I recall some years ago on the campus of Texas Lutheran University a Jewish rabbi explaining that he thought Christians behave as though God is fragile, as though God might break or break down if confronted with our anger, as though God can’t stand criticism or sustain an argument. Jews, he said, are always arguing with God, always registering complaints, always finding something to contend. God, the rabbi declared, can take it. He referred to Job as an example of this. He could also have mentioned Jacob, who wrestled with God, or even Moses, who often disputed matters with God. God is not delicate and easily damaged. God is resilient, according to Jewish teaching and practice. God can take the best punch that we humans can throw.

You have never thrown a punch at God? Commendable. I suspect that your life thus far has been devoid of intense pain, anguish and loss; or that you think God can’t handle your antagonism; or else that you have been intimidated by the image of a powerful and easily angered God sometimes venerated in religious circles.

You have – at times of intense pain, anguish and loss – thrown punches at God? Understandable. But tell me: did God retaliate or, in the end and out of love, embrace and refresh you? I suspect that it was the latter. God’s power is rooted in God’s deepest nature: love – as yesterday’s Gospel reading, known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son but better called the Parable of the Waiting Father, attested.

Fr. Richard Rohr, leader of a retreat center in New Mexico, put it another and I think helpful and hopeful way: “If God is Trinity and Jesus is the face of God, then it is a benevolent universe. God is not someone to be afraid of, but is the Ground of Being and on our side.” (From his website at https://cac.org/dm-themes)

Composed by Tom Wilkens

Isaiah 55:6

This verse, from yesterday’s Old Testament lesson, brings to mind an expression that Martin Luther used from time to time: Deus absconditus – God who has absconded, who has vanished, who is hidden. God’s presence cannot be taken for granted. God’s absence is an awful possibility and an occasional actuality. Not only can God be silent; God can also be gone.

Luther had another expression, an alternative to the divine absence: Deus revelatus – God who is revealed, who has come out of hiding, who is present to us. Christianity holds that God must take the initiative to change from Deus absconditus to Deus revelatus. Otherwise, all human seeking for God is doomed to fail. An absent God cannot be found. Only a present God who breaks silence and comes among us can be discovered.

Lord God: we cannot hide from you, but you can hide from us. Please don’t. You are the consummate player of hide and seek; you always win, except when you choose to lose. Please continue choosing to lose. Please keep on coming out of hiding in Jesus the Christ and in all the “little Christs” who surround us in communities of faith, of hope, and of love. Please persist, like the Hound of Heaven, in seeking us out. Amen.

Composed by Tom Wilkens

In the 21st Century, we have the benefit of centuries to help us understand God’s promises. They were demonstrated in the covenant with Abram, already a childless old man, to have descendants as numerous as the stars. For Paul, the promises were affirmed when he experienced persecution without regret; indeed, he expressed confidence in the future and encouraged others to follow in his footsteps, standing firm as an example to all by his life.

Having grown up on a Central Texas farm during the 1940s and ’50s, the Gospel lesson includes one of my favorite images–the hen gathering her brood under her wings. I understood what this protection meant for the chicks but didn’t fully understand the threats to which the children of Jerusalem were being exposed. Pr. Cheryl’s poignant example of the mother bird in the forest fire has helped me appreciate it more fully.

We have many opportunities at Christ Lutheran, especially during Lent, to experience God’s protection and saving grace and to demonstrate our love and concern to others. Our special offerings for Camp Agape and ELCA Hunger help children experiencing the loss of a loved one and hunger, respectively. We can help provide meals for and assist homeless youth in our community at the NEST. Next week we’ll learn how we can minister to Pickett Elementary School in our neighborhood. If we are observant, we might even see someone who would appreciate a kind word we could express!

We pray:

God of the covenant, in the mystery of the cross you promise everlasting life to us; having embraced us into your arms of compassion and protection, be with us in our daily journeys as we pray and share with those in need; through your son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen

Composed by George Ohlendorf

Yesterday, Pastor Lamaak presented the challenge of the gospel on this First Sunday in Lent as a journey with Jesus into the wilderness. After the baptism and the genealogy of Jesus that proclaims his ultimate identity as the “Son of God,” Luke’s Gospel tells us, “Jesus was led by the Spirit in the wilderness” (Luke 4: 1). In the wilderness Jesus is tempted by the devil. What is the purpose of these three temptations? The purpose is to verify that Jesus is the Son of God.

The comic character Dagwood used the same principle when he hungered for a humongous sandwich from his local deli provider. Dagwood believes the sandwich will taste delicious, but he needs personal experience to confirm it. Dagwood holds his prize sandwich and says, “Trust and verify,” before he sinks his teeth into the mountain of food.

I am willing to go on a Lenten journey into a spiritual wilderness. My purpose is to affirm my relationship with Jesus. What might a wilderness looks like? An image of the Australian outback comes to mind. On the highway outside Alice Spring for hours on end I saw desert stretch to every horizon  with no signs of human habitation. Such a wilderness is harsh and severely challenges a person’s courage and intelligence to survive.

What will my Lenten journey into a wilderness be like? I am anxious that my spirit is too feeble to follow the Spirit. I am skeptical that the effort will be rewarding, and I question whether God will be there for me.

But the gospel transforms my fears. The journey itself is the work of the Spirit. The intention for beginning the journey is not mine in the first place; it is God’s desire for me. Strength and endurance depend on God, not my puny efforts. The outcome rests in God’s gracious heart, not my agenda. My part is responding as the Spirit empowers me to do so.

Already the Spirit has claimed me in baptism and declared that I am a child of God. I have been gifted with God’s Spirit, and the Spirit helps me trust God’s presence and power. The Spirit will lead me to verify God’s presence in my living, not to test if I have faith or not, but to affirm God’s eternal working for my good.

I am lacing up my walking shoes, putting on my sunblock and safari hat, and grabbing my walking poles, ready to set out on my Lenten journey. Come along!

Let us pray:   Dear Jesus, thank you for going ahead of me into life’s wildernesses. Give me eyes to see you and a heart to follow, confident that in all things and in every person you are making all things new. Amen.

by Peggy Ogden-Howe

For example, originally the US constitution was quite exclusive: only a minority of the people enjoyed its full protection and privileges. We have spent over two centuries working to expand its coverage, trying to be a more inclusive society. It is still not easy; nor will it ever be.

Actually, Jesus had his own problems with inclusivity – as his initially cold response to a Syro-Phoenician woman made clear (Mark 7:24-30). However, as yesterday’s Gospel from Luke illustrated and Pastor Kersten underlined, Jesus came to understand that inclusivity was always God’s will (4:21-30). Yet not only is inclusivity not easy; as Jesus found out, it is not popular. It would, ultimately, contribute to his death.

So how do we make the difficult transition from exclusivity to inclusivity; from divided, fenced and gated groups to a united, welcoming and embracing community? In yesterday’s epistle lesson (1Corinthians 13), St. Paul wrote that love – not faith – is the greatest of the Spirit’s gifts to us. When faith is number one, we become exclusive; we split; and we condemn. But when love is number one, it tempers faith. Love helps us to come together rather than move apart; it empowers us to become more inclusive; and it motivates us to affirm others, even in the face of faith differences. This is a lesson that we Lutherans have a special need to learn.

Lord God, call us to task when we build fences rather than friendships; when we refuse to embrace all of the people you created; and when we seek to exclude rather than include. Amen.

Composed by Tom Wilkens

How do we, as members, contribute to this mission?  How do we show our love for others, particularly those who seem unlovable?  If we are God’s instrument, we represent Him, we are His agent.  He works through our hands and hearts, our actions and reactions.

We are to be God’s instrument of grace.  Grace is a gift we receive, but that we don’t deserve.  How do we show God’s grace to others?   Is there someone who has wronged us, has hurt us?  Though they don’t deserve it, we should forgive them, thereby showing grace as God gives us grace.  God forgives us, remembering our sins no more.  Surely if he can sacrifice His Son for our forgiveness, we can likewise forgive others and remember their sins no more.

In yesterday’s Gospel from Luke, Chapter 4, Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit goes to the synagogue in Nazareth and reads from Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.”

The poor…imprisoned…blind…oppressed…people less fortunate than ourselves, people who have made unwise decisions, people who have broken the law, people who may have been mistreated in their homes.  All these deserve our grace, our love, our forgiveness, our kindness…

We are assured that no matter what our sins are, we are forgiven through the grace of God.  So long as we believe in Jesus as our Savior, our sins were wiped clean through the sacrifice on the Cross.  Through this generous act, we received forgiveness that we did not deserve, and we have God’s assurance that we will be with Him in Heaven forever.  If we truly understand the magnitude of such love and grace, how can we not bestow it to others?

Jane Hazelton

We recognize Epiphany as the time of the revelation of Jesus’ divinity.  The visit of the Magi was the first sign that Jesus was divine.  Jesus’ baptism in River Jordan was another sign of His divinity.

Jesus performed his first miracle or sign at the Wedding Feast at Cana, at which he transformed ordinary water into the best quality wine. This was certainly a sign pointing to Jesus’ divinity.

Wine in ancient Israel was reserved for feast days, celebrations, and the Sabbath.  Wine would become the symbol for the blood, which Christ would shed for His people.

But water was ordinary.  This water, in fact, was in jars that had been used for ceremonial washing.  This was not a coincidence, but holds great symbolism.  The water signified the Jewish purification, and Jesus replaced it with pure wine, representing His spotless blood.

We wonder why Jesus’ first miracle, as revealed in the Bible, was not an occasion of helping people in distress or pain.  But from this passage, we can learn that God is involved in every aspect of our lives, even our feasts and celebrations.  We know we can turn to Him with all our joys and all our sorrows.

We pray the Prayer of the Day for the Second Sunday after Epiphany:

Lord God, source of every blessing, you showed forth your glory and led many to faith by the works of your Son, who brought gladness and salvation to his people. Transform us by the Spirit of his love, that we may find our life together in him, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Karen McCann Hett

In our gospel lesson from Luke, we learn of the Holy Spirit coming to Jesus though his baptism by John the Baptist. “Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove… (Luke: 3: 22).”

What a wonderful gift! Our Lord sends the Holy Spirit to us in different ways to purify us and guide us! In the sermon from Pastor Paul, we learned that through our baptism we are purified….the grain is separated from the chaff. By being cleansed through baptism and the forgiveness of our merciful Savior, we are made pure “vessels” in which to go out and serve our Lord as he directs us. We are all called to share the good news of our Savior in both words and actions. Let it be!

We pray, Dear Father in heaven, we thank you for the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. Let your Holy Spirit come to us in this prayer to guide us and give us the courage to be your “vessels”. May we comfort one another in our life struggles and share the good news of your forgiveness. Amen.

By Joe Vogel

12 – 14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives – words, action, whatever – be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Lord God, be with us as we enter a new year with your forgiveness and love. Amen

The Message translation along with many others may be found at BibleGateway.com

Composed by Betty Wilkens

Yet Mary rejoices in God her Savior with her entire being. As Pastor Kersten suggested, Mary’s rejoicing could have been sung also later in her life. Then she would have experienced the crucifixion of her child and still rejoiced in the God who grew in her for nine months. At the end of her life, she could have gloried in the One who rose from being dead and promised new life to all who trust him with their lives. In faith at any stage of her life, she could have magnified this God who does saving acts that are surprising, staggering, even shocking.

In faith, how can you and I magnify with our entire being this God who is our Savior when we walk through the dark valleys? This past week I choked up every time I heard reported yet another funeral of a child in Newtown. In Sunday worship I grieve inwardly every time I hear in prayers the names of military personnel who are killed.  How can I with their loved ones rejoice in God who at the time of deadly disaster did not save?

My only hope is in the One who came to change all the death and despair we experience. This One risked birthing, living, and dying so that He would triumph over the power of the evil one.  No matter the circumstances of our lives, God in Christ is with us with healing and saving presence and power. Empowered by Christ, we dare to proclaim our Savior with our entire being, like Mary our faithful sister.

Great and Gracious God, thank you for Mary’s trust in you regardless of her worldly circumstance. Strengthen my trust in Christ, who is creating newness in creation and me. Help me sing your greatness with all that I am. Amen. 

Peggy Ogden-Howe