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It Started With What?
Maunday Thursday
April 1, 2010 One of my closest friends back in Northern California is a Lutheran pastor who was also a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, stationed at Beale Air Force Base not too far from where we lived in Citrus Heights. As it happens, he was the Senior Chaplain at the base so he was there when on duty. I mention this because Beale is the base where many of our spy planes are stationed when here in this country. Spy planes such as the U2 which was recently in the news as having a new extension on life which is remarkable considering it is a plane that has been used in its present role since the days of President Eisenhower. It was in the news because with the technology now available it can take real time pictures from 70,000 feet, identify areas where the ground has been disturbed, i.e., dug up, and beam those pictures to troops on the ground who know that there is a good chance a roadside bomb has been planted. Now I do not know just how good this technology is, but I suspect it has probably been understated a bit. So let us imagine for a while that we have this kind of technology at our disposal and not only that but we can go back 2,000 years and even hear conversations. So now we will take a look at some events that I think we have more than a passing interest in observing and understanding. Let us take a look at God's plan of salvation, a plan which includes you and me. Let us look first hand at the grandeur of God's plan, a plan that Jesus will see through to fruition. We see the Word of God made flesh, God incarnate coming to dwell with us, as one of us. We first search the city of Jerusalem, surely he will be born there, in and amid the palaces, perhaps of the king, or at least one of the noble families, or even into one of the high priest families. But as good as our technology is, we are not finding what we are looking for, so we will expand our search area. There! In a little town called Bethlehem, it's happening there. Well that's not quite what we were expecting, but, well, let's look in the inns. Nothing there. Now what? What's that? He's in a stable! Well, that's not even a stable, it's more like an outcropping of rock. Sure didn't expect that. There are some shepherds around but this doesn't seem like much. There must be some kind of mistake, let's move our search up a few years. Now where is he? Oh, there, in a little town called Nazareth. It looks like he's learning to be a carpenter. This can't be right. Why, you would think he's just an ordinary person, but this isn't quite what we were planning on or even looking for. Let's try again. There we have it, he's in Jerusalem, still a kid but he's in the temple and his mom is talking with him. We hear him say: "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" Ah! Much more promising so let's go ahead a couple decades or so. There he is, no, wait, that's the one they call John the Baptizer. What's he saying? "After me will come one whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie." Has to be talking about Jesus the Son of God because we know that John was called the best of his generation. Okay. Skip ahead just a bit. That's Jesus, coming out of the river Jordan, John is standing there and Jesus has just been baptized. There he goes off into the wilderness. Let's skip ahead a couple months and come back. What's this? Back in Nazareth? There in the synagogue. Jesus is reading from a scroll - why this must be when he, oh! Listen. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Now we are beginning to see it - the grandeur of God's plan! As we continue to watch we see Jesus giving sight to those who cannot see, hearing to those who cannot hear, enabling those who cannot walk to walk, even that "paralytic!" How awesome is this? Look, he's cleansing lepers, sometimes with a word, sometimes with a touch. Look at him as he is going into Nain and stopping at that bier. Oh my! He brought that young man back from the dead and gave him to his mother. Oh! And there, a woman cured simply by touching the hem of his prayer shawl. What's that he said? "Your faith has made you well." Now see what he's doing! He brought that young girl back from the dead. This is the Son of God, this is the grandeur of God's plan, this is what we came to see! And there! Wow! He's standing in front of a tomb with two weeping women and oh, Jesus himself is weeping. Look at the crowd around them. Hear him call: "Lazarus come forth." We have seen it time and again, even the dead obey him. Truly awesome. Let's skip ahead just a bit. There he is, he's in a home, why it's the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. There's Martha serving, where's Mary? See her there as she kneels at Jesus' feet and anoints them. True devotion, true worship, see how she humbles herself. She knows who Jesus is, she gets it! Let's follow him to the festival of the Passover. What's he doing now? He's doing what?! He's wrapped a towel around himself and he is washing the feet of his disciples?! Can't be! What does this have to do with being the Son of God? There must be some misunderstanding. Think of what we just witnessed - this can't be right - no one washes another person's feet, what is this, what is Jesus doing? Hear Peter as he exclaims, "You will never wash my feet." I'm with him. But wait, what's Jesus saying? "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Oh, oh. We need to think about this for a minute. We saw Jesus in his glory, healing the sick, raising the dead, even walking on water, and now we see him kneeling and washing the feet of his disciples. What's this? He's kneeling and washing our feet? The grandeur of God's plan of salvation. What is he saying to us? He did not come to be served but to serve. To do unto others as we would have done unto us. We would have Christ wash our feet that we might have a share with him, not only our feet but all of us, literally, here now, and in the waters of baptism. What is Jesus saying? "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." This pierces my heart, it affects every facet of my being, what I am, what I do, why I do what I do. And it all starts with foot washing. Not what I expected but maybe this is truly the grandeur of God. And tomorrow, well, tomorrow is a new day. AMEN Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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