On this Super Bowl Sunday, a day when millions of dollars will be spent on ads, food, prizes, travel and gambling, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor. Woe to the rich.” On a day when tables will be piled with food and drink, Jesus says, “Blessed are the hungry. Woe to those well fed.” What are we to make of this collision of values and worldviews? What is Jesus telling us about the reign of God, already here and not yet realized?

Holy Trinity Ankeny

BLESSED TO BE BLESSING

The Word of God, we are told, is a mighty and powerful force. Yet, most seem to think it is just religious words printed in a book. Does God speak to and call us as it happened in ages past? Most of us probably shy away from such thinking, assuming we will be thought crazy. If God is calling you, what shall you do?

Does God Speak to Us?

It is easy to think Jesus is just like us, that he looks like us, votes like us and roots for the same team as we do. Today, Jesus' hometown hears who Jesus is and what love looks like. Jesus doesn't meet our selfish expectations; instead he reaches beyond us to bring good news to poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and gives freedom to the oppressed. 

UNEXPECTED NEWS

The constitutive action of establishing a new “normal,” a new reality on the midst of a broken world, is not a new program, a new building, a new idea, it is worship. Worship in our age has lost the power to create because we make it about us, and we expect so little. Nehemiah and the people of God knew better as they returned from exile. Jesus dared to declare that in speaking the promises of God, they actually happened.

POWER WORSHIP

The first of the seven “signs” reported in John’s gospel happens at Cana as Jesus transforms about 90 gallons of water into 90 gallons of fine wine. Pretty neat trick. John does not share this story to amaze us, however. Instead, as with all the “signs” in this gospel, they tell us something about the nature and identity of God revealed in Christ. Each of the seven signs tend to refute some misshapen understanding of God we hold. What does turning the water of purification into the wine of celebration say about God?

WATER TO WINE

On this Sunday we celebrate the Baptism of Jesus. Why did Jesus get baptized? What value is Jesus' baptism to us today? This text is appropriately linked to Isaiah's message to a band of uprooted men and women living in captivity. We have our own times of captivity when we feel overwhelmed, adrift, afraid, and when we don't quite measure up. Listen to God's message for you.

Baptism of Jesus

Whenever bad things happen, someone inevitably calls it “God’s will” or “God’s plan.” The horrific wildfire this week in Colorado, the pandemic, perhaps even burning the toast in the morning can all become epiphanies – manifestations of God’s will. Are these things all part of God’s plan? In this preacher’s reading of scripture, not very often – if at all. God’s plan has been unfolding from before time, manifest in creation itself and in the Magi’s journey to Bethlehem. It is not a mystery. It is revealed in Christ. The writer of Ephesians outlines God’s plan clearly. It’s a plan that has nothing to do with explaining away life’s struggles and everything to do with divine love.

God's Plan

Jesus is twelve years old in our Gospel reading today.  Having traveled to Jerusalem for the Festival of Passover, the family is on their way back home with a caravan of friends and family. After a day's journey, Jesus is nowhere to be found. Mary and Joseph return to Jerusalem to look for him. We, also, can lose Jesus. Find out how we lose Jesus and where we can find him. Learn how Jesus deals with our distracted nature and finds us.

LOSING JESUS

As we observe the Nativity of Our Lord this year, there are lots of shadows and darkness around. The darkness of disease is still real, disrupting our gatherings and spreading through a new variant. The darkness of division seems to work its way ever deeper in families, communities, nations as we are all at each other’s throats for the smallest of things. The darkness of disaster brought about by climate change is frightening. We can put up some holiday lights, make cookies, and have a feast to divert our attention from the dark, but it does not last long. Isaiah, however, gives us a message about a child born who actually can and does bring hope, peace, healing, and life itself. The child’s name is Jesus.

LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS

The faithful people of Micah's day were longing for a shepherd king to be their hope, as they lived in constant fear of violence from the Assyrians.  Hopes and fears meld before Mary comes to really understand that she is participating in God's actions to save the world.  This year, like all years, has seen its share of changes in our lives.  Hear Mary's prophecy of hope that the coming Messiah will bring.  Hear how this hope will take away all fears.

Hopes and Fears

When John the Baptist calls the gathering crowd a “brood of vipers,” he is not offering an insult. He sees in the mob a desire to run from the fire of judgment, just like snakes do. John warns that escape is impossible and that the whole of creation is subject to the correction of God. In a world where so much is so horribly wrong, John knows that God will not wait forever for things to be put right. So, what can we do in the face of judgment? John has an answer that is full of good news.

A BROOD OF VIPERS

While celebrations and decorations begin to shape the holiday landscape spreading a form of cheer everywhere, the Church declares on this first Sunday of Advent – “The End is Near!” We know that in our bones. As Jesus points out the wars, pestilence, destruction, and cosmic threats of his age, they all sound a little too close to home to bear. Maybe that is why we need all the decorations – to distract us from the truth. So what is the good news? Jesus has some thoughts on that subject.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS – THE END IS NEAR

We live in an age where truth is relative. Everyone has "their own" truth. One result is that no common truth exists to hold communities together. We are divided over everything. Into that world comes Jesus Christ declaring, "I AM the truth."

WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

Our Gospel reading seems strange, with a heaviness of doom surrounding it. The entire chapter of Mark 13 is a form of apocalyptic literature which was commonly used in the Jewish community during times of war. It contained code language that the Jews would understand and their oppressors would not.  Mark is relaying to his community that even through the temple was destroyed in war, things are not what they seem. God is still with them but no longer needs the temple and sacrifices. When we go through hard times and it feels like the end of the world, we also can be confident that things are not as they seem. We have the constant undergirding of God's love, grace, and peace to give us hope.

Things Are Not What They Seem

On All Saints Sunday we celebrate that we are united, in Christ, with all the beloved who have died. We celebrate the faithful witness of those who were exemplars of faith in action. We also celebrate that, in the waters of baptism, we have been made saints – all of us. Yet, few of us feel very saintly. Saints are, in some sense, stewards – caretakers – of what has been given by God and the sufferings and pain of the world. When we embrace suffering, share what we have, and anticipate the future of God by living it right now – we are God’s saints.