April 28, 2024 by achristoffels

You ARE the branches

Readings for the day (Easter 5B, Sunday, April 27, 2024):

Dear friends in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

This last week, I had the opportunity to explain to my son what a landline phone is. For those of you who know what this is, try explaining it to someone who’s never used one, or even seen one. It’s not as easy as you would think.

We were out driving somewhere, when a call came through on my phone. My son looked at the screen, saw the name of the person calling, and then noticed something that he hadn’t seen before. Next to the person’s phone number, there was the word “Work.”

After the call, he asked about this word. What’s a work number? So, I went into this long explanation about landline phones, and that before cell phones the only way to get ahold of someone was to call the phone at their home or where they worked. And if the person you were trying to reach wasn’t at either of these two locations, then you’d just have to wait to talk to them until later. It was no big deal at the time, because we didn’t know any different.

Today, we have endless opportunities to remain connected with each other. We don’t have to wait for someone to get to work or get back home, in order to get ahold of them. We can just pick up the phone and call them. We have these small communication devices that allow us to remain connected to each other wherever we go. Except, what happens when you forget your phone? What happens when you leave for work or school without remembering to grab your phone? Do you feel lost? Do you get this sense of feeling disconnected? Without your phone, you can’t get ahold of anyone, and no one can get ahold of you. Before the age of cell phones, we did this all the time. But now that we carry these little phones with us wherever we go, when we leave home without them, we feel lost. We feel incomplete. We feel disconnected.

Being disconnected from the people that we love isn’t something that we strive to achieve. Instead, we do whatever we can to remain connected with those we care about. We keep that phone near us, so that we can text our friends whenever we want. We remember to grab that phone so that we can call our parents and our children and our siblings. We like to remain connected with those who we care about.

As Jesus is speaking with His disciples, they didn’t have cell phones to stay connected with each other. And Jesus knew that He would soon be leaving them as He continued His journey to the cross. So, Jesus gives them is metaphor, this image, of a vine and some branches. And Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide (or remain) in me and I in them bear much fruit.”[1] Those who remain connected to Him, Jesus says, will bear much fruit. Those who remain connected to Jesus will be great and will do great things for God’s kingdom. And then Jesus continues by saying, “Because apart from me you can do nothing.”[2]

Nothing. You can do nothing. Similar to when you forget your phone at home, you can’t communicate with others. You feel lost and disconnected. When you are disconnected from Jesus, you can do nothing. When you are disconnected from God, it’s like forgetting your phone at home. You’re lost and you don’t feel quite right. Now being connected with God, being connected to the vine, Jesus says, is for a purpose. That just as the branches of the grapevine serve a purpose, with you being connected to God, serves a purpose. And that purpose is to bear fruit for God’s kingdom. To carry out God’s mission in the world. To spread and share the Good News of Jesus and the empty tomb. Bearing fruit for God’s kingdom doesn’t mean that you need to stand at street corners asking if people have found Jesus. It doesn’t mean that the church needs to pay for a billboard on the interstate.

There are many other ways to bear fruit for God’s kingdom, and it all begins by remaining connected to God’s Word. Because through our connection to God’s Word, the hope, the peace, the joy that is experienced through this connection, spills over into your daily life. Recently I was visiting with someone who was certain that the world was going to hell. That there’s so much loss and destruction and carelessness and sin happening that this person was convinced that there was no hope for any of us. So, I told this person that I’m actually quite hopeful for the future because there are many wonderful signs of great things happening all around us – as long as we’re willing to open our eyes to see them. Yes, the negative stuff is out there, but so is the positive stuff. And we will focus our attention on the things that interest us. You don’t have to focus on the negative. You get to choose what you focus on. And when you focus on the hope and peace and joy that comes from God’s saving work, that energy and excitement will spill over into your daily life. And that alone spreads the Good News of the empty tomb.

Now, remaining connected to Jesus through God’s Word, you not only are giving a mission, a purpose that’s filled with this hope, peace, and joy, you’re also given a promise. Look again at what Jesus says about the vine and the branches. He says, “I AM the vine; you are the branches.”[3] Notice here Jesus doesn’t say that you have been the branches, or that you will be the branches someday. No, Jesus says that you are the branches. Meaning right now, in the present. You are the branches now. You belong to God, now. You are connected to God, now.

This connection between the vine and the branches shows that there is a mutual dependence for one another. As the branches, you need the vine. You need Jesus. Branches that are apart from the vine do not survive. You need this connection with Jesus. But what is a vine without branches? God needs you, too. Just as the branches can’t survive without the vine, God’s kingdom will not survive without you. Jesus is the vine. You are the branches. You are eternally connected to God through the cross and the empty tomb. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.

[1] John 15:5, NRSV

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

April 21, 2024 by achristoffels

Finding Reliability

Readings for the day (Easter 4B, Sunday, April 21, 2024):

Dear friends in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Being independent is important, isn’t it? We like having our independence. We like being able to choose what we want to do, when we want to do it. We like having the choice of what to eat and what to wear. Being independent means that we get to choose what we’re going to read and what we’re going to watch. We get to choose how we decorate our living space. We get to choose what we believe about God and this world that He created.

And we like having our freedom of choice. I remember counting down the days until I turned 16, all so that I could go and get my driver’s license. And once I had that driver’s license, I had a greater sense of independence. I had the ability to go somewhere, anywhere, without having to rely on someone else to take me there. We love being independent.

Except, we can’t be independent in every aspect of our lives, can we? There are some things in life that we are unable to do ourselves. Some of you know that I’ve been remodeling our basement. We’re adding a couple of bedrooms for our children. With some knowledge of construction, I’ve been doing much of the work myself. However, I don’t have the knowledge, or the skills needed to independently complete the project without help – without professional help. Such as the electrical work. I know just enough about wiring outlets to be dangerous. So, I hired someone to do that work. I also don’t have the skills necessary to do a good enough job on finishing the drywall (the mudding and the taping and the texturing). So, I hired someone to do that work too. Now, relying on these professionals to do the work that I can’t, means that I had to give up my independence with this project, and put the timeline to completion into someone else’s hands. Trusting that they would show up and complete the work as they said they would.

Over the winter, our project stalled. It stalled for over two months without any progress being made because I had lined up an unreliable contractor. This contractor never showed up. I don’t know why, but I never heard back from him. I depended on this contractor, and he ended up being unreliable.

Throughout His teachings, Jesus often uses examples and images of farming and agriculture because that’s what many of His followers were familiar with. Now in the reading today from John’s Gospel, Jesus gives us this image of a shepherd, a hired hand, and some sheep. The shepherd’s job is to care for the sheep. The shepherd is to feed them and care for them and protect them. The role of the hired hand is to assist the shepherd in whatever way is needed, in order to properly care for the sheep. And the role of the sheep, well, their job is simply to do sheep things.

When the wolf comes, the sheep are helpless, and Jesus says that the hired hand flees. At the first sign of trouble, the hired hand leaves. The hired hand runs away. Maintaining their independence, while being unreliable for others. Trouble appears in the form of a wolf ready to feast on these sheep, and the hired hand, who was hired to protect sheep runs away in the opposite direction, without an ounce of care for the sheep.

We love our independence. We love being able to do the things that we want to do without having to depend on others. But sometimes our independence turns into us being unreliable as well. The hired hand chose their independence over being reliable in caring for the sheep. The hired hand put their own interests ahead of the sheep who were under their care. The hired hand not only let the shepherd down, but the hired hand let the sheep down, too. I’m sure you’ve had someone in your life who has let you down. Who has been unreliable. Who said that they were going to do something, but through their independence, chose to do something different instead. And it goes both ways – just as others have let us down, we too, have acted like the hired hand and let others down. We too, have been unreliable.

But Jesus says that there is One who is reliable. And He is always reliable. He never runs away at the sign of trouble. The hired hand runs away from the wolf and the sheep, because the hired hand has no interest in the sheep. He doesn’t own them. The sheep don’t belong to him. And the sheep don’t belong to the hired hand because the sheep belong to the shepherd.

You may have some hired hand tendencies. You may even be unreliable at times, and this story certainly gives a reminder to be better and to do better. But in this story, you truly are not the hired hand, because instead you’re the sheep. And even though people and systems and programs and organizations have let you down in the past. And even though you will face people in the future who will be unreliable, who will let you down, Jesus as your Good Shepherd, promises to never let you down. To always be reliable. To always put your interest ahead of His own. And you can see that Jesus does put your interest ahead of His own when He does the very thing that you cannot do for yourself – paying the true cost for your actions and your words. By laying down His life for you, Jesus not only shows that He cares for you. Jesus sacrifices Himself to show you how much He loves and cares for you. And that you belong to God.

We love our independence. And God grants us many ways of exercising that freedom of choice. But you belong to your Creator. You belong to God. And God gives this promise to you, that through the cross and the empty tomb, He will always have your best interest in mind. For you are the sheep of His fold, a lamb of His choosing. And so, you can be wholly and completely dependent on Jesus. Jesus, who is the risen Christ. Amen.

April 14, 2024 by achristoffels

Mind Tricks

Readings for the day (Easter 3B, Sunday, April 14, 2024):

Dear friends in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Does your mind ever play tricks on you? Making you wonder if something is actually real, or if you just imagined it. Such as, when you’re tired and you just want to fall asleep, so you climb into bed. You get comfortable under the blankets. You close your eyes, and then it hits you. Did you remember to lock the door? Did you remember to turn the lights off? Did you blow out that candle? Did you put the leftover food away? More than likely you did do all of those things, right? You’re 99% certain that you locked the front door. Except, now your mind is playing tricks on you. What about that 1%? Maybe you did forget to blow out that candle. Now you’re doubting yourself and questioning if you actually did all of these things, or did you just think that you did them. And once you start down this path, it’s hard to shut it off. The only way to resolve this issue is to get yourself out of your comfortable bed and go check on that lock, and the candle, and the lights, and the food.

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ll drive away from home – just far enough that I can’t see the front of the garage. And then it will hit me. I’ll wonder, “Did I close the garage door?” It’s an action that I do without even thinking about it, that when I actually stop to think about it, I can’t remember if I did it or not. Our minds play tricks on us, leading us to doubt.

After the Resurrection. After Jesus rises from the dead. After Jesus defeats the power of death and the grave, He appears to the disciples at a variety of times. Last week we had the story of Thomas and how Thomas wasn’t present one of the times when Jesus appeared, and so he doubts the Resurrection of Jesus. In that story, Jesus shows up behind their locked doors. This week when Jesus appears before the disciples, they question if what they are seeing is actually true. They question if they have actually seen the risen Jesus alive? Or were they seeing a ghost? Was this figure in their midst just a figment of their imagination? Was Jesus a hologram? Was their mind playing tricks on them, making them to think that this was the risen Jesus, but He actually wasn’t there at all?

When Jesus appears before the disciples and says, “Peace be with you” the disciples get startled. They’re terrified because not only did this strange figure appear among them, but the strange figure spoke, and He spoke directly to them. But it’s odd. When Jesus spoke to them, He wasn’t angry or upset with them. He didn’t yell or condemn their actions when they deserted Him during His trial and crucifixion. He doesn’t lash out at them for denying ever knowing Him. Instead, when Jesus appears and speaks to His disciples, He gives them this friendly greeting, “Peace be with you.”

These disciples get startled. They’re terrified. They’re even doubtful of His presence among them. And all for good reasons, right? Their feelings and the way they react to this unannounced visit from Jesus is certainly justified. The crucifixion of Jesus had put them all on edge. So, when an unannounced visitor appears, their reaction makes sense. But it makes sense only because that’s what this world does to us. This world gives us every reason to be startled, and terrified, and doubtful. We lock our doors for safety. We close our garage doors to protect our belongings. We do whatever we need to, to protect ourselves and those whom we love. Because we see that the world is a scary place. We are witnesses of these things. So with these higher interest rates, we get startled by this news. This repeat of the presidential election of four years ago not only gives us Déjà vu, but it’s also frustrating and terrifying. We hear reports of violence and crime all the time. Last night we saw tension in the Middle East rising once again with Iran carrying out air strikes on Israel. This world does a great job at startling us and terrifying us. This world fills us with information that seeks to make us doubt God’s love and His care for us. This world gives us every reason to be startled, and terrified, and doubtful. With so much misinformation out there today, it’s challenging to believe and trust in any source. So, we can end up doubting any and all information that comes our way.

Now Jesus calms the startled disciples by showing them His hands. Jesus gives reassurance to these terrified disciples by showing them His feet. Jesus puts away any question or doubt of Jesus being a ghost by eating some fish. Jesus shows them that what He says and what He does is no figment of their imagination. He is no ghost. He is truly present with them. And they know this to be true when Jesus opens their minds to understand the Word of God.

This world will give you every possible reason to be startled and terrified and doubt God’s immeasurable love for you. But just as you are witnesses to the scary things of this world, Jesus makes you witnesses of the Resurrection. You are witnesses to God’s love that is poured out over the face of the earth. You are witnesses when you make peace with each other. You are witnesses when you care for others in the name of Jesus.

A few weeks ago at GIFT, we gave our families a project to work on. Instead of studying another Bible story, they made fleece tie blankets. This past Wednesday, we prayed over and blessed 25 handmade tie blankets that will be going to the St. Cloud Hospital for children and adolescents who go to trauma department. We’re sending another 15 blankets to the humane society to be placed in the kennels of cats and dogs.

When you share the love of Christ, the world becomes less startling and terrifying. You are witnesses of these things. Your mind may play tricks on you and make you question if you locked the front door. But through God’s Word that is revealed to you in the opening of scripture, you can have the confidence in knowing that Christ died and rose for you, so that the peace of Christ may be with you always. Alleluia! Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.

April 7, 2024 by achristoffels

From ‘Cleansing’ to ‘Fellowship’

Readings for the day (Easter 2B, Sunday, April 7, 2024):

Dear friends in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. Amen.

When we think of Easter, isolation typically isn’t the first word that comes to mind. Often, we celebrate Easter together with family and with friends. We celebrate Easter in a group, in a community of other believers. Except, on the evening of that first Easter, the disciples are not out celebrating. Instead, they have isolated themselves away from the world.

Now, being in isolation isn’t enjoyable. If you ever had to isolate or quarantine during the pandemic, you know that it’s not an enjoyable thing to do. Plus, being in isolation is not the way God intended for us to live. Back in the garden of Eden, God creates a partner for Adam. For God says, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.”[1] You see, God creates Eve all so that Adam won’t be alone. God never intended for us to live in isolation. Neither in isolation of each other nor in isolation of God. Instead, God intends for us to live in fellowship with each other. In fellowship with God. And living in fellowship with each other simply refers to companionship. A group of people who share a common belief or interest.

But on the evening of that first Easter, after the disciples hear about the empty tomb, the tomb’s emptiness is not a cause for celebration, but rather a basis for their fear. The disciples go into isolation. They isolate themselves because of fear. They locked themselves in a room away from the world, away from their family and their friends and their community. They feared what might happen to them after seeing their Lord and Teacher brutally and publicly crucified. Fear drives them into hiding. Locking and isolating themselves away from everyone.

Now, not all isolation is bad, right? There are medical reasons to isolate for a time. And sometimes we just need a break from the people around us. After being cooped up for nearly 72 hours during the Holy Week snowstorm, we all needed a break from each other. Breaks are good. Breaks are necessary and healthy. Isolation, however, is a break that goes on for too long. Isolation is too long of a break that negatively affects our health and our relationships.

When we choose to isolate ourselves from others, we are making a choice. We are making the choice to not participate, to not be in fellowship with others. To not join in having companionship with those around us. Now, we also get isolated from God. Our sin separates us from God. Our sin prohibits fellowship with our Creator.

And isn’t fellowship, or a sense of community, a sense of belonging, what any of us want? We want to fit in, right? We want to fit in at school, at work, at church. We want to be included and part of something. We want fellowship. We want companionship. And I think that’s what Thomas wanted as well. When Jesus first appears in that locked room, all of the disciples are present, except for Thomas. Thomas, for reasons unknown to us, is absent. He’s not with the rest of the group behind the locked door. The rest of the disciples end up getting this first-hand experience of seeing and having fellowship with our risen Lord. But Thomas missed it. He wasn’t there. And so, when Thomas hears about this experience. When Thomas hears about this fellowship that his fellow disciples get with the risen Jesus, Thomas refuses to believe it. He refuses to join in fellowship. Thomas instead chooses to remain isolated. But isolation is not how our Heavenly Father intends for us to live. We are intended to partner with each other. To have companionship with each other. To live in community, in fellowship with other believers. To surround ourselves with those who share our common belief in the risen Christ.

Awhile back, I heard someone make a comment about how much food we go through here at Our Savior’s. And we do serve a lot of meals. And it’s all because fellowship, being together, sharing with one another is so vitally important in our life together. And next to sharing our common belief in the risen Christ, we also share in the fact that we all need to eat in order to live.

Now having fellowship with God is also important. But our sin separates us. It forms a barrier, or a wall, making it challenging to maintain a relationship with our Creator. In his first pastoral letter, the Apostle John tells us that, “if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”[2] The blood of Jesus cleanses us. Notice John doesn’t use the past tense of this word here – cleansed, or a future tense – will cleanse, but instead John says – cleanses. Meaning a present action. The blood of Jesus cleanses you – present tense.

Your sin puts you in isolation away from God. The cross of Jesus, though, with His blood poured out, gives you fellowship with God. And you get this fellowship with God in this holy meal that we celebrate. Today we have five young individuals who have been studying and preparing and baking bread in preparation for this day – to join us in fellowship with our risen Lord in a deeper, more intimate way, through the celebration of our Lord’s Supper. Evan and Nolan, Chloe and Gracelynn and Jase, when we were talking about what Holy Communion is and why we need it, I told you that this Sacrament, this holy, sacred thing that we do is a receiving of our forgiveness, a cleansing of our sins, a cleansing of our mistakes. And then I asked you, how often do you make mistakes. And do you remember what you said? All THE TIME! Now, this cleansing and giving us fellowship with God despite our mistakes, does not give us permission to go and do whatever we want. Our Lord’s sacrament isn’t your get of jail free card, thinking that you can make whatever mistake you want because God will forgive you later. Instead, this cleansing gives you the peace and the comfort of knowing that when you recognize that you’ve messed up, when you realize that you’ve made a mistake and that this mistake will isolate you from God, that you can go to Jesus, and you can rely on His continual cleansing and forgiveness.

God never intended for you to live in isolation, but rather to have fellowship with each other. God wants you to have companionship with your fellow believers. And since our Lord created you with the need to eat at some point, being together in fellowship is easy to do around food. And even though your sin separates you from God, the empty tomb of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross gives you fellowship with God. So, every time that you eat and drink of our Lord’s body and blood, Jesus cleanses you. Jesus forgives you. Jesus gives you fellowship with your Heavenly Father. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

[1] Genesis 2:18, NRSV

[2] 1 John 1:7, NRSV

The Rest for The Weary

Sermons & Thoughts from Pastor Anthony Christoffels

Month: April 2024

You ARE the branches

Finding Reliability

Mind Tricks

From ‘Cleansing’ to ‘Fellowship’

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