Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

Jesus had been going about His business for some time now. He could have stayed up in Galilee and Samaria, kept doing amazing things, lead a comfortable life. But Jesus wanted so much more than that. Not for Himself, of course, but for you. And so when the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up -- that is, taken up on the cross, He did not turn away -- He set His face to go to Jerusalem. And thank God for that! But not just that Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem, but that long before this, God set His face toward us.

I'm not saying you have a demon... but have you ever been driven by something within you, like the man we heard about in the Gospel today? Maybe your anger, which causes you to lash out at others. Or maybe for you it is lust that drives you to do things that are hurtful, shameful, and harmful to yourself and others. What about envy? And if you're like me, you do these things even though you don't want to. So I'm not saying you have a demon... but maybe the sin in us makes us more like this man than we'd care to admit.

Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon! I used to chuckle at those words. Because what is Jesus supposed to say? Yeah, you're right. I have a demon. You got me! So what's the point? Well, they're not just saying that Jesus is crazy, or a few cards short of a full deck. By saying Jesus has a demon, what they were saying is this: Jesus is evil. The eerie thing is: that sounds an awful lot like what many people are saying today. We are dangerous and cannot be tolerated.

Some events that happen in life are life-changing. Marriage. Or divorce. The death of a loved one. Moving to a new place. Having a baby. And some events are world changing events. D-Day, the beginning of the end of World War 2. September 11, 2001. The Tower of Babel was an event that changed the world forever, dividing peoples and languages that are still separate today. Well one of those events is Pentecost. The sending of the Holy Spirit changes lives, larger groups of people together, and even the world.

Remember back to when you were little. A little child. When you needed something, you asked your parents. You didn't worry about whether you were going to get it or not -- you just asked. And then after a while, you just stopped asking. Because you got old enough to do things, get things, on your own. As a Christian, maybe that's where you're at -- relying on God less now than you did before. Oh, He's still there for advice when problems arise in your life. But the day-to-day stuff, you just take care of on your own. Well, with His words to His disciples, Jesus is inviting us back.

Jesus doesn't try to insulate His disciples from sorrow. He is no helicopter God, trying to spare them any hardship or pain. He doesn't promise them that every day will be sunshine and laughter. You will weep and lament, He says. You will have sorrow. But... your sorrow will turn into joy. And so the problems and struggles you face this week... you can have joy even in them, like the discipes. For you're not alone and you're not on your own. And that when you stumble and fall -- and you will! -- it won't change your Saviour's love for you.

What does it mean to have a Good Shepherd? For most, I think, the answer would be that Jesus is watching over you. But it is more than that. For you have not only a good shepherd, but the Good Shepherd. When you have the Good Shepherd -- or maybe better to say, when He has you, in his flock, it means this: that you will be one of the one coming out of the great tribulation. What is the tribulation, the trial and trouble, you need your Good Shepherd to get you through?

Death's strong bands look awful strong. And one man caused it all, Paul said today. One man. Named Adam. But the good news that we are celebrating today is the second half of Paul's sentence. For as by a man -- one man --came death, by a man has come also the resurrection from the dead. Because of one man. One man. Named Jesus. One man. Risen from the dead. Yes, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Things in life can change in an instant. And often do. Today in the readings we heard, things changed dramatically in the span of one week. A whirlwind that took twelve disciples from following their King into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to being holed up in fear behind locked doors on Saturday. But the truth is that nothing that week changed at all. This was the plan from the beginning of time, from the first sin that plunged us and all the world into death.

People in love often do goofy things, especially when that love is new or just beginning. So by all accounts, God must really love you! Because the landowner in the parable Jesus tells today, the figure who represents God the Father, is goofy. And maybe a bit beyond that. Your Father in heaven doesn't want a herd of people driven by force or fear -- He wants a family. Love that turns the other cheek. Love like the landowner showed. So today we enter Passiontide -- the last two weeks of this Lenten season. And though the cross is now veiled, the love of God shines forth even more. The love of the cross. The victory of love.

I am always amazed at how the Word of God seems to speak to what I am going through in my life. Abundant, amazing mercy. Blot out my transgressions. That's what the father had done. That's what our Father in heaven does. Four our sake -- for the sake of us rebels -- the Father made His Son who knew no sin, who had done no wrong, to be sin for us -- to bear our sin and rebellion for us; so that in Him, because of Him, we might become the righteousness of God.

As a father, I want to teach my children. I want to teach them the difference between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, good and evil. And if you are a partent, I know it is the same for you. But children don't always listen. That's hard for parents, and hard for their children. It comes from our sinful nature, which always curves us in on ourselves. Well, our heavenly Father wants to teach His children, too. He makes no mistakes, but has recorded for us in Scripture the mistakes His children made in the past.

Why did Jerusalem stone and kill the prophets God sent to them? It's simple, really. They didn't like the message, so they would kill the messenger. We heard an example of this today from the book of Jeremiah. God sent Jeremiah to call the people to repentance, but also to tell them that since they had refused to repent, God was going to discipline them. So you might think, then, that Lent must be a really unpopular season, with its strong call to repentance. But its not. There are many people who will still give up something for Lent. Ah, but you see, that's exactly why so many do it -- they're not repenting.

Jesus takes temptation personally. It hurts Him, for sin hurts His creation. Sin destroys what He has created. Which is why Jesus takes temptation personally -- in His person, in the flesh, for you. He came in the flesh to be personally tempted, and to win. He came to live the perfect life that we cannot live. Jesus came to take temptation personally. Which is important, because I think we tent to regard temptation as just a feeling, an urge, an inclination to do something.

You know what that's like. When you want to stay awake, but you just can't. So it was for Peter, James, and John. They wanted to pray with Jesus -- He had chosen them specially for this, after all! But the harder they fought off sleep, the sleepier they became... and then they woke up. Some time later. And Moses and Elijah are leaving. They missed it. It's over. But the truth is... they hadn't missed it. He would atone for the sin of all the world and disarm the hordes of hell. They didn't miss that. That's now what they were going to see.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And so along with Peter, James, and John, Andrew, Philip, and Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, Thaddeus, and Simon, Matthias preached this. These words that he had heard from Jesus' lips, and saw Jesus fulfill. For that was one of the requirements of being placed into this office of apostle: he had to have accompanied the twelve all through Jesus' public ministry, and be an eye witness of the resurrected Jesus. For apostles provided first hand testimony of what Jesus said, what Jesus did, and who Jesus was.

Our world tends to judge things in a very easy and straightforward way. And so, blessed is the man to whom nothing bad happens. Who attains the desires of his heart, and to whom life is good. And the opposite, then, is true. Woe to the man to whom bad happens, for whom life is a struggle. But it's not just "the world" that thinks that way. We do it too. Today Jesus reminds us: not so fast. Or how does the old saying go: don't judge a book by its cover! Blessings and woes may not be what you think. Blessed is the man whose faith lies not in what happens to him, but in what happened to Christ.

The last two Sundays we have heard of Jesus preaching. First it was in the synagogue in Nazareth, then the synagogue in Capernaum. Today He is preaching again, but this time is a little different. It is not in a synagogue, but by the Lake of Gennesaret (also known as the Sea of Galilee). It is not a Sabbath but a work day. And He preaches not from a reading table with a scroll of Scripture in front of Him, but today His pulpit is a boat. But the preaching is the same. That doesn't change. He preaches so that all would repent of themselves and believe in Him.

We heard God give authority today to Jeremiah, to be His prophet, to speak for Him. He told Jeremiah that I have put my words in your mouth. The Word of God that has authority. So Jeremiah would speak, and the blue lights would come on for kingdoms, nations, and kings. And God gives that authority today, as pastors blue light sins, speaking in the stead and by the command of Jesus. His words, His authority, His forgiveness. But the Lord is with you. He has given you His Spirit. In fact, the Lord has touched your mouth, too, as He did Jeremiah, and into your mouth has put His word -- His Word made flesh!

Imagine a place that is cold and silent toward pain and human suffering. Life is all about financial profit, business transactions, and the bottom line. Countless people are being dehumanized. In this place there are no prayers, liturgies, hymns, or sermons. Mercy is a rare commodity. Where is this God-forsaken place? It is the world Isaiah describes in the last 11 chapters of his book. But then Isaiah gets to chapter 60 and he changes his tune. Arise, shine, for your light has come, he says. That's the message of Epiphany. The message proclaimed by Jesus that day in Nazareth. Arise! Shine! Rejoice in it and grow in it.