Just the Beginning - Sermon for the First Sunday of Christmas - Narratve Lectionary 2

Just the Beginning

Christmas 1A-NL 2

December 31, 2023

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Mark 1.1-20

On a day when the Vikings play the Packers, I hate to begin the sermon with a story about legendary Green Bay Coach Vince Lombardi, but it’s a good one. In July 1961 at the beginning of training camp, Lombardi decided that  would begin each season by taking his team back to the fundamentals. He began doing that because his Packers fell short in the previous season’s title game and he didn’t want that to happen again. So, he addressed the assembled training camp players by holding aloft a ball declaring, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” (By the way, one of the players, probably Paul Hornung, quipped, “Can you slow down Coach? You’re going too fast.”) 

It worked, because that year they won the title and Lombardi never lost a playoff game again.

In today’s Gospel reading we hear that this is “the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, Son of God.” Last September we have been working our way through the Old Testament up to the story of Jesus’ birth. Today’s reading begins our trip through Mark’s Gospel from now to Easter and there are things it would be helpful for you to know about Mark. For instance, Mark was probably the first Gospel written and most likely the basis for Gospels Matthew and Luke. (John is a whole other matter, different from all three.) Also, you can see by today’s lesson that Mark moves fast, hardly pausing for a breath. Jesus is always “on the way” somewhere and things happen “immediately.” Mark can’t be bothered with endless genealogies, angels, shepherds, foreign wisemen, or histories. Finally, though the reader is told that Jesus is God’s Son, his followers are often clueless as to who Jesus is. Others seem to know, but not his disciples.

So, although Mark seems in an all-fired hurry, thought it would be helpful to linger a moment over that first and fundamental sentence, “the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” What does Mark mean by “the beginning of the Good News?” One possibility comes from one theologian’s description of a Gospel as “a passion narrative with an extended introduction.” In other words, this is prelude to the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Perhaps Mark is rushing us ahead to the “good stuff” that’s really important in his mind.

But I think a clue to another reason for Mark’s claim that this is the beginning comes in the ending. After the women encountered the empty tomb, they fled in terror, and “said nothing to nobody, for they were afraid.” Mark’s Gospel ends abruptly, so much so that later writers felt the need to add not one but two separate endings. But I think it was Mark’s intention to end that way, that the Gospel was meant to be open-ended. In other words, the good news of Jesus Christ is just beginning, with the story continuing to be written in our lives.

One privilege of being an interim pastor is to hear the stories of how God has worked and is working in the congregations I’m serving. And I also am privileged to hear how peoples’ personal stories intersect those of the congregation. In both instances I hear also how God has been present in, with, and through those stories. At Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, I’ve been astounded how every difficulty and setback – and there have been several, serious ones – has not been seen as an ending but rather as a new beginning of ministry. You haven’t taken those difficult and even traumatic events lightly, but they haven’t finished you either.

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions nor do I typically look at January 1st as starting over. But perhaps just this once I can make an exception. Let’s go back to the basics. To do so, I invite us to take the time to think about what beginning God has in store for Our Savior’s Lutheran Church this next year after a very challenging last year. Can you be open to what is unfolding in God’s kingdom? Let’s ask ourselves, “What is God up to at Our Savior’s and what does God want to do?” I don’t know the answer to that but I do know that we can figure it out together. Meanwhile, know that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, crucified and risen, continues to work. So, Happy New Year! Amen.

My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

The Christmas Story - Sermon for Christmas Eve 2023

The Christmas Story

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2023

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Luke 2.1-20

It seems that Christmas is a good time for stories, and no doubt many will be told this year, around the Christmas tree or table.If we were to gather, our family would tell the story of a bachelor uncle who grudgingly came each year, demanding that we not get him a gift yet get anyway. We’d talk about the year that all four of us children got identical clock radios by parents who scrupulously made every Christmas equal, down to the last penny. And there’d be that poignant Christmas when my sister, then too old, got her last doll. And I’d tell about the Christmas time when I baffled that same sister by disguising her present so well that it made her crazy. Then there’d be the time my mom made lutefisk because my Swedish great aunt and uncle came to dinner, a dinner that stunk up the house for days.

Of course, in many homes the Christmas story will be told again in one fashion or another, either around the tree or the table. It’s the story about how God took on flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth, as the Gospel writer John tells us. It strikes a chord in us, not just because it’s about a cute, vulnerable, baby. And not just because it involves angels and shepherds and animals and wise foreign visitors. It strikes a chord in us because we want to be reminded that God cares about us enough to be with us.

Unfortunately, there’ll be competing stories told this Christmas that stand against this one. Some of us will tell ourselves that God is distant and doesn’t care about us anymore, if at all. We’ll tell ourselves the story that God may come for other people, but God doesn’t come for us. We’ll tell the story that we have done such awful things that God couldn’t possibly come to us. Or perhaps we’ve bought the story that our worth is based on what we give or what we get. Most deadly, we tell ourselves that we must be happy because this is a happy time of year, and everyone else is happy so we should be happy, too.

I’m not going to tell you those stories aren’t true, because they might be your truth this year. Rather, I want to invite you into the larger one that encompasses these smaller stories. The Larger Story of Christmas tells us that God meets us where we are and as we are, no matter what. Two thousand years ago, God came to a people “who lived in great darkness” amid oppressive governance and so God continues to come to us, especially in our darkest times. The Larger Story says to the Smaller Stories that, evidence to the contrary, God continues to come. And, as Mary, who pondered all these things in her heart, we take to heart the Larger Story that surrounds our stories.

As you gather around the Christmas tree or table this year to tell stories, please hear the Larger Story of God’s love for you. Hear of a love so strong that God will go to any length to show you that love. In a few minutes, God will come down yet again and be made flesh in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. You will hold God in your hands and know that the one who gave God’s self at Christmas continues to give that Love over and over again. We think that this story is too good to be true. Rather, it is too good not to be true. Merry Christmas, God’s Beloved. Amen.

My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.

Mysterious Hope - Sermon for Advent 1B, Narrative Lectionary 2

Mysterious Hope

Advent 1B – NL2

December 3, 2023

Our Savior’s, Faribault, MN

Jeremiah 33.14-18; Mark 8.27-29

You may already know this by now, but I love to read novels, especially murder mysteries. One of my favorite Minnesota authors, either Allen Eskens or William Kent Krueger (I don’t remember which) said that all stories are mysteries because you don’t know how they will turn out. Early on in a story, especially if it’s not particularly engaging, I’ll wonder where this story is going and not until half or two-thirds in that I find I’m really hooked and can’t wait to see how it ends. Then, at the denouement, I can usually see the breadcrumbs the author left earlier, but sometimes I’m mad because it seems the ending is pulled out of thin air. Even so, very often the ending isn’t what I expect, which is great, but I can see how we got there.

Today is the First Sunday of Advent, a time of preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. We all know the story, of course, and more or less how it ends. Yet, here we are reading it again just as we do each year. I’d like us to think of these Advent texts as theological breadcrumbs scattered along the way that give us hints of what is to come. The themes of Advent include not only preparation, but of watching and waiting as well. So, I’m asking you today: Can we not rush to the “end” but rather examine the breadcrumbs to see what they tell us about that ending?

One breadcrumb today comes from the prophet Jeremiah, a singularly depressing fellow. Life starts out pretty good prophecy-wise as he encourages the reforms proclaimed by King Josiah. We met Josiah last week who did not walk in the ways of his father and grandfather, kings who “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Sadly, neither Josiah nor his reforms lasted long enough as both his son and grandson will do the same thing as Josiah’s father and grandfather. Meanwhile, Jeremiah was faced with the resulting blowback because of their apostasy, first from Egypt and then Babylon.

During Jeremiah’s time, the southern kingdom of Judah went from being a vassal state of Egypt to being destroyed by the Babylonians. This much the same that happened to the northern kingdom of Israel 200 years before, except it was the Assyrians who were the aggressors. Jeremiah will be urging the people to repent and not resist the coming siege to the very end. Imprisoned by the palace guard, Jeremiah will be abducted and taken to live out his days in Egypt, but not until he utters a word of hope amid total devastation. His promise: even though there are no kings left in Judah, it’s not the end. The breadcrumb he places states that there will be a day when a new king will arise, one that is different from all the rest. This king will execute justice and righteousness.

This word of hope is important for Our Savior’s Lutheran Church as we wonder about our future, especially in view of the events of the past few months, even years, that leave us wondering where God is. To probe this hope a bit, I’d like you to do an exercise with me by being “Jeremiahs.” As you find yourself in this ongoing story today, what is your greatest hope for OSLC in the coming years? After you receive Holy Communion, fill out a Hope Slip at either table by completing the sentence, “My greatest hope for Our Savior’s is … .” The church council will read through the slips to get a sense of what your hopes and dreams are. Then the Transition Team will process the slips more intensely early next year.

There’s one more breadcrumb in our readings today, Peter’s assertion that it is Jesus who will be this Messiah. We also know this because we’ve read the end of the story happening at Easter. But we also know what Peter and the others don’t know yet, and what Jeremiah predicts, that Jesus is unexpectedly so. It will take a long time for the disciples and the early church to realize that what they have found in Jesus is far more important than what they were looking for.

One more thing that I learned in an early college literature class. The American novel that developed was different from its predecessors in that the American novel was open-ended. It left you wondering what happened next. As we go through Advent to Christmas and beyond, I encourage you to savor this time. Not only to sit with the “breadcrumbs” but also to discover those clues about what God is doing as you prepare for your next settled lead pastor, and not assume you know the ending. Because like the great American novels, the story is open-ended and still being written. What’s your greatest hope for Our Savior’s and how might God answer in unexpected ways? Watch and wait as you prepare. Amen.

My sermons don't always preach as they are written. For video of the sermon with the entire service, click here.