Going Fishing - Sermon on Matthew 4:12-23

Sermon preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on January 26, 2020 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, FL

Listen to the Sermon here: 

Matthew 4:12-23

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. ¹³ He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴ so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ¹⁵ "Land of Zebulun, land of Naphtali, on the road by the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— ¹⁶ the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned." ¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." ¹⁸ As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. ²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

SERMON

Let me preface today’s sermon by saying I am not a fisherman.  In fact, I have only been fishing a handful of times and I’ve learned that I am most successful if the rod is plastic, the line has a magnet on the end, and I’m trying to catch plastic magnetic fish in a kiddie pool.  I classify fishing as NMG - not my gift.

That being said, I can recall a few impactful experiences that taught me about the art of fishing.  As a boy scout, we once camped out around someone’s pond. One of the reasons for our weekend camping trip was for some folks to work on their fishing merit badge.  So, that evening, our scout master asked who wanted to go fishing in the morning. He offered to wake us up in the morning, and since I had never really gone fishing before, I thought, sure, why not.  When 4 am came, I immediately regretted my decision. Apparently, most fish are active at dusk and dawn. I guess early worm gets the fish, as they say.

My second lesson was that going fishing was not equivalent to going to catch fish.  That same camping trip I learned that you can sit for hours, doing nothing, and get no result. Fishing takes patience.

In high school I was invited to go fishing off the pier at a friend’s lake house.  I’d say that this experience was a bit more successful, but it was also the time I learned that fishing requires attentiveness.  Turns out, you can’t cast the line, lean the pole against the rail and trust the fish would bite and politely wait to be reeled in.  Apparently, fish like to eat on the go. I lost my friends fishing pole. 

Growing up, my dad got me a small tackle box.  Through scouts I had collected two or three bobbers, a few weights, some fun little lures and a variety of hooks.  I felt cool.  That is until I was invited to go fishing with a group of folks from scouts.  I took my cute little tackle box with more cubbies and compartments than things to put in them.  I really liked that when I opened the lid, the top compartment raised on its own, revealing the secret hidden compartment beneath.  Anyways, we arrived and got settled. I sat my box on the bench and opened up slowly so others could take notice.  

Meanwhile, I noticed the leader open what I can only describe as one of those giant metal rolling tool cabinets.  Cabinets lined with hooks and lures. Endless drawers full or artificial bait, bobbers, weights, sinkers, and... well that’s the extent of my fishing accessory knowledge.  He strapped on his sleeveless fishing vest. I was intimidated and overwhelmed. That was the day I learned that there are 1000s of species of fish, and every one of them is different and everyone requires a different approach to successfully catching them.  Fishing takes preparation, careful planning, and creativity.

Fishing, from my limited experience and observation is a profound hobby and sport.  And to be successful, it requires immense patience, perseverance, and experience. It requires that you know the fish that you’re trying to catch and that you have the precise tools necessary.  Successful fishing requires hope and endurance. It even means failing. And, perhaps the most profound lesson I’ve learned is that you absolutely cannot catch a fish if you don’t go fishing in some way or another. 

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Almost every time I read this text or its parallel in Mark or Luke, I get hung up on the immediacy of the disciples’ following.  How is it that at Jesus’ call and invitation, they drop everything to follow this minority voice of hope. They leave it all behind to be in the footsteps of something new - to take part in the reign of God’s kingdom.  

But, for some reason this week, I was hooked by the prospect of fishing for people.  Pun- intended. The notion that as Christians we are called by Christ to become people who fish for people.  To exhaust the metaphor, we are called to cast to the proclamation of Jesus, to shed light on the dark and dreary world, to offer a message of love, grace, forgiveness, peace and hope that is so lure-ing, that others’ can’t help but bite.  Right, and in Jesus’ day, it was more about casting a wide net in hopes that you might catch a few from the many.

And I’ve found myself so deep in prayer lately about Christ’s invitation to fish for people, mostly because I’m a terrible fisherman.  Fishing takes patience and endurance. It takes perseverance. Fishing takes pride and knowledge of the fish you want to catch. And to optimize success it takes the proper use of gifts and tools.

Now look, I don’t mean to suggest that our call as Christians is to bait and lure, or even deceive people into knowing Christ.  I don’t want to overplay the metaphor.  Rather, I think that to be successful in our call to discipleship, to fully honor the privilege and responsibility of proclaiming the grace-filled reign of God, it might take some practice.  Some patience. Some perseverance. If we understand our call from Jesus through the shores of the baptismal font to go forth in the name of Christ to make disciples then at some point we have to at least go fishing, trusting in God to guide us.

Our gospel text today marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  Following Jesus’ birth, he fled to Egypt for safety with his parents, he was baptized by John in the river.  The spirit descended upon him like a dove and drove him to the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil, and now he withdraws to Galilee and the area of Capernaum.  And it’s here that he begins his public ministry within the gospel according to Matthew.  

And our gospel text opens with a stark reminder of the hostile and tumultuous time that Jesus emerges.  Again, Matthew writes, “Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee.” John the Baptist, the one who came crying in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord.”  The one who pointed to the Messiah and the one who is greater. John, who baptized Jesus in the river and pointed his followers to Christ, has been arrested by Herod.  

Now we won’t hear the story of John’s beheading this year, but within the other gospel narratives we can recall that John the Baptist was beheaded at the request of Herod’s stepdaughter Salome, influenced by her mother, Herodias.  Ultimately, it is a testament to Herod’s rage and violent temperament, sparked by John convicting Herod for divorcing his wife to take his brother’s wife.  

Jesus continues to live and move in the territory of a violent, tyrannous rulers.  In Jesus day, the region around Galilee was ruled by Herod Antipas. He was the son of Herod the Great, the one who tried to manipulate the wisemen into telling him where Jesus was.  Who, ultimately tried to have the baby Jesus murdered. Herod Antipas was known for his brutal nature and his utter intolerance for anyone who may threaten his power.   

Furthermore, the region of Galilee was under Roman Imperial Rule.  The roman rule was an oppressive force that affected a large portion of the population.  Most common citizens relied on brutal, physical, labor-intensive work to support their way of life.  But excessive, unjust taxes suppressed the fruits of their labor. Therefore, many also lived in poverty - void of basic life-sustaining needs.

The kingdom in which they lived was not necessarily one of hope or joy.   It is riddled with intimidation from authority, submission to the Roman Imperial rule, and a longing for the fulfillment of their ancestral promise. 

This is the power of the day that Jesus initiates God’s reign.  While there is a need to be diligent and careful in his ministry, God through Jesus has come to proclaim the presence of a new kingdom, a kingdom ruled by grace, forgiveness, justice, and love.  Jesus is the light of hope, freedom, and justice that is to shine as a light in the darkness of oppressive rule.

This is the time and place to which Jesus as a light to the darkness, proclaiming the promise of the Kingdom of God, a reign of hope, justice, mercy, and grace.  God, through Jesus, has come to offer salvation to God’s people. To raise up the lowly and cast down the mighty. To heal the sick, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, make the blind to see and the mute to speak.  To bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, and to set the oppressed free.  

And one of Jesus’ first actions is to invite others to follow, to risk it all and experience a new way of life.  Inviting them to come and see. 

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. ²¹ 

When Jesus invites the disciples to come and follow, our translation says, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”  This translation can make it sound as though fishing for people were a task to be completed. And if you’re like me, that’s terrifying, because as you recall, fishing is not my gift.

But thanks be to God, Jesus’ invitation is a richer than our translation might seem   In fact, a better understanding of the invitation might be to say, “Follow me, and I will make you to become fishers for people.”   In this translation fishing for people is no longer a task, but rather becoming fishers of people is a new identity. Jesus invites us to come and see, to participate and learn about the work for the kingdom.  Christ promises to equip the ones who will be doing the fishing. It is to become their new identity. 

They are to become fishers of people.  In a world desperate for the hope of something better, Christ calls and invites these disciples to use their gifts and abilities for the furtherment of the kingdom of God. This is the kind of discipleship that you and I are called to as well

Despite our anxieties or doubts or fears, Christ confidently calls us to be disciples.  To become fishers or people, casting the good news of the light of Christ to all people, all times, and in all places.   And the good news, especially for someone who is not keen on fishing, it is not about us. It’s not about what you or I do.  

It’s about what God does through us.  Using our God given, gifts, abilities, experiences, to cast the story of faith, to fan the spark of hope to a world deeply in need of healing.  And successful fishing, to be sure, successful discipleship is not measured in the number of fish you catch, but rather the passion and commitment to the craft.  True discipleship takes time, patience, endurance, knowledge, experience, trust, and hope.  

Jesus entered the world at a tumultuous time.  God, the Emmanuel, came forth so that the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.  It was true then and it is true today.

And, as I understand it, most fishermen and women don’t just go fishing in order to catch something, but rather they often go fishing, because they’re people who fish, and fishing is what fishermen and women do.  

Amen.

©Sermon preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on January 26, 2020 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, FL

Identity and Promise - Sermon on Baptism of Our Lord Sunday - Matt. 3:13-17

Sermon preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on January 12, 2020 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, FL

Listen to the Sermon here: 

Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

SERMON

As pastors, I think we’re discouraged from picking favorites.  I know it’s not the right thing to do, and it’s not fair to give preference to one over another.  But I need to be honest and tell you that I think Baptism is my favorite sacrament of the Lutheran sacraments. At least, for right now.  

To be fair, both sacraments, Baptism and Holy communion are abundant expressions of God’s grace.  In both, the graciousness of God’s mercy and the promise of abundant life are freely given.  Both are gifts to God’s people in which God again affirms the promise that all might have life and have it abundant.  Both are affirmations of God’s forgiveness of sins.  Both are important and both are foundation to the life of the community of faith.  But, I have to say, there is something about Baptism that warms for soul and affirms my faith.  Something about the water that draws me into the arms of our maker, healer, and redeemer.

Baptism gives us identity.  Identity in Christ.  Identity as children of God.  And forever and ever, there isn’t a thing that can diminish, remove, or compromise that identity.  The font is where the labels of the world wash away.  The font stands as the foundation of our inheritance to life and life eternal.  God created.  God claims.  God names.  In the waters of salvation, all doubts of who we are are washed away.  In the sacrament of the water, God names us beloved.  And everything else about our lives ripples out from the fundamental, grace-filled truth.

On one of my first Sunday here 2.5 years ago, I was standing in the back by the font before worship and in came Pastor Bernie Jorn.  We had only met once before at the Oktoberfest meet and greet before I was called, and we had had a brief conversation on the phone about supplying at St. Mark’s.  But other than that, we didn’t really know much about each other.  And as I stood there waiting to start the announcements at 9:30, he came through the door and he said, “Good morning.”  Good morning, I said.  Then he looked at the me, then the font, then me, and he said “Hey, would you mind splashing me.”

It caught me off guard because while I safely assumed he meant, will you touch the water with your thumb and make the sign of the cross on my forehead...it took everything in me not to take a handful of water and pour it on his head and say, “Pastor Bernie Jorn, remember that you are named and claimed in the waters of life, sweet child of God, and nothing will ever change that.”

Since then, every single time Pastor Bernie passes the font he invites me or someone else to splash water on him.  And there are lot of us who do the same.  When we pass from the Narthex to the Nave, or we leave worship and process into the world we dip our fingers in the water, cross our forehead and remember our baptism. 

And if you don’t do it, or haven’t thought about it, I invite you to try it today.  Anytime you pass that font, feel free to at least touch the water and remember who and whose you are. 

That moment with Pastor Jorn several years ago was so powerfully to me, not only because it’s a privilege and honor to remind someone of their baptism and the love of God that has claimed them…but to enter and leave worship through the water of the font is a statement to the world that no other name, label, identifier, club, organization, political affiliation, stereotype, or otherwise can come close to redefining your identity in Christ.  

Remembering your baptism at the start of worship is to reclaim the gift of grace extended to you and me.  To remember that all things will fade away.  All the hats we wear can be removed and set aside.  All the labels and qualifiers of the world are human made and exist to separate us from one another and ourselves.  But that water, that holy sacrament is a proclamation to the world that when all is stripped away, I am claimed by God.  I am God’s child.  I am beloved.  And the water unites us with Christ and with one another. 

To splash in the water is to tell the world that I belong to God.  God chooses me.  God chooses us.  And try as hard as we might to label and define one another, nothing holds a candle to the one and only who saves us.  The one and only who grants us life.  The one and only who claims us as children, as beloved.  

I want to pose a question for your reflection.  Ignite some self-curiosity if you will.  Plant a seed of self-assessment and discernment.  And if you were with us a few months ago, I put forth a similar question and actually invited you to write your answers down.  If you recall, I gave you the prompt “I am..” and invited you to fill in the blank.  Similarly, today, I want us to consider what it is that defines us.   What labels do we model, or better yet what brands us?  When you meet a stranger, who knows nothing about you, what might their impression be. 

Our world and our culture are proud on labeling and categorizing people, aren’t we?  It’s amazing that even the seemingly innocent things we do that can cause us to be defined, labeled, and prejudged.  Especially when you start thinking about the choices, we make in life that begin to define us to others.  The clothes we wear or the jersey we put on.  The car we drive or the bumper stickers we slap on the back.  Our political affiliations and ambitious, the groups we belong to and the organizations we support.  There are so many labels the world has created to define us.  

So, what is that defines you?  I often think about NASCAR cars.  Personally, I’m not a NASCAR fan, but we can all picture NASCAR cars, right?  They’re covered in labels and stickers and images and sponsorship.  And as the car goes around and round for 4 hours, you can’t help but see the relationships and organizations they support.  But, if you peel all of those labels back, and strip the car down, it’s only a car.  And if we think about our lives in a similar way, what labels and brands describe us, and when they’re all peeled back, who are we?  When someone meets you for the first or hundredth time, what labels has the world impressed upon you?

In the gospel according to Matthew, Matthew is working hard to leave no doubt within the world as to who Jesus is.  From his exhaustive lineage in chapter 1, to the multiple references to prophecy through chapter 2, to Jesus’ baptism, the descending dove, and the voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus as God’s son, in whom God is well pleased.  

Matthew wants there to be no doubt among his audience that this guy, Jesus, is the one called for.  He is the one longed for.  He is the Messiah, the great king of kings and lord of lords.  He is the wonderful, counselor, Mighty God, and prince of peace.  He is God’s son.  Emmanuel - God has come near to us.  And he shall be the savior of the people.  All of God’s people.  Matthew wants to ensure that there is no question about his identity.

And I think that deep down, when I splish and splash in the waters of life back there.  

When I touch the water to my forehead and recall my baptism, I think deep down I first lament and confess that the world may have doubts about who and whose I am.  And I desperately long for the world to have no doubt about my identity as a Christian.  As God’s child.  God’s beloved.   As Christians, washed in the waters of new life, should we too be about the word of God so that there is absolutely NO doubt as to who we are.  More importantly, whose we are.  

In the waters of baptism, God claims us as God’s children.  Marked with the cross of Christ, Sealed by the holy spirit.  The heavens torn apart; the Spirit descends.  God makes us heirs of God’s promised salvation.  God’s victory over death. God folds us into the story of compassion, love, grace, peace, and forgiveness.  God clothes us in mercy.  And NOTHING, absolutely nothing, thank God, can change the life we have in God.   Our identity, in the most holistic sense is inextricably connected to God.

And out of the waters, our new identity ought to define the world - not the other way around.  Everything else in our lives ought to be an expression of that grace.  A testament to that gift.  A ripple.  

On Nov. 11, 1943, Martin Luther was baptized in Eisleben Germany at the church of St. Peter and St. Paul.  The church was refurbished several years ago, and when they renovated the inside of the church, they did one of the coolest things.  One of the most powerful images of baptism I have ever seen.   In the front and center of the church, they placed a baptismal font in the floor.  It’s a big, deep font in which someone could easily be submerged.  And in the concrete floors of the church they etched concentric circles all rippling out from the font.  So that, no matter where you sat or stood in the church, you were within the ripples of the font.  It’s incredibly beautiful and I put in on a slide for you to see in Hart Hall.  

This is such a powerful image of Baptism, because try as hard as we might, we absolutely cannot escape the waters of our identity.  We are God’s children, grafted into gracious gift of eternal life, wading in the ripple of salvation.  In the waters God washes away the divisions of world.  Race, ethnicity, sex, gender. All the marks of human-made division fail in the grace of God to offer salvation in this holy sacrament.

We are called to be a member of the body, working for justice and peace in all the world.  We are called to proclaim who is greater, to point to the great I am, to tell of a love so deep and rich.  Called to extend compassion for the less fortunate, advocacy for the lost, and respite for the wandering.  God’s grace-filled claim on God’s people never, never fades away.  Never expires. No label of the world can supersede “Beloved child of God.”

And here is the beautiful thing, when we lose sight of who and whose we are...when the world would work to convince us otherwise, we remember that in the waters of the life also come the promise of the community.  We are not alone.  As members of the body of Christ, we are inextricably connected to one another always called to reflect Christ to others.   And I think it’s so important for us to remember that.  And if ever there were a day to be reminded, it’s today.  

Do me a favor, pull out your cranberry ELW and turn to page 228.  Page numbers at the bottom.  Hymn numbers at the top. 

*At this point I left the pulpit and my sermon to read through the promises of baptism and the communal renunciations.  The sermon closed at the baptismal font where I challenged everyone with two actions:

1) Contact someone in your life you fulfilled the baptismal promises for you

2) Fulfill the promises of baptism for someone else in your life.

©Sermon preached by Pastor Daniel Locke on January 12, 2020 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, FL

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What Does It Cost You? - Sermon on Luke 14:25-33

Listen to the sermon here. 

Luke 14:25-33

25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,²⁶ "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.²⁷ Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him,³⁰ saying, "This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?³² If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.³³ So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

SERMON

“When Christ calls a human, he bids him come and die.”   These are no doubt powerful words. Anybody familiar with that quote?  Do you know who wrote it? “When Christ calls a human, he bids him come and die.”  When put into context, these words are all the more powerful.

In 1937, at the height of the Nazi Regime, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a well known book called “The Cost of Discipleship.”  Bonhoeffer was German pastor and theologian, and perhaps most well know for his resistance and opposition to the Nazi party.  From the beginning, Bonhoeffer publically and passionately opposed the Nazi party. Even more so, he was deeply troubled by the misuse of the gospel message and power of Christianity to justify mass genocide.  He was worried that the secularization of faith and grace was a cause for complacency and indifference - that the cost of our salvation was taken for granted, that forgiveness was an endless gift, and therefore and failure or shortcoming as disciples of Christ was shrugged away under the gift of grace.  He called this cheap grace. Grace that is abused and taken for granted. Grace that abounds despite our own sinfulness, our indifference, our hatred, and inability to act.

So, Bonhoeffer spoke adamantly of costly grace.  Grace that convicts us to live into the crucifixion of Jesus and rise again to work towards the kingdom of God, despite the costs.

In his book, he wrote. “Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.

 It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: 'Ye were bought at a price', and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” 

In the mid 1930s, despite being a vocal and public opposition to the work and belief of the Nazis, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany.  For several years to risk his life traveling from town to town, educating and training clergy and church leaders in underground seminaries.  By 1940, he was shut down by the Gestapo. Banned from Berlin. He was silenced.

He accepted a job at Union Theological Seminary in the US, where he would be safe from persecution.  But within a few short years he said, “I have come to the conclusion that I made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period in our national history with the people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people ... .I must choose but I cannot make that choice from security.”  

By his convictions as a Christian, and at a cost, he returned to Germany to proclaim the gospel and the grace of Christ.  He was silenced. Harassed. Arrested. Imprisoned in concentration camps. And eventually he was hanged.  

“When Christ calls a human, he bids him come and die.” 

I suppose today’s reading calls to question, what is the cost of being a disciple.  What does it cost to be a Christian. To be a follower of Christ. And I mean that seriously, myself included, what does it cost us to be disciples and followers of Christ?

You don’t have to answer out loud if for no other reason than I don’t know what my own answer would be.  And to be clear, I’m not talking about an hour in worship and a few hours a week of service. I’m not talking about your 10% tithe or charitable giving.  It’s so much more. And it’s what Jesus talks about in front of a large crowd today, what does it cost to be a follower. A disciple.

And I would venture to guess, that once most of us had a chance to think about it, the answer would frankly be “nothing.”  It doesn't really cost us anything. Being a Christian, being a disciple is not in and of itself a risky endeavor. On a day-to-day basis, it cost most of us nothing to be a part of the body of Christ. 

Since baptism, God claimed us and named us, grafted us into the body of Christ.  Into the one mission we share. We were called to be God’s children. And from that day forward, we’re Christians, followers of Jesus, free to invest as much or as little of ourselves, our time, and our possessions as we choose.  And we can be as Christian as we want without it costing us a thing.

But, given today’s text, shouldn’t it cost us something to follow Christ?  Should there be some sense of risk involved? Why doesn’t our discipleship stir up a bit of trepidation or hesitation?  Is following Christ really that...easy?

The word “follow” has taken on such a different meaning in the context of today’s world.  Our cultural and social media dominate life has almost redefined what it means to follow. With the click of a button you can follow almost anyone you want.  And just as easy you can broadcast all of your life for anyone in the world to follow you. Status is gained by having a higher number of followers.  

When we think about Instagram, Facebook, twitter...whatever it is, we are invited to follow the lives of whomever we want.  Famous movie stars, and athletes. Musicians, friends, hobbyists...whomever. With one click we become a follower. A subscriber. 

More importantly, we follow at a distance.  We can watch their every move, read and hear what they have to say, we can like or ignore whatever we do or don’t support.  We follow at a convenient distance. We become subscribers of content.   And the larger the following the more powerful the person we follow.  But this sense of following is actually simply observation, empty and vain.  And it cost us nothing.  

In today’s Gospel text Jesus continues his journey to Jerusalem.  Word has spread about the things he has done and said. People continue to gather around him and the crowds follow.  Now we don’t know how big the crowd was, but it was big enough for the gospel writer to make mention of it. Jesus turns to them all and offers some very blunt words about what is at stake if they desire to be his follower.  

After all, Jesus has his eyes on Jerusalem, where he’ll be arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified.  This journey is not for simple onlookers, marginal observers, and curious inquires. No, Jesus is ushering in a new reign of God, a kingdom that will rattle the foundations of the known world, unsettle the bedrock of the cultural, societal, and political norms.  And if, IF you desire to continue to follow Jesus, you must be honest about what lies ahead, and that it might cost you your very life. 

“When Christ calls a human, he bids him come and die.”

In Jesus’ day, it really was a costly decision to follow Christ.  I think we too often make light of it because in the beginning of the gospel Christ calls and the disciples drop everything and follow.  No big deal.  

But the reality was, following Jesus often meant encountering conflict...with family, friends, coworkers.  It meant forsaking or changing your life-long beliefs about the Messiah and what to expect.  It meant denouncing the ways of a sinful world, challenging powerful systems, venturing to hostile territories, dining with sinners, accompanying the unclean, caring for the oppressed, loving the last and least, finding the lost, and healing the broken. 

Following Jesus truly and literally meant following in his footsteps.  It meant, as the definition goes, paying close attention to Jesus, acting according to his example, conforming to his ways, and striving for his witness.  Following Jesus meant you were bid to come and die. Die to the old ways of life, be transformed by his radical witness of love and justice, and live in proclamation of God’s kingdom.  

So when we ask ourselves what does it cost us to be a disciple and follower of Christ and our answer is nothing, then I think we must re-encounter the gospel message, reassess Christ’s call to come and follow, reevaluate our identity as Christians.   I suspect that when Jesus laid out the cost of being a disciple to the crowd, several people turned around and said never mind. I bet they went on home where life felt safer, easier, and more content.  

Friends, being a Christian, a disciple, a follower of Christ is not something we should take lightly or for granted.  Because the truth is, the call to discipleship has in fact cost us our lives.  

In the waters of baptism we drown to the old way of living and rise again, claimed and named into a new way of life.    And baptism isn’t simply a Rite of initiation. We don’t haphazardly click subscribe to be a Christians and follow safely from a distance.   Leaning in when convenient or beneficial. Stepping back when too risky. 

No, we’re in the thick of it.  IN the footsteps of our radical, counter-cultural Messiah, we’re on a journey to Jerusalem, where our very lives are stake.  Believing in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus changes the way we see the world. Being washed in the waters of costly grace and fed at the holy banquet table, where we receive a foretaste of the feast to come transforms the way we live out our life.  Our calling. Our discipleship.  

And in part, that’s exactly what God’s Work. Our Hands day is about.  It’s not just a time of church wide service. It’s not simply about giving our time and resources to intentional serve our neighbor.  God’s Work. Our Hands. Is intended to be a public affirmation...a re-affirmation really that we are called, claimed, named, and appointed disciples of Christ.  

As followers of Christ we don’t just choose to get our hands and feet dirty in the muck of the world, we absolutely cannot help but engage with the brokenness of the world.  

As followers of Christ we cannot help but forsake the lifelong teachings of sinful world, Can’t help but denounce sin, death, devil, and all the forces that defy God.  

We cannot help but challenge unjust systems of power, venture into hostile territory, break bread with sinners, accompany the unclean, care for the oppressed, and love the last and least.  We cannot help but heal the broken and care for creation.

And the truth is, this calling may cost us everything.  Following Christ, being a disciple may cost us everything.  And for many of the apostles and early church leaders, it did.  It cost them their lives.  

My siblings in Christ, our world is bent, broken, oppressed, and in desperate need of healing.  And as the church, the incarnation of God’s costly grace, we absolutely must engage. We must pick of the cross, take the risk, and harken Christ’s bid to come and die. 

Because through death is the promise of resurrection.  And at the cost of following Christ, God promises hope.  God promises forgiveness. God promises grace. God promises everlasting life.  And thanks be to God, it is freely given. 

Amen.

 © Pastor Daniel Locke, Preached on Sept. 8, 2019 @ St. Mark's Lutheran JAX, FL

The Warm Embrace of the Kingdom - Sermon on Luke 13:31-35

Listen to the gospel lesson and sermon here.

Luke 13:31-35

31 At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you."³² He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, "Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work.³³ Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.'³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!³⁵ See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' "  

Well friends, We’re 10 days into the season of Lent now, and since I asked last week, I figure I’ll ask again, How is your Lenten experience going thus far?  Have you encountered, resisted, or given in to any temptations? Have you confronted any demons or experienced any release in your self-assessment and discernment?

Lent is such a unique gift for us as Christians.  We intentionally enter into a 40 day journey of exploring our faith with the grace to weed out all the noise and false hope in our lives.  I was talking with a friend the other day who has Lutheran tradition in her past, but now attends a non-denominational church. And she was lamenting that while deep in her liturgical soul she knew it was lent, but she was now in a community of faith that didn’t recognize or celebrate the liturgical calendar.

And my heart was heavy for her because even though she could certainly take on the season of Lent on her own, I could tell that she was deeply longing for a community to journey with.  A community that was willing to be vulnerable with her and intentionally take on a season of penitence and reflection. Introspection and contemplation. 

That’s what Lent is, and the beauty of it all is that it is something we choose to do.  It’s an opportunity we take on, Perhaps begrudgingly at times, but as a community of faith, rooted in our liturgical tradition, we spend a mere 40 days looking within ourselves and our lives to discern the aspects that disrupt our relationship with God.   And we do so among our siblings in Christ. A community committed to the humble and vulnerable practice of Lent, which helps us to be mutually accountable. 

Ya know, God is fully invested in us.  God abundantly and endlessly pours out grace upon grace, naming and claiming us as children of God, brining is in to the one body of Christ. 

And so it is together, as a community, as a whole that we spend time confessing and repenting that we have fallen short.  Naming the temptations that fester, disturb, and destroy our God-given relationships. 

This is why we Lent.   Starting with Ash Wednesday- a service of extended confession and an imposition of ashes.  Reminding one another that we were created by God from dust and to dust we shall return. And God does remarkable things even with dust.  And on our dusty foreheads we bear the overwhelming yet freeing witness that we are utterly and wholly dependent upon God. Everything else fades away, but God and God alone creates, empowers, sustains, and saves.  This is why take on Lent. This is why we journey through Lent together.

So, as I asked last week and will likely ask again, how is your Lenten journey going?  10 days, are you weary or even renewed? 

In our gospel text today we meet Jesus already in the midst of his own journey.  Last week we read about Jesus’ own battle with temptation in the wilderness, as the crafty and luring devil makes several valiant attempts to lead Jesus into false power and false hope.   Since then Jesus’ has been busy with the work of the kingdom, teaching and healing, restoring lives, extending grace, and ushering in hope. 

In chapter nine, there is a definitive moment when Jesus turns and set his sights on Jerusalem.  He gathered his disciples and said, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law.”  And so in the 13th chapter of Luke today, Jesus is working his way to the great threes days.  He’s journeying to a final destination, a city that will reject, ignore, beat, and ultimately kill him.  

Our text today begins with a word of warning from the Pharisees.  They advise Jesus that if he stay on his current trajectory, Herod lays in wait.  And even the Pharisees, for whatever reason, advise Jesus to turn around. To go the other way, lest he risk being killed. 

Last weekend I had the privilege of meeting with a 7 year old girl and her family to talk about baptism.   And during our conversation of talking about Jesus, I mentioned that they killed him. And she looked at me stunned and said why?  Why would they want to kill Jesus? All he wanted to do was love people and be nice. Why would they kill him. And all I could think to say was, “That’s a brilliant question.”

But that’s what we do with prophets.  Those who speak with prophetic voices...Whether a message that convicts or confronts our comfortable way of life, or a message that rocks our core because deep down we know it to be true, but don’t want to face the weight of truth.  We like to rejected because the message they carry is not one we want to hear. Or at the very least ignore. Maybes it’s simply fear or ignorance, but we, and I mean our history of saints as well, tend to have an aversion to prophets and those who speak prophetically.  So Jerusalem, and us still today, like to suppress the prophet. In Jesus’ case they kill him.

But Jesus is not provoked nor is he deterred.  His journey to Jerusalem and ultimately his death is unwavered because Jesus knows something that we have yet to full learn.   That is the work of the Kingdom of God...the work of healing and justice, of releasing demons and ushering hope...the kingdom work is not conditioned or dictated by Worldly structures, political leaders, or human influence.  The work of God in Jesus Christ and the work of the Kingdom will continue and it will come to fullness on God’s time. On the third day.

So rather than turn around, Jesus looks ahead to this broken city and laments.  

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!  Jesus uses such powerful imagery. How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wing.

Beautiful.  Jesus has such a gift for using incredible imagery to help the disciples and others understand what he is teaching.  This is one of the things that makes him such a great teacher. 

Just prior to today’s story, Jesus taught the disciples about the kingdom of God using images like a mustard seeds, yeast in dough, and a narrow door.  Later, in chapter 14, he describes the persistence nature of God with parables sheep, coins, and children.  Jesus has such an eloquent way of using the aspects of common day life to teach about God’s abundant grace and love and the impending kingdom of God.  And Jesus always spoke this way to help people understand what he was teaching. So as he laments over Jerusalem this morning, he does it again….How often have I desired to gather the children of Jerusalem together as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wing. 

                        

The image of Jesus as a mother hen is such a beautiful image.  It’s delicate, much like the image of Jesus as a lamb, but it carries a sense of  strength, authority, and protection, like the image of Jesus as a shepherd. 

We know that feeling don’t we?  If not, I’m sure we long for it.  Who among us hasn’t experienced or desired a longing to be brooded like a chick to a hen?   Maybe you recall a time when we were younger, more innocent. Perhaps it came from our own mothers or fathers or a family friend?   An experience with someone so loving that they offer both sense of authority and security while also offering an embrace of warmth and comfort?  

I remember so fondly as a kid, I would climb on my dad’s bed and provoke him into a wrestling match that I knew I would lose.  He would bear hug me...I would struggle to break free. After only a few min, I would be so tired and body would go limp...and I would lie in the protection and comfort of my dad’s arms. 

Perhaps you know that feeling?  Or have experienced that embrace?

Story about losing my passport in Germany.  Listen to audio above.

This image of a hen is so powerful. Jesus wants an intimate connection with the people of Jerusalem.   Like a hen with her chicks - and if you’ve ever seen a picture of this or actually seen a hen covering her chicks with her wings, it’s something very special.  The hen puffs out her feathers and ushers them all in and the chicks almost disappear completely beneath her wings. The chicks are so absorbed in the hen that it’s hard to see where the hen ends and the chicks begin.  So what Jesus is saying with this image is that he wants the children of Jerusalem to come and be protected and intimately connected to him - absorbed into him and his ministry. He wants to offer them protection through salvation. He wants them to see and encounter the kingdom of God that he is proclaiming. 

And maybe it would seem a bit ironic that this is how he wants the people of Jerusalem to feel.  Ironic that Jesus wants to gather these people up and protect them.  Jerusalem, this supposed holy city, that continues to turn against God and against the prophets and messengers that God sends to them - this city that Jesus grieves over.  Jerusalem is the city that will, in just a few weeks, turn Jesus over to the authorities and cry out for his crucifixion.   This is the city that, even after Jesus’ death, refuses to turn toward God and follow Jesus’ disciples.  

Jerusalem, the city that is unwelcoming and unkind to prophets, the very city that will reject, deny, punish, and kill Jesus...these are the people Jesus longingly desires to pull in, comfort, protect, and envelop in his love.

And maybe that’s not simply ironic...But rather the epitome of the gospel.  God’s unwavering and unconditioned love for the world. The the gospel in one image.

This kind of unity, this kind of brooding is what Jesus calls us to when he calls us under his wings. He desires for Jerusalem to come under his wings and participate in his work with him, going along as he goes, healing as he heals.  Jesus wants to pull people into himself so intimately that they are a part of him, participating in the work that God has called him to do. He longs for all people to be brought into the kingdom of God. As we say now, becoming the body of Christ. 

Jesus wants us - you and me - to be caught up in this kind of work too. Like a mother hen endless offering embrace, Jesus is constantly coming after us.  Relentless pursuing us for participation with the kingdom work he is doing in the world. Like the children of Jerusalem, Jesus longs for us to witness and participate in the kingdom of God today. It is in our baptism that we are first called into the body of Christ and every time we eat the bread and drink the wine, we are renewed and sustained in the body of Christ. It is these two practices that keep us in synch, that keep us nestled under the protective wings of Christ. 

In this season of Lent, when we are called to examine ourselves and examine our lives, we hear something calming, reassuring, warm - as if we are being nestled under the wings of our savior.  We hear of Jesus’ relentless love. We hear of a God so loving that God would send God’s son to heal the sick, bind up the broken, give sight to the blind, and raise the dead to new life. We hear of a savior that wishes to save and comfort the very people who have denied him and so many prophets before him. We hear of a savior so heartbroken for his children that even as they put him on the cross, he asks his father in heaven to forgive them. We hear of Christ’s relentless love that never fails, even when it is crucified. 

So despite all of our fears and failures...despite how your lenten journey may or may not be going...despite that we too often deny the voice of the prophet, just like Jerusalem, Jesus still desires to gather us in, like chicks under his motherly wings, so that we might come to know, to taste, and see the power of relentless love.  So that we might participate and join others to nestle within the kingdom of God. Amen.

© Pastor Daniel Locke, preached March 17, 2019 @ St. Mark's Lutheran, Jacksonville, FL.

Claimed by God and Nothing Can Change That - Sermon on Luke 3:15-22 - 01.13.2019

Listen to the gospel lesson and sermon here.

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

15 As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,¹⁶ John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened,²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

A little show and tell for you this morning.  “This certifies that Daniel Brady Locke, son of John and Susan Locke was received into the Holy Christian Church through The Sacrament of Holy Baptism in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church Claremont, NC on July 19, 1987.  Signed by Pastor Stanely L. Stiver.

This is my Certificate of Baptism.  My show and tell for the day. I also have, believe it or not, a bulletin, a picture, and the baptismal cloth used to dry my head.  I can never remember what hymn we sang that morning, so it’s nice to look back and see we sang “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me.”  

July 19, 1987.  That’s the day God washed over me, cleansed me, made me whole, and made me an heir to the promise of eternal life.  That is the day that God named and claimed me as God’s child. And from that moment on, there was NOTHING, is nothing that I could/can do, thank God, to change that.  Daniel Brady Locke, child of God.

Now, believe it or not, I don’t remember much of anything about that day.  And to be completely honest, I didn’t know many of the specifics of my baptism until my seminary application directly asked questions about my baptism.

But pictures from that day tell me that I was surrounded by my parents and grandmothers, my 5 year old brother, aunts and uncles, and of course a entire congregation of people I didn’t yet know.  

At 6 weeks old, I was introduced to the sacrament of Holy Baptism.   Water was poured over my head. I was cleansed. I was washed clean from the power of sin, death, and the devil.  God intimately and inextricably claimed me forever. 

How many of you can recall your baptism?  Certainly most of us have no actual memory of the event, but rather do you know what day you were baptized?  Who were your sponsors? In what community of faith were you baptized. Do you recall the promises made by God? By your parents and/or sponsors?  By the community of faith.

Or if you haven’t been baptized, have you given any thought into being baptized?  Do you desire to be apart of the body of christ, to die in a death like Christ, and rise into new life like Christ?  

To be washed by the water and claimed by God as a child of God?

Or best yet, how many times have you participate in a baptism?  As a family member, sponsor, or simply a member of the congregation?  How many times have you replied “We Will and we ask God to help and guide us” when the pastor asks, “Do you promise to support and pray for the newly baptised in their new life in Christ?”

I grew up in the church.  The ELCA was born when I was a year old.  The Lutheran church is all I’ve ever known.  And even though as a kid I didn’t know much about my baptism or the significance of being baptised, I distinctly remember the font.  It was made of wood and stood about 4.5 half feet off the ground. It was about a foot and a half wide and was in the shape of an octagon.  It had pretty, decorative wood carvings around the edges. I have seen many like it since then.

But what I remember most is that it had a silver, metal bowl that sat in the top and there was a wooden lid with a cross on the top.  And for my entire childhood, the font sat off to the side of the sanctuary, with no water, and the lid on top. It was only opened and filled when there was a baptism. 

In retrospect, it seems so strange to me that we would keep something so central to our faith, a sacrament none-the-less, something so foundational to our identity, that we would keep it off to the side and out of mind unless needed.  Why not bring it front and center.  Prominent and overflowing.  A constant visual reminder of the grace of God.  A testament to who and whose we are?

Today we celebrate Baptism of Our Lord Sunday.  Following Advent and Christmas, we continue to the season and Spirit of Epiphany...of Christ being made known, and we celebrate Christ being baptized in the river Jordan.

And Today, our gospel text brings baptism front and center.  John the Baptist was busy preaching and teaching. He was on the scene out of the wilderness and he had developed quite the following. 

Our text says that people were filled with expectation, eager with anticipation. They were questioning whether John might be the one.  The messiah they had longed for. 

Then John does what in my opinion is one of the most humblest things in all of scripture.  Rather than play up the crowds and anticipation and soak in their affection and curiosity. John steps out of the way.  He moves to the side. He points to Christ. John redirects their attention. He bows out and lifts up Christ. 

And out of the crowds, out from among them, Jesus comes forth to be baptized.  And what seems like just another baptism, this one has a different result. The heaves split open and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” 

Front and center, at the start of Jesus’ public ministry, God declares Jesus as God’s son, a beloved child, in whom God is well pleased.   Jesus is the Messiah, the one hoped for. All of the crowds’ and the world's expectations fulfilled and assured in that moment.

About the time I was in late elementary school, Pastor Stanley Stiver retired from St. Mark’s, and we welcomed a wonderful man, named Jim Stephenson.   Within his first week, he made two major changes to the worship space. 

First, he pulled the altar away from the wall.   I’ve since learned that they were called Walltars.  Anyways, he moved it forward so that he could stand behind it during communion. 

The second thing he moved was the font.  He placed the baptismal font in the front of the sanctuary, just in front of the steps.  He removed the lid and filled it with water.  And every single sermon, after reading the gospel from the pulpit, he would make his way to the font and preach from the water.  He had a small index card for his notes, and no matter what the topic of his sermon, no matter the text he would always always find some way to play in the water.

He was notorious for splashing around in the water, reminding us of our baptism.  His affection for the font and the water gave deeper meaning and and appreciation for who and whose we are.   He was known for dipping his hands in the water and saying, “in the name of the father, the name of the son and the name of Holy surprises.”

On his last day as our interim, after reading the gospel from the pulpit, he made his way to the font.  Looked down and Smiled as three goldfish swam around in the font. He said, “I wondered how long it would take for this to happen.” 

Pastor Jim brought baptism front and center.  I couldn’t tell you much detail about my baptism, but to this day I can tell you with confidence that Pastor Stephenson's commitment to keeping the sacrament front and center has stuck with me.  I credit him for my love and affection for the sacrament. 

Jesus, God made flesh, born among us took on death and was victorious.  Jesus conquered the grave and the abiding promise of God was fulfilled. God overpowered sin, death, and the devil, making way for new and life eternal.

And it is in the waters of baptism that God claims us as God’s children.  Marked with the cross of Christ, Sealed by the holy spirit. The heavens torn a part, the Spirit descends.  God makes us heirs of God’s promised salvation. God’s victory over death. 

God folds us into the story of compassion, love, grace, peace, and forgiveness.  God clothes us in mercy. And NOTHING, absolutely nothing, thank God, can change the life we have in God.  

Baptism is God’s action.  God’s claiming of us. God’s choosing and naming.  God welcomes us into the body of Christ and makes us heirs to the most incredible promise.  God does this purely out of God’s own goodness. God’s love is that powerful.

On this second Sunday of Epiphany, we celebrate baptism, we bring it front and center intentionally, lest we ever forget who and whose we are.  In the waters we die to our old selves, we are made new. We belong to God. Our identity, in the most holistic sense is inextricably connected to God.

And out of the waters, everything else in our lives is to be a expression of that grace.  A testament to that gift. That child of God and the body of Christ is our one and only true affiliation.  

In the waters God washes away the divisions of world.  Race, ethnicity, sex, gender..all the marks of human-made division fail in the grace of God to offer salvation in this holy sacrament.

Make no mistake that every group, organization, party, club, or other affiliation is a choice we make in our lives.  Some may have dues or regulations, rules and commitments, but in the end, they’re all choices and they all have the ability to fade away.  But baptism, God’s grace-filled claim on God’s people never, never fades away. Never expires. 

This is why baptism and remembrance of baptism is so important.   I love love love our font. I admit I wish it was deeper, but I’ll save that fight for another day.  I love that we literally have to walk around it in order to enter and exit the worship space. And if it weren’t cemented in the back of the church, there’s a good chance I’d be splashing in the water right now.

A few weeks ago, during the birthday for Christ service, I was standing in the back with Tracy Williams and her two daughters.  Cassidy and I were looking at the font and whispering to one another about the font and what it means. So I dipped my fingers in the water and sprinkled a bit at her and said “remember your baptism.”  Cassidy, without missing a beat took her hands in the water like you would in a pool and shoved a big ol wave back at me. Tracy turned around immediately and I confessed that I instigated.

Martin Luther said that we should rise every morning, splash water in our face, make the sign of the cross, and remember that we belong to God.  

The waters are a foundational, integral part of who and whose we are.  If you don’t already, I encourage you to acknowledge the gift of God’s grace each day.  Make the sign of the cross when you wash your face. Open the ELW to page 228 and remember the promises made.  Run your fingers through the water when enter and exit this space. And thank God, who is well pleased, that there is absolutely nothing in all of creation that can change that truth.  

Amen

© Pastor Daniel Locke, preached Jan. 13, 2019 @ St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Jacksonville, Florida