Sermon on Mark 13:24-37

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

The first Gospel reading in Advent is always tough. I want my stars to top Christmas trees, not fall from the heavens. I want twinkle lights in candy colors, not a sun and moon darkened with apocalyptic foreshadowing.

And still, the annual apocalyptic reading that kicks off Advent is a strangely good reminder that Advent isn’t just about wrapping all the gifts on our list and decking the halls. It isn’t even only about waiting for baby Jesus in the manger.

It’s also about preparing for Jesus’ second coming.

The word “apocalypse” means “revealing” or “unveiling.” This reading begins a season of watching for what God is revealing to us.

But that still doesn’t make our reading today entirely palatable. Jesus warns of some pretty terrible things.

This reading startsright in the middle of a long speech by Jesus. It’s after Palm Sunday, and Jesus and the authorities have been butting heads over several different controversial questions. The authorities are about to start plotting Jesus’ death.

Right before the beginning of Jesus’ speech, his disciples are marveling over the beauty of the Temple. And then, Jesus bursts their bubble by telling them it will be destroyed.

The disciples ask him how they’ll be able to tell that’s about to happen, and he starts warning them about all kinds of distressing signs and difficulties to come. He warns them about people who will claim to be the Messiah, about wars and disasters, and about persecutions of Jesus followers.

Just like Advent, when we remember Jesus’ first coming and await his second—operating in two times simultaneously—we can interpret that this passage is about multiple times.

Jesus talks about the destruction of the Temple. In the Gospel of John, the narrator, so to speak, interprets for us that Jesus was talking about the “Temple of his body” being raised three days after being destroyed.[1] Jesus was warning his disciples about what was coming in the next few days.

The actual Temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed in 70 CE—it was an absolutely devastatingevent akin to 9/11 for us. There were certainly wars and persecutions during that time in the Roman Empire. Jesus was warning his disciples about what was coming in the next few decades.

And still, we await Jesus’ return at the end of time. Jesus was encouraging his disciples that he would come for them—and for us.

Jesus promises to come and collect his people, who have experienced all kinds of disasters and horrors.Jesus doesn’t sugarcoat, but at the end of it, he reminds us that God is more powerful than any human or natural forces.

The point of apocalyptic literature is not to threaten people into submissionor to give us nightmares. The point is for us to remember that no matter what terrible things we experience, God, who loves us, wins in the end. God will not abandon us, no matter how bad things seem.

And Jesus’ command to “keep awake”?It’s not so that we can crack the Bible like a code and find out secret timelines for the end of the world—after all, Jesus himself says “about that day or hour no one knows.” It’s also not so he can look disappointedly at us when we miss something.

It’s so that we don’t get complacent and forget what Jesus is about.

What is Jesus about?

Loving your neighbor, feeding hungry people, seeking justice, working for peace, declaring the worth of every person because they are made in the image of God, sharing God’s love with everyone around you.

That list sounds good, but honestly, it can sound a bit overwhelming, especially during the busiest season of the year.

Yes, there are extra opportunities for sharing with our neighbors by bringing in fuzzy socks, donating a toy, or participating in Giving Tuesday. Those are good, important, and lovely things.

But even those things can feel like an extra item on a mile-long to-do list.

What does it mean to “keep awake” when we’re already run off our feet catching up on end of the year work, doing all the things to make Christmas magical for our kids or grandkids, and struggling to pick out the perfect gift for that one relative who’s, well, particular.

What does it mean to “keep awake" when we’re inundated with stress, debt, alcohol, rich foods, advertisements, and expectations?

What does it mean to “keep awake” when we’re hardly sleeping anyway?

What if the hum of busyness in our lives this time of year is actually what’s lulling us to sleep?

What if we’re so busy rushing from one store to another to a party to another errand that we don’t have time to catch our breath and reflect on what God is actually calling us to?

What if sacrificing our wellbeing on the altar of society’s expectations is not what God wants for us?

How would we live differently if we believed that “keeping awake” meant saying “no” to things that are keeping us busy but unfulfilled?

I’d like to introduce a theme for 2024. Let’s make 2024 the year of Sabbath.

Sabbath, rest, and reflection are not things the dominant western culture appreciates or even necessarily approves of. We’re told to hustle and grind. If rest is tolerated, it is only so that we can be more productive when we return to work, which is of course as soon as possible.

It’s not just in the workplace either. We’re told to turn our hobbies into side hustles, monetize anything we create, and become more and more efficient at whatever we do.

Rest, we are told, is lazy.Rest is for losers.

And yet, in the very first story in the Bible, God rested.

“On the sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”[2]

Surely, God doesn’t need to rest. God doesn’t need to rest to be more productive. And yet, God rested anyway and instructed us to do the same.

Maybe being more productive isn’t the point. Maybe God rested and calls us to rest simply because it’s enjoyable.

Let’s spend 2024 exploring that idea and learning what rest looks like as a community dedicated to God.

And let’s dedicate this Advent, this season of waiting and preparation, to preparing to rest. Have you ever noticed that it can take a few days to really relax while on vacation? Or unwind after a big project or event is over? When we’re spending all our energy moving forward, it can take our bodies a while to catch up with us.

So let this Advent be a time of preparation for the rest that’s coming in 2024.

Let’s hear Jesus’ command to “keep awake” not as a call to work harder or faster but instead to pause, reflect, listen to the Holy Spirit’s direction.

That’s how we cut through the white noise of the busyness of the season that’s lulling us to sleep instead of paying attention to what Jesus is about. It’s hard to love our neighbors when we’re barely functioning ourselves.

So, pause. Breathe. Let go of what’s not making you shine with the love of God this season.

We’re about to sing “Wake, Awake for Night is Flying.” Instead of hearing it as a call to sleep less and worry more, let it be a cry of joy that we get to rest in the arms of our loving savior, who’s on his way. It’s an invitation to a banquet of joy that will never end.

When Jesus returns, no matter what terrible things have happened along the way, that is what he promises us: that eternal banquet where we sing of God’s grace and love. Let us sing with joy.

[1] John 2:21

[2] Genesis 2:2-3

First Lutheran Church

November 19, 2023 + Pastor Greg’s Last Sunday

Philippians 4:4-9 - Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. As for the things that you have learned and received and heard and noticed in me, do them, and the God of peace will be with you.

Matthew 3:13-17 - Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

Sermon

“Think About These Things”

Pastor Greg Ronning

Whatever is true, whatever has honor,

Whatever is just and pure, lovely and full of grace,

If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,

Think about these things, Think about these things.

In today’s epistle St. Paul encourages us to “think aboutthese things.”  He does not tell us the exact things to think about, but only to think about “these things” that are “true,” “honorable,” “just,” “pure,” “lovely,” “grace-filled,” “excellent,” and “worthy of praise.”  I suppose there are many things that live up to these qualities, but today I am going to invite you to consider “these things” that belong to the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. 

As I conclude my time with you as your pastor, as I retire from full time parish ministry, as I wonder what you might “have learned and received and heard and noticed in me,” and what others whom I have served might “have learned and received and heard and noticed in me,” I hope that the promises of baptism might come to mind.  And I hope and trust that remembering your baptism, living out your baptism, and participating in the baptismal life that we share in Christ, - gives you peace.  The peace that is the loving presence of God, the peace that quiets doubt and strengthens faith, that peace that surpasses all understanding, - guarding, holding, and caring for our hearts and minds, our very souls.

A few weeks ago, I celebrated the 35th anniversary of my ordination.  It’s incredible how time flies.  But there is another anniversary that I am also celebrating this year, the anniversary of an event that has marked and shaped my ministry.  Forty years ago, I wrote the song, “One More Life.”  As I remember, this is how the song came to be.  A family at the church where I grew up invited me to sing at the baptism of their child.  I started looking for a song a might sing but was not excited about any of the options that I found.  And then it happened, in the mystery of music and song writing, - I played a few chords, started humming a melody, tossed about some lyrics, - and all the sudden a song was born.

Since that first baptism it has been my privilege to sing “One More Life” at countless baptisms, a few here at First Lutheran and at The Table, at memorial services, and as part of many a “sermon in song.”  It is a song that in many ways, has shaped and defined my entire life in ministry.And it’s striking to me that I wrote the song, that shaped and defined my ministry, before I even decided to go to seminary.  Surely the Spirit was at work!

And so it is that today I’d like to sing “One More Life” one more time. The song celebrates the promises of baptism,- the promises of Identity, Vocation, and Community.As I share the song with you, verse by verse with some thoughts, I invite you to -“think about these things.”

One more life, a bright shining light

One more hope, that the world will be all right

You're a miracle child, Love made alive

Water falls from heaven, as God says you're mine

God says you're mine.

In today’s Gospel Jesus is baptized by John, and in that moment … “the heavens were opened,” and “a voice from the heavens said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’” Beloved, remember this, this is important, we share in the baptism of Christ, in baptism God also declares to each of us, “You are mine,you too are my beloved.”  

Martin Luther taught us to always “remember” our baptism.  He writes, “In the morning, when you rise, you shall make the sign of the holy cross, and you shall say: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”Whenever we begin the day, whenever we face the existential questions of life, whenever we feel overwhelmed by the world, whenever we feel trapped, whenever we forget who we are, whenever we are made to feel “less than;”We are called to stop and make the sign of the cross, and remember that in baptism, in the waters of baptism, we have been named, claimed,and defined by God.  In baptism we are nothing less than a beloved child of God.Luther remarked that as long as he knew he was “loved” there wasn’t anything that he could not get through.  To know that he was loved and cherished, set him free, filled him with the enthusiasm of hope, emboldened him with the confidence of faith, and gave him a peace that stilled his soul and directed his pathways.

You're a miracle child, Love made alive

Water falls from heaven, as God says you're mine

God says you're mine.

One more heart, begun by You

One more soul, and hey, all things are new

And soon you'll know your name, love's made its claim

Heaven will be calling you, and you'll never be the same

You'll never be the same

Verse two reminds us that we all have our own unique calling in life, that we have all been gifted in ways that can make a difference in the world around us.  Our calling, our vocation, is lived out when we discover, in the words of Frederick Buechner, “the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need.”

I’ve always believed that what set First Lutheran Church apart as a community of faith, the thing that always ends up making the difference here in this place, the thing that drew me to you in the beginning, was its sense of vocation.  First Lutheran, at its very heart, is the church that feeds people.  What a blessing it is to have a passion and joy - that intersects with one of “the basic needs” of many of our neighbors.

I spent most of my years in ministry in “campus ministry.”  Vocation was at the heart of my ministry every day, helping young people discover their calling, inviting them to consider what they might do with their one precious life.  How their gifts, talents, and dreams might make a difference.  And I’ve tried to continue that theme here in this place, for the advent of vocation is always upon us.  In fact, I have come to believe that perhaps our greatest vocation, waits for us in the second half of life.  So it is that I invite you to consider again and again, over and over, where does my passion and joy connect with my neighbor in need?  And don’t be afraid to chase after that which God has called you to do!  Heaven continues to call you, heaven continues to make all things new, heaven is ready to write another chapter in your life, your baptism continues to make a difference, “You’ll never be the same.”

“One More Life” continues with a third verse.  A verse that over the years, as my faith has matured, has become the most important verse.  When I recorded the song, I introduced a harmony voice at this point, helping to move the song from an “Individual” place to a place of “community.”  Somewhere along my life’s journey I came to the realization that faith was not a private thing, but a community thing.  I didn’t know this truth when I wrote the song, but the song seemed to know it all along.I’d like to invite Julie up here, the harmony, to sing verse three with me.

And you'll never be alone, when you feel lonely

You'll always be loved, yeah, you're part of a family

Something's happened today that can never fade away

When God comes down from heaven,

God's here to stay, Here to stay

Verse three reminds us that we will never be alone, “You'll always be loved, yeah, you're part of a family.”  In our culture that overvalues individuality we are reminded that the strength and power of faith, the support we need to live out our vocation, and the place where we are reminded of our identity; is in the life of the church, the faith community, the beloved community, the place where faithful people do faithful things, - the very body of Christ.

The Lutheran Baptismal Liturgy ends with the whole congregation saying, “We welcome you into the body of Christ and into the mission we share: join us in giving thanks and praise to God and bearing God's creative and redeeming word to all the world.”

I have learned over the years, that you cannot be a Christian all by yourself, no matter how hard you try.  The nature of our faith, the nature of baptism, is corporate.  And what a joy it has been to be a part of this family of faith, to be reminded by you that I am beloved, to have my calling in life valued, encouraged, and confirmed by you.  I thank you for the gift of community, the place where faith is experienced. 

May you all continue to care, love, and support each other, continue to dare to talk about vocation, continue to help each other discover new joys and passions, continue to listen for the breaking in of the Holy Spirit.  And let us always remember, that we are not alone!  Together,-“in Christ, with Christ, and through Christ,”- we are the Body of Christ.

In one more life, one more life,

One more life, one more life

You're a miracle child, Love made alive

Water falls from heaven, as God says you're mine

God says you're mine

And one last promise, - the promise of grace.  “Water falls from heaven.” “God comes down from heaven.”“God’s here to stay.”  The direction of God, the direction of the Gospel, the direction of love, is decidedly in our favor, - God comes down to us!  God always meets us where we are, even where you are right now.  The grace, mercy, hope, and love of God comes to us! 

Never forget, you are nothing less than the beloved children of God.

Think about these things and the God of peace will be with you.

Think about these things and the God of peace will be with you.

Think about these things …

“One More Life”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNmH69hlMTs&list=OLAK5uy_mWqkF2AvrbciYiSLO5BMuYuHZqoG76C4o&index=1

Sermon on Luke 24:13-34

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

A major chapter in the lives of the disciples had ended. They had learned from Jesus for three years, but he had been put to death by the authorities. Now it was all over.

The disciples were lost, uncertain of what would come next for them. They hid themselves from the authorities and waited.

Two of the disciples headed out of town. Perhaps the memories of the previous week were too strong in Jerusalem. Perhaps they were restless and could no longer sit in the upper room waiting to be caught and crucified like their teacher.

So they left. Cleopas and another disciple. Some have theorized that the other disciple was his wife, but we’ll never know.

Whoever these two disciples were, they met a stranger on the journey.

He seemed completely clueless about the biggest event in their entire lives, but he was surprisingly knowledgeable about the scriptures. They talked along the way, and for those few hours, perhaps the two disciples felt a little less scared, a little less alone. To borrow a phrase from our Methodist siblings, perhaps their hearts were “strangely warmed.”

When they finally arrived, the sun was setting, but the stranger looked like he was going to continue on. In customary hospitable fashion, they insisted he stay with them.

As they sat down to the evening meal, the stranger started a familiar ritual: “he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” It was in this moment that they realized it had been Jesus all along.

Isn’t it always Jesus all along?

So often we go about our daily lives, and it is only in hindsight that we realize:

1.    that person on the side of the road holding a cardboard sign was Jesus,

2.    that six-year-old who made an insightful comment that took us by surprise was Jesus,

3.    that friend who reached out just when we needed it most was Jesus.

Jesus is always there, especially in the places we least expect to find him.

Jesus was there for these two disciples in the midst of their grief, fear and confusion. He was there for them at the turn of a new chapter in their lives that they didn’t understand yet.

And First Lutheran, too, is at the start of a new chapter.

Pastor Greg has served this community faithfully and lovingly, and now he is being called to serve in new ways elsewhere. God is not done with him, and God is not done with First Lutheran.

But in the midst of change, it’s easy to feel scared, sad, and lonely, just like the disciples at the beginning of our story.

It’s normal to feel anxious about change—regardless of whether the change is good or bad. It’s hard to let go of what has been, because we can’t see yet what God has in store for us next.

Even though the two disciples in our story had heard the testimony of the women disciples who said that angels had told them Jesus was alive, they were still sad and afraid. They didn’t know if they could believe that Jesus was alive, and they didn’t know what was next for them.

But Jesus met them anyway.

Jesus walked with them, gave them insight, and communed with them. He walked by their side and sat at their table.

Despite what it seemed, he never left them, never abandoned them. He was with them all along, even when they didn’t realize it.

And Jesus will not leave us either.

Jesus is always present when people gather in his name.

Jesus has been preached by so many people in this place. His praises have been sung thousands upon thousands of times.

Jesus has been at this table since this congregation’s founding.

Jesus is present in every person who walks in those doors and every person who is fed by our pantry.

All of that will continue, God willing, for many, many years to come. And if and when the time comes when this place is no longer used for these purposes, God’s people will continue to meet wherever they are, praying, preaching, eating, singing, serving until the end of time and then for eternity.

And we get to be part of that. This chapter is ending and a new one will begin. You get to help discern what the Holy Spirit is up to next.

Jesus will be with you through it all. He is already here, and he journeys with us into whatever comes next.

If you are afraid, take heart.

If you are sad, lean on each other and on Jesus, who never abandons his people.

Beloved, we are all God’s Church, Christ’s Body, called to share God’s love with the world in old and new ways. Eat your fill of Jesus’ presence, and let your hearts burn within you.