Holy Trinity Ankeny

Simply because humans can sense time means we wonder what our life means, what purpose we serve. We can devote ourselves to personal goals, achievements, accomplishments that will all fade and expire with time. The only purpose and meaning that stands the test of time comes from God. God relentlessly calls us to be fully human, to live in the image of God shown in Jesus. God persistently calls us to love as we have been loved. The prophets, like Jeremiah, responded to the call not because it was about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In answering that call they suffered, they sacrificed, but they also found a purpose and meaning that never dies.

Today Isaiah sings a song about his beloved God and God’s vineyard.  This is a text that speaks of the disappointment God experiences when those who God has called to be a blessing to the world fall short.  Hear about our calling as Christ-bearers.  Hear about God’s determination and perseverance.  God never gives up on God’s people even though we are broken people who frequently fit God’s description of “sour grapes."

The very first words from the prophets in the Bible are from Isaiah. The word of the Lord is to stop making offerings and cease prayer. God is sick and tired of meaningless practices that don’t lead to love and justice. Pretty harsh, it seems. A little unexpected, right? A popular statement of faith today is that, “I am spiritual, but not religious.” Isaiah spoke that way almost three thousand years ago, but the “spirituality” he called people to embrace was not warm and fuzzy; not about me. It was about worship that led to changed lives and a changed world. Any other kind of worship just wasted God’s time.

Anne Lamott states in her book Operating Instructions, “there really are places in the heart you don’t even know exist until you love a child.”  We all have children in our lives who have touched our hearts, and we all have been children who carried love into the hearts of our biological or adoptive parents.  Parenting is hard work, filled with times of joy, frustration, disappointment and celebration.  Hear the story of God as a parent to the people of Israel and to us today. 

It may seem odd to think of God as anything other than grand, glorious, and all-powerful. The prophet Hosea, however, gets at the heart of God as he marries an unfaithful spouse and names his children odd names that remind the people of how unfaithful they have been to the God who loves them. What is God to do when the people of God (us) constantly chase after other powers, ideas and idols like an unfaithful spouse who can’t stay home? That is what this sermon is about…

The prophet Amos sees a basket of ripe fruit, but it is not as pleasing as it sounds. This ripe fruit is the final harvest and the fruit is rotting fast. God’s Word is spoken to tell the hard truth to the people – and to us. We worship God mindlessly and we participate in a world that robs from the poor. Our lives are centered on making a buck instead of following God – and God has had enough! God’s Word may be hard to hear sometimes, but it is always a call to justice, peace, and the abundant life God offers in Christ.

Today we hear from the prophet Amos. He receives a vision of a plumb line that God uses as a standard to measure the people of Israel. The people are out of plumb.  They have deviated tremendously from listening to and loving God. My experience with plumb lines relates to trying to hang wallpaper. Finding the plumb assures that the paper is going to be precisely vertical and so it will align well on the wall. The Gospel reading identifies a Samaritan who helps another in distress. Compassion and mercy are the attributes of Jesus who is the Good Samaritan figure. The Good Samaritan is an example of someone whose measure is plumb. What about you…God calls an average person, a dresser of sycamore trees, to proclaim his message so that the world can get back in plumb. How is God calling you? Who is the one who gives hope to a world that is off plumb? Listen and find out.

Naaman was a powerful, wealthy, privileged, man. But none of that could help his leprosy. Two kings and a wagon full of treasure couldn’t help. Nothing he possessed; no one he knew; no rank or title meant anything to a God who heals who God heals. God came in a slave girl, two servants and a poor excuse for a river, named the Jordan. God’s grace is amazing because it comes through the simplest, most common, powerless things, like words, water, wine and bread. As Bonhoeffer says, “(Grace) is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life.” Leave behind everything so God in Christ can give you everything that matters.

Elijah’s successor Elisha boldly asked for a double share of Elijah’s spirit shortly before Elijah ascended into heaven. God grants bold requests even today, as shown during VBS and our new Hands & Feet program for upper elementary students last week.

Hear the story of Elijah and his escape into the wilderness.  He is done, exhausted and afraid since his life is being threatened.  An angel provides nourishment for the 40 days of travel.  He finally holes up in a cave.  God reaches out to him and passes before him asking Elijah, “What are you doing here?”  Are you tired, overworked, underappreciated, and burning the candle at both ends?  God comes to Elijah, not in the wind or in fire, but in sheer silence. Listen and hear how God nourishes us, how we are restored after a hard week, and given life through the one who is the Bread of Life.  Listen – perhaps God is speaking to you asking you to re-evaluate your life as he asked Elijah, “What are you doing here?”