by Jerry Buss
Great to be with you: greetings…mission starts…thank you (Frances) In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Remember George Burns and Gracie Allen—comedy couple?
-my wife likes to quote a line from them—asked in an interview: -secret to getting older: in the morning, when you wake up, get up
-how do we call to people in morning: Rise and Shine
KEEP MOVING—life is about moving, and movement -exercise involves moving, and then a little sweating -and again, when we sweat, we shine
That might be helpful: Jesus shines on the mountain -and the mountain is all about movement
-because soon Jesus will be on the move, to Jerusalem
Jerusalem, where he will be betrayed and crucified -that doesn’t sound like shining…
But that’s why today’s mountain is so important
-what happens next with Jesus is the deepest movement of life -Jesus is moving from death to life, and taking us with him
-he is moving the world from the false rule of evil to the true rule of God—in that work, in the work of the cross, Jesus shines brightest
What we remember during Lent is the shining move of God, that gets us out of where we are stuck, and on our way to new and surprising things
Because that’s what I really want to explore with you today
-what God’s new movements might be at Lakeridge Lutheran Ch.
I know there are many ways you already shine: in your worship and bible studies, in partnership with Compass Housing and ARISE to provide shelter, in support of those in recovery and facing AIDs
Those are notable things—small churches can really shine! -but there is a new movement that many sense in our day -a new movement from God
And this is a good Sunday to consider, because Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus, and each one represents a new movement
-Moses moved the people out of Egypt, right?
-and Elijah was the prophet when the people were moved to Babylon
It seems God knows one thing for sure about us as his people: it’s not good when we get too settled in
-and the movement many sense today, is God unsettling the church -not giving up on it, but moving it to a new place
And it’s about something that fits very well with a church like yours -the movement is out into the neighborhood—but in a new way
For too long, we in the church thought God was present in our buildings
-and God is, but not limited there
-John 1: the word became flesh, and dwelled/moved into neigh.
And it dawned on me: I now realized why so many of our Lutheran churches around Seattle sit in some residential neighborhood
-Lutherans get the most important movement of all: God coming deep into human life—deep into the bread and wine, and on
-we located church buildings in the neighborhoods to express that
But over time, we have forgotten, or gotten settled, lost touch with the people around us—why is your building located where it is? Not accident
So what is our new way of shining today? It is not simply to practice charity, as good as it is (housing and food ministries)
-it is daring to build relationships with the people next door
What might your Lenten journey look like, in the two blocks around the church? What would it look like to go deep here, into human exist?
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