A Place at the Table

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, the resplendent light of your truth shines from the mountaintop into our hearts. Transfigure us by your beloved Son, and illumine the world with your image, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

2 Kings 2:1-12

¹Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. ²Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. ³The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”
⁴Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. ⁵The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.”
⁶Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. ⁷Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. ⁸Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.
⁹When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” ¹⁰He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” ¹¹As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. ¹²Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Psalm 50:1-6

¹The mighty one, God the Lord, has spoken;
  calling the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
²Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty,
God shines forth in glory. 
³Our God will come and will not keep silence;
  with a consuming flame before, and round about a raging storm.
⁴God calls the heavens and the earth from above
to witness the judgment of the people.
⁵“Gather before me my loyal followers,
  those who have made a covenant with me and sealed it with sacrifice.”
⁶The heavens declare the rightness of God’s cause,
for it is God who is judge. 

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

³Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Mark 9:2-9

²Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, ³and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. ⁵Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. ⁷Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” ⁸Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

⁹As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

Sermon – Pr Meggan Manlove

The story of Jesus’ Transfiguration points us to mystery.  It’s a mystery beyond the reach of historical reconstruction or scientific verification. We are all children of the Enlightenment, whether we are lab scientists or social workers. The story of the transfiguration attempts to draw us into who Jesus is.  We do not sit comfortably with mystery.  We want everything to be factual. Today I am going to draw on two different traditions. Hopefully this will help us hear the story in a new way.

Two summers ago, when I was back in my hometown of Custer, South Dakota, I spent a few hours with Larry Peterson, a family friend and Lutheran pastor. Around twenty years of Larry’s ministry was serving as director of the retreat center on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We talked about the ways Lakota Christians interpret a variety of scriptural passages, but what stood out to me was the interpretation of the Transfiguration. 

Larry told me this story about when he was serving a White congregation in Hill City. “When I first came to the Black Hills again, in 1980, I got involved in a text study group meeting at St. Matthew’s Church in Rapid City.  This Episcopal Church served mostly Native American people, and the Priest was Fr. Bob Two Bulls. In our text study we were looking at the Transfiguration text and he said, ‘This is my favorite text.’ I thought he was joking, but I asked him why he liked this text so much. He responded that this was a text that everyone in his congregation could relate to. I told him that I find this to be a very difficult text because basically no one in my congregation, including myself, can relate to the event of this text. 

Bob Two Bulls went on to share with me what the vision quest is all about, and that even if a member of his congregation had never, personally, been on such a quest, they would know how meaningful an experience it is for the community.  Oftentimes a Lakota person will go on a vision quest if they are having a hard time figuring out direction for their life, or if they are struggling to know how they might help a member of their community who is going through a particularly difficult time in their life. 

When the person decides to take part in this ‘Crying for a vision’ they have a Spiritual leader prepare them, take them to a place to be alone as they seek to have this vision, and then meet with them following the two or three days they spend ‘On the hill.’ The person comes back to the Spiritual leader and relays to that person what they heard on the hill. The speaker may have been someone from the past (a grandparent, aunt, or uncle who has died), an animal, or just a voice. The Spiritual leader helps them understand what the message may mean, and how they might live in response to this vision.” 

I personally will never hear the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration the same again. Was Jesus crying for a vision? Maybe. The heavens had broken open during his baptism and he had heard a voice from heaven, “You are my son.” Maybe, having predicted his death and knowing what lie ahead, he wanted to hear the voice again. We can never be sure what Jesus was seeking. This disciples too had a vision. They saw their friend and teacher’s outside appearance change to dazzling. Further, they hear the voice affirm that this is God’s Son and that the imperative: “Listen to him.”

One other piece of this story that really stood out to me as I set it beside the Native American vision quest was the place of these other human beings. What I mean is, a vision quest may be a solitary experience, but it involves community, with other people helping interpret the vision and experience. That is as significant as the vision itself. This leads us into to the other tradition that may be helpful.

The Transfiguration, with all that seems strange to my post-Enlightenment ears and brain, also reminds me of what Celtic spirituality refers to as liminal spaces. Liminal space is a place of transition, it’s the moment in time caught between then and now, the past and the not yet. If that does not describe Jesus between his predictions about his death and resurrection and his time in Jerusalem, what does? Liminal spaces can make us feel uncomfortable—see Peter, who is in such a tizzy. 

And yet, eve in its awkwardness, there is a sacredness in liminal space. If we move through it well, then we move into fullness. The poet, John O’Donohue made this connection with sacredness and liminal space, which he referred to as thresholds, saying, “when we cross a new threshold worthily…we heal the patters of repetition that were in us, that had us caught somewhere. I think beauty in that sense is about an emerging fullness, a greater sense of grace and elegance, a deeper sense of depth.” 

Shemaiah Gonzaelz says that “When we push through liminal space, beauty breaks through in a glimmer as we see a truer reflection of who we are meant to be.” She continues by explaining how crucial community is to this process. It makes me mindful that Jesus did not go up the mountain alone. This is similar to but quite different from his 40 days in the Wilderness. He takes Peter, James, and John with him. If he had gone alone, it seems that he would not have remained that way. Elijah and Moses appear.

Gonzaelz, my guide for liminal spaces, writes, “I have been known to gather moss in liminal space, and it is community that has saved me. Community serves as a mirror, to see my weakness in the reflection of another but also to shine light on my strengths. In community I learn how to lean on another for support, knowing there will be a time when I will supply to shoulder to cry on or the arm to lean upon. In community I see who I was created to be and I rest, gathering strength for the transition to come. This is the crux of liminal space, as we can only come into fullness as humans in community, when we realize we are not alone.”

The transfiguration of Jesus comes at a point of major transition as he shifts from his active ministry among the people toward Jerusalem, the place of his death and resurrection. Jesus knows how hard it will be for his disciples to understand this.  And so, he takes his closest disciples, his community, and heads up a mountain. He sets out on a sort of vision quest during this transition time.  

On the mountain, they come into the presence of God the Father, and their hearts and souls are opened. They see what their eyes can barely believe. Their friend and teacher, the very human Jesus, is transfigured before them.  His clothes become dazzling white. Elijah and Moses appear before them. 

Jesus was affirmed as God’s Son, on a mission that will lead to suffering and death. Other passion predictions will follow, but none of them will be divinely affirmed as the first. The word from the cloud, “Listen to him,” is a reminder to pay attention to Jesus’ reliable words. He will continue to teach and heal. Ultimately this will all lead to his laying down his life.

Part of what it means to follow Jesus is to look for where God’s glorious new life bursts forth minute by minute. It means having the eyes of faith to see it. Eyes of faith perceive the presence of God where God is not noticeable, where we do not expect to find God, whether it is in a stranger’s welcome, the hospitality of a child, or even in someone’s question about God. Look for God where God is not noticeable and hold onto the promise that you never need to find him. And remember that you need a community to be a faithful disciple or follower of Jesus. Certainly, you can have moments of solitude and those can be life-giving, but we need other human beings.

I return to those words of Sheimaiah Gonzalez: “In community I see who I was created to be, and I rest, gathering strength for the transition to come. This is the crux of liminal space, as we can only come into fullness as humans in community, when we realize we are not alone.” 

Our Lenten theme, starting Ash Wednesday and carried through each of the midweek worship services, is Created for Community. Perhaps we can find some liminal spaces this year during Lent. Further, even though, we are physically separated, we can be mindful that we are part of so many communities—the creation, all the saints, our neighbors, those on the margins, and of Jesus Christ himself. From the snow silently falling, the neighbor we have gotten to know, the people experiencing homelessness, the friend who died, the Word and Sacraments, all of these communities God has made us part of are how we follow the imperative central to the Transfiguration Story, “Listen to him.” Amen. 

Prayers of Intercession

Guided by Christ made known to the nations, let us offer our prayers for the church, the world, and all people in need.

A brief silence.For the gospel proclaimed in word and deed, for communities of faith far and near, and for all who show the face of Christ throughout the world, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

For creation: sun, moon and stars; life forming in the dark earth and ocean deep; mountains, clouds and storms, and creatures seen and unseen, and for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our stewardship of God’s creation, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

For those responsible for safety and protection: for emergency responders and security guards, attorneys and advocates, civil servants and leaders of governments, that they witness to mercy and justice throughout the world, let us pray.

Have mercy, O God.For all who suffer this day (especially), that Christ our healer transform sickness into health, loneliness into companionship, bereavement into consolation, and suffering into peace, let us pray.Have mercy, O God.

For companions on life’s journey in this worshiping community, for loved ones who cannot be with us this day, and for guidance during struggles we face, that God’s glory is revealed around and among us, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

Here other intercessions may be offered.In thanksgiving for the faithful departed who now rest from their earthly pilgrimage (especially missionaries Cyril and Methodius), that their lives of service and prayer inspire us in our living, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

Merciful God, hear the prayers of your people, spoken or silent, for the sake of the one who dwells among us, your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Prayer of the Day

Everlasting God, you give strength to the weak and power to the faint. Make us agents of your healing and wholeness, that your good news may be made known to the ends of your creation, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Isaiah 40:21-31

²¹Have you not known? Have you not heard?
  Has it not been told you from the beginning?
  Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²²It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
  and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
 who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
  and spreads them like a tent to live in;
²³who brings princes to naught,
  and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

²⁴Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
  scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
 when he blows upon them, and they wither,
  and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

²⁵To whom then will you compare me,
  or who is my equal? says the Holy One.
²⁶Lift up your eyes on high and see:
  Who created these?
 He who brings out their host and numbers them,
  calling them all by name;
 because he is great in strength,
  mighty in power,
  not one is missing.

²⁷Why do you say, O Jacob,
  and speak, O Israel,
 “My way is hidden from the Lord,
  and my right is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸Have you not known? Have you not heard?
 The Lord is the everlasting God,
  the Creator of the ends of the earth.
 He does not faint or grow weary;
  his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹He gives power to the faint,
  and strengthens the powerless.
³⁰Even youths will faint and be weary,
  and the young will fall exhausted;
³¹but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
  they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
 they shall run and not be weary,
  they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 147:1-11, 20c

The Lord heals the brokenhearted. (Ps. 147:3)¹Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises | to our God!
  How pleasant it is to honor God with praise!
²The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
³The Lord heals the brokenhearted
  and binds up their wounds.
⁴The Lord counts the number of the stars
and calls them all by their names. 
⁵Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
  there is no limit to God’s wisdom.
⁶The Lord lifts up the lowly,
but casts the wicked to the ground.
⁷Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
  make music upon the harp to our God,
⁸who covers the heavens with clouds
and prepares rain for the earth, making grass to grow upon the mountains. 
⁹God provides food for the cattle
  and for the young ravens when they cry.
¹⁰God is not impressed by the might of a horse,
and has no pleasure in the speed of a runner,
¹¹but finds pleasure in those who fear the Lord,
  in those who await God’s steadfast love. ^20cHallelujah! 

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

¹⁶If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! ¹⁷For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. ¹⁸What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.
¹⁹For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. ²⁰To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. ²¹To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. ²³I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Mark 1:29-39

²⁹As soon as [Jesus and the disciples] left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. ³¹He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
³²That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. ³³And the whole city was gathered around the door. ³⁴And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
³⁵In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. ³⁶And Simon and his companions hunted for him. ³⁷When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” ³⁸He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” ³⁹And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove

There were things I was drawn to in each of our scripture passages, but for a variety of reasons, not least of which are the longings in my own soul, I kept being drawn to the passage from Isaiah. Isaiah speaks to the Israelites and I will reference that audience often, but I implore you to hear his words for you and me today. We may be centuries apart in time, but the prophet’s message is still so relevant.

The passage ends with a beautiful image: “They shall mount up with wings like eagles.” This picture gives us hope and gladness—soaring above it all, being the swift and strong eagle, with a bird’s eye view of all that is below. But the first metaphor Isaiah uses, comparing us to grasshoppers, is less satisfying—more like being compared to a sheep.  

In describing the greatness of our Creator, Isaiah starts off comparing us to the small leafhoppers who are more prey than predator.  Grasshoppers have gotten a bad rap over time. In Aesop’s fables they are the lazy, playful bug that has nothing for the winter and must beg the industrious ant for food and shelter. In the movie “Bugs Life,” the grasshoppers torment the ants like a street gang. I’m indebted in this sermon to Pastor Todd Weir for the way he opens up the grasshopper metaphor. 

Humans generally have a negative view of the grasshopper as a pest that can eat us out of our spot on the food chain. It is not uncommon for grasshoppers to be thicker than flies during a Midwest summer. When you walk through a pasture, each step causes a ripple of life that surges 10 feet away as the mobs of grasshoppers leap out of the way. They eat everything—the corn, the alfalfa, and garden tomatoes.  

Something about grasshoppers speaks of playful adolescents trying to come into maturity. They look like their tongue is perpetually sticking out, they are quick to leap away and hide in the grass and have a built-in fiddle to play away the day. Grasshopper seems like an excellent name for a spiritual novice.

Why did Isaiah choose grasshoppers to represent humanity in this chapter? Grasshoppers have five eyes. Part of their adaptability and survival comes from their ability to see everything around them in a great panorama.  It is this ability to see the wide horizon that can take us beyond being a spiritual novice. If we only see the next blade of grass in front of us, we will not grow and thrive.  

As long as I remain down in the grass, content to only look in front of me, I quickly become weighed down by trivia. I might be annoyed by the attitudes of other people, caught up in my own selfish struggles. I might wonder why the grass does not taste better or worry that I will run out of grass altogether.

When I read Isaiah, I hear him saying to us, “Look grasshopper…Have you not seen, have you not heard? Look around at the big world. Behind it all is your creator, who has the expansive power of life, a power that can make a small grasshopper soar like an eagle.” In faith, it is the capacity to look at the vast expanse of the world with a sense of awe and wonder that lifts us to new heights.  Seeing things with the eyes of amazement, seeing ourselves in the context of being part of a majestic creation, gives our faith the wind beneath our wings to soar. 

Isaiah hopes to help the Israelites to again see their creator as omnipotent and omnipresent. The Israelites are in exile in Babylon. The match is unequal. Israel cannot stand up to the Babylonians. The relationship is beyond challenge. Only God can powerfully intervene to assure the ineffectiveness of Babylon. No one knows how or when or where the victory over the Babylonians happened. It is announced and the Israelites are expected to trust the announcement, to trust the good news.

Isaiah begins this morning’s passage with rhetorical questions, chiding the Israelites for not having recognized who God is: “Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  Has it not been told you from the beginning?  Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?”  God is the source of all that is in the world.  God is the subject of the great verbs of creation: “who sits, who stretches, who spreads, who brings, who makes.”  Everything is an object of God’s verbs.  Everything submits to God’s power. 

Here the move is from earth and its inhabitants and the heavens to princes and rulers. But where earth and the heavens are established by the power of God, princes and rulers are cancelled out. They become nothing, just like the gods they serve. Earthly governments are as fragile as newly planted growth. They are extremely vulnerable.  One gust of God’s hot air makes the nations wither. There is no alternative source of life in the world except God.  

The Israelites are asked to lift up their eyes on high. No one can deny that the stars are impressive, but the stars are not rivaling God. They are witnesses to the power of God. It is God who created them, who calls them by name, and who keeps them all present. No other god, no idol can make any comparable claim.

The poet reiterates a complaint the Israelites voiced in exile, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God.” Then the poet provides the most extreme claim for the incomparability and singularity of God as creator.  God’s work as creator is not a one-time deal. It is a continuing work that entails God’s endless, energetic attentiveness to creation. God is not worn out, not exhausted.  

God the creator God is directly attentive to the faint and powerless, to those who have no energy of their own. The creator sustains and gives life to creatures who have no intrinsic power for life of their own. In context it is the exiles in Babylon who are resourceless, faint, and powerless.  It is precisely for them that God is decisive.  

The concluding verses state an either/or.  Either folks will be faint, weary, and exhausted, or those who hope and wait and expect God will have strength to fly, to run, to walk, with no weariness or fainting. God is the single variable—either weakness or God. There is no third alternative, no chance for strength apart from God. This whole doxology is certainly meant to enhance God but taken in context it is something more.  It asserts that the seemingly abandoned exiles are not alone but have available a source of omni energy and power.

Sometimes we need to sit in awe of God and rest in the mystery. I think this is what Jesus was doing in today’s gospel text when he went and prayed. There is so much work to be done. The kingdom of God is breaking it but not yet fully here. People are still hurting in body, mind and spirit. We and they need to know about God’s love and desire for all creation to have abundant life. It can be so alternative to what we absorb in our daily lives.

In another sermon, Isaiah reminded the people that their ways were not God’s ways, neither were their thoughts divine thoughts.  It is hard for us to believe that our measures of what is just, what is merciful and what is best are not in sync with the mind of God. They seem good to us. But we are not omni, Isaiah says. We have some perspective, but not the omni-perspective of God, who knows the movement of all history toward all futures, who knows our place among those billions of galaxies.

When the calculations comparing our smallness with God’s greatness are finished, we can react to our position in the universe in several ways. We can slink away in despair and denial, like grasshoppers hiding in the grass. Or we can crawl back into God’s big saving hands, Isaiah proclaimed. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus confirmed that this God who knows all, creates all, controls all and plans all also loves all. God has no inconsequential creatures or untended corners of the universe. God tells us how precious we are in God’s sight.

The proclamation is always a shock because it is not the way we operate. We who counsel each other to let the little things go, we who can only manage a limited number of details are amazed by God yet again. God has the whole world well in hand. We can be happy to live inside a wrinkle of God’s palm, content to be a part of an ongoing creation process, amazed to be so loved and, most days, unafraid of what it all means.

Prayers of Intercession

Guided by Christ made known to the nations, let us offer our prayers for the church, the world, and all people in need.

A brief silence.For the church: for ministries of healing and wholeness, for hospital, hospice, and military chaplains, for those serving in prison ministry, for all who proclaim freedom and release in the name of Christ, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

For creation: for insects in the grass, clouds on the mountaintops, for cattle and the rainwater they drink, for the humility to take our place among all creatures of the earth, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

For the nations: for all who lead in cities and towns, states and countries; for community organizers, school officials, and CEOs; for international health organizations, that in times of trial, fear, or hopelessness, they find freedom in service to those most in need, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

For all wearied by life’s burdens: for those who are poor, for those lacking supportive relationships, for those crushed by debt, for those struggling with chronic pain or other sickness, for those exhausted from overwork or stress, and for all who cry out to you (especially), let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

For this congregation: for outreach and social ministries centered here (especially); for parish nurses and visitors; for ministries of companionship and support, for the young people in this place who open us to new understandings, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

Here other intercessions may be offered.In thanksgiving for the faithful departed, who were called by name and now rest from their labors, that their lives serve as witnesses to the goodness of God, let us pray. Have mercy, O God.

Merciful God, hear the prayers of your people, spoken or silent, for the sake of the one who dwells among us, your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Prayer of the Day

Compassionate God, you gather the whole universe into your radiant presence and continually reveal your Son as our Savior. Bring wholeness to all that is broken and speak truth to us in our confusion, that all creation will see and know your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Deuteronomy 18:15-22

[Moses said:] ¹⁵The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. ¹⁶This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” ¹⁷Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. ¹⁸I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. ¹⁹Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. ²⁰But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” ²¹You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a word that the Lordhas not spoken?’ ²²If a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord but the thing does not take place or prove true, it is a word that the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; do not be frightened by it.

Psalm 111

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Ps. 111:10)¹Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
  in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.
²Great are your works, O Lord,
pondered by all who delight in them.
³Majesty and splendor mark your deeds,
  and your righteousness endures forever.
⁴You cause your wonders to be remembered;
you are gracious and full of compassion. 
⁵You give food to those who fear you,
  remembering forever your covenant.
⁶You have shown your people the power of your works
in giving them the lands of the nations.
⁷The works of your hands are faithfulness and justice;
  all of your precepts are sure.
⁸They stand fast forever and ever,
because they are done in truth and equity. 
⁹You sent redemption to your people and commanded your covenant forever;
  holy and awesome is your name.
¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who practice this have a good understanding. God’s praise endures forever. 

Mark 1:21-28

¹[Jesus and his disciples] went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.²²They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, ²⁴and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” ²⁵But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove

At the heart of today’s gospel passage is Jesus’ first public act. We should take note because this is his first. It might seem strange to our 21^st century ears and eyes when we first hear or read about Jesus’ exorcism of the demon. I have done lots of blessings, but no exorcism. But let’s not let that fact distract us. 

What is Jesus really doing to this man? He is liberating him. First Jesus rebukes the demon, “Be silent.” Then he casts the demon out, “come out of him!” And the unclean spirit comes out. The man if free and his life is changed forever. 

We can barely count the ways that Jesus has changed this man’s life. His physical body is changed, no longer possessed by the demon. Yes. Jesus cares about actual physical bodies. The man’s social standing is forever altered, for the better. This means his mind and spirit are going to be changed as well. He can be part of community now. Through the exorcism, Jesus has liberated the man in so many ways.

In Jesus, God is doing something new, but it is not entirely out of character. Remember that the central story of Israel’s past is the liberation from Egypt, through the Red Sea. The Passover is still celebrated by Jews every year. Each year, on Maundy Thursday, Christians remember Jesus and his disciples celebrating the Passover.  

Then, on Mount Sinai, God gave the 10 Commandments to the liberated Israelites. We think about rules confining us, limiting us, but these rules were given so every single person in the community could live an abundant life. Over and over, God has been a God of life and liberation for all people. 

The story of the exorcism continues this theme and makes it new. As one pastor said, “Jesus has come to oppose all the forces that keep the children of God from the abundant life God desires for all of us.” Let me say that again, “Jesus has come to oppose all the forces that keep the children of God from the abundant life God desires for all of us.”

Is that not a message we still need to hear? Is it not a message the world needs to hear? Of course, it is, because there are still forces that bind us, forces that keep the world from experiencing the abundant life God desires for all creation. Such binding forces include systemic racism, polarized worldviews that demonize one another, and environmental disregard, just to name a few big ones. 

What does this look like for our personal embodied lives? Each one of you can probably name forces that bind you. I know that some of the strongest forces in my life that go against God’s desire for abundant life, are simple and every day. Chiefly, these forces include the deep need to continually produce and the desire to be perceived as excellent or perfect. 

I do not mean to imply that productivity and perfectionism are inherently bad, but when they are not checked, they can bind me and others in destructive ways. I believe we are pushing our individual selves, our systems, and our natural resources too hard and too fast. It is unsustainable for our communities, the earth, and our embodied selves.

“And yet,” those are our words of promise and hope. And yet, the kingdom of God breaks in through Jesus Christ and offers a new way—a way of abundant life and liberation. And Jesus comes as one with authority. As we hear in our scripture passage from Mark this morning, this authority seems to permeate everything he does and speaks. Jesus’ authority, I would contend, comes from those two things aligning. His actions align with his words. 

The scribes, who Jesus is contrasted with, depend only on words and teaching. We read that Jesus entered the synagogue in Capernaum and taught. The text says, “They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Jesus is not teaching something new. He comes from and follows the same tradition as the scribes. 

But he is giving a different interpretation. The scribes’ teaching has not liberated the people. It has, instead, oppressed and enslaved them. Jesus brings a new interpretation. And Jesus not only teaches this liberation with his words. He also pairs it with his actions by exorcising the demon.

Where does this leave us, those of us who are trying to faithfully follow Jesus today? Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney says, “We can no longer pretend that we can follow [Jesus] without following him into the broken places of the world. We can no longer pretend that we can follow Christ without paying an exorbitant price at some point. We can no longer claim we follow Christ if we never leave our places of safety and never raise the ire of those who construct and benefit from the systems that impoverish and imprison.”

After worship, members of Trinity Lutheran will gather on Zoom for our annual meeting. The annual meeting packet includes many words attempting to tell the story of how individual members and our entire congregation tried to follow Jesus and bring life and liberation to the broken places of our community. 

Certainly, we have brought life to the broken places in our community through the ministry of Trinity New Hope affordable housing. Trinity Community Gardens and our food pantry continue to feed people, some who have experienced food insecurity for the first time this year. Learning Peace: A Camp for Kids is another collaboration Trinity is a part of—a ministry valuing each and every youth who participates, equipping them to be peace makers in their communities.

We may not be changing housing and food access systems across the Treasure Valley, yet. But we are impacting people’s lives. And the exorcism in our text shows us that Jesus himself found value in changing one person’s life, giving liberation to one person. We can receive courage and assurance from this story that giving new life, one person at a time, if being faithful to the life of Christian discipleship.

This text today about Jesus liberating the one man, making a difference in this one embodied person’s life, also had me remembering the many ways our members follow Jesus beyond the ministries of our congregation. Last year, shortly before the pandemic hit the Treasure Valley, we captured many of the ways our members reach the community with your actions, either through dollars given or through volunteer hours. 

Amongst our membership are people dedicated to young people who serve as youth coaches, tutors, and mentors. We have people who have served meals at the Nampa Salvation Army and others who volunteer through the senior center meal program. Collectively, you support all sorts of feeding programs locally and nationally. We have members who register people to vote, ensuring that barriers do not block people from participating in the voting process. Members care for the environment through simple things like recycling and reusing but also through trail maintenance.

A year has passed since we asked for the many ways you serve beyond the ministries of this congregation. I wonder what is the same and what has changed because of this most unusual year. What healing ministries are you part of now? How are you reaching out to people bound by the forces of this world? Where are you bringing life to another’s body, mind, or spirit?

Jesus’ authority came because his actions aligned with his words. This year, more members and friends of Trinity have found their voices. We have regular contributors to tvprays.org, lay people witnessing to the liberation and life God desires for all creation. We had a record number of contributions to our Advent daily devotion—more stories of God arriving in your life and/or sending you to serve others. 

Addition members and friends have grown in witnessing to God through simple interactions within your families or circles of friends and neighbors. It might be mentioning a book you or reading or telling someone you will pray for them or sharing a personal story about how the Holy Spirit buoyed you when you felt broken. 

The world, our neighbors, our family and friends need healing that comes through both our actions and words. When we are wavering about what to do, where our own authority comes from, we need only look to the life and ministry of Jesus, who came “to oppose all the forces that keep the children of God from the abundant life God desires for all of us.” Amen.

Prayers of Intercession (for service of healing) from ELW

Let us pray. Loving God, our source and our final home,we give you thanks for the gifts of life on earth, for our human bodies and all you have created. In your great mercy, hear us, O God.

Merciful God, by the wounds of your Son we are healed. Bring your saving health to all people.In your great mercy, hear us, O God.

Holy God,your Spirit came upon us in the waters of baptismand brought us into the communion of saints. Renew in us the grace of baptism, by which we share in Christ’s death and resurrection. In your great mercy, hear us, O God.

Mighty God,your Son Jesus brought healing and wholeness to all. Bring your healing presence now to all who are sick or in pain. Grant hope to all who are discouraged or in despair.In your great mercy, hear us, O God.

Compassionate God, the strength of those who suffer,bring hope and peace to all who are in mental, physical, or spiritual distress. In your great mercy, hear us, O God.

Almighty God, source of human knowledge,give skill, wisdom, and compassionto all who provide medical care.In your great mercy, hear us, O God.

Loving God, our creator and redeemer, give gentleness and courage to family members, friends, and caregivers of those who suffer. In your great mercy, hear us, O God.

God of great and abundant mercy, with your presence sustain all for whom we pray. Drive away their suffering, give them firm hope, and strengthen their trust in you; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, by grace alone you call us and accept us in your service. Strengthen us by your Spirit, and make us worthy of your call, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

Jonah 3:1-5

3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ² “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. ⁴ Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

Psalm 62:5-12

⁵ For God alone my soul waits in silence,
    for my hope is from him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
⁷ On God rests my deliverance and my honor;
    my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
    pour out your heart before him;
    God is a refuge for us.Selah

⁹ Those of low estate are but a breath,
    those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
    they are together lighter than a breath.
¹⁰ Put no confidence in extortion,
    and set no vain hopes on robbery;
    if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ Once God has spoken;
    twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
¹²     and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all
    according to their work.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

²⁹ I mean, brothers and sisters,^[a] the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, ³⁰ and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, ³¹ and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

Mark 1:14-20

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;repent, and believe in the good news.”

¹⁶ As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” ¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Sermon – Pastor Meggan Manlove

The phrase “the good news” is prominent in the first chapter of Mark’s gospel. The gospel itself begins, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Our passage today begins, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near.” In other words, the good news is that God’s reign is breaking in—right now. 

It is hard to explain how shocking this would have been for the first crowds who heard Jesus utter such a phrase. Remember that Jesus is living within the Roman Empire. But this empire didn’t refer to itself as an empire. Instead, it was the Roman kingdom. And good news was something people heard regularly. Good news is what was delivered when soldiers came back from a military battle, having conquered some group of people, outsiders, who would now pay taxes to the Roman kingdom. 

Now Jesus is proclaiming good news, but it’s not about some human battle on a military field. It is not about the Roman kingdom. It is about God’s kingdom, or God’s empire. The kingdom is not a dream or a blueprint. It is breaking in right now. This inbreaking of God’s kingdom and reign will mean the end of violence, exclusion, separation, and hate. The game is going to change, and with it the rules we have known. Again, it is not a question of if or when God’s reign will break in. Jesus declares it to be so already.

Jesus follows this up with the imperative, the command, to repent and believe in the good news. Each of these words are crucial. Repent is not so much about confession. That has its own place in the life of faith. Repent means a change of mind and heart. It means having a different perspective, something Jesus will go on to model throughout his ministry. 

Yesterday I was in the optometrist’s office ordering new lenses for my glasses. The slogan next to the eye-glass display was “change your perspective.” Anyone who has ever gotten glasses as a kid or in the magic decade of your 40s for reading, knows the truth of that statement. Putting on glasses changes your perspective and sometimes your life. Repentance, as commanded by Jesus, means to see the world, God and myself differently; to hold them in my heart differently. 

Jesus also gives the command to believe in the good news. I prefer the word trust here, rather than believe, trust in the good news. But whatever word we use, know that both our heart and mind are involved. We are putting our allegiance, our trust into the inbreaking of the kingdom. 

But this is not how Christian faith is usually described. When I told an acquaintance that my dad had been hospitalized, the first question was, “is he a believer?” I was taken aback. I think I sort of nodded and sheepishly walked away. If not distracted by life, I would have asked, a believer in what? That’s God’s reign is breaking in now? Yes. That he is a beloved child of God? Yes. That him stating his belief in such a god is the end of the life of faith? Not exactly. Certainly we believe that the promises made in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism are irrevocable. And it’s God who keeps the promises. Not us! 

Those promises stand, while we are simultaneously invited into the inbreaking of God’s kingdom. With a changed perspective, with hearts open, we cannot help but get caught up in the nets of being a follower of Jesus. In our gospel text for today and in the story of Jonah, we are reminded that God has, does, and will continue to use all sorts of imperfect people as the kingdom of God breaks in. God has already acted. Metaphors Jesus will use later imply that we are going to bear fruit; connected to him as a branch is connected to vine, steeped in the gospels, in close proximity to today’s most ostracized people as Jesus himself was, praying that’s God kingdom will come, we will naturally bear fruit. 

Perhaps the strangest text in our collection today is the one from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. I almost left it out of worship, but I love Paul’s urgency. One scholar wrote, “Paul’s words call for a re-prioritization of values that, like Jesus’ own exhortation, encourage putting stock into heavenly treasures rather than earthly ones.” 

We will never know what Paul would have written to 21^st century Nampa residents. Surely Paul would be floored to know that Jesus did not return shortly after Paul’s own death. But the call for a re-prioritization of values remains urgent. Getting any one group of Christians to agree on those values would seem to be a herculean task, but I actually think there is a lot we agree on. What do you think? 

Is making sure that children know that they are beloved by multiple adults not part of the reign of God breaking in? Are food and shelter and self-worth for everyone not all things mandated by Jesus? We might not like that Jesus commanded us to love our enemies, but it is a very clear command. What could that love of enemies, real embodied love, do for the world? What fruit might we see from that change of mind and heart, that sort of repentance?

Yes, the kingdom of God is at hand. We are already beloved and enough in the eyes of God. And yet Jesus calling his disciples shows that other human beings were always going to be and will always be part of the inbreaking of the kingdom. Today the fishermen leave their nets and follow Jesus. Later, Jesus will send the disciples out in the world. The message and command are the same: repent and trust, the kingdom of God is at hand. Have a change of perspective.

I think this can all feel really big, especially in this particular moment in time. Following Jesus may appear to have too many ugly consequences. Indeed, sharing a message of repentance and trusting in God’s kingdom rather than the status quo has consequences. Recall that our gospel passage today starts with, “Now after John was arrested.” Strangely, this good news is often not going to be a popular message.

Or, you might be asking, who am I to point to the kingdom of God breaking in? I am having trouble seeing it and feeling it right now, let alone talking about it. To this I would say, see exhibit A—Jonah’s sermon to the Ninevites, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” It is a very short sermon that does not even mention God. Yet all of Nineveh repents. Why? Because God can use our reluctant, imperfect words to do bear amazing fruit. 

I have no idea what daily actions and minimal conversations need to happen in your spheres of influence. Who is truly alone and feeling not solitude but isolation? Who feels they are not enough? What group of people have you grown aware of who seem to be forgotten by the rest of us? Part of trusting the good news is trusting that God can do these big things that seem nearly impossible for us mere mortals.

I think the Psalmist speaks for all of us today, all of us who are yearning for security and stability. Part of trusting the good news and having a changed perspective is remembering that only God can provide the stability for which we yearn. But God can in fact provide it.

When I was in my fifth year of ministry in rural Iowa, I thought for a while that I would never get another call to a congregation. I needed friends and family to love me and assure me that the Holy Spirit was at work. Many times, this past year, we wondered how our congregation would endure, especially spiritually and emotionally. We have utilized the gifts of members in many ways, but God was our rock, our light, our well rooted vine. I would feel corny talking about it if I did not believe that deep in my soul. It is what our psalmist is referring to this morning.

The Psalmist seems to be having multiple dialogues. In the first move, she reminds herself that “For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.” Having remembered her history with God, assured of the rest and deliverance provided by God, the “mighty rock,” the psalmist implores the listeners to have the same trust.

“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.” I know, she says to her listeners, that you want to put your trust in lots of other things. But they won’t last. They are fleeting.  She concludes, “power belongs to God, and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.” 

The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Let us be going and participating in this kingdom of God. Not when we are ready. Not when we have the right words to say. Not after we’ve made a 10-point plan. Now. Change your perspective and see as Jesus sees this world. And know that we can never do this work alone. Nor do we need to. God is with us.

Prayers of Intercession

Guided by Christ made known to the nations, let us offer our prayers for the church, the world, and all people in need.

A brief silence.

For the church throughout the world, for pastors and teachers, for deacons and deaconesses, and for musicians and servers, that all proclaim the good news of God’s reconciling love, let us pray.  Have mercy, O God.

For skies and seas, for birds and fish, for favorable weather and clean water, and for the well-being of creation, that God raise up advocates and scientists to guide our care for all the earth, let us pray.  Have mercy, O God.

For those who provide leadership in our cities and around the world, for nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations, for planning commissions and homeless advocates, that God inspire all people in the just use of wealth, let us pray.

Have mercy, O God.

For those who are sick, distressed, or grieving; for the outcast and all who await relief (especially), that in the midst of suffering, God’s peace and mercy surround them, let us pray.  Have mercy, O God.

For our congregation and community, for families big and small, and for the organizations that meet here during the week, that God’s steadfast love serve as a model for all relationships, let us pray.  Have mercy, O God.

In thanksgiving for our ancestors in the faith whose lives serve as an example of gospel living, including James Torell, that they point us to salvation through Christ, let us pray.  Have mercy, O God.

Merciful God, hear the prayers of your people, spoken or silent, for the sake of the one who dwells among us, your Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.

Amen