Redeemer Lutheran Church, DeSoto, MO

Our February 14 Sunday worship service is available on video through Facebook. You may view it without being a member of Facebook. We are excited to say that this Sunday, February 21 @ 8 & 10:30 am, our church will reopen their doors again for in-person worship. The 14th the last service that will be taken from the green “Lutheran Book of Worship” for now. We will begin using the new red “Evangelical Lutheran Worship” books. Services will continue to be streamed online.

The February 21 Sunday worship service will be held with in-person attendance. We will now return to in-person worship services. We will still be wearing masks, social distancing and lots of hand sanitizer, but we will be open.

It is scheduled to be streamed live on the DeSoto Redeemer Facebook page. We will post a direct link to the recording here as soon as it is possible after the service.

We are glad to share our worship with you. Click on “Contact Us” above to find out more about our faith family and what we believe.

THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD
2 Kings 2:1-12 | Psalm 50:1-6
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 | Mark 9:2-9

Transfiguration: to change physically. The text about Elijah going up into Heaven isn’t a transfiguration. It is a “translation.” Now, when we talk about the Bible, and use the word “translation,” we usually mean one of the dozens of ways, and there are several dozen of them, that the Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words have been brought into English for our reading pleasure. This is especially true since most good Christians don’t know Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek. So, we rely on someone else to tell us what the Scriptures say. But, the word “translate” has another meaning. It actually comes from the Latin word, another language that most people don’t know anymore, “translates” which means to “be carried across.” And so, it can mean “to be converted into another form or medium.” Because of that, it is the official term for when a person is taken bodily into Heaven. They are “translated into heaven.” They have been “carried across, or converted into another medium,” except for Jesus, who ascends into Heaven, but he is divine. There are two people in the Old Testament who are translated into heaven: Elijah, in the text today; and in the Book of Genesis, Enoch, “who walked with God.” They are the only two people in history who did not die. The Old Testament lesson doesn’t really fit as a transfiguration, but since the Old Testament and Gospel lessons are supposed to compliment each other, this story must have been as close as the lectionary committee could come to the transfiguration text in Mark’s Gospel. Or, the other reason may be that according to tradition, Elijah was supposed to return before the coming of the Messiah. Normally, Christians hold that John the Baptist is Elijah returned, but, in today’s Gospel, Elijah is there, indicating at the Transfiguration that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Christ.

Transfiguration, to visibly change. That is what Peter, James and John witness on the mountain top. They see Jesus change. It is interpreted that in this occasion, his divinity shown out through his humanity. Indeed it shines through so brightly, that even his clothes become dazzling white. (BTW, Elijah is there with Moses as well – Greatest of the prophets, and the “Lawgiver”). The apostles are overwhelmed. Who wouldn’t be? James and John are probably in shock at seeing this, at lest they seem to be speechless. Peter is the only one who speaks. And of course, he says the wrong thing. “Let’s build three dwellings (booths- actually, altars or shrines). As usual, Peter misses the point entirely. And this time, Peter is corrected by God personally. This has to be worse than being sent to the Principal’s Office! “This is my Son – listen to him.” He takes precedent over Elijah and Moses, over the prophets and the Law, who are now bearing witness to him (ala Paul). His message is more important. It is the most important. There is only one shrine, one altar, and that is Jesus himself. I’m sure that Peter, James and John never looked at Jesus the same way afterwards.

Change: All things change. Just wait a while.
A. One of the entertaining things about watching the generations, and politics, is watching the struggle over change. By definition, conservatives (tend to be the older generation) want to maintain the “old ways” and don’t want things to change. They will lose in the end. In the end, the best that they can hope for is to slow down the amount of change. Liberals (or worse, Radicals), (tend to be the younger generation) want to change everything, now. They will lose too. Things won’t change all at once; they won’t get everything that they want to change. If the conservatives are successful, they will slow the liberals and radicals down to the point that by the time the liberals and radicals are in a position to accomplish the changes that they wanted, they are now older, and have become conservatives themselves. I believe that it is a great joke which God has played on the generations of humanity to play over and over again. But change will inevitably come.

Change: There are times when change is necessary, or forced. We are experiencing that now. Thanks to the pandemic, even the Church has changed. We are worshipping virtually, receiving Holy Communion in our cars. But, soon, starting on Ash Wednesday, once again, we will be able to worship together in person. We will be safely spaced out from each other, wearing masks, using hand sanitizer by the gallon. We won’t be able to have our Lenten Soup Suppers, yet at least. But, we will be together once more. And because of that, Lent won’t seem as dark this year. It may even seem joyful to many. Change can be a good thing. It can be enlightening even in dark times.

Christ is transfigured on the mountain top. Through him, we are transfigured too. He changes us. He takes our sinfulness, takes it upon himself. He then gives us his righteousness, the “Happy Exchange” or “Sweet Swap.” Our faith in Christ, changes us, by God’s grace. We are forgiven. Christ takes us as we are, and changes us into what God desired us to be, His children. We too, become God’s beloved, through Christ’s merit. And so, yes, we too should listen to him. For, we shall never be seen the same way (sinful) by God again. Now, somehow, even in these dark times, during a particularly dark almost year or pestilence, we reflect Christ’s light and righteousness to all.
Pastor Rose

Our February 7 Sunday worship service is available on video through Facebook. You may view it without being a member of Facebook. All scheduled worship services until further notice will be online only with minimal in-person participation to reduce COVID-19 risks.

The February 14 Sunday worship service will be held without in-person attendance. We will return to in-person worship services starting Ash Wednesday Service at 7:30pm on February 17th. We will still be wearing masks, social distancing and lots of hand sanitizer, but we will be open.

It is scheduled to be streamed live on the DeSoto Redeemer Facebook page. We will post a direct link to the recording here as soon as it is possible after the service.

We are glad to share our worship with you. Click on “Contact Us” above to find out more about our faith family and what we believe.

Sermon February 7
Isaiah 40:21-31 | Psalm 147:1-12, 21c
1 Corinthians 9:16-23 | Mark 1:29-39

“If I proclaim the Gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.”

“An obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!” St. Paul says the proclaiming of the Gospel of Christ is an obligation. We don’t usually think of it as an obligation. We usually think of the Gospel as a free gift of grace, which it is. But, and this is the point that Paul is making, having received the Gospel, it is now very much an obligation as well. It is an obligation to proclaim the Gospel. We have received it as a gift, now we are obligated to share it! It is an obligation placed upon all who believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a gift. But, it is also a gift which grows as we share it with others. And so, we are all made to be preachers, evangelists (literally “gospelers” or “good newsers”). And, it is entrusted to us. We are commissioned with it, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” That is the Great Commission at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus’ closing instructions. For each generation, the Gospel must be proclaimed and heard again. We have freely received that gift of life. Now, we are obligated to freely share it. We are commissioned to share it. This is not a “Works Righteousness” scenario. Paul tells us, there is no reward attached to it. This is a “Word Righteousness” scenario. We are commissioned to share and spread the Word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all people. But, usually, we do not. Why?

There are a number of reasons. This year, we can add the influence of the coronavirus. It has definitely affected the Church, and proclamation of the gospel. Now, we have the fear of infection. But I believe that all the various reasons can be placed under the heading of FEAR. And, they have all been produced by society, especially our modern society. And, I do mean present, modern society. The phenomenon does not seem to have been an issue in past generations. We tend not to share our most special gift with others because we are afraid that other people will think that we are religious fanatics, Bible thumpers! Let’s see, in past generations, conversations and discussions, even with complete strangers often centered on religious topics. That is still a large factor on modern social media. There are worse things to be perceived as than being Christian. I think that that perception has grown over depictions on TV and the movies, and worse of all that strange phenomenon of the last few decades of wanting everything to be “politically correct.” Well, I hate to tell you this, but being politically correct usually isn’t. I think that political correctness is just a new way of lying, and hiding the truth behind new very neutral verbiage. And most of all, these things certainly aren’t stopping any of the other religions. The fastest growing religion in this country, and has been for a couple of decades now, is Islam, not Christianity. Most of the mainline Christian denominations have forgotten how to be evangelists, and make disciples, and that fear is a large part of it.

There is another fear, and that has to do with privacy, and it goes both ways. We are afraid that we might be invading someone’s privacy by sharing the Gospel. We believe, at least in this country, that religion is a private concern. That has two problems, it is both wrong, and it is foolish. It is definitely not biblical! In the Scriptures, religion is neither private, nor individual. It is always communal. It is shared by the community. There are no real religions of “One.” It is shared by the Church – that is what makes the Church. Remember Jesus’ words, “Where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” He didn’t say, “One.” There is no, “Me and Jesus” scenario, despite what some people may think. When Jesus uses the word “you” in the Gospels, it is almost always in the plural sense, hardly ever in the singular. What is the first thing which Jesus did as he started his ministry, which we have been reviewing in the Gospels this Season of Epiphany? He called his disciples, gathers them, and creates a community, the “Church.” You don’t have a Church of one! In today’s Gospel, he cures Peter’s mother-in-law, casts out some demons, prays, and the next day says, “Let’s go. We have places to go and people to see.” “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” So it is meant to be shared, even Jesus feels obliged to share the message!

In sharing our faith, telling the story, the Holy Spirit plants the seed of faith in others who may not have heard it, and obviously now, many have not heard, or worse, have misheard. A friend told me that he is anti-religion because of the actions of all of these fundamentalists: Christian, Muslim, and Hindu. He has the wrong message. I told him that they do not really represent their religions. And the Christian fundamentalists tend to have a very poor understanding of the Gospel. They have a great understanding of the Law, but not the Gospel. Indeed, they tend to still live in the Old Testament with its rules, not in the freedom of the grace of the New Testament Gospel. I told him, he isn’t anti-religion, he is anti-fundamentalists, and he needs to think harder on the subject. He is not alone.

The Gospel is quiet and gentle, and usually slow working, taking years to grow in a person. It is working with the Spirit and the Church that that seed comes to fruition. An olive tree is sometimes called a “Love Tree.” Why? An olive tree does not come to fruition, bear its first olives, until it is 40 years old. They are usually planted by one generation for the benefit of a following generation. A person of faith is the same. It may well take decades to come to fruition. Our job is to plant the seed, not reap the harvest. We receive faith as we hear it in the Word. We receive the promises in Holy Baptism. We are received in the Church of Christ. We are fed and nourished at Christ’s table. In Confirmation, we proclaim before the Body of Christ that this is what we believe. We receive an obligation to tell the story, a commission to proclaim the gospel, and woe to us if we don’t. That devalues the gift. Proclaiming the gift of God’s grace shows our appreciation. As St. Paul says today, “What then is my reward? Just this; that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge.” Go and do likewise. The Gospel of Christ, and the sharing of it, and in it, is our reward, and our obligation in faith.
Pastor Rose