“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.  

Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” John 11:1-15  

The Sunday School lesson for the first graders was on the plan of salvation. The teacher asked, “If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would I get into heaven?” ”No!” all the children answered. ”If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would I get into heaven?” Again, the answer was, “No!” “Well,” she continued, “then how can I get to heaven?” One boy confidently answered, “You’ve gotta be dead!”  

One of the requirements of getting into heaven, yes, is to die. It is a truth. You do not find many truths anymore in the world, but a truth you can count on is this: you have to die to get into heaven. Now, is that all we need to do to get into heaven? Must we earn our way? Do we need to have done “something” at “sometime” in our lives to have our names written in the “Book of Life?”   

There are many churches and pastors who will tell you that; “If you believe you are a sinner, that Christ died for your sins, and ask His forgiveness —turn from your sins — that’s called repentance— then Jesus Christ knows you and loves you.” Then they will tell you to pray the “Sinners Prayer”. If you do this, then you are well on your way to heaven. Others will tell you that you not only have to pray the “Sinners Prayer”, but you have to join their church, accept their doctrine, follow their practice and pay your dues, and then you will get into heaven.  

Lutherans believe that yes, we are all born into sinfulness. And to begin the process of “regeneration”, our path to opening ourselves up to the presence of the Holy Spirit, we preach a baptism for the remission of sins, whereupon we receive the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, new life and salvation. And every time we participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion, we take Jesus into us, as we continue to receive the forgiveness of sins, as we continue in our new life in Jesus, which is opening us up to the promises of salvation through Jesus Christ.   

As Lutherans we believe that it is not our work that saves us — it is the saving work of Jesus that saves us — all we are asked to do is to have faith in what Jesus Christ did for all people. When we have faith in Jesus, this leads us to do good works because Jesus has won that salvation for us.  

Pastor Dave 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” John 1:1-5 

So this moth goes into a podiatrist’s office. The doctor asks the moth, “What seems to be the problem?” The moth says, “Doc, I don’t know where to start. I feel like my whole life has been a waste of time. I’ve been at the same job for twenty years and I just hate it. I can barely summon the strength to drag myself in every day but I have no choice because I am drawn to it like a moth to, well, you know. The idea of doing this job for another year is hard to accept. I’ve grown apart from my wife. Doc, it just eats me up inside. I feel like my entire life is nothing more than a fragile light bulb hanging from an electrical cord.” The podiatrist says to the moth, “You do seem to have a lot of problems, but I’m just a podiatrist. You need to see a therapist, a psychiatrist even. Why did you come to me?”And the moth says, “The light was on.” (Richard Bonine Jr.)  

We are soon entering the season of Epiphany. One of the themes of Epiphany is the theme of light. Throughout this season, daylight will grow more and more each day, at least in North America. At the end of Epiphany we will celebrate the Transfiguration of Our Lord, where Jesus will be transformed into a light like none that has ever been seen on earth. And, of course, Jesus will tell his disciples that he is the light of the world — a light that shines in the darkness — and the darkness cannot overcome that light. 

As we begin 2018, we need more light — we need more light that is Jesus shining in our lives and in the life of our community and world. As people of faith, we are called to bear that light to all people we encounter. That is not just a challenge, it is a calling, as a disciple. I truly believe in the “Moth” principle: that as we bear the light of Christ, people will be drawn to that light – the light that is the light of Christ. 

Pastor Dave