2006 Sermons

If God wants us to treat people the same to love other people rich or poor as well as we love our selves why do we think God does differently. 
Why do we think God love rich people more than poor? Why do we think God loves good looking people – like me? Why do we think God loves 
good looking people more than people who are not – ok like me? Why do we  think God loves smart people more, athletic people more, musical 
people more? Why do we think Jesus loves people other people more than us?

Well it might be because we are Lutherans, Sweds, Norweigns. It may be because things aren’t go well for us. Things haven’t been going our way. 
It may be because work isn’t good, school is a struggle, problems at home.

We might not think Jesus loves us because we have not lived our life the way we should have or could have, we have made some bad choices and we feel guilty.
We might not think Jesus loves us because of what society says, We’re not pretty enough, smart enough, skinny enough, muscular enough, popular enough, rich enough.

In our gospel readings for today we have two people that society said They were unclean in the eyes of God. They were not jews so they were hethen, God less.

The first person was a woman. So she had two things going against her. First of all she was not a jew. Second she was a woman. We forget how women were 
treated in Jesus time because of the way Jesus treated women. He treated them with respect. When others criticized them Jesus stuck up for them, even 
when the women were not exactly innocent. Women in Jesus day were not treated like people. Men were not to talk with a woman in public. Husbands 
were even discouraged from speaking to their wives in public. If a wife spoke to a man who was not her husband in public it was not only grounds for 
divorse but she could forfit any divorse settlement.

 It was thought that a man had only one reason for speaking to a woman in public and that’s not something we’ll discuss right now. All I can say is you’ve 
come a long way baby!

So this unclean woman approaches Jesus. She asks him to heal her daughter who is processed by a demon. Jesus throws us for a loop because he says to 
her. “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” Just when you think you have Jesus figured out he 
throws you off. It appears that Jesus is saying that his job is to come for the Jewish people, that is the Children of Israel. It also appears that Jesus is relating 
this woman to a dog since she is not a Jew. Now there is a lot of debate as to what exactly what this greek word for dog means but none of them is very flattering. 
This cannot be complimentry or uplifting to the woman and it doesn’t really give her any hope for her child.

Yet the woman doesn’t give up. She says: “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”  Then he said to her, 
“For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”

So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. The woman didn’t give up and Jesus grants her wish.

Have you ever felt like this woman? Maybe you don’t think Jesus called you a dog. But maybe you thought or somebody you know 
thinks that to Jesus you are no better than a dog. Maybe things aren’t going well for you and you have been praying and praying and 
praying for Jesus to help you. Maybe you feel like Jesus isn’t listening or doesn’t care.

 This woman is an inspiration for us. She doesn’t give up even when it looks like Jesus doesn’t care. The funny thing is that this 
woman shows us that Jesus does care.

Let this woman be an inspiration to you. Let her be an inspiration to a friend of yours who is struggling in their life in their faith. 
Some one who needs to hear, you know there was a woman who came to Jesus. A woman that her community thought wasn’t 
worthy of Jesus. It even appeared that Jesus didn’t care but he did and he does.

 Jesus shows here his love for rich and poor, for those who achieve and those lost. Jesus show us his love.
And all God’s people said. Amen.

Mark 9 / September 24

The Viking are playing the Chicago bears each are striving to be #1. The twins are playing to be #1 in baseball. Do you want to be #1? 
Who doesn’t want to be #1? I think there is something in everyone that makes them want to be #1 that makes them want to be great. 
Of course they may want to be great in different things or great in different ways. But I think we all in someway way want to be great.

 Birthdays in my family growing up was a time when we were made to feel maybe not great but certainly special. IMAGINE waking up 
in the morning of your birthday. You have reached the age of adulthood in your family.   You go into the family room but there is nothing 
there. There’s only your parents. There are no presents anywhere. Your parents greet you. You wonder, where are my gifts are. You go to 
the kitchen nothing there, In the dinning room nothing. OH, you think they must have something really special in the garage but there is 
nothing there. When you go back to your parents they ask what you’re looking for? Embarrassed you say “nothing”.  

 Well, they say, Today is a very special day for you. Your heart starts to pound. So today we have invited a bunch of your friends for a party. 
Inside your head you yell O Yeah!

 But this isn’t like the other birthday parties we’ve thrown for you.  Right today I’m adult. That’s right in our family when you are your age 
we consider you an adult and in recognition of this great event you are the host of the party. Yes!! You say. Then you wonder, What do you 
mean by host? We mean that your guests are your responsibility. I know if they do anything wrong I’m responsible. Well yes there’s that 
but you are going to pay for all their food and drinks and all other costs for the party. What? And you should get them some little gifts. 
Give them gifts? And you will not be accepting any gifts from your friends. What? But it’s my party I’m the honored one. That’s right and 
as the honored one you are to be their servant for the night.

 This of course sounds backward to us. On our special day like a birthday we feel we should be dotted on, we should be served not be the 
servant. The little story is wrong it’s all backwards. The special one is not to serve the others.

 It also seemed backwards, when Jesus said to his disciples "if you want to be first of all you have to be last of all and servant of  all." 
Perhaps Jesus is giving the Disciples and us a lesson in discipleship. And if you think about it this is exactly what God did in Jesus. He 
teaches us by example.

 Think about what God did in Jesus, As we confess in the Apostle’s creed I believe in God the father Almighty creator of heaven and earth. 
In the Nicene creed, We believe in God the Father, the Almighty maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. The one who 
created heaven and earth, the one who created everything seen and unseen lowered himself to be one of us. So when Jesus tells the disciples 
if you want to be great in the kingdom if you want to be first of all and servant of all, he is saying something he was willing to do himself. The 
very coming to earth in the flesh was enough but he went further than that. He let himself be killed for our sake. He not only washed the disciples’ 
feet to show them he was their servant, he went all the way to the cross to prove it.

 In confirmation class this week we talked about Jesus, Jesus the savior, Jesus our savior. We talked about sacrifice. We asked the students: Is there 
anyone you would be willing to sacrifice yourself for? That’s a good question to ask yourself. We asked: Is there anyone who would or has sacrificed 
themselves for you? They did think of people who have and would sacrifice for them. Another good question to ask yourself.

 Then we asked, What does it take for someone to sacrifice themselves for another? This is the question of the week. What does it take to sacrifice 
for another?

 In order for someone to sacrifice themselves for another, in order for you to sacrifice your self for another there has to be love. There has to be love. 
If you are going to make a sacrifice you have to care about that person you have to love that person or really believe in that cause.

 Jesus goes on with his lesson of what it means to be great in the kingdom. He takes a little child and says anyone who welcomes one such child in 
my name welcomes me.

 Now in Jesus’ time children were not worshipped as they are today. A child was not even considered a person until they were of age, like 13 years old. 
Jesus knows the disciples didn’t think children worthy to come near him. They would try to keep them away. Yet he embraces this child saying in essence 
if you love me love this child. If you love me love the widow, the orphan, the poor, the lonely. This is why it is said We are to look for Christ in the eyes of 
those in need.

 You see what Jesus is doing? He is giving us a reason to sacrifice our selves for others. We know that the only way someone is going to sacrifice is if they 
care about if they love the other. In a way Jesus is saying if you love me, if you care about me which we know they did. Which we know you do. If you love 
me Jesus says, love those who need help and you will be great in the kingdom.

 the psalmist notes God’s love for us so beautifully. (Psalms 8:3-4)  When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you 
have established; 4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?

God loves you so very much and showed that he cared by sacrificing himself for you in Jesus.  Look for the eyes of Jesus in the people around you. And may 
you be great. And all God’s people said, Amen.

October 8, 2006 / Matthew 5

Reformation Sunday / October 29, 2006

November 19 / Mark 13

Remember the movie “A few good men” with Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise? Tom Cruise is a Naval Defense Attorney 
defending a Marine accused of murder. Tom Cruise calls Jack Nicholson to the stand. Nicholson plays General Jessip who 
has control of the base where the assault took place, Guantanimo Bay, Cuba, the same base that the Al Quida terrorist 
prisoners are being held now.

The General doesn’t feel that anyone has the right to ask him questions. He feels he and his job protecting the country 
is above everything. Tom Cruises character asks Jack Nicholson to tell him the truth of what happened. Nicholson tells 
him in that great line. “You can’t handle the truth.”
 

I wonder if this is what was happening in our gospel reading for today. The disciples come out of the temple with Jesus 
and they are like country folks going to NYC. They are looking at all the buildings and remarking, “Look at all these buildings 
and huge stones.” Jesus apparently unimpressed remarks, “You see those large building and large stones not one will be left 
upon another. All will be thrown down.”

Wow!! The disciples, Peter, James, and John the big three and in this case Andrew ask him privately. When will this take 
place? What will be the signs?

What are they really asking? Are they asking when the temple will be destroyed? Are they asking when the end of time, the 
end of the world will come? Are they asking when the last judgement will come? We really don’t know. We do know that they 
are asking about the future. They want to know the future.

Jesus doesn’t answer them. Well he answers them but he answers like politicians in a debate, they answer the question with 
the answer they want to give. Jesus says, Don’t be led astray. Many will come in my name and say I am he.

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars. Nation against nation, earthquakes, famines, its not the end its only the beginning.

In other words. It is not for you or anyone to know. If someone comes and tells you they know when things will happen you 
know they are making it up or misdirected or whatever but they are not speaking the truth.

In other words if you want to know the future you can just forget it. Maybe Jesus like Jack Nicholson, (I don’t suppose many 
people compare Jesus to Jack Nicholson) Maybe Jesus feels we can’t handle the truth.

Why would we want to know the future? What good would it do us to know the future? Have you ever wanted to have one of 
those crystal balls that you could look into and see the future? Well it would make Powerball a lot easier. You would know the 
right time to buy life insurance. It would give you power.

Last week we had that movie with several performances deserving Oscar nominations. Penny played a Queen who went away 
leaving her servants behind. No one knew when or if she would return. Her servants didn’t think the Queen could see or find 
out what they did in her absence.  Little did they know that she could see them. She had never really left. She was always with 
them living as a sty warden. Living as one of the lowly ones.

What difference would it have made if they know the future, if would have known when she would return or if they realized 
that she was always with them?

What difference would it make if you know when the end of the world was coming? I wonder if we think about that much? 
I wonder if we worry about that? I wonder if we think about the possibility that Jesus is among us as the poor and lowly?

It has been said by Earnest Becker among others that we can’t handle the truth. Becker says that we can’t handle the truth 
of our mortality, the fact that some day we will die. We can’t handle that information so we deny it.

But then someone dies, someone gets sick, we get sick, we turn 50 and the truth and the future becomes clearer to us. 
Where does this leave us?

In sickness, and health, prosperity and poverty, in birth and death, in the future and the past it leave us where we always 
have been in our saviors loving hands.

Can we trust him to keep all sickness, poverty, suffering and death away from us? No, but he calls us to trust him in the 
midst of all those things.

There will be wars and rumors of wars, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes 
there will be famines.

Because of Jesus you may get into trouble with the government, religious people, and you may be hated by all because of Jesus’ 
name.

You may or may not be worried about the future. You may or may not be worried about the end of the world. But we will have 
to face whatever comes our way and Jesus will be with you to help you face it.

But God doesn’t just call on us to trust Jesus in good times and bad. God calls us to help spread the word that Jesus will be there 
for anyone in good times or bad who calls on his name. The one who endures in faith to the end will be saved. So we are to encourage 
all to trust in the Lord and endure in faith.

Thanksgiving 06

This afternoon we have set this time for thanksgiving. Thanks – giving. We give thanks to the 
lord our God who is our creator, who made us and all there is in this wonder filled world. We 
give thanks to God who is our savior who gave his life for ours, and we give thanks to God who 
is Spirit who carry’s us on day to day in this life.

I found some interesting quotes I want to share with you:

Aesop Fables: "Gratitude is the sign of noble souls."  

Cicero: "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others."  

William Shakespeare: "O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness."  

George Washington in his first Presidential Proclamation: "It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his 
will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor."—October 3, 1789

One of the ways we give thanks is by remembering. Remembering all the blessings, not just the 
blessings of today, but of yesterday and of all of our yesterdays. As the 

French Proverb: Gratitude is the heart's memory.  

I want to share a poem with you entitled “the old – fashioned thanksgiving” by Edgar Albert Guest. My hope is that you will find some things in this poem that will bring some of your past and maybe present blessings to mind. In order to bring gratitude to your heart’s memory.

The Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving
(Edgar Albert Guest, 1881-1959)

It may be I am getting old 

and like too much to dwell
Upon the days of bygone years,

the days I loved so well;
But thinking of them now

I wish somehow that I could know
A simple old Thanksgiving Day,

like those of long ago,

When all the family gathered round

a table richly spread,
With little Jamie at the foot

and grandpa at the head,
The youngest of us all

to greet the oldest with a smile,
With mother running in and out

and laughing all the while.

It may be I'm old-fashioned,

but it seems to me to-day
We're too much bent on having fun

to take the time to pray;
Each little family grows up

with fashions of its own;
It lives within a world itself

and wants to be alone.
It has its special pleasures,

its circle, too, of friends;
There are no get-together days;

each one his journey wends,
Pursuing what he likes the best

in his particular way,
Letting the others do the same

upon Thanksgiving Day.

I like the olden way the best,

when relatives were glad
To meet the way they used to do

when I was but a lad;
The old home was a rendezvous

for all our kith and kin,
And whether living far or near

they all came trooping in
With shouts of "Hello, daddy!"

as they fairly stormed the place
And made a rush for mother,

who would stop to wipe her face
Upon her gingham apron

before she kissed them all,
Hugging them proudly to her breast,

the grownups and the small.

Then laughter rang throughout the home,

and, Oh, the jokes they told;
From Boston, Frank brought new ones,

but father sprang the old;
All afternoon we chatted,

telling what we hoped to do,
The struggles we were making

and the hardships we'd gone through;
We gathered round the fireside.

How fast the hours would fly--
It seemed before we'd settled down

'twas time to say good-bye.
Those were the glad Thanksgivings,

the old-time families knew
When relatives could still be friends

and every heart was true.

 
One of the secrets in giving thanks in our memories is not to dwell upon what wasn’t or what 
might have been or should have been but upon what was great and small blessings of our life.

 As we know we are not thankful for all of our memories. Some memories are hard, difficult, 
painful, and sad. But in those hard, difficult, painful, and sad memories we find reason to be 
thankful. For we have a God who says to us.

 "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, 
and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Mark 21 December 3, 2006