Today is a special day

 Today is a special day.

Every day we have a baptism in our congregation is a special day, but today is extra special.

It is, of course, special for Madeline and Dan as parents of Louis.

Baptism means a lot to people of faith.

It is a ritual that marks the start of a lifelong journey of faith.

It is special for Paul and Kate, the grandparents of Louis.

We have seen throughout the years their faith, and their commitment to that faith.

Paul and Kate are two of the people I know I can count on to help with whatever our congregation needs.

I have leaned on them for advice and help over the 14 years I have been the pastor here.

But today is extra special for our congregation.

It is a rare time, maybe the only time in my years of being a pastor, when someone who grew up in our congregation, whose family has been such an important part of our congregation, has their baby baptized.

For most of the baptisms, I do it is someone who calls up wanting to know if we do baptisms.

They may or may not have some connection to Concordia.

And a lot of times I never see that family again.

Or I don't see them until there is another child, or they need some other type of pastoral care.

I always say yes to every request.

I am joyful when people, for whatever reason, have some desire to be baptized.

 

But most of the time it comes from an idea about baptism that we don't hold.

It is mostly people hedging their bets.

It is people who don't necessarily have a faith commitment, but they believe it is necessary to have their child baptized.

And it is usually for one of two reasons.

One, they believe if they don't have their children baptized their children will go to hell.

Two, they do it out of obligation to their family.

Grandma really wants their kids to be baptized so they do it for that reason.

Just as one example, in my last congregation, there was a couple who wanted to get married in our congregation.

They had a friend to who they promised they would get married in that building.

I presided over the wedding.

I didn't hear from them until they had their first child.

They wanted their child to be baptized.

I happily did the baptism.

After worship, I talked to them and they said, "Well…we'll see you when we have the next kid."

They had no intention of living out the vows they made during the baptism.

 

Let me tell you why I always say, "yes" to anyone who wants to have their children baptized even though I know I will never see them again.

Grace.

I believe in God's grace so much that I don't have to say no to people.

I can give them the blessing of baptism, and then release them to God's care.

I can believe that in some ways that I can't see, and they can't see, their relationship with God will grow through the workings of the Holy Spirit.

 

Because Baptism is not a one-time event.

It is not just about today.

It is about a lifetime of learning about God's grace for us.

It is about a lifetime of growing in our relationship with God.

It is about learning to trust God in all the circumstances of our lives.

I think if we have any witness to offer other people about the importance of faith it is that.

We have learned to trust God even in the worst of circumstances.

Even through death.

I know that people of faith always say, "I don't know how people make it through life without faith in God."

That is a true statement.

It is our faith that helps us to face all the difficult things of life.

That is why today is a great day for Louis and his family.

It is a day when he is given the promise of God's continuing care for him.

Today is the day when Louis is given the invitation to a lifelong relationship with God.

 

And isn't that what Jesus offers his disciples in our Gospel for this morning.

Jesus has what seems like a disjointed discussion with his would-be disciples.

Jesus asks them what they are looking for.

And they respond by asking, Where are you staying?"

The reason these would be disciples ask Jesus this question is because the disciples see Jesus as a Rabbi.

They are asking if they can come and stay with him.

They want to know if Jesus will be their teacher.

What they are seeking is teaching from Jesus.

And Jesus invites them to come and learn.

Jesus invites them to come and see what it means to know God and to have faith in God.

That is what John's Gospel is about.

It is about trusting in Jesus.

It is about knowing God so deeply and intimately that even though the world is coming apart.

Even though things are bad, God is there for you.

Jesus will say in another part of John's Gospel, " In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage: I have conquered the world!”

Even though you sin God is there to forgive you.

And these things can only be learned by having a lifelong relationship with God, and having God with you as you live through difficult things in your life.

 

I know that the Russo family knows this truth.

They live it all the time.

I know that Madeline and Dan know this truth too.

And that is why today is so special because we know that Louis will come to know this truth too.

We know that this faith that we all share is being handed down from one generation to the next.

 

I would also imagine that many people in our congregation this morning are remembering Madeline when she was younger.

I know that whenever I go back to the congregation that I grew up in people will say, "I remember when you were just a little kid running through the church."

Or,  "I remember when you were a teenager and caused all those problems."

I once went back to my home congregation when I was in seminary.

And one of my old Sunday School teachers said, "this is what a good Sunday school program produces."

I indeed learned

faith in that congregation from all of those people, and they all deserve credit for helping me grow up in the faith.

I can imagine similar feelings today in our congregation about Madeline.

Pride in seeing her grow up and do well.

Pride that she sees the benefit in having her child baptized here among us.

The joy that we all get to share at this moment as a congregation.

The joy that this child will get to come and see what God has to offer.

The joy that this child will grow up to know the grace of God in a deep and meaningful way.

 

Today is a special day.

God has invited Louis to come and see.

To know throughout his life of the power, beauty, and wonder of God's grace and love.

May this special day uplift us all.

May it remind us of all of our baptisms.

May it remind us of God's grace for us.

May it remind us of the importance of our church community and the faith we share throughout the generations.

May it remind us that we all grow in learning from Jesus about our God who calls us to come and see God's love and grace all our lives.

Amen

 

 

 

 

Skunks, Cracked Stack, and Broken Dishwasher But a Joyful Christmas

 

This week more than one person has said to me, "I just don't feel the Christmas spirit this year."

It got me thinking about what that means for us, and why we have it or don't.

If you think about it, you have to admit that it is a little odd that we are expected to be all holy and jolly this time of year regardless of what is happening in our lives or the world.

I mean what if you are mourning?

What if you are dealing with serious health issues?

What if you are dealing with mental illness?

What if you can't afford to buy gifts or host a meal?

I have been dealing with what seems like one issue after another since Advent started.

It started when we had skunks under the school.

We had to move all the kids over to the church.

I spent a Monday morning at the laundry mat washing blankets and rugs.

Then our dishwasher stopped working.

In the middle of our preparations for our open house.

Then we had a leak in our plumbing at the parsonage.

Today when you come over for the open house you will see the carnage still, as we deal with the issue.

There were some other personal emergencies I had to deal with too.

All of these things are normal life things.

We are always dealing with skunks, plumbing, and things breaking.

But when these things happen during the Christmas season it seems to make it worse.

Because it is Christmas time and we are supposed to be holly and jolly.

This is supposed to be the best time of the year.

 

Just because it is December that mean we are supposed to be happy.

Everything in our cultural celebration of Christmas tells us we have to be.

From the movies, we watch to the music we listen to, to the way people tell us it is supposed to be.

But what if we simply are not in the mood?

Does that mean we are not in the Christmas spirit?

Does that mean that we are doing something wrong?

 

It seems like Jesus' question this morning is a good place for us to start.

"What did you go out into the wilderness to look at?"

Jesus asks this question about John, but also about what people are expecting him to do and be.

What is it that we are searching for?

Are we looking for something soft and easy?

Or are we looking for something more?

For a word that doesn't just fade away when we take down the Christmas tree.

For a word that strikes at what it is, that is really at the core of our unease?

For a word that isn't just about being happy, but about being joyful.

 

Because happiness is always fleeting.

Having fun is about a moment in time.

It is great to have fun and to experience happiness.

And there are moments for me where I have that happiness.

Today will be a happy day.

Having people at our house for the open house is always fun for me.

A couple of weeks ago when we went to Tandy's for Beer and Hymns that was a lot of fun.

I was really happy that night.

But Jesus is right, those things are but the reeds in the wind.

The next day, life is back to being hard.

And for a hard life, we need a message that won't simply tell us that we are having a wonderful Christmas time.

We need a word that will bring us joy.

 

And joy is different from happiness.

It is longer lasting.

It is deeper in our souls.

It is not based on our condition in life.

Joy is what Jesus brings into the world.

 

Joy is what Jesus gives us deep in our hearts.

Because it is true that we might not be in the Christmas spirit, but what we have instead is more important.

We know God's love and grace.

We know God's word given by Jesus Christ.

We know that God walks with us through skunks, broken dishwashers, cracked pipes, and all of the hard things we face in this life.

That is where joy is found, not in songs that tell us to be happy, or store clerks wishing us a "Merry Christmas".

 

I don't know if you are missing the Christmas spirit this year.

I want to give you permission not to have to feel it.

Instead, I want to invite you with me into the wilderness.

Let us go together to hear the prophet's words.

Let us hear Isaiah tell us to "be strong, do not fear!"

Because God is coming to save us.

Let us hear the psalmist remind us that the "Lord lifts up those who are bowed down."

Those are words that bring joy to my heart.

They remind us of what it is Jesus brings into the world.

A world that is hard, but where the blind see, the lame walk, captives are set free, and justice for the oppressed.

Isn't that what we need to hear this Christmas.

We don't need another song about how holly and jolly we should all be, instead, we need a message that has deep roots.

A message rooted in the word of God.

A true message of joy!

 

Because I do believe that Christmas is joyful.

It is filled with so many good things in life.

It is filled with us together right now.

It is filled with food, friends, family, presents, and lights.

All of those things are gifts from God to us.

It is just that we don't have to feel all merry and bright all the time.

We can also be frustrated that things are not going the way we wish.

Or sad that someone we love is no longer hear with us.

Or upset that our kids are not behaving.

Or frustrated that we have to buy so many presents.

Or disappointed that the world is unjust, and so many people are struggling to make ends meet.

Or whatever normal human thing we are going through.

 

Christmas can remind us that our God is not above all those things, but rather that God came to us as a human being.

That God in Jesus Christ walked this earth.

That God wore our skin and knows our sadness, frustrations, and disappointments, and that we get upset.

God knows we are not always in the Christmas spirit.

And because of that, we know that whatever comes our way.

Whatever difficult things we face we are never alone.

We are able to deal with it, and even among all those things still have joy.

Joy in knowing the strong roots of God's love, mercy, and grace.

 

So there might be skunks under the school, and things might be broken.

I may have a broken heart or dealing with something difficult this Christmas season.

I might not be in the mood for Christmas spirit.

But the good news is that is ok.

Because Jesus has come into the world, is coming into the world, and is here now with us.

And with that,

we can face it all.

Because what we go out to see is not all merry and bright, but the truth of God's word.

The promises of God's redemption and saving.

So, we can have joy deep in our souls.

 

May all of you have a joyful Christmas, and remember the promises of God are with you always.

Amen

 

 

I Need John the Baptist This Year

 

Is it just me or does it seem that Christmas is coming fast this year?

It is always a challenge when Advent starts right after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve is on a Saturday.

It means a shortened Advent season.

And that means that all of our preparations have to speed up.

Not to mention that this is the first time in a long time that we are having a more "normal" Christmas.

We are doing all of the things we did before the pandemic again this year.

I mention it this morning because I am always a little worried that our preparations for the Christmas season will drown out our preparations for Christ to come again.

That is preparing for gifts, parties, and time with family, we will forget what it is we are doing this season.

 

I don't like these two weeks of Advent when I have to preach on John the Baptist.

But this year I need John.

John is the one who comes to prepare the way for Jesus.

He comes in the wilderness to preach about repentance for the forgiveness of sins, to call us back to God.

John reminds us that we can't merely rely on our religious beliefs.

We can't pretend to say that we have Abraham as our father.

Or that we have Jesus and all is well.

Our faith compels us to a continued life of repentance and forgiveness.

 

We have to admit that it all seems a little out of sorts.

I mean where is there time or energy for that this season.

We have so much to get done.

We have to buy gifts.

We have to bake cookies.

We have to cook the food.

We have to attend the parties.

We have to watch Christmas movies.

Where will we find the time to confess our sins?

What does that have to do with Christmas?

Why do we have to even consider it?

 

At Thanksgiving, my aunt was talking about all the Christmases that my family had when I was growing up.

My aunt would be there most Christmas eve with us.

We were marveling at all the work my mom put into those times.

The meals that she prepared.

The way she created this perfect feel of what Christmas was supposed to be.

I have such wonderful memories of those times, and so did my aunt.

And Christmas was always about more than the presents and the food.

We went to two Christmas eve worship services most years, or at least my parents would.

We would read the Christmas story before opening our presents.

My point is that one did not take away from the other.

They were intertwined.

Our lives of faith are not divorced from the lives we live.

It isn't just that we went to Church.

It is that Christmas was a holy time.

It had everything to do with Jesus coming into the world.

Even the food and the presents.

Those things were just symbols of love.

They were symbols of the love that we shared as a family and the love that we were given by God through the birth of Jesus Christ.

We can't have Christmas without going out into the wilderness to confess our sins, any more than we can have Christmas without whatever way you celebrate it.

We can't have it without some contemplation on what it means for us.

There is nothing wrong with wanting our Christmas time to be wonderful and joyful.

There is nothing wrong with wanting our family to be together and happy.

In fact, that is a huge part of this holiday season.

I think that what we are asked by John to do is think more deeply about why those things matter.

 

They matter because they are symbols of greater love.

John tells us today that he is not the final word.

That there is fire coming into this world.

We need the fire.

We need to be set ablaze so that our hearts are centered on what God asks of us.

John is setting up what is coming in Jesus Christ.

And the question that is proposed to us in Advent is are we ready?

Not for Christmas eve, because let us be honest none of us is ready for that this year.

But are we ready for Christ to come?

 

One of the things we have been doing in our house to get ready for Christmas is clearing the clutter.

We have to move things so we can put up our tree.

We have cleared out old things so there is room for people to come and have a good time at our house.

We need this not only physically but also we need this spiritually.

We need to clear out all of the things in our lives that are holding us back from being who God has called us to be.

We need to be ready so that when Jesus comes we can accept his love for us and the world.

 

I know that one of the things I am trying to rid myself of this Advent is my propensity to be pessimistic.

I am trying to clear it out so that I can be surprised by God, the world around me, and other people.

I think it is healthy to not have too high of expectations for people.

People are simply people.

They are complicated and sinful.

They do things that don't always make sense to me.

However, I am trying to carve out some room for God to do things with people that I don't expect.

I am making room for hope this Advent season.

Hope that God will bring new things to our world.

Hope that people's hearts will be changed by God.

Hope that we can learn to really love each other.

Hope that we learn to say what is true about ourselves and others.

Hope that we will know the grace of God.

 

That happens to us when we confess our sins and hear the promise of God's forgiveness.

We begin to hope.

Hope that our lives will change, that the world will change, and that things will be different.

That is why it is so important not to skip over it this Advent.

It is why we need to go out into the wilderness and once again confess our sins.

Because all of the things we do to make this season special for our loved ones are dependent on that.

It is vital for us to be able to know God's love in order to share it with others.

We know that love is by being forgiven, and by allowing God's grace to work its way through our souls.

 

Christmas may be coming soon.

We might be feeling the crunch of time.

But it is not too late to take some time to go out into the wilderness and listen to John the Baptist tell us to repent.

And in that repentance to receive the wonderful words of God's grace.

There at that moment, we experience the wonderful hope that this season has to offer us, and that we can give back to others.

 

May repentance be part of your Christmas season.

May the fire of Christ be in you, so that you might know the hope that Jesus brings to you and the world.

Amen

 

 

 

 

 

God's Time

 Advent is about time.

It is about marking time before the world changes.

It is about marking time before we change.

It is about marking time for another magical event in our lives.

It is about marking time as we wait for justice, peace, love, and joy.

Marking time has become strange to me these days.

And not just me.

I have had multiple conversations this week with multiple people about time.

People are having trouble since COVID started remembering when things happen or don't happen.

I know that I am really struggling with this these days.

I just keep saying that everything was about 5 years ago.

One person was saying how they remembered being at our open house last year.

The problem is we didn't have one.

 

I know that we think of time as linear.

As we grow older, time moves on.

But the older I get the less linear time is.

My memories all collapse into one thing.

Can any of you remember one advent being different from another?

What about Christmas?

Maybe that is a good way to mark the time.

Certainly, I have certain memories about different Christmases.

They are laid out in some timeline.

The Christmas of my childhood.

The Christmas of being married.

The Christmas of living in New York.

The Christmas of living back in New Hampshire.

But the actual one all mesh together on that timeline.

What about you how are you experiencing time these days?

 

In the Bible, time is not necessarily linear.

We are told that God's time is not our time.

The events in the Bible don't always unfold on a linear path.

There are repetitions and things that go out of sequence.

And this morning we are told by Jesus that the ultimate end of time is not for us to know.

Perhaps because our own sense of time is not always reliable.

What we see in the world can only be viewed through our narrow understanding of time.

We live in certain times.

Those times all have their moments of war, famine, and pestilence.

They all have their moments of false prophets.

And we can only view what is our past and present.

We don't have a special view into what will be the future.

And for me, this is the most important thing about advent time.

Is that all we have is our past and present.

And even our past is complicated.

We don't remember everything and we don't always remember it in the right sequence.

All we have is moments in our mind's eye.

Moments that remind us of the love we shared with someone.

Moments that remind us of our failure and how we overcame it.

Moments of joy and sadness.

 

And this for me is the most important thing about Jesus teaching on the end of time.

It is really all about faith.

This is what time has to teach us.

This is what our memories of the past have to tell us.

That it is about faith.

It is about living in an uncertain world and still setting our sites on God's future.

It is living through all of the ups and downs.

It is living in a world filled with sin and still having hope for the good.

 

I saw on Facebook someone said, "I can't give thanks this year because of all the bad things happening in the world."

This I don't understand.

I understand that the world is a mess.

We see mass shootings piling up, the war in Ukraine, rampant inflation, people experiencing homelessness, political division, climate change, racism, homophobia, and a mental health crisis like never before.

There is no doubt the world is a mess.

However, when we give thanks it is because the world is a mess.

We give thanks to saying that in spite of all of it we still believe in the goodness of God.

We still believe in love, peace, and justice.

We still believe that God will see us through.

I can acknowledge the problems of the world, and see all the wonderful things in my life that God has given to me.

Giving thanks to me amplifies our need to help people living in different conditions.

 

Because as I look back on my life.

As I think about where I have come from.

I know this for sure.

None of it is possible without faith in God.

I won't go into specifics, but this has been an extremely difficult year for my family.

And the only way I have been able to survive and keep going is through faith.

And that faith is not my own.

It was handed down to me from my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents.

I saw how they struggled but kept going by the grace of God.

I saw firsthand the power of faith in our lives.

 

Friday, was my wedding anniversary.

My wife and I were talking about the things we have faced in our 22 years of marriage.

A couple of things stood out from that talk.

One, we can't remember all the details.

Two, some days it seems like 22 years flew by, and other days it seems like it is two lifetimes.

(Time is a funny thing.)

Three, we were thankful for our faith which is the foundation of our marriage and our life as a family.

We both know that we would not have been able to get through everything without it.

 

I want to be careful about this next part.

I don't want to give the impression that what is most important in life is coming to church.

I do lament that kids are not being given that same foundation.

Because I think the world feels like it is coming undone.

It feels like things are always falling apart.

And the thing that we lean on in those times is our faith.

 

This week I was visiting with one of our members who just had surgery.

They were telling me that before that surgery the nurse told them that they seemed very calm.

They told the nurse that they were calm because no matter the outcome they knew God was with them and everything would turn out the way it should.

That is the kind of faith we need to face these days.

That is the kind of faith our children still need.

That is the kind of faith that our forebearers taught us.

They too lived through famine, wars, false prophets, political division, and pestilence.

They faced all those things with faith that God's time was coming, and that everything will turn out the way it should.

That God's time is not our time.

That we don't have to know the future just live with faith, hope, joy, and love.

 

For me, that is the time that marks our advent season.

It is not about linear time.

But about God's time when all will be well.

Where we give thanks not only for our blessings but the ways in which all God's children know God's love.

A time when our faith will be rewarded with all the goodness of God.

Until that time.

Let us live in this time.

Let's take the memories of the past and use them to make today the best it can be.

Let us have faith in God's ability to turn things around, and make us only live in God's time that is filled with faith, hope, joy, and love.

Amen