Deerfield Lutheran Church

With Jesus At The Grave

The message I'd like to share with you today comes from John chapter 11. In that chapter is a story about how Jesus took a family, two sisters, Mary and Martha through the experience of dying so that they might understand what he means when he says, "I am the resurrection and the life."

The story begins when a certain man, Lazarus of Bethany, is ill. We do not know his diagnosis, whether cancer or heart disease, we do know the prognosis - certain death. Lazarus would die from his illness. Lazarus has a family - two sisters, Mary and Martha, and they all have a close friend who loves them very much - his name is Jesus. So they send a message to Jesus, I'm sure hoping that he will come and heal Lazarus - their message, the one whom you love is ill. Now Jesus is across the river, so he is no where near Bethany where Lazarus and his family live. And when he receives this message he does something very peculiar, he lingers where he is long enough to be sure his friend Lazarus has died, then he comes to Bethany, the village of Mary and Martha. Jesus is deliberately taking us through our experience of death. The first experience is that death enters our lives. Someone whom we love dies. Their death touches you deeply, so like Mary and Martha, you begin to grieve.

In chapter 11 - a little further down in this story, the Jewish neighbors of Mary and Martha come to console them. This is the second experience we have of death - it enters the community and many more share the experience of grief and loss. That's why we have funeral services, so we can share our grief and receive comfort from others.

There is another experience, which I have seen many times, and felt myself when my father died, the feeling of anger. We can feel angry that someone who could have done something, does nothing at all. Martha speaks for all of us when she runs out and confronts Jesus when he finally arrives. She says, "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died." I can almost imagine her two fists beating on the chest of Jesus as she bursts into tears. Sometimes we take out our anger on the doctor who didn't do enough, or on anyone who seems to be an authority in this event. Actually, I believe we are angry with God, because we think that what God means when he promises us eternal life is an uninterupted continuation of this life. And we don't truly realize this is what we think until someone close to us dies. "Lord, if you had been here our loved one would not have died."

There is yet another experience, at some point in our grief we say the words of our faith, but they have not yet become real for us. We say what we have heard, but which has never been put to the test. Jesus says to Martha, "Your brother will rise again." And Martha says, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." This is common language, but it is not a consolation to her. It doesn't stop the anger, and it doesn't help her to know what eternal life really is.

When we are comforting someone we often try to say the right things. And even when we are the ones who are suffering, we still try and say the right things. It is a burden we place on ourselves. As if by saying the right things we make everything all right. But inside, we continue to hurt.

Jesus knows this about us, and so he takes Martha through this experience as well - he talks with her about what these words really mean. Eternal life is not just words, Martha, it's real. "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me though they die, yet shall they live."

Jesus is telling her, as he is telling us, that he is this life, life we can genuinely believe in. This is not a Bible passage anymore. This is a living being. As Lutherans we are fond of saying that this Bible is like a manger, a cradle, it's value is that in it we find the living Lord Jesus. The word became flesh, lived among us, suffered and died, as we all will, and then rose from the dead to give us life. Martha has not yet seen her friend Jesus rise from the dead, yet he asks her if she believes he is the resurrection and the life, and Martha answers, this time from her heart, yes, Lord, I believe. Her grieving is by no means over, but Jesus is there with her in her grief, as he is today with us.

Now we might think this is enough. But Jesus takes us one step further. He actually goes with us to the grave. "Take away the stone," he says. Jesus does not aviod facing the fullness of death. He does not avoid the reality that Lazarus has died. We might ask, Lord do we have to do this? Do we have to take this last step to the grave? And our Lord says, I am with you. I am with you. Yes, you have to take this step, but I will take it with you, and he does.

And standing at the grave Jesus says with a voice loud enough to raise the dead, and what is dead inside all of us, Lazarus, come out! And out of the tomb, out of darkness, out of death itself, the dead man comes walking, walking to Jesus. He is covered, all wrapped up with burial linen, and Jesus says, unbind him, and let him go.

This is a story about what we mean when we say these words, I believe in the resurrection to eternal life. Jesus wants us to know that our understanding of resurrection begins now in this life, it will only be fully understood in the life to come, but it does begin now, today.

One of the important things we discover in this story is that Jesus calls the dead by name. Jesus says, Lazarus arise. Jesus speaks to us today, calling each one by name. By naming our names Jesus assures us we shall have life in his name. Isn't that what a good shepherd does, he calls each one by name, each one, and leads them to green pastures, beside still waters where they shall be restored to life. Jesus is the shepherd, we are his sheep, he calls us by name, and leads us. He goes before us. Remember, Jesus is the one who died on the cross. Jesus is the one who was raised from the dead to make sure the promise of resurrection. Jesus goes before us. He is with us today. He is weeping too, just as he wept at the grave of Lazarus, but in the end he is there to bring us to eternal life, a life we shall share with him forever. Amen

Sermon Preached March 9, 2008

Pastor Larry

Not By Bread Alone

Tom Long who teaches preaching at Princeton tells the story of Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor of a major politcal journal and the darling of the elite in Washington, D.C. On March 24, 1996, Leon Wieseltier's father died, and despite the fact he had left his Jewish faith behind in his youth, he chose to do what mourning sons are commanded to do. He said kaddish.

Quoting from his book, Kaddish, "In the year that followed my father's death, I said the prayer known as the mourners Kaddish three times daily, during the morning service, the afternoon service, and the evening service, in a synagogue in Washington and, when I was away from home, in synagogues elsewhere. It was my duty to say it."

The kaddish, this prayer Wieseltier prayed three times a day for a year is not about grief, pain or loss. It's about praise. It is NOT a prayer about us and our wounds, it is a prayer about God and God's greatness. It says, "May his great name be blessed always and forever. Blessed and praised and glorified and raised and exaulted and uplifted and lauded be the name of the Holy One." Three times a day, every day, Wieseltier prayed these words, "May his great name be blessed...may his great name be blessed...may his great name be blessed."

Soon Wieseltier discovered something profoundly unexpected as he repeated again and again this strange ritual. Wieseltier found his life changed by the rhythm of prayer. In his words again...

"It was not long before I understood that I would not succeed in insulating the rest of my existence from the impact of this obscure and arduous practice. The symbols were seeping into everything. A season of sorrow became a season of soul-renovation."

We sometimes forget two things, first that Jesus was Jewish, and second, growing up Jesus' life was filled with such practices. It was his custom to go to the synagogue, Jesus is called Rabbi, the title for someone learned in Jewish Law and practice. In Matthew especially we are given a deep sense that Jesus didn't just go to the synagogue to stir up the crowds and make a scene, he went sabbath after sabbath to hear the lessons, to pray prayers, "May his great name be blessed...may his great name be blessed...may his great name be blessed." Somehow we have forgotten that even Jesus had to learn about his faith; even Jesus was a student.

It should not surprise us then to learn that when Jesus was tested by the devil, when he was alone and hungry in the wilderness and the devil was trying to get him to deny his calling and his loyalty to God, Jesus did not defend himself with clever words of theology, some new thinking about God, no, what Jesus did was quote the Bible, specifically Deuteronomy. Deuteronmy is kind of like as instruction manual, it tells us what to do and what not to do. It was written to describe the children of Israel's 40 year sojourn in the wilderness, and it describes in embarrasing detail what they did that was wrong. Even Moses is seen messing up. As a boy, Jesus learned from Deuteronomy how to handle himself when faced with temptation. So he says "It is written, One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Again it is written, Do not put the Lord your God to the test." And lastly, "for it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve only him."

The words that served Jesus well in the wilderness were engraved on his heart in worship. It is written, again it is written, for it is written. Words he had heard over and over again.

So it is with us. When we're overwhelmed by trials and temptations, it will be the patterns of faithfulness learned in worship, what sociologist Robert Bellah calls the Habits of the Heart, that will sustain us. They are the resources that matter most when the chips are down.

Do you know what our congregation's mission statement is? Called in worship, to care for others, by sharing Christ's love. We are called in worship, we are called in worship. We learn by regular worship what kind of people we are, whose we are. Here in worship we learn what we're made of. When Jesus faced the devil, he knew who he was. He was someone who knew that life was more than bread. Jesus was someone who did not put God to the test: you know, if you do this for me Lord, then, maybe, I'll start doing what you ask. Jesus was someone who worshiped the Lord and served only God, not what can make you rich, famous, or powerful. Jesus did what God asked of him, he was obedient, not expecting anything in return. Where did Jesus come by this radical obedience? This moral courage? Where did he get what it takes to withstand the wiles of the devil? It wasn't in graduate school, it was in worship, where month after month, year after year, he heard the word of God and said the prayers, "May his great name be blessed...may his great name be blessed...may his great name be blessed." It's not about me or you, it's about God.

Five years ago now Princeton gave an honorary degree to a man named High Thompson. Unfamiliar to most of us, High Thompson was a Vietnam Vet whose heroism went unnoticed and unrecognized for many years. When I tell you his story you will understand why. On March 16, 1968, Thompson was a young helecopter pilot flying patrol over the countryside of Vietnam. He and his crew were over the village of My Lai, when they saw a nightmare taking place below them. US Army troops in Charlie Company, under the constant pressure of war had lost control of their discipline, reason and humanity, and had begun slaughtering unarmed civilians in the village, most of them women, children and elderly men. 504 people had already been killed. Thompson set his helicopter down between his fellow US soldiers and the remaining villagers. At great risk to himself he got out of his helicopter and confronted the officer in charge, Lt. William Calley. He then airlifted the few villagers still alive out of My Lai, and also radioed a report of the scene that resulted in a halt to the action thus saving thousands of civilian lives. My Lai was called a massacre and High Thompson's courageous deed in saving the innocent was long ignored. Standing on the stage, receiving his honorary degree, 35 years afterwards, High Thompson spoke to the question on everyone's minds. Where did he find the moral courage to do what he did that day? His answer surprised the students of this prestigious Ivy League University. "I'd like to thank my mother and my father," he began, "for trying to instill in me the difference between right and wrong. We were country people, I was born and raised in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and we had very little. But one thing we did have was the Golden Rule. My parents taught me early, 'Do onto others what you would have them do onto you.' That's why I did what I did that day. It's hard to put certain things into words. You're going to have to make many decisions in your life. Please make the right decisions because we're depending on you. God bless you all."

Why did he do what he did? Where did he find the moral courage? Words that were taught to him as a child, repeated over and over, "do unto others" do onto other or It is written, you shall not live by bread alone.

After his year of reciting the kaddish, Tom Long says that Leon Wieseltier (Viseltier) went with his family to the cemetery for the dedication of his father's grave. Huddled in the cold, the rabbi asked him to read a psalm, "And he shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water" he began. Then the rabbi instructed him to read another psalm, but Wieseltier (Viseltier) did not read this time, he sang. Stepping close to the grave he sang, "The Lord's my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters, he restores my soul.." and as he sang Viseltier said it was as if his song grew to make room within it for all the true and punished people who gathered around it, to shield them with its splendor, to seal them with its peace. And that dear people includes some here in worship today, right now, who are being treated unfairly, unjustly, and can't even talk about it to anyone but God. This psalm Viseltier sang is also for you.

Then the service was almost over, and there was but one thing left to do. Standing there in the cold cemetery, looking at his father's grave, Viseltier recited once more the kaddish. Like Jesus facing the devil in the wilderness calling upon the words of faith he had learned as a child, Viseltier stood in his own wilderness and recited the words he had been given, May his great neme be blessed...may his great name be blessed...may his great name be blessed." As he put it later "I stood in the ashes of fury and spoke the sentences of praise. Was that my voice? It was no longer the effusion of woe. Magnified, I said. Sanctified, I said, I looked above me, I looked below me. With my own eyes I saw magnificence."

After the devil had showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, which are apparently his to give to anyone he choses, Jesus said, Away with you satan for it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve only him. It is only then, Matthew says, the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Where do our children learn the words and the ways to win a victory over temptation? Where do they learn that one does not live by bread alone? to not put God to the test and to worship and praise God? Where do they learn, if not here, and from you who bring them here. Amen

Pastor Larry

Sermon from February 10, 2008

Pastor's Report - 2007

As the people of God in this place we have in Jesus Christ the revelation of God's goodness and love. God cares for us and so sent his Son into a rebellious world to break down the barriers separating us from God. Through our life together we share this reconciliation and the peace it brings. It is a free gift from God. Through the combined efforts of members of Deerfield Lutheran we continue to care for others and share this message of God's love.

The church is really about people. People who are called to faith in Christ Jesus and who are sent on a mission to the world. Jesus asks us to serve, love and care for others. As witnesses to the love of God, we live lives of service and love. We do this through all of the ministries supported by Deerfield Lutheran Church.

In the pages of this annual report you will find many examples of things you can do to share in our ministries. There are opportunities to sing, to teach, to visit, to work and build, to care for those who are needy and to bring people into the fellowship of God's love. We encourage you to reach out to those often forgotten - the poor, lonely, aged, ill, and all who search for God's love.

Seven years ago we took a "leap of faith" and began what was for us a NEW APPROACH TO MINISTRY where we saw the Christian home as the place where faith is passed on from one generation to the next. Our mission was transformed as we worked to equip and support parents and other adults in this vital undertaking. Faith Chests, Faith Nights, Mission Trips and a Confirmation Ministry, which includes mentoring relationships between youth and adults, are all parts of this new approach.

With the guidance of Kathy Miles and many, many volunteers this ministry has flourished. We have helped families focus on the Four Keys to nurturing faith in the home: caring conversations, renewed devotional life, service to others, and a deeper appreciation for the way rituals and traditions shape us into people of God.

Last Spring when Kathy Miles left as our Youth & Family Ministry Coordinator you said: this work must continue! So after interviewing well-qualified candidates, Gina Jorgenson was chosen to be our new Youth & Family Ministry Coordinator! She brings remarkable talent, enthusiasm, and new ideas to her work here and I'm very excited about what she offers our congregation. Gina's husband Matt Jorgenson also joins us as our new overall Music Director. Gina directs our Senior Choir and a newly formed Revival Choir for youth, while Jeff Quamme continues to direct our bell choir. Music ministry continues to be a major strength of our congregation!

We are told 2008 will be a year of change for our nation. This will also be true for Deerfield Lutheran. As we face exciting opportunities for mission and ministry we also must address several challenges. After several years of exciting growth in people, programs, and dollars we have seen our numbers plateau. Worship attendance and participation in some of our activities have actually declined. We have to ask why this leveling off has occurred at a time when our larger community has grown! To assist us in answering these questions and meeting these challenges I am asking our outgoing Congregation Council President Jeff Moerke to convene an extraordinary gathering of former council presidents. We are fortunate to have as active members at least 12 persons who have served as council presidents! Since they will not have the responsibility of overseeing the day-to-day affairs of our congregation, they will instead focus on the challenges that face us and opportunities we have to serve others.

Pastor Larry

Vocational Awareness - Glimpses of God's Grace

Sermon from January 13, 2008

When John the Baptizer baptized Jesus, a voice from heaven declares, "You are my Son, the Beloved..." As Christians we believe God declares the same to each one of us in our Baptism. You are my Child, God says, you are Beloved. And like my Son Jesus you too have been called by your Baptism to some unique vocation in life. I made you for a purpose and only you can fulfill that purpose in the way you live your life.

Maybe you're thinking as Renee LaReau does in her fine book Getting A Life, that "I never used to think the word "vocation" applied to me, or to any of my friends for that matter. In my mind, vocation was what my high school teachers talked about when they tried to recruit the boys in my class to become priests. Vocation was for those holy people, not for the cast of characters I hung out with and spent time with. Vocation was only for people who lived apart from the world, not in the midst of it. It was a pious concept that I never felt I could relate to. I heard people speak of "having a vocation" or "being called by God," and I thought to myself, "Well, isn't that nice...but that isn't for people like me." The whole concept of vocation was pretty much an irrelevant mystery.

Then a funny thing happen to Renee as she went through college and graduate school, developed friendships and entered the working world. "I began to sense that this concept of "vocation" wasn't nearly as narrow as I'd thought.... I began to catch some "glimpses of grace," hints that God was at work in the lives of my friends and family, that each one of us was being called by God in our own way. These 'glimpses of grace' took many forms: the looks on some friends' faces on the day of their weddings, the excitement and energy in my classmate's voice when she was offered a fantastic job, a great dinnertime conversation with old friends, an outpouring of compassion at a young person's funeral.

Renee began to sense that there was a greater purpose, a bigger picture that included all these 'glimpses of grace.' She recalled reading the words of the spiritual writer Henri Nouwen who wrote: "My deepest vocation is to be witness to the glimpses of God I have been allowed to catch."

Renee realized that having caught those glimpses of God, our vocation is really nothing more or less than how we respond to those glimpses of grace in our own lives. Again, in her words

Through the grace-filled moments that I experienced, I began to sense that a God I'd once thought was distant and mysterious was actually quite close and communicative. I began to think that maybe the concept of vocation did have something to do with my own life and the lives of those around me. I began to sense God did try to communicate with me, somehow,

"[T]hat certain reactions and feelings I'd had at particular times in my life had something to do with whether or not I was listening for God's call, whether I was becoming "me," the person God was calling me to be."

Slowly Renee realized that the word vocation applies to all of us, and has to do with whether or not we are living the life God is calling us to live. Are we allowing our own unique qualities and talents to be put to use in the ways God intended? Are we becoming the "me," the person God is calling each one of us to be.

At a Wedding reception, the Bride & Groom gave each family a cookie cutter in the shape of a heart. It was their way of reminding us of that greatest gift of all - the gift of love. Yet, the gift of God's love and the glimpses of God's grace we see in our lives, while it is always the same God who loves each one of us, each time God intrudes into our lives and calls us, each time that happens is totally unique. Each of us, like snowflakes are utterly unique. So our callings, our vocations, are not like the cookies made with a cookie cutter, but like snowflakes, each takes on its own unique shape because of the way we have seen God's call and responded to it in our lives.

In our Baptism liturgy we light a candle each time a person is baptized, and we recite these words of Jesus, "Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Each one of us is called in our Baptism to be a little light. Luther was bold enough to call us "little Christs" - in becoming the people God intended us to be we show others God's love. Again in the words we use in Baptism, "we bear his creative and redeeming word to all the world." The way we catch glimpses of God's grace is through the glimpses we catch of one another sharing and bearing God's grace.

One of my mentors introduced me to the Jewish writer, Chaim Potok, and this story about how he became a writer. From an early age Chaim felt he was called to be a writer, but when he went to college hos mother took him aside and said, "Chaim, I know you want to be a writer, but I have a better idea. Why don't you be a brain surgeon. You'll keep a lot of people from dying, and you'll make a lot of money." Chaim replied, "No mama, I want to be a writer."

He returned home from vacation. His mother pulled him off alone and said, "Chaim, I know you want to be a writer, but listen to your mama. Be a brain surgeon, they keep a lot of people from dying, and you will make a lot of money." Chaim replied, "I want to be a writer."

Thus the conversation went on throughout his college years until, at the end, his mother in desperation again said, "Chaim, you're wasting your time. Be a brain surgeon. You'll keep a lot of people from dying, you'll make a lot of money."

In exasperation Chaim says to his mother, "Mama, I don't want to keep people from dying. I want to show them how to live! I want to be a writer."

Maybe you are being called by God to be a brain surgeon, I don't know, but I do know we live out our Baptism by sharing what it means to live. And to really live we have to live the life God intended us to live. Your ministry in life may be doing what you are already doing - being a husband, a father, a son, or a wife and mother and daughter - a teacher or a truck driver - a writer or a welder. But with this difference - that you see yourself as being God's person in and for the world. Whatever you do - if you're Brett Farve it's playing football - you do it for the glory of God. The things we do to bring glory to God are the things we do to help one another live life and enjoy it. When we do that, we hear God say, You're my child, my beloved: in the waters of Baptism I made you mine, now go forth and let your light shine so others can see it!

Pastor Larry

"Places To Remember"

One of the things we do to you in church is immerse you in the story of Jesus. It begins in Holy Baptism when we immerse you in water and God's Word, even before you understand what that Word is all about. We're all a little like Helen Keller was before her teacher unlocked the door to language when she signed the word "water" on her hand and poured water on the poor girl.

So we pour water on Lily and Grace and place the sign of God's love, the cross, on each of them. And then in a loving family and a caring congregation we keep immersing them in the life of Jesus, who we have just learned, is Emmanuel, God with us.

In the scriptures that's how God comes to us - at particular times and in particular places. In the Bible, and in our lives, the pull of place can be very strong. I love driving through the old neighborhood when I go home at Christmas. I'll drive past the old Bright place and remember Birdie Bright having us stack wood in her basement, and then paying us with horehound candy which we'd politely put it in our mouths, saying mummmm good as we'd thank her, and then spit it out again as soon as we were safely outside. Across from her house is the field - now so much smaller than I remember it being when I was a kid - where we played football in the Fall and then ice skated in Winter. These are places I still remember, and they live in my memory to this day. I think we've all hard wired to have this strong sense of place, and this sense of place is strangely tied to our memories.

The second chapter of Matthew is shaped by this sense of place as well. Matthew seems obsessed with particular places. The first part of the chapter leads us along with the magi to Jerusalem where King Herod's advisers read from the ancient scrolls to determine the place of Jesus' birth. "And you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel." Bethlehem in the land of Judah, that's the place. And it's confirmed by the star which leads the magi to this tiny town.

Afterward, they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod with news of the child. Likewise in a dream, Joseph was warned to take the child Jesus to Egypt to save him from Herod's cruel plan. But Egypt, the place, is not only a safe haven; Egypt has special meaning in Matthew's gospel for the place is tied to the ancient word: "This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, Out of Egypt I have called my son."

So it was that Mary and Joseph fled with the child to Egypt. Jesus was saved from the king Herod's fear and wrath, even as Moses had been saved long before from Pharoh, floating in a basket among the bulrushes on the river's edge. Egypt, that ancient place, connects the two ~ Moses and Jesus. You see, place is important for Matthew. Like Moses, Jesus does not stay in Egypt. Again, Joseph receives instructions in a dream, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead. "Go from Egypt to Israel. Go from the place of enslavement to the place of promise." Go now, says God, for this child has been sent to set my people free.

And Joseph went, as the dream guided him from one particular place to another. To the district of Galilee to make his home in a town called Nazareth. There is no sense in Matthew's gospel that this had been Joseph and Mary's home town before. Unlike Luke's familiar Christmas story, Mary and Joseph had not traveled to Bethlehem for the census. The child was born in Bethlehem, as the prophets had foretold, and it seems likely, according to Matthew's gospel, that Bethlehem was Mary and Joseph's home town. But it would not remain so. It was important for Matthew to show how Jesus came to live in a different place. This place, too, was important. "And being warned in a dream, Joseph went away to the district of Galilee." There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazarene."

From Bethlehem to Egypt, from Egypt to Nazareth. All according to the ancient texts, every move in continuity with the promises of God. To our sophisticated modern ears, it can seem like Matthew is going through alot of unnecessary movement to prove that Jesus was living where he was supposed to be living. What difference does it make ~ according to both Luke and Matthew, Jesus grew up in Nazareth. Don't worry about how he got there.

But place is important for Matthew. Bethlehem, the place of birth, was important, and Egypt, the place of refuge, also important. Nazareth in Galilee was important not only at the beginning, but also at the very end. When the women went to the tomb on Easter morning, they found an angel sitting on the stone that had sealed the tomb of death. And the angel said to the frightened women, "Do not be afraid ~ Jesus is not here, for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples. He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him."

Place is important to God. The place where you are now is important to God, wherever that place may be. It might be a small town like the place where I grew up. It might be a city where you barely know your neighbors. It may be a nursing home or an army base far away from what you consider "home". That place, wherever it is, is important to God. Because God longs to dwell there with you, in that particular place.

Dear people, I want you to know in these days after Christmas, in this week where we begin a new year that Jesus was born so that we would know God is not far off, not in some other place, but here in this place. Wherever you are, Jesus longs to be born there, I'm not making this up. This is the word given to us in the very first chapter of Matthew when an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife," the angel said, "for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." Then, as he does so often, the gospel writer points to the words of scripture saying, "All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel", which means, "God is with us." Emmanuel, God-is-with-us. Not God will someday be with us or God was with us. God is with us. In the places where we were born, a small town in Wisconsin, or Guatemala, a big city.where neighbors sometimes don't know each others' names ~ in whatever plase, where acts of kindness can and do bridge barriers of great difference. In this place where you are right now, in Deerfield, place is important to God.

After the resurrection when Jesus brought his disciples to a mountain in Galilee, he gave them instructions for the days ahead, and then he left them there. But Jesus did not leave them in that place without a promise. "And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age." Not I will be with you in some other place. Not I was with you in some distant time. I am with you always. Emmanuel God-is-with-us. On the street where you know who lives in every house. In the nursing home with photos on the bureau and memories deep in your heart. In the apartment building where Christmas lights still twinkle from the fire escapes. At the gravesite covered with snow. Emmanuel. God-is-with-us in this place. Amen

Pastor Larry

Sermon from Dec. 30, 2007

The Child In Our Hands

We've just celebrated Christmas, the miracle of the incarnation, God coming to us in human flesh, which can be understood this way:

God has come to us as a human infant, God has placed "God the Son" in our human hands giving dignity to our humanity and also to our calling as parents to love and nurture our children in faith.

Infant Jesus grows to become an adult who tells his followers none of you live by bread alone, what you really need is God's Word if you want to grow to the full stature intended for you in God's eternal kingdom. Jesus insists that God's Word is essential for life, for real life that is abundant.

On Christmas Eve, waiting for worship to begin, I'll hear children as well as adults asking questions about the furnishings and decorations in our sanctuary. Many wonder what "that thing with the water in it" is. Or what is that supersized candle beside it? I'm not sure what they say about the Bible readings or my sermon.

Is recognizing a Baptismal Font or a Christ Candle or knowing who King Herod was necessary for salvation? No. We do not earn our salvation through our knowledge of liturgical furnishings or grasp of Bible history. We are saved by our trust in a gracious God who has intervened in our lives by sending us Jesus who first comes to us as a tiny infant - the child in our hands.

It's a strange thing, but God's plan to "save us" involves going through the entire process of getting born, growing up, learning what it takes to live, dying and rising. What we call "salvation" involves a lifelong process of learning and growing in faith. Knowledge alone does not save, having a relationship does.

A parenting expert says to parents: "The quality of the relationship you have with your child will have a greater bearing on their future well being than the amount of money you can provide, the education they receive from private or public schools, or the influence of their peer group." In other words, you can quite literally make or break your child with your relationship.

So my question for this New Year for all of us: What kind of relationship do you have with "the child in our hands" who is Christ among us?

Pastor Larry

“No Room"

Without exception, at this time of year, I get to hear story after story of people being treated badly. It seems to get worse the closer we get to Christmas. Because I'm a Pastor folks expect me to be shocked. Pastor, how can people behave that way? Well I read the Bible, I'm not shocked. This is the way Titus in the New Testament describes us "we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another." Titus is describing us when we rely only on our own self righteousness rather than on God's goodness and love.

My favorite cartoon character has a round head and is missing some hair on top. I'm talking about good ole Charlie Brown. This is the way Charles Schultz introduced him 57 years ago when in the first Peanuts cartoon ever we see two kids sitting by the sidewalk infront of their house - a little boy and a little girl - and the boy sees this round headed kid coming down the sidewalk and says to the girl, "Well, here comes ol Charlie Brown." They both watch as Charlie with a big smile on his face walks by. The little boy says to the little girl, "Good ol Charlie Brown....Yes, sir!" and again as Charlie passes he says to the girl, "Good ol Charlie Brown." In the last frame, when Charlie Brown can't hear him, the little boy says to the little girl, "how I hate him."

Did I tell you Charles Schultz was a Christian? In this cartoon and in all the cartoons he will ever draw, he offers a Christian commentary on our world. In Peanuts, Schultz isn't just telling quaint stories about children, he's describing the human condition the way the New Testament does. To make sure we get it, Schultz gives us no relief in his second peanuts cartoon, Patty is walking down the street sweetly reciting the verse, "Sugar and spice and everything nice," In the next panel she spots a much smaller child, a little peanut, and she smacks him across the face, and in the last panel she says, "that's what little girls are made of." Charles Schultz has no illusions about what we are made of.

That's the human condition, folks. That's how we treat one another. Who hasn't been lied to, cheated, treated badly. I could also ask, who hasn't returned the favor and treated others with the same contempt. In various ways, maybe it's simply by neglect - like neglecting the poor we talk so much about and do so little for - in so many many ways, we all behave badly. That's what the Bible calls sin, and we all have been there. So, no, I'm not shocked when I hear stories of meanness.... even at Christmas.

It's also part of the gospel story we just heard, the story we listen to with such warm and sentimental feelings. Little Baby Jesus with Mary and Joseph in the manger. We forget why they're there, don't we. Luke says there was no room in the inn, but of course there was, there was plenty of room. Bethlehem was Joseph's hometown for goodness sake. As Luther says in one of his sermons, Joseph had been telling Mary all the way to Bethlehem, don't worry Mary, we'll be with my relatives, they'll have a nice place for us to stay. Fat chance! The Bible doesn't record Mary's reaction to the news there was no room for her, but I'll guess it wasn't "Oh, that's OK Joseph, I'm looking forward to my first birthing experience in a barn, it will be so exciting!!!!

And this is The Holy Story, left to our own devices we will refuse to make room - even for Jesus. I marvel at the number of folks who tell me they have no place for worship. I assure them,we have plenty of room here, join us. Then some will open up and tell me the real reason has to do with how shabbily they've been treated by self righteous Christians. So the last thing they want to do at Christmas is go to a church with "people like that."

My father-in-law in his retirement kept books for his cousin who ran a small town tavern. He often told me the best day of the year for business was Christmas. People would flock to the bar to get away from their relatives, their neighbors, many who described themselves as Christian. So when I can, I'll apologize for the way we have treated one another as Christians, but I also ask, let's be honest. Is anyone really good all on their own? Are any of us without sin? That was Charles Schultz's message in Peanuts. Using children and humor, he got us to be honest about our real condition: we're all sinners, therefore, we all need saving. The central message of the New Testament is this "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself."

Later in his life, Charles Schultz told us that story this way. Perhaps you've seen it. It's Christmas time and Charlie Brown is feeling like a total failure, no one is listening to his directions for the annual Christmas program that he's in charge of. Charlie Brown is so angry and frustrated he wants someone to please tell him what Christmas is all about. And then Linus, to Charlie Brown's surprise, recites from memory his part in the play.

He tells of how Mary brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And how there were in that same region shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were sore afraid. And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good news of great joy...for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger, And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

And Linus, who is truly God's messenger says, "that's what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown."

The Bible doesn't say anything about believing in ourselves, our own goodness, our own capacity to get it right or to make it right all by ourselves. No, instead it promises us a Savior.

There was no room for him the night of his birth. Later on we tried to push him out of our world on a cross. But the good news is this: God didn't let us succeed in either scheme to get rid of Him. He got born anyway, even in a barn, and he accomplished his saving mission, even on a cross. So he's here with us tonight, just as he promised. That, indeed, is what Christmas is all about.