SERMON: “Yesterday, today and tomorrow.”
Today.
With this word Jesus truly manifested that he had come into the world.
Today.
Today the Scripture has been fulfilled, Jesus said. Reading from the old scroll in the synagogue the words of the old prophet Isaiah, Jesus did bring the old words to life by saying “today.”
Not yesterday in the history.
Not tomorrow in the prophecy.
But today.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Today’s Gospel from Luke captures these three aspects of times, which marked the life and ministry of Jesus, and the aspects that mark the life of everyone one of us.
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
The Gospel captures these eternal aspects of life:
Yesterday is captured in the old prophetic words of Isaiah, in the solemn sacred words read in the synagogue from old scrolls that had gathered dust and dignity over the years.
Yesterday is also captures in the fact that the people in the synagogue of Nazareth had a hard time not being stuck in yesterday. They had a hard time listening and accepting Jesus. Treat the old Prophet with respect and do not believe you are something else, especially when you are in fact just a simple carpenter’s son from Nazareth. How dare you……it is like old time Janteloven. Do not think you are something special, do not thing you are better than us, do not think you can teach us anything!
And so that day, the carpenter’s son, came and told them about traditions, prophets and faith, and claimed that he was part of the fulfillment. He was indeed the gate into today and tomorrow.
So, they got angry. They were filled with rage and the drove Jesus out of the town, eager to silence him or even hurl him off the cliff. They were stuck in yesterday and could not listen to the promises of Jesus “today.”
But from that moment, from that “Today” the Gospel captures tomorrow with the words “but he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” He went on. God only knows where. He walked on. He walked into tomorrow.
The wise Dalai Lama once said:
“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday, and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.”
Today. Today is the day to love, believe, do and mostly live. Today is the day where we can recall, remember and reconcile the past. Today is the day where we can dream, plan, believe and hope for tomorrow and beyond.
But today, this moment, is the time to live, love, believe and act.
Just as Paul wrote in 1. Corinthians: And now faith, hope and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love.
Today we are here at church. Listening to the old readings of yesterday. Singing some old hymns of yesterday. Even listening to the sermon, the pastor prepared…. Yesterday.
But most importantly we are here. Together. Listening to the past. Listening in the moment. Praying together for the future.
Today we are here at church and every time we gather here for services or ceremonies, this place holds yesterday, today and tomorrow.
We are rooted in history and heritage, but we are called to be present today, and have hope for tomorrow.
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
This Trinity of Time is our human condition and our sacred creation.
Many times, we forget the calling of today.
Many times, we are so consumed by the past, the past regrets, the past failures, the past mistakes or maltreatment, or we are comforted by the past glories, the past good old days, the past victories and past youthful presence, - that we forget to be present today.
Many times, we are so preoccupied with tomorrow, the planning, the projects, the prophesies, the promises, the pension, the insurance and the promised land of rest, that we forget to be present today.
“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday, and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live.”
YESTERDAY, with its mistakes and cares, faults and blunders, aches and pains, cannot be changed, we may only change how we live with them and make amends. We cannot undo an act we performed.
We cannot erase a word we said.
YESTERDAY is gone, and the time to make amends, make a change, make it better, is today.
TOMORROW with its adversities, burdens, and promises is also beyond our immediate control.
It is remorse or bitterness for something which happened YESTERDAY, and the dread of what TOMORROW may bring, that is what makes it so hard for us to be today.
Like everything else in life, there needs to be a balance. We all have history, we all have yesterdays, we are all rounded by and formed by our history and heritage – each one of us individually, and us as a Danish Church here in California.
We all have dreams and hopes too. Or I hope we do! It might be small longings about what for desert at lunch today, or larger dreams about the world we give to our grandchildren, and the hopes for humanity.
We each have our dreams and hopes, and we also have dreams for our Danish Church here in California.
All of that; our proud heritage and history, our love for long old Danish hymns and traditional liturgy, our sacred strong coffee and indulgence in lunches, coffees and dinners – and our hopes for a continued renewed revived reformed Danish church here in California. All of this should be here today.
Today we are here in church, worshipping together, combining past, presence and future.
Later today we are in the hall, learning about last year’s budgets, services, events, restrictions etc. etc., but even more joining together in planning tomorrow’s new ideas, welcoming new members and embracing change where change is needed.
SLIDE 18 The best approach to combine the Trinity of Times in our days, is to embrace the past with gratitude, forgiveness and reconciliation, - live today with joy, love and compassion, - and hope for tomorrow with prayer, persistence and promise.
Today, Jesus said in the synagogue after reading yesterday words of Isaiah.
Today, Jesus said, before he was driven out of the town, to the edge, but with confidence, perseverance and promise passed through the midst of all the ones stuck in yesterday – and he went on his way.
Onwards.
Jesus kept walking. Meeting people on his way in their lives and struggles, preaching hope to all who listened, and finally reaching Jerusalem to walk to the cross of forgiveness and hope.
Jesus passed through the midst of them, - showing them and us that he will not and would not be contained by yesterday’s old ways, habits or regrets, but rather truly be present in the moment always on the way to… the next moment and tomorrow.
Jesus came to be with us, whoever we are. Someone once said whenever the world draws a line, Jesus steps across to the other side. His love is just that big.
First Corinthians 13 maps out a great promise of faith. Paul writes that our love should be as big as Jesus’. Our love should be too big for envy or boasting or rudeness to gain a foothold. Our love should be big enough to bear with one another, to see the good in our neighbor, to rejoice in truth over convenient lies.
In a time where we often sigh “Where is the love?” and with sadness we witness how so many too many are divided, angry and where bearing with one another is not the norm, - Jesus calls us to remember: we are beloved siblings, and a beloved sibling cannot be our enemy. Our enemy is not the other one, but sin, death, and the evil—and Jesus defeated them all.
The world we live in is full of division.
Divided because of our faith, our politics, our beliefs, our sense of justice and right, our personal choices or sexual orientation. Divided we are standing at the cliff, ready to push the other one.
Divided we are standing at the edge of dignity, respect, humanity…. And what can pull us away is Faith, Hope and love.
Let us remember today: the glorious heritage we share, the history we must learn in order not to forget past mistakes, the prophesies that has indeed been fulfilled.
Let us remember today to be present in the moment. To seize the moment and embrace life. Today, Jesus still is among us, Jesus still loves us as the Bible tells us so.
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
There is indeed a time for everything under heaven as it is written in Ecclesiastes in the OT:
a time to love, and a time to hate.
a time for war, and a time for peace.
God has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13 moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14 I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. 15 That which is, already has been that which is to be, already is and God seeks out what has gone by.
So let us today build and plant, love and live, share and care and believe in tomorrow.
Amen.