It Just Might Happen

Please note: The following sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.

I pray and listen.

I read and consider.

I think and plan.

I write and edit.

But I don't know how a sermon works.

It's not like a political speech or an academic paper.

It's not a recipe or a do-it-yourself instruction sheet.

How does a sermon work, anyway?

I don't know.

There are the times that I think that I have given a cogent and intense bit of Gospel to balance the acid of the law,

and afterwards no one says anything, neither a smile nor a frown, not even a look of puzzlement.

And then there are the times when I have delivered a sermon that I think, “well, that didn't go anywhere today,”

and someone will say, “that was just what I needed to hear, pastor, it sets me on a different path in a new and positive way.”

How did that happen? I don't know.

Something goes on that is quite outside my control.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit,

God in the present tense,

God creating in us

and around us right now.

The ordinary word for it would be “miracle.”

Think of all of the things that can get in the way:

I might not have thought things carefully...

I might not have expressed them clearly....

You might not hear them accurately...

You might not hook them together with what you already know of the Gospel...

The sound system might be less than perfect for your ears and limitations.

We might be distracted

by papers and books,

coughs and squirms.

It is a wonder than anything gets through.

How does a sermon work, anyway?

It is a miracle of God's Holy Spirit.

There he was,

busy with the work that God had commissioned him to do,

calling people to repentance,

baptizing them as a sign of a needed turnaround in life.

“Do you hear me?

Come to the water.

Throw away your old ways, your old clothes.

Look for what new thing that God might do. Look with me for Messiah.”

That's what John the Baptist said and did.

Come here. Bend. Scoop water. Wash. Bear fruit that fits with repentance. Next.

And then in the midst of this continuing task, suddenly,

“Hey, you're...”

“This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.”

“I'm not worthy to untie your shoes.

How can I continue baptizing;

how could I baptize you?”

“In order to fulfill all righteousness,

to show the way for others.

Bear fruit that befits righteousness.”

“Who said that? Oh,...I did, didn't I!

I said the word of the Lord, and he affirmed it.

He made it true. he makes it happen in me, in you.”

*****

Who was that speaking? John the baptist? Yes, and every one who preaches since him.

And every time that the word of God gets through somehow

despite all of the limitations that are placed in its way by you and me,

and the dead ends to which Satan tempts us,

it is a miracle of the most wonderful kind.

“O Lord, make it happen now and often.”

We dare to pray in Jesus' name,

“thy kingdom come.”

“Thy kingdom come,” we pray over a person at baptism.

And when that person happens to be an infant, just what are we thinking?

A baby:

-- can't confess the Apostles' Creed with us,

--can't think theology,

--can't actively obey the Ten Commandments,

--can't give an Amen,

--can't say “thank you” when we present this beautiful Faith Chest today.

Jack and all of the others like him are totally dependent on the grace of God to do for Jack what he cannot do on his own.

It is the sign of the truth for all of the rest of us.

If Jack and anyone else is going to get back to God,

it will take a miracle,

an action of God in the present tense, the work of the Holy Spirit among us.

We baptized Jack, and anyone else for that matter, in hope, in expectation, in the promise made by God.

God will work in the lives of the baptized.

How does that work? I don't know.

When and under what circumstances will God open our hearts and minds?

I don't know.

But I will say...look for it,hope for it, expect it,

do things that we think will fit with it when it is revealed.

We've increased our chances by coming together here, to sing, to listen,

to pray, to plan for the week to come,

so that when we are busy with our regular tasks

we will be more attuned

to hear and recognize the miracle

when it is revealed to us.

It is midwinter, that time in the year when teachers get to thinking about doing a play in their elementary school class.

Miss Mary announced that the play would be “Cinderella.”

All of the hands shoot into the air, students clamoring for a specific part.

Miss Mary assigned the major roles and invented roles for everyone else,

except for Joshua.

He was the quiet one, not shy or withdrawn, just quiet and knowing his own mind.

“Joshua, I'm sorry, we haven't planned a role for you yet. What would you like to be in the play?

Joshua replied without hesitation, “ I will be the pig.”

Miss Mary was bewildered, “But there isn't a pig in the story of Cinderella.”

“There is now,” replied Joshua.

Joshua made his own costume with a paper cup nose and pink underwear with a curly tail.

And then in the play, Joshua didn't say a word, but followed Cinderella wherever she went and became a mirror of the action on stage.

If Cinderella was happy, the pig was happy; if Cinderella was sad, the pig was sad.

When the handsome prince placed the slipper on Cinderella's foot,

Joshua went wild with joy and danced around on his hind legs,

and broke his silence by barking.

In rehearsal, Miss Mary had explained that pigs don't bark.

But Joshua had said firmly that this pig barked.

And the barking, the somewhat skeptical teacher had to admit, was well done.

The presentation was a smash hit, and of course, the standing ovation at the end was especially for Joshua who played the barking pig.

In the middle of regular activities,

while preparing an ordinary play,

Miss Mary and everyone else were surprised by a gift that came by the way of a barking pig.

Joy..., excitement..., new insights for a well-known play,...

God knows when it may happen for you and me.

In the regular grind of life and work and worship, we may receive a gift of Gospel:

maybe it will be during the reading of a lesson, or the preaching of a sermon,

maybe it will be while receiving the Holy Communion ....“given for you”,

maybe it will be while watching the Sacrament of Baptism or remembering your children's baptism,

or Affirmation of Baptism,

maybe it will be while we sing a particular hymn that highlights memories or helps you see hope when hope seems dim or far away.

Maybe it will be in a phone call at home, or a quiet talk with a co-worker at the end of your shift,

or by way of a note added to a greeting card,

or a word in passing over the back fence.

The Spirit will find some way, some opening, to get through to us,

to surprise us in the middle of life.

Maybe even in a sermon.

I'd love to have a formula so that I might figure out when or how, and make it happen every week...

but I don't and can't.

While we wait, look for, and anticipate God's surprise in our lives,

it would be right for us to pray, to engage in that conversation with God whereby our hearts and minds can be aligned with his true purposes.

And it will be good for us to sing that prayer:

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart....

Make me love you as I ought to love....

Take the dimness of my soul away....

Teach me to love you as your angels love..

I see your cross; there teach my heart to cling.

Let that be our prayer this day.

May the Spirit open us up

to recognize when the miracle is

set to happen around us or in us.

Amen.

It Just Might Happen

St. Mark's Lutheran Church