Epiphany Re-Turn

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. (Luke 6:38 ESV) The light of Epiphany reflects in the lives of those upon whose hearts and lives it has shone. Today at International Lutheran Church we continue our reading of the gospel of Luke and this amazing Sermon on the Plain as it spins us around that we might land in a completely different place.

While winter is slowly losing its grip, I have been reflecting on one of my mother’s favorite sports – figure skating. Whenever we had the chance, my mother would love to watch these young people perform. What a thrill to see them leap and spin as effortlessly as if gravity did not exist. To watch them glide and lift from the ice in a stream of motion was beautiful to witness. But as graceful and effortless as it all seemed, there was always the stark reminder of the reality of gravity and its unrelenting weight even upon the young. This was often displayed both in the crushing tumbles and miss-steps but also in the crushing coverage and controversies that often swirled around all the athletes, coaches, and even the sponsoring committees and organizations designed to ensure safe and fair competition. Perhaps the most difficult thing to watch, though, was how such an inspiring and thrilling sport could so easily display years of bitter competition between athletes. While we may not be world class skaters or athletes that have devoted our lives to our sport, in many ways we can empathize and see how easily even our lives can spin out of control.

Here the words of Jesus today from the Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s gospel can help us. In particular, today we read what is known to many as the Golden Rule -  “Do unto others as you would have them do to you…” (Luke 6:31). This simple phrase has inspired the lives of many as the epitome of the Christian ethic of love and acceptance of all. But the practice of this lofty ideal has often turned into our worst nightmare especially for our Christian witness. So often the Church and especially Christians are characterized by society as judgmental and hypocritical. And if we are honest, there are plenty of examples of us falling flat on our faces, “sprawled across the ice.” What we meant to say in a loving and kind way is seen as belligerent and uncaring. And then there are just those times when we are belligerent and uncaring. Paul expresses it best when he says about himself, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19)

This is precisely why we need these words of Jesus not only preached into our ears, but also lived out with complete precision, without flaw or defect in the life of the One who alone can free us from the gravity of our sin. As Jesus preached a message of showing love to our enemy, His life was showing love to you and me and to the whole world, even though we would all universally reject, deny, and betray Him. Yet, Jesus’ death and resurrection is the leap and spin of God for us that creates a completely different story. Where instead of His righteous judgement coming down upon our poor and feeble attempts, and even our own willing disobedience to His will and ways, we receive back, we have returned to us, a portion that is overflowing without any limits at all. Like Joseph, we realize that God’s acts to save can even change our perspective of the hurtful things that were done to us (Genesis 45:3-15) and so free us to a life of forgiving others as we have been forgiven. His grace and mercy are the only things that matter. His love for us is now the motivation and power in our lives that alone can return good for evil, turn the other cheek, give and not expect return. That He would first love us and give Himself for us creates the spin of faith and the leap of love in us that is unstoppable.

When Martin Luther was in the throes of the Reformation and the people of the church began to neglect the hearing of the Word of God and receiving the sacrament, he needed to motivate and encourage the laity and pastors to come to the sacrament of the altar. Rather than guilt or guile, he simply returned to that which had turned him – the abundant grace of God. Luther chose to focus on the words that Jesus spoke that night and nothing else. What is the sacrament? Simply what His word says, ‘Take and eat, this is my body given for you!’ What makes the sacrament effective? Nothing but His Word, ‘Take and eat, this is my body given for you!’ What is the benefit of taking the sacrament? Only what He says, ‘Take and eat, this is my body given for you!’ How can one prepare to receive this great gift? Only believe His words, ‘Take and eat this is my body given for you!’ We don’t come to the sacrament because we are forced to, or because it will win us points with God, but only because He is for us!

Jesus is the measure that God has measured unto us. This gravity-defying good news causes us to leap and spin in a new direction that alone brings all glory to Him. Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Plain point us to His immeasurable and inexhaustible love that has been poured “into our laps” as the ultimate motivation for our lives that results in an Epiphany Re-turn!

Pastor Carl