Christ the King?

We praise Christ as King today.   Should we?  This is rather strange for us as Americans, who typically don’t like kings.  The pilgrims, in fact, were fleeing England because they were upset with the king's interference in religion.

Turns out the rest of the Bible also has some pretty negative things to say about human kings too.

So why do we praise Jesus Christ as King?  It turns out that Jesus is not like other kings.  The way in which he revealed to us his kingship on the cross casts judgment on all other kings and teaches all of us something about power. 

The kings of this world use their power to create their own paradise, come what may for others.  Jesus uses his power to create a paradise for others, come at the cost of his own life.   And the power he uses to create that paradise, as it turns out, is mercy.  And for this mercy, we can give thanks!

Art credit, Wikipedia, The Embarkation of the Pilgrims, an 1857 portrait by Robert Walter Weir now housed at Brooklyn Museum

By Your Endurance

 

What events in your life made you say: The world as I knew it has ended!

For Pastor Rob, one of these events was the fall of the Berlin Wall; the other was when his sick grandmother moved into their home.

Jesus today readily admits that the world we live in has many cataclysmic events and challenges that make us say, my world has ended!  Yet life moves on.  Jesus reminds us that the Christian life requires endurance.

For many of us, the way that we endure tough situations is to hunker down and put on the emotional armor.  Yet Jesus calls us to a non-defensive endurance, one in which we are open to his provision, including his provision through other people.

An Empty Box, a Call and a Can

 

Our church hosts the community food bank.  This week, the bins were empty because so many people have needed food these past few weeks.

We hear a story in the Bible of God responding to great human need by sending Moses.  As we consider the suffering of those around us, are we also called into action?

When Moses hears the call, he protests, thinking that he is not enough.  Like Moses, we may feel that the problem is too big and too complicated for us to address. Yet God has called us, with others, to give what we can; which, in this case might literally be a can a can of food. 

Pastor Rob offers us that the "Holy Ground" is the place where we recognize our "empty", where we experience God's fullness as something greater than our sin, and where this resolves itself in a "I can."

What Matters: Humility and Mercy

 

When in your life have you experienced mercy?

Today we heard a story of two people who came to the temple (Luke 18:9-14).   One boasted of his own righteousness; the other prayed for mercy.  Jesus says the one who is humble is the one who received mercy.

As we continue in our What Matter series, we reflect on how Mercy matters.  This is always fitting for us as Christians, especially Lutheran Christians, but certainly on Reformation Day.  For the heart of the reformation is God's mercy, poured out in Jesus Christ.

The particular story from Luke's Gospel reveals not only the importance of mercy in righteousness, but the connection between mercy and humility.

The art is by Wayne Pascall.

What Matters: Prayer, Jacob and Wrestling

We all have a "River Jabbok" in our lives, a place where the past, present and future collide with a whirlpool of anxiety and anticipation.  Today we heard the story of Jacob coming to the river Jabbok, where he must comes to terms with the demons of his past, navigate the present and look forward to the future (Genesis 32:22-31)

Here Jacob wrestles with someone else, but it is not clear who it is.  Often in life, when we are wrestling at the banks of the River Jabbok, we struggle even to figure out against whom we are wrestling, but we definitely know we are wrestling. 

Ultimately, it is revealed that Jacob was wrestling with God.  A reflection on what prayer looks like in the midst of this kind of wrestling.

The artwork comes from artist Chris Cook. who tells the story of his art.

What Matters: Mustard Seeds, Mulberry Bushes and Faith

"Increase our faith" the disciples cry out (Luke 17:1-7)

When we read the news, when we struggle with health diagnoses, when we worry about the next generation growing up, we feel overwhelmed and pray, like the disciples, "Increase our faith."

In our series on What Matters, we reflect on the power of faith and our culture's need for faith to confront the challenges it faces.

Unfortunately (fortunately, really) we cannot gain faith from Jesus.  Rather, we recognize that it is not about what we have or don't have, but that all Jesus has and has given to us is sufficient.  And so, we get to work, invited by Jesus, to use what little faith we have to move mulberry bushes!

The artwork is "The Mulberry Tree" by Vincent Van Gogh, currently on display at the Norton Simon Museum.

What Matters: Lazarus, Abraham and Jesus

In the middle of the Gospel of Luke (16:19-31), Jesus tells a haunting parable about a rich man, a poor man (Lazarus) and a heavenly messenger (Abraham). 

It would be easier if the parable simply spoke about ultra rich, but the more we ponder it, the more we realize it is about us, our money and the people in need around us.  The parable makes abundantly clear, that in God's eyes, Lazarus and others in need are in help and in need of care.  Which makes us wonder -- do we do enough for the Lazarus's of our lives?  Are we like Abraham (or even Jesus), who show unending compassion for those in need?

The more we ponder the parable, the more we realize that we too are in need of help, help that only Jesus can give.

The artwork is by James Tissot and is housed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.