“Good News of Great Joy” (Luke 2:8-20)

Luke 2:8-20

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Pastor Tom Johnson, December 24, 2016

God has an odd marketing strategy. It is a strange way to publicize the greatest gift ever given to humanity. Important news would normally be proclaimed at the city gates of a large city. That’s the place of highest traffic and quickest way to spread information. You’ll remember that there was a lot of danger threatening the life of this newborn child. King Herod and the Roman authority did not want anyone to be born who could claim the throne of David. But it is still a wonderful revearsal of who we might pick to be the first audience to hear the news of Jesus’ birth. It is a fanfare for the common man—a message to the most ordinary people in the first century—shepherds—sheep farmers. And not only that, they are working the night shift. Their job was to lose any head of sheep in the valleys of the shadow of death. They used rod and staff to corral their flock and fight off predators that like to hunt under the cover of darkness. It was these courageous workers that sat in darkness. They are these humble laborers who see a great light. Their first reaction is to be overcome by dread and fear as they are suddenly engulfed in the light of God’s glory. The angels steal their fear by good news. They are called out of their terror and directed to a newborn King. He is the long-awaited Messiah. He has come to deliver all of us from fear—the fear of death, evil, and sin. He comes to save us from the sad reality of death, evil, and sin
.

And nothing has changed these past two thousand years about the human condition. This world still has its dark nights when we fearfully keep watch. We still live in the sober reality that there are threats on every side. Death and evil still threaten us daily and nightly. Our own hearts keep us from being faithful through our night shift. We grow weary in doing good. Our trust in God waxes and wanes like the moon. And we forget that we are here to love and serve God and our neighbor through the darkness. It is a jarring reminder that in God there is no darkness at all. The light of his glory will blind our eyes that have grown accustomed to the darkness. It can be terrifying to realize we have not gone unnoticed by God.

Like the shepherds who quietly work under the cover of night in obscurity, we may often think that no one notices us either. But God does see. He does know every thought and intention of the heart. And no one escapes his notice. I believe it is even evidence of God’s spectacular sense of humor—to choose an audience like this—like us. Every individual is precious in his sight. We can laugh at how must he values each soul. Thank God we are wrong to think that some live lives of anonymity and obscurity. They matter to God. The angels tell the shepherds not to be afraid—but to hear good news of great joy. The good news is not just valuable information about a promise made long ago. It is not merely the dissemination of information to make them smarter.

It is good news of great joy. It is to fill their ears, eyesight, minds, hearts, mouths, and lives. These humble shepherds will immediately go to see their newborn King. They will receive the news by hearing, seeing, pondering, believing, preaching, and worshiping. The good news will transform their lives. The joy of the Lord will be their strength. They are not just telling people “it’s a boy.” They are giving hope, strength, and joy to the world. This is the long-expected Messiah. This is the Christ Child promised long ago. He will finally deliver us from all our fears and everything that threatens us. Mary herself will treasure all their words and spend a lifetime pondering them in her heart. And so God meets us in our valley of the shadow of death. He visits us in our loneliness and obscurity. God says to us, “You have not gone unnoticed. You are the apple of my eye. I want to take your fear away. I want to fill you with great joy. “It’s a boy! A child is born. He is a gift to Mary and Joseph. He is the Royal Son of a holy nation. And yet he is for all people. He is Savior and Deliverer to the whole world. He is born to deliver us. In him we have forgiveness, life, and salvation.

“God with Us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23b)

Isaiah 7:10-16
Matthew 1:18-25

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Pastor Tom Johnson, December 18, 2016

It must be an unsettling thing for Joseph. He feels that he has no choice. He cannot go through the marriage. His fiancé Mary is pregnant. He is not the father. But because of his authentic love for Mary, he does not want to publicly embarrass or shame her. He plans to dismiss her quietly. Just like the Joseph of Genesis, he will also have a dream. God sends an angel to visit him in his sleep. The mission is to reassure Joseph. “Do not be afraid. Take Mary to be your wife. Name the child who is conceived by the Holy Spirit ‘Jesus.’ His name means deliverer. And he will save people from their sins.” What Joseph needs is assurance that God is with him. He needs confidence that God is on his side. Joseph will need support. He will need God’s strength. And he will need courage to be the father he is called to be to the promised Messiah. This fulfills what the prophet Isaiah wrote: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God with us.” God is with us even though we may not see him. God is with us even though we may not believe in him or trust in him.

This Scripture that is fulfilled is first directed to King Ahaz. He is everything a king should not be. In fact the book 2 Kings (16:2-4) says, “he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” and even did unspeakable things to his own son. He participated in human sacrifice and other destructive pagan practices. In other words, he was not even a believer. And it is God himself that approaches Ahaz to propose a sign. The sign will be useful just like we use signs all the time: to assure us that we are on the right path or to bring us to the right path. Ahaz tells God, “Thanks but no thanks. I will not put the Lord to the test.” It is a very religious sounding answer. It may sound pious but he is clearly rejecting God. He does not want a sign. Because that would mean his life will have to change.

Maybe we are a lot more like Ahaz than we want to admit. Perhaps we are more like Joseph than we want to admit. Both of them are reluctant. Both doubt God’s purposes. But Ahaz is especially stubborn. He will not believe. He refuses God’s offer. And he even uses religious language to do so. We can also be like Ahaz—if not individually we are collectively. We can miss the Christmas story and God’s reassurance that he is with us. We may even sound religious and pious but we miss the main point of it all: God with us. We can be like Joseph at times—not fully understanding God’s purposes. We have days when we doubt and do not trust God as fully as we ought to. We need that extra nudge of encouragement. We need a reminder that God is still with us.

We are surrounded by Christmas trees, Santa, reindeer, jingling bells, tear-jerker movies, and familiar holiday music. But how much of it directs us to the Christ child? Does it assure us that God is with us in the person of Jesus? There is a real danger of over sentimentalizing this time of year. For some people it is not a time of warm feelings and good memories. Quite the opposite. It can be a time of heightened grief, loneliness, and pain. We need to know that God is indeed with us in the good times and the bad. Materialism also threatens to cause us to miss the Christmas story. One of the most brazen ways this is done is to take a Christmas Carol and re-write the words to sell us their products. The gifts we give should remind us of the greatest gift given—Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

That is what I love about both the story of Ahaz and the story of Joseph. The original Christmas story is messy. The story before the original Christmas story is messy. We should not be surprised that the story after is messy as well. God sends his eternal Son to an unbelieving and sinful world. He gives to us even when we are ungrateful. He takes the initiative to relieve our doubts. He is there when we are confused. He sends his angels to reassure us. He sends signs to soothe our anxious souls. He comes to hearten, inspire, encourage, and to comfort us. He points to Emmanuel. He directs us to Jesus again and again. He is the one who comes to deliver us. He is the one who is with us. Just as he came to a broken world before. So shall he come again to be with us.

“If God is with us…if God is for us, who can be against us? …He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom 8:31,32). “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword? …For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38,39).

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight. 
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

And so we pray, “Even so, amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

“The wolf and the lamb” (Isaiah 11:1-10)

Isaiah 11:1-10

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Pastor Tom Johnson, December 4, 2016

John the Baptist promises that Jesus comes to baptize—not just with water—but with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Generations before, the prophet Isaiah gives us a very vivid picture of what this Messiah will do. We have a wolf sharing a home with a lamb, a leopard lounging with a baby goat, and a baby cow and bear hanging out together. We see both cows and bears eating grass and lions also eating woody vegetation
with the ox. At first glance, it may seem like a good argument for one to become a vegan or vegetarian. And, I admit, it can be very heartwarming: Who doesn’t like greeting cards or videos with animals snuggling up to one another? But we should not miss the radical and progressive description here. It’s purpose is not to warm the heart but prepare ourselves for the coming of Messiah. Isaiah wants us to be ready for the shoot from the stump of Jesse.

Don't be duped! This is photoshopped! :)

Nature is beautiful. I absolutely love our State and National Parks. God’s creation is a powerful reminder that God made everything we see and calls it good. But nature is also cruel and deadly. Maybe we should watch National Geographic documentaries along with cartoons or movies that have talking animals. We will see how wild animals survive. I can assure you that is not by showing empathy to the weak and the young. Wolves target the very young and weak. Not only are they an easy catch; its meat is far more tender. Wild cats do not play fair either. They will also go after the most vulnerable and try to separate them from the herd and older prey. Did you notice the pattern among the animals in our text? The carnivore is now with the herbivore. The meat eater hangs out with the plant eater. The mature, wild animal is with the young, domesticated animal. Like all prophets in Scripture, Isaiah is using animals to illustrate the truth about humanity. Wild animals are often used to describe foreign nations and domesticated animals the people of God.

This is a sobering reminder that human nature is also devastatingly wild. We too consume one another—we target the weak and young. Consider the young in the crossfire of our city streets—or victims and refugees of war—or human trafficking. Evil preys upon the weak. There is little mercy toward the young. Terrorists and political leaders around the world abuse their power. And they have no problem using the youngest and most vulnerable as collateral damage. But that is what we all do when we do not love one another as we are called to do. Rather than work together, forgive one another, and love each other and dwell together in peace; we prefer to be in competition. That is the deceit of sin. That is our wild nature from birth—ever since our parents’ first sin. We put our own needs before the needs of others. We are consumed by our own desires. And, if we are not careful, it is at the expense of others—even the young and vulnerable. We have become like ravenous wolves—controlled by our own hunger—slaves to our appetite. We are both perpetrators and victims to evil—we are both predators and prey to sin. “Discipline yourselves,” Scripture tells us, “keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” This world wants to have us for breakfast.

The good news of our text is what Messiah does when he comes. He is an animal whisperer. He does not come to destroy the threat of wild beasts. He comes to transform them. He comes to change their very animal nature. He comes to domesticate them. And the really amazing thing about Messiah is that he does not come in what appears to be great power and glory. He comes in what we would consider weakness and vulnerability. “A little child shall lead them,” our texts says. Even as an infant, this child will play over a snake nest and not be bitten. This little child will lead both the wild beasts and the domesticated animals. He will rule all nations—foreign and domestic. And he will not do it by force but by the power of the Holy Spirit that transforms lives. He will domesticate all humanity. He will tame the wildest among us. We will no longer hunt each other nor flee one another. We will lose our appetite for violence. We will say our final goodbyes to the fear of evil and death itself. He will gather us into one mountain, make us one people, and feed us with daily bread. It will be as radical a change as a bear grazing with an ox.

There is another beautiful picture in this text that I don’t want us to miss. It is a reversal of Noah’s flood and the violence that caused it. It is no longer two by two of the same species entering a new world. It is now two by two of what we would consider at odds—wolves and lambs, leopards and kids, lions and calves. Rather than water destroying all living things—this is a baptism of the Holy Spirit and refining fire. “The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” The peace Messiah brings will saturate the world. His grace will reach every corner. His mercy will fill every void. This young babe will domesticate all creatures great and small. And he will make us an eternal home. “And his dwelling shall be glorious.” And so we pray, “Even so, amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

“Thanksgiving, a Path to Peace” (Philippians 4:4-9)

Philippians 4:4-9

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 24, 2016

The Christian faith promises peace. It is like no other peace. You will not find this kind of peace in all the universe. Even with all of its assets and natural resources, this world cannot give to you the peace that Jesus gives. The source of this peace is the Prince of Peace. Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” We as a church family “exchange the peace” together. We welcome one another with the words, “The peace of the Lord.” We greet one another with God’s peace. The height of our service is the Body and Blood of our service and the pronouncement of the “Peace of the Lord be with you always!” Our worship ends with “peace” in the benediction. The goal of worship is to launch us out into the world as God’s peace-benefactors and his peace-makers. “So, don’t be anxious,” Jesus says to us, “Stop your worrying. Don’t let fear get the best of you. Live your life with the reality of peace.”

Our Scripture today for Thanksgiving says “Do not worry about anything.” When we worry, we needlessly live our lives without peace. We actually are denying ourselves true peace. Paul tells us, “Don’t do that.” “Don’t worry” challenges us to have the courage to pursue for peace in our lives. It challenges us to hold God to his word and boldly ask him for this peace. It challenges us to surrender our worry and illusion that we are in control. But Paul does not just tell us what not to do. He tells us what to do: “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” In other words, hand your anxiety and worry over to the One who can take it away. Surrender to the Prince of Peace. He lived and died to take away every threat to body and soul. He rose to give us the assurance we need and a hope that will not be disappointed. When we turn to Jesus, we have begun to count our blessings with the greatest blessing of all: Jesus. He is the sure antidote to strife, anxiety, and fear. And continue to count your blessings. Consider all the blessings you do have even if you feel like they are overshadowed by the bad.  Our Scripture encourages us to approach “everything…with prayer and thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving is prayer. Thanksgiving is an act of worship. Thanksgiving is a work of God in us. And he promises to lift our spirits into the reality of his Kingdom. He leads us through our dark valleys on a path of peace.

That is what our Scripture promises: “The peace of God which surpasses understanding—peace that transcends comprehension—will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Our brains’ circuitry cannot fully process how wonderful God’s peace is. We will never fully comprehend the height, depth, and width of God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. God’s power does not need our understanding to work in our lives. But God does use our prayer with thanksgiving. Giving thanks to God for the things that come to mind will help us along this path toward peace. And as his peace comes, it does not depend on our understanding. His peace transcends our comprehension. So that we have a peace that may be difficult to explain but no less real. And the catalyst is the gift of God’s Son through our prayers of thanksgiving.

In a few minutes from now we will receive Holy Communion—what we sometimes call the Eucharist. It is based on the New Testament word eucharisteo. The eu means good and charis means grace. In this Meal, we experience the good grace of God. Like Spanish and other Romance languages, thanksgiving is based on the word grace. We give thanks. Some of us still refer to praying at the dinner table as saying “Grace.” It is living life mindful of the grace of God with hearts filled with gratitude. It is prayerful recognition of God’s loving work in our lives. We gather around a Table this morning around the grace-filled Bread and Wine and Body and Blood of our Lord. We are mindful of God’s blessings particularly the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ.
Later today, we will gather around the table with friends and family. It is another opportunity to share this wonderful truth—that we can surrender all our worries and anxieties to God. And that with prayerful thanksgiving, God will give you and yours peace.

“Christ the King” (Luke 23:33-43)

Luke 23:33-43

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 20, 2016

The word for criminal in our Gospel reading means evildoer. Mark’s Gospel identifies them as revolutionaries—insurrectionists (Mk 15:7). They were being crucified for crimes against the state. In this case, the Roman authority. We know that insurrectionists would go into public places with concealed daggers and knife Roman citizens and officials and then run away. You might call these evildoers first century terrorists. They were at war trying to make a way to become an independent nation again. Their tactic was violent aggression. They would have just witnessed how Barabbas was set free in the place of Jesus of Nazareth. What a cruel irony! The one who could have been their messiah—the king to lead them to independence and freedom—is sentenced to death. They are all three crucified together in a row. Two evildoers with Jesus in the middle with the sign “King of the Jews” in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew over his head. This, so that everyone would get the cruel joke: “Here is your king!” “This is what we do to anyone who challenges our power and control over you.” Pontius Pilate, King Herod, the religious authority, the temple soldiers, the Roman soldiers, the crowd, and even one of the two crucified laugh at this cruel joke. “You are the Messiah—you are King, are you not? Get off that cross and take us with you. Be the savior from death and oppression that a king is supposed to be.

A miracle happens. One of the criminals sees who is really going to have the last laugh. He may very well be the first New Testament prophet, preacher, and evangelist. It is a brief ministry; perhaps only a few minutes. But his sermon followed by a prayer is one of the clearest messages in all of Scripture. He turns to the other criminal who was mocking Jesus and says, “Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds.” He says, “Guilty as charged.” He humbly and powerfully points out sin. He is quick to include himself as a sinner. He realizes he was deceived by sin. He understands that he has been betrayed by a lie that God’s kingdom will come by violence. “For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh,” Scripture says, “but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12).

Like the evildoers who will die with Jesus, we all have transgressed God’s Law. We have failed to trust God to be our champion the way he chooses to win the victory for us. Like the insurrectionists, we sometimes impose our concept of justice to those around us and hate, name call, and kill. Like them, we also should say, “Guilty as charged.” We fail to understand what mercy is because we do not take the condemnation of the Law seriously. Mercy is God withholding what we deserve—judgment, punishment, and death.  Mercy presumes we accept the truth of what the criminal says, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, but...”

“But…this man has done nothing wrong.” That is also the sting of the Law. Jesus is the only one “who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). He is the perfect righteousness of God. He is absolutely righteous. He does not need mercy because he has not been condemned justly. The criminal is preaching against the powers. He has become a non-violent resister to the Roman authority. His words declare Pontius Pilate to be the one who is unjust toward this one he mocked as king. Now his defiance against injustice is rooted in the righteousness of Jesus. He has nothing to lose. What more can they do to him? He will speak out and raise his voice against a cruel and unjust system.

And then the criminal turns to his righteous King and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He likely heard Jesus say just hours before to Pontius Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest” (John 18:36). He sees, hears, and believes the truth of this Jesus of Nazareth: he is Christ the King. He is true Lord and Messiah. No one can take his rightful reign away. No one can stop or silence his Kingship. He heard Jesus say, “Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing?” He heard the King extend his mercy to those who wrongly crucify him. The One wearing the crown of thorns has the power and authority to take away sin. There is a wisdom that comes to the criminal as he stands at the threshold of his mortality. The reality of death does not crush him because he knows that death will not be the end of his King. Instead, he lives with the hope of eternal life.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” “I believe you are King of heaven and earth, Jesus. Extend your grace to me as you have extended your mercy. Bring me with you so that I can see the fullness of your Kingdom. Jesus’ response, “Truly, today you will be with me in paradise” is the assurance of this grace. It is a gift purchased by the blood of Jesus on the Cross. The paradise in the Garden of Eden lost by our parents’ first sin is restored by the King today.
He has broken the curse of sin and death for us. And he gives our brief lives hope and meaning to pray and see his Kingdom come.

“Living Generously” (Romans 12:8; Luke 21:9-16)

Romans 12:6-8

Luke 21:9-16

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 13, 2016

The Scripture we chose for this Stewardship Sunday is a call for us to live generously. It reminds us that God has given us many diverse gifts. And that we, by his grace, exercise those gifts—we re-gift God’s gifts to those around us. God has given us varied gifts. “…if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully” (Rom 12:8). We are, after all, stewards of God’s gifts. And those gifts include our time, talents, and treasure. God has given us so much. He created us in his image. He gives us all that we need for life and godliness (1 Pet 1:3). The eternal Son of God came to give his life to us—to purchase us—not with gold or silver but with his precious blood (1 Pet 1:19). And the Holy Spirit enables us—by that same grace and gift—to live our lives to bless our neighbor and glorify God. That, in a nut shell, is the message I wanted to share with you this morning.

Then life happens. In the United States of America, more specifically, Election Day happened. Some of us woke up elated on Wednesday. Some of us woke up saddened. Some of us are hopeful. Some of us are frightened.  My first thought was that since this would be on so many people's minds, that it would complicate our plans to emphasize stewardship this Sunday. But then I realized that the words of Jesus in our appointed Gospel lesson take us to the heart of the matter:

“They will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify.” “This will give you an opportunity to testify.” Adversity leads to opportunity. Conflict will be an opportunity to glorify God. Suffering purifies us just as a refiner’s fire removes dross from gold and silver. “So make up your minds,” Jesus says, “not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict,” Jesus says. In other words, God will make us better stewards. He not only commissions us, he equips us. He not only calls us, he enables us. Like the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of cloud by day that safely led God’s people out of slavery in Egypt, so God goes ahead to make a path before us and protects and defends us from behind.

Sadly, it is in our nature to not recognize all the good gifts God has given. We can be so absorbed in our problems and challenges that we are not aware of the generosity of God toward us. And we can be so self-absorbed we do not see the same giftedness in others. The result? We are not vested. We have not bought in fully into the mission God has given us as individuals nor as the people of God. We do not truly believe that God has graced us so richly and diversely as the Body of Christ. We do not fully trust that God is generously vested in us. He believes in you and me. He trusts that we will use our resources—material and spiritual—to advance the Kingdom of God.

Adversity and suffering can help us see what really matters. It will redefine our values. Like the prodigal son who is lost and staring hungrily at the pig fodder, so we, like him, come to our senses. We realize the goodness of the Father. “Nation will rise up against nation,” Jesus says—there will be political battles, wars, trials and tribulation. But, Jesus says, “This will give you an opportunity.” What others have meant for evil, God means for good (Gen 50:20). One window will close and a door will open. God will answer the prayer he taught us to pray: “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done.” “Do not worry about what you will say,” Jesus says, “I will give you words and wisdom.” “This will give you an opportunity.”

God continues to be generous—our cup runs over with his grace and goodness. And it will spill out of our mouths and lives to bless those around us. This is want it means to be blessed to be a blessing. Just as Jesus said, “It is better to give than to receive” (Acs 20:35). This is what it means to fulfill our mission here at First Saint Paul’s:  to proclaim Christ, nurture faith, and serve others. We follow God’s lead in Jesus Christ. We believe in our mission. We believe in one another. And we vest ourselves in one another. We invest our time in one another just as the Eternal Son of God stepped out of eternity into time to become human flesh. We share our talent just as Christ spread the good news and healing in his earthly ministry. We give our treasure just as Jesus gave his all on the cross to give us all in the resurrection and renewed creation. We are saved by grace and the gift of God. And we proceed through life to eternity by that same grace and gift of God. God has given us an opportunity. He gives us a chance to bear witness. To Christ alone be all glory, honor, and praise.

Lord, we pray that we, Your people
Who Your gifts unnumbered claim
Through the sharing of Your blessings
May bring glory to Your name.                
                              (Refrain from "Gracious God You Send Great Blessings," LSB 782)

“Reward in heaven” (Luke 6:23a)

Luke 6:20-31

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 6, 2016

Wednesday evening is one of the greatest sporting events of my life. But it is not just the outcome of the World Series that has me so excited. There are four things about Wednesday night’s game that have drawn me into the beauty of what we celebrate this All Saints Sunday.

First:

In the six inning, two Cubs players—Rizzo and Ross—shared a vulnerable moment that was broadcast on television. Rizzo, his hand and arm around the older Ross, told him that he was an emotional wreck. “It’s understandably so, buddy,” says Ross, “I hear ya. It’s only going to get worse. Just continue to breathe. That’s all you can do, buddy.” I know it was not a life and death struggle. I know that it is just a game. “Just breathe,” Ross says. Jesus knows that we too will be emotional wrecks, physically assaulted, and spiritually attacked. He hears our cries in our battles. He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust (Ps 103:14). The people of God will experience poverty, hunger, grief, hatred, and persecution. At the same time we are called to an impossible challenge: to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, to bless those that curse us, to pray for those who abuse us…to do to others as you would have them do to you. Just breathe. We are called to love freely, sacrificially, and against our sinful nature—to overcome our hatred, retaliation, and curse of death. Yes, God calls us to do the impossible—to go against the grain of the world that often seems so against us and to love—to breathe in the grace of God and breathe it out back to those around us. We are on the same team. Be sisters and brothers in Christ; put your arms around each other. Lean on each other. Jesus said it may only get worse. Be teammates. Share the struggle. Encourage one another. Just as Jesus breathed the Spirit on his Apostles, breathe encouragement and strength into one another.

Second:

That smile. It was an extra, tenth inning after a rain delay. The Cubs just need one more out to be World Series champions. Third baseman Bryant sees his opponent hit a slow, rolling ball and throws it to Rizzo at first to get the out. Cubs win! But even before that final moment there was that smile. The smile said, “This is it. We are almost there. We will have the victory.” The slow motion replay reveals just how much he was grinning from ear to ear even before he picked up that ball. “Rejoice. Leap for joy. Your reward is great in heaven,” Jesus says.  “Go ahead and smile since you know what is coming.” Just minutes before there was a rain delay. Later ABC news was spelling rain R-E-I-G-N. That is kingdom language. That is how Jesus wants us to live—as citizens of his Kingdom where the reign of God has already begun to break through the darkness and evil—so that we smile and leap for joy since we know what is coming. Smile. We are almost there.

Third:

The curse. Baseball fans can be a superstitious lot. Many people truly believe a curse has been broken. People talk about it as a matter of fact with straight faces even on television. The curse has been broken! Dear child of God, the curse of sin, evil, and death has indeed been broken. What our first parents brought upon us will be reversed. Yours is the Kingdom. You will be filled with good things. You will laugh. You and I will rejoice and leap for joy and reap our heavenly reward. We will celebrate the victory Christ has won for us.

Fourth:

The cloud of witnesses. One man listened to the game on the radio right upon his father’s gravesite because they made a promise—to share that moment of victory one day together. The grave was not going to separate father from son. People flocked down to an empty Wrigley Field and said they felt the presence of parents and grandparents that have long since left us. What they shared in the ball park together could not be destroyed by death. Fans told stories of how loved ones brought them to games over the last 108 years and never lived to see them win it all. It brought out a generational love—a love that is passed down through the ages and transcends time. How much more of a reality do we have as citizens and co-heirs of the Kingdom of God?

We are part of an international coalition of believers. We share love from the Kingdom of God to a sometimes hostile world. We participate in the celebration that has begun in heaven. Nothing separates us from heaven and its reward. With angels, archangels and the whole company of heaven we receive the Body and Blood of Christ given for our forgiveness and assurance of eternal life. We are part of a team with a multitude that no one can number—sinners transformed into saints—those who shared our struggle but now have begun their eternal reign. Our reward is great in heaven; and the Kingdom’s blessings overflow to us now.

Oh blest communion, fellowship divine!
We, feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.
          (For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest, LSB 677, vv. 4-6)

“Truly Disciples” (John 8:31-36)

John 8:31-36

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Pastor Tom Johnson, October 30, 2016

Jesus says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples.” Here Jesus sets the bar of what a true disciple is—someone who listens and whose lifestyle reflects the teachings of Jesus. This Scripture is a good one for us to focus on the heart of what Reformation is all about. Reformation is about recovering the truth of God’s Word. We become students of God’s Word. And then we experience how it transforms lives. That is what disciple means—student, pupil, learner. A disciple is a follower. A disciple has chosen a path that has a learning curve. A disciple has begun a journey of discovery. A disciple knows she or he may need to adjust their understanding. A disciple knows that they may need to expand their knowledge and perspective.

That is what began to set apart Martin Luther, the 16th century German monk. As a young person, and later as a student of theology, he began to live in terror of God and even hate God’s righteousness. He saw God as holy, righteous, and perfect. And that he is. He was taught that God demands holiness, righteousness, and perfection from us. And that he does. That is what the Church taught—God’s Law. And Luther was a good student. He reminded people his whole life he was a doctor of theology. But instead of learning to love God, he learned to run away from God and even despise his demands.

When Jesus says that true disciples continue in his Word, among other things, the people listening to him betray their own ignorance. They say they as a people have never been slaves to anyone. They have not learned the lessons of the Hebrew Bible—that as a people they were slaves for generations in Egypt and Babylon. But the problem is not the fact that they had forgotten, or never learned, a few facts in the Scriptures. The problem is that they do not seem open to continued learning and instruction. They do not seem like they are willing to adjust and grow in their understanding.

And the same things that kept them from becoming true disciples will keep us from becoming true disciples. In Luther’s day, the same things almost kept him and the people in the church from becoming true disciples. Pride is probably the biggest. And it can take many forms. Pride can be the belief that we are entitled to God’s love—that we are born into privilege of race, ethnicity, religion, or class. We do not need to go on a journey of discovery because we believe we have already arrived. Think of what they said to Jesus: “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone.” In fact, they were slaves for generations in Egypt and in Babylon. Maybe it is also laziness or complacency that keeps people from continuing in God’s Word. It will take us out of our comfort zone if we begin to see that we have believed a lie all our lives. It is jarring and alarming to realize that our view of God and of ourselves may have been wrong all along.

This is what Jesus wants to free people of. He wants us to experience the freedom that comes when we become true disciples—when we begin to learn and grow in the Word. A whole new world opens up to us—and it is true and good. Those who hear Jesus have that opportunity. It is a simple but profound truth: God adopts us as his daughters and sons through his Son and his Word. We are made children of God by Christ alone and the authority of Scripture alone. This is what Luther discovered on his faith journey. This is the heart of the Reformation that we credit him with: that he re-discovered the Good News of the Bible. It was there all along. But the Church lost her way, had forgotten, or was too proud to let go of her power over people’s lives.

Tomorrow is the 499th anniversary of the Reformation. Luther nailed the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. It could be called the 95 rants against the church. Luther uses humor to highlight the grace of God. "If the Pope and the church can forgive sin, then why don't they do it for free?" he asks. Instead the church was charging money for indulgences to buy time out of purgatory. Luther was calling people to wake up to the truth. It was a challenge to Christians and the institutional church to continue in Christ’s Word. It was a wake up call to stop the abuses of the church and to find comfort in Jesus Christ alone. Luther went on to translate the entire Bible into German. He did so in hiding, in fear of his life, and against the wishes of the institutional church. He wanted people to be able to read, listen, and understand Scripture in their own language. How can a person continue in Christ’s Word if they have no access to it or no understanding? Luther was so confident in his understanding of the Bible that he knew that if he just pointed in the right direction, people would find freedom indeed—freedom from guilt, bondage to sin, and the assurance that true children of God enjoy.

This comes by continuing in the Word of Jesus. Scripture alone is the final authority and source of truth about sinful condition. God’s law is there to point out our sin and how we have missed the mark
every day. Yes, God still demands holiness, righteousness, and perfection from us. But the good news brings us the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He came from heaven to earth to set us free. Knowing and trusting in Jesus sets us free. By faith alone we receive all the benefits of a true child of God. In Jesus, we have a forgiveness, we have a permanent place in the household of God, we are royal daughters and sons forever. This is a lifelong journey of glorious discovery. We get to do this together. It is what we call Reformation—to continue in God’s Word together. And we become what Jesus calls “truly his disciples.”

“The sinner’s prayer” (Luke 18:9-14)

Luke 18:9-14

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Pastor Tom Johnson, October 23, 2016

Jesus tells a parable. He crafts a story to illustrate the truth—the truth about ourselves—the truth about how we view others. He wants us to soberly look in the mirror. He wants us to compassionately look at others around us. He tells a parable to address a most serious problem. This problem is pride. And there are two sides to this ugly coin. On the one side is self-righteousness. On the other is regarding others with contempt. He helps us understand through a short story—a short audio and visual into the secret thoughts of our hearts. Two people go up to the temple to pray. Two worshippers ascend the mountain to enter the House of God. They have the same goal—to pray. But their words, their hearts, and their prayers are as different as day is from night. One is Pharisee. The other is a tax collector.

The Pharisee has been raised in the holy faith. He has been trained in the Scriptures. He is a community leader. He is a guardian of the truth of God. He is a defender of all that is noble and good. He stands by himself in the Temple court. He prays, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” For the Pharisee, getting God’s attention is a competition—it a game of comparison. He throws others under the bus so that he can stand tall. “God, I thank you,” he says, “thanks be to God that I am who I am—unique, good, tame, pure, and honest. Just look at how I measure against those who might present themselves to you. I am not like the dregs of society. I am not a member of the rabble. I am not part of the riff-raff.” “God, if you look at the scars, wounds, and filth of other people, I ought to look pretty darn good.”

Is God so easily fooled? Do we think that we can distract God from seeing our imperfections by drawing his attention to the faults and sins of others? Do we think that if God takes more notice the filth in others that it will make us squeaky clean? The Pharisee is only fooling himself. We are only distracting ourselves from our own faults, sins, and imperfections when we look down on those around us. We are living in denial of our own need for forgiveness, life and salvation when we only see that other people have missed the mark of perfection and godliness. That is the mirror of the Law—to take a hard look into the truth of God, his word, and ourselves and realize that “all we like sheep have gone astray” and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” “No one is righteous. No, not one.”

What is really kind of funny about this is that it is not even a prayer. The Pharisee is sending his resume to heaven. He is trying to get God to read his LinkedIn profile. He is commending himself to God. God is not impressed. Apparently, the Pharisee thinks that he can eat and buy his way into God’s good graces—that by fasting and tithing he can earn and deserve God’s love, acceptance, and blessing. It only saddens God that the Pharisee is so self-deceived. We have already spoken this truth together: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

The tax collector won’t even stand close to the Holy of Holies. He is not even at the last pew but by the back door of the church because he knows he is an unworthy visitor. He won’t even look up to heaven because he knows that he does not deserve God’s attention. He beats his own breast; he is self-loathing because he does not just sin in thought, word, and deed. He is held captive by sin, shame, and guilt. Sin is not just the bad things we do; it is the good things we fail to do. And even worse than that. It is sin’s power that we cannot break free of by or own strength. All we can do is plead God’s mercy. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” he prays. A right view of ourselves leads us to a right view of God. The Law that condemns us and our sin leads us exactly where God wants us to run—to the grace and mercy of God.

That is what sets the tax collector apart. It is truly prayer. He speaks truth about himself and his sinful condition. He speaks truth about God who is “good and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and mercy.” He tells God what God already knows—that he needs forgiveness, deliverance, and strength. And he asks God to do what God already likes to do—to extend his love to the undeserving and unworthy. Maybe the Psalm of the day at the temple that day was Psalm 51 (v. 17): “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Or as we sing: “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress; helpless, look to thee for grace; foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, Savior, or I die.”

At the foot of the cross, we are all the same. Our pride melts away at the terror of our sin and inability to redeem ourselves. That is why Christ gave his life for us. That’s why our compassion for others ought to overflow. That’s why he died and rose again—out of humility, compassion, mercy, and love.

“Wrestling with God” (Genesis 32:22-31)

Genesis 32:22-31

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Pastor Tom Johnson, October 16, 2016

Esau and Jacob are twins. Esau was born just minutes before Jacob. And as Esau came into the world, his twin brother Jacob literally had him by the heel. And so Jacob got his name—Yacób—which means to take someone by the heel. It is one of many wrestling moves. A fighter takes his opponent by the heel to bring him to the ground and subdue him. But it also means to deceive or trick someone—just as you might grab the heel of an unsuspecting passerby. And that is exactly how Jacob behaved his whole life. He tripped other people up. He was a trickster.

You will remember that he deceived his own father to steal his brother Esau’s blessing. Esau was so angry with his twin brother that he vowed to murder him. “Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, ‘The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob’” (Gen 27:41). To escape death, Jacob ran away from home. He was the prodigal son who was gone not for just a few years but enough time to have two wives and eleven children. He became rich through livestock.

But as you will also remember, he did not come by his wealth honestly. He tricked his uncle Laban in order to take his many sheep. Laban was so angry with Jacob, that Jacob runs away a second time—with his whole family and livestock. Jacob has an angry uncle behind him. Who knows if Uncle Laban wants to kill him? And then he finds out that his long-estranged brother Esau is ahead of him. He is between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Uncle Laban is coming up from behind and brother Esau is coming toward him. Thankfully, when Uncle Laban catches up to him, they are reconciled. The go their separate ways in peace—in large part because God intervenes.

But now what of Esau? He wanted to kill Jacob last time he saw him. He vowed to do it. That is when Jacob prays a prayer that will change his life forever: “O God…I am not worthy …Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother…Esau, for I am afraid…he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the children. Yet you have said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number.” His sin is catching up with him. His deceitful past has haunted him for years. And now he may finally have to pay for all his misdeeds. “I am not worthy of your goodness and grace, O God,” he prays. Just as we prayed: “We are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against you… We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment.” Jacob speaks truth. He is not worthy. Like him, we are not worthy of God’s goodness and his grace. And yet, Jacob asks for God’s forgiveness and deliverance. And he bases his request on God’s promise to bless his people.

Jacob does not just pray this prayer and go to sleep peacefully. He is restless. He cannot sleep. His anxiety gets the best of him. He pours out his worries upon his Lord and his God. He is literally fights for his life through prayer. He wrestles this “man” all night. Jacob knows he is also the One to bless him. Jacob persists. He endures the night. He finally gets the blessing he has prayed for. And then he realizes that he just had a tussle with God in human flesh. This is the amazing thing about our text—the great mystery of the One Jacob wrestled with. Jacob receives a new name: Israel. “He wrestles with God.” It is God in human form that he encounters.

Jacob—now Israel—can barely take it in. “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” No one should be able to survive an encounter with God. We should all turn to ash in the presence of him who is holy and almighty. Jacob—the one who deceives—is now Israel—the one who wrestles with God. He survives with a broken hip that will cause him to limp the rest of his life—a humble reminder of his night of prayer and struggle with God.

I love how this story ends. “The sun rose upon him…as he limped away.” His twin brother will not kill him. Esau will embrace and forgive him. Jacob’s deceitful ways are behind him. The new Israel moves forward in restored relationships. He will enter the Promised Land. It will not be an easy journey. He will continue to wrestle with God throughout his life. His limp will never go away. It will be a constant reminder that he is not worthy. But God accepts and loves him as he is. The sun is rising upon his future. The eternal Son of God came down to share the struggle with Jacob. God loses the wrestling match on purpose. Just as he will come again in human flesh to fight the good fight on the cross and appear to lose.

But just as the sun will rise upon Jacob, Christ will rise again from the dead. And so, we too, move forward in our life’s journey. We may be limping. But the sun’s light is on our faces. The Lord’s countenance is shining upon us.
We are on our way to restored relationships with God and one another. We are headed to our Promised Land. We may limp our way there. But we move forward in humility and by God’s strength. It is only by grace and his love that we fight the good fight and prayerfully move forward toward a new day as his people.

“Generational Faith” 2 Timothy 1:1-14

2 Timothy 1:1-14

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Pastor Tom Johnson, October 2, 2016

In our reading from 2nd Timothy, Paul is mentor, brother pastor, and Christian friend speaking to Timothy. Paul is thinking about the last time he saw Timothy and his tears. Grown men and women cry. And we can even talk and write about it. We don’t exactly know what happened that made Timothy unleash a torrent of emotion and cry on Paul’s shoulder. Was it the death of a loved one? Was it the betrayal of a friend? Was it discouragement in his ministry? We don’t know.

What matters is that Timothy was vulnerable enough with Paul to let him into the storm raging and tossing him around in his own heart and mind. Paul is like God in Psalm 56:8 who “keeps count of our tossing; puts our tears in his bottle, and stores them away in his archives.” Paul is like the God of Israel who hears the cries of his people crying out under the oppression of the pharaohs under hundreds of years of slavery. Timothy is vulnerable enough and courageous enough to weep before the Apostle to the Gentiles—the man who was knocked off his horse—the persecutor of the church who was blinded by the light of Jesus. And how does Paul address this unspoken emotional pain and spiritual turmoil in Timothy’s life? He commends Timothy for his sincere faith. Genuine faith does not live in denial of loss, pain, and sin. Authentic faith is humble enough to admit our weakness.

But here is the surprising twist to Paul’s encouragement—this sincere faith was not born in Timothy’s heart in isolation. This is the “faith that lived first in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in Timothy.” “Remember your grandma Lois and mama Eunice, Timothy.” We often think of Paul as being the great expositor of doctrine and the theology of grace. And he is. But in addition to stringing together great words of truth about who Jesus is and what he has done for us, Paul also brings assurance of God’s presence and grace through reminders of the blessing of family. Paul either knows Lois and Eunice personally or he heard enough stories for them to come to mind and to know how great an impact they had on Timothy.

Can you picture Lois in your mind? The grandma who prays for her children and grandchildren. Granny who baked fresh bread and you could taste her love in her cooking. The one who lived through the war and whose faith was not shattered. She is the one who told stories so that we could all learn from them. And she always had time to listen to our struggles and give us perspective and give us hope. She had a living faith. She had a faith that was tested by fire and purified by wisdom. And mama Lois. She took the torch from her mother. She cast all her anxiety over young Timothy upon her Lord because she knew that God cared more for her son than she could ever love and care for him. Her faith was in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Her faith was in the God of Lois, Eunice, and Timothy. For God’s promise to Abraham was that all the families of the earth will be blessed (Gen 12).

When God reveals himself to Moses he shares the sobering truth that our sin will visit us until the third and fourth generation (Ex 34:7). Scripture has long acknowledged what we have only recently begun to understand through the study of genetics: families can suffer patterns of abuse, addiction, and illness across generational lines. Or like you sometimes hear people say, “The apple often does not fall far from the tree.”

But thanks be to God that he, in the same passage says, he is “the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” God exponentially brings blessing, healing, and hope to us. Just as Peter on the day of Pentecost baptizes 3,000 people says, “This promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him” (Acts 2:39).

How can God encourage our hearts today? Remember that special grandparent or parent. Maybe she was an Aunt or a neighbor. Maybe that sincere faith was modeled to you by a member of your home church. Who was it who was a saint but also gave you permission to be a flawed human? Who was it that took a true interest in your faith journey? Who was it that loved you enough to give you an encouraging word when you needed it most? And who are the young Timothys, Eunices, and Loises around you? You have been placed in their lives to lead them to sincere and abiding faith. We are here together as partners in ministry. On the back of our bulletins it says our mission is to proclaim Christ, nurture faith, and serve others. It sparks in our homes, fans into flame in our houses of worship, and spreads like wildfire to bring hope, healing, and peace to the world. It celebrates sincere faith—that Jesus actually came from heaven to earth to save sinners—that he really did die on the cross to bring about the death of death, sin, and evil—and that he truly rose from the dead to assure us of his grace and presence.

“With angels and archangels” (Revelation 12:7-12; Luke 10:17-20)

Revelation 12:7-12
Luke 10:17-20

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Pastor Tom Johnson, September 25, 2016

All our Scripture today pulls back the curtain so that we can see what is going on in the spiritual realm around us. Our reading from Revelation is particularly vivid. There is war between God’s angels led by Michael and the fallen angels led by Satan or the Devil. Michael and the angels fight to protect us from the Deceiver and the Accuser. That is evil’s goal—to deceives us. It holds us captive to lies about the world and ourselves. We call that captivity “sin”—we cannot free ourselves from its power. Sin is not just merely bad or harmful things we do, say, or think. It is part of a grand scheme to keep us in bondage to unhealthy and damaging patterns to ourselves and those around us. As Paul says, “Our struggle is not against the enemies again
st flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12)

Michael and the angels fight against the Accuser and his work to destroy the Gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ. It is Satan who accuses us. He brings up our imperfections, our sinfulness, and reminds us of all the wrong we have done. He makes his case like a prosecutor before God the Judge to bring about our conviction and condemnation. Thankfully, God won’t listen. Instead, he sends Michael and the angels to fight for our names to be cleared as the Gospel promises. For true righteousness is a gift from God. We are declared righteous because of the life, death, and resurrection of the Lamb. The angels conquer by the blood of the Lamb. That is to say, their victory over evil is because of Christ and his strength.

God has sent his archangel Michael and his whole army to fight for us. They follow after their King—the eternal Son of God—Jesus of Nazareth. And their secret weapon is his blood—the blood of the Lamb—which washes away all our sin and thwarts the enemies’ weapons of evil and death. What this sneak peak into the spiritual realm does is show us the way of victory. If the angels serve us by stopping the deception and accusation, we ought to join the same fight—to lift each other up out of guilt and despair. And we do so, not by our own strength, but by the strength of Christ and his blood. “For we were not purchased with gold and silver,” Scripture says, “but with the precious blood of Jesus, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet 1:18,19).

Angels not only reveal to us the spiritual conflict going on all around us and how we have victory because of Christ, they also model worshippers. They are leaders in worship. Every Sunday, we sing a rich variety of songs in our worship. They are called canticles. And if you look in the margins of these songs in your bulletin, you will see Scripture references. We are singing the songs of angels. We are also singing with those sisters and brothers in Christ who have preceded us in death and now stand triumphant with the heavenly host. As I think about it, we have all joined choir. We join our voices to the heavenly choir of angels and the redeemed. We sing, “Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God!” “Blessing, honor, glory, and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen!” We sing the ancient angelic song in Hebrew, “Alleluia,” which means “Praise the Lord!” Give him the credit. Celebrate the victory he has won for us. There are angels called the seraphim who day and night the angels never cease singing, “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might: Heaven and earth are full of Your glory!” (Isa 6:3).

Michael and the angels show us how we need to delivered from evil as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer. They teach us that the path to victory is not our own strength or power but the blood of the King of kings and Lord of lords—the Lamb, Jesus Christ. And, even more than that, they go ahead of us in worship. They are the Lord’s soldiers and the Lord’s singers. One of my favorite reminders of this is in the words that precede our receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus in Communion: “Therefore with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify your holy name, evermore praising you…” And today, a slight variation, “The cherubim and seraphim sing your praise, and with them we laud and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising you.”

What a beautiful and powerful reminder today—that as we drove, took the bus, the train, and walked to church, the celebration had already begun…not hours ago…but eons ago…in the timeless eternity of God’s throne. We enter into worship together. We join in a global, universal, and multidimensional reality. Those who have gone before us are singing and celebrating. Michael, his angels, the cherubim, the seraphim, and all redeemed humanity are together in a multitude that no one could count. And our number is increasing that multitude day by day. That is something to celebrate—that our names are written along with the esteemed name of Michael, the archangel and all his angels.

“God’s desire for all” (1 Timothy 2:1-7)

1 Timothy 2:1-7

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Pastor Tom Johnson, September 18, 2016

In my hand are four coins: a quarter, a nickel, a penny, and a dime. On the quarter, there is the noble profile of George Washington facing left with a stylish ponytail; on the nickel, the profile of Thomas Jefferson with an equally stylish pony tail tied on the end with a longer bow than Washington’s. On the penny, there is the profile of Abraham Lincoln facing right instead of left sporting a stylish chin-strap beard. And on the dime, there is FDR—Franklin Delano Roosevelt—facing left again with a clean shaven face. All of them look resolute, strong, masculine, and the mighty men of history who once wielded great power. These are all people who were in authority. In Canada, Latin America, and Europe you will see the likeness of princes, kings, and queens. In some parts of the world you will see the likeness of dictators and generals.

But even though we carry the likeness of generals, presidents, and queens in our hands, we are the ones who can feel like the pawns in the hands of those in authority. We may feel we have no say in what government does. We vote, but it may seem to have no more impact than pouring a cup of water into Lake Michigan. Our feeling of helplessness and powerlessness in the face of power has changed the language we use. We talk about being in “the system.” We talk about “the powers that be.” And we talk about the collective powers as “the man” and some of us long to stick it to “the man.” We are weeks away from a presidential election that seems to be making everyone nervous no matter their political persuasion. My kids ask me how it is that we narrow down the candidates for president and seem like we have little choice. That is the feeling of powerlessness: that there is nothing we can do for positive change—no one we can talk to in the higher ups so that we all can live peaceful and quiet lives. Thankfully, our Scripture has a much more optimistic outlook.

Paul’s words in our Epistle reading remind us of a truth we often forget—that queens, kings, presidents, dictators, and people in authority are also human. They are flesh and blood. And every human being is part of God’s plan. Paul urges that we pray for kings and all who are in high positions. It’s a reminder of what we may often forget to do. Rather than complain and wallow in our powerlessness and hopelessness, God invites us to pray for our leaders. Our leaders are not just in authority. They don’t just possess power—they are also under authority and subject to power themselves. As my wrestling coach used to say about an another wrestler I feared, “Tom, he also puts his pants on one leg at a time.” George Washington’s teeth were not carved out of wood but out of Hippopatamus ivory. Thomas Jefferson took a pair of scissors to his Bible and snipped out the passages he did not like. Abraham Lincoln was under the constant threat of assassination. And FDR was crippled by polio at age 39. They were all human. They needed the pra
yers of God’s people. And God’s desire for them was to give them all the same benefits of the Gospel that we enjoy—forgiveness, life, and salvation. Responsibility and power can weigh hard on our leaders. They can be led into temptation and misuse of their power. They are also under the threat of evil. When we see their humanity and position under God, we can begin to have compassion and love our neighbor—even though she or he is a most powerful neighbor.

We pray for their strength and wisdom. We pray for their health and integrity. We pray “lead them not into temptation.” We pray, “deliver them from evil.” We pray, not just because it is the right thing to do but because they need our prayers. Barack Obama is said to be in the most powerful office in the world as president of the United States of America. All the more reason to pray for him and our leaders. There are leaders all over the world who prey upon the weak and the poor. They exploit the people they are supposed to serve. They persecute and kill our brothers and sisters because they bear the name of Jesus. All the more reason to pray.

On all four of these same coins remain four little words—and a powerful reminder—“IN GOD WE TRUST.” A reminder that everyone is accountable to our Creator and that no one is above the rule and strength of the Almighty. But even more importantly, we should be reminded and encouraged that God’s love has no bounds. Our Scripture says, “He desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” He lived, died, and rose for the world. God has these women and men in authority within his reach and within his grasp. They are part of his plan. They are in his heart and on their mind.

“For,” our Scripture says, “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and humanity who gave himself as a ransom for all.” God sent his Son, Jesus Christ to die and rise again for both king and pauper, queen and commoner, president and all those in authority and all those under authority. And so we pray to him because he is able to do more than ask and even imagine. He is the King of kings, Lord of lords. He has changed the hearts of kings, queens, pharaohs, Caesars, emperors, presidents, prime ministers, dictators, and generals. He changed the heart of the Apostle Paul who misused his power and authority to persecute Christians. And he even changes the hearts of the likes of you and me. Ad so he invites us to pray. He invites us to participate. He invites us to celebrate the spreading of life and love everywhere and to everyone.

“Lost and Found” (Luke 15:1-10)

Luke 15:1-10

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Pastor Tom Johnson, September 11, 2016

Sinners and tax collectors draw near to listen to Jesus. The “bad crowd” likes Jesus. And Jesus welcomes their company. “This fellow welcome sinners and eats with them,” the religious leaders accuse. But their comment does not reveal a flaw about Jesus. It reveals his acceptance, love, and forgiveness. The Scribes and Pharisees are standing outside looking in to this miracle—the eternal Son of God is communing with sinners. He breaks bread with them and speaks to them an encouraging word. The religious leaders can only witness this party from a distance. They are not part of the conversation. They have not even eaten a crumb from this table or sipped from the cup by this teacher from Galilee.

But Jesus has compassion, mercy, and love for all people—including the proud and judgmental. He tells the Scribes and Pharisees three parables: the parable of the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son. This morning we hear the first two. It may be liturgically correct but I think we may miss the beauty of all that Jesus is saying here. We have to wait until March 31, 2019 until we finish this wonderful trilogy of parables with the Prodigal Son…that is if you don’t pick it up sometime later today to see it for yourself.

The shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep. Sheep go astray. They need constant care, attention, and guidance. They are prone to wander. They hardly know the danger they are in. They lose their way. Sheep get lost to themselves. They don’t know the way back. They need someone outside of themselves to pick them up. They need a shepherd to revive their soul, lead them back to the green pasture, and to drink from the still waters. “All we like sheep have gone astray,” the prophet Isaiah says, “we have all turned to our own way and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And as he carries the weight of our sin on our shoulders, he cries, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep that was lost.” “Pharisees and scribes over there, I’m sitting at the table with one of these sheep who lost her way. Don’t stand back there all sour and critical. Rejoice with me. Join the celebration.”

The woman who had ten silver coins loses one. She tears up her house looking for the one lost coin. It hardly sounds like good economics but when she finds it, she wants to spend it on her neighbors. She invites them into her space. She brings outsiders into her world. She loves her neighbors by bringing them into her home to celebrate. “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!”

The third parable is of a human being who wanders away like a lost sheep and tears up his home by robbing his family of silver. It is the same refrain when he returns to his loving father. The older son does not want to celebrate his return. The father pleads with the son to rejoice with them. But the older son will not go into the home. He will not go to the table, eat the fatted calf, or raise a glass to God for bringing his lost brother home.

This morning Jesus gives us a beautiful picture of Gospel ministry. God welcomes sinners and eats with them. This is the work of the church—to rejoice with God over every individual who experiences life transformation. “I'm telling you,” Jesus says, “Look! I’m serious, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” It just takes one wayward soul to change in the direction toward life to start a party in heaven. It may sound ridiculous, but our biggest fans are surrounding the throne of God. Our biggest cheerleaders can’t wait—they are chomping at the bit to give a shout out to God when God brings a lost soul on the right course of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

The real punchline to these parables and words of Jesus is this: Jesus finds a way to turn the tables on the proud, religious, and self-righteous. They are the ones who have wandered off into arrogance, pride, and self-righteousness. They are the ones who are being called to rejoice and join the table. Jesus is welcoming these notoriously sinful Pharisees and Scribes to find their way into the real world—the kingdom of grace, mercy, and redemption.

One of those Pharisees may have been someone very much like the Apostle Paul. In our reading from 1 Timothy he describes how he was lost in blasphemy, persecution, and violence. He was a proud, self-righteous, an ignoramus… Those are his words. Even more than that, since he knew his own heart better than anyone else’s, he could call himself the chief of sinners. “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am foremost.” But God brought him back on his strong shoulders as an example for us to celebrate and give glory to God…along with the example of sheep and coins. So that when we or others around us wander off, go astray, or are lost to ourselves we also know that we are never lost to God. He is there to bring us safely home. And he invites all the creatures in heaven and earth to celebrate his renewed relationship with us.

“Entertaining Angels Unawares” (Hebrews 13:1,2)

Hebrews 13:1,2

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Pastor Tom Johnson, August 28, 2016

Our Scripture says, “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” The author of the letter to the Hebrews makes frequent mention of the Hebrew Scripture. He assumes a wealth of knowledge of the stories and teachings of the Bible beginning with Genesis. This reference to entertaining angels unawares is a clear reference to the story of Abraham’s nephew Lot who moves to Sodom.

Two angels are sent by God to Sodom. We know they are angels but they appear as ordinary men. Lot is the first to extend hospitality to these visitors. He invites them over for a meal, to spend the night, and then to be on their way in the morning. But other citizens of Sodom threaten them with violence. Everyone thinks that the two angels are two men not angels. That changes when the angels strike those that threatened them with blindness and rain down sulfur and fire upon the city and deliver Lot and his family to safety.

Hospitality to strangers is still a sacred value that many cultures in the Middle East. Marcus Lutrell in his book Lone Survivor talks about how he was almost killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. But the Pashtun people protected him in the village. Their code to befriend perfect strangers saved this American soldier’s life. There is a similar value in the hearts and minds of individuals who stand by the shores of Greece to welcome strangers fleeing from the violence in Syria.

What is so remarkable about this kind of hospitality is that this kindness is extended to people whose stories, character, and intentions are completely unknown. Instead of crying “stranger danger” they are given the benefit of the doubt. Let’s be realistic. Who would know—who would care if many of these people's needs were ignored? And yet food, clothing, and shelter is given to people even if no one thanks them, rewards them, or puts their good deeds on the evening news. This is integrity: doing the right thing even though no one is watching—even if others may be indifferent, apathetic, or even hostile to strangers who come across our paths.

It may seem like a better strategy to assume the worst about people we don't know. They could be criminals or terrorists. The new hire at your workplace may threaten your long standing position. The people who moved in next door might disturb your peace and lower the value of your home. The individual walking through the doors of our church for the first time may be here to judge us to see if we are worthy to be their new church home.

But our Scripture says to show mutual love—to live by the Royal Law or Golden Rule to love our neighbor as ourselves. And not just our familiar neighbor but to the stranger, foreigner, and people of unknown repute. Here we are called to treat such people as potential angels not devils in disguise. God invites us to assume the best about others not the worst. The Holy Spirit wants to open us up to the blessings that are hidden in a new relationship not the dangers.

The word angel in Hebrew means messenger. God sends angels into our lives to bring us a message. That means that each person that comes across our path—even the needy ones—are there potentially to teach us something about God and ourselves. So you didn’t sign up for the church picnic. You did not even know about it. But you are welcome. Come join us. Be our guests. God wants to enlarge our world through your company. There is a blessing awaiting each new friend. Think about our guests at communist meals every Saturday. What Jesus said can become true every week: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). Because when we live by grace we witness and participate in the work of God.

God loves surprises. He wants us to be poised for those hidden blessings behind every bush and every corner. This is what it means to entertain angels unawares: to open ourselves up to believe that God is at work often secretly and covertly to increase love, acceptance, and the experience of his grace in our daily lives—to assume the best about strangers—but even more importantly—assume the best about God and the message he is teaching us. God is sneaking his grace upon us. He brings us through difficult times, frightening experiences, and dark valleys. And he loves it when we look back and see his hand at work. We weren’t alone. He sent his angels. Maybe you were one of them.

Even though we may not recognize it at the time. We can say, “Look at how God was with me.” “Or look how God used me to assure someone of God’s love and presence.” He sends his angels into our lives even though we may not see it at the time. This is how the Gospel works. The good news of a person whose origin is unknown to us who crosses our path—like the teacher from Nazareth. Scripture says he came to his own but even his own did not receive him (John 1). “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by people…we esteemed him not,” the prophet Isaiah says (53:2,3). But he is God’s Angel veiled in human flesh. He divinity is hidden behind his humanity. The eternal has invaded the temporal. And once our eyes, hearts, and hands are open to this peculiar God, we are surprised again by his amazing grace.

“Blood Speaks” (Hebrews 12:24)

“Blood Speaks,”

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Tom Johnson, August 21, 2016

“But you have come…to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:24

One of my professors in seminary was teaching about ministry in the parish, homes, and hospitals. He said, “Raise your hand if you’re squeamish.” Several of us raised our hands. He said, “Don’t become a pastor.” I suppose the same could be said for those training to become doctors, nurses, or first responders. The sight of blood can knock us over—to make us quickly depart the land of the conscious into darkness and unconsciousness. Blood not only carries a message; it can have a profound effect on you. Blood has a profound effect on God.

When the Cain killed his own brother, he spilled his blood on the ground. It was  the very first capital crime against humanity—just one generation past our first parents, Adam and Eve. Abel offered up an acceptable sacrifice. Cain didn’t. Cain was jealous of Abel, played God, deceptively led his brother to a hidden place, and permanently eliminated him. Cain felt he could keep his evil deed a secret.But God is all seeing and all hearing. He saw the crime. He heard Abel breathe his last. Cain could not hide, muffle, or silence his brother Abel’s blood. God said, “The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” Abel’s blood continued to speak, to tell a story, and to cry out. His blood cried out for justice, vengeance, retribution, and punishment. Sadly, the world has not changed much since that time.

The voice of blood still cries out death, calls for judgment and a yearning for the crime to be dealt with. That is the experience of the human struggle all around the world. The blood of the fallen is crying out all around the globe. God hears the blood crying out in the streets of Chicago and Syria. Even when it has little impact on some of us, it has a profound impact on God. He not only recognizes the voice of those who fall; it deeply moves him to grief. When blood cries out it often guarantees further cruelty, vengeance, and bloodshed. That is the human response: eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, blood for blood. Blood crying out keeps homes, neighborhoods, and entire nations and peoples trapped in a circle of violence.

This summer, multiple children have been caught in the crossfire—between rival gangs whose vicious circle of violence grows and claims the lives of more and more innocent children. Each gang takes their own vengeance back and claims more lives. The senseless death of a child produces a deafening cry of anguish. Just this week, a picture of five year old Omran in Syria covered in dust and blood produced worldwide outrage. His 10 year old older brother died when their home was bombed. Police have killed suspects. Shooters have killed police officers. And their blood cries out for justice. Senseless death demands explanation. The waste of human life is itself a call to do what we can to prevent it from happening again. Blood speaks. Something stirs in us. Something should stir within us. We should hear the blood. It says, “Something needs to be done. Justice needs to be done. This must stop. This cannot be allowed.” Innocent blood should call leaders, communities, churches, and individuals to action. If we are not careful, the blood will cry out for more senseless violence, vengeance, and retribution. But God says, “Vengeance is mine.”

That is the amazing thing about how God responds to the cry of Abel’s blood. Cain fears retribution and someone killing him for his crime. But even though God hears this cry for justice and bloodshed agains Cain, he spares Cain’s life and extends an extraordinary measure of mercy and love. And if that is not amazing enough, when God’s own Son, Jesus Christ is crucified—when the whole world puts him to death—when his blood is spilled after a mock trial and gruesome crucifixion, God hears the cry of his Blood.

Our scripture says, “You have come…to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” “You know that you were ransomed…not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:18,19a). Do you also hear the cry of Jesus’ Blood? It still speaks today. It pleads for you. The cry of Jesus’ Blood is, our Scripture says, a better word. The Blood of Jesus does not escalate the cycle of violence, it ends the cycle of violence; his blood cries, “It is finished.” The Blood of Jesus does not demand vengeance or punishment but forgiveness: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” The Blood of Jesus does not cry out for justice and further death but eternal life: “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”

“God’s shattering Word,” Jeremiah 23:29

Jeremiah 23:23-29

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Pastor Tom Johnson, August 14, 2016

Earlier this year, those of us in the church office began to hear a knocking sound coming from the ground. Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat… It started early in the morning and continued until late at night. And it went on for days. And then for weeks. We put two and two together when walking by where the Jewel grocery store used to be. Pock-pock-pock-pock-pock-pock… It was deafening if you stood right by it. I caught a glimpse of this huge jackhammer which our structural engineers call a breaker—a large hydraulic hammer on the end of an excavator. We learned later that neighbors that live next door were compensated tens of thousands of dollars for the inconvenience. We at First Saint Paul’s received no such compensation. These huge hammers are used to break up concrete and rock. The old concrete and the embedded rock are removed. The noise and the disruption may at the time may seem disordered, chaotic, and a nuisance.

The Lord God says in our Scripture today that his Word is “like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.” And, as we heard in our readings, God’s Word can be a bit troubling and disruptive to our lives. It can be confusing and painful to experience the hammer of God’s Word. Scripture pounds away at our hearts of stone. God breaks apart embedded sin deep within our lives. He challenges entrenched lies that deceive us. He tears apart bad alliances. He excavates debris that clutters and confuses us. He chips away at unbelief in our minds. He clears away wrong thinking. In the truest sense of the word, God deconstructs our lives. He dismantles old structures. He tears down dilapidated edifices. He stirs things up so that those things not needed may be more easily removed. Sometimes we hear the faint rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat… in the background of our lives. There are other times we experience the deafening pock-pock-pock-pock-pock-pock… up close and disturbingly close. But we should not be afraid. We should not fear. We should not demand compensation for our troubles. This is not divine vandalism. God’s Word is hammering away, yes. But he is dealing directly with our hearts of stone and our rocks for brains.

At the time of Jeremiah, a hammer was in the hand of a stonemason may have also seemed to be only a destructive tool. But it is a necessary step in building. It is not the end but the beginning of a project. Stonemasons took hammers to rock to clear a way for a stronger foundation. They chiseled away at stones so that they would fit tightly together—block upon block—fitting each piece together to make a secure wall.


So God’s Word hammers away. It takes aim at the lies in order to speak the truth in love. He pounds away at the old to prepare for the new. He takes away the debris to give us something better, more useful, and for our good. God’s hammer removes obstacles that are in the way of better things. He will lay a more solid foundation in its place. The uncomfortable work of the Law serves to bring the comfort of the Gospel.

Ironically, just as we were driving up LaSalle this morning to worship, we saw and heard another one of these jackhammers pounding away. Even though much smaller, it reminded of the work being done just one block away for those weeks. Since that breaker was pounded away at the concrete and rock—soon after the oversized jackhammer stopped its assault on the ground and our eardrums, there was much quieter activity. We could see concrete trucks moving in and out of the area. We could hear workers speaking loudly over their machinery. And because of that deep and firm foundation, it seems like floor upon floor has just sprung out of the ground.

So Jesus says he makes all things new. He takes out our hearts of stone and puts in a heart of flesh. He sends his hammer but also the mortar to bind us together. He lays the foundation of his perfect life, death, and resurrection. He secures the foundation with the cornerstone of forgiveness as the true Messiah. And prepares a place for us—a place for us to come together as the Body of Christ—the Temple of the Holy Spirit. And he assures us that we have a place to call home now. The hammer will no longer need to strike at the rock and stones in our lives. Jesus will have made all things new. We will dwell with him—and he with us—forever.