Young at Heart Message
 
Every Palm Sunday, we hear the same story. But I wonder how often we really think deeply about Jesus, the disciples, and the crowd?
 
So, I want to try a little exercise.
 
Those of you on the left side of the room, I want you to imagine that you are part of the crowd that is shouting praises to Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem.
 
You are excited! You are shouting “Hooray! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! God bless the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!”
 
You are ready to believe that this man is Immanuel – “God with us.” He is hope for the future, and you believe in this moment that he is the Redeemer.
 
You don’t know it yet, but in just a couple days, you are going to completely change your tune. Instead of shouting praises, you are going to be condemning Jesus to death by crucifixion.
 
And on the right side of the room, I’d like you to imagine that you are Jesus. Today, you are entering Jerusalem to the praise of these people who, just a few days from now, will condemn you.
 
You probably know these people will condemn you. And yet, you enter Jerusalem and allow them to welcome you and shout your praises anyway.
 
Now, each side of the room, imagine how you feel as either the crowd, or as Jesus.
 
Really take a moment to put yourself in their shoes. Let us take 30 seconds of silence for you to explore how you might feel if you were in their shoes.
*****
Now, those of you in the crowd, imagine that you get a moment alone with Jesus to talk with him. He knows you praised him today, but will condemn him on Friday.
 
What do you say to Jesus? How do you feel standing before him, knowing that he knows?
 
Likewise, those of you who imagined you are Jesus, how do you feel talking 1:1 with someone who praises you today but will condemn you on Friday? What might you say to this person?
 
Let’s take another 30 seconds to think about this and imagine this conversation.
*****
If anyone from the crowd is willing to share – how did it feel to stand before Jesus?
*****
And, what about those who imagined you were Jesus? How does this conversation feel to you?
 
The Message

Today, we are witnesses to the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem surrounded by a crowd shouting praise and celebrating his coming.

And, as we know, just a few days later, those same people shouting praise and celebrating Jesus will condemn him on Good Friday.

And, every year we are reminded that we are a part of both crowds, at least symbolically.
​
We confessed during our Palm Sunday liturgy:
 
“Although we welcome you today with the multitude… we confess we have also stood with the condemning crowd on Good Friday. Our thoughts, words, and deeds have cried, ‘Crucify!’”
 
Of course, we are not talking about our literal participation in the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus.
 
But symbolically, we were there. We have been there on and off throughout our lives – perhaps not with Jesus, but with others.
 
How many of us have echoed over and over in church on Sunday that we are called to feed the poor, shelter the homeless, and forgive those who have sinned against us, but then turned around and refused to offer cash to someone begging on the street? Or refuse to offer a spare room to a homeless person?
 
How many of us have struggled to forgive someone, perhaps to the point where it haunts us throughout our lives?
 
Palm Sunday - the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem to shouts of praise by the same people who will shout to condemn just a few days later - is an invitation.
 
It is an invitation to look at our own lives and recognize the ways in which we might say one thing but do something different.
 
It is not an invitation to feel guilt or shame. Rather, it is an invitation to experience God-given grace.
 
Jesus is well aware that these people shouting his praises today will condemn him a few days later. And yet, he enters Jerusalem anyway.
 
Jesus knows Peter will deny him three times, and yet he continues to love and forgive Peter anyway.
 
Jesus knows Judas will betray him, but he forgives anyway. And, he allows Judas to come to the realization that Jesus knows what he’s going to do. It doesn’t stop Judas, but Judas knows that Jesus knows.
 
All of these people – the crowd and the disciples – they all receive Jesus’s forgiveness and his grace.
 
On Easter morning when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we know for certain that even though the crowd condemned him and the disciples denied him, Jesus returned and forgave them.
 
And Jesus died for all of them, and for us, too.
 
Jesus wants us to know that he knows that we might be among those who would shout praises one day and condemn or deny him the next.
 
He wants us to know this because he wants us to feel so deeply loved and forgiven that we could extend that to every corner of our being.
 
He wants us to know because he wants us to radiate his love outward – to know so fully and deeply that we are loved that we extend that love fully and completely to everyone we meet.
 
And he wants us to know that we are forgiven.
 
There is no need for shame or guilt because we are wholly loved and forgiven. We bear all to Jesus and he says, “I know, and I still love you.”
 
So, as we enter into Holy Week and look inward to become more aware of the ways in which we might be like the crowd, we also go into this week knowing that Jesus loves us. Jesus loved us before we were born, he loves our past selves, our present selves, and our future selves.
 
He loves us when we are shouting praises and he loves us when we are shouting condemnations.
 
He loves us when we are happy, and he loves us when we are down, depressed, uncertain, or anxious.
 
He loves us when life is going our way, and he loves us when life is hard and we aren’t sure where to go next.
 
May we remember how deeply loved we are.
 
May we remember that Jesus loved us so much that he was willing to enter Jerusalem knowing that his death was just days away.
 
For us. Jesus did all of this for us. That kind of love is deep, abiding, and ever-lasting. We are loved.
 
You are loved.
 
Let’s say it together: I am loved.
 
Amen.
 
Let us pray: God of grace, thank you for allowing us to choose – to choose to be in the crowd shouting praises and in the crowd shouting condemnation. And thank you for forgiving us and offering grace when we choose condemnation. We don’t intend to hurt you or hurt others, and we are grateful that you know our hearts and our intentions. We pray that you would continue to guide us, and we pray that you continue to forgive us and offer us your grace when we stray. Thank you for your endless love. In your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

I don’t know about you, but today’s Gospel reading leaves me with a couple of questions.

So, to help us think about this story in a new way, I want to imagine the story for us a little differently.

This portion of the sermon is adapted from a Children’s sermon published on Gary Neal Hansen’s website, GaryNealHansen.com.
​
He does give permission for this to be used broadly with credit to his page.
 
One night, Jesus and his friends had camped out on the Mount of Olives. The next morning, Jesus got up and said. “I’m going for a walk. See you later.”
 
“Where are you going?” they asked. 
 
“To the Temple,” he said.
 
When Jesus got near the Temple doors, people crowded around him. So he started teaching them about the Kingdom of God, as Jesus tended to do when he was at the Temple.
 
But then a noisy group of men came down the road. When they got closer everybody moved out of their way.
 
Jesus noticed that they were bringing a woman with them, holding her tightly by the arms. She looked really upset, like she wanted to get away.
 
“Jesus!” said the man leading the group. “We were hoping to find you here. We brought this… this woman!”
 
“I see that,” Jesus said. He tried to catch the woman’s eye, but she wouldn’t look at him. She just looked at the ground.
Jesus got down on his knees and started writing something in the dirt. She was looking down, so she could see him writing.
 
“Well?” said the man. “We caught this woman!”
 
Jesus didn’t look up. As he kept on writing, he said, “Well maybe you should let her go. I think you are hurting her arms.”
 
The woman couldn’t quite see what he was writing, but she was curious and kept trying to see more clearly.
 
The men eventually let the woman go. They gave her a shove, so she stood between Jesus and their group.
 
“I said,” the man went on, “we caught her with the man who lives next door to her. They were doing something God’s law forbids. The Law of God says we should kill her by throwing rocks at her. That’s what we are gonna do!”
 
Jesus said, “You said she was with the man who lives next door to her. Where is he?”
 
The men shrugged and looked at their feet.
 
“Well, he’s a friend of some of the guys here,” said the leader. “But this woman is guilty. We caught her.”
 
“Yeah, you mentioned that,” said Jesus. “Seems like you only want to obey God if the person you punish is not a friend.”
 
Nobody spoke.
 
“So did you bring the rocks?” Jesus asked.
 
The men looked at each other and shrugged. Their leader said, “No. We, um…”
 
Jesus interrupted. “Well if you’re going to do what that law says, you’re going to need rocks. It seems like you are wanting me to do it for you. Why don’t you go away and come back when you’re really ready.”
 
All the men shuffled off. But someone shouted “We’ll be back!”
 
And Jesus got back on his knees and started writing, slowly, in the dirt again. The woman watched him write, mesmerized and wondering.
 
The woman said “Are you going to let them throw rocks at me?” He didn’t speak. She started to cry.
 
Then he said “Maybe they won’t come back. But tell me: did you do what they said you did?”
 
She sniffled, but before she could answer, the men returned, with big rocks in their hands. “We’re back!” the leader said. “And we’re ready to do what God’s law says we should do!” 
 
Jesus stood up, dusted himself off.
 
He said, “I’m afraid you will have to wait a minute. I’ve got a question for you. Is this maybe the first time you’ve tried to obey God’s law?”
 
“Why do you ask?” said the leader. 
 
“Because it sounds like maybe you’re new at this,” Jesus said. “Anyway, we need to make sure you’re the right people to obey this particular law.”
 
“Oh come on,” said the leader. “Everyone should always obey God’s law. And we never broke the law she broke.”
 
“Think about it,” said Jesus. “If you knew someone stole a lot of money—say he’d already been convicted in court—would you let him decide who gets arrested for stealing?”
 
“What does this have to do with us?” said the leader. “It’s time for us to stone this sinful woman.”
 
Jesus stood up again. The woman tried so hard to see what he’d been writing. She tried to look subtle, but couldn’t quite see it.
 
Jesus dusted himself off once more. He said. “Okay, how about you arrange yourselves in three groups. If you’ve broken a whole lot of God’s laws, make a group over there.
 
If maybe you used to break God’s laws but you don’t do it much any more, stand in the middle. And if you always try to be good and hardly ever break God’s laws, make a group right over here.”
They grumbled, but they did it. They made three groups. Then Jesus said, “Okay, so now let’s go one at a time. Whoever here has never ever broken even one of God’s laws, that person gets to go first.”
The group close by all looked at each other. But nobody stepped forward.
 
So Jesus started writing in the dirt again.
 
One by one, the men drifted away. They dropped their rocks by the roadside and they left.
 
Eventually he looked up and caught the woman’s eye. “Oh, so isn’t anyone going to stone you after all?”
 
“No sir,” she said.
 
“Well,” Jesus said, “I’m certainly not going to.”
 
“But…” said the woman. “What should I do now?” 
She was holding her face in her hands and weeping.
 
“My daughter,” Jesus said. “Go and live your life—But from now on, live the way God teaches you to live.”
 
The woman nodded tearfully. With her path clear of men surrounding her, she could finally see what Jesus had written:

The Message

While that story is a reimagining of many of the details that are left out of the Gospel, it does help highlight some of the questions that we might have as we read this passage.

The first, and perhaps most important, is who is considered guilty of sin.

When these men brought the woman to Jesus, they said, “this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn’t her husband.”
 
This naturally implies that another party was involved in the “transgression.” So why only bring one of the people who broke the Law of Moses rather than both?

This would be like if they brought the woman to Jesus and said, “this woman was caught robbing the local bank with a man who lives in town.”

Why would they only bring her, and not him as well? Shouldn’t they both technically be stoned for breaking the law, if that is the required punishment?
 
The second question, of course, is what was Jesus writing in the dirt? And why was he doing this?

The Bible doesn’t actually tell us, which has led to many different interpretations and speculations over the years.

But it’s an intriguing question – was this akin to Jesus texting on his phone instead of engaging directly with the accusers of this woman?

Almost as though he intended to seem distracted so as to diffuse the situation and make it clear that he was not going to get worked up like they hoped he would?
 
We won’t ever know for sure.

It’s certainly easier to speculate as to why only the woman was brought to Jesus and not the man. That we can guess simply based on how women were treated at the time verses how men were treated.

But even today – do we find it more problematic when women commit adultery, or men?

I am sure we’d get a lot of different answers to that question if we asked different people, but I think often the initial reaction of most people would be to feel more upset about a woman than a man.
 
But speculating about what Jesus was writing is much more difficult.

And, it’s largely unimportant for our purposes.

What IS important is finding the Good News in this passage.

We see Jesus offer tremendous compassion to this woman. Jesus is not immune to the cultural norms of his time so he could have easily gotten swept up in the anger of the men who brought the woman to him.
 
But he didn’t. He saw a woman in front of him with all the complexities of humanity – no different than anyone else standing before him.

Who knows why this woman was with a man she wasn’t married to? Maybe she was abused at home, maybe her husband died, maybe she was being blackmailed, maybe she didn’t have a husband at all.

Jesus doesn’t assume one thing or another. He simply sees her for who she is and meets her where she’s at.
 
And, he does the same for the crowd.

He offers compassion by demonstrating for them what compassion can look like.

And he also offers compassion while also teaching them something.

We have to be careful here not to imply that the Law of Moses isn’t important or that Jesus is superseding it somehow because that’s not the case.

What he is doing is showing them that they are equally as guilty of breaking the law.
 
Maybe they haven’t committed adultery, but adultery isn’t the only thing they could do to break the law.

His point is that they have all broken the Law of Moses at some point.

So who are they to accuse someone else when they are equally as guilty?

In other words, if stoning is the punishment for breaking the law, then go ahead and throw stones as long as you are completely innocent yourself.
 
The men in the crowd, humbled by Jesus’s words, realized that they are no less guilty than she.

And yet, Jesus offered compassion and forgiveness to everyone. He didn’t argue that they should all be stoned.

And the Good News here is that Jesus offers that same level of compassion and forgiveness to all of us.

Yes, Jesus also encourages the woman to live the way God teaches us to live, and if the men were still around I am sure he would have said the same to them.
 
And, likely, to us too.

But Jesus suggests this out of love and compassion for the humanity in each of us.

And this is the beauty of this passage.

There is no need for guilt or shame, because we are wholly loved, cared for, and forgiven.

So, may you leave here today knowing this Good News.
​
May you allow Jesus to show you compassion, and may you show others that same compassion, each and every day. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Merciful God, thank you for your loving kindness and compassion. Thank you for meeting us where we are. Thank you for forgiving us and understanding that our humanity and the complexities of life in community make us vulnerable. Thank you for sending your son Jesus Christ to show us a better way. Continue to walk with us and guide us and help us see your love all around us. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

I looked up the word “vulnerable” to see what the official definition of the word is prior to writing my sermon today.

Oxford defines the word “vulnerable” as “susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm.”

So, with that in mind, I would like to ask you all: Who do you consider to be among the vulnerable in the world today?
*****
 
We have created a pretty good list of people we consider vulnerable.

Do you see yourself on this list in some way or another?

Do you see people you know – family, friends, neighbours, or anyone else you interact with regularly?

Of course, because we have all felt vulnerable at some point in our lives. At the very least, we were all children once – a season in life in which we are incredibly vulnerable.
 
But, when we don’t feel vulnerable, we can forget what it feels like to be vulnerable.

Once we grow into adulthood, we tend to forget the vulnerable feeling of being a child, for example.

And of course, there are many on this list we created that will always be or feel vulnerable, at least until our culture shifts.

This is just as true now as it was when Jesus was here on Earth and when Moses spoke prophetically to Israel as well.
 
The Message

The thing about vulnerability is that we all experience it at points throughout our lives.

As children, we are in an incredibly vulnerable position. We haven’t learned enough about the world yet to have “street smarts,” if you will, so we can be easily taken advantage of if there is no one around to protect us.

The same can be true as we reach the golden years of our lives.
 
Older adults are also in a more vulnerable position, for a variety of reasons.

But the same is true for immigrants, for those with physical or mental impairments, for anyone who has lost a spouse, for the poor, and for so many other people.

And, we can move in and out of vulnerable positions throughout our lives.

At the end of the day, what we all need to remember is that none of us are immune to feeling vulnerable, and it can happen at any point in our life.
 
We might be feeling strong and invincible, until we get a cancer diagnosis.

We might be feeling on top of the world until we lose our job due to downsizing.

On the other hand, we might have pulled ourselves out of poverty or out of living paycheque to paycheque, and now we are comfortable and further removed from those feelings of financial vulnerability.

Maybe we have been in remission from cancer for 10 years and we’ve left behind some of our feelings of physical vulnerability.
 
The point I’m trying to make is that as we live our lives in whatever position we are in among society, we must remember that we have been on the receiving end of vulnerability.

This is exactly what Moses is reminding his people of in the Deuteronomy passage we heard today.

“You were slaves in Egypt until the Lord your God rescued you.”

“You lived in poverty as slaves in Egypt until the Lord your God rescued you.”
 
In other words, remember your vulnerability when you interact with others who are vulnerable now.

It can be easy for humans to get off track. It can be easy for us to look at the person standing in front of us and judge them.

It’s also easy to think things like “well, when I was vulnerable, no one helped me. I had to ‘pull myself up by my own bootstraps.’ Why shouldn’t others need to figure out a way to do the same?”

But what if someone had been willing to help us out in our time of need?
 
I’ll share an example with you of how this might look in the world today.

I talked with someone once who worked in a factory.

He would talk about how the young people today were constantly pushing back on management to get things like better sick time and vacation time, more benefits, etc.

This annoyed him tremendously because he never got any of that when he was younger.
 
He had to deal with the one week of vacation time they got a year, and he had to go to work when he was sick.

Why shouldn’t they have to do the same? Why should they get better working conditions than he got? Have these kids gotten soft?

But the thing is, he should have also gotten those things. Because everyone deserves to be treated fairly, everyone needs time off to recharge, and employers should be providing those things.
 
Just because his generation didn’t get those things doesn’t mean that was right. And it certainly doesn’t mean that conditions should never improve for future generations.

Moses is reminding Israel of exactly this.

Just because they experienced being slaves in the desert doesn’t mean that was fair or right. And it doesn’t mean that others experiencing vulnerability like poverty, or being a foreigner in the land, or being orphaned or widowed deserve to remain in those conditions either.
 
And it certainly doesn’t mean the Israelites should ignore the vulnerable or not help them out.

Jesus says something similar in Matthew 19 as well.

Some people brought their children to Jesus because they wanted Jesus to pray for them.

But, Jesus’s disciples acted as though the people were bothering him.

This might sound harsh to our ears today, but in that time period, spending time with children who were not your own seemed wasteful or purposeless.
 
Children would have been considered a distraction from their ministry.

But, as he often does, Jesus easily flips the cultural narrative.

He says, “People who are like these children belong to God’s kingdom.” This is important because he’s including anyone who might be considered vulnerable.

This would have been very different than the cultural expectation of the time period.
 
Jesus is essentially saying, “you were vulnerable like these children, and you deserved attention just like they do.”

Instead of continuing the social narrative that children (especially those who were not your own) didn’t deserve time or attention from adults, Jesus tells the crowd that they do, and that they deserved attention and care when they were children, too.

Jesus is trying to change the narrative. He’s shifting the culture in the way that only Jesus can do – by example and without shame or anxiety.
 
Jesus is reminding the disciples and everyone else who is watching that the most vulnerable people deserve love, compassion, care, and attention, too.

And we are reminded of this 2000 years later, as well.

We are called to protect and care for the vulnerable, even if, when we were vulnerable, we did not receive the care or protection that we deserved.

This is not “an eye for an eye” situation. We are called to do better from generation to generation.
 
As individuals, as community members, and as nations, we are called to care for one another not only by our individual actions but also through our collective actions.

Jesus reminds us that everyone belongs to God’s kingdom. Everyone on the list we made earlier belongs to God’s kingdom.

And if God’s kingdom is right here on Earth, then everyone on this list belongs and deserves love, kindness, compassion, and care.
 
And this is the Good News that Jesus so often preaches and that we are called to continue living into.

Care for the vulnerable. Love society’s “unlovable.” Offer compassion to everyone. Know that even when we are most vulnerable, we are still part of God’s kingdom and we are worthy of God’s love and of the love of our neighbours.

May you leave here today with this encouraging reminder that we are all loved and cared for. Amen.
 
Let us pray: Holy God, sometimes the simplest of your commands are the hardest for us to hear.

You say, “Love your enemy.” “Turn the other cheek.” “Care for the widow and the orphan.”

And we want to know: How? When? Where?

Open up space in us to simply hear your truth for what it is. Open up space in our hearts to dream new dreams, to imagine new realities, to draw closer to you and closer to love.
​
With hope for a better tomorrow, we listen and we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

We are going to start our sermon off today with a video clip.

Some of you may recognize this clip. It’s a scene from the movie “The Great Outdoors.”

For those of you who might not be familiar with the actors, you’ll see Dan Aykroyd on the left, and you’ll see John Candy on the right.

Let’s see what these two gentlemen have to say:

​As you can see, these two characters see something very different when they look out at the lake and the trees.

Dan Aykroyd sees underdeveloped land ripe for development. He sees an opportunity to make money, and he doesn’t seem to care one bit that it might also destroy the environment.

What does John Candy see?

Trees. That’s all. Just trees.

John Candy’s character sees what is right in front of him, and he believes it is enough.

Dan Aykroyd’s character cannot see the beauty or the joy right in front of his eyes because he is striving for more – wealth, power, money, control.

He has a scarcity mindset when he looks out across the water – what he sees before him is not enough. It’s not “producing” enough, in his mind.

John Candy has an abundance mindset. He sees what is right in front of him and rests in knowing that it is enough.
So, when we look at the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, what do the disciples see?

They see 5 loaves of bread and two small fish, and they panic. They are thinking with a scarcity mindset. There is no way this will be enough to feed all these people.

But Jesus sees with an abundance mindset. He says “yes, this is enough. This will do perfectly.”

And then he brings a community together, they feed everyone, and he offers perhaps the most important lesson of the day.
 
The Message

When I first bought my business back in Wisconsin, I had a week to get it ready to re-open. I couldn’t wait any longer than that because I needed clients to start coming back so I could start earning revenue.

But there was a LOT that needed to be done in that week. I walked in and I looked around and I was overwhelmed and, if I’m being honest, I didn’t think it was possible. I was doomed before I even started.

And then, some of the staff who were going to be working for me called and said, “what do you need.”

And a few of the clients who were ready for the business to reopen stopped by and said “we are here. How can we help?”

And together, with no expectations from anyone about getting paid, we got everything done and ready.

I walked in with a scarcity mindset. I don’t have enough. I am not enough. There’s not enough time, I don’t have enough money, etc etc.

But the community looked at it and said “yup, we’re enough. You are enough. We have hands to help, and we have some money to spare and we’ll make this happen. Let’s get to it.”

And together we built something new.

I thought it was impossible. I was ready to give up before I even got started. I was in over my head and I thought maybe I was crazy for even thinking it was possible in the first place.

I wonder if that’s how the disciples felt?

I can understand their stress when Jesus says, “let’s feed them” and the disciples go right into scarcity mode, wondering how on earth they’re going to afford food for all those people.

But the thing is, God doesn’t start with the problem: How do we feed all these people?

God starts with what God has – which is everything held in God’s hands.

And God also starts with what God has given us.

In my case, God gave me a community of people ready and willing to help.

In the case of Jesus and the disciples, God gave them five loaves of bread and two fish.

With God, all things are possible because God knows that God is always... God!

It’s us who break faith. It’s us who listen to scarcity. It’s us who fear our own hunger.

Our God is a God of abundance.

However loud the scarcity of the world yells, God delights in feeding the hungry. God delights in providing what we need when we need it. And God delights in accomplishing what we dare not imagine.

God doesn’t start with the problem. That’s how we work, but God starts with what we have.

God meets us where we are in the moment. And God provides, but perhaps not always in the way we think God will provide.

None of the disciples thought that five loaves and two fish could feed 5000+ people.

But Jesus said “I got this.”

We often don’t think that what we have or who we are is enough.

But God says, “I got this, and so do you. Together, we got this.”

When I bought my business, I did not have any idea that anyone would be able to help. All I saw was me, and the time and money I had available. And it wasn’t enough.

But God said, “we got this,” and showed me that it wasn’t impossible because I was surrounded by a community of people who loved and cared deeply about the business re-opening.

They didn’t know me yet, but they came to offer their help anyway. And the community just grew from those brave souls who were willing to take a chance and step forward.

So, what about us? What about this community?

It has become easier and easier for churches to look at the world and say “it’s impossible. There is nothing we can do. We don’t have enough people. We don’t have enough money. We don’t have enough energy or time.”

But what happens – what shifts in our mindset – if we look around at one another and instead we say, “we are enough. Collectively – together, we do have enough time, energy, resources, love, compassion, daring, and whatever else we need”?

What could we accomplish together? Who could we help? Who could we serve?

What issue could we support? How could we provide for and serve the community around us?

What is God calling us to do?

God doesn’t start with the problem.

God starts with what we all have.

Nothing is impossible with or for God.

May we leave here with this in mind.

May we begin to shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset.

We have enough. We are enough. God is enough.

Together, we can do wonderful and amazing things.

Amen.

Let us pray: Holy God, we could press our ear to the page, hoping to hear you more clearly.

We could silence all the alarms and notifications, hoping to catch a murmur of your voice. We could still our beating hearts, and still we might miss your voice.

So today we pray, open up space in our hearts, in our spirits, in our minds, to feel your presence among us.
With you, anything is possible. We believe. Help our unbelief. Amen.

* Prayer by Rev. Sarah A. Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.
* Some portions of this sermon were adapted from A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org.

Young at Heart Message

As most of you know, I have been sick for the past couple weeks.

I’m feeling much better now, but sometimes illness can linger for quite some time and things can take a long time to fully heal.

About a week ago, I was having a little pity party for myself because I was feeling so miserable.

I took my dogs for a walk, but I didn’t have a lot of energy to go very far.
 
I was feeling guilty that I didn’t have enough energy to take them on our usual route.

Usually, I walk my dogs on the paved biked path along the river until we reach a bridge. We cross the bridge and walk through a huge dog park.

But this time, as I walked along the paved path, I realized I wasn’t going to have energy to make it to the dog park.

I pondered briefly just turning around and taking the same paved path back to my apartment.
 
But I noticed a little unpaved footpath that winds along even closer to the river.

I decided to take the dogs on that path because at least it would give them something new and different to sniff.

I quickly realized as we walked along this new path that it was like a sanctuary in the middle of the city.

Suddenly, I could no longer hear the hum of Deerfoot or the noise of construction.

All I could hear was the river.
 
As often happens when I walk my dogs, I was having a conversation with God and was lamenting about being sick.

Now, God doesn’t usually talk back to me, at least not in the way a person would.

But on this day, I suddenly realized that God was right there – in the silence, in the running of the river, in the muddy path, and in the joy of my dogs exploring something new to them.

Despite my feeling crummy, I was able to notice God in something quite mundane.
 
Even though the reason I ended up on that path in the first place was because I wasn’t feeling well and needed to shorten my walk, it ended up being exactly what I needed in that moment.

And, I think it ended up being exactly what my dogs needed in that moment, too.

God caught me completely by surprise that day.

Like the tiny mustard seed that grows unexpectedly into the largest plant, God often catches us by surprise.
 
The Message

It also may catch us by surprise to hear the reading from the Gospel of John today about Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding.

The other three Gospels all have Jesus’s ministry beginning not with a miracle like this, but with a temptation story instead.

So it’s surprising that we are starting on the first Sunday of Lent with this story of Jesus at a wedding – a place of joy, rowdiness, and exuberance.
 
This story is another example of the ways in which God can catch us by surprise.

Jesus doesn’t seem to plan for this to be his first miracle.

In fact, he initially says to his mother when she tells him they have no more wine, “Mother, my time hasn’t yet come!”

I wonder if even Jesus was caught by surprise?

He didn’t plan for this, so why does he change his mind?
 
Of course, in true biblical fashion, the passage doesn’t really give us this level of detail into why Jesus does what he does.

But perhaps he realized that it’s worth demonstrating that God works in ways we least expect.

Jesus could have said to himself, “these people don’t need more wine – they are already having enough fun. Too much fun, if you know what I mean…”
 
But he didn’t. Instead he provided so much wine that the attendees at the party could likely have enjoyed it for days.

There were six stone water jars, and the passage tells us that they each held about 100 liters.

That’s a tremendous amount of wine. 600 liters of wine!

Jesus could have just turned one of those jars into wine and it would have been plenty.

Again, he catches us completely by surprise.
 
It’s also surprising to think about Jesus enjoying a party – letting loose, maybe dancing, maybe being silly or even drinking wine himself.

But this story reminds us to find God in the everyday happenings of life.

It can be easy to forget that God is present at a wedding reception, on a walk with our dogs, on the couch with us when we’re sick, and in all the other everyday aspects of life.

But Jesus reminds us in this moment. In a moment that we might think Jesus doesn’t approve of.
 
But he does. He keeps the fun going, and he proves who he is at the same time.

He earns himself some “street cred,” in a manner of speaking.

And in doing so, he reminds us that we can find God in all things.

He encourages us to see God in the mundane, in our joy, and in our discouragement. In little moments and in big moments. In the stars in the sky and the dirt under our feet.
 
In the tiny mustard seed, full of potential to spring forth new life and in the fully grown plant that produces life-giving nourishment.

He encourages us to see God not just in the peace and tranquility of the footpath where all we can hear is the river, but also along the paved path where we can hear the city noises and encounter other people, too.

This passage about a miracle offers Good News that surprises and delights.
 
So, may you notice God in all things, in all moments of your life – the big, the small, the mundane, and the extraordinary.

May you find joy and potential in the tiniest mustard seed and the heartiest plant.
​
And may you see the Good News all around you, even as it catches you by surprise. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
God of delight, we are so grateful for the reminder that you often catch us by surprise. We take great joy in noticing your divine work in our lives when we least expect it. You continue to work in mysterious and delightful ways, and we pray that you would help us to see your beauty and your presence in the small things on a daily basis. In your Holy and loving name, we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

When I was a kid – maybe 10 or 12 years old - I lived on a cul-de-sac where there were three other houses besides mine.

There was another family with two girls who were similar ages as me and my sister – the older girl was a year older than me, and the younger girl was in my sister’s grade.
​
Behind my house was a line of trees, and behind that line of trees was a subdivision.
 
Directly beyond those trees was another house where a girl lived who was also a year older than me.
 
There were not a lot of kids my age who lived near enough to our house for me to get there quickly or easily.
 
So often, the other kids I would play with were the two girls who were a year older than me, my sister, and the girl who was my sister’s age.
 
The problem with this arrangement was that the two older girls would often bully me.
 
I was a year younger than they were, so we didn’t “hang out” with the same group of friends at school.
 
My sister and the younger girl were typically relieved from the bullying because they were young enough to be in a totally different school than me and the two older girls.
 
So, I was often the one who was bullied in this “friendship.” And by “friendship,” I really mean a strange relationship which ebbed and flowed, and most often I was only “friends” with the two older girls when they needed or wanted something from me.
 
Otherwise, we weren’t friends so much as I was the one who got picked on or bullied.
 
I don’t recall what exactly they did to me one day, but I’d had enough.
 
I didn’t know how to make my situation better, so I decided to write a letter to the girl who was the worst bully and put it in her mailbox.
 
The letter, however, wasn’t supposed to be from me, per se.
 
Instead, I wrote it as though I was one of the more popular girls in their grade, and as such, I was going to bully them if they didn’t stop bullying other people.
 
It was, at best, a useless threat. Of course it was only intended to scare them into stopping their bullying and be nice to me.
 
And of course, it didn’t work.
 
The mother of one of the girls reached out to my mother and told her about the letter.
 
My mom, then, asked me about it. I wasn’t good at lying, especially to my parents, so I began to cry and explain why I did it.
 
My mom understood that I felt bullied, but she also said I needed to apologize to the girl I sent the letter to.
 
This felt really unfair – after all, she had been bullying me!
 
Nonetheless, we arranged an afternoon after school to go over to her house so I could apologize.
 
I was mortified, I have to admit. I was also full of guilt and shame.
 
So, we walked into the girl’s house, and I mustered up the courage to apologize for sending the note.
 
After my apology, the girl just said “OK!” and that was the end of it.
 
She said nothing else. She didn’t forgive me. She didn’t blame me or yell at me. Just “OK!” and all was well.
 
It was awkward, and puzzling at the same time.
 
In hindsight, I think she probably felt just as guilty and ashamed as I did. Her mom probably talked to her about bullying as well, and she probably wanted it to be over just as much as I did.
 
But, neither of us really received closure or forgiveness. And, while I did have reason to apologize, it felt unfair that she had reason to apologize as well, but didn’t.
 
She had been the one who was so mean to me that I felt like I had no other options!
 
And yet, the incident and my apology taught us both an important lesson, I think, about how to treat others and about how to resolve conflict.
 
I suspect that neither of us realized the lesson we were learning at the time, though.
 
I can tell you that I kept the letter and I put it in a spot in my bedroom with a big note on it that said:
 
Don’t do this again!
 
This situation may seem silly as I look back on it today, but through these lessons we learn as young people, we somehow manage to move into adulthood with some skills for handling situations like this again if needed.
 
And, we also learn lessons about forgiveness and bringing about a sense of wholeness.
 
I didn’t receive forgiveness from this girl – not really. And she didn’t receive forgiveness from me.
 
So how do these lessons and the lesson we heard in today’s Gospel message help us better understand forgiveness?
 
How do these stories help us better understand how we learn and grow as people?
 
The Message
 
As I was researching for today’s sermon, I read an interview with Chanequa Walker-Barnes, a womanist theologian and clinical psychologist who is also Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at Columbia Theological Seminary.
 
I wish it made sense to read the entire interview because she has so much of value to say about forgiveness.
 
She offers the following definition of forgiveness as part of the interview:
 
She talks about forgiveness as “an internal process that is directed outwardly. It’s directed toward another person, and it is the process of letting go of the hostility that we have toward a person that we perceive as having wronged us.”
 
She goes on to say, “People often think forgiveness has to be contingent upon something the wrongdoer does — they have to repent, we have to reconcile, we have to restore the relationship, and they have to change…
 
“…That keeps our emotional process held hostage to another person’s issues. Forgiveness is a way of taking our power back and saying, ‘I have my own feeling that needs to be done.’ Part of that [feeling] is my image of the other person, which is separate from the wrongdoer’s process. That’s even separate from the relationship. One thing understanding forgiveness as an internal process does is empower us to take control of that process.”
 
In other words, when we think of forgiveness as only being possible if the other person does something to warrant our forgiveness, we may never find ourselves able to forgive.
 
But, if we re-imagine forgiveness as an internal process, it becomes a process that we have control over, whether the other person acknowledges their wrongdoing or not.
 
And, it allows us to move beyond the outdated notion of “forgive and forget,” because often, forgetting harm that was done is not possible.
 
There are some people in our lives who will never admit they’ve hurt us.
 
Hurt is defined by the person who feels hurt, so it is possible for us to feel hurt by something and for the person who hurt us to either not realize, or not care, that they hurt us.
 
People can also be fully aware that they have hurt us, but be too damaged or unwilling to admit they’ve hurt us to ever be able to apologize or admit to wrongdoing.
 
Hurt can also go both ways, like in the case of my example from when I was a kid.
 
I was incredibly hurt and feeling quite bullied.
 
And yet, the neighbour girl was probably hurt by my actions, too. And, frankly, I intended to hurt her because she had hurt me.
 
So, forgiveness can be complicated.
 
This is why Jesus’s answer to Peter’s question, “How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?” is not predictable – it’s infinite.
 
In the translation we read today, Jesus says “not just 7 times, but 77 times!”
 
In other translations, it appears as “70 times 7.”
 
In other words, Jesus’s math is infinite.
 
Forgiveness needs to be an internal process which works to heal our own hearts.
 
This is true whether we are the one who was wronged and is trying to forgive someone else, or if we are the one who hurt someone and are seeking forgiveness.
 
Jesus isn’t telling Peter that forgiveness is easy. If anything, he’s telling Peter that it can be incredibly difficult!
 
And yet, we are called to seek forgiveness and to forgive.
 
And, we can rest assured in our own grace and forgiveness in Christ.
 
This is not to say that we should live our lives however we’d like, hurting people for the sake of hurting them!
 
It is also not the case that we should not seek restoration and forgiveness.
 
But regardless of how successful we are at asking forgiveness for our trespasses, and forgiving those who trespass against us, we are forgiven through Christ nonetheless.
 
Grace abounds through Christ, even as we continue to seek understanding, forgiveness, and love for ourselves and for others.
 
According to Dr. Terrence Lester, “Forgiveness is a boundless wellspring of grace. Repair is vital, both within ourselves and in our relationships with others…
 
“…These stories encourage us to embrace the transformative power of forgiveness and work toward reconciliation and healing.
 
They inspire us to open ourselves to the expansive grace of God.
 
By doing so, we can create a world where forgiveness mends what is broken, and where the beauty of repair shines through, illuminating our shared humanity.”
 
Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God of Grace, today we ask you to teach us how to forgive. We’ve learned today that forgiveness can be a difficult and deeply personal process. Teach us ways to offer forgiveness to others, even if they have not asked for it, in order to heal our own hearts. Likewise, teach us to forgive ourselves and recognize when we may need to ask for forgiveness from others. Help us to recognize that forgiveness can take time, on either end.
 
Teach us how to become whole again, to work toward restoration of our souls, and help us remember that we receive Your grace even if we struggle with forgiveness, either for ourselves or for others.
 
All of this we pray today in your name. Amen.

​The Message
 
When I was running my dog daycare, one thing was always inevitable.
As soon as I would start thinking to myself, “wow, things have been running really smoothly lately,” or, “maybe I do actually know what I am doing,” something bad or challenging would happen, or something would come up that I had no idea how to handle.
Every single time.
 
I could never get too big of an ego, because as soon as I would start to feel pretty confident, God would humble me in one way or another.
 
It was like whiplash, or a horrible roller coaster ride that never ended.
 
It feels like we’ve been on a roller coaster ride with Peter, too.
 
Today’s scripture came directly on the heels of last week’s scripture.
 
Last week, we heard Jesus ask his disciples, “who do you say that I am?” And his disciples first tell him who other people say he is – John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah, perhaps.
 
Jesus asks again, ”who do you say that I am,” and Peter answers him that he’s the Messiah.
 
Jesus changes his name from Simon to Peter, and then tells him he’s the rock on which the church was built and gives him the keys to the kingdom.
 
Now this week, we hear, quite literally in the very next line, this story in which Jesus tells his disciples what was going to happen to him – that he will suffer terribly, he will be killed, and he will rise again three days later.
 
Then, Peter takes Jesus aside and tells him to stop talking like that.
 
In Peter’s worldview and what he understands of the Messiah, God would not allow this to happen to the Messiah.
 
So Jesus rebukes him, calls him Satan, and tells him to get away from him.
 
What?!
 
What just happened??
 
It’s like a rollercoaster ride and we just got whiplash! How does Peter go from being the rock on which Christ’s church will be built, to Satan in a matter of a few sentences?
 
Well, what do we tend to do when our world unravels and our beliefs are tested?
 
Often, we tend to cling to what we know.
 
We’ve discussed in past weeks that Peter and the other disciples understand the concept of the Messiah from the worldview they have always known – that of the Jewish belief in the coming Messiah.
 
Jesus telling them that he’s going to suffer, be killed, and rise again, is completely outside of their scope of understanding of what the Messiah should be and do.
 
So, as Jesus foretells his death and resurrection, Peter protests. Peter is fixed upon the way he thinks things should go and he resists the pain of what is to come.
 
At the same time, Jesus is fixed upon his calling, and he therefore calls Peter out.
 
For all of us, there comes a time (or maybe several times) when our faith is tested and we have to face difficult and inconvenient truths.
 
In these times, we may desire to take the easier path – the path with less pain or less difficulty or fewer obstacles in the way.
 
In these moments, we may want to cling to the easier, more simplistic answers.
 
But, what if instead of choosing the easier path, we welcomed complexity?
 
What if we were able to stay fixed upon our convictions while also opening our minds to expanding our perspective or our worldview?
 
This is essentially what is happening to Peter.
 
His worldview and his concept of the Messiah still has not caught up to where Jesus actually is.
 
He is essentially experiencing cognitive dissonance which occurs when a person holds two related but contradictory thoughts.
 
Peter just declared that Jesus is the Messiah, but he still believes that the Messiah should look and act in certain ways.
 
So when he sees and hears Jesus talk about things he doesn’t yet believe a Messiah should have to face, he doesn’t know how to handle it.
 
And Jesus is faced with the difficult knowledge of his own pain, suffering, death, and resurrection.
 
He’s not in a position to have anyone question this knowledge, because even though he knows it’s coming and accepts his fate, he doesn’t need anyone causing him to question his call to his mission.
 
Between last week’s scripture and this week’s, we see tremendous growth on Peter’s part.
 
He is faced with significant challenges to his worldview.
 
We can probably relate to this – there are people we might encounter in the world, or situations we might encounter that do not fit our expectations or our worldview at all.
 
When this happens, we may initially feel like Peter. We may be resistant to the newness of the concepts or the idea that there are people in the world who are very different than us.
 
In those moments, we might be like Peter.
 
We might want to pull the person aside and say “hey, what are you doing? This isn’t right and I don’t approve.”
 
We might want to fight learning about new concepts because it’s outside the scope of understanding we have always known.
 
But Peter shows us that when we encounter something that is outside of our scope of understanding, it is possible to adjust our understanding to include the new concept or person or idea.
 
Jesus’ response in this passage may not feel very loving toward Peter. But I would argue that Jesus feels comfortable enough to respond this way because he loves and trusts Peter completely.
 
Jesus trusts Peter enough to know that he is still struggling to understand concepts that had previously been foreign to him – or at least vastly different than what Peter was taught and what he has always known.
 
And he trusts him enough to rebuke him because he has such high expectations for him as the rock on which the church will be built.
 
Jesus trusts that Peter will be able to confront his worldview, be open to the complexity of the dissonance, and work on expanding his perception and understanding.
 
And because he trusts him and loves him so deeply, he gives him the space to do this.
 
Peter has an opportunity to learn from this, and to learn from Jesus.
 
It reminds me of Morgan Freeman talking about how God answers prayers in the movie Evan Almighty.
 
He says, “If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient? If they prayed for courage, does God give them courage, or does he give them opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”
 
Jesus was giving Peter an opportunity to choose to open his mind and expand his conception of what a Messiah should be.
 
Just like each time I experienced whiplash when I was running my daycare, and I would just start to feel like I knew what I was doing, God would give me opportunities to learn even more.
 
It often felt to me like God was just really trying to take me down a peg – or 10.
 
But, each challenge was a chance for me to grow as a business owner, a dog trainer, and as a person.
 
And, I would argue that each of these challenges set me up to become a better pastor, too, because they often helped me learn how to work better with people, and how to expand my worldview and step outside of my comfort zone.
 
So what can we learn from Peter, once again, today?
 
We experience challenges to our worldviews just like Peter did. And, we don’t always handle those challenges with grace, much like Peter’s initial reaction.
 
And yet, despite the fact that God knows we will stumble sometimes – we will question and wonder and feel uncertain, and we might even pull God aside and say “what are you doing? This is too much for me.”
 
And through all of it, God will not stop loving us.
 
God might give us opportunities to grow and expand our worldviews, but it is done out of love.
 
Even if in the moment it might feel to us like it’s too much, or like we are being tested, or maybe even that God has given up on us.
 
But through all of that, God remains steadfast in his love for us, and today’s lesson is a beautiful reminder of that love. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Listening God, If we could attach ourselves to you, we would. We would scribble your scripture onto our tender hearts. We would weave your good news into the fiber of our being. We would bind ourselves to you, but instead, we wander. Instead of attaching ourselves to you, we find ourselves swept up in the business of the day. Like a seesaw of faithfulness, we move back and forth, up and down, constantly trying to find you in the midst of it all.
 
So thank you for speaking clearly to us now. Thank you for quieting the distractions long enough for us to affix ourselves to your good news. We are listening. We are hungry. We are hopeful. Amen.

​Young at Heart Message
 
We are going to begin today’s message a bit differently than normal.
 
One of the reasons I enjoy using Sanctified Art as a resource is because they provide art that is unique to each week’s theme.
 
So, today, I would like us to look at and think about the art that goes with today’s scripture and theme.
 
As we look at the art, I would like to provide some of the information about the piece that the artist provided in their statement about the image.
 
Then, I’d like for us to think about how this image might relate to today’s message.
 
So, let’s start by simply taking a few silent moments to look at the piece of art and take it all in.
 
What meaning might we find in this piece of art?
How does it relate to today’s scripture?

​The artist states: 
 
“In this image, I wanted to create a kaleidoscope of perception, imaging the ways Jesus is perceived in the context of this passage, like light broken down into a myriad of shapes and colors.”
 
Let’s look a little closer at each of the elements the artist chose to depict.
 
In the gold rays of light Jesus’ form is obscured by the metallic shine of God’s glory.

​In the gray and earth-tone rays he is seen in monochrome.
 
Each of the earth-tone rays holds a pattern on Jesus’ clothing which represents a misunderstanding of who Jesus is.

​Starting in the monochrome slice on the left, honey, locusts, and baptismal waters misidentify him as John the Baptist.

​Within the next ray to the right, ravens, an empty chair, rain, and fires from the heavens misidentify him as Elijah.

​On the right, scales of justice and plants being uprooted and planted misidentify him as Jeremiah.

​Through the middle of the image, there is a ray of light where the image comes into full color that holds this moment of clarity where Jesus and Peter truly see one another.

​In this ray, Peter’s clothing holds symbols of his new identity: a rock upon which the church will be built and keys to the kingdom.

​Jesus’ clothing holds imagery—an oil jar and the light of the sun—representing the way Peter sees him as the Messiah and Son of the living God.

​Did you see all of that imagery when you first looked at the full piece of art?
 
I definitely didn’t. But I can appreciate the explanation and now, when I look at the full image, I can see deeper meaning, especially as it relates to today’s scripture.
 
Let’s look one more time at the whole image and take a moment to piece the entire thing together before we move into the next part of the message.

​The Message
 
What does all of this mean for us today? What is this story about Peter teaching us?
 
We don’t really know from today’s scripture if this was a moment of clarity for Peter, if he was just regurgitating the answer he thought Jesus wanted to hear, or if he was trying to convince himself that dropping everything and following this man was worth it, but we generally consider this passage to be a breakthrough for Peter.
 
He does still falter a bit as we get closer to Jesus’ betrayal, but this passage is definitely a turning point and a significant event in Peter’s life (and in Jesus’ ministry).
 
Jesus fully sees Peter as more than Simon - fisherman and son of Jonah. He renames him Peter, the blessed foundation through which his ministry would take root and continue to grow.
 
Jesus sees Peter through the eyes of God.
 
And, Peter sees Jesus as more than a teacher and companion.
 
He sees through the veil of confusion concerning Jesus’ identity. He doesn’t see him as the reincarnation of a former prophet, or another contemporary baptizer pointing the way.
 
He names Jesus as the “anointed one,” the one his people have so desperately longed for. Peter proclaims Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God.
 
This mutual realization that both Jesus and Peter have in this passage, and the significance of the renaming of Peter and properly identifying Jesus as the Messiah is incredibly important.
 
We must remember that the Jews conceptualized the idea of the Messiah differently than the ways that Jesus actually personified the Messiah.
Jesus was not what they expected, so they spend most of his ministry resetting their expectations and questioning a lot of what Jesus does.
 
The fact that Jesus asks Peter who he is, and Peter’s response identifying him as the Messiah is significant because Jesus has been misidentified several times previously as another prophet.
 
When Jesus first asks the disciples who they say he is, they respond with what other people have been saying about him – that he’s John the Baptist, or Elijah, or Jeremiah.
 
But Jesus presses them and challenges them to think for themselves.
 
In doing so, he prompts Peter to identify him properly and clear up any confusion.
 
Then, Jesus renames Peter.
 
The idea of naming and identification carries tremendous meaning, both for us today and for Peter then.
 
Peter is honored by being told he will be the rock on which the church is built.
 
The change of his name here is a reminder that names are important, they carry meaning, and changing names can carry tremendous weight for people – both today and in the time of Jesus.
 
People change names for reasons that are important and significant to them. The fact that Peter chose to go by his new name demonstrates how honored he felt that Jesus chose that name for him.
 
There are several characters in the Bible whose names are changed.
 
Each time, once the name has been changed, other characters in the texts immediately begin using the new name.
 
It demonstrates that even in the ancient world, naming and properly identifying people carries significant weight. It is important, even to Jesus, and to the rest of us as well, to be properly identified.
 
It is part of who we are, and helps us to create meaning in our lives and relationships with others.
 
Peter was not only honored, but also humbled by being renamed and being told that he was the rock on which Christ’s church would be built.
 
He also demonstrates the grace that Jesus offers to all of us.
 
Peter wasn’t perfect, we know that.
 
Jesus sought out Peter, Jesus rescued him, and now Jesus offers him grace and space to recognize him as the Messiah even as he questioned him previously.
 
Jesus also knew Peter would deny him again in the future.
And still Jesus honored him with his new name, the trust to be the rock on which the church would be built, and the key to Christ’s kingdom.
 
This imperfect disciple who questions and wonders, and who carries throughout the Gospels a Wandering Heart is still honored and loved and trusted by Christ.
 
And the Good News we receive through this passage is that if Christ can love this imperfect man this much, he can and does love us, too.
 
Christ names us, identifies us, seeks us, rescues us, and welcomes us to join him on the mountaintop. All we need to do is accept his invitation. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Holy God, For generations people have bowed their heads, have prayed the Psalms, have asked for your presence in their lives. For generations people have whispered, “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable and pleasing to you, O God.” For generations we have gathered here, we have quieted our minds, we have prayed to feel your presence in our midst.
 
So, just like the generations before us, we turn our hearts to You. Still our busy minds so that we might truly comprehend what you have said to us today. With joy and hope we pray, Amen.

Young at Heart Message
​
As most of you know, I’ve gotten into rock climbing since I’ve moved to Calgary.
 
And, perhaps unfortunately for you, I’ve realized that rock climbing makes for good examples in sermons, weirdly enough.
 
So, let’s talk about rock climbing for a minute!
 
I’m not a stellar rock climber, but I am getting better at it, a little bit.
 
I’ve been working really hard on learning to climb routes that have minor overhangs.
 
There are lots of different ways that an overhang can look, but I’ll show you two examples:
 
This is an example of an almost horizontal overhang:

That might not seem like it would be difficult, but you’ll just have to believe me that it is – especially if you are just getting started on learning how to do overhangs.
 
Now, this picture is from this past weekend, and that climb is at a climbing location that’s different than the place I usually go.
 
So, I was able to do this climb because they have some overhangs at this location that are a bit better for beginners.
 
But, what I really want to talk about is a climb I’ve been trying so hard to master at the location we usually go to.
I haven’t been able to do it.
 
Sadly, I don’t have any photos, but what’s happening is I can get to one particular spot, and I cannot figure out how to get over it to get to the top of the overhang.
 
I’ve tried about 10 times now. My arms get too tired and weak before I can reach the next hold.
 
Metaphorically, I begin to sink.
 
Every time I try this climb, I think I’m going to do something differently, or I’m going to figure out a new way to move my arms so I can reach the next hold.
 
Every time, there’s a voice that says it will be different this time – just have faith.
 
And every time, I feel like I fail.
 
Like Peter, I listened to that voice that says “climb,” and every time, I get to that same spot, and I falter and I start to sink.
 
Unlike Peter, there’s no one to reach out a hand and catch me – or perhaps there is, in the sense that I am harnessed in and there’s no real risk of falling.​

​The Message
Alright, I’d love to talk about rock climbing all day, but let’s shift gears and talk about Peter instead.
 
There are two ways (at least) that I could preach about this passage on Peter, and of course pastors typically choose one of the two ways.
 
I could preach about Peter’s lack of faith.
 
Peter essentially says “hey Jesus, if you tell me to, I’ll walk on water toward you…really! Looks easy…”
 
And then he starts to walk toward Jesus, and he becomes aware of his surroundings, loses confidence, and begins to sink.
 
We could talk about how he loses faith in this moment and needs Jesus to rescue him. We could cast him as a sinful doubter.
 
But looking at it this way leads us to believe that this is a failure on Peter’s part.
 
More importantly, it leads us to wonder if, every time we struggle, God sees us as failures.
 
I don’t care to look at it this way.
 
First of all, Peter isn’t Jesus – he isn’t the Messiah, and he isn’t the Son of God. He’s a normal guy trying to figure out faith, muddling through life just like the rest of us.
 
He’s wrestling with faith and trust in Jesus just like most of us do from time to time.
 
Not to mention, of all the disciples in the boat, he’s the only one who even attempted to walk on water.
 
Is he a sinful doubter?
 
Or, is he the only one with the bold courage required to take a leap of faith—or to willingly step into the storm?
 
I know that my physical ability to get over the overhang climb I’ve been wrestling with is limited.
 
And yet, I will continue to try over and over again, and maybe someday I’ll get it. Or maybe I won’t, but that’s not what matters.
 
Just like sinking isn’t what matters in Peter’s story.
 
What matters is two things:


1.   That Peter took a leap of faith and stepped out onto the water and tried something that defies the laws of nature and that no human is actually capable of doing in the first place, and,
2.   That he knew that if he did falter, Jesus would not let him drown – that Jesus would rescue him.
 
Peter took a risk because he trusted that Jesus would rescue him if things didn’t go as he expected.
 
It might not have been pretty – he may have been wet and cold, scared and a bit shaky after the rescue. But he was certain Jesus would rescue him.
 
I think it’s easy to get confused when Jesus follows up his rescue with “You surely don’t have much faith. Why do you doubt?”
 
But, I don’t think this was intended to make Peter feel ashamed or feel like a failure. It feels more tongue-in-cheek to me.
 
I could imagine Jesus giving Peter a sly smile here, knowing that what he just did was actually amazing and showed incredible faith.
 
Doubt is a normal and important element in fostering a healthy spiritual life, and the fact that we see Peter experience it helps us relate to him.
 
We experience doubt too – all the time!
 
But, we also see Jesus extending his hand, reminding us that God is with us in every storm.
 
And knowing that God is there waiting to rescue us when we need it is comforting.
 
We cannot expect that life won’t ever be hard. We all have enough life experience at this point that we know this isn’t true.
 
But, we can know that when we step off that boat, Jesus is waiting, hand outstretched, to catch us.
 
We may not come out of that water looking like rainbows and roses because life sometimes wears us down.
 
But if we reach out a hand and ask Jesus to rescue us, he is ready and waiting.
 
What that looks like may not always be what we expect, and we may not always be able to see that it is Jesus until we are out of the water and safely on land again.
 
Peter shows us that doubt and questions are not a reason that Jesus would leave us to flounder on our own.
 
The storm is raging around Peter, the wind is howling – of course he’s going to experience fear and doubt. That is a very normal part of human existence and of our faith journeys.
 
The fact that we get to be flies on the wall – or perhaps seagulls in the air - as we watch Peter struggle with the same things we do is helpful for us.
It helps us to feel normal when we have questions, or when we step off the boat and suddenly feel like we’re in danger.
 
It is reassuring to hear the Good News from Peter’s story – that Jesus seeks us and reaches out to rescue us from danger.
 
Jesus reaches for us even if we have not yet extended our hand toward him.
 
So, when the storm is raging, when the wind is howling, when you feel like your attempts to stay on the water are feeble at best, and impossible at worst, know that Jesus reaches for you through it all.
 
Even if you don’t have the energy or the courage or the strength, even if you feel like your faith is shaken, Jesus is there to rescue you.
 
He may be difficult to recognize because he may reach out in many different ways.
 
But he is always reaching for you.
 
May you take comfort in knowing that no matter how turbulent the storm may be, Jesus is reaching out his hand for you.
 
Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and always, Jesus has been there and will always be there for you.
 
Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God, we often have Wandering Hearts like Peter - one moment, we feel confident in our faith and certain that nothing could cause us to sink. The next moment, we find ourselves in sinking.
 
In these moments God, we are so grateful that you are there to reach for us, to pull our heads above water, and to rescue us from danger.
 
God, sometimes when we are sinking, it can feel to us like we’re failing you. But you’ve shown us that you don’t see it as failure. You see it as a leap of faith - a chance to try and even if we don’t succeed, we’ve demonstrated our faith in you by simply trying.
 
We pray, God, that you will never let us sink and you will always reach for us when we feel uncertain, afraid, or like the storm around us is too much to handle. Rescue us from danger, again and again. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

Like many of us, Peter has a Wandering Heart. His journey is not polished, or linear, or perfect, but he is always tethered to the love of God.
 
When you look closely at Peter’s story, you find Jesus at each step along the way—offering him abundance, catching him when he begins to sink, challenging him when he stands in the way, washing his feet, predicting his betrayal, and offering him agapē love.
 
This Lent, we’re joining Peter in figuring out faith. 
 
We’re not idolizing or vilifying him. Instead, we’re hoping to wander alongside him, open to what we might learn about Jesus (and ourselves) by stepping into Peter’s shoes.
 
I don’t know if you have ever literally stepped into someone else’s shoes, but it can be a rather unpleasant (and sometimes smelly!) experience!

Often, trying to figuratively step into someone else’s shoes can be quite difficult, because we can only approach life by looking through our own lens.
 
Of course, we try to look through the lens of someone else, but it isn’t always easy.
 
So, let’s look at today’s scripture and try to put ourselves in Peter’s shoes for a moment.
 
I’ll re-tell the scripture reading and insert some questions we can ask as we ponder the story again.
 
Let’s look at the story in a bit better detail:
 
One day as Jesus was by the Sea of Galilee, people began to crowd around him, trying to
hear what he had to say.
 
On the shore, Jesus saw two boats where the fishermen were washing their nets after a
long night of fishing.
 
Imagine how it might have felt to come back from a long, unsuccessful night of back-aching labor trying to catch fish for a living.

Jesus climbed into the boat that belonged to Simon Peter and asked him to take it out into the water so he could teach the people who had come to hear him speak.
 
Now, imagine that this fishing boat is your only means of feeding your family and earning a living, and Jesus is asking to borrow the boat.

After he was done teaching the people, Jesus told Simon Peter, “Take the boat into deeper water and let out your nets so you can catch some fish.”
 
Simon Peter told Jesus, “Sir, we've been out here all night trying to catch fish but our nets have come up empty.”
 
How might Peter have felt? He does this for a living, he was out all night with no luck, and now someone who knows nothing about his trade is telling him to go back out again.

“But if you say so, we’ll try again.” So Simon Peter and the other fishermen on the boat let out their nets. Soon they caught so many fish that their nets began to break! They called to their friends in the other boat to come help them with their enormous catch.
 
Imagine the trust and faith these men must have had to go out again despite an entire night not catching any fish! And, how well their faith was solidified by catching more fish than they could ever imagine.

Both boats were overflowing with fish, and they were all amazed. When he saw this miracle, Simon Peter bowed down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, sir. I am not worthy to be in your presence.”
 
How difficult might it have been to humble himself like this? He initially questioned Jesus, and now he had foot-in-mouth syndrome.

But Jesus said to Simon Peter, “There’s nothing to be afraid of. From now on you will catch people instead of fish.” When the boats arrived on the shore, Simon Peter and his fellow fishermen left their boats behind and followed Jesus.
 
What level of commitment and trust in Jesus did these men have to have to give up their entire livelihood – the only way they have ever known to earn a living and feed their families – in order to follow Jesus? Would this be easy for us to do?

​Hopefully, we can acknowledge that stepping into someone else’s shoes – especially someone who lived thousands of years ago – might not be easy.
 
And hopefully, we have also learned to ask ourselves some deeper questions as we read the stories in the Bible.
 
It can be a valuable lesson to try to ask how we might feel if we were in the shoes of someone else!
 
The Message
As I mentioned earlier, our sermon series for Lent and Easter is going to be following Peter as he interacts with Jesus throughout Jesus’ ministry.
For those of you who are familiar with Peter – also known in the Gospels as Simon Peter and Cephas - you may know that he goes through several ups and downs.
One moment, he’s a hero, and the next, he’s a goat.
 
In today’s scripture, it is important to note that Jesus doesn’t seek out trained rabbis and priests to be his disciples.
 
Instead, he calls a few Galilean
fishermen to follow him and join his ministry.
 
The men Jesus called to be his first disciples were accustomed to hard physical labor.
 
They owned their businesses, which had been handed down from their fathers.
 
Leaving the trade would not have been an easy transition for these men.
 
And yet, after they do as Jesus told them and drop their nets once more, they can’t help but be convinced of their call.
 
They haul in more fish than they could have ever imagined, especially after an unsuccessful night of fishing.
 
When Jesus tells Simon “Don’t be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish,” no one really knows what to expect.
 
And yet, the scripture tells us “they left everything and went with Jesus.”
 
Jesus sought these men specifically.
 
He did not seek out powerful, influential people who were knowledgeable about theology or people who were good at evangelizing.
 
Jesus sought out imperfect, flawed people to become his first disciples.
 
People like Simon Peter, who would question him and feel fear and uncertainty.
 
Jesus sought people who would struggle to understand the work they were called to do, and who would struggle to understand the reason Jesus would have to suffer and die on the cross.
 
Jesus knew these disciples would struggle.
 
He knew one of them would betray him.
 
And yet, he sought them anyway.
 
And the Good News for us is that Jesus seeks us, too.
 
And if Peter teaches us anything throughout this sermon series, it will be that we don’t need to be perfect in order for Jesus to call us and seek us.
 
We don’t need to be perfect, and he doesn’t expect us to.
 
He didn’t expect perfection from Simon Peter or his other disciples, and he doesn’t expect it from us either.
 
We can follow Jesus with Wandering Hearts, just like Peter, and Jesus will love us, guide us, teach us, and not let us stray too far despite our Wandering Hearts.
 
I am looking forward to Wandering with Peter through this Lenten journey, and I hope you are too.
 
As we follow Peter and his interactions with Jesus, we are invited to look deeper into our own hearts and recognize ourselves in Peter’s journey.
 
May we journey together, engage in conversation, and learn together this Lenten season. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
God of goodness and love, we are so grateful you sent your Son Jesus Christ as a teacher and guide. We are grateful that He sought Wandering Hearts like Peter because it helps us feel more at ease with our own Wandering Hearts. Jesus allows us to settle our hearts, to be exactly who You created us to be, and to do what we are called to do without guilt or shame about those things that make us imperfectly, beautifully human.
 
For all of this, we are eternally grateful. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.