Preacher: The Rev. Scott Monson, Rector

Luke 13:31-35 is a short passage packed with multi-layered meaning. Fr. Scott opens up this Gospel to reveal how Jesus overcomes evil with love in his day as well as in ours.

After the visit of the Magi and the flight to Egypt, Jesus’ family make a home in Nazareth. There he will begin his ministry of bringing peace, hope, truth, light and love–the true work of Christmas. Now, we are charged to take up the work of Christmas: To find the lost, heal the broken, feed the hungry, release the prisoner, rebuild the nations, bring peace among brothers, make music in the heart.

God sent Jesus to bring light and hope and love to those who need it most; not to the powerful and mighty, but to the poor in heart, the lonely and the downcast. And that love is revealed in our hearts when we least expect it.

Jesus’ teaching in John 6:56-69 is indeed difficult. But his words of spirit and life are a call to us to see and believe that he is truly the Son of the Living God. To be faithful disciples of Jesus, we too must proclaim with Peter, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

From the Garden of Eden to the Rose Garden, there’s ample evidence that human beings are far from perfect. We tend to inflate our self-worth but amplify the shortcomings of others. But recognizing our own faults helps us more easily accept the imperfections of others. God, through the working of the Spirit, helps us grow in acceptance, forgiveness and love of others—and ourselves.

Pentecost isn’t the birthday of the Church, it’s the first day of school. The Holy Spirit was given to be our guide, our advocate and our teacher to learn the will of God and help us better understand the lessons taught by Jesus. Like a loving parent, our heavenly Father wants us to learn, grow and thrive in our faith, and in our love for God and one another.

God’s love for us is wild, boundless and — well — just plain crazy. Despite our brokenness, recalcitrance and just plain bad behavior, God loves us whole-heartedly and unreservedly. God loves us so much that he lived, died and rose for us. And God loves us so much that he wants to be together with us forever.

Fr. Scott explores Philippians 2 to help us understand why Jesus had to die for us. And the answer is love.

From before the world began, God’s logos–God’s Word–has been with us. The Word became flesh so that we might begin to know the mind of God, the will of God, the love of God from the Son of God. ~ Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas