May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

If I were to ask you who knows you the best, do you have someone who comes to mind?  Maybe it is your spouse or you parents, or your children.  Maybe it is your siblings or your best friend.  Who is it that knows you the best?

And building on that, does that person who knows you the best, know what you are like when you are happy or sad, do they know what you are like when you are angry or lonely or sick? 

Does the person who knows you the best, know what you are like when you are at your worst?

When I meet with couples who are going to be married, I always ask them that question…has your soon to be spouse seen you when you are angry?  When you are sad?  When you are sick?

Often when we go out into the world, we put on a mask of sorts.  We want to put our best face forward, so we do our best to be the happy, encouraging, always cheerful person we think the world wants to see, no matter what is going on in our lives. 
But when we are home?  Away from the outside world?  Away from our bosses and co-workers and enemies and friends?  When we are away from others?  We probably have a part of us that comes out and acts differently.  We are different people when we don’t need to worry about what others think, and can just be our true selves, no masks, no filters.

Who is it that knows you best?  Why do they know you best?  Do they know you best because they have known you the longest, like your parents?  Do they know you best because of the amount of time you have spent together, like your spouse? 

Who knows you best?

If you were to ask me, who knows me best, I would say that person is probably my best friend Melissa.  She and I met as co-workers my second year of seminary, 16 years ago.  At first we were just   co-workers, and then acquaintances. 
But as we experienced the many adventures of seminary and now ministry, we began to take down our walls and be more real with each other.  The reason Melissa is the one who knows me best is that she lets me be real with her.  She lets me be happy or mad or sad or tired.  She doesn’t care whether my house is clean or if I am in my pajamas.  She just wants to spend time with me, and she accepts me just as I am.

In our psalm for today, the writer of the Psalm talks about how deeply God knows him.  He talks about God knowing all of his thoughts, and where he is at all times.  He talks about God knowing what he is going to say before he says it, and how God knit him together in his mother’s womb. 

Can you imagine someone knowing you that well?  Not just guessing how you would act in a given situation, but truly knowing you?  Can you imagine someone knowing how many days you were going to live, and knowing you so well that they knew you all the way down to every molecule that makes you who you are?  It is, as the psalmist says, too wonderful for us to understand.

Can you imagine someone knowing you that well?  And not only knowing you that well, but loving every molecule that is you?  Loving the good parts of you and the challenging parts of you?  Loving the strongest parts of you and the broken parts of you? 

That is how God loves us.  And most days we cannot even begin to grasp it.  Most days we just sing Jesus Loves Me, and that is a nice warm and fuzzy feeling, and we go on with our day.

But think just for a minute about that person that you said knows you the best.  And then realize that God knows you more.  Think about the person that you love the most, and know that God loves you more.

God loves us not because we are perfect, or because we say or do all the right things.  He loves us because he made us.  He loves us because we are his.  He loves us because he can see how wonderfully we were created, and just how amazing and how abundant our lives can be.

To be known is to be loved.  It is all over our scriptures.  In our gospel text for today, Nathanael comes to believe in Jesus because Jesus knows him.  When Mary came to the tomb, it was when Jesus called her by name that she saw who he was.  When the woman was at the well, she didn’t recognize who Jesus was until he told her that he knew her history and then she came to believe.  It matters deeply to be known for who we truly are.

Do me a favor and look around for a minute.  Not counting your family members who are here today, who is it at church who knows you best? 

For some of you, you have sat side by side for years, and maybe you know each other really well.  For others of you, maybe today is the first day you have walked in the door, and you look around and feel like you don’t know anyone.  Do other people here know you?  Do they know the true you?  Or the you that wears masks and puts up walls to keep yourself safe?  Do you know other people here?  When you look around, have you taken the time to get to know people and hear how they really are on the good and the hard days?

You wouldn’t believe as pastor the number of times I talk to people who tell me they will come to church when they have things figured out.  Or when life is less stressful, or when things are going better. 

I think we should be able to come to church when we are stressed out and tired and broken.  I think we should be able to be real with one another and come on hard days and good days and in between days.

When God calls us to come to church, it is to lift each other up.  It is to worship side by side.  It is to encourage one another and strengthen and support one another.  When God calls us to be church, he calls us to love one another in spite of our faults and failures.  When God calls us to be church it is to call us to see each other’s gifts and encourage each other to use them.  It is to see when a church member is struggling and to find ways to help them grow and change.  It is to see when a church member is rejoicing and to rejoice with them.  It is see when a church member is grieving and to hold them as they cry.

Brothers and Sisters, our God knows you and loves you, more than you can possibly imagine.  And he is calling you to know one another.  To love one another.  To be family to one another, to encourage one another.  No masks, no walls, just love and support.
​
Let’s pray…God of grace, we thank you that you love us even though you know our broken places.  We thank you that you challenge us to grow and change.  Help us to be a church that loves one another and is real with one another.  Help us to be a church that can reach out to the world with love and acceptance.  Teach us how to love as you first loved us.  In your heavenly name we pray, Amen.

Let us pray…May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

What do you do, when you are feeling scared?  Do you lock the doors, or double check them to make sure they are locked?  Do you turn on every light in the house to make it feel safer?  Do you hug your loved ones or call someone that can calm you down?  What do you do when you are feeling scared?

In our gospel for today, the disciples are beyond scared.  They have watched their Lord and teacher be led away to the courts.  They have seen him whipped and beaten and then hung on the cross to die.  They have seen him take his last breath and be placed in the tomb.  And now?  Now that he has gone?  They are terrified.  What will happen now?  Jesus is dead, and what about them?  Could they be next?

The gospel tells us that it was the first day of the week and the doors of the disciples house were locked for fear of the Jews.  They were scared and they had gathered together.  They were scared and they had locked their doors.  They were scared and alone and wondering what was going to happen.  And you know what?  Jesus showed up.  Even though he had been hung on the cross.  Even though he had died and been laid in the tomb.  Even though they were afraid and had barricaded their doors to keep people out, Jesus showed up among them and said “peace be with you”.

Can you imagine?  How they must have felt that day?  When Jesus showed up?  When he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side?  How must they have felt then?  Do you think they were still afraid?  How do you think they felt when Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on each of them that was there?

And then we come to Thomas.  I think Thomas gets a bad rap sometimes.  He is labeled doubting Thomas, but he is the only disciple who hasn’t locked himself in the house.  For whatever reason the first time that Jesus shows up, Thomas isn’t there.  Maybe he isn’t as afraid as the others.  Maybe he is more afraid, we don’t know.  But Thomas hears about Jesus showing up and he doesn’t believe it.  He wants to see Jesus in the flesh himself.  He wants to put his fingers in the mark of the nails and his hand in Jesus’ side where the spear had gone.  He wanted to know that the Jesus he had seen killed and buried was the same Jesus who was showing up.

So a week later they are once again all in the house.  And the doors are shut.  They are still scared.  Still worried.  Still wondering what is next.  And again, Jesus shows up.  He shows up and says to them again “Peace be with you”.  And then he shows Thomas he has heard his request by letting Thomas touch the marks of the nails in his hands and put his hand in side.   And Thomas is so excited he praises him there on the spot.  “My Lord and My God!” Thomas says. 

So what about us this morning?  What does this text have to do with us?  I mean, we weren’t there to see Jesus crucified.  We weren’t there to see him laid in the tomb.  But we have heard the story.  We weren’t there that first Easter, but we are just like the disciples that first Easter.  We are just like them with our locked doors.  Now maybe, when people look at us, they see us out in the world and they think we do not fear.  Maybe when people look at us they think we have it all together and life is just awesome.  But really?  When we are alone?  When the worries crowd out the other thoughts?  When the sadness and darkness seem to be winning?  When we don’t know what is going to come next, and we are worried and feeling so incredibly alone?  What about us?

If you hear nothing else today, hear this.  When you are feeling like you are closed off to the world, and no one understand?  When you are struggling with grief or depression or fear?  When you have built so many walls around you it seems that no one can get close?  Jesus shows up.  He shows up in spite of the walls you have built.  He shows us to begin taking down the walls piece by piece.  He shows up to love you and bring you his peace.

He may not show up like he showed up for the disciples.  You probably aren’t going to see him in his body form.  But Jesus can show up through other people.  He can show up through the beauty of nature.  He can show up through the written word.  He can show up in music. 

No matter what walls we have built or how afraid we are, Jesus shows up for you and for me.  He shows up and loves us in spite of our fear.  He shows us and heals us of our brokenness. He shows up and brings us his peace. 

And if you can cling to that belief, if you can know that God loves you enough to send his Son to die for you and he will be there when you need him?  Then you can hear the promise in this text.  Blessed are those, Jesus tells us who have not seen, and yet have come to believe.

That’s the good news my friends, that you are blessed by the God who loves you so much that he shows up in spite of your locked doors and he loves you through all of your fears.  You are blessed by the God who sent his Son to die for you.  You are blessed by that Son of God conquering death that first Easter and reminding us all that death doesn’t have the last word, life does.  That hate doesn’t win, love does. And that’s a story we all can tell. 

​Let’s pray…
Gracious God, we are so thankful that you are able to come in past the walls we build and the doors we lock and that you show up and love us anyway. Help us this Easter season to see signs of your Son all around us.  Fill us with your joy and peace, and help us to share it with others.  In your heavenly name we pray, Amen.
 

This sermon was changed a bit as it was preached (and the Holy Spirit leads)...but this is the general thoughts from this morning...The gospel is Luke 5:1-11

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

First, let me tell you that Bishop Terry sends his blessings to you all.  He had hoped to be here this morning, but we had to make the call yesterday afternoon, and we decided that it wasn’t worth getting stuck somewhere between here and Valley City.  We are hopeful that he will be able to find a Sunday to join us in the near future.  His first thing when we made the decision to not have him come this morning was to ask if we could reschedule, so please know that he very much wants to be here and spend time with you.

Once we made that decision, I sat at my computer, trying to put ideas down for this sermon that I didn’t think I was going to need to write.  And I was intrigued.  Intrigued because Bishop Terry had picked the Epiphany texts when he could have picked the Transfiguration ones.  Intrigued because all week long I thought how much they were what we needed to hear, but I didn’t want to have to be the one to preach them.  Intrigued because I was just so dang tired after a challenging week that I couldn’t even think of what to say. 

And then I read the texts he picked again.  I read them and I laughed.  I laughed because the first lesson is the first text I ever wrote a sermon on in seminary. “Here I am” Isaiah says after a hot coal has been touched to his lips.  After his guilt and sin have been taken away.  “Here I am” Isaiah says “send me”. 

And I laughed even more when I re-read the gospel text.  The calling of the disciples.  This story of the calling of the disciples who are fishermen is in 3 of the 4 gospels.  But only in this version of the story have they been fishing all night.  Only in the version of the story are they tired, bad fishermen that Jesus calls.  And it makes me laugh.  Because in this version of the gospel story, Jesus calls the tired, worn out, bad fishermen to make a difference for the kingdom.
 
In this version of the gospel story, Jesus has just healed Simon’s mother-in-law and been staying at Simon’s house.  So whether Simon takes Jesus out into the deep water because he would do anything for Jesus because he just healed his mother-in-law, or whether Simon Peter was just that kind of guy, who would be dead tired but still would be the one who Jesus could ask to put out into the deep water and Simon does it we don’t know. 

But we do know that Simon, the tired, worn out, not so skilled at fishing Simon is the one that Jesus uses to show his grace and abundance to… with a net so loaded down with fish that it begins to almost sink his boat. 

Tired, worn out, not-so-skilled Simon is the one that Jesus calls to fish for people.  Tired, worn out, not-so-skilled Simon is the one that Jesus speaks 4 words to in this gospel lesson that he doesn’t speak in the calling of the disciples in any of the other gospels.

And I think it matters.  For us this morning, for us this week, for where we are at in ministry, it matters.

Did you catch those 4 words?  Because I think those four words are what the gospel of Luke is built on.  In fact, I think those four words are what being a disciples of Christ is built on. 

Those four words that Jesus turns to Simon Peter and says once Simon figures out how amazing Jesus is.  Did you catch them?  Because they have as much weight as his big net of fish.  They have as much weight as anything else Jesus says. 
Grab your bulletin and look at verse 10.  What does Jesus say to Simon Peter?....  He says “do not be afraid”.

It can be easy in the world today, when we see the darkness and challenges of the world around us to say, “nope God, not me”.  “I am not qualified to follow you.  I am not qualified to be a leader.”

It can be easy in the world we live in, where every minute of our waking day is scheduled to death to tell God, “nope, I’m sorry, I am too busy, or too tired, or too worn out to follow you.  I am too worn out to be a leader.”

But isn’t that just what this gospel for this morning is about?

Jesus doesn’t call the fishermen who have the best boat or the best lures, of the best fish story to tell.  He doesn’t call the ones that we see on tv and are amazed at their skill.  He calls the tired, worn-out, not so skilled Simon and tired, worn-out, not-so-skilled James and John and tells them to not be afraid. 

He tells them that even though they think they aren’t so great at fishing…that they are going to do more than just catch fish, they are going to catch people.  He calls them even though they feel they aren’t qualified.  Even though they are worn out.  Even though they would probably rather finish cleaning their nets and go home and take a nap.  Jesus calls them.

And you know what? Jesus calls us too.  He calls us not just on the good days or in the good years when it seems like we have all our stuff together and we feel like we have time to follow him. 

But he also calls us when we are stretched thin and worn out and feeling not at all qualified.  He calls us then, and he tells us not to fear.  And then he fills the nets of our lives with more than enough fish to remind us that he will give us more than we need if we just trust in him and follow his calling.

It might not be easy to follow Jesus.  It might not be where we saw ourselves going.  We might not be confident in our skills or our call all the time.  But Jesus is calling.  He’s calling you and he’s calling me. 

He’s calling us to not be afraid, and to leave our nets and follow him.  Jesus is calling ….you…how are you going to respond?

Let’s pray…
God of grace, you remind us today that you call the tired, the worn-out, and the not-so-skilled fishermen to make a difference in the world, just like you call each of us.  Come into our lives and cast out whatever fears we may have…and give us the courage and the strength to follow you.  In your heavenly name we pray, Amen.

Let’s pray…May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen. 

Do you have a wedding story?  A story of something that went wrong at your wedding or the wedding of a friend?  It seems as though there is always something that goes wrong at weddings.  At my brother’s wedding, everything was perfect until the pastor told my brother he could kiss the bride, and those two who had never kissed in public had a kiss that squeaked so loud that everyone started laughing.  As a pastor I could tell stories of cakes being destroyed the day of the wedding, or wedding licenses being forgotten, of the shortest wedding I ever led in the pouring rain on the 18th hole of a golf course.  Something always goes wrong at weddings.

And in the case of the wedding in our gospel story, it is no different.  Everything had been going to plan…it was a beautiful ceremony.  Such a nice couple…a great party.  But wait.  There is no more wine!  To run out of wine at a party now days would be a bummer, but we can run down to Happy Harry’s and solve that problem pretty quickly.  But in the days of Jesus, weddings were week-long festivals.  The week would be spent celebrating the new life of the married couple.  Often the whole town was invited, and it took major planning to make the event run smoothly.  To run out of wine was a huge deal...wine wasn’t just a nice beverage to have on hand, but it was a sign of the harvest, a sign of God’s abundance, a sign of joy and gladness and hospitality.  So when they run out of wine, they run out of blessing.  The wine has run out before the wedding is over and it is a catastrophe.

We know, after this week, what it feels like to run full force into catastrophe.  We know, after this week what it feels like to feel like we have run out of blessing.  For those of you not from the community, we have spent our week grieving the loss of 10 year old Mason who died in a snow mobile accident.  It has been a hard week to deal with…a week filled with pain and questions and challenge.  A week where many have wondered where God was at.   If God was present, and where on earth God was when all this happened. 
 
And yet…wait.  Let’s look back at our gospel lesson. They have run out of blessing and run into this catastrophe, but the story doesn’t stop there.

The people are looking around, wondering how they are going to fix the problems they are facing.  They are questioning each other on how they possibly could have planned so poorly that they have run out of wine on the 3rd day of the week-long ceremony.  No one knows what to do…except Mary. 

Mary the mother of Jesus, points out the problem to him.  “They have no wine” she says, and Jesus answers her pretty harshly “woman, what concern is that to you and me?  My hour has not yet come.”  Most of us wouldn’t even fathom speaking like that to our mothers.  But Mary doesn’t get upset.  She doesn’t get angry.  She just turns to the servants and says “do whatever he tells you.” 

And then, in the midst of this crazy scene, where the bride and groom must be worrying that this is all people will remember, Jesus asks for stone jars to be filled with water.  And not just a small stone jar…these jars, which stand about 5 feet tall, and hold 20-30 gallons are big jars.  And the servants fill them with water…and Jesus tells them to draw some out and take it to the steward, or the host of the party…and they did.  And the host is amazed, not knowing what happened, but amazed that the best wine of the wedding comes out now. 

Jesus takes the catastrophe and overcomes it, and he not only overcomes it, but he gives the wedding party more than they expect.  More than they need.  Jesus takes the empty wine skins and gives those present more than enough wine to make it through the rest of the wedding celebration.

So what about us?  What does this story have to do with us this week?  As we sit here tired, worn out, emotionally exhausted from the questions and the pain that come from sitting in the midst of this catastrophic week?

I don’t know why Mason had to die, or why our loved ones face tough health diagnoses or why some people struggle to make ends meet even though they are working as hard as they can.  But I do know that God is at work all around us. 

I don’t know why our community had to bury someone so young, but I do know that in the midst of the hurt and the pain and the questions that God brought some beautiful things. 

This week kids that gathered to support each other and tie blankets.  Teachers gathered to give hugs to the kids and let them know they are not alone.  Older students helped younger ones.  Younger students supported older ones, and at the funeral, everyone gathered, imagining the day when they would be reunited with Mason again.

Because here’s the thing.  We aren’t always going to understand the world we are in, or why things happen when they do.  We are going to have moments that feel like pure catastrophe while we wait for God to act, wait to see Him at work around us, and wonder where he is in the midst of it. 

Though we may sometimes forget it, we can know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is still at work. God is alive and active in the world, and God has much better things in store for us than we can possibly imagine.  We can know that nothing, not even weeks like this one can separate us from God’s love.

​It may have been a week of darkness and pain, but the light of Christ will shine.  And is shining.  Here in our midst.   Thanks be to God.  Amen.

This week in worship we will be talking about Psalm 23.  At our Wine, Women, and the Word gathering, I shared the following poem I wrote...


Some days Lord…  
Some days Lord, I’m just a sheep
And I need you, to tend and keep
My tired soul and give me rest
And teach me that I can do less.

Some days Lord, I’m more like a lamb
Who jumps and bleats…please hold my hand.
On those days Lord, help me share my joy
With every little girl and boy,
Those hurting and in need of peace-
Those who feel like tired sheep.
 
Some days Lord, you call me to lead,
And when it is your call I heed,
I hear your voice, and follow you,
And hope I let your love shine through.

On all days Lord, please guide my ways…
On sheep, and lamb and shepherd days.


Written by Pastor Amy 10/8/14

This past Sunday in church, at the end of my sermon, I showed a Youtube video that reminded us that "to be loved is to be known", and just how good it is that God knows all about us and loves us anyway!  If you want to check out the video, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q49BbfgJbto

God bless you week!

Pastor Amy

Let’s pray…may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O God, our rock and our redeemer.  Amen.

When is the last time that you had to begin something new?  When was the last time that you had to leave what you knew, what was comfortable, and do something you had never done before?  Maybe you moved to a new town?  Maybe you began a new job?  Maybe you got married?  Had children?  Lost someone you loved and had to learn how to live alone again?  Beginnings are scary, and often overwhelming.

In our gospel lesson for today, we find ourselves at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  And his ministry doesn’t exactly start quietly.  In the middle of our gospel text, it says “From that time Jesus began to proclaim ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’  Things were about to change, in a big way for the people that would come to know Jesus.  Their lives would be completely altered.

We heard in our gospel lesson that Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee and he sees two brothers, Simon Peter, and Andrew.  They are fishing.  Their father was a fisherman, and it was all they had grown up knowing.  They were casting their nets into the sea, and Jesus told them “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”  And we are told that they immediately left their nets and followed him.  They walked away from their livelihood and followed this man who was preaching about the kingdom of heaven.  Their lives would never be the same.

Jesus keeps walking and comes across a few more fishermen.  This time, he encounters James and John and their father Zebedee in the boat.  They are helping their father mend the nets.  They too have been fishermen their whole lives…it is all they know.  Their father taught the skill to them, and they were expected to follow through and keep the family fishing business going.  But then Jesus comes and calls to them.  And they leave their nets and they leave their father and follow Jesus.

 

It is a story that has always kinda’ bugged me.  I know that we all hope if Jesus shows up in our lives and tells us to follow him that we would.  But it bugs me that they have to drop the livelihood they know.  It bothers me that they leave their poor father, sitting in a boat, watching as they walk off down the beach with Jesus.

Why is it that they have to leave their nets?  Why do they have to leave their father?  Why can’t they still be fisherman and disciples at the same time?

One of my professors pointed out in a podcast this past week that although they drop their nets and their boats and their families, they don’t walk away from those things forever.  They just focus for a while on following Jesus.  Later on in the gospel, after Jesus has died on the cross and risen from the dead, he appears again to these same disciples.  And where does he find them?  Back in their boats, fishing.  He has breakfast on the beach with them, and they eat fish together.

Often when we find ourselves at the beginning of something, we are overwhelmed and we feel thrown off from everything we know.  We may feel like we are being forced to lay down things we care about, and wonder if our lives will ever be the same again.  But if we just trust that God is there in the newness, eventually even the new begins to feel familiar. 

One of my favorite movies is Hope Floats.  At the very end of the movie, the main character says this: “beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will...”

Today, at Saint Matthew’s, we find ourselves again at a beginning.  Today we will have our annual meeting, and we will vote in new members on the council.  In the coming weeks we will be exploring a new way of doing team ministry, and working towards having more people involved in the ministry here.  Each of you has been given gifts, and is being called to use them.

What is Jesus calling you to this morning?  What might Jesus be calling you to in the coming days and weeks?

What would happen if Jesus is calling you to something that might mean you need to leave something else behind for a while?  How would having to do new things in a new way make you feel? 

What are the “nets” of your life that take all your energy and attention?  What would happen if Jesus called you to leave your nets and follow him?

We need to not be afraid when we hear Jesus calling us to leave our nets.  We need not to resent that we might have to put something we love down for a while and focus on what we are being called to.  Because reality is my friends, we are being called to an awesome adventure in Christ.  We are being called to love one another and love our community in ways that we haven’t even begun to dream about yet.  God is calling each one of you…how are you going to respond?

Let’s pray.

God of all, you call us to leave our nets and start again, and sometimes that is overwhelming.  Be with each of us as we listen to your call, and help us to have the courage to leave whatever might be in the way of following you.  Strengthen us and the ministry we do.  Give us peace in our new beginnings.  In your heavenly name we pray, Amen.