Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church, ELCA

	Pastor Dan Mangler's Sunday Sermon		God's Course Corrections
	January 28, 2007

God's Course Corrections

When God speaks words of love and comfort we hear him gladly. When Jesus brings forgiveness and salvation we receive him eagerly. When we read in the Bible that God is on our side and that he gives us victory over our enemies, whomever or whatever those enemies might be, we glory in that Word of God.

Who, at a time of loss, has not taken heart from the words of the 23rd Psalm? Who of those whose sins have been exposed and, in the moment of exposure, heard the words that Jesus came to forgive sins, has not been overwhelmed with relief and thanksgiving? Who of those having been supported and strengthened by God's promise of victory over physical illness, chemical addiction, or personal persecution has not been warmed basking in the light of God's power? When God's word is for us it is a treasure.

But what about those times when God’s word is not for us? How gladly do we hear God when he confronts us rather than comforts us? How eagerly do we receive Jesus when he comes as Judge rather than Savior? How much do we glory in God's Word when it identifies us as the enemy and warns of our destruction if we do not change and come over to God's side? What do we do when God's Word is against us?

This is the question raised in all three of the Bible readings assigned for today. To one degree or another the readings from Jeremiah, 1 Corinthians, and Luke witness to a word from God that confronts its listeners demanding a change. In each reading there is something contrary to God's will; the offense is noted; and the listener/reader (s) is (are) are confronted with decision of how will they respond? When God says, "This is not my will; you need to change" what will be their response?

In Luke the people respond in anger and proceed with the intent of throwing Jesus off the brow of a hill. In his sermon in the synagogue in his home town Nazareth Jesus anticipated the crowd's expectation that he would do in Nazareth what he had already done in neighboring Capernaum, most likely miracles of healing. They thought, no doubt, that if Jesus did great things there he would do greater things for the home-town folk.

Jesus used that expectation on their part to bring God’s word of correction to an even more grievous fault. He used their civic parochialism to expose their religious parochialism. Just as they thought they deserved more from Jesus because he and they were both of Nazareth, so also they, as Jews, deserved more of God’s blessings than other nations deserved because they were Jews, God's people.

Jesus used their very scriptures against them, to show how wrong they were. He reminded them of what God did for the widow of Zarapheth in 1 Kings 17, a non-Jew. He reminded them what God did for Naaman in 2 Kings 5, a non-Jew. In citing those examples Jesus disabused them of their supposed privileged position. The people did not like this judgment and they sought to kill him.

The issue in Jeremiah is less dramatic but just as much to the point. This is God's call to Jeremiah to be his prophet. Jeremiah resists. Jeremiah objects; "Oh, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak for I am only a youth."

But God will not be resisted. He confronts Jeremiah with Jeremiah's faulty objections. "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you you shall speak." How did Jeremiah respond to God's correction? We read his response in Jeremiah 2 when he begins his role as prophet with the words, "Hear the word of the Lord, 0 house of Jacob. Thus says the Lord." Jesus' listeners rejected God's correction. Jeremiah received correction and obeyed it.

We should also read those words on love from Paul in. 1 Cor. 13 as God's word of correction. Paul's words here on love are not the product of abstract thought but words addressed to the members of the church in Corinth on the unloving ways they had been exercising their supposed spiritual gifts. These are words of judgment and correction. He admonished them to seek a more perfect way, the way of love. Unfortunately, we don't know how the Christians in Corinth responded.

The point is, "How will we respond?” When God addresses us with "This that you are doing is wrong and you must change" what do we do?

For those who obstinately reject God's words of judgment and correction I don't have anything particularly helpful to say. But for those who are shamed by God's correcting, for those who can never rise above the guilt, for those who feel trapped in their faults and frozen in their sin I do have something helpful to say.

How can we best respond to God’s judgment? Can God’s judgment be, at the same time, gospel…good news? I read the following simple and fanciful story, but see if it helps. I share it with you because I think it gives a new perspective to the times when God confronts us with our wrongs and demands that we change.

Use your imagination for a moment. We are on a nuclear submarine. Aboard that submarine are torpedoes. Those torpedoes are very sophisticated weapons. Inside each one are sensors and computers that allow the torpedoes to find their target using a constantly changing feedback system.

The torpedoes find their target and zero in on it. If the target seeks to evade the torpedo electronic devices inform the torpedo to alter its course. The feedback goes something like this: "Off- course, off course! Adjust your direction by seven degrees west!" Within milliseconds the torpedo realigns itself and soon kisses its target goodbye. Kaboom! The torpedo uses the negative messages from the electronic devices telling it that it is wrong to adjust itself to complete its purpose.

Once upon a time, however, there was a torpedo that had been programmed with the idea that it is terrible ever to be wrong. Any self-respecting torpedo would never be off-course. The thinking of this torpedo went like this: "To be corrected means I am no good as a torpedo, that I can't do anything right! This means that if I even go off-course a little I am a complete failure! It means the other torpedoes will laugh at me." This rejection-sensitive torpedo took the message from the electronic devices as a rejection of its worth.