Is it just me, or has our world gone slightly mad?  It's bad enough that people have to get half undressed to ride an airplane these days.  It's foolishness that the name of God is being outlawed in public while the F- word on TV is getting a constitutional right.  It makes no sense that political correctness has all but destroyed free speech on college campuses.  It's pure lunacy that Islamic children are taught to blow people up.  What kind of a world is it where African Christians are burned to death simply for confessing Jesus Christ?

          But now comes the real blow.  A World Series with the Yankees and the Marlins!  And not the Cubs and Red Sox?  Life is not fair!  Well, the good news is that baseball is almost over for another year, and Armageddon must still be off in the future.

          But seriously, I am very concerned about our soldiers, the brave men and women who lay their lives on the line to free a nation long held in tyranny.  Why should they be treated so badly by the press?  Are reporters so hard up for a story that they will endanger lives?  Do they not realize how their negative stories demoralize our troops?

          My pastor friend Allen from Nebraska is a navy veteran.  He often writes with uncommonly common sense about the inconsistencies in how our troops are portrayed.  Here's what he wrote recently:  "Last Tuesday I had a long discussion with a colleague who was making the all too familiar 'Is it all worth it?' argument (i.e, Is it worth it for our troops to die over there?).  All I could say was, 'Is it worth it for a fireman with a wife and young children to risk his life saving an elderly woman from a burning retirement home?  If he dies, think of the loss to society, but if she dies what is the loss?'  Of course his answer was not about 'worth' at all, but that the fireman risks life to help the helpless simply because he is the one most able to do so - that's his job!  I told him that in the same way, America is the world's sole superpower, and we are the most capable and have the most means to change the face of the Middle East for the better."  Allen continued, "Every soldier and Marine I've spoken to has no doubt about why they are there.  Yes, they want to go home, but it only takes one look at some Iraqi kids playing or a school being opened up or a busy and free market place or an empty prison to understand that the sacrifice we've made is not about political vanity but about commitment to helping people become free."

          Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth lived and taught at a time when people yearned to be free.  He preached Good News that the Truth would set people free, and His Word was truth incarnate.  He came as God's servant to bring hope to the nations, to the Gentiles and all who would believe in Him.  And He is the Son of God who brings hope to us also today.

          One Sabbath morning Jesus was walking with his disciples through a grainfield when they were ambushed by some pharisees, legalists who controlled what the people said and did.  The disciples were hungry and had been pulling off heads of wheat to eat the seeds.  "You're committing sin!" shouted the Pharisees.  "That's harvesting grain, working on the Sabbath!  You're breaking Sabbath law!"  Now technically those Pharisees had a point - rubbing husks off wheat could be considered work if it was done for profit, which was clearly prohibited by the Third Commandment.  The Sabbath Law was to give people time off to worship and honor God.  It was also a way to rest from their work week.

          But the disciples' intent was not to break a law, just to eat.  Yet that didn't matter to the legalists.  They were masters at bending the Law to suit their own needs.  They saw only what they wanted to see.  So Jesus reminded them of how a thousand years before King David and his men had once entered the tabernacle to eat the holy bread because they were starving.  To enter such a holy place was punishable by death, yet they weren't even reprimanded.  "What do you think about that?" said Jesus.

          His point was for us to keep the spirit of the Law, not just the letter of the Law.  God desires people to be merciful, not nitpickers.  He said, "You'd rescue a donkey from a pit on the Sabbath, but yet you'd condemn these guys for eating a few grains of wheat?  Rules were made for people, not people for the rules, and, don't forget, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

          Then, to make His point, Jesus healed a man's paralyzed arm right before their eyes.  What a powerful moment!  The Son of God used the power of God to heal someone in great need!  "Praise God!" we'd say.  But not the Pharisees.  All they could do was find fault.  "Don't confuse us with facts, Jesus of Nazareth!  The truth doesn't matter, only what we think.  Look out Jesus, because we will get you!"  So it is with those so sure of their rightness that they'll challenge God Himself.

          Often when I read about the life of Jesus I wonder why His critics were so hard on Him.  He was only good and kind.  He didn't hurt people but healed them.  He told the truth, but always in a spirit of love.  He was always honest, and never a phony.  He forgave people and didn't judge their motives.  The animosity of His enemies can't be explained by reason or common sense - it had to be the work of Satan.  That "father of lies," the one who seeks to rob and kill, must have been motivating His enemies, urging them to kill the Son of God.

          I really think Satan is behind most of the insanity we see all around us today.  He must be making people do the idiot things they do.  If ever you get befuddled about what's going on in our world today, remember, the enemy is still out there, doing everything and anything he can to derail the Christian Church and confuse the people of God.

          Trying to live life is like trying to navigate T-Rex, our major highway project.  Every time I drive that construction maze on I-25, it seems the roads are worse, not better.  The lanes change every day, bringing you closer to other cars than you'd like, and taking you places you don't want to go.  For every bit of progress, there's more demolition.  Sometimes it takes all your energy just to get through it.  But you know what?  If you pay attention to the signs, don't speed and leave your lane, you'll get through it.  And I find comfort in knowing that someone in charge has a Master Plan, and that one day that highway will be done, hopefully in better shape than it was to begin with.

          Like T-Rex, our world seems to change with each week or each day, confusing us more than helping us.  We're threatened by every evil imaginable, so we need now more than ever to stay in our lanes, to pay attention to where we're going and not to take any shortcuts in our faith.  And we can all take comfort in knowing there's a divine Someone in heaven with a Master Plan, a loving God who will one day show us why it's all happening this way, and will make it all to be better.  That's our hope in the Lord.

          I went to Houston last week and spent time with a family whose hope is in the Lord.  It was a time of prayer and humility, of sadness and yet hope.  They know they'll soon lose a loved one from this earth, but they also know she will receive a life in heaven from God far better than anything we can imagine here.  It was good to be there in the room.  Being with them strengthened my faith more than my presence strengthened theirs.

          And on the way home, I kept wondering, where is our hope, where is the hope of my people at Epiphany?  Where do we put our trust?  Is part of our confusion due to our trusting the world instead of trusting the Creator of the world?  Though we believe Jesus is our Lord, have we become too attached to this world for which He died?

          When Jesus had silenced His critics, the Bible says He took His disciples away from there and warned them not to tell people of the miracles they'd seen.  It wasn't time yet, He said, but the world would know soon enough of the final great miracle which was soon to come, the miracles of His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection.  Jesus of Nazareth died for all, the just for the unjust, the godly for the ungodly. He died for you and for me.  And because of this, you and I all people have hope for eternity.

          Jesus did this to fulfill the words of Isaiah 42: "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.  He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets.  A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.  In his name the nations will put their hope."

          Jesus is our humble servant.  He gave His life that we might have hope.  He hears and sees us today, as He has seen and heard believers of every generation.  He knows the frustrations we have with sinful humanity.  He senses the confusion we have and knows the effects of our sins.  And yet Jesus still loves and forgives this goofy world, even when we go after the dumbest things and think we're being so very wise.

          A bear got into our trailer in the mountains this last week.  We think it was the "coffee creamer bear".  He tore off the front door, opened some cupboards, found no coffee creamer, and so he left.  He was a nice bear - no scratches, no tears, no mess - he only ate some sugar.  I'm thankful he didn't hurt things more - and also thankful we weren't there when he came looking for food!  He was probably a cub, maybe a Chicago Cub - wearing red sox!

          Today I'm also thankful for the Lutheran Women's Missionary League.  These fine women "Serve the Lord with Gladness," and bring hope to the nations.  I thank the women of Epiphany Women's Guild for all they do for us, and I pray that more and more women of Epiphany will join them for their monthly meetings and the work they do for the Lord and His church.  May God grant us all joy and peace and laughter in these troubled times, amen!

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.