“Raising the Widow’s Son” Luke 7:1-17

 If I had to pinpoint one of the phrases that drives me to my knees the most its “I deserve”. Whenever I feel an “I deserve” rising up within me, I turn to prayer. Whenever I hear other people say that they deserve something - I’m driven to prayer. Because I think that phrase stands as a stark reminder that we cannot earn anything on our own, apart from God. 

Jesus had his own encounter with the phrase “I deserve”. Jesus had just finished preaching a challenging message and was now entering Capernaum. It came to his attention that a centurion had a servant that he cared about who was very ill. So some of the religious leaders try to pull Jesus aside and reason with him. Jesus, if anyone deserves one of your miracles its this man. He treats our people well. Can’t you help him out, Jesus, since he helps us out. 

As much as I cringe at the phrase “he deserves”, which is how the Message translation portrays this passage, I do even more so at the phrase used in the NRSV - “He is worthy of having you do this for him.”

It is as if Jesus was to go out handing our miracles like merit badges. If you earn this. If you deserve it. If you are worthy of it, then I’ll give it to you. Which of course leads to the inverse of that theology as well - if you don’t receive a miracle or a healing, then there must be a reason - you must be unworthy. 

Friends, that is not how Jesus operates. We cannot earn his grace through a merit based system. Because we can never do enough or be enough to deserve a touch from the Savior. Which it seems like the messengers of the centurion actually understand - he said don’t bother coming. Don’t trouble yourself, because he is not worthy of having you come to him. Just speak and I know you can heal my servant. 

The centurion has an honest portrayal of himself, and then expresses truth in Jesus’s authority. Here is a man who by all outward appearances has authority. He is a military presence in an occupied region. He is a man of stature amongst people who would be considered lowly. He was Roman when others were not. And yet, he realized that all of his authority meant nothing compared to Jesus’s authority. 

The religious leaders wanted Jesus to bring healing to the servant, in part, because of the centurions standing, his authority. But the centurion himself recognized the authority of Jesus. We are never told if the centurion was a God-fearing man. But he knows there something about Jesus - this man who heals - that is greater then himself. 

And Jesus did heal the servant. 

But in comparison to this man who by outward appearances had authority and who others said deserved this healing to take place, is the widow in the second part of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Luke. This woman hadn’t just lost her son, she had lost everything. Her husband was dead. This was her only son. And now there was no one to provide for her in a day and time when males had all of the wealth and power passed down from generation to generation. She stood in line with women like Ruth and Naomi. Like the unnamed widow who encountered Elijah. And Jesus reached out to her, not because of her status or because others were advocating on her behalf, but simply because he had compassion on her. 

If anyone had a reason to weep - she did - and yet, Jesus told her not to weep and then told the young men to rise up - come back to life. And he did!

Jesus had authority not over healing, but over life itself. And that struck fear into people. 

What are we to make of these two stories, linked together in the Gospel of Luke? What does it say to our day and time today?

First, I think it calls for us to be honest with ourselves. Have we ever uttered the words of those religious leaders saying “he or she deserves this from God.” Maybe we said it as a cry for healing - for someone who deserves it because of their status or wealth. Maybe we’ve cried the opposite - saying someone deserved illness as punishment. Friends, this story stands in stark contrast to all of that. Jesus is going to do what Jesus is going to do and we need to be abundantly caution with our “deserves” because we deserve nothing but are given it freely as a gift because of the goodness of our Savior. We are not worthy on our own. We do not deserve on our own. We cannot earn on our own. And until that sinks into us, we are still going to be lead by the ways of the world, instead of the Kingdom of God.

This narrative also asks us what and who has authority in our life. That’s a hard question in some ways. Its like the old joke that almost any time the pastor asks a question during children’s time the correct answer is “Jesus!” We may want to say Jesus has authority in our lives, but do we live like it? Do we live in such a way where we bow only to God’s authority in our lives, or do we say that but often like the authority of the outside world override? 

Even the religious leaders got confused! Because someone who they saw with outward authority had treated them well, they wanted Jesus to do something for him. They didn’t even mention the authority of God or what God deserves or that God is worthy! How often do we speak and act in a similar way?

This passage not only points us to the authority and divine compassion of Jesus, but they proclaim that Jesus isn’t confined by our ways. Jesus didn’t even need to see the centurion’s servant to heal him. He simply said it was so. And no one was asking Jesus to raise the widow’s son from the dead, probably because they thought that death had the final word, but he did it anyway. 

Sometimes we let the constraints of this world, block us from even approaching Jesus. We start saying things like “Jesus can’t” or “he won’t”. Or maybe if we don’t say it out loud, we at least think it in the secret places in our hearts. And in those phrases we are using the authority of the world to tell us once again about the power, authority, and ways of Christ. But just as Christ does not have to act in any certain way because of our human thoughts about what is deserved, Jesus doesn’t have to not act just because it is too big for our imaginations. 

In fact, maybe that’s what we need to be looking for a little bit more in our lives. Jesus to have ultimate authority in a way that brings us to our knees in holy reverence. 

Friends, I don’t know the last time you uttered the words “I or he or she deserve” but what invitation is there from Christ in those moments? How can you hand the authority of your life over to Christ anew? What is Christ just waiting to do, if only we would give all power, honor and authority to him? Amen.     

“Healing on the Sabbath” - Luke 6: 1-16

 Often when I teach folks about the Ten Commandments, people use them as a checklist. Of course I haven’t murdered anyone. Or coveted what my neighbor had. Or took the Lord’s name in vein. But then we get to number four and people will go silent. Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy. 

Sabbath is a hard concept to grasp in our world, where you are always on and available. I remember at my first appointment, I wanted to be as transparent as possible. So on Fridays people received a reply saying that I will reply to their email the first thing the next day, Saturday. Some folks didn’t take that well. When we email - we want a reply. When we call - we want someone to answer. When we text - we expect an immediate reply. 

And into this world of hurry and constantly being available, God gave us the gift of the Sabbath. A time to delight. Rejoice in God. To savor a day unlike any other day. To be reminded that our worth doesn’t lie in what we produce, but in simply being a child of God. 

We, here and now today, are not the only ones who need Sabbath. People in Jesus’s time did as well. It was scriptural. Tracing back to Exodus: “Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.” And repeated in Deuteronomy - Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

This Scripture was supposed to point the Israelites back to Egypt - to the fact that God reduced them from a time of slavery, where there wasn’t time to rest and delight. Where their worth was tied to production alone. But over time the Pharisees started to add to the commandment. A generous reading is that they were trying to add boundaries around the Sabbath by giving people rules to follow that pointed out what they could and could not do. 

But the result, even if it was well intentioned, was that the delight started to slip out of the Sabbath. It became more about the rules than about honoring God. 

Enter Jesus. He is going through the grain fields and some of the disciples were picking grain and eating it after rubbing it in their hands. And the Pharisees saw them, calling them out for “producing” by picking and eating something at the same time. In modern terms, this could be like going to the grocery store and cooking a big meal. It wasn’t allowed in the eyes of the Pharisees. 

To which Jesus calked to mind this story from 1 Samuel. A Scripture that everyone from Jesus, to the Pharisees, to his disciples would have known, about David. David was hungry and needed bread, but all the priest had was holy bread - bread that had been consecrated to the Lord and was not to be eaten by just anyone. This was breaking the law. And he shared it with others. 

Jesus called it out - David, King of Israel, had broken the law. But instead of asking the Pharisees what they thought about that or asking them to speak out against David, he simply let the story stand on its own with one addition - The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath. 

Jesus came with a unique understanding of Sabbath because he was the Lord of the Sabbath - the Messiah, even if others could not recognize it. He came not to make the Word of God, or the celebration of Sabbath, a burden, but instead to open up our hearts to the meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, when the Pharisees were getting bogged down in the details, Jesus is trying to point them to the bigger picture - the purpose and heart of Sabbath in the first place. 

But incase they missed what Jesus was trying to say, he was given the opportunity to expand his point not much later. There was a man seeking healing on the Sabbath the the Pharisees are watching to see if Jesus is going to step out of line. But Jesus knew exactly what was stirring in their spirits, so he asked them a question - “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to destroy it?”

What a reversal! This man wasn’t someone to be exploited to catch Jesus in a trap - he was a child of God. Why did it matter what day he was seeking healing on? The Sabbath was for doing what was good and not to perpetuate harm for the sake of human rules. 

Of course the religious leaders weren’t happy with that at all. 

Because the overarching spirit of the Sabbath had been lost in the details. The Spirit of the Sabbath was to honor God. Did it honor God more to let this child of God continue to suffer one more day, just so the law wasn’t violated? Or was it better to bring healing for the glory and honor of God, right here and right now?

I wonder what that would look like, here and now today to honor God by keeping the Sabbath? I have to admit, I never really understood the argument that everything should be closed so that people could go to church, because I grew up in a family where that simply couldn’t be a reality. My grandmother was a nurse. My mom was a pharmacist who worked Sundays so people could get the medications they needed. That argument simply wasn’t part of my reality. 

I think a better frame of thinking would be, what am I doing this day to honor God? How am I delighting in God’s goodness? How am I sharing the love of God with others?

And sometimes that means being open to what God puts right in our path. Many of you are aware that I prepared leading up to renewal leave in July for well over a year. I had a plan. I had deposits paid at retreat centers. Then COVID happened and everything that was planned had to change. But what opened up instead was this invitation to delight in God. To simply be loved. To love others. To play and rejoice. And it was exactly the invitation I needed. 

Sabbath is an opportunity to remember who we are at our deepest core. To remember that we are children of God. And because of that, we honor God, who loves us more than any other. 

So I ask again - what are you doing in your Sabbath that honors God? And how has it changed over the years? Because if its just about the rules, we will always do the same thing out of fear of breaking them. But if its about responding to the Spirit of God, things will change from time to time.

I invite you to think this week and pray around how you honor God by keeping the Sabbath and how that invites you to live into the other six days of Creation. Amen. 

“Fish for People” Luke 5: 1-11

 When I was in children’s choir, we learned a song that went like this (complete with motions): I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men. I will make you fishers of men, if you follow me. If you follow me. If you follow me. I will make you fishers of men, if you follow me. 

Each of the Gospels tell the story that inspired this song a little bit differently. In the Gospel of Luke, a large crowd had gathered around Jesus. People were craving to hear the word of God, and the crowd had grown so large that they were starting to press in. Not everyone could see. Not everyone could hear. So people kept trying to push closer and closer when Jesus spotted men near their boats. They were cleaning their nets, about to put them away after an unsuccessful night of fishing. So Jesus problem solved and just got into one of the boats. Can you imagine? We have no indication that these men really knew Jesus all that well, but they must have known about him. And now here he was just hoping into their boats, asking Simon to take them away from the shore. And Simon did it. 

This is the behavior of an old friend, not a stranger or aqauintance. It has the ring of your best friend jumping in your car and saying “just drive”. Jesus started teaching to the crowds from the boat, and after he was finished he finally turned to Simon. Simon who had been listening. Simon who had to be exhausted, but followed Jesus’s request anyway, and told Simon to put down his net into the deep waters.

You can almost hear the groan in Simon’s reply. Teacher - the time for fishing is over. We’ve been there, tried that and didn’t catch a single thing. But after all of Simon’s excuses had ran out, he did let his nets down into the waters and had this abundant, his holy abundant catch of fish, that was stretching against the nets. Other people had to be called over to the boat to help hull the net back in. There were so many fish that the boats started to sink into the water.

And Simon just went to his knees, telling Jesus to go away, for he was not worthy to be in his presence. But Jesus responded by telling him not to be afraid and instead told him he had a new vocation - catching people. 

The call of the first disciples, James, John, and Simon Peter in the gospel of Luke is connected to this idea of an abundance. An abundance of people pushing in that lead to Jesus going out into the deep waters with them, resulting in an abundance of fish. In many ways this story sounds like some others found in the Gospels, chiefly John, chapter 21. Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, but the disciples had not yet seen him. They were out in their boats, going back to what they used to know before, only they hadn’t caught anything. Jesus calls to them from the shores, telling them to drop their nets down on the other side, and the catch was plentiful. It was then that Peter recognized Jesus and eagerly went to shore. 

These stories of fish -aren’t actually about the fishing. They are stories of Jesus meeting people exactly where they are at, doing their every day life, and offering them change, for Jesus has the power and authority to do just that- change lives. 

Which Simon must have caught a glimpse of in the boat that day, this power and authority even if he didn’t fully understand it, because he falls on his face, essentially saying that he was unworthy. Some weeks ago we heard another call story that sounds a bit like this in Isaiah, chapter 6. The one who would become a mighty prophet in Israel had this vision where he realizes that he is being called, but says that he is a man of unclean lips, as he falls before the throne of God. In other words, he is unworthy. 

But here’s the thing about Simon, which is just as true of Isaiah. God doesn’t call the folks who are already fit for ministry. He doesn’t call perfect people, he calls people like you and like me. Like Simon and James and John. He comes to people in the ordinary everyday-ness of life and says “you, I chose you. Don’t be afraid. We are going to go fishing for people.”

One of my favorite spiritual authors in Kathleen Norris and she writes about this call in the everyday in her book The Quotidian Mysteries - in other words the mysteries of the every day. In doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning, God shows up. In driving to work and going fishing, God shows up. And we are transformed even in the everyday by the power of Christ. Even when we least expect it. Even if we don’t this we are qualified or worthy. 

When the disciples got up to go fishing, this wasn’t the plan for the day. It wasn’t in their to-do list to have an encounter with Jesus that changed their lives. They simply were doing what they did and Jesus showed up and changed it all. Jesus showed up to men who were exhausted from a days work, with nothing to show for it, and offered them the opportunity for abundance. 

And lest we think this story is really about the fish, guess what, Luke writes that they leave the fish behind! What does verse 11 say, “they left everything to follow him.” Including the fish. Including their boats and their nets. And followed the one who is holy abundance in the flesh. 

Friends, God doesn’t wait for our perfect timing. God doesn’t wait for the moment that we desire. God just shows up in the every day living of life and offers us something new - if only we are willing to take a risk to leave what we know behind and put our nets down into the deep. 

That isn’t a one time choice that we make - its one that comes to us again and again and again, calling us to make a choice. Think of Luke’s second volume, the Book of Acts. Found in chapter 10 and 11 is this story of Simon Peter, the same Simon from today’s boat, who has this vision where God is calling him to set aside what Peter deems to be holy or unholy for the sake of what God says, and Peter keeps reply “never, Lord!” Until someone shows up asking him to go to Cornellius’s house, a gentile, to proclaim the Gospel. Which resulted in a whole household coming to be baptized. 

Peter had to toss his nets into the deep water, setting aside what he thought he knew about Gentiles, in order to continue to live into this call to fish for people. Which leaves me wondering if we would be willing to do the same. Are we willing to put our nets down into the deep waters of chaos, at such a time as this? Are we willing to take a risk for the sake of Christ? Are we willing to daily say, “yes, Lord, I’ll follow you.”

Friends, the word disciple means follower. Are you willing to be a follower today? A disciple of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Are you willing to be obedient to the Holy Spirit that meets us in the everydayness of life and whispers to your heart? Are you willing to sit and listen to the co-worker who is having a hard time? Or help someone in the grocery store? The ways that we are being called everyday are truly endless, but it requires us saying “yes” and often leaving the to-do list of the day behind. 

Brothers and sisters, Christ does not call those who are perfect to follow him. Or those who have it all figured out. He calls the willing. Are you willing to follow this one we call Lord and Savior? Amen. 

“The Boy in the Temple Courts” Luke 2:41-52

 We have now left the season of Christmas, but this particular text reminds me of a particular Christmas movie - Home Alone. This movie tells the story of Kevin, an eight-year old boy who in the midst of the hustle and bustle of his large family getting ready to leave for the holidays to go to Paris, gets left behind in his home. 

About halfway to Paris, on the flight, Kevin’s mom has the realization that while everyone thought that Kevin was with someone else in the large family, really he was left behind. Then they find out that they cannot get a return ticket to be reunited with him for several days, so she does everything she can to return home as quickly as possible.

Home Alone, and the sequels that followed, seem fantastical in some ways. How in the world could you accidentally leave an eight year old boy behind? Yet, isn’t that very similar to the situation that Mary and Joseph found themselves in with Luke, chapter 2.

Part of the Jewish custom in the region was to travel to Jerusalem, the holy city, at particular times of the year for holy days. In this text, they had traveled from their home to Jerusalem, with a large group of people. Maybe it was family members. Maybe it was other people from their town. Everything was going as it usually did - until all of a sudden it wasn’t.

The large group had been traveling back home together and Mary and Joseph probably just assumed he was with other people - other children his age. But about a day into the trip they started to ask around an no one had seen Jesus. It dawned on them that he must still be in Jerusalem, to look for him there. 

It took three days to find Jesus, but when they did, the twelve year old was in the temple, asking the religious leaders questions and listening intently to what he had to say. While other children his age may have considered their instruction tedious, he seemed to soak it up. 

However, while the religious leaders were amazed, his family wasn’t. They wondered why in the world they had caused them so much grief and anxiety by staying behind. To which Jesus’s answer probably gave them little comfort - you should have known that I would be in my Father’s house. And they started the journey back to Nazareth together. 

Last year around this time we started our journey together through the Gospel of Mark, where everything moved quickly. This year, we are looking at the Gospel of Luke. Though in full transparency, we have been jumping around a bit in it. At the end of last year, during the Christmas season, we heard of the proclamation to the shepherds of Jesus’s birth. We heard of the strange circumstances surrounding his birth. And the blessing that was bestowed upon him at the temple by Anna and Simeon. Then last week, we jumped ahead to Jesus’s baptism, which propelled his call to ministry. 

This week we are stepping back to the text that really links together the other two. This is the only real glimpse we have in scripture of Jesus as a child or adolescent. In fact, the only real comment that Luke makes outside of this is found one verse earlier (2:40), which says The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. What follows is this event between his presentation and dedication as an infant and going out in ministry. And it tells us a lot about Jesus’s heart, even at this tender age.

Jesus is right around the age of accountability, which is seemingly different in every culture. Here in America we talk about that being around eighteen years old, when you are considered an adult. When I was studying abroad in Australia, I turned 21, and was told that this is the age when you are given the keys to your own life. In Biblical times, it would have been around the age of thirteen. Remember that Mary was probably a teenager when she bore Jesus into the world. It would be around this time that some people got married and learned trades. Yet, even though he is nearing this important age, the religious teachers were still amazed by him and the wisdom he showed. 

In other words, Jesus wasn’t like the other kids his age. He wasn’t like the other boys who came for religious schooling out of obligation. There was something in his heart that drew him to this particular place, and made him stay there for days, even though he had to also have the wisdom to realize what it would do to his parents. 

And like any parents, of course they were gutted. They were worried. But there is an extra layer on top of all of this - Mary and Jospeh know that this is the Messiah, even if they don’t fully know what that means. So while their child is lost, they also lost the Messiah. Let the weight of that statement settle over you for a minute. The Messiah, who was entrusted into their care, is lost. 

Or maybe that extra layer is more universal then we think. For all of those of us who love children, have a sinking fear from time to time, do we not? Maybe not the fear that we physically lost the child, but fear of them losing their way? Or losing their faith? Or losing the values we instilled in them? Maybe we can relate to Mary and Joseph a whole lot more than we ever imagined. 

And out of all of that fear and anxiety, grief and concern, they weren’t able to hear what Jesus was saying about being in his Father’s house. Sometimes, I admit, that I too, do not understand the most profound things that come out of the mouths of the children around me. But when we finally catch on, we too, treasure them in our heart like Mary. 

This is our first inkling of what it could look like for Jesus to be the Messiah. For him to be a wise, teacher. But also for him to be intimately connected with the Father. For him to be, yes, the one who has come to fulfill the word, but also as we will see in the weeks to come, the one who interprets and enacts the word, as well. 

I keep finding myself going back to two groups of people in this text. The first is the religious leaders. They know the teachings of the Messiah, but they don’t realize that the Messiah is right in front of them, because they don’t expect it. They are amazed by this young boy, they see that he is superior, but beyond that, they don’t have a clue what is to come. Maybe at best, they hoped that he could be among their ranks some day. But they do not see him, fully as he is - as the salvation of the world. 

And I think of Mary and Jospeh. All that they felt. How this was an experience that they would never forget. How this is among the growing list of things that Mary treasures in her heart - though it certainly didn’t feel like something to treasure as they were living through it. I wonder if they recognized how this event was linked to Jesus’s purpose, his truth, his wisdom.

Maybe the truth is we are both like the religious leaders and Mary and Jospeh. Sometimes  we cannot see that which is right in front of us and other times we recognize the mystery of faith, but cannot fully articulate it. Maybe we have lived in the fear of what will come of those entrusted into our care just as much as we are brought to our knees in amazement for the truth that comes out of the mouths of children. Maybe, we too, can start to catch glimpses of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, God with Us. Amen. 

“Jesus’s Baptism" Luke 3:1-22

 I recently was listening to an interview with Harriet Learner, who is a psychologist. Amongst things that she is known for studying is forgiveness. The piece of the interview that stuck out to me was that sometimes saying “I’m sorry” isn’t enough. If we are truly repentant for what we have done to another person we need to try to make to right and take steps not to do the harmful behavior again. 

Sounds a lot like the repentance that John is calling folks to at the Jordan, doesn’t it. Only unlike Dr. Learner who was talking about when we harm another person, John was talking about turning from our sin against God. 

The third chapter of the Gospel of Luke starts in this interesting way, inserting John right into history amongst all of these names of religious and political leaders. Folks who were powerful. Folks who were in charge. Only the world of the Lord didn’t come to all of these important folks. No, it comes to John, son of Zechariah. John who has this amazing birth story that I’m sure was passed down to him from the time he was old enough to hear. Can’t you just hear Elizabeth whispering into John’s ear. “you, little one, are going to turn people back to God. You are going to prepare people for the Lord. The angel Gabriel said so.” 

Now, all of these years later, it is John who is turning people to God out in the wilderness. Not the people in charge. John. 

The wilderness is a funny place for John to begin his ministry, but in so many ways to brings the people back to the story of Exodus, where their ancestors wandered in the wilderness for forty years until God brought them into the promise land. Now God is preparing his people once again for a new thing in the wilderness, this place of discomfort, this place of the unknown, this place of transformation. 

John is proclaiming this powerful message about repentance and forgiveness of sins. And Luke ties it back to the words from Isaiah 40: 1-5 about the one who cries out to prepare the way of the Lord. This particular passage from Isaiah was written when the people of Israel were about to return from exile. Its a word of encouragement that they are going to lead people to return to the way of the Lord and be part of revealing God’s glory to the nations. 

And now, the people once again find themselves about to return from a time of exile, a time of spiritual exile, with the coming of the Messiah. And once again they are being invited to repent, to return tot eh way of the Lord, and be a part of boldly proclaiming this new thing. 

As the people come to the river to be baptized, we find not just John the Baptizer, but John the Prophet, as he proclaims this firey message from God starting out “You brood of vipers!”. I want you to stop this morning and actually consider what John is saying. What would happen if I stood up here this morning and compared you to vipers, snakes. Would it be a term of endearment? Certainly not. I wouldn’t doubt that some of you would walk out and not come back again. Yet, John starts off by calling folks snakes and they end up not only staying, but asking John how they can be changed. 

Again and again and again the people are asking John “what should we do?” In other words, how do we know that we are bearing this fruit that is worthy of repentance that you talk about? And he tells each of them what - to change their ways. 

Repentance isn’t just about being sorry, my friends, its about a complete change. Which is nice to say, but harder to live into. We, too, need to come to a place of transformation. A place where we surrender our whole lives to God. We need to come not just with an attitude of repentance, but the actions to back it up. 

If you have more than you need, share. 

If you have been dishonest in your work practices, stop.

If you have been coveting what your neighbor has, be satisfied with what is before you. 

If you’ve been caught up in sin, flee from it. 

Repent. Change. 

This week I was reading a book about raising up leaders, and the author Marv Nelson told the story of young adults he is shepherding. Every week they meet together on his back porch and ask each other how have you sinned this week. Why? To hold each other accountable to true change. Heart change in action. And that type of accountability, the call to that question, isn’t just for the young, my friends, it is for all of us. 

Only into the mix comes Jesus, one who was sinless and didn’t need to repent at all, asking to be baptized. The people earlier were confused, they thought that there was a possibility that John was the one that they had been waiting for. That John could be the Messiah. And John firmly said no. 

So why did Jesus come that day to be baptized, if he himself didn’t need to repent? To remind us what baptism is all about. Throughout the ages, for thousands of years, the church has continued to baptize people. To call people to the waters of repentance. And as we emerge from the waters, we join with those asking John - “now what? Now what do we do? Now how do we live?”

To which we find Jesus as the one calling us to live out our faith. 

See, baptism as a sacrament isn’t just an act. Its a vow. A promise. A call to change. Repentance and faith are so connected that they cannot be separated from one another, yet we often don’t talk about it like that. We think that we repent with what we say and then keep going on living as we wish. No! When repentance is tied to faith, we desire to change. We desire to bear fruit worthy of repentance. We desire to follow Jesus with not just our lips, but our feet as well. 

While that seems like a daunting call, it is not one that we enter into alone. One of my favorite parts of Jesus’s baptism story is often overlooked. Verse 21 starts out by saying, “Now when all the people were baptized”. All the people. Other’s. Baptism is not something that is done alone. It is something where we join together and hold each other accountable to the vows being made. We aren’t expected to go through this alone. Instead, we are tied together as the community of faith. The community of repentance. The community of accountability. 

I want to end this day in prayer, just as Jesus prayed following his baptism. I want us to come together and pray that God leads us to bear fruit worthy of repentance. I want us to pray for transformation in our hearts and in our lives. Will you join me…. Amen.