Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen
First on the
docket this morning is the boarded up window in my office.
On Friday
morning, one of our neighbors experienced a psychotic episode, came here to the
church, and proceeded to break the window of my office and then use the shards
of glass in a suicide attempt.
His family and
the police were able to intervene and he was taken to the hospital to receive
medical attention and a psychiatric evaluation.
We pray that he
will receive the help that he obviously needs and thank God that he was not
successful in his attempt to end his life.
It raises a
broader prayer concern at this time of year.
For the mentally
ill the holiday season is too often a living hell through which they must
negotiate, and many are not successful.
We struggle as a
nation to figure out how to most effectively care for the mentally ill. There are no easy answers. For many people the right medications can
work wonders, but even that is hit and misses.
Further complicating the matter is the fact that many of the mentally
ill struggle to maintain their prescribed treatment. Sometimes they can’t afford the meds, at
other times they fall prey to the belief that they don’t need them
anymore.
It’s difficult
for their family members as well.
You’d like to
help them. But often we don’t know what
to do, and even when we do, help is not always accepted.
Our Church helps.
Lutheran Services
in America, an umbrella organization that works on behalf of both the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod,
is by far the largest charitable organization in the country.
LSA has a total
annual revenue of 22.62 billion dollars.
That’s over twice
as much as the Salvation Army, United Way Worldwide, and the American Red Cross
combined.
On the streets,
we are known as “Lutheran”.
I make a point of
sharing this because so often when we think about our Church we get caught up
in all the controversies and issues that can divide us in these difficult
times. And there is a sentiment against “organized
religion”.
But the reason we
are part of this Church is very simple.
Christians
working together can make a profound difference in the world.
Lutheran Services
in America is one such example.
I hope that the
individual who injured himself here on Friday receives this kind of help.
Now on to Isaiah.
Emmanuel.
Look, the young woman is with child and
shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.
He shall eat curds and honey by the time he
knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows
how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you
are in dread will be deserted.”
These words from
Isaiah were a promise and a sign that he gave to Ahaz, the King of Judah.
Ahaz was afraid,
deeply concerned because King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah of the northern
Kingdom of Israel had plotted an attack against the southern Kingdom, Judah,
and its capital in Jerusalem.
Isaiah’s message
to Ahaz was a simple one.
Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not
let your heart be faint.
He promised that
in a short while, these two Kingdoms that threatened Jerusalem would be gone.
The sign that he
gave Ahaz was this.
A young maiden
would give birth to a child and name him Emmanuel, God with us.
And prior to that
child reaching the age of accountability, knowing the difference between good
and evil, which in Judaism was considered to be at the age of 12, these two
Kings who threatened Ahaz would be no more.
As history played
out, this is exactly what transpired, with Syria and the Northern Kingdom both
being destroyed while Judah, the Southern Kingdom remained.
I decided while I
was preparing my sermon this last week that this is a ‘new rule’, actually and
ancient rule.
We might call it
the Isaiah rule, or the Emmanuel rule.
Or perhaps even the Rule of 12.
The rule is: “Don’t get your undies in a bundle over
issues that will all be water under the bridge in twelve years.”
More succinctly “This
too shall pass.”
Just as a point
of reference, twelve years ago the first iPhone came out.
And it was almost
twelve years ago that the housing market collapsed, sending the country into
the great recession of 2008.
George Bush was
still president.
We were still
sending more and more troops to Iraq.
In 2009 the ELCA
passed the resolution of human sexuality.
The Soviet Union
Collapsed. . .
Actually, that
wasn’t twelve years ago, that was a whopping 28 years ago, already, in
1991. The first George Bush was
president at the time.
We could rattle
off a long list of all the issues that dominated the news and our lives over
the last 12 years.
Issues flared up.
They resolved
themselves.
Bush the Second was
president. Then Obama. Now Trump.
And in twelve
years we will have had other presidents.
We will have faced other issues.
I humor myself
with the thought that of all the events of the last twelve years, the
introduction of the iPhone may have had the most lasting impact.
Isaiah’s word to
Ahaz was simple.
Emmanuel.
God is with us.
All these issues
that seem so overwhelming will pass, but God will remain steadfast and true.
This promise is
picked up by Matthew regarding the birth of Jesus.
Jesus was born
during tumultuous times when the Roman Empire ruled Israel.
The message of
Emmanuel was the same as in Isaiah’s day.
All of the issues
that threaten you will pass, but God will remain with you.
It’s an
invitation to faith.
I remember a
person saying once that before we get too upset about all the events of our
day, just think about how many paragraphs that event will be given when the history
of Western Civilization is written in five hundred years.
What remains
constant is that God is with us.
This last week
the House voted to impeach President Trump.
In all
likelihood, the Senate, controlled by the Republicans will acquit the
President, and like Bill Clinton before him, he will finish his term. Possibly even get reelected, though the jury
is out on that.
But in twelve
years, all this political jostling will have worked itself out, our nation will
still be here, and we will be on to the next, or even the next after that,
President.
The issues that
dominate FOX News, or CNN, will be forgotten in large measure.
The world will
not have come to an end.
Life will go on.
Change will
happen.
There will be
surprises.
For example, who
would have guessed twelve years ago that today you would be able to get it a
car and let it drive itself down the road???
Tesla cars can do that.
When we look
forward to the future there are many things we simply don’t know. Actually, we know very little.
We don’t know how
long we will live.
Or what triumphs
and tragedies we will face.
We don’t know
whether our country will continue to drift away from the Church, or if there
will be a reawakening to matters of faith.
Will Peace
Lutheran be here in 12 years?
Perhaps not. But perhaps it may have grown beyond
recognition.
Will Otis
Orchards still be a sleepy semi-rural community or will the housing development
finally transform it into something quite unrecognizable?
Some of us will
have died by then. Some not.
Change happens.
But what does not
change is the love of God for his people and the promise that he will be with
us always even to the end of the age.
May this peace
that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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