Sermon for Sunday, December 4 – “God’s Spirit Is Upon You”

December 5, 2016 by

Sermon For December 4, 2016 – “God’s Spirit Is Upon You”

Second Sunday of Advent
December 4, 2016
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Rev. Amy Zalk Larson

Click here to read scripture passages for the day

Beloved of God, grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus. Amen.

John the Baptist’s words sound so harsh, and they are. They also give us reason to hope. God has come near to work radical change within each of us and in our world. Our first reading, from the book of the prophet Isaiah, offers a glimpse of what that change will look like. God will bring about a peaceable kingdom for all of creation. The wolf will live with the lamb; the leopard will lie down with the young goat. Little children will play with snakes. No one will hurt or destroy on God’s holy mountain. This is a glorious vision of God’s future. It can also feel so out of reach.

We long for a day when no one will hurt or destroy, yet the headlines give us little reason to think that will ever come. In a world with so many threats, it’s hard to imagine letting children roam freely, much less play with snakes. In Isaiah’s day, too, God’s people were longing for a better day. They placed high hopes in kings. They remembered a time of relative peace and justice under King David and his son King Solomon. Our Psalm today was written by Solomon, a king who had some major issues, but at least knew to pray that the he might rule with righteousness. By Isaiah’s time, those good days and good kings were long gone. The family that had produced those kings, the family of David’s father Jesse, now looked to be a dead stump.

Isaiah envisioned a day when a shoot would come out of that stump, when what had been cut off would again bear good fruit. A good king would arise from Jesse’s tree. The spirit of the Lord would rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Once that righteous king was in place, then God’s peaceable kingdom could become a reality. A wise ruler would create the conditions in which all could live together in harmony.

Christians now believe that Isaiah’s vision will be fulfilled in Jesus. We learn in the Gospels that the Spirit of God is upon Jesus, that in him God’s kingdom has come near. As we hear about God’s peaceable kingdom and similar visions during the season of Advent, we pray that Jesus will come again and make them a fully present reality. Yet, Christians have been waiting a long time for Jesus to come and bring in God’s kingdom. We can easily get discouraged and think nothing will ever change. But here’s the thing: Jesus isn’t the only one who’s been given the spirit of the Lord that Isaiah describes. It has been poured out upon the church and given to us in baptism.

John promised that Jesus would baptize with fire and the Holy Spirit. Now we are baptized into the fire of Jesus’ death and resurrection and baptized with the Holy Spirit. As we’re baptized, the words prayed over us come right from Isaiah’s vision. The baptismal prayer, prayed for centuries now, is that we would be sustained by the Holy Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

When we’re confirmed, and affirm the promises made to us in baptism, the prayer is that this same spirit would be stirred up in us. The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit Isaiah promised would rest upon a righteous king, now lives within us. We have been given the Spirit that Isaiah identified as essential in bringing about God’s kingdom.

This Spirit makes us wise and understanding beyond our own ability. It guides us and gives us courage, provides knowledge, and helps us to live with reverence and awe of God and all that God has made. This Spirit empowers us to live out King Solomon’s prayer – to defend the needy, help the poor and stand up to oppression. This Spirit makes us part of the body of Christ that works to bring in God’s kingdom now, even as we pray for it to come in all its fullness. We don’t have to wait for an earthly leader who will bring in the peaceable kingdom. Good leaders are important to God, but our future doesn’t depend on them. Our future depends upon Christ who has already made us part of his glorious future. The Spirit is upon us and we have what we need.

Of course, we all have issues too, just like King Solomon. Our sin chokes the growth the Spirit brings so that we don’t bear the fruit of the Spirit. Our lives get full of worthless chaff rather than good fruit and nourishing wheat. That’s why John the Baptist’s message is hopeful as well as harsh. In it, we’re reminded that Jesus works radical change within each of us as well as in the larger world. That is just what we need. We need Jesus to cut out and burn away all the dead wood of our lives. We need Jesus to separate the wheat from the chaff in our hearts and cleanse us of all that doesn’t nourish. And this is what Jesus does.

Jesus comes to us as his word is read and spoken – as we hear harsh and comforting words that show us our need to repent. He comes as we receive his body and blood to light a cleansing fire within us. He comes in strangers, in those who are hungry, naked, sick and imprisoned, and shows us that when we neglect his children in need, we also neglect him. Jesus comes in all these ways to convict and change us. It is harsh but hopeful to know that we have a Savior who doesn’t leave us to our own devices, but rather comes to us again and again to bring change. He also assures us that we have his Holy Spirit within us, we have the transforming fire of his love, we have all that we need.

With this Spirit, as part of Christ’s body, we are part of God’s promised future even now and we can join in bringing it into fullness.

Let us take a moment to pray. Amen.

Filed Under: Events

This Week at Good Shepherd, December 5-11

December 4, 2016 by

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Tuesday, December 6
4:00 p.m. – Mary Circle Meeting, Sharon Drew hosts

Wednesday, December 7
7:30 a.m. – Men’s Breakfast
5:30 p.m. – Advent Prayer Service
7:00 p.m. – Choir Rehearsal
7:45 p.m. – Band Rehearsal

Thursday, December 8
10:00 a.m. – Adult Bible Study with Pastor Amy
11:00 a.m. – Education Committee Meeting

Friday, December 9
10:00 a.m. – Stewardship Committee
2:00 p.m. – Worship and Music Committee

Sunday, December 11 – Third Sunday of Advent
8:45 a.m. – Choir Rehearsal
9:30 a.m. – Worship with Holy Communion
10:30 a.m. – Fellowship Hour
10:45 a.m. – Sunday School

Filed Under: Announcements, Events

Devotion for the Second Sunday in Advent, December 4

November 30, 2016 by

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The ELCA has created a series of four Advent devotions entitled “Liberated by God’s Grace” for each of the four Sundays in Advent.  Here is the link for the devotion for the Second Sunday, December 4.

Advent Devotion 2

Bishop Eaton notes that “churches shaped by the 16th century reformations—the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Episcopal Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America all participate in a ministry of reconciliation.” Over fifteen years ago, these churches’ respective full communion agreements inaugurated new relationships.  Bishop Eaton says, “We are committed to working together toward reconciliation—of the church, and of the deepest social ills that plague our world. It is our hope, together with you, to be signs of anticipation—of the “already, but not yet” of God’s realm of reconciliation, justice, and peace. In this spirit we have prepared a series of devotions for the season of Advent…”

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Poinsettias for Christmas

November 28, 2016 by

poinsettia

Poinsettias For Christmas – Good Shepherd’s Altar Guild has arranged a convenient and reasonably priced way for members and friends to donate poinsettias to be placed in the sanctuary this year. Decorah Greenhouses will supply, wrap with foil and bows, and deliver the plants to the church on December 23. The cost per plant is $11.00. To place an order(s), deliver a check made out to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church with Poinsettia in the memo line to the Church Office no later than Monday morning, December 12. Our Administrative Assistant will accept email or phone orders with payment to follow.  If you wish to make a donation in honor or memory of someone, include that information with your check or send an email message to decorahgoodshepherd@gmail.com.  The list of donors will appear in bulletins.  All orders will be received and submitted directly to the Greenhouses by the Church Office. Additional details may be found in the December Shepherd’s Voice or by contacting Jenny, Jeri, or Elizabeth.

Filed Under: Announcements

Sermon for Sunday, November 27 – “Wake Up!”

November 28, 2016 by

Sermon For Sunday, November 27. 2016 – “Wake Up!”

First Sunday of Advent
November 27, 2016
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Decorah, Iowa
Rev. Amy Zalk Larson

Click here to read scripture passages for the day.

Beloved of God, grace to you and peace in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Advent is a wake up call. It sounds an alarm: things are not as God intends and Jesus is coming to make things right. This wake up call always feels a little harsh especially so close to Christmas. We often think of Advent as a warm, cozy time in which we prepare for the birth of a baby; instead we’re hearing about Jesus coming like a thief in the night. We get this intense Gospel reading that seems to be trying to scare us into staying awake and alert and on guard. This alarm feels so out of step with all the cozy images of the Christmas season.

Yet Advent is a ‘both/and’ season. It is both about preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus and preparing for Jesus to return. The word Advent means ‘coming’. Advent is the season when we look to Jesus coming as a baby and look to when Jesus will come again, at the end of time, to make all things right. In the same way, the wake up call that Advent offers is also ‘both/and’. It is both startling and inviting. It is the sharp sound of steel being beaten by a hammer, a very harsh sound, until you remember it is also the sound of swords being beaten into plowshares. The Advent wake up call is like both a shrill alarm clock on a Monday morning and the sun shining in your window waking you up to the start of a wonderful vacation.

Advent scriptures and hymns can sound a strident alarm. All is not well with the world, not at all. Wake up, get to work, prepare for Jesus to come and make things right. The author of the Gospel of Matthew, especially, uses stark metaphors to give us a sense of urgency about Jesus’ coming. He says we will be startled and shaken out of our comfort zones. Patterns, routines, and relationships will be unsettled and even uprooted. We will need to wake up to all the ways our apathy and overindulgence have lulled us to sleep and haven’t been preparing us for God’s kingdom to come among us. Advent scriptures and hymns also lovingly invite us to awaken to the good news that Jesus is coming again. A new day is dawning, we’re told. This will be a great and glorious day in which swords will be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Advent scriptures and hymns seek to awaken us to the promise of this new day. We’re called to look forward to God’s coming day and live in it’s light even when we can’t yet feel fully the warmth of it on our faces. We’re asked to live with hope and eager expectation of the time when Jesus will come again to make all things right.

This ‘both/and’ nature of Advent is helpful in these days as our country has had so many harsh wake up calls.We’ve had so many unsettling moments in which our cozy, comfortable, middle class lives have been disrupted by painful realities in our country. We’ve been asked to reckon with all the ways we’ve lived as if black lives don’t matter, all the ways our housing laws, zoning codes, tax structure, educational funding, and judicial system have institutionalized and perpetuated racism. We’ve been asked to acknowledge our own biases and white privilege, to recognize that though we are not to blame for the things that happened in the past. We have a responsibility to address them as Christians who are part of God’s work of making all things right.

We’ve also heard voices spewing racism, sexism, homophobia, and Islamophobia grow louder and more strident. These voices have been emboldened by campaign rhetoric and political appointments. Christians must wake up to the increasing fear and hatred of others. We must speak out against words and actions that exclude, blame, demean or vilify any group of people. This is not about partisan politics, this is about a Christian witness to God’s love and concern for all people. We are to stand against fear and hatred and live out God’s care for everyone, especially those who are marginalized. We need to do this in at home, in our families, at work, in our communities, online. We have also been awakened to the intense anger and fear of many who face economic uncertainty in an age of globalization, automation and increasing health care costs, and to the frustration and suspicion many of these people have of government and of politics as usual.

Scripture shows us that God cares about our common life – the way we live together – and God cares about the well-being of all people. As Christians we are called to join God in working toward a just and equitable society that benefits all people. These harsh wake up calls can be helpful if they lead us to join God in working to make all things right. Yet if all we have are strident calls to action, it can get a bit overwhelming. We can feel like it is all too much, and leads us to want to just hide out,warm and cozy inside our privileged lives.

We also need the sunlight of God’s coming new day to shine into our windows and make us want to get up and get going. We need signs and visions of this new day God is bringing – glorious visions that can make us arise and greet each day with hope and expectation. So, we are given promises throughout Advent: promises like we heard in Romans – the night is far gone, the day is near; promises like we heard in Isaiah – nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. And the next few weeks of promises from Isaiah just keep getting better and better – we hear about the wolf lying down with the lamb and a desert blossoming.

Jesus is coming again and the new day he is bringing is already on the horizon. It may take a long time, but God has promised and God keeps promises. God kept the promise to send Jesus, the Messiah, as a baby and God will keep these promises as well. These promises and visions help us to see that we aren’t just called to get out of bed and address problems. We’re also called to wake up, notice and be alert to everything that God is doing to bring in this new day. Everywhere we look, there are signs of God’s coming kingdom. There are people reaching out across divides to work together, communities showing love and care, nations seeking to bring an end to warfare.

In Advent, God gives us both harsh and inviting wake up calls. These help us to live with hope and expectation and anticipation, and help us to join God in working for the day when all will be made new. In Advent, we also look to Jesus coming to us in yet another way – the same way he comes to us each Sunday in bread and wine, word and gathered community. Jesus comes among us to call us to action to bring a taste of God’s coming kingdom among us.

Thanks be to God. Now let’s take a few minutes to pray for God to wake us up so that we might work, so that we might hope.

 

Amen.

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