FaithIsland

If we reread the parable again - we realize the lawyer had no problem with Jesus saying, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength" - he passed right over that because he thought he had that one covered. He wanted clarification on the "love your neighbor." What Jesus pointed out was - you love God by loving one another - even those, perhaps especially those, who aren't like you. And if anyone had doubts about whether Jesus really believed what He preached - it wasn't that much later that He allowed Himself to...

Let me give you a verse - if you remember only one thing from today - this is it: Romans 12: 8, “As far as it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Did you hear that: “As far as it is possible” - because sometimes it’s not - “as far as it depends on you” - you are not responsible for the other person - “live at peace with everyone.” And this is because you have better things to do than walk around being angry or hoping birds poop on people’s cars. You do not hav...

St. Peter quoted Proverbs 26:11, but he added, “a pig returns to the mud after a bath.” I am amazed how well Bible writers know me. I finally throw up all the bad stuff I gorged on - and like a dog return to it. God finally gets me cleaned up and I jump back in the mud. Jesus sets me free - and I run back into the cell and lock the door.

The world loves “me-based solutions to all our me-based problems.” How long do you think it will be before we figure out we cannot “hate ourse...

What Jesus offered Legion - what He offers us - is more than healing. He offers forgiveness. C.S. Lewis differentiated between the two in his classic, The Problem of Pain, “We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin. I have heard others, and I have heard myself, recounting cruelties...committed in boyhood as if they were no concern of the present. But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin. The guilt is washed out not by time but by repentance and the blood of Christ: if we have re...

The mystery of Holy Trinity Sunday is this simple: God created you as a unique an unreproducible miracle. Jesus paid for all the junk and mistakes in your life. The Holy Spirit is with you e

You can tell Jesus He is full of demons. You can build all sorts of barriers between you and Him. You can listen to the demon on your shoulder. You can do whatever you want. It doesn't change the truth that God loves you - forgives you - has a place in heaven with your name on it - and is...

Everytime someone tells me only pastors can preach - I point to this verse. It may be my job to deliver a sermon on Sunday - but you, whether you are male or female, young or old - have a calling to preach. You don't have to be long-winded like me - you just have to tell people what God has done and is doing in your life. And you don't need to go into great detail - sometimes it's as simple as, "I was lower than a snake's belly the other day when I heard my favorite Christian...

People who through the gift of faith believe the resurrection happened, live in a world where death and satan and evil no longer have any power over them. It doesn't mean death isn't scary. It doesn't mean they don't work to avoid it. But ultimately when death comes - the believer looks it straight in the eye and says, "do your worst - you can't win" because even if you steal my last breath - one second later I will wake up in heaven and get to live forever where you can't touch me anymore.

The difference between a myth and the truth is not if you believe it or not. It's whether it really is true. You cannot change truth just by believing or not believing.

This is why we live by faith. As much as I would love to live in complete certainty - knowing everything without doubt or fear - it is impossible. My brain will not allow me to completely trust God. It works to sabotage me over and over again as it tries to convince me I know more than God and everyone else. My self-deception is...

As we look around, we see signs of a world so deeply loved by God that even as it spirals into nothingness He refuses to give up. And the only thing God said that was worth saving from this world and this universe was you. There will be a new heaven and new earth - and you will get to see it take place. And because I know God - I know you are going to love it - because what you were really searching for your whole life will be found in what is new which as it...

We cannot avoid pain or suffering or uncomfortable moments or the judgment of the world. When we run away from God - we get further and further away from His voice - the voice that speaks Truth. And I know we are often afraid of the truth - and yet there is a truth we need to hear. I know we don't like being told we're sinners or that we shouldn't have said that or done that - but that is not the only thing God says.

The voice of God also calls out to us to...

Revelation was written for a very specific purpose - and it wasn't to create anxiety, fear or doubt in the minds of God's people. People are always saying they want to study Revelation because it's filled with 7 headed beasts, angels fighting demons, dragons and other science fiction worthy scenes. But all of that is just creamer in the coffee, icing on the cake, the pickle on the Chick-Fil-A sandwich. You can boil the whole book of Revelation down to just two words: God wins. All those demons and beasts and dragons and fire and darkness and death and threats...

The church is not a group of people who all believe the exact same things. That is the goal - but it ain't going to happen until we get to heaven. The church is a group of people caught up in a story that has Jesus at the center. We are drawn into that story and the life of Jesus as the Holy Spirit works in our heart, mind and soul to deepen our relationship with God and one another to the point where we no longer see God and heaven and theology and the church from our perspective...

Easter is the epitome of the Christian identity. We are people who every single day stand completely exposed to death and pain and all the rest of the world's evil deeds. Faith allows us to declare they cannot hurt us.

When someone asks how we could say that - it would never be enough for us to give the reason for our faith as - an empty tomb. They would just stare at us and think we were crazy.

But a living Jesus - one who is alive and breathing and...

Jesus’ resurrection makes redemption possible. The Holy Spirit is breathed on us by the risen Christ in ways we cannot describe - but we can experience. What Easter says in the boldest possible statement - God’s pursuit of you is relentless. His scars tell His story of a cross, a grave, an empty tomb and offer endless possibilities.

The last words - and a walk through the darkness to the Light

Sampling the Seder - a walk through the Passover Meal

If you knew Someone would save you when you died - would you be afraid of dying? In a preview of that grace-filled and merciful unbinding that will take place on Easter Sunday - Jesus throws a parade today. It's a simple thing to show people what the world sees as an end is really just the beginning. If, by God's gift of faith, you believe the cross is more than a fairytale - there is a happily ever after waiting for you.

When People Knock our Rocks Down. My life, like yours, is what it is today because of what we believe. Like St. Paul, I don't know everything - and still have some "aha" moments. Theology and doctrine are not moving targets - but our life and this world is always moving - which is why when people knock the stacked rocks down - and we find ourselves a little lost - we need to make sure we know who to trust and not be afraid to ask the right questions.

Is this a parable - or is it the real-life story of God and prodigal children? And if we're talking about the word prodigal (spending resources freely and recklessly; being wastefully extravagant) - is it the son or the Father who is more extravagant? One thing is certain from the text - whether we are the prodigal or the older, self-righteous, brother - God doesn't give up on us.

Justice and Mercy are not opposites. They are both necessary parts of our earthly life. Henri Nouwen wrote, “We tend to be compassionate to the extent that we have suffered the Passion in our own lives.” If we view life through the cross of Jesus, our own pain and suffering and failures and losses - the manure of our life - tend to make us more understanding of others - and the "grammar of justice is softened by the poetry of mercy."

When the pastor speaks - who do you hear? What rules are there for pastors when they say things like, "thus saith the Lord?" And so - part of what is supposed to happen when we come to church is our hearts and minds and souls are to be continually baptized - not with water - but with grace and mercy and peace so we are able to take all that we are - and all that the world is made of and use it for the sake of the Gospel. I forget to remind you as often as...

We live in the wilderness - and as long as we are on this earth the wilderness will be where we lay our head, scratch out a living and try to make sense of this life. satan and sin will always be here. There is a reason Jesus went into the wilderness immediately after His baptism - He was reminding us of what we have through that simple water and few words. At baptisms, the pastor asks everyone present to "renounce satan and all his empty promises" - what an amazing moment that is for us. As Luther used...

Once a year, on a Wednesday, we mix ashes with oil. We light candles and confess to one another and to God that we have sinned by what we have done and what we have left undone. We tell the truth. We smear the ashes on our foreheads and together acknowledge the single reality upon which everyone agrees: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return.” It’s the only thing we know for sure: we are going to die. But grace teaches us to ask the most important question: "then what?"

You don't need a mountaintop or voice from the clouds or even Elijah and Moses showing up. Transfiguration Sunday is about how we don't need to "Climb to Glory" (sorry 10th Mountain Div) God's holiness came to dwell with us - in the valleys and plains of our existence. It isn't about where we are or what's happening around us - God is with us in all of it.

It's the story of Joseph (the one with the Techicolor Dream Coat) When the puzzle you are putting together doesn't look anything like the picture on the box - and you're missing a couple of pieces - then you know that God has something amazing in mind and in the end, you'll wind up looking just like God knew you would!

The disciples recognized Jesus because of His scars - maybe there is something to that. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing for the world to recognize us by our scars. The scars of the past do not define us. They have led us into the scarred hands of Jesus. Scars remind us we are alive - that we are not done yet - and we have stories to tell - especially the one about our Jesus and His scars.

The Unholy Holy Isaiah is brought into God's presence and begins to fly apart because of his unholiness. A Seraphim purifies him using a fiery coal from the altar fire - and through those burning lips Isaiah cries out, "Here Am I - Send Me" when God asks who will go and tell the world of His love and forgiveness.

Every earthly kingdom will fail and be destroyed - that doesn't mean we shouldn't recycle and reduce our carbon footprint and love animals (and people) - but it points us back to the Great Commission where Jesus said to "Make Disciples" - not conquer peoples. To do our work we don't need a kingdom, a building, a law or anything else. "Love your Enemies and Pray for those who Persecute you" - for that we just need Jesus.

We don't need a Temple, Stained Glass or a Sliver of the Cross - we just need Jesus!

The Great Ordinary. Miracles are only miracles on this side of heaven. In heaven - miracles are the Great Ordinary.

I have a bottle of "Perfect" water in my office, and the other day at the store I saw "smart water" and there is even "Gold Water" from Tibet, "Iceberg Water" from Norway, "Zen Water" from Japan and my favorite - water from Iran that comes in a falcon shaped glass bottle. But even if it was Fillico water from Japan that goes for $1380 a liter - your baptism wouldn't be any different than water from the bathroom. Baptism is a work of God - a gift - a means of Grace.

We all need someone to point us to Jesus - especially when He's right in front of us and we don't see Him. The Light has come and the darkness is being pushed back until, as the book of Revelation says, there will be no more of it.

Simeon has been waiting his whole life. He scoops up the baby Jesus and begins to sing.

How long would you wait for God? What would you do when He fulfilled His promise?

If you need something to make this a little more real - think about Mary holding the baby Jesus in her hands - cradling Him close to her. Now think about the last time you took communion. The pastor placed the wafer in your hand. We believe that wafer was Jesus - in, with and under the bread. What you were holding in your hand was no different than what Mary held on that first Christmas. That's how real Jesus is - to you - to me - to the world.

If you know how His story ends - then you can know how your story ends. No matter what twists or turns or bad guys or being forced to move or surprises - the story proclaims His story is your story.

You are loved. You are unique. You are unreproducible. God sent His Son so you would know how precious you are to Him.

We are not alone in our sin. We are not alone in our joy. We are not alone in our grief. We are not alone in our questions. We are not alone - period.

Hawaii isn't for football fanatics that are also followers of Jesus (the games are over before we get home from church) - John points us to the sidelines, the Star Player and the scoreboard that tells us we've already won. But before the game ends - John has some things to say to the people in the stands and on the sidelines.

John the Baptizer screams "repent' - what does he expect from us? Does he expect us to stop doing bad things and saying bad things - or is it something else? How much patience does God have with us? How long will He wait for us?

Ezra and the need to give thanks even when everything is a mess

Ever walked into a well-lit room and turned on a flashlight? You don't need light where there is already light - you need light where there is darkness. Advent is God shining the light of His grace on a very deep darkness. E'en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come is not asking Jesus to speed things up - it's asking Him to use you right now - wherever you are - do bring light to someone who needs it.