Sermon | "Empty Promises / Promises Fulfilled" | Lent 1C

Gospel: Luke 4:1–13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,  ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished.  ³The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread."  ⁴Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"

⁵Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  ⁶And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.  ⁷If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."  ⁸Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

⁹Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,  ¹⁰for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,' ¹¹and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"  ¹²Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"  ¹³When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Part I

Let's take a look at this familiar text for a moment.  In Luke 3, after Jesus had been baptized by John in the Jordan, he was "praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove (21-22).  Then there is a brief pause in narrative, then the story continues in chapter 4.  Jesus, still "full of the Holy Spirit" is led by that same Spirit in the wilderness (4:1). 

The way the Gospel of Mark tells the story, Jesus is "driven" by the Spirit into the wilderness.  What makes this interesting to me is that Jesus is exactly where God wants him--he's not on the wrong side of the tracks, he's not in a bad part of town where he really shouldn't be hanging out, he's not running away from God like the prophet Jonah--and yet, he still faces temptation by the devil.  He was tempted by the devil for forty days, no less.  Jesus ate nothing during that time, and not surprisingly, when the forty days were over, he was "famished." 

And then the devil really kicks the temptation into high gear:
"If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread....
"If you will worship me, all the kingdoms of the world will be yours, for I have been given their glory and authority over them has been given to me...
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the Temple..."

The devil tries to lure Jesus with empty promises: 

The promise of a hearty meal, the promise of appetites satisfied.  Yet if Jesus were to turn the stones into bread, it would seem self-serving.  In the gospels, Jesus performs miracles in service to others, and to bring glory to God, not to himself.  Bread from stones would simply be empty calories, ultimately un-fulfilling, like eating a Twinkie.

The devil promises Jesus the kingdoms of the world, if Jesus will worship him, but this promise is also an empty one.  Any authority the devil may have had was ultimately temporary, for the rightful ruler of the heavens and earth is God, and God alone is to be worshiped.

And finally, the devil promises that God will protect Jesus from death if he were to throw himself from the top of the Temple.  Ultimately, though, God's plan does not save Jesus from death, but allows him to face death, death on the cross, as part of his work on earth. 

Part II
How often today are we tempted by the empty promises of the devil and the world and even our own sinful nature?  If you're like me, quite often. 

Advertising promises to fulfill our appetites:  Twinkies will satisfy your hunger.  The latest weight-loss product will help you shed pounds.  The new exercise machine will help you bulk up.  The latest fashions will make you more popular.  A particular brand of makeup will transform you into the Photoshopped model on the cover of the magazine.  You will never be satisfied until you have a Sham-Wow and a set of Ginsu knives and a Ch-ch-ch-Chia Pet and a Ronco Food Dehydrator and a WaxVac.   

Think of all the promises we hear from the world: You need a bigger house, a newer car, a better boat to keep up with the Joneses.  You will achieve success, and therefore happiness by climbing the corporate ladder.  In order to be liked or loved, your body needs to be smaller, skinnier, firmer, tanner, smoother, softer.

Religions, even certain expressions of Christianity, make empty promises too: God will heal you if only you have enough faith.  God desires you live abundantly, which is equated with being wealthy.  But these type of churches forget that following Jesus means facing persecution; following Jesus means self-denial; following Jesus means giving up possessions; following Jesus means following him to death, before rising to new life.

Part III
How does Jesus deal with the devil's empty promises?  By countering with the words of scripture, with verses from our Old Testament.

In the face of the first temptation, Jesus replies with the words from Deuteronomy 8:3 "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'"  The devil knew the scripture well enough, that Jesus didn't have to even finish the verse: "one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

When the devil wants Jesus to worship him, Jesus replies "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"  Again, Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy, this time chapter 10.

Finally, when the Devil tempts Jesus throw himself from the Temple and offers scripture to suggest that angels will protect him if he does, Jesus counters with scripture of this own, again from Deuteronomy: "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" 

For 40 days, Jesus has fasted.  And it's very likely that during those 40 days Jesus spent time praying and meditating on the scriptures.  Later in the gospels, when Jesus goes off by himself to a place like the wilderness, a lonely place, it is often to pray.  During those 40 days in which Jesus in which Jesus fasted, he nurtured his relationship with his heavenly Father through prayer and filled himself with the scriptures.  So when the devil came with to tempt Jesus with empty promises, Jesus was already full of God's promises.

Part IV

What insights can we glean about temptation from this exchange between Jesus and the Devil?  Here are a few thoughts:

First, be aware of when you are most vulnerable to temptation.  After his fast, Jesus was hungry.  When we are hungry--hungry for food, hungry for attention, hungry for affection--we are more vulnerable to temptation.  The same is true when we are angry, lonely, and tired.  If you take the first letter of each of those--hungry, angry, lonely, tired, it spells HALT.  When you find yourself feeling this way, stop for a moment and be aware of your vulnerability to temptation.

Secondly, take time to pray, and to pray about the temptations you face.  When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he taught them to pray: "Let us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."  Ask others to pray for you as well.  James 5:16 says, "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."

Third, fill yourself with God's word.  Join us on Wednesday nights as we study together the book of Jonah.  Take home a devotional book for your personal study of the Bible.  Write down a verse from today's service that spoke to you and put it somewhere you will see it later in the week.  Fill yourself with God's fulfilling promises, not the devil's empty promises.  The message of the scriptures, not messages from advertising or messages from the world, should be the message we look to to remind ourselves of who we are, who God created us to be, and what purpose we were created to fulfill. 

One of the prayers in our hymnal compares the Word of God to good food:  "Blessed Lord God, you have caused the holy scriptures to be written for the nourishment of your people. Grant that we may hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, comforted by your promises, we may embrace and forever hold fast to the hope of eternal life, which you have given us in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord."

Finally, remember this about temptation:  When we do give in to sin, to the forces of evil, to the devil, to his empty promises, return once again to the cross, the cross toward which we journey these 40 days, the cross on which our Savior Jesus died, so that we might receive God’s promise of forgiveness on behalf of the One who was tempted, yet did not sin.

Amen.

Sermon | "We Gather Together" | Day of Thanksgiving

They gathered together for a meal of Thanksgiving. The people of God, slaves in the bustling city of Rameses in Egypt. When their ancestors came to Egpyt to live as aliens, the were few in number. But in time, they became a great nation, mighty and populous. And when the Egyptians treated them harshly and afflicted them, by imposing hard labor on them, they cried to the LORD, the God of their ancestors; and God heard their voice and saw their affliction, their toil, and their oppression.

God listened to their cry and they listened to God’s instructions: Take a lamb for each household, a lamb without blemish, a year-old male.  Slaughter the lamb. Drain its blood into a basin. Then take a branch of hyssop, dip it into the blood, and paint the blood on the lintel and doorposts of each home. Roast the lamb over a fire, with its head, legs, and organs intact. Wait inside, prepared to leave. Eat the meal fully clothed, with sandals on your feet and staffs in your hands.

They gathered together for a meal of Thanksgiving with their families and the LORD passed over their homes, but struck down all the firstborns in the land of Egypt. So they departed the land in haste. They took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls wrapped up in
their cloaks on their shoulders.

And the LORD brought them out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. And they gave thanks.

* * *

They gathered together for a meal of Thanksgiving.  This small band of Jewish pilgrims who had come to the bustling city of Jerusalem. The city was filled with merchants selling clothing and jewelry. Along with the others, they shopped for the food they needed: spices and herbs, fish, wheat and wine, but most important was the lamb. Utmost care was taken to follow the traditions of their forefathers. Early in the afternoon, they took the lamb to the Temple. They waited for the sound of the ram’s horn, before they slaughtered the lamb. Its blood was drained into a basin held by one of the priests. Then it was skinned and its fat and kidneys were removed and burnt on the altar.

They took the lamb to the room which had been prepared for their feast. The lamb was roasted outside in the courtyard. Inside the room was prepared. Cushions on the floor allowed us them
to recline and eat at low tables. Along with the lamb, the other dishes of their tradition were prepared: bitter herbs, bread, and the haroset, a mixture of fruit, nuts and wine. And there was wine to drink as well—four cups for each guest, mixed with water and heated…

They gathered together for a meal of Thanksgiving, the Passover meal. The disciples listened as their Rabbi Jesus took a loaf of bread, and blessed their God. Then, Jesus broke the bread and said, “This… is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”  Later, when they drank the third cup of wine, the cup of redemption, he said, “This cup… is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

They were saddened and confused by Jesus’ words. But they remembered when the Lord had fed a crowd of over 5000 with only two fish and five loaves of bread, and they remembered what Jesus said afterward: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

* * *

They gathered together for a meal of Thanksgiving--the colonists who had come to the “New World” and the Indians who were already there.  They colonists had come here from England on a merchant ship called the Mayflower. They were few in number. In November in the Year of Our Lord 1620, they landed on this continent. They began building a settlement, but the winter weather treated them harshly and many of them were afflicted by sickness and died.

Those who survived until the next year, about 50 in number, celebrated in the fall of 1621. With the harvest in, the governor sent four men out hunting, so that they might rejoice together after gathering the fruit of their labors. The four men in one day killed as much fowl as served the company almost a week.  And many of the Indians joined them, and among them their greatest king Massasoit along with some ninety men. For three days the colonists entertained and feasted, and the Indians went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed upon the governor, the captain, and others. Along with the deer and the duck, they feasted on lobsters and mussels, white
and red grapes, black and red plums and “flint” corn.

And although it was not always so plentiful as it was at that time, they remembered the goodness of God, and they were far from want.

* * *

Three meals from three different times in history. Three meals in three different lands and cultural settings. Three meals with the common thread of thanksgiving.

First, the Passover meal of the ancient Hebrews. A meal eaten in both in celebration of and in remembrance of their liberation from slavery in Egypt and the freedom to worship their God, the one true God, in their own way.

Secondly, Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples, likely a Passover meal, eaten by a Jewish rabbi and his Jewish followers in the city of Jerusalem, occupied by the Roman Empire.

And finally, the meal we in the United States have come to call the “First Thanksgiving.” A meal eaten by the English colonists of Plymouth and Native Wampanoag people in celebration of the harvest. It was not a day of “thanksgiving” in the strictest, religious sense of the word, but it was a celebration that included feasting, games, and prayer.

* * *

Tomorrow, we will gather together for a meal of Thanksgiving. First Lutheran will host a modern Thanksgiving meal. We will come together—family and friends and neighbors.  We will feast on turkey and ham (provided by the Shooting Star), and mashed potatoes (100 lbs., in fact, donated by Butch J.) and dressing and sweet potatoes, corn and cranberries, rolls, and a room full of salads. And we will surely all save room for dessert, pies donated by St. Michael’s. It’s a meal that brings the community together—people from St. Michael’s and First Lutheran, Circles of Faith, Immanuel in Bejou, Wild Rice in Asplund, and others. It’s a meal that supported by individuals in the community and organizations and businesses in the community.  Before the shopping on Black Friday, before the Mahnomen Indians take the field on Saturday, we will gather together for a meal of Thanksgiving.

* * *

There is one more Thanksgiving meal I’d like to mention.  It’s a Thanksgiving meal known by many names: Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Breaking of the Bread, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the Eucharist, to name a few. The word eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharistia, which
means “thanksgiving.”

For me, as a Lutheran, each of these names reveals something of the mystery of the sacrament. As Holy Communion, the meal reunites us in relationship with God and with each other, with the communion of saints, believers of all times and all places.  As the Lord’s Supper, we consume the body and blood of our Lord Jesus in the bread and in the wine. We Break the Bread, formed from flour formed from wheat, harvested from our fields; and we drink the cup, wine crushed from the grapes of our vines. In the Sacrament of the Altar we are invited to “eat and drink from the
true altar of God, the body and blood of Christ given and shed ‘for you.’” We remember Jesus’ Last Supper, his death on Good Friday, his Resurrection on Easter morning, and his promise to
come again. In this meal of forgiveness, we experience freedom from the bondage of sin and we worship God in freedom, in spirit, and in truth. For this Eucharistic meal, at which God bestows
mercy and forgiveness, creates & strengthens faith for our daily work and ministry in the world, draws us to long for the day of God’s manifest justice in all the world, & provides a sure & certain
hope of the coming resurrection to eternal life,” we give thanks.

Tomorrow, we will gather around tables in the basement of First Lutheran for a meal of Thanksgiving. Tonight, it is my hope and my prayer that someday, we will also be able to gather
together around the communion table, all of us--Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant—and give thanks together for all that God has done. Amen.

Sermon | "Open Doors" | Easter 5C | Acts 16:9-15

Sermon Text: Acts 16:9-15 NRSV

    9During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10Then he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. 

     11We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

Sermon: "Open Doors"

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we last left Paul, had regained his sight after a receiving a blinding vision of Jesus Christ while traveling on the road to Damascus. After experiencing God’s Amazing Grace himself, he sets out to share that good news with the known world.  Other disciples join him at different points along his journey: Barnabas, Silas, Timothy.  Paul and his companions travel through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia.   They continue traveling until they come opposite Mysia and JUST as are about to go into Bithynia….