People with a Purpose

Joshua 24:1-15

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

All the people are gathered there at Shechem, the holy mountain, the leaders, the elders, and all the people.  They are gathered there to present themselves to God.  Make and offering.  Worship, Thank God for bringing them to this point in their story.  Gathered much like we are gathered here today.  Gathered as People with a Purpose by God, for God, with God.  Understanding ourselves as part of God’s Sacred Story.  God’s holy People.

·        God started this church June 1, 1984 by gathering us together in the conference room at Crabapple’s restaurant…making us into the Body of Christ right here in Sturbridge!

·        On March 3, 1985, God led sixty-six persons to commit to the Membership Charter of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. The charter reads, in part:



We come together as a community that publicly and joyfully

confesses the reality of Jesus the Christ.

We willfully and gladly accept the responsibility that such public announcement carries and commit ourselves to the task of its fulfillment.

…We believe that Bethlehem Lutheran Church shall go forth

actively engaged in this mighty task empowered by the Holy Spirit

in this place and all places, at this time and at all times.

·        From the beginning, God provided gifts to birth this congregation.  God gave us a cross, hymnals and a recorded musical accompaniment through Zion Lutheran in Oxford.

·        God used the various expressions of the Lutheran church to pay for our worship resources, and to care for the needs of our mission developers and pastors and made it possible to apply for a charter as a congregation in June 1985.

·        God grew the small group quickly to 35 or more and God provided us with a place to worship at a diorama called “Bethlehem in Sturbridge” owned by George Duqette.  From here the name Bethlehem Lutheran Church was adopted.  God provided other locations too as we found our way, a small church in Brimfield, Kitty Cline’s "Barn."

·          In 1993 God gave us a house on Simpson St!  This became the parsonage and church offices.

·        God gave us incredible ecumenical relationships!  For the first 15 years, many congregations in the area hosted us for our annual meetings and other events.

·        In 1994 God inspired our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters to walk alongside us in covenant - the first ever covenant between a Catholic Church and a Lutheran Church in New England, signed by Father Donald Espinosa and Pastor Mary Barnes (Iverson).  God gave us a worshipping home in their historic building for 12 years while we planned our own ministry outpost – and God gave us ministry to do together, most significantly the Southbridge Interfaith Hospitality Network (SIHN) – where we began providing hospitality to our brothers and sisters in need of homes.

·        In 1994 God used Klaus Tittel to craft the cross behind me out of the old pews from Saint Anne's.  It testifies to us that we would not be here with the Cross of Christ – without God’s work to partner us with St. Anne’s and so many other congregations – without God’s inspiration of us towards sharing generously for God’s work here at 345 Main Street!

·        Through ups and downs and twists and turns of changing pastors, and financial challenges, God built this building.  Right here.

·        God used us to build this building – and our beloved family members: Bob Piehl, Kitty Cline, Wolf Fuchs, Bill MacDonald, Paul Merritt, Mike Shocik.

·        God pushed us to seek wisdom and understanding of our call here.  God challenged us to a life in service to him and a building in service to him.  With each challenge we have encountered, we became stronger in our faith.

·        In 2002 we dedicated this building and re-dedicated ourselves and all our work to God’s purposes.

·        God used this building to serve SIHN families.

·        God used our hands to cook food for SIHN and for our community.

·        God used our resources to bring about Grace House, a local shelter.  And God worked, even when Grace House struggled, to inspire in us a love for those who do not have homes.

·        In 2012 God called us into a new mission identity. God decided to use our fundraising efforts and turn them into ministry providing affordable clothes.

·        God used Saint John Paul II Parish and their flea market to make clothing ministry happen, through us!  God used the TJX Corporation to turn our clothing sale tables into Bethlehem’s Closet.

·        God used US to clothe the naked.

·        God inspired us to a new Mission: to Welcome all through the light of Christ by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and being a place of shelter.

·        In 2015-16 God used Karen Bodamer and a partnership with Holy Trinity Episcopal church to plant a community garden to grow our mission!

·        God has inspired this church.  God has given this congregation the desire, the longing, to work together in ministry for the good of all.  Just a few more of the people God used are Irene Lee, Barbara Jensen and Melany Gronski, to whom God gave the love for children and for forming their faith.  And they did it mightily!

o   Faith Formation at every age.

·        God gave this congregation Carol DeBeradinis, a faithful servant in leading music for 14 years, voluntarily.

·        God gave this congregation Ginger Piehl, a sacrificial servant in administration for 12+ years, voluntarily.

·        God gave this congregation many other wonderful musicians, faith formers, leaders, stewards and pastors.  If you will stay for several hours, I will be happy to name many of them and their specific gifts for you.

·        God gave this congregation and place, a calling, a passion, a love for Christ… God has given this congregation Everything we have!  Every. Single. Thing.

·        And God continues to give, and will give us a renewed mission this day.  A renewed covenant, just as God did with the people at Joshua’s hand.



Now, if we are faithful to Joshua, we have reviewed this history.  We understand that our gifts and resources are entirely a gift of God.  And not just that.  God give us all these things FOR A PURPOSE.

God gives us all these astounding blessings so that we might bless the world.  So that we might life as People with a Purpose, with transformed hearts and minds, conformed to God’s will and God’s ways.

And so, Joshua the prophet asks us the age-old question.  It resounds from the valleys and hills of our lives and our story.  It bounces off our blessings and multiplies with echos across all our experience.

Who will you serve?

Choose this day.

“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”



Choose, says Joshua.

And we have a major advantage over Joshua.  We already know that we have already been saved.  While Joshua posed an ultimatum, we look at this scripture with our Christ-lenses on and know… Oh… God is going to save them.  God already has saved them.  And God will save them again and again and again.

And you.  And me.  God has saved us.

And we are part of this story.

We are in this story.

We ARE these people with a purpose.

For we too have been blessed, just like them.

We too are God’s beloved who have been chosen to bless the world.

We too are bound up in this community of people – the community that attributes absolutely every good thing to God.  The community who lives differently from everyone around us.  We are a covenanting today to build a community that serves the Lord.

This is the covenant we live under: God will save us.  And we will serve God’s purposes.

There is no half-hearted, oh, that’s such a nice story – and I can be a nice person sometimes so sure, I’ll put my name on the list… No.

You have to give up those other gods.  There is no worshipping the almighty dollar or political power or at the altar of busy-ness if you commit to God.

This covenant is about showing up.  It is about doing the work. The work God has for us to do right here and right now.

The work of serving at Bethlehem’s Closet, or fully utilizing our community gardens.  The work of engaging with the community, intentionally building relationships  - for we must know one another to know what kind of powerful Work God is up to among us!  The work of showing up at newcomer dinners to welcome and to be welcomed.  The work of showing up to bless your animals, like Victor and Aly did last week, so that the community folks that show up will see there is a church here that cares for them and their lives!  The work of Loving our Neighbor!

So, will you join Joshua?

I will. 

For me, and my family, we will serve the Lord.

Not perfectly, but we will give ourselves over for God to use.  Just like the saints at Bethlehem have for 38 years.  Just like the saints of the church have for 2000 years.  Just like the Hebrew people have for millennia.

Come, discover your spiritual gifts today.  And pray this week about how God is right here, ready to use you, your gifts, and all your resources to bless the world.

Amen.

Covenant & Commandments

Exodus 19:3-7, 20:1-17

Grace to you and Peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Since September 9^th we have begun at the beginning, hearing the good news (and the bad) of our genesis as God’s people: God’s beautiful creation, and recreation in the flood, God’s promises to us that we are People with a Purpose, God’s intention to use US to bless the world.  Then last week we moved into our family story of exodus – the sacred story of how God goes about saving us from the most vile, the most unholy, the most wretched of evil found on earth… using even everything God has: creativity, creation itself, US, including our good faith effort and our mistakes, and even the very Evil Itself!  All this God uses to bring about Our redemption, our salvation, just like God did when God liberated us from the evil of slavery and tyranny in Egypt. 

Now, this week, we take a step back to view the big picture and notice what God is up to.  How God has consistently moved to partner with us as humanity for the blessing of the world.  This partnership is called God’s Covenant with us.  Now, covenants were, and are, things that humans do – we partner with each other in marriage, between congregations, like Bethlehem and New Hope or Bethlehem and St. Anne’s – and in the historical period of the Exodus, there were covenants between nations.  Agreements.  Deals.  Where one nation agreed to do something for the other nation and would get something in return.  We still do this today, we just don’t usually call them covenants. 

The word Covenant brings with it a holy connotation.  A sense of solemnity and purpose.  Even calling.  When we enter into a covenant it is intended to be a trust, like between pastor and people.  I don’t get to serve you unless we have some agreements, but calling it a “deal” is too crass for most of us.  This agreement of serving alongside one another is a holy endeavor, one where we expect God to guide us and weave us together, a bit like the most common and possibly the most holy of human covenants, Marriage. 

So as we reflect upon Covenant and what it means for us, and what God is up to bothering with making covenants with humans, we are going to watch a 5 minute video from The Bible Project.  …watch with me…

[COVENANT video]

The Sacred Story tells us that this broken partnership is why we are stuck in a world of corruption and injustice and pain.  We have dropped our end of the Bargain.  But God… God didn’t need us to begin with. Just like the covenant with Noah, God has every intention of fulfilling her/his end of the Covenant whether we fulfill our end or not.  You saw it in the video: God fulfills the covenant, regardless of what we do. 

Now, don’t hear me wrong.  If we do partner with God…if we stop refusing to enter into God’s ways and God’s life.  WOW.  That’s where the life IS that we want to live!  Suddenly the gift of eternal life is something we live Right Now, not just wait for some future day… it is true… that the corruption and pain of the world is something we can Endure together.  The broken world is one where we still see hope, because we see what God is up to!  We see where New Life is happening, we Are the Resurrection People!  In God’s covenant, we are given each other, we are made into the Body of Christ, we are a community that stands for justice and peace, for healing and wholeness.  And we are never, ever alone.

So when you reflect on the Ten Commandments, when you hear someone arguing about whether they should be posted in public or whether they are the foundation of our US justice system or our expectation of ethics.  I invite you to reflect on what the Ten Commandments are really about.  These commandments are the framework for our side of the agreement with God.  God will save us.  Unconditionally.  And if we want to participate… here is how we do it. 

These commandments are the cornerstone of God’s offering to us.  These ten laws are a vehicle.  They help us to see the Life God gives.  The Life of Freedom from slavery and oppression and injustice.  These Ten Commandments re-present the entire covenant work that God is doing, has done and promises to continue forever and ever.  God is using these commandments as a sign of the Covenant, the covenant that gives us the gift of Life. 

And not just us… God gives the gift of Life to his covenant family… for the whole world.  Today we hear that in our piece of the Sacred Story for today…

You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.

Noah heard it, Abraham heard it, Now the whole Family hears it… God’s will is for the world to be saved from itself.  God’s way is for the world to be blessed by humans God has chosen.  And it turns out, we are those humans.  We are blessed to be a blessing, chosen to be a priestly nation (that is, a mediator between God and creation), we are People with a Purpose. 

[So now, you may be wondering… how do we do that? And it comes down to you.  To each one of us!  We participate as the Body of Christ together.  Our purpose is to bless others with the tools God has given us!  Individually and as a congregation. 

Over the next two weeks, Ellie Kraner and Melany Gronski will be helping us all to participate in a gifts assessment.  The council is inviting us to prayerfully consider what tools God has given us for work in God’s kingdom – for our work to bless the world.  Please mark your calendars to stay after worship either on the 14^th or the 21^st.  We are trusting the Spirit to move you and hoping you will respond with 100% participation.  If you can prioritize being here one of these two days, you will take an assessment of your spiritual gifts, and then talk about how to use these gifts for God’s purposes to bless the world. ]

Let us pray…

Purposeful God,  You have shaped this congregation with gifts that are designed to serve your purposes in the world.  You have made US into People with a Purpose!  And I find this astounding!  God, continue to work on us and in us.  Bring us together the next three Sundays as we pray together, listening for your voice in the gifts you have given us and in how you would have us use them.  Move us to act on your will and to live in your ways.  We are so grateful for this community and for the new life you have given us!  Let us not waste or reject it, but show our love for you and your love for our neighbors. 

Thank you, Lord.

Amen.

How evil works.

Watch Here
Reading begins at 13:30

Preaching from Exodus 14

Peter's Story

John 21:15-19
Listen Here.

We heard in acts how Peter is the rock, the Petra, the lead witness to what Jesus has done for us.  This week, As I imagined Peter's encounter with Jesus on that beach…I began to hear this story from his perspective…[Read the rest as the character of Peter].

Three times I had denied him.  Three times.
I could not let it go.  I will never forget what it felt like to be warming my hands by the fire and feel my insides go ice cold.  Three times.
There we were, waiting to know his fate.  Confused.  He clearly did not want us to fight.  And now that we were in Pilates court, surrounded by guards, that would have been foolish in every way.  We would have had 12 dead men, not just one.
By that fire the girl asked me.  The one who was the servant of the high priest.  Surely, she had seen me before, she had heard the conversations of the religious authorities.  Surely she had heard the list of our names more than once.  The one who were being watched.  Being followed, lest we be ready to take up arms to fight.  That’s what they were afraid of.
Or something.
That we would do something to disturb the Pax Romana that the authorities worked so hard to keep in place.  They say they didn’t want another slaughter of the innocents, but there they were, ready to slaughter an innocent man.  A man who is God in flesh among us.  Our Savior.
They had no idea what they were doing.
And neither did I.
What was I supposed to do?  I stood by that fire, awaiting his fate.  I felt so completely helpless and hopeless.  What would happen?  He had said he would go away… go to the father.  That he would come back to us.  That he would send the holy spirit… that he did all this on behalf of the Father… on his authority, by the Father’s will.
Is this what the Father’s authority would finally look like… death?
He said that the ruler of this world would come… and come that powerful ruler did.  The world’s power was heavy in that place, around that fire.
And what were we supposed to do, his faithful followers.  We had listened, we had strived to learn.  We had seen his power, felt it brush by when we baptized, when we gathered that abundant bread, when we felt his hand on our feet.
“Love one another, Love one another, this is my new commandment for you, love one another,” he had said.  That night before.  Around that table.  And here I was, unable to love Jesus, unable to even admit I knew him, paralyzed by fear.  Paralyzed by the earthly rulers power – so palpable in the night, in the crowd, in the courts, near that fire.
I couldn’t shake the memory of that night.
And then I found myself standing around another fire.
Jesus had shown up again – a third time after he was raised from the dead.  The three times I denied him were still haunting me.  I longed to change the past.
What was I supposed to do?  I stood by that fire, awaiting my fate.  I felt so completely helpless and hopeless.  What would happen? 
Three times he asked me, Do you love me?
And three times, I answered.
It was strange at first, I didn’t really understand what was going on.  You know how sometimes you don’t put together the meaning of things until you step back and reflect on them?  It dawned on my later, much like he dawned on us with the Sun – shining on that beach like a beacon of hope for my weary spirit.
Do I love Jesus?  Of course! Of Course!  Of Course!  Lord, You know that I love you!
And yet it wasn’t even just about my love.  It wasn’t just about loving one another in the sense of him and me and the disciples around that table.  It wasn’t just about being a caring community for one another… In that moment he connected the dots.
Feed my sheep.
Each time I said I loved him.  He didn’t challenge me.  Except it felt like a challenge, to just be asked three times.  Standing around that fire that reminded me of that night.  Only by asking three time did he remind me of my three denials.  He reminded me what loving him is all about.
Feed my sheep.
And it all came flooding back…
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes[a] it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
He is the good shepherd.
He has sheep I don’t even know about yet.
He wants me to feed them.
With his promises.
His Word.
His Truth.
He is the Good shepherd.  He is the bread of life.  He is the light of the world.  He IS.
The one who was and is and is to come.
The one who shows us what it is to love, and does not ask us, “Are you doing enough?” or “What are you doing?”  No.  He asks, “Do you love me?”
As I stood by that fire for the second time, Jesus looked at me and did not seek out my report card. He sought out my heart. My desire to love Jesus and his way. My desire to love and be loved.  He sought out that place in me that God seeks to fill with pure, absolute, unconditional love.
For that’s all it means to love Jesus, to feed his sheep.  To look into the face of another sheep, another neighbor, any neighbor, even the neighbor who hates you, and look at them with the unrepentant, forgiving, absolute love of God.
There he was.  Standing next to me by that fire, proclaiming one more time that even my messed up denial was nothing to his claim on me.
“Feed my sheep,” he said,
“Follow me.”

Amen.
P: Alleluia! Christ is Risen!  C: He is risen Indeed! Alleluia!

In the Dark

John 21:1-14

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

They are at it again.

Spending all their time in the dark. 

You have noticed by now, most likely, that all the way through John there is a focus on whether someone can see, whether there is light illuminating what needs to be seen…a focus on whether someone hangs out in the dark or comes into the light. 

So here are these beautiful, broken human disciples of Jesus… the ones who spent the the first few days after Jesus death hiding in the dark.  The ones who continued to hide for 7 days after Jesus appears to them in that dark room as the light of life.  The ones who still needed him to show up again on the 7^th day helping them to see with his hands and his side, that it was, really him. 

And here they are… Fishing in the dark!

I don’t know about first century fishing, so maybe someone here can prove me wrong,  But it seems that for their lifestyle of fishing on lakes and small seas, in small wooden boats… it’s unlikely that fishing at night was the easiest way to get the job done.  And even if it was, it doesn’t change the fact that the Gospel of John – like most Biblical works – do not waste words.  If John tells us they were fishing at night.  In the dark.  It matters.  Especially since we’ve been reading all the way through John and we’ve heard about people being in the dark before.

So here Jesus comes, once again, at daybreak, to Illuminate… well, first he shows them how to get more fish.  More actual fish.  But it doesn’t take too much of a leap to remember those first words he said to men like them… “I’ll teach you how to fish for people.” 

Jesus has already given them the holy spirit in John, they aren’t waiting around for it like they do in Luke-Acts. Which also means Jesus has given them no time to recover.  They are still reeling from the crucifixion of their leader, and the confusing of their new status as empowered apostles… and so they go fishing.

For fish. Not people.

I imagine Jesus showing up and seeing them in that boat and thinking… well, I guess that’s one way to deal with your existential angst.  And then calling out to them… Hey guys, having any luck? 

Jesus shows up in the light of dawn to show them a thing or two about fish, and how to catch them.  And the power of God.

Unlike in Acts, which we read every year at the Festival of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter.  These disciples get the Holy Spirit the very same day that Jesus rises from the dead.  In Acts that leads to tongues of fire and immediate extensive preaching about what God is up to in Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah.  But John takes a more compassionate and relatable view of the Holy Spirit’s arrival.  It takes days, maybe even weeks, and the disciples are still in the dark… hiding in the dark, staying in the dark room for a week, fishing under the cover of darkness…

Here, in this Sacred Story, we who hear the story get to SEE before the disciples, how it will all unfold.  WE get to listen to them and respond in mutual anxiety… or inspiration… or dumbfoundedness at how slow they are.  Whatever our judgement of them, there is room for us here.  Whatever our own response to Jesus’ resurrection and giving of the Holy Spirit, we can observe that these disciples took a while, and so it is ok if it takes us, or our neighbors, a while too…

Let’s go back to that dark room for a few minutes.  The room we heard about last week.  Let’s remember what Jesus actually does when he shows up – Jesus said,

“Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

And he had promised to do all this – to send the Holy Spirit… remember?  Right before he died, one of the last things he said to them…

²⁵ “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate,^[i] the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. 

He promised to send the Spirit, the Advocate, and that promise was to give them Peace.  This is the peace Jesus gives.  Not the peace of false security in your bank account.  Not the peace of a lack-of-war.  Not the peace of Rome, the Pax Romana that promised peace through submission to the world’s super-power.  Not the peace promised by politicans today.  No, this peace is the peace that surpasses all understanding.  The peace that Jesus gives to all of us. The peace we live when we immerse ourselves in Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life. The peace that Jesus gives roots us in the faith we have in our God. The Trustworthy One who holds us like a lamb, who searches us out when we have been lost, who loves us so completely he died that we might not fear death, or life. And this peace does something to us.  It doesn’t just rest in our hearts and let us be.  It begs to be shared.  It is peace in community.  It is peace that works for God’s justice in the world.  It is peace that pushes the boundaries of who we think we should connect with, who we think we should care about – always, more and more, further and further, until we realize that our peace is related to their peace.  And we are sent to bring it to them.

Just like that man blind from birth who was healed in that pool named Sent.  Just like that woman from the well who ran through town telling about Jesus.  Just like these disciples have been sent.  You and I, and everyone who has received the Holy Spirit in baptism has been sent too… Sent to love each other as Jesus loves them.  Sent to forgive people and hold them accountable to this love in community.  Sent to be peace holders, and peace givers.  The peace that surpasses all understanding. 

So this week, if you feel like you are locked in the dark of your own life experience.  If you had a hard enough time getting out of bed this morning.  If you are struggling to see the hope in our dreary world, then know this.  Jesus keeps showing up to find you.  To give you, again and again, the gift of new life, of his life.  The gift of the life of peace when there is no peace.  The gift of life in the midst of a loving community, no matter how hard it is to love one another.  The gift of a life of fishing – for others – who are waiting for Jesus to show up for them too… maybe even in the shape of you. 

Thanks be to God! Amen.    

P: Alleluia! Christ is Risen!  C: He is risen Indeed! Alleluia!

What can you see?

John 20:19-30
Listen Here.

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The disciples have been in that room all day.  Doors locked.  Lights out.  No talking.  There is a sinister movement right outside their door.  The religious leaders have succeeded in killing Jesus of Nazareth.  They want to be sure the whole rebellious group is quieted.  And stays that way.  They are coming for them. Or at least, that is what the disciples believe. 

That morning Peter and the beloved disciple were in the empty tomb.  But now, they have entombed themselves in this room.  Death’s power has been shattered.  But not for them.  They cannot see what has happened.  They cannot see what has come of this horrifying death.  They cannot see what has come of the abandoned tomb.  No, they feel abandoned.  They were not prepared for this, though Jesus told them what would happen.  Here they sit, in the dark.  Not seeing the big picture.  Not seeing what it all means.

And then The Light slips in.  The locks cannot keep it out.  Even this heavy, oppressive darkness cannot out-weigh The Light.  The Light has a power that cuts through darkness.  No matter how much darkness there is, it cannot extinguish the light. 

The disciples of Jesus, hiding in the dark, look up and see the light.  The body and blood of Jesus stands before them.  The living resurrected flesh of the man they saw die in the darkness, is visible before them and they can see… a little bit. 

They hold onto the power of the darkness, it is just too hard to believe.  To hard to see that they can let go of it.   But Jesus is coming to show them what God’s power is really like.  This is what they have been asking for, “Show us the Father”  they have said.

But “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”

For he is “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”

These are the disciples who invited each other to “Come and See.”  These are the disciples who were there when Nicodemus came in the cover of darkness to figure out how to “See the kingdom.”  These are the people who heard the woman run from the well exclaiming, “Come see the man who has told me everything I have ever done!”  They saw the man blind from birth have his SIGHT HEALED at the pool called SENT.

They have seen the signs.  They have heard the proclamation – have they seen?  Have they used their eyes and their hearts and their minds to See what is really going on here?

“In him was life and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:3). God’s primary work is to create Life and Light.  Jesus carried this Light and Life into the world, he was and is and forever will be Life and Light for us!  Can they see it? Can we?

They keep hiding.  In the dark.  For 7 days. 

They are afraid.  There might be an angry mob outside their door, ready to lynch them.

Jesus comes into the darkness in which they are hiding, not once, but twice.  He comes again for Thomas, and all of them, who are still locked in.  Jesus comes to bring the light, to give them life…so they can finally,  See.

This should be comforting for anyone who has trouble Seeing Jesus.  It took the people who lived with him for three years and did ministry with him two visits from the resurrected Jesus to just walk out the door.

When Thomas asked for the experience, the comfort, the reality of seeing Jesus for himself, Jesus didn’t say.  “Come on, guys!  I have been telling you this for three years!!”  He just showed up again, shining a light that cuts through the darkness of their fears, their doubts, their confusion.

And Jesus does that for us.

Today, Jesus shows up in the baptism of this baby Grace.  This Amazing Grace in Seth and Amy’s lives, who witnesses to all of us that God’s amazing grace keeps showing up.  Keeps lighting a candle of hope.  Keeps embracing us as God’s children.  Keeps inviting us into this hope-filled work of letting Christ’s light shine. 

Here at Bethlehem we are Shining the Light of God’s love.  We are shining it through the trees and into our community.  Each of us with our own unique gifts, God can use us.  God wants to use our open eyes and hearts to shed light for those who cannot yet see. 

CS Lewis says, “I believe in Jesus as I believe in the sun, not because I See it but because by it I see everything else.”

How are you called to See by the Light of Jesus?  And to help others see by that same light?

I know God calls me to see injustice and to respond to it. It is part of our baptismal vocation, our baptismal calling, to work for justice and peace in all the earth.  Each person’s life of faith will look different depending upon with what God has given them to work.  But there is no question we are gifted.  And no question that God will use anything and everything, even a horrifying death on the cross, for God’s purposes.  So how is God shining a light through you?  How is God nudging, or shoving, you to share the amazing grace we have been given – the light of Christ?

Can you see it?  I can.

Thanks be to God! Amen.    P: Alleluia! Christ is Risen!  C: He is risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord

Sermon found at timemark 26:30