The Joshua Victor Theory

(Singing with the Exiles Series, Rev. Reed Lessing)  “Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel, for I myself will help you, declares Yahweh, your Restorer, the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 41:14.   If you could become any animal in the world, which one would you choose?   Maybe like Isaiah you would soar on wings like an eagle. Or like Amos perhaps the lion is your animal of choice, because you love to rumble in the jungle! Or maybe like Elisha you boast in the bear because when it comes to obstacles you maim and you maul. Or if your name is Caleb – which in Hebrew means dog – you just might choose to be a sweet and faithful little dog. Question. How many of you would like to become a worm?   May I see a show of hands? That’s just what I thought. None of you are worm wannabes!   I don’t blame you. Worms have no arms, no legs, and no eyes! They’re small and insignificant and, if you ask me, worms don’t have a lot of personality! No one ever stops their ...

  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Looking around I see that you are all land-dwellers…no fish here…but in the Gospel Jesus invites us to imagine catching fish out of the water. Jesus called His disciples “fishers of men.” Enter Jesus’ metaphor for a minute; imagine ourselves as fish happily swimming in our familiar home, an ocean or lake, like the Sea of Galilee. If we put the Sea of Galilee here on Maui, I estimate it would stretch roughly from the base of West Maui mountains up to Makawao, and from Kahului Harbor to Maalaea Harbor—13 miles by 8 miles. Small, but big enough to get caught in a storm. Imagine happily swimming in your watery home when a net encircles you and pulls you out of the water. Panic fills your gills as you gasp and gawk at the frightening fisherman looming over you! I’m dead meat! This guy’s gonna make poke outta me! Peter tasted this fear once or twice in his fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee, looking up at Jesus....

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. This new church year we’ll spend a lot of time in the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of the four Gospels, but no less meaty or nutritious with Jesus’ good news. In fact, the opening words are: “ The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God .” Straight to the point and purpose; Mark’s style. Early tradition identifies him with John Mark in the book of Acts, a missionary companion of Paul and Barnabas and a friend of Peter (Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37). Some early church fathers, the first generation after the apostles, tell us that John Mark wrote his gospel by interviewing Peter and recording his experiences. To-the-point, Mark skips long introductions and brings us straight to the adult Jesus at the start of His ministry, being proclaimed by His cousin John the Baptist. Let’s take a minute to reintroduce ourselves to John the Baptist. With hindsight, we can see him as the...

 Sermon notes ·          Read Introit with reference to Hebrew poetry parallelisms. Explanatory, deepening, reflective. Praying the Psalms is an exercise in meditation. Explore in this Psalm how a relationship in prayer creates a wonderful openness between us and God. May He create in us a clean spirit! ·          Context of Psalm: relationship between believer and God. Like many Psalms, shows God’s qualities and the posture of the praying believer. ·          V. 1-2 Humility and repentance before God’s judgment, seeking God’s mercy, faithfulness, righteousness. Acknowledging guilt. No false standing before God. When have you been crushed by your sin, your guilt and failure, and utter unworthiness before God? We cling to His mercy. ·          V. 5 Remember, meditate, ponder—days of old, all you have done, the work of Y...

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Today’s parable of the Ten Virgins is a parable of readiness and faith. God has set a day known only to Him as a definitive, final cut-off date. Judgment Day, or the Day of Christ’s Second Coming, when He returns to judge the living and the dead. We confess every week in the Creed that “ He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead”. The final judgment. On that day, God will finally determine who are the just, who will join Him in eternal life, and who are the unjust, who will be sentenced to eternal punishment. The Parable of the Ten Virgins symbolizes this “final cut-off date” when the Bridegroom arrives for the wedding celebration. Upon His arrival, five wise virgins are ready, prepared, and waiting. Five foolish virgins are not. They’ve left just before His arrival, and it is too late to enter in when they return. Pleading at the door emphasizes the fi...

Grace, mercy, and shalom to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.  It still feels somewhat bizarre for me to be doing this online form of worship, which we are all hoping is temporary, until things hopefully can return somewhat to normal. Many of us may struggle with the feeling that so many things are out of our control. But really that’s always a reality, and a really good faith lesson--to put our trust completely in Jesus. At every moment of our lives, we are always completely dependent on God, who holds all things together--even when we often have the illusion that we are largely in control. But anyway, it’s good to be back with you, and beginning to reconnect with the congregation here at Emmanuel. I hope in the coming weeks to at least make phone contact with all of you, and please feel free to give me a call. I hope that one of the big takeaways we will all learn from this experience is a greater appreciation for human community, “in t...

 Sermon Outline: ·          Parables: ordinary story with spiritual meaning. Look for the surprise/unexpected. The recognized sinner is “justified”, while the apparently upright religious person is not. ·          Who are the Pharisees? Model citizens, lay leaders with intense dedication to their own version of religiosity. Highly respected. Tax collectors? Despised. Took more than allowed, worked for enemy. ·          Dimensions of the story/pitfalls to avoid o    Comparisons/treating others with contempt (look at all those terrible people) o    Self-righteousness/trusting yourself, nothing to repent (look at my record!) o    Boasting before God/not a real prayer (my good deeds should impress God; reward) ·          What is it aiming for? o    Humility established in...