theme for today’s Gospel passage; “This Odd and Wondrous Calling.”

John the Baptist had experienced this ‘Odd and Wondrous Calling.” God had called him from his mother’s womb to be a precursor for Jesus.  John accepted the ‘call’ and began his ministry with specific instructions from God, given to him through his father Zechariah (Luke 1:13).  John’s calling stipulates that he is never to drink wine nor strong drink. Like John, we are also called to this ‘Odd and Wondrous Calling.’ And at times I am inclined to believe; our calling also comes with the same stipulations as John, not to drink wine nor strong drinks, among other things.

Couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to do field service at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Grove City. While I was there I had my first experience with three communion services, consecutively. And after the third cup of wine, this precious means of grace at the third service, I began to think that perhaps I received the same stipulations as John.    

As a precursor for Jesus, John is given a specific message for the people. He proclaims to them, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." The Gospel passage today, reveals to us the profound ‘cost’ of laying hold of and carrying out the task of this odd and wondrous call of God. I believe John knew the cost of this ‘Odd and Wondrous Calling.’ I believe he knew that calling people to repentance might cost him his very life, but he was faithful and obedient to God. He did what he was called to do. I believe the people did not fully understand the depth of what John was saying when he declared, “He, (Jesus) must increase, but I, (John), must decrease” (John 3:30).   

In our walk with God, in our ministry, are we willing to be obedient to God?  Are we willing to do what God asks us to do? And are we willing to decrease and let God increase in us? Think about it. That is what John did for the sake of Christ Jesus, when he obeyed God and called people to repentance. John’s truthful proclamation of the Gospel got him arrested, and put in prison. There is a cost to proclamation - a cost to proclaim truthfully, the Gospel of Christ.  All of us as Christ’s body are called to proclaim the Good News. In doing so, it may cost our freedom, a demotion from a position we hold dear, or like John, it may even cost our lives.

Last week, Pastor told us that when John saw Jesus coming towards him, John declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ John was put in prison for proclaiming the Good News of repentance.  And while in prison he had something so pungent on his mind that he probably did not get much sleep. John wanted to know one thing, and that was whether the one he pointed out as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is truly the Messiah. Was the one for whom he waits, truly the Messiah? So John sent message to Jesus from prison asking Jesus if he is the Messiah (Luke 7:20). Jesus’ only answer for John is that the “blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”   I believe Jesus must have known that John would understand the meaning of Jesus’ words to him. Perhaps John would have preferred to hear from Jesus, something more concrete – something like, “Yes John, I am the Messiah, I am the one for whom you wait.” But I believe John was satisfied with Jesus’ answer, and perhaps after hearing what Jesus had to say, John had his first good night’s sleep in prison.

Perhaps, like John, we too have doubts.  John had doubts as to whether Jesus is the Messiah. We may have doubts as to whether Jesus is coming back for us as he said he would. Jesus encouraged John’s faith by sending him the message.  Today we have Jesus’ message to us in the Scriptures; the ‘Word’ that encourages us in our faith, and strengthens us to continue to proclaim the Good News with the hope that Christ will return and in the hope of our resurrection. 

I believe that perhaps even in prison John was not quiet. Perhaps he continued to call for people to repent of their sin and turn to God.  Imagine John the Baptist shouting his repentance message at Herod! And for that it cost him his life. John had counted the cost!

Royal Priests, have you counted the cost of proclaiming the Gospel of Christ boldly and truthfully?

The Gospel passage today continues to unfold as it tells us that when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, He left his home town in Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum in Galilee, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles --the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." (Matt. 4:12-16).

The passage reveals to us John’s arrest and Jesus embarking on his ‘call’ to ministry.  John’ prophecy, “He (Jesus) must increase, but I (John) must decrease” is fulfilled. And the arrival of the light of the world has come to Galilee! The shalom of God is here!  The reign of God is about to begin! God has invaded earth, in Jesus Christ! And Galilee is the place in Palestine, for the shalom of God to begin!

Ancient Galilee was a district of Palestine situated fifty miles from north to south, twenty-five miles from east to west and densely populated. It was connected by the coastal strip of the Phoenicians and bordered by Syria on the northeast.  Galilee was inhabited by a diversity of people with diverse cultures. Some of the native Galileans were the Canaanites; some of whose descendants may still be living in Galilee today.  The Israelite tribes of Asher, Naphtali and Zebulum when they first came out of the bondage of Egypt lived in Galilee (Josh. 9).

Galilee at the time of Jesus was a busy place. The Way of the Sea – the road to commerce led from Damascus directly through Galilee to Egypt and Africa. The traffic of the world passed through Galilee. Galilee was invaded repeatedly and conquered, and was often flooded with foreigners.  And its geographical location made it a perfect place for foreign influence and new ideas.

The name Galilee comes from the Hebrew word ‘galil,’ which means circle. The full name was Galilee of the Gentiles, and is named mainly, because Galilee was surrounded by foreigners. To the north and east, were the Syrians, and to the south were the Samaritans. All of which made Galilee open to new ideas in a way that no other part of Palestine was. Galilee was the WORLD! It was the one place in all of Palestine where a new teacher name Jesus, with his message of repentance would be heard.

The people were receptive to Jesus’ teachings! And like John, his message was a command for people to “Repent!”  - To turn from their own ways, and turn to God. Jesus’ message was a command for people to lift up their eyes from earthly passions and look to God. Jesus the light of the world has come to those who sat in the darkness of their sin and they would hear the Good News. 

In proclaiming the Good News, Jesus walked up to fishermen tending their boats and mending their nets on the shores of Galilee and he called them! “Follow me” He said, “And I will teach you how to fish for people.” The men put down their nets, left their boats – left all they ever knew, and followed Jesus.

What have you left behind to follow Jesus? What have we left behind to follow him? Think about it.

This ‘Odd and Wondrous Calling’ does not end with the call of the disciples. Jesus is still calling us today. And he is also saying to us, ‘Follow me,’ and I will teach you how to impact the lives of people who are brokenhearted, oppressed and sad, discouraged and alienated by being a light unto them.  Let us be obedient to the ‘call’ - this ‘Odd and Wondrous Calling.’ Let us proclaim the Gospel of Christ boldly, and truthfully.  Let us all let our light shine so the world can see Jesus.

Proclaiming the truth of the gospel is costly! It costs John the Baptist his life in prison.  It costs Jesus his life on the cross where He laid it down for the sins of the world. But through His death and resurrection, we have this blessed hope – this blessed assurance of eternal life with Christ.  

Saints of God, you are loved with an everlasting love. You are God’s Royal Priests. And in your baptism, you and I are marked with the cross of Christ, and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever. Amen

By: Pastor Salome Pathak