Lent I – C
February 21st, AD 2010
Meadowvale Lutheran Church, Mississauga
Pastor Peter Lisinski
“THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD”
(Texts: Romans 8:10-17; Luke 4:1-11)
A Conversational Sermon
Four Questions:
1) What is the most important event going on in the world today?
· War on Terror? (national security; social justice)
· Earthquake in Haiti? (racism; poverty)
· Economic Crisis? (basic survival for the poor; comfort and security for the rich)
· Olympic Games? (global peace; human solidarity)
· H1N1 Virus? (personal & communal health; mortality)
· Other? …
Consensus depends on a second question:
2) What is the most important event ever to happen in human history?
· World War I? (The war to end all wars)
· World War II? (Jewish Holocaust; Nuclear Weapons; U.N.)
· Bubonic Plague?
· Great Depression?
· Reformation?
· Other?
Answer : The incarnation of God’s eternal word and divine being! The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
3) What is the most important, though not the only important event in the life of Jesus?
· Birth? (fulfillment of God’s promise of redemption)
· Death? (fulfillment of Jesus’ mission and destiny)
· Resurrection? (God’s triumph over sin, evil and death)
· Other?
All of the above are important “for us and for our salvation” as our creeds say. But for Jesus himself, the most important event in his life (I believe) is his baptism! Through water and the word of God, Jesus received the promise of God’s love and support, and the power of God’s Holy Spirit – the faith, the wisdom, and the strength – to enter the wilderness of temptation to expose, confront and defeat “all the forces of evil, the devil and all his empty promises” (LBW Holy Baptism, p. 123).
4) What is the most important, though not the only important, event in your life and mine?
· Holy Baptism (more important than out birth, career, marriage; more important than fame, fortune and health; even more important than winning a gold medal!)
Through water and God’s word we, too, receive the power of God’s Holy Spirit and the promise of God’s everlasting love – a promise that endures throughout our life and even beyond our death; a promise that we will come to the fulfillment of our personal humanity and eternal destiny!
Which brings us back to our first and most important question:
1) What is the most important, though not the only important event going on in the world today?
Answer: The worship of God, for which we were created and in which we fulfill our eternal destiny! i.e., the very event in which we are involved now, today!
Mark Twain: “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it!” Same with the state of the world.
The most important thing, though not the only important thing, anyone can do about the state of the world, or even our own life, is worship God! In worship we meet God, receive God’s love, hear God’s word and learn God’s will… Our relationship with God is our most important, though not our only important, relationship in life; it shapes all our other relationships – with the world; with others and even with self!
In today’s scriptures Jesus says, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God… Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him…”; and Paul says, “Faith comes through what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ…”
The worship of God is most important for shaping our relationship with God and our relationship with God is more important than…
· war for achieving social justice and/or national security;
· disaster response/relief for achieving racial harmony and economic justice;
· revising financial laws and regulations for ensuring access to life’s basics of food, water and shelter;
· the Olympics for achieving human solidarity and global peace;
· medical treatment, proper diet and exercise for maintaining good health and postponing death…
Next time you hear someone complain about the state of the world, ask them what they have done about it; then suggest to them that faithful worship – at the time and place established by God (Sabbath) – is the most important thing they can do about it!