Tag Archives: Welcome

Preaching, Sermons

Longing for the Peaceable Kingdom [OR Advent Calendars are for Everyone]

**sermon art: Peaceable Kingdom by Debbie Kingston Baker

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on December 7, 2025

[sermon begins after the Bible reading; two more Bible readings from Romans and Isaiah are at the end of the sermon]

Matthew 3:1-10 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

 “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ ”
4 Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance, 9 and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 10 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
 [sermon begins]

 

Advent includes the four Sundays before the Christmas welcome of the sweet baby Jesus. It’s a time of waiting, of anticipation and longing. We have rituals that count upwards from the first Sunday in Advent, to the second Sunday, and so on, lighting one candle, then two. Advent calendars often begin on December 1st, daily building our anticipation for Christmas with things like pet treats or chocolate or craft beer.[1] You name it and there’s likely an advent calendar for it. German Lutherans began the tradition a couple hundred years ago with candle lighting and chalk lines. And, after World War II, paper calendars lifted people’s spirits across the globe. As our rituals lift the spirits, what in the blue blazes is John the Baptist doing here? And why is he so angry about it?

Let’s just say that John the Baptist isn’t someone you’d put on our Sunday morning greeter ministry. As Paul writes in his letter to the Roman church, we welcome one another just as Christ welcomed us. That welcome is evident walking into our church. It’s evident from the welcome to holy communion that includes everyone. Yes, even you. We regularly examine our welcome from multiple perspectives so that we are actually and authentically welcoming. If all of that is true, then what is John the Baptist doing here with his name-calling and fearmongering? What kind of welcome is this on the second Sunday in Advent?

To understand John, it helps to understand the Biblical prophet Elijah who lived about 900 years before Jesus and John. Elijah was one of two Biblical characters who avoided death by being “taken up into heaven.”[2] He railed against idolatrous prophets, malevolent kings, and neglectful leaders who failed in their religious commitments to their people.[3] Elijah’s reappearance was expected to herald God’s messiah. People were longing for him to return for just this reason. John the Baptist called the religious leaders to repentance as Elijah once did. The people swarming out to see John and be baptized by him knew enough about Elijah to be curious. They also knew enough to have their own doubts about the state of their world. John’s challenge against the powerful who regularly let them down resonated with them, too. We tend to think of him as a peculiar rando out in the desert, but his message was similar to other preachers of his time. He was very popular in part because the people were tired of the world around them. Tired of greed, power, and disadvantages baked into their daily lives. They were ready for God’s promised Messiah to come.

And who was that Messiah to be? According to the prophet Isaiah, the king will come from the line of King David whose father was Jesse. We’re busy with our Advent calendars and simultaneously putting up Christmas trees. In the Isaiah reading, the tree is a stump.[4] A stump in the Christmas tree holder would be a little more difficult to put ornaments on, wouldn’t it? From the stump, the family tree of Jesse, came the great and beloved King David. And from King David’s descendants will come the Messiah who is savior and king, who will judge the poor with righteousness, and “decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth.”

And how will we know the ideal king has arrived? Last Sunday, Isaiah celebrated the ringing of swords beaten into farm equipment which is echoed in our culture by the ringing of Jingle Bells through malls and halls.[5]

This Sunday, the king’s vision is the peaceable kingdom.

+ The wolf shall live with the lamb; the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion will feed together, and a little child shall lead them.

+ The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

+The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.[6]

What’s your favorite part of the peaceable kingdom? Mine is that its beauty is the seeming impossibility of it.[7] The peaceable kingdom is the opposite of our experience in the world. You may know the Darwinian expression, “Survival of the fittest.” In other words, survival comes from strength and predation. We’ve spent centuries taming those survival instincts, so that we can live beyond the vision of evolutionary biologists, only to find ourselves at odds with each other in every possible humanly way.[8]

Isaiah’s poetry explores the tragedy of our human nature by showing us its opposite in the vision of the peaceable kingdom. Christians call the tragic element “sin.”[9] John the Baptist called the tragic element “chaff” that needs to burn away so the wheat can be enjoyed. Individually and collectively our tragic efforts turn us towards terrible things—war, theft, greed, hatred, bullying, dehumanization, and more. The promise of the gospel is that God has a solution for the tragic ends we have on repeat. His name is Jesus.

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman church was written about 20 years after Jesus’ lived. He is talking to the fledgling Jewish and gentile Christians of the church in a way that echoes Isaiah’s peaceable kingdom. (Gentile means not Jewish.) These new Christians were struggling to be church together from their different cultural backgrounds and assumptions. Paul reminds them that harmony is centered by God’s steadfastness and encouragement according to Christ Jesus for the glory of God. God is the reference point and the guide is Jesus. Paul taps the image of Jesse’s root in his letter to the Roman church. He expands the Jewish expectation and messianic hope to include non-Jews. The ruler will rise to rule the gentiles and “in him the gentiles shall hope.”

Paul uses the word “welcome” but welcome may be too tame a translation for what he means. He’s asking more of them. To bear one another. To get along. Ultimately, he’s asking those Roman church folks to fully accept and embrace each other across lines that once seemed hard and fast. Cultural lines that no longer separate them from their siblings in Christ. Paul wrote, “For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the [Jews] on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors and that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.” The cultural divisions highlighted in the Roman church hold up a mirror for our culture today. For them the dividing line was Jew and non-Jew. We could write a list a mile long of the divisions plaguing us today.

The festive anticipation of Advent calendars overlays a deeper longing. As we lit the Advent wreath at the beginning of worship today, we sang a song filled with that longing. We sang for justice, for freedom, and for mercy. We sang for wisdom, for courage, and for comfort. We sang for God to be near us in sorrow, in grief, in weakness, and in fear. Our song is a prayer as we ask God to keep God’s promise to be with us. Another name for “God with us” is Emmanuel. So we sing again in longing, anticipation and hope, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”
____________________________________________________

[1] Show Me the Doors: Why There Is An Advent Calendar for Absolutely Everything. The Economist. December 2, 2025. Why there is an Advent calendar for absolutely everything

[2] Enoch is the other one.

[3] Matt Skinner, Professor of New Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Podcast commentary on the Bible readings for December 7, 2025. #1055: Second Sunday of Advent – December 07, 2025 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[4] Rolf Jacobson, Professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Podcast commentary on the Bible readings for December 7, 2025. #1055: Second Sunday of Advent – December 07, 2025 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

[5] Ibid.

[6] Isaiah 11:6-8

[7] Jacobson, ibid.

[8] Skinner, ibid.

[9] Jacobson, ibid.

__________________________________________________

Romans 15:5-13 Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors 9 and that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will confess you among the gentiles
and sing praises to your name”;
10 and again he says,
“Rejoice, O gentiles, with his people”;
11 and again,
“Praise the Lord, all you gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him”;
12 and again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the gentiles;
in him the gentiles shall hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Isaiah 11:1-10

 1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see
or decide by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
6 The wolf shall live with the lamb;
the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed together,
and a little child shall lead them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
9 They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

 

Preaching, Sermons

Inflection Points and Intention Sunday [OR May God’s Welcome Be Our Welcome] Mark 13:1-8[9-10]

Caitlin Trussell with Augustana Lutheran Church on November 17, 2024

[sermon begins after two Bible readings; Titus and Psalm readings are at the end of the sermon]

Mark 13:1-8[9-10] As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
3When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished? 5Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
9As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. 10And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations.

Hebrews 10:19-25 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

[sermon begins]

Did anyone else note the irony of a gospel reading about the destruction of the temple on Intention Sunday? Intention Sunday, the very same day that we’re stating our intentions to give towards sustaining Augustana’s ministries AND renewing our building. Believe you me, I thought long and hard about changing this reading to something with more pizazz. But the more I sat with it, the more it became the perfect reading for today because we’re living at an inflection point in the human story – an inflection point of rapid change. An inflection point that defies predictable outcomes. While our moment in time is unique, we share similarities with Jesus followers across time who experienced other historic inflection points. Other contentious and confusing times. Other simultaneous death-and-life moments when there are endings and beginnings all over the place.

Mark’s gospel was written around the time the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome, about 35 years after Jesus died. In the Bible story itself, Jesus’ disciples were reacting to his teachings about the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. Whether Jesus was looking ahead to an inevitable outcome or Mark was situating Jesus’ teachings for his readers isn’t knowable. But for first century Jesus followers, the destruction of the temple was an inflection point. Rome was on the rampage, annihilating Jews and the earliest Gentile and Jewish Christians. It’s truly a wonder that the early church lived through Rome’s campaign against them. It was a contentious time of confusion and fear. A simultaneous death-and-life moment right before the crescendo of Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection on Easter morning. And what did Jesus tell his disciples to do at that inflection point? Verse 9 – give testimony to governors and kings. Verse 10 – and the good news must be proclaimed to all nations. Give testimony and proclaim the gospel.

In the midst of our inflection point, what’s our task? Testimony and proclamation. Why do we exist as a church? Testimony and proclamation of the good news of Jesus. What does our worship do? Proclaim the good news. What does the Chancel Choir’s singing do? Proclaims the good news. What does our Human Dignity Delegate ministry do? Give testimony about the good news. What does generosity towards a building renewal campaign and sustaining ministries with our offerings do? Stewards our church of proclamation and testimony about the good news of Jesus.

Welcome 150 is more than a convenient chance to celebrate Augustana’s 150th birthday and make the floors shiny by 2028.[1] Welcome 150 connects us to God, each other, and our community. Welcome 150 is about Jesus and a world deeply in need of God’s unconditional love. A love so powerful that darkness is transformed into light.[2] A love so powerful that hate is driven out and hope is welcomed in. This is not a syrupy sentiment. Unconditional Love fuels courage and is the only power that inspires transformation resembling Jesus and his ever-expanding circle of welcome into the love of God. The power of that love is why Jesus was so dangerous to Rome and the local religious leaders. The power of that love is ultimately why he was hung on that cross. Jesus, his love and his teachings, were just too threatening.

Jesus’ teaching gave his followers an assignment during an inflection point. Testimony and proclamation. Jesus’ teaching also gives us, his followers today, something to do during an inflection point. Testimony and proclamation of the good news of Jesus in our day-to-day lives. The reading from Hebrews also suggests a thing or two for the Jesus follower to do during an inflection point. Listen to these verses from Hebrews once more:

“Approach [God] with a true heart in assurance of faith;

Hold fast to the confession of our hope;

And provoke one another to love and good deeds.

not neglecting to meet together…but encouraging one another.”[3]

Hmmm….faith, hope, and love…the trifecta of what remains as God makes all things new.[4] In Hebrews, faith in what God is doing on our behalf and on behalf of all creation, opens up our approach to God with confidence won through Jesus Christ. We’re invited into the bold, humble confidence of Jesus’ ministry and Christ’s victory. These glimpses of God through the window of Christ inspire us to what the Hebrews preacher calls “holding fast to the confession of our hope while we provoke one another to love and good deeds.”

Six weeks ago, Welcome 150 launched with a capital campaign and 2025 giving appeal. Some of you were provoked to deliver inspiration bags to other members while others of you were provoked to open your door to them. (No small things for the introverts among us.) Some of you were provoked to write generosity stories that ended up in those bags. Here’s one story about those inspiration bag deliveries. Pastor Kent had preached that morning and was delivering bags that afternoon. At one apartment address, the woman who answered the door exclaimed, “I just saw you preach on the livestream!” She’s had a difficult time getting to worship and is able to stay connected with the proclamation. This conversation and connection would not have happened had we not been provoked by our campaign consultant.

When it comes to provocations, we tend to align ourselves with the role of provocateur who provokes love and good deeds.  We generally like to be the sender rather than the receiver who is provoked. Here’s the deal though, the preacher of Hebrews is provoking us to regularly meet together, encouraging each other. One reason to meet together is that it’s tough to provoke and be provoked outside of ongoing relationships. It’s easy to forget that the One ultimately provoking us is the One who’s promising the radical healing of creation. The assurance of faith and the confession of hope comes to us through the Love of this One who provokes us to love – Jesus the Christ.

Last Sunday at the All-Congregation Brunch, Katrina Crook spoke. She chairs the Welcome 150 Steering Team. She is also part of a multigenerational Augustana family. Katrina provoked us to good deeds through Welcome 150 and our 2025 offerings by saying, “We know the outcome for Augustana if we do nothing; Now is the time to renew our building so that our ministry momentum may continue for future generations.” She has the authority to provoke us because we all regularly meet together and encourage one another.

In this inflection point that defies predictable outcomes, we’re called into testimony and proclamation of the good news of Jesus. Good news in which Jesus teaches us to love God, love our neighbors as ourselves, care for orphans and widows, welcome strangers, share resources, free the oppressed, feed the hungry, and pray for our enemies.[5] Our Augustana congregation has named our latest response to God’s grace and Jesus’ call, Welcome 150, as we ask for the courage to let God’s welcome be our welcome for children and adults of all ages, abilities, and attributes; and for the sake of those longing for unconditional love and the provocation to good deeds.

In a moment we’ll sing a hymn together. While we sing, you’re invited to bring forward your Statement of Intent cards, placing them in a basket with other cards to symbolize the impact of combining our gifts. Each verse will end with a few measures of organ music before the next verse begins allowing time for walking, for praying, and for singing our testimony and proclamation.

As church, we try to heed God’s call and hope we’re following God’s imagination over and above the management of our own fears. The world is rapidly changing, and the worldwide church is changing right along with it. No one knows what the outcome of any of those changes will be. Augustana has emerged from the pandemic with the momentum to live anew, so we’re going to err on the side of aligning with that momentum.  As church, we’re called by the gospel to proclaim the gospel and give our testimony in the ways we’ve been gifted by the Holy Spirit to do so. By that same Spirit, we’re reassured of God’s love and grace as our efforts and our offerings unite to renew Augustana for God’s purposes now and in the generations to come.

________________________________________________

[1] Read more about Welcome 150 here: augustanadenver.org/welcome-150/

[2] John 1:5

[3] Hebrews 10:22-25

[4] 1 Corinthians 13:12-13

[5] This list is a compilation of Jesus’ teachings in the Bible.

_________________________________________________

Titus 3:4-5 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 16:5-11 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
 you hold my lot.
 6The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
 I have a goodly heritage.
 7I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
 in the night also my heart instructs me.
 8I keep the LORD always before me;
 because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
 9Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
 my body also rests secure.
 10For you do not give me up to Sheol,
 or let your faithful one see the Pit.
 11You show me the path of life.
 In your presence there is fullness of joy;
 in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.