Your Faith Journey - Finding God Through Words, Song and Praise

This is a special musical presentation of He Knows My Name by the Singing Sinners at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Transfiguration Sunday – 02/11/2024

Do we desire to know Jesus more intimately? You may say, of course all Christians do. What could that look like? Jesus does desire an intimate relationship with each one of us.

One way to begin answering this question is to look at our experience in relationship with human beings. Some people only have one best friend their entire lives, others have had a number of them. Hopefully if you have or have had a partner/spouse, they have been your best friend on many levels and this involves intimacy. We learn to appreciate these relationships, but it has not always been easy. It does mean being honest with each other and this doesn't always make us comfortable. Even though Jesus knows everything about us, it is often difficult to be honest with him.

Having intimacy with another means that we need to be honest with ourselves. Who are we? Intimacy with another means that we trust them enough to tell us the truth even if it hurts. This is why we don't always have a lot of best friends. There is pain and hopefully always affirmation in each of our relationships. A best friend walks with us through the celebratory times and times we would rather not have to walk through. Could Jesus be shining his light through our best friend?

In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus takes his disciples up on the mountain. They have no idea why Jesus is taking them up there. Mark doesn't waste any time and Jesus is transfigured before them. He was lit up along with Moses and Elijah. Moses represent the law and Elijah represents the prophets.

I question how Peter, James, and John knew who Moses and Elijah were, as I am sure they never had met them. Jesus is having a conversation with Moses and Elijah, but Mark doesn't say what they were talking about. Since Peter could never be quiet, he suggested to Jesus that building three booths would be a good idea in order to prolong this vision. All three disciples were scared, James and John seemed to be too scared to speak.

Jesus did not even answer Peter as a cloud overshadowed them and a voice was heard from the cloud saying, "This is my Son, the beloved, listen to him." That ended the whole scene in front of them, only Jesus and the disciples were left. It was time to leave and go back down the mountain. Jesus told them to tell no one about what they had just experienced, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. It is thought that people would not understand this scene until Jesus' resurrection. I'm sure that can be said of the disciples also.

There seems to have been a connection there between Jesus and his disciples. This scene tied together what they would have known from their oral history and writings there may have been at that time. Jesus said he came to fulfill the law and not to abolish it. Jesus came to explain the law once again as people were not getting it. God gave these laws to guide us in how to be in relationship with them and others.

The law has not changed, and this is the original law that God gave to Moses. What came after was made by human beings and often paralyzed the intent of the law first given. Jesus summed up the law into two commandments, You shall love the Lord your God with all of you heart, soul, and all your mind and the second to love your neighbor as yourself.

These commandments help us to be in relationship with God in Jesus Christ and other human beings. Unfortunately, we have one word for love, where in the Greek there are at least three words for love. There is the philios which is the sibling kind of love; eros which is the sexual kind of love; and the agape which is a sacrificial love.

Each one of these types of love can have different levels of intimacy also. Each one takes a little bit different kind of work. This means time, thought and energy. There is only so much time in each day and we are all responsible for something or someone else. Thus, we are compelled to make decisions on how we spend our time, energy and thoughts.

The busier we get the less intimacy there is including with ourselves. Sometimes it is an event, for our disciples in the Gospel lesson it was a mountaintop experience that made them stop. There was a connection there that was not easily understood. It was a place where they were stopped and challenged to reflect on their relationships.

There was a connection that was building a foundation for the disciple's relationship with Jesus and their neighbors. With Moses and Elijah there it connected the faith that they had grown up with. Then God came in and said Jesus is my Son, listen to Him.

I would gather that the disciples pondered this event for some time. Jesus even told them not to tell the others as they may not understand. That connection between the disciples themselves and then with Jesus was strengthened in that event. Jesus only asked Peter, James, and John to go with him and consider how they were using their time, energy and thinking in their relationships.

Jesus calls each of us into relationship with him. This relationship begins at baptism. We as the beloved community are called to model what it means to be in relationship with God in Jesus Christ and each other. At confirmation we make a public affirmation of this relationship with Jesus.

Every one of us has a different kind of relationship with Jesus. God has made each one of us to think and process differently. Thus, we relate to Jesus in different ways and may use different names to address God in Jesus Christ. In my experience in the Lutheran church, I don't feel that we have spoken enough about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It really is a balance between a corporate and personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

When I was in fifth grade, I remember watching a Billy Graham Crusade on television. At the end of his preaching when he had the altar call, I knelt down and prayed. There was a connection there that I did not fully understand.

As I have grown in my faith, I now look at that as a time of connecting in that moment. Yes I had been baptized and I was a Christian and on that night I was affirming my personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. Last Sunday we had a healing service and whether you came up for prayer or not, I believe what we were doing in worship is affirming that we believe God in Jesus Christ is a healer and that with the help of the Holy Spirit we are drawn to connect and reconnect with God in Jesus Christ.

Everything that I have described as to what goes into a human relationship is challenged even more with Jesus. With Jesus, we can't literally see him. Thus in a sense it takes more time, energy and thinking.

Next Sunday we will be doing a few different things. We will be begin reciting the bible verse that I have chosen from our lessons in worship and wrote a newsletter article on. We will do this at the end of the announcements. Also, we will be doing the prayers of intercession a little differently. I will ask that prayer requests that are made on that Sunday are written on a card and the ushers will make sure that I get them.

We will sing a prayer song, I will then pray including these and some of the intercessions that we normally use and at the end we will sing the prayer song again. While I am praying, Bruce will be playing.

I would ask that you use this time to focus on your personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. On Wednesday, we gather together to say that we are nothing without God in Jesus Christ. Lent is a time to step back and examine our relationship with God and Jesus Christ.

God in Jesus Christ calls each one of us by name to foster our relationship with them. Reflect while we are here in worship, maybe the mountaintop, how intimate our relationship with God in Jesus Christ is?

This is a special musical presentation of They Shall Soar Like Eagles by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Epiphany 5 – Healing Service – 02/04/2024

Today we are going to do something new. This is what the time of transition is about, trying new things. Can I see a show of hands, how many have ever been to a healing service? By the end of the service today, you can all say that you have.

I remember my aunt and uncle taking me to one in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was after Christmas and I was supposed to play Christmas carols. We did not get to that until later in the evening. There was a pastor laying hands on people and praying for them. Sometimes they fell backward, and people had to catch them.

Even at my age at the time, I wondered what was going on. I have no doubts that some of the people may have been healed. The Holy Spirit can definitely move people in this way. I would dare say that most of us would not be comfortable with this and wonder if it was partly a show.

This is not what I am expecting to have happen here this morning, but that is not up to me. I do believe that the Holy Spirit has been, is and will be alive and active here. The question is what do we expect when we pray for healing?

\We can ask God to do anything. Often we would like to determine God's answer. When it doesn't come out the way we want it to, we can get angry, disappointed and may even think that God doesn't care. It is easy to forget that God never promised to fix everything. What God promised is to be with us.

\God has not said, only ask for certain things. God does listen to all of our requests. Depending on what shape we are when we ask, will determine the options that we are able to see ho9w God is answering

\We can learn early on in our lives that we do not always get what we want. Parents do their best to give their children what they need. What is needed changes definition depending on who is defining it.

\As we learn to trust God, we also learn that God gives us what we need and not always what we want. I remember a story about a man who was running an orphanage in England. They sat down to eat breakfast in the morning and had no milk. The man prayed and thanked God for the milk. They finished praying and a milk truck broke down in front of the home and they then had milk.

\I believe that God always answer prayers. In the case of the milk, it was what they needed, and the man thanked God before they even had it. The man believed that God would meet their needs. It could have been in a different way. In this case it was what was needed.When we pray for healing and are able to trust God, we are better to able to see the answers. If we are stuck on what we want, it may take us a while to see God's answer. For me the key is trust In the bible we learn that God gave to people what they needed, not always what they wanted.

In our Gospel lesson for today, Simon's mother in law had a fever and was in bed. They told Jesus at once. I believe that they had an expectation that Jesus could heal her. and he did. Jesus came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Immediately she began to serve them.

This was Jesus' first healing in the Gospel of Mark. By that evening word had passed and there were many people waiting to be healed. The whole city was gathered around the door. Jesus cured many and cast out demons. This was Jesus proclaiming the kingdom of God.

Every one of us has times in our life that we need to be healed. I want to define healing this morning as reconnecting with God in Jesus Christ. As human beings we are broken people. We are not perfect. Thus, we connect, disconnect and then feel the need to reconnect with God.

This is not to say that healing could not happen here in this place at this time. Some of you have specific healing requests. Again, part of this healing service is to remind us that God in Jesus Christ walks with us in every part of our lives. When we are able to trust God to give us what we need, a healing has taken place. We have connected with God in Jesus Christ. As I lay hands on you today, may you also hear God saying I love you my child. Rest in that love.

Today we are being invited to reconnect with God and receive a healing. God will decide what healing we receive. Our lives become so busy and sometimes exhausting that we are called to stop. God in Jesus Christ is always standing ready to take our hand and lift us up, just as he did with the woman in today's Gospel lesson.

It is in this reconnection, this lifting us up, that brings us new life and vitality and an assurance of God's love for each one of us.

Let us pray: Gracious God, we thank you for always listening and answering our prayers. We desire to connect with at this time and place. May your Spirit help us to trust that you know what we need. Thank you for always walking with us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

This is a special musical presentation of Open the Eyes of My Heart by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Luke 10:25-37; RIC Sunday; January 28, 2024

Additional texts: Amos 5:21-24; Romans 8:31-39

Amos and Romans texts from The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation, ©2007 Future Church

Gospel from First Nations Version, ©2021 by Rain Ministries Inc.

Rich Weingartner

Grace to you and peace from God our parent, Jesus our Savior, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Welcome to RIC (Reconciling in Christ) Sunday. As noted in your bulletin - this is a Sunday where we, and hundreds of other RIC congregations across the nation celebrate, remember, and rededicate themselves to the commitments they made when they became RIC. Those commitments are outlined in our welcome statement on the front of your bulletin. More information about RIC, a little history, and the reason we keep focusing on RIC will be in your February newsletter. On a personal note, this congregation and our RIC status and journey, have been a true blessing for me. To be able to fully be myself in the presence of God and this community is such a freeing feeling. To be able to lead worship with other members of the LGBTQIA+ community is amazing - something I would have never even thought would be possible 10-20 years ago. Yes, we've come a long way, but as always, there is still a journey ahead of us.

ReconcilingWorks, the organization that manages the RIC program, always provides resources to guide congregations in their planning of their RIC service. This year's theme is "Roll Down Justice". What a fitting theme for our congregation here at Faith. Over my time here, I have only seen our love of justice grow. All types of justice - social justice, refugee justice, justice for the hungry, justice for the LGBTQIA+ community, justice for our BIPOC siblings. As we continue on our transformation journey to prepare to complete our ministry site profile and begin to seek out candidates for a pastor, it is important to know who we are, and in our conversations so far, our justice work is always front and center.

So what is justice? According to Merriam Webster's dictionary: "the maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments" or "the quality of being just, impartial, or fair." Yawn. While dictionary definitions are accurate, they are often boring. Which is why I love the theme for this Sunday, "Roll Down Justice". It has action! "Roll Down". Which started me thinking more about Justice as not just a noun or a concept or something to strive for; but instead viewing justice as a verb - an action - something to do and get engaged in. Now it is starting to sound exciting!

The theme of justice. Our readings walk us through the What? The How? And the Why? First, in the old testament reading from Amos, we hear what we should be doing. We hear that God doesn't just want our solemn assemblies, burnt offerings and sacrifice, and general noise making. No, God asks us to "let justice flow like a river, and righteousness flow like an unfailing stream." (Amos 5:24) God wants justice to flow in God's creation - never ending - never ceasing. God is asking us to constantly work for and do justice.

This is reiterated in the Psalm today when it says "The works of your hands are faithfulness and justice" (Psalm 111:7). Now this is saying that the works of God's hands are faithfulness and justice - but who does the work of God's hands? As the ELCA slogan tells us: "God's Work. Our Hands." It is us who are called to carry out the work of faithfulness and justice.

Now we get to the "How?" part. How can we do this? A little later I'll focus more on this, but for now I want to focus on the aspect of the question "How can we do this? What if we get it wrong? What if we mess up? What if we get push back? What if we upset people?" In today's new testament reading from Romans, we receive reassurance that no matter what happens, God is on our side, "If God is for us, who can be

against us?" and "What will separate us from the love of Christ? Trouble? Calamity? Persecution? Hunger? Nakedness? Danger? Violence?" This is the good news of Jesus Christ and God - no matter what - God will not leave us, God's love and forgiveness are given to us already and nothing can take that away. As it says in the final part of today's reading from Romans: "For I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, neither heights nor depths—nor anything else in all creation—will be able to separate us from the love

of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Savior."

This is How we can do justice. We are freed from sin by the love and action of Jesus Christ, so we can focus on doing work and following the example of Christ, without worrying if something we do will take the love of God away from us or that we might not "earn" our way into the glorious kin-dom. All that is already done for us.

So now that we know what we should do, "let justice flow like a river," and how we are freed from sin and worry about earning God's love and forgiveness, we can look at the "Why?" Why should we care? Why should we do something? Won't other people do it? Why should I even try, it probably won't make a difference anyway. As the Bible reminds us over and over, the law or commandments we are told to follow are, as noted in today's Gospel reading from Luke, "You must love the Great Spirit from deep within, with the strength of your arms, the thoughts of your mind, and the courage of your heart, and you must love your fellow human beings in the same way you love yourselves." Or as we typically hear it, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself." (Luke 10:27, NRSVUE) The "Why" is because it is God's commandment, and in my personal opinion, simply the right thing to do.

To further emphasize the Why - a few other passages come to mind. First from James 2:14-16, from the First Nations translation: "What good is it, my sacred family members, if a man says "I have faith," but has no deeds to show for it? Can that kind of "faith" set him free and make him whole? If a family member or any human being has no clothes to wear or no food to eat, and you say, "Go in peace, stay warm, and eat well," but fail to give what is needed, what good have you done?", Here is the last verse again as we commonly hear it from the NRSVUE, "So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." Yes, we aren't saved by our works, but are saved by faith through grace. However, how valuable is that faith if we don't actively live it in our lives.

Turning to 1 John 3:16-17, again from the First Nations translation, "The Chosen One laid down his life for us. This is how we know what love is. In the same way, we should lay our lives down for each other. If someone who has many possessions sees another in need and shows no pity, how can Creator's love remain in that person?" If we truly want to feel the life giving love of our Creator, then we must do justice in the world to have it roll down among all God's creation.

Yes, we at Faith Lutheran, certainly do Justice, it is a constant river of work flowing through our community of faith. From the micro pantries (don't forget the Culver's fundraiser tomorrow evening!), to the refugee house - and all the help we give those living there, to climate justice with advocacy, solar panels, and rain gardens, to participating in Pride events, and holding racial justice protests/rallies on our sidewalk, we certainly do a lot of justice work. Reading our annual report is a great reminder of how much we do as a community. Tthis is a good look at who we are.

However, we aren't just called to do justice work together as a community. We are also called to do justice work in our daily lives outside our community of faith. This is clearly shown in our Gospel reading today, the story of the Good Samaritan. This story is familiar to many but shared today from a different translation, which I love, because it lets me be part of the story in a new way by helping me think about what it means. The way this translation is written, helped me remember that the first two people that passed by were Holy people, people that you would think would do the right thing because they were part of, and leaders of, a community of faith, but no - they are the ones that passed by the injured man. It was a complete outsider, an "other", a person who "was not a Tribal Member but a mixed blood despised by the tribal people" that stopped to help. This person, who based on society would have every right to ignore the injured man, made justice happen. Not just in some superficial way, but became committed to justice for this one person. As it says in verse 35, "The next day," the man left with instructions to the keeper of the lodging house to continue to care for them. Yes "The next day". This "other", the "outsider", set aside whatever plans they had and spent the night with the injured man taking care of him.

This parable is told to answer the question, "Who are my fellow human beings?" or as also translated, "Who is my neighbor?" This again is a question the transition team, along with the congregation, will be looking at as we work through this transition process. As we look toward where Faith Lutheran will be heading in the coming years, we are reminded of who are are called to be, by also reflecting on the question Jesus asked at the end of the parable, "'Which one of these three acted as a fellow human being to the man who was attacked by the thieves?' The scrollkeeper answered, 'The one who had pity on him.' 'Go,' Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said, 'and walk in the same way.'"

Yes, we are commanded to "Go and walk in the same way," and as shown in the parable, this is in our everyday lives in addition to the work we do as a community with Christ. It is sometimes harder to do justice work in our own lives instead of with a group. However, it is vitally important to do so, and the work comes in many ways. Do you defend people when they aren't able to? Do you correct people when they are incorrect and thus causing damage to people? Do you write and call your legislative representatives to let them know how you feel on issues - whether or not you know they'll agree with you? Do you vote for people who prioritize justice in their work and laws they introduce and vote for? Do you actively promote these people to encourage others to join you in your justice work?

There are many ways to work on justice in your own lives, and I personally think a good place to start with any of it, is education. The more you know about the oppressed communities and their history, the better you are able to understand their point of view and know ways to advocate for them without having to constantly be told by them what they need. We work to provide some education here at Faith, but doing your own learning is also important. Read books by authors of a diverse background. If you are on social media and you don't have any friends or organizations you follow that keep you learning something or challenging your thoughts, I encourage you to find some people or organizations to follow. I am on Facebook a lot, probably more than I should be, and I have a lot of friends and groups that I see posts from, most I just quickly scroll by, but there are a few friends and groups that I will always take the time to read or listen to their post - since I know it will give me information that I'm not hearing elsewhere, and often learn something new.

Just as in the story of the Good Samaritan, he didn't need to be told, "Hey - there is this person hurting, they need help, go and bandage their wounds, then take them to the local inn and care for them overnight and make sure they are cared for after that." No, he knew what to do on his own, it was ingrained into his personality - and that is our hope and prayer here as a community of Christ, in that we will continue to learn, both from society and from the word of God, so that justice becomes fully part of who we each individually and as a community are. This way we will be able to "lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty," so that Justice may continue to "flow like a river, and righteousness flow like an unfailing stream." Amen.

How you stepped outside of your comfort zone lately? Our lives can become so much in a rut, and we stay there, because it is comfortable. Each of our jobs or activities can become predictable. If we have been doing it long enough, we often know what to expect.

We are studying the Old Testament in confirmation right now. It seems history continues to repeat itself. From the beginning human beings have had a choice, listen to God or tell God that we know better. Are we willing to trust God or do we let our anxiety listen to people who want to keep others under control?

We continue to have many voices to listen to today and some are louder than others. It continues to be apparent that some people are following voices that don't make sense to us. As Christians answering Jesus' call to follow him, we are called to listen with keener and keener ears. The messages that we hear in our culture are going to become more confusing and not truthful.

This is where I challenge you and I to stop and listen to the message and to see if they line up with what Jesus' teachings are as we understand them. If the message does not affirm all of God's creation, then it is most likely not a message to follow. All Christians will not agree, and this is the tough part.

There are Christians who read and understand the Bible differently than we do. Thus, we are called to continue to study God's Word. We do have a Bible study every week online and the Holy Spirit is alive and active in it, challenging us in our faith journey.

Our study is during the day; thus, it cuts out people who work during the day. I wonder if when we are not studying the Bible in some way that when we are challenged by other Christians who study the Bible, how will we be able to answer? Everyone is busy and I understand that. There is only so much time and energy that we human beings have.

When the disciples were called to follow Jesus in our Gospel for today, what were they leaving? What were they risking? They were working with their father which meant their business supported families. Their business was tied into the commerce of their area. Not only did their families depend on them, but the whole area relied on their work.

In a sense they were tied into the government which meant their father and others would have to carry on the business without them. The fisherman were leaving a big hole, and their family was probably wondering how they could leave them and their work. The pull to Jesus seemed to be stronger. They heard and felt something that allowed them to take the risk and follow Jesus.

Mark even says that they immediately left. Unless it was an emergency, can you think of anyone or anything that would cause you to answer a call immediately? As Christians, we can look at this and say, God through the Holy Spirit had to have been at work.

In Mark, all that Jesus had said up until this point was "Time's up, God's kingdom is here, change your life, and believe in the good news." Now this is something that they were waiting for. Immediately doesn't involve much thought. That's it, times up, here we go.

The fisherman were in a rut. They probably fished almost every day and had family responsibilities. As comfortable as they must have been in knowing what came next for the most part, they stepped right out of it to follow Jesus.

Most of us have called someone or made a request of someone and we often wait for a response. The length of time may depend on whether it is something that they want to do or don't want to do. It may depend on how busy they are and if they want to change their schedule, let alone change their lives.

I would dare say there are not many requests made of us in life that we would immediately say yes and get up and follow. Especially ones that would upend everything that we have known. Leaving a job that gave some sense of security and family is not something we are often willing to do and the older we get the less we are willing to take that risk.

Jesus was asking these fishermen to step outside of their comfort zones and take a huge risk to follow him. Jesus needed people who were willing to learn in order to teach others. Jesus knew that they would be in for the ride of their lives. Even though it seems that they were following blindly, they sensed that Jesus was hopefully the Messiah who was proclaiming that God's kingdom is here and that the good news needed to be shared with all people.

Here at Faith Lutheran Church, we have heard the good news in many different forms here in worship. We have it in print. We sing the good news, read it and proclaim it. We do it in deed or action outside of these doors too. But how are we telling or proclaiming the good news outside these doors in words?

God is not calling everyone here to leave your families and your jobs in order to proclaim the good news to all people. I do believe that God in Jesus Christ is calling us to assess how we are doing it, how we are telling others of the good news outside of these doors. As individuals, I have no doubts that we are doing this, but I am talking about in the name of Faith Lutheran Church.

During this time of transition, this is what we are being called to do, to answer the questions: 1) Who are we? 2) Who is our neighbor? 3) How is God calling us to share the good news inside and outside of these doors?

We have our first conversation with the congregation on March 3 where we will be working on answering the question who are we? I am working on getting information for us to answer the question, who is our neighbor? The transition team is working on a creative way in which to answer the question, how is God calling us to share the good news inside and outside of these doors?

When we seek God for the answers to these questions, I believe God will answer them. Most likely, God will be asking us to step out of our comfort zones, some of the ruts that we are in. Jesus calls us every day to share the good news with all people through word and deed.

Jesus is calling each one of us today as individuals and as a community of faith to share the good news. There are many voices in our culture today that share words more of judgement and a lack of inclusion. These are the voices that we are called to counter act with God's love.

As human beings with a spotty track record with God, we will be tempted to stay in our comfort zones, in our comfortable ruts. Thankfully Jesus continues to call us and promise us that we are not alone in sharing the good news. God sent the Holy Spirit to give us direction in our individual lives and the life of Faith Lutheran Church.

Our country is in a very tenuous place right now. Part of this call will be to listen for the truth. When we answer this call we are saying to God in Jesus Chrit that we are going to listen for his truth. The kingdom is here, but we may need to work harder to find it and hear it. We will probably be called to uncomfortable places to share the good news as we hear it.

Some days we may answer the call immediately other days we may not, but the good news for us is that God continues to love us and forgive us. Jesus says to us today, "follow me and I will make you fish for people" How will you be answering that call and sharing the good news?

This is a special musical presentation of Wade in the Living Water, performed today by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir with a solo by Chris Lewis at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Second Sunday after Epiphany

January 14, 2024

Faith, Okemos

I Samuel 3:1-20, Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18, I Corinthians 6:12-20, John 1:43-51

O God, you search me and you know me. All my thoughts lie open to your gaze. When I walk or lie down you are before me; ever the maker and keeper of my days.

You know my resting and my rising. You discern my purpose from afar, and with love everlasting you besiege me; in ev'ry moment of life or death you are.

Before a word is on my tongue, Lord, you have known its meaning through and through. You are with me beyond my understanding; God of my present, my past, and future, too.

Although your Spirit is upon me, still I search for shelter from your light. There is nowhere on earth I can escape you; even the darkness is radiant in your sight.

For you created me and shaped me, gave me life within my mother's womb. For the wonder of who I am, I praise you; safe in your hands, all creation is made new.

All Creation Sings, 1082

I was struck this week as I read and pondered the texts for this Sunday, especially Psalm 139 and John 1, struck by the awareness that God knows, Jesus knows, my every thought. This was especially evident on Thursday morning when I noted with alarm an email that I had just purchased some software for well over $200. Included in the notification was a number I could call if this was in error. That began an hours-long journey through a thicket of multiple layers of fraud, cleverly masked as legitimate enterprises. I was increasing anxious when one purported helper noted that nearly half of my saving account had through the night been withdrawn.

In the words of Psalm 139 and John 1, the Lord knew my every thought, every emotion; knew my increasing anxiety.

Enter Mara, our middle child, whose family has been living with us as they, after moving from Virginia, look for a new home. She sat next to me as we made call after call to finally purge the threat. I know that I, and I think all humans, can't think clearly when we are anxious. Mara was much less anxious: "Dad, this doesn't feel right. I think we should hang up on this caller."

We learned that hackers are masters of deceit. We learned that they can mimic credible organizations like Pay Pal and Microsoft and Amazon and even our local bank.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me…you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways…

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit…

God know us intimately. Jesus knows me intimately. This is both disconcerting and immeasurably comforting.

The psalmist writes: Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. For me on Thursday, Mara was a little Christ, God's knowing what I needed, hemming me in, so to speak, preventing me from falling into the hands of those who would exploit me. And God was in the credible security folks we finally reached who placed new guard rails to protect me.

God who "fearfully and wonderfully" made each of us, loves us, all of us, quirks and all. Sins and all. We know this best because, in the words of St. Paul in Romans 5, "God proves his love for us in that while still were sinners Christ died for us."

Who of us has been and/or is not hard on ourselves? We may be ashamed of how we look or how we act or how dumb we feel. We may feel guilt for words spoken in unbridled anger or for our indifference to those neighbors who need our help. Or like those masters of deceit I experienced on Thursday, we may lie to protect ourselves or to benefit from other's innocence or naivete. "While we were still sinners…"

Here a word about Jesus and Nathanael about whom Jesus said, "truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." You may remember the story of Jacob and Esau. Jacob deceived his blind, dying father, Isaac, receiving the blessing of the birthright that rightly belonged to his elder brother Esau. Just before the brothers were reconciled when Esau forgave Jacob after years of deep hatred and estrangement, God came to Jacob in the night in the form of a man and wrestled with him until daybreak…

When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking. But Jacob said "I will not let you go unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed."

When Jesus said to Nathanael, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you," he saw not just his physical body but, I think, also his heart. Which led Nathanael to proclaim, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" When Nathanael said to Philip, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Jesus knew his thoughts, his skepticism, knew he was an Israelite, one who struggled with God and humans with perseverance and honesty. "Truly," said Jesus, "an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!"

I so love these texts for today. I love that God loves us so much that in the Son God has taken into Godself all of our darkness, all of our hatred and anger, and died on our behalf as a criminal. I love that the LORD of Psalm 139 and the Jesus of John 1, one and the same, knows my every thought, my every emotion, my every word. And in the words of Professor Craig Nessan, whom I heard in a talk at Bethlehem Lutheran Friday afternoon: through Jesus' suffering and death on the cross, God enables us to transmute the energy of our darkness, our hatred and anger, our alienation from one another into words and acts of mercy and forgiveness, of kindness and generosity.

I love that Jesus comes very near to us, certainly through the bread and fruit of the vine in Holy Communion, but also through those sisters and brothers sitting near to us this morning, whether physically or virtually. I love that Jesus was sitting with me on Thursday in the wisdom of Mara.

The challenge for all of us this afternoon and tomorrow and beyond is to remember and trust that the Son of God and King of Israel is hemming us in, behind and before, in every moment of our lives.

God, be the love to search and keep me; God, be the prayer to move my voice; God, be the strength to now uphold me; O Christ, surround me; O Christ, surround me. Walking behind to hem my journey, going ahead to light my way, and from beneath, above, and all ways; O Christ, surround me; O Christ, surround me. Christ in the eyes of all who see me, Christ in the ears that hear my voice, Christ in the hearts of all who know me; O Christ, surround me; O Christ, surround me.

All Creation Sings, 1084, vss. 1, 4 and 5

Amen.

This is a special musical presentation of Peace Is Our Prayer, performed today by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.