Epiphany IV, Cycle C

"Let's Talk About You!"

January 31, 2010

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke's Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs

Lessons: Jeremiah 1:4-10; I Corinthians 13:1-13; St. Luke 4:21-30

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"Let's talk about you!" I bet those are words you thought I'd never say in a sermon. "Let's talk about you!" If you've heard much of my preaching, you know that most often, I'm suggesting that we not talk about you, or me in sermons, because the lessons really point to Christ, and are meant to reveal Him, and to proclaim His death and resurrection. And that's certainly the case this week, as we continue on in the Season of Epiphany—a season intended to manifest who this Jesus is who was born at Bethlehem. Epiphany means revelation, or manifestation. So, as we hear our readings today, what we are to take from them, is the connection between Jeremiah, and Jesus. So that as we hear that Jeremiah was formed in the womb, to be the child of the Most High God, to become His prophet to speak His Word, we are to see in Jeremiah the type, the model, the pattern for Jesus, who was also conceived, and formed in the womb by the Holy Spirit to be the Father's only begotten Son, to proclaim, as we heard last week, good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and a time of God's favor. That's what is revealed about Jesus in our lessons this week—that Jeremiah and Jesus were chosen by God the Father at conception, before their little tissue-like bodies were shaped and formed, destined in utero for the unique, special ministry for which the Father had created them. That's what we hear about Jesus this week.

We hear that, and we hear that both Jeremiah the prophet, and Jesus, the Messiah, were rejected by the people—by their own people, Jesus' hometown folks even going so far as to drive Him out of town, hoping to throw Him off a cliff! This is the primary message of our lessons today, that in spite of hardship, opposition and rejection, Jeremiah and Jesus were shaped and formed in the womb, for the lives God had prepared for them. And while the focus of these lessons is certainly, Jesus—there is a secondary message here as well, and that is—the uniqueness and specialness, of YOU! Yes, YOU!

For what the lesson from Jeremiah says about the prophet, is also said about you. That before the Lord God formed you in the womb, He knew you, and before you were born, He consecrated you for the particular life He had prepared for you. Which is why we hold so firmly to the belief, as Christians, that all of life is sacred, and God-given, from the very moment of conception on—because we read in Holy Scripture, not that life begins at birth, not that we are merely life-less tissue before birth, rather, we read in God's Word that God forms us, in the womb—and that God consecrates us for a particular mission and purpose, while yet in our mother's body.

So that it is truly amazing, and wonderful, that God knew you—you, individually, and personally, while you were yet a little bitty, teeny tiny fetus. And God consecrated you and destined you, together with Jeremiah and Jesus, for a certain life. And that's the difficulty for many of us, isn't it? Believing that God has a reason and a purpose for our lives. That creates a lot of trouble for some of us, because we can't see clearly what that reason and purpose is. We go through life, or at least, through our mid-life crisis, searching, looking, trying to find out what it is God wants us to do in life, trying to figure out the particular mission God has for us—that for which God consecrated us, while still in the womb. That's one of the greatest causes of adult angst these days—even among Christians—what is my special purpose in life? Why did God create me? How can I know that I am fulfilling my destiny, in God's sight?

Interestingly enough, this is not a uniquely modern struggle, brought about by lack of direction in our world today, or lack of self-esteem or an all too common malaise that causes people to feel unwanted, un-needed, unworthy or not valued. For even in Martin Luther's time, there was this search for God's will—as people, even then, seemed to think that God has some secret purpose for each of us, that is hidden, and must be discovered, or found, like buried treasure, waiting for us to finally come upon it—only after years of hunting and digging here and there for our own individual, one-of-a-kind God intended purpose in life. In the 1500's, Luther wrote words of counsel to simple folk in his own time, which speak surprisingly well to we simple folk in our time, as Fr. Martin writes, "We have now frequently taught that we are to do nothing unless we have the warrant of a definite word of God for it, and that God himself also has nothing to do with us, nor we with him except through that one means, which is His Word. Through God's Word, we recognize His will, and by this we are to guide ourselves in life.therefore it behooves us to do nothing according to some secret counsel, but everything should be done and judged only according to the revealed counsel and will of His Word."

In plain words, Luther is cautioning us not to be looking for, or waiting on some secret message from God—and even more, Luther is saying that when we think we have received some secret counsel, we are not to trust it, or follow it, because God only speaks to us, and reveals His will to us, through His Word. So, Luther says, it behooves us to do nothing in our lives according to some secret, mysterious communication, but everything in our lives should be done only according to the revealed counsel and will of God, which He offers in His Word.

And that, of course, is part of our problem—many of us are no longer schooled, studied, or familiar with God's Word, so that we are aware of His guidance and counsel and can apply it to our lives. We have become, largely, what Luther called "enthusiasts"—people who don't look to God's Word, but instead trust our emotions, and believe that everything can be determined by following the heart, as if truth is determined by whatsoever I feel in my heart, or know by emotion. So, with regard to God's will, we really are searching for, waiting for a gut feeling, a warming of the heart, that will show us the way—as if God is contained in, and works through my affective powers. Luther cautioned against such a belief, because the fact is, we can work ourselves up to convince ourselves of anything, and to believe whatever we want. This is why Luther called such people enthusiasts—because they worked themselves up in a lather, based on their own tears, emotion, and subjective feelings. Rather, Luther teaches us to always, always look for God's will, in His revealed Word. Nothing else is trustworthy, says Luther. Not emotion, or feelings of the heart, or enthusiastic imaginings. Such things can, and do lead us into false belief, and false teaching, because really, we can rationalize and convince ourselves of anything, once we put our minds, and hearts to it.

What is worthy of our trust—what will never lead us astray—what is completely trustworthy and true in its every word and phrase and teaching—is God's Word. Again, Luther says, it behooves us to do nothing in our lives according to some secret, mysterious counsel, but everything in our lives should be done only according to the revealed counsel and will of God, which He offers in His Word.

Which brings us back, then, to our struggle, and questions, and doubts about what it is that God wants us to do in life. If only there was a book of the Bible with our name on it, as with Jeremiah, where we could look up chapter and verse, find the special purpose for which God created us, and find God's revealed will for us. And yet, isn't that what the Holy Scriptures are, from start to finish? A book with our name on it, as God has given us His Holy Book to guide us and direct us in life? The Scriptures are God's story, but they're also our story—as we see ourselves on every page, from Adam and Eve and the first sin, to Jesus' death and resurrection for us and our salvation, to Revelation's description of how it is that Jesus will come again in power and glory to raise us bodily from death, and take us to live with Him forever. Perhaps we should print on the front of our Bibles, "God's Word.for Me!" Maybe then we would open it up more often, to see what God wills for us.

And yet, today, we don't need to be searching through every page of the Bible, to find out why we were created, and for what we were consecrated, even before we were born. Our readings from Scripture today make it clear to us, as we read in St. Paul that we have been gifted, as God's people, for our particular purpose. St. Paul writes to the Corinthian congregation in our second lesson, that we have been given, as God's children, faith, hope and love—but Paul says, the greatest of these, is love. If you're looking for your special purpose in life—the reason that God formed you in the womb and created you from the very first—it's this—to love—to love Him, and to love our neighbor. There is no secret counsel, or hidden reason for our lives—St. Paul lays it out quite clearly and without confusion—we are to love, with Christ-like love—that's why we are here—that's why we are alive—to love. The Scriptures tell us that nothing else really matters in life, if we have not love. Paul writes, "if I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to be able to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing—there is no reason for my living. For we live, to love. And not to love just with brotherly love, not to love just with familial love, certainly we are not created just for erotic love. We were created, formed, destined to love, with the love of Jesus Christ. We are to love with a love that is patient, kind, not envious or boastful—not arrogant or rude. We are to love with a love that doesn't insist on its own way, doesn't rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. We are to love with a love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. We are to love with a love that never ends.

This is why we are here, you and I. This is why God created you and me, and formed us in the womb. This is your reason and purpose for life—to love, with the love of Jesus Christ. To love God, and our neighbor—with a self-giving, self-sacrificing, self-emptying love, even as Jesus loved us, even to death on a cross.

So, when you are unsure of your direction in life; when you seem to lose you way, and are hoping God will give you guidance; when you question your existence, and wonder just why God put you here in the first place—remember, you were created, and destined, for love—to receive God's love, and to share that love with others. That's why you—are you!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.