"But God chose what is foolish in the world . . ."

Friday, January 31, 2014

Scripture

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Reflection

Paul puts pause to pretention! There is no room for boasting, except in Christ. How in keeping this passage from Paul is with the whole message of Scripture, that God lifts up the lowly. Paul is in line with our prophet, Amos, who insists on humility before God (see Monday’s reflection). Mary, in her Magnificat, sings that God lifts up the lowly, casting the powerful down from their thrones (Luke 1:52).

If we boast, let us boast in the Lord (v. 31).

Prayer

Gracious God, If I boast, let me boast in the Lord, and not in myself. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

"The message of the cross is foolishness . . ."

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Scripture

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Reflection

The notion of a crucified Messiah is foolishness, nonsensical, preposterous! The phrase is an oxymoron. So much so that Paul—then Saul—himself stood by as Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death for professing Christ crucified (Acts 7:58). But the power of the cross compelled Paul to renounce his former credentials in Judaism—and they were impressive and many—and to spend the rest of his life proclaiming Christ crucified. Paul knew that power, and yet he could profess: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection . . .” (Philippians 3:10). The power of God—the power of the resurrection—is revealed most profoundly in its opposite—in the cross. Foolishness?

Prayer

Gracious God, Thank you for revealing your power through the cross and resurrection of your Son, our Lord, the crucified Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

"Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle?"

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Scripture

Lord, who may dwell in your tabernacle? Who may abide upon your holy hill? (Psalm 15:1)

Reflection

In the next verse, the psalmist answers the psalmist’s own question: those who are blameless and do what is right. That sets the bar very high, indeed! I wonder if our psalmist has been in conversation with our prophet, Amos, from Monday, who also answers his own question: What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Both Amos and the psalmist insist that authentic worship has more to do with the way we live our lives than the words we sing in the sanctuary.

Prayer

Gracious God, Give us a pure and humble heart, that we may worship you in prayer and praise. In the name of Jesus, who washes away our sin. Amen.

Sermon January 26: The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation

THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Year A

January 26, 2014

Isaiah 9:1-4

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Matthew 4:12-23

Pastor David Tryggestad

Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church

Duluth, Minnesota

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Have you ever experienced something that just knocked the wind out of you, that knocked you off your feet, that made you feel like you were suffocating, that you could hardly take another breath?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Have you ever experienced division among the ranks, factions where there was once unity, discord where there was once harmony?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Have you ever felt betrayed, by the things you thought were solid and unassailable, by the people you call your friends, even by your own body that seems to have turned against you?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Our Gospel for today begins with a curious phrase: “Now when Jesus heard that John [the baptizer] had been arrested . . .”

Do you ever wonder how Jesus reacted when he had heard that John had been arrested? John had been sent by God as a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord and to announce the kingdom of God. It was Good News. It was John who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. John was doing God’s will. How is it that he could so soon be arrested? And how did Jesus respond?

“Now when Jesus heard that John [the baptizer] had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.” I will come back to this.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Our Gospel text goes on to say that Jesus has taken up residence in Capernaum by the lake, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, and then our Gospel writer Matthew throws in a phrase that he uses more than any other Gospel writer: “. . . so that what had been spoken through the prophet . . . might be fulfilled.”

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

“Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

Matthew intentionally brings up one of the darkest times in the history of the Jewish people. Matthew intentionally takes us back to the text from our First Lesson for today.

We need to go back in time some 750 years or so. The mighty Assyrian Empire to the northeast is expanding towards the Mediterranean Sea and all the trade routes, and the Northern Kingdom of Israel is directly in the path. The people in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali are first annexed and shortly after the entire country falls when Samaria succumbs in 722 B.C. The Northern Kingdom will never be reconstituted.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

In the midst of all of this, our prophet Isaiah declares to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali: “There will be no gloom for those who were in anguish . . . The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.”

What does it mean to declare the light when all around is darkness?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

The Apostle Paul is astonished over the divisions that have erupted among the congregation that he left behind in Corinth. Factions have developed, evidently defined by which evangelist had baptized them: “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Paul rails, “Has Christ been divided?”

Paul makes his case: “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.”

What is that “same mind”? What is that “same purpose”?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

I want to return to the first line of our Gospel for today: “Now when Jesus heard that John [the baptizer] had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.” And I want to return to my question: Do you ever wonder how Jesus reacted when he had heard that John had been arrested?

Are you curious about the phrase, “. . . he withdrew to Galilee?” I am! Don’t you wonder if Jesus is making a retreat? He heard that John had been arrested, that the message of the Good News of the kingdom is being met with fierce resistance. Do you wonder if Jesus has to pull back and regroup?

So we look a bit deeper. If Jesus were in retreat mode, you might expect him to go home to Nazareth, his home town. It’s off the beaten path and he would be among his friends and neighbors, those who knew him as a boy. It would be safe there.

But our Gospel writer makes a point to tell us that he left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum in Galilee. So what might it mean that Jesus “withdrew to Galilee”? So I checked The New English Bible that I received on my twelfth birthday. It says the same thing: Jesus withdrew to Galilee. So I looked at other translations: Jesus departed into Galilee; Jesus went off to Galilee.

Have you ever seen in a movie depicting a battle where the one carrying the flag representing the country falls to the enemy, but then another soldier comes up from behind and picks up that flag and carries it forward?

Jesus is not in retreat mode. Rather, he has situated himself to take up where John the baptizer left off. Jesus makes the same proclamation that John had made: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Jesus has situated himself to be the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, as our Gospel writer Matthew asserts: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” Jesus has situated himself to be the light shining in the darkness.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Jesus announces the kingdom in our midst. When the powers of darkness assail us, our response is not to retreat, but to proclaim the kingdom:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Have you ever experienced something that just knocked the wind out of you, that knocked you off your feet, that made you feel like you were suffocating, that you could hardly take another breath?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Have you ever experienced division among the ranks, factions where there was once unity, discord where there was once harmony?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Have you ever felt betrayed, by the things you thought were solid and unassailable, by the people you call your friends, even by your own body that seems to have turned against you?

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?

Thanks be to God!

Commemoration Thomas Aquinas, Teacher

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Commemoration

Thomas Aquinas, Teacher, d. 1274

Reflection

Next to Augustine, Thomas Aquinas ranks as perhaps the greatest theologian of the Western Church. Born into a noble family in southern Italy, he was given to the nearby Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino, where his uncle had been abbot. At nineteen, he displeased his family by joining the mendicant Dominican Order of Preachers (begging monks). Despite his intellectual prowess, Aquinas was a man of humility and deep piety. He insisted that the Christian scholar must be prepared to meet other scholars on their own ground, to become familiar with their viewpoints, to argue from their premises, all of which has been an invaluable contribution to Christian thought.

The philosophy of Aristotle was becoming known to Christian intellectual circles, primarily through Eastern and Islamic Arab sources at the time. Aquinas immersed himself in Aristotle and undertook to explain Christianity in a language that would make sense to followers of the ancient Greek philosopher. It was at the time a radical and dangerous idea.

Toward the end of his life (he died not yet 50), he said, “All that I have written seems to me like so much straw compared to what I have seen and what has been revealed to me.”

Aquinas also wrote hymn lyrics, including “Thee We Adore O Savior” (ELW 476). 

Prayer

Gracious God, Thank you for your servant, Thomas Aquinas, for his passion for learning, and his humility and deep piety. Inspire in us those same qualities. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

"What does the Lord require of you?"

Monday, January 27, 2014

Scripture

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

Reflection

When the Rev. Dr. Michael Wuchter came to First Lutheran Church in Duluth from having been the campus pastor at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, I was on staff as a musician and pastor. I offered to compose a choral anthem for Michael’s installation, and when I asked him his favorite passage of Scripture, he cited our text for today. Some three years later, Michael died in the arms of his wife, Shirley, while on a mission trip in Africa. Once again, we sang “Michael’s song,” this time for his untimely funeral.

Some years earlier, when we took our son to Wittenberg for new student and parent orientation, not knowing anything at all about the school except what we had read, we were anxious about leaving our first-born in an unknown place amongst unknown people, a long way from home. After we heard Michael, then campus pastor, preach at the opening worship service, I turned to my wife and said, “Erik will be in good hands!” Indeed, he was.

Michael Wuchter lived—and died—his favorite verse of Scripture. What more could any of us ask!

Prayer

Gracious God, Thank you for your prophet, Micah, and his call to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with you. Thank you, also, for your servant, Michael, who walked humbly with you and whose memory we cherish. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Worship Notes for January 26

Worship Notes

The Third Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

January 26, 2014

The Season

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined” (Isaiah 9:2). The message for us from our First Lesson for today is the light shining in the darkness, a major theme of this season of the Sundays after Epiphany.

In Word

The context for our prophet Isaiah (above) is the ominous threat of annihilation by the advancing Assyrians, who have taken over the region of Galilee. The Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C. That is their darkness. What is ours?

In the movie, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Gandalf, the good wizard, confronts his enemy, the Necromencer, who gathers around himself a swirling torrent of darkness, a darkness that comes from within himself, encircling him as a ravaging tornado swirling around its vortex, and from the midst of the darkness comes the voice of the dark lord Sauron: “I am the darkness no light can overcome.” Our psalmist would challenge that assertion, singing boldly: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1a). So would our prophet, Isaiah.

The Apostle Paul in our Second Lesson is urging the Christians in Corinth to overcome their petty divisions (“I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas”) and, rather, to be united by the proclamation of the gospel. Paul knew the power of the cross of Christ of which he speaks. That power transformed his life from being a foremost persecutor of those who professed Jesus to one of the foremost witnesses to Jesus. If the power of the cross can accomplish that transformation, how much more can it break down our petty divisions?!

Our Gospel writer Matthew quotes Isaiah from our First Lesson today. Jesus, the Light of the world, has entered Galilee! If John the baptizer, the one who went ahead of Jesus to prepare his way, is in prison, what might be in store for Jesus? And for those who follow him? Yet, the call of Jesus is so compelling that millions have listened to his voice and followed him.

In Song

“Will You Come and Follow Me” was penned by John Bell, a Scottish Presbyterian pastor, who, for many years has been associated with the Wild Goose Resource Group of the Iona Community. “The Wild Goose” is taken to be an ancient Celtic name for the Holy Spirit. The Iona community is an international association of men and women who keep a rule of life while retaining their secular jobs, founded in 1938 on the small island of Iona off the western coast of Scotland.  Our Song of the Day was written for the sending out of youth volunteers from the community.