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This Month Archive
St. Mark's Lutheran Church

 

  2014

 Sermons



Dez 28 - Outsiders

Dez 28 - The Costly Gift

Dez 24 - In the Flesh in Particular

Dez 21 - More "Rejoice" than "Hello"

Dez 14 - Word in the Darkness

Dez 7 - Life in a Construction Zone

Dez 2 - Accountability

Nov 30 - Rend the Heavens

Nov 23 - The Shepherd-King

Nov 16 - Everything he had

Nov 9 - Preparations

Nov 2 - Is Now and Ever Will Be

Okt 25 - Free?

Okt 19 - It is about faith and love

Okt 12 - Trouble at the Banquet

Okt 5 - Trouble in the Vineyard

Sep 28 - At the edge

Sep 21 - At the Right Time

Sep 14 - We Proclaim Christ Crucified

Sep 7 - Responsibility

Aug 31 - Extreme Living

Aug 27 - One Who Cares

Aug 24 - A Nobody, but God's Somebody

Aug 17 - Faithful God

Aug 8 - With singing

Aug 3 - Extravagant Gifts of God

Aug 2 - Yes and No

Jul 27 - A treasure indeed

Jul 27 - God's Love and Care

Jul 20 - Life in a Messy Garden

Jul 13 - Waste and Grace

Jun 8 - The Conversation

Jun 1 - For the Times In-between

Mai 25 - Joining the Conversation

Mai 18 - Living Stones

Mai 11 - Become the Gospel!

Mai 6 - Wilderness Food

Mai 4 - Freedom

Apr 27 - Faith despite our self-made handicaps

Apr 20 - New

Apr 19 - Blessed be God

Apr 18 - Jesus and the Soldiers

Apr 18 - Who is in charge?

Apr 17 - For You!

Apr 13 - Kenosis

Apr 9 - Mark 6: Opposition Mounts

Apr 6 - Dry Bones?

Apr 2 - Mark 5: Trading Fear for Faith

Mrz 30 - Choosing the Little One

Mrz 26 - The Life of Following Jesus

Mrz 23 - Surprise!

Mrz 19 - Mark 3: The Life of Following Jesus

Mrz 16 - Darkness and Light

Mrz 12 - Mark 2: Calling All Sinners

Mrz 10 - Where are the demons?

Mrz 9 - Sin or not sin

Mrz 8 - Remembering

Mrz 5 - Mark 1: Good News in a Troubled World

Mrz 3 - For the Love of God

Feb 28 - Fresh Every Morning

Feb 27 - Using Time Well

Feb 23 - Worrying

Feb 16 - Even more offensive

Feb 9 - Salt and Light

Feb 2 - Presenting Samuel, Jesus, and Ourselves

Jan 26 - Catching or being caught

Jan 19 - Strengthened by the Word

Jan 12 - Who are you?

Jan 9 - Because God....

Jan 5 - By another way


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Kenosis

Read: Matthew 26:42

 
Palm Sunday - April 13, 2014

The Rev. Kenneth R. Elkin

 

A wise person observed that Good Friday sermons should be preached on Easter, and Easter sermons on Good Friday.

That may sound a bit strange.

At least part of what he means is that we cannot treat the story of Jesus as separate little incidents:

Sunday with waving palms, Thursday, the Last Supper, Friday crucifixion, and Sunday, resurrection.

We are dealing here with one story, one  mystery, with many facets to be sure, but a unity.

It is not palms or passion, but both.

It is not a dying or rising Christ, but a dying/rising Lord Jesus.

It is not triumph or tragedy, but triumph through tragedy.

It is not just sad before, and glad afterward, but gloom overwhelmed by the promise of joy, and joy growing out of sorrow.

We'll hear this point again in two weeks when the risen Lord Jesus appears to the disciples and does not just talk about his glory, but says to Thomas “see here the marks of the cross.”

That is why we read to much of the Gospel this morning, in order at the beginning of Holy Week to set all of its activities within the framework of the whole story.

 

And so what does the whole story tell us about Jesus and ourselves?

One of the key words that helps us understand is used by Paul in Philippians: kenosis, which means self-emptying.

This is one of the few passages that we hear every year in the lectionary.

Jesus did not regard his equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, as a human, Paul says.

He emptied himself.

All the generations of the church have wondered and marveled at this.

It is because of God's decision to be God for us that there is this kenosis, this self-emptying.

God could have decided otherwise, to be God without us.

In that case, he would have been a self-satisfied god, not Father,Son, and Holy Spirit.

He would have been one which would be hated and feared by any part of creation which he might permit to exist.

But instead, our Lord God gives himself completely to the love of those whom he makes.

He empties himself to show us that his power will extend over every enemy, even death, and to show us the way to that same victory over sin, death, and the grave.

 

What a marvel!

God's decision to be God for us is not like so many of our words, casually spoken and just as easily forgotten.

He empties himself because his resolve is firm.

He lets go of his rights and privileges in order to reach out to each one of us, and that has profoundly serious and wondrous results for us and in us.

It rescues us from our despair over the mess we have made of things, and the death that is inevitable.

 

But Christ's kenosis is also to be an example for us.

We, too, are to be letting go of things in order to hold onto what is most important.

When trying to carry too much in an armload and things begin to fall, we may be left with what was easiest to hold rather than that which was most important!

 

Remember the old fable about the monkey who reached into a narrow-necked bottle to get something but could not draw it out with it in his closed fist.

Even when danger approached, he could not let go, and so he was caught and killed.

What is it that we are holding so tightly that it may yet bring us to death?

For some it has been an anger that things don't work out as we think they should.

The call today is to give it up, to lay it aside, and focus on the great gifts that we have been given, and marvel at the the work of Christ reconciling the world to himself.[2 Corinthians 5:19]

 

For others, fear is eating away at life.

Illness, death, uncertainties about the future may reduce us to incapacitating tears.

We have the example of our Lord Jesus to lay down those fears as he does at the end of his prayer in the garden [Matthew 26:42] and in the psalm of trust he recalls even on the cross.[Psalm 22]

 

When fear and anger simmer together long enough, they can turn to hate.

The Lord had reason enough to hate: plots, malicious rumors, trials with lying witnesses, and more.

Yet he can still address Judas at the kiss of betrayal with an ironical “Friend, why are you here?”

The call to us today is to empty ourselves of anger, fear, hate, and all such feelings, emotions, and possessions that distract us from the important things.

 

Walter Burghart wrote: “Only by dying, not only to sin but also to yourself, can you come fully to life.

You don't forget all your yesterdays; they are a part of who you are today.

You simply refuse to live in them or wallow in them...

Let those yesterdays be yesterdays so that today you may listen to the Lord's voice, receive him for today's food and drink and tomorrow's  hope, and live.”

 

What a wonder it is!

Christ empties himself to save us and become example for us.  Amen. 

 

Please note: The preceding 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.