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When you travel, there are some things you need to leave at home. You need to travel lighter. You may leave your rock collection, for example.  But, you might want to take your blood pressure medicine.  Those are physical things.  What about leaving behind attitudes or emotions.  For instance, you’re going to a family reunion for 2 weeks and uncle Ned who talks non-stop, or cousin Genie who can’t stop smoking in close quarters.  When you get in the car or plane, you prepare yourself emotionally, and adjust your attitude, “It’s only going to be two weeks.  I can handle it.”  And when you get there, you check your attitude at the door.  But on our journey through this world, as Christians, let’s talk about our possible attitude: complacency. Let’s leave complacency behind.

I remember walking through the woods near our house several times in the Fall, trying to find a cocoon.   We studied about it in science.   I wanted to find one, put it in a jar, and watch it turn from caterpillar to butterfly.   I never found one, and I never saw it happen. In the early Christian church, the symbol for the resurrection was, you guessed it, a butterfly.   Before becoming a butterfly, a caterpillar falls into a death-like swoon and encloses itself in a tomb-like casing only to emerges later a beautiful butterfly. The early Christian symbol was an expression of faith, that believers too will awaken from their sleep with new lives in transformed glorified bodies, as was Christ when He walked out of the tomb. The transformation process from caterpillar to butterfly is called metamorphosis.

I hate interruptions.  Don’t you?  Interruptions distract from your final goal and purpose.  Sometimes I get so absorbed in what I’m doing, I just can’t be distracted until I’m finished.  For instance, the interruption of having to go to the garage to find the tool you need, and then when you’re there forget why you’re there.  Man, that’s the worst interruption.  Now you must take time, think and retrace your steps, go back to where you started to jog your memory of what you needed.  You remember and start out once again for the garage.  I hate interruptions. There is an interruption in our reading today.  It’s the Sabbath, and Jesus takes his first disciples – Simon, Andrew, James and John – to church with Him. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. For all the times that these four men had gone to church, they had never seen anything like what they were about to see on this Sabbath Day.

When you were a child, did you ever play King of the Hill?  Do you remember the game?  We used to play it on the monkey bars at recess or climbing to the top of a mound of freshly plowed snow in the bank parking lot – that’s how we played most of the time.  The rules were, first one who pushed and shoved their way up to top was King of the Hill.  But the game didn’t end there.  It continued because the king had to show his or her dominance by pushing off all pretenders to the crown.  It was a show of strength and power.  Well, most childhood games reflect on and prepare us for life in the real world. I’m saying that individually, and so also in society, we can’t help but play King of the Hill.  It’s in our flawed DNA.  It reveals our true nature: “someone has to be on top and it’s going to be me.” Today we talk about POWER and AUTHORITY as it appears in our Gospel texts.   

Jesus spoke to a crowd of people on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. For everyone to see and hear Him preaching he asked Peter to let him board his boat and push out a bit from the shore.  With people standing on the shore, and fishermen in the boat, Jesus preaches and teaches about the kingdom of God – to repent and believe for the Kingdom of God was at hand. Then, in a seemingly random way, Jesus tells Peter, “Push out to deeper waters and let down your nets.” Peter does, and the nets nearly broke from so many fish that they had to call James and John to help them pull in the catch. We might think, “OK, Jesus did this to show that He was the Messiah so that they would follow Him.”  People look for signs, wonders, miracles to prove things.  But there is something much deeper the way Luke tells the story, deeper than the sea of Galilee.  Jesus links the nets of the fishermen with the preaching of His Word. Let’s revisit the story.

Can anything good come out of Pittsburg? Can anything good come out of Antioch? Or let’s be more specific: Can anything good come out of Grace Lutheran this year? Those may be the kinds of questions in the minds of the people with whom we meet and talk. And the attitude behind the questions would be a rather dubious one. Believe it or not, some people may think of an old Lutheran congregation with an old church building, without a large contemporary music and worship services the way they think of seemingly backward and rural towns…..worthless and out of date. Grace Lutheran?  Where’s that?  And this, in turn, can create doubts and even embarrassment in your own minds. You might become reluctant or even ashamed to speak up for and invite people to our church.

Who is your favorite superhero, or hero? Do you have one? Can Jesus be considered a superhero? What might the difference be? As we remember His Baptism on this day, we understand the reason why God decided to gift us our Baptisms. Our Baptism is meaningless unless Christ goes into the water with us. Find out why.

Timing is everything.  To be funny, the punch line of any joke needs to be said at the right time.  If not, the whole joke is ruined, the point doesn’t get across.  When delicate discussions need to take place, you choose the right moment to begin the conversation. Just like you carefully consider when and how to deliver a punch line to a joke, or when and how to approach someone to talk about a potentially explosive subject, Paul considered which Greek word to use which, in English, simply translates as “time”.  In English we have only this one word, but for Paul the Greek language offered two choices.

It's Christmas Eve! Tonight's sermon features Caravaggio's Nativity painting you can find here: https://mwerickson.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/caravaggio-nativity1600.jpg

Arching over the life of every Christian is the great sacred story of the mighty acts of God. This sacred story is highlighted by the displays of power and strength which mark God’s victories over God’s enemies. And in scripture, with God’s victories, God’s people sang in response. The victory songs of the Bible are not rich with personal bravado or chest-pounding strength. They are not even celebrations of nations like a national anthem. Rather, these victory songs all celebrate God—who God is and what God does.

For the next three Wednesdays there will be an ADVENT DEVOTIONAL of storytelling.  Please take time and reflect as we await Christ's birth. Music used in this devotional: “Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming,” Vocal Majority, from the album The Spirit of Christmas “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song),” Amy Grant, from the album Home for Christmas “Sleep Precious Babe,” George Beverly Shea, from the album A George Beverly Shea Christmas “Mary did You Know,” Vocal Majority, from the album The Spirit of Christmas “What Child is This,” Gaélica, from the album Luz Navidad Celta Venezolana

Much like being lost in a dead-end trail deep in a forest, David prays for deliverance and rescue from his oppressors by asking God to be is rock and fortress to guide and lead him. He confesses that this is exactly what God is for him, a rock and fortress. He has complete trust that God will lead and guide him out of this situation.  David’s specific plea is that God lead and guide him “for His name’s sake.”  What does David mean; what is it to pray "according to His name sake?"