“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” [ISAIAH 25:6-9]

“And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. Mark 14:66-72

Few things are more negative or more final than “death.” Everyone knows that death is the end. We hope to put death of as long as possible, but we also know death cannot be avoided. Of course the Bible gives another perspective about death: “You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies” (1 Cor. 15:36). “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).

We see this every year, especially as Spring comes along. The long sleep of death during the winter brings the season of spring, and up come the new shoots – the flowers, the plants, and the vegetables. While fall is the season of dying and decay – spring means new life. In many ways, this is the very journey of Lent: death to life. Just as the food we eat must first die in order to sustain our life, so the old self (apart from Christ) must die daily to give birth to the new self. We put to death our self-centeredness and we are raised to life in Jesus. We deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow him. Death brings life.

So, the love of G-d toward us and for us, through Christ, compels us to look death straight in the face and say “We do not fear you, death.” G-d held nothing back for us, but rather, gave up his own Son for us, so that when we die we will in fact live on into new life. Lent then reminds us that true life is found in Jesus. The process of dying to ourselves and dying to our own agenda helps us to locate our treasure (life, joy, purpose) in Jesus. As we die to ourselves we begin to truly grasp the death of Jesus, and find it easier to joyfully give up all we have and follow him.

Pastor Dave

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”  Mahatma Gandhi

“Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”   Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”   Luke 10:37-42

When Jesus tells the lawyer (the one who wanted to justify himself from the parable of the Good Samaritan) to “Go and do likewise” – Jesus is telling him to show mercy to people regardless of their religious, cultural, ethnic or gender identity. The lawyer believed that there were only certain people to whom he should be kind, accepting, and merciful. And, not allowing him to justify himself, Jesus put him in his place. Showing mercy can mean many things to different people, especially depending on the situation. But immediately after this parable, Jesus enters into the home of Mary and Martha. Martha complains that Mary is not helping her out as she would prefer, and Jesus supports Mary that “She has chosen the better part” by not “going and doing”. So, what does it mean to “go and do”? In one instance Jesus implies that it means “Go” – in the other instance it seems to mean “Sit”. The secret to living the Christ-like life is finding a balance for both “going and doing” and “sitting and listening”.

There are certain ways that we Lutherans believe that we receive the Holy Spirit – through hearing the Word, reading the Word, and receiving the Word in the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. If we are always “doing”, we will eventually run out of the strength to continue to “do the works of G-d” because we all only have so much in our Spiritual Tanks. There need to be times when we sit at the feet of Jesus, or in the worship service, to receive some preaching, and to take part in the Sacraments, so we can fill up our Spiritual Tanks, and then continue to “go and do”. 

My friends, find time to be filled by G-d’s word and the Holy Spirit through participating in worship, bible study, Word and Sacrament. And when you feel your strength has been renewed, remember the words that Jesus spoke to the lawyer – “Go and Do likewise”.

Pastor Dave