Holy Trinity Ankeny

Today Jesus says good-bye to his friends. He wants them to know that it will be ok; they need not worry. We often have difficulty thinking that things will be ok. How often life seems unmerciful and unforgiving. Hear the promise of Jesus and where to look for mercy.

Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. This is the mystery of our faith. Most of us do OK thinking about Christ’s death in the past. Maybe we even are OK with a sense of Christ’s return or eternal life when we die. The biggest mystery is the resurrected Jesus as present, material, concrete reality. Luke tells us the story of the Jesus who is risen in our midst, in each of our days. Christ is risen, here, now and is closer than you might think. This sermon is about the “risen-ness” of Christ.”

Hope can be a fleeting thing. We hope for many things that leave us disappointed. That sends us down wrong roads, trying to make the future out of the past; trying to find hope in things that cannot deliver anything but despair, in the end. Two disciples headed home recalling the past glory of Emmaus, had hoped Jesus was the Messiah only to see that hope crucified on the cross. On the road and in the breaking of the bread, the risen Jesus is revealed, restoring hope. That happens all the time – whenever, in Jesus name, we take, bless, break and give what we have and what we are.

The risen Lord Jesus comes and meets Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and specifically to “the missing” Thomas, so that they can encounter him. Jesus comes to us today, in peace, and with the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we too may encounter, embrace, and be transformed by the Good News of his resurrected life.

The men who were sent to guard the tomb of Jesus had a harder job than they imagined. They had little idea that the tomb was not up to the task of containing Immanuel (God with us); that God had in mind to reboot all creation on that morning starting with raising Jesus; that Love could not be so easily be extinguished. The power of the resurrection has been shared with you and me, and “since we have been raised with Christ” (Col. 3:1) we have nothing to fear in this world ever again, not even death. For God, Love, Life have the final word over all things.

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Matthew

The Gospel of John invites us to come and see who Jesus is; the Son of God.  Come and see Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead and reveal the glory of God.

We live in a world where we know things about each other, but we don't know others deeply. We see surface details like position, looks, titles, but do not see the human before us at least not as God sees. God sees us in our failures, with our faults; God sees us beyond the opinions of the world. When God sees us, and seeks us out, God can give us the sight we need to see God in our midst. That is what happens to a "man born blind" in John's gospel. Jesus sees him, seeks him out and gives him not just the ability to use his eyes, but to see God standing before him.

Today we hear the story of the woman at the well and the one who stayed with her awhile. Hear about the life-changing water that Jesus gives, the transformation that occurred in this unnamed woman’s life, and the change that is offered to us too.

A comfortable and well laid out life is like a straight, wide highway: not many surprises and an assured destination with each of us in control at the wheel. God has a habit of setting interchanges, junctions or crossroads before us however, that beckon us to places we’ve never been by roads untraveled. “The road less traveled” is often the path to life and light – Just ask Abram and Sarai, Nicodemus and Patrick of Ireland.