El Bautismo y Tentación de Jesús
Mensaje del primer domingo de la temporada de Galilea
Hay un himno famoso llamado “¡Qué amigo tenemos en Jesús.” Esta mañana debemos considerar por un momento lo que eso significa. La canción continúa: “Él siempre está ahí para ayudarte. Llévela al Señor en oración.”
Pues bien, la oración es nuestra manera de hablar con Jesús, quien todavía vive en el tiempo de Dios. ¿Y por qué tenemos que hablar con Jesús? ¿Qué tipo de ayuda da?
De lo que Jesús es conocido en la Biblia - más de sus milagros y la predicación - es su fidelidad a Dios y a los pobres, nunca caminó por una persona pobre sin que lo ayudara. Y se negó a comprometer su fe en Dios hasta el punto donde fue crucificado por los romanos. Hoy en la escritura, una voz que viene del cielo y dice: “Este es mi hijo. Con él me complazco.”
Lo que significó ser un “Hijo de Dios” en aquellos días significaba que eran fieles a Dios. Que no adoraban a otros dioses. Que no se inclinaban a cualquier rey de la tierra. Que no adoraban a los dioses de la riqueza o el poder. De hecho, que el primer mandamiento era: “no pondrás otros dioses delante de él.” Así que cuando se decía que Jesús era un hijo de Dios, eso significaba que era totalmente fiel a Dios. De hecho, el pueblo de Jesús, los hijos de Israel, se llaman “Hijo de Dios” en las Escrituras. Porque eran las personas que se suponía que eran fieles a Dios. Entonces, ¿cómo nos ayuda Jesús? ¿Por qué él es tan buen amigo tener?
“Es que si usted tiene un amigo que tiene una fe fuerte, que es fiel, que hablando con él le ayuda con su fe. Usted sabe esto de su propia experiencia. Si usted está en problemas, usted quiere hablar con alguien que es fuerte, porque te fortaleza. Si usted está pensando en poner en peligro sus principios, pero habla con alguien que se niega a comprometer sus principios, esto te da fuerza de no compromoter sus principios, la fuerza de permanecer fieles. Venimos a la iglesia el domingo para estar rodeado de personas que tienen fe - ya que nos ayuda con nuestra fe.
Hemos ganado otra pequeña victoria esta semana en el frente de la inmigración. Si un esposo es un ciudadano de los EE.UU. y su esposa es indocumentada, para que el marido se legaliza a su esposa, deben abandonar el país a aplicar. Pero si ella se va después de haber estado aquí sin papeles, ella recibe una barra de 10 años de regresar al país. Tenemos miembros de nuestra iglesia en esa situación. La nueva regla, anunciada esta semana, significa que no tendrá que salir para solicitar la legalización y por lo tanto no tendrá una barra de diez años a partir de reingresar al país.
Es un paso más en nuestra lucha para proteger a nuestras familias y nuestros jóvenes de la deportación. En esta iglesia, sabemos que era nuesta fe que mantuvo la lucha por la estas protecciones viva. Todos los demás habían abandonado, pero dijimos que Obama tiene el poder y podemos conseguir que lo utilizan. Teníamos fe. Y por esa fe, millones de personas han obtenido la protección de la deportación.
¿Cómo mantuvimos la fe tan fuerte, lo suficientemente fuerte como para ganar la victoria? Fuimos fuertes el uno al otro y hablamos con Jesús en la oración. Su fidelidad nos hizo fuertes en nuestra fe. Cada uno de nuestra fidelidad cada uno de nosotros hizo más fuerte por ser uno con el otro. Nos ayudamos unos a otros con nuestra fe siendo fiel.
Quiero sugerir a usted que es importante para nosotros como pueblo, pero también es lo más importante para mantener juntos nuestras relaciones. Usted sabe que Emma está en el hospital hoy. Oramos por ella hoy. Sin embargo, Emma y yo tuvimos una buena charla ayer por la noche y los dos estábamos en paz. Sabemos que pase lo que pase, vamos a estar ahí el uno al otro. Estuvimos de acuerdo en que estamos muy lejos de ser perfectos seres humanos, pero hemos sido bendecidos con un matrimonio perfecto. En el matrimonio, que se comprometan a ser Jesús el uno al otro. Trabajar para ser fieles a Dios en su vida para que pueda ayudar a los demás con los demás la fe.
Comenzamos hoy, la temporada de Galilea. En las próximas siete semanas, vamos a seguir a Jesús en sus pasos. Vamos a aprender acerca de Jesús y vamos a aprender a hablar con Jesús. Eso nos ayudará en nuestra fe - porque él estaba tan perfectamente fiel a Dios y al pueblo de Dios.
En las Escrituras, Juan estaba bautizando gente en el río. Este fue un acto de resistencia. Fue un movimiento. Dijo que no es necesario ir al templo para ser bautizado porque el templo está lleno de hipócritas. Los sacerdotes se han comprometido con los romanos que le oprimen. Puede ser bautizado aquí en el río con las otras personas pobres y Dios te dará la fe para cambiar su vida, para vivir vidas que son fieles a Dios. Juan desafiaba a las autoridades y miles de personas se unieron al movimiento.
De pronto, Jesús se le apareció y llegó a ser bautizado por Juan. Después que fue bautizado una paloma voló desde el cielo y se posó en su hombro y un vicio resonó desde el cielo: “este es mi hijo, con él me complazco.” Eso le dio confianza a la gente que este movimiento fue bendecido por Dios.
Ahora se dice que el Espíritu vino sobre Jesús cuando fue bautizado, cuando se unió al movimiento. Vamos a encontrar la próxima semana para que el Espíritu vino sobre él y le dijo a predicar la Buena Nueva a los pobres y liberar a los oprimidos. Jesús se sintió llamado por Dios a ser fiel a Dios ya su pueblo, para salvarlos de la opresión y para restaurar su fe.
Inmediatamente después, Jesús fue arrastrado hacia el desierto donde fue tentado por el diablo. Esta es una experiencia que todos deberíamos entender.
Llegamos a una reunión y estamos rodeados de personas que están dispuestos a ponerse de pie y luchar por la justicia para el pueblo. La gente que nos rodea, los altavoces, fortalecen nuestra fe. Pero luego nos vamos de la reunión y alguien dice, “Usted nunca va a ganar esta batalla, usted sólo te meterás en problemas.” Nuestra fe se debilita y empezamos a dudar de nosotros mismos.
O nos reunimos delante de este altar de Dios y estamos casados. Estamos rodeados de personas que creen en el matrimonio. Nuestra fe se hace fuerte que vamos a estar juntos para siempre. A continuación os dejamos aquí y hay gente que dice: “El matrimonio no dura.” Y debilitar nuestra fe. Nos hacen dudar.
Después de que Jesús fue bautizado y se sentió el Espíritu del Señor, fue tentado por Satán en el desierto. Al igual que todos nosotros, podemos elegir.
Podemos optar por dedicar nuestras vidas a conseguir la riqueza en lugar de ser fiel a Dios y sus caminos. Podemos optar por ser imprudente, destruyendo nuestras vidas, o podemos optar por ser fiel a Dios y sus caminos. Podemos optar por tratar de obtener prestigio y posiciones de poder en el mundo en lugar de ser fiel a Dios y sus caminos. Tenemos libre albedrío. Tenemos opciones. Y la fidelidad a Dios es una de esas opciones.
En el desierto, cuando Satán tentó a Jesús con opciones, Jesús se mantuvo fiel a Dios. Cuando Satán dijo: Yo te daré riquezas, Jesús dijo: “el hombre no vive sólo de pan, sino por la Palabra de Dios, por la manera en que Dios enseña. Cuando Satán le dice, “usted puede saltar este acantilado y vivir,” dice Jesús, “No es la prueba de Dios dejando de lado su vida.” Y cuando Satán le dice de mí, “olvídate de la ley de Dios, que le dará un gran poder y la posición, yo le haré un rey,” Jesús dice: “Está escrito, no se ponga otros dioses delante de mí.”
Esa es la historia de las tentaciones. Para la genta, significaba que Jesús era fuerte en su fe, que estaba comprometido en primer lugar, por encima de todo, a vivir en el camino de Dios. Que la fidelidad de él hizo que la gente quería seguir, alguien que se fortalezó a su fe. Se les despertó el deseo de hacer frente a los hipócritas, a la injusticia, para restaurarles a Dios y escupir en la cara de sus opresores.
Ahora, Jesús estuvo en el desierto 40 días. Déjenme decirles lo que eso significa. Dios salvó a los israelitas por llevarlos a Egipto, donde podrían encontrar trabajo y comida. Dijo que ir allí y yo te haré a tener muchos hijos y llegar a ser un gran pueblo, al ser tan numerosos como las estrellas en el cielo. Y entonces, cuando el faraón egipcio comenzó a oprimir y hacer de ellos esclavos, Dios los salvó del Faraón. Sin embargo, después de que fueron salvados, vagaron en el desierto durante 40 años. Y durante ese tiempo no pudieron permanecer fieles. Ellos rompieron la ley de Dios. Adoraron al becerro de oro. Eligieron a adorar a la riqueza y el poder. Se optó por ser irresponsables con sus vidas.
La historia de Jesús en el desierto era una manera de decirle a la gente que Jesús fue fiel en las maneras en que su pueblo no había podido ser fiel. Y de esta manera él estaría su salvador. Mostrando de nuevo lo que significa ser fiel al Dios que los había salvado. Estar cerca de Jesús restauró su fe.
Y cuando Jesús escoge a la fidelidad, se convirtió en lo que fue llamado a ser - para su pueblo. A medida que aprendemos sobre la vida de Jesús de nuevo en las próximas semanas, vamos a aprender lo que significa ser fiel a Dios.
Nuestro Dios es un Dios de la vida. Fuimos muy afortunados de llevar a Emma al hospital para recibir atención médica muy buena cuando tuvo su ataque al corazón. Como resultado, ella pronto estará de regreso con nosotros a trabajar de nuevo. Fuimos afortunados porque tenemos seguro y porque tenemos como nuestro médico el director médico de uno de los mejores hospitales del país.
Sólo hace una semana, nos fuimos a una posada en ese mismo hospital y empujamos al hospital a admitir siete personas que estaban indocumentados y que necesitaba atención médica a pesar de que no tenía seguro.
De hecho, hay millones de nuestra gente que no tienen seguro. Los doce millones indocumentados no se le permitirá comprar hasta el nuevo seguro de salud nacional. Recuerde que Obama dijo: Este seguro no es para aquellos que él llamó “los ilegales.”
Lo que esto significa es que van a morir 20 años antes que aquellos que tienen seguro. Esas son las estadísticas en Chicago. 12 millones multiplicado por 20 años es de 240 millones de años de vida que se pierde porque no conseguimos la detección temprana y el tratamiento de enfermedades tratables. En la Biblia se dice que donde Dios manda, ningún niño va a morir cuando son sólo dos o tres años de edad y ningún adulto morirá antes de cumplir los 100 años. Y si somos fieles a Dios, entonces vamos a luchar para obtener atención médica para los indocumentados este año y eso es lo que vamos a hacer.
Y se nos enseña que lo que “Dios ha unido, ningún hombre podrá dividir” y por eso vamos a continuar nuestra lucha para parar con las deportaciones que separan a las familias.
Y sabemos que va a ganar estas luchas, paso a paso, a medida que comenzamos el año pasado para cambiar las políticas de la nación y ganar un caso tras otro. Sin embargo, la cuestión no es si vamos a ganar estas luchas, pero la clase de gente que vamos a ser cuando ganamos.
Porque Dios le ha dado un destino. Al igual que lo hizo a los israelitas, que le ha traído aquí, algunos a pie por el desierto, algunos de las cajuelas de los coches, así que usted podría trabajar, comer y educar a los niños a convertirse en un pueblo tan numerosos como las estrellas en el cielo.
Y cuando esta nación comenzó a perseguir a usted y tratar de destruir a sus familias, él ha estado con ustedes para defender sus familias y el año pasado hemos visto un gran progreso en esta lucha.
Dios ha hecho esto para usted y con usted, porque él quiere que usted crezca en número en esta nación para cambiarlo, para ser su testigo a su manera en un país que está dominado por la codicia y el egoísmo y que se ha olvidado de los caminos de Dios. .
Dios ha hecho esto para usted y con usted, porque Él quiere que se cambie este país de una que empobrece a México y América Latina a uno que ayuda a levantar a estos países de la pobreza y el sufrimiento. Usted ya está haciendo esto: el dinero que envía a casa es más grande que cualquier paquete de ayuda exterior que este gobierno envía a cualquier país del mundo!
Sin embargo, para vivir este destino, usted debe tener una fe fuerte. No debe darse por vencido cuando los tiempos son difíciles. Usted debe ser fiel en sus amistades y sus matrimonios, en su iglesia y en la lucha.
Jesús dice: “No tentarás al Señor, y no seas imprudente con el don de la vida que te da.” Pero cuando el jóven dizque pandillero saca un arma y le dispara a un coche casi sin razón, esto es tirar su vida, y él esta probando a Dios.
Y cuando los jóvenes se conectan y hacen los bebés antes de casarse, antes de saber que están con alguien que les ayude con su fe, que va por el mismo camino de la fidelidad, entonces están siendo irresponsables con sus vidas y están probando a Dios.
Y cuando los hombres o las mujeres pasan la mitad de su vida trabajando y la otra mitad gastando sus salarios emborrachándose, están probando a Dios y siendo irresponsable con sus vidas - y que tendrán que pagar las consecuencias.
Dios te ha dado una palabra de seguir por vida, un destino y un lugar en la historia. Y para hacer eso, debe ser Jesús el uno al otro. Es bueno orar y hablar con Jesús. Es bueno para el estudio de Jesús. Pero necesitamos que se comprometan a seguir sus pasos, a poner a Dios y los caminos de Dios primero en nuestras vidas, por lo que al ser fuertes en nuestra fe, tenemos el uno al otro fuerte.
No puedo permanecer fuerte en mi fe, si no este fuerte en el suyo. Nos necesitamos unos a otros. El milagro de Jesús no es que él hizo un ciego ver, pero que dejó tras de sí un pueblo que se ayudaban unos a otro ver. Ustedes también pueden ser hijos e hijas de Dios. Ese es el camino con Jesús que empezamos hoy de nuevo este año.
Únete a nosotros! Pon a Dios primero! Ser como Jesús!
Usted no es perfecto, pero va en un viaje perfecto. Ven con nosotros este año-y traer a otros. Su fe les fortalecerá te hará más fuertes y su fe le fortalecerá.
Nuestra caminata con Jesús se ha iniciado este año. Camina con nosotros. Camine con su amigo.
Sagradas Escrituras
Isaías 61:8-11
Yo, el Señor, amo la justicia, pero odio el robo y la iniquidad. En mi fidelidad los recompensaré y haré con ellos un pacto eterno. Sus descendientes serán conocidos entre las naciones, y sus vástagos, entre los pueblos. Quienes los vean, reconocerán que ellos son descendencia bendecida del Señor. Me deleito mucho en el Señor; me regocijo en mi Dios. Porque él me vistió con ropas de salvación y me cubrió con el manto de la justicia. Soy semejante a un novio que luce su diadema, o una novia adornada con sus joyas. Porque así como la tierra hace que broten los retoños, y el huerto hace que germinen las semillas, así el Señor omnipotente hará que broten la justicia y la alabanza ante todas las naciones.
Mateo 3:13-17 Bautismo de Jesús
Un día Jesús fue de Galilea al Jordán para que Juan lo bautizara. Pero Juan trató de disuadirlo. Yo soy el que necesita ser bautizado por ti, ¿y tú vienes a mí? —objetó. —Dejémoslo así por ahora, pues nos conviene cumplir con lo que es justo —le contestó Jesús. Entonces Juan consintió. Tan pronto como Jesús fue bautizado, subió del agua. En ese momento se abrió el cielo, y él vio al Espíritu de Dios bajar como una paloma y posarse sobre él. Y una voz del cielo decía: «Éste es mi Hijo amado; estoy muy complacido con él.»
Mateo 4:1-11 Tentación de Jesús
Luego el Espíritu llevó a Jesús al desierto para que el diablo lo sometiera a tentación. Después de ayunar cuarenta días y cuarenta noches, tuvo hambre. El tentador se le acercó y le propuso: —Si eres el Hijo de Dios, ordena a estas piedras que se conviertan en pan. Jesús le respondió: —Escrito está: "No sólo de pan vive el hombre, sino de toda palabra que sale de la boca de Dios." Luego el diablo lo llevó a la ciudad santa e hizo que se pusiera de pie sobre la parte más alta del *templo, y le dijo: Si eres el Hijo de Dios, tírate abajo. Porque escrito está: "Ordenará que sus ángeles te sostengan en sus manos, para que no tropieces con piedra alguna."
También está escrito: "No pongas a prueba al Señor tu Dios" —le contestó Jesús. De nuevo lo tentó el diablo, llevándolo a una montaña muy alta, y le mostró todos los reinos del mundo y su esplendor. Todo esto te daré si te postras y me adoras. ¡Vete, Satanás! —le dijo Jesús—. Porque escrito está: "Adora al Señor tu Dios y sírvele solamente a él."Entonces el diablo lo dejó, y unos ángeles acudieron a servirle.
”The Strength Comes from Faithfulness
Baptism and Temptation of Jesus”
Message on the First Sunday in the Season of Galilee
There is a famous hymn called “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” This morning we should consider for a while what that means. The song continues, “He is there to always help you. Take it to the Lord in prayer.”
Well, Prayer is the way we talk with Jesus, who still lives in God’s time. And why do we need to talk to Jesus? What kind of help does He give?
What Jesus is known for in the Bible – more than his miracles or preaching – is his faithfulness to God and to the poor. He never walked by a poor person without helping him. And he refused to compromise his faith in God even to the point where he was crucified by the Romans. Today in scripture, a voice comes from heaven and says, “This is my son. With Him I am well pleased.”
What being a “Son of God” meant in those days was that you were faithful to God, faithful like a son. You didn’t worship any other Gods. You didn’t bow down to any Kings on earth. You didn’t worship the gods of wealth, or power. In fact, that was the first commandment, “You shall put no other gods before him.” So when it was said that Jesus was a son of God, it meant he was totally faithful to god.
In fact, the people of Jesus, the Israelites, as a people, were called “Son of God” in the scriptures - because they were the people that were supposed to be faithful to god.
So how does Jesus help us? Why is he such a good friend to have? It is because if you have a friend that has a strong faith, who is truly faithful, than talking to him helps you with your faith. You know that from your own experience. If you are in trouble, you want to talk to someone who is strong, because they give you strength. If you are thinking about compromising your principles, and you talk to someone who refuses to compromise his principles, it gives you strength not to compromise, strength to remain faithful. We come to church on Sunday to be surrounded with people who have faith – because that helps us with our faith.
We won another small victory this week on the immigration front. Currently,if a husband is a U.S. citizen and his wife is undocumented, for the husband to legalize his wife, they must leave the country to apply. But if she leaves after having been here without papers, she gets a 10 year bar from returning to the country. We have members of our church in that situation. The new rule, announced this week, means that she will not have to leave to apply for legalization and therefore will not get a ten year bar from reentering the country.
It isalso true now that if someoneapplies for his spouse or child to become legal, citing “hardship”, and the petition is denied than they still don’t have to fear deportation if they meet the criteria for the “discretion defense” we have won for Obama.Therefore, it will both safe and possible for many tolegalize their spouses when the rule goes into effect – and that will be soon.
It is one more step in our struggle to protect our families and our young people from deportation. In this church, we know that it was our faith that kept the struggle for these protections alive. Everyone else had given up but we said Obama has the power and we can get him to use it. We had faith. And by that faith, millions of people have won protection from deportation.
How did we keep that faith strong, strong enough to win victory? We were strong for each other and we talked to Jesus in prayer. His faithfulness made us strong in our faith. Each of our faithfulness made each of us stronger by being with each other. We help each other with our faith by being faithful.
I want to suggest to you that it is important to us as a people, but it is also the most important thing in keeping together our relationships. You know today that Pastora Emma is in the hospital. We prayed for her today. But Emma and I had a good talk last night and we were both at peace. We know whatever happens; we will be there for each other. We agreed that we are far from perfect human beings – but we are blessed with a perfect marriage.
In marriage, you make a commitment to be Jesus for each other, to work to be faithful to God in your life so that you can help each other with each other’s faith.
We begin today the season of Galilee. In the next seven weeks, we will follow Jesus in his footsteps. We will learn about Jesus and we will learn to talk to Jesus. Those scriptures will guide us. They will help us in our faith – because Jesus was so perfectly faithful to God and to God’s people.
In the scripture we read today, John was baptizing people in the river. This was an act of resistance. It was a movement. He said, “you don’t need to go to the temple to be baptized because the temple is full of hypocrites. The priests have compromised with the Romans who are oppressing you. You can be baptized here in the river with the other poor people and God will give you faith to change your lives, to live lives that are faithful to God.”
John was defying the authorities and thousands of people were joining the movement. Suddenly Jesus appeared and came to be baptized by John. When he was baptized, a dove flew from heaven and landed on his shoulder and a voice rang out from heaven: “This is my son, with him I am well pleased.” That gave confidence to the people that this movement he would lead was blessed by God.
Now the Scripture says that the Spirit came on Jesus when he was baptized, when he joined the movement. We will find out next week that the Spirit came on him and told him to preach Good News to the poor and to free the oppressed. Jesus felt called by God to be faithful to God and to his people, to save them from oppression and to restore their faith. But the story goes on.
Immediately, Jesus was swept out to the desert where he was tempted by the devil. This is an experience we should all understand. We come to a meeting and we are surrounded by people who are willing to stand up and fight for justice for the people. The people around us, the speakers, make our faith stronger. But then we leave the meeting and someone says, “You will never win this battle, you will just get yourself in trouble.” Our faith grows weak and we begin to doubt ourselves.
Or we come together before this altar of God and we are married. We are surrounded by people who believe in marriage. Our faith becomes strong that we will stay together forever. Then we leave here and there are people saying, “Marriage doesn’t last.” And they weaken our faith and make us have doubts.
After Jesus was baptized and felt the Spirit of the Lord, he was tempted by Satan in the desert. Like all of us, Jesus could choose. We can choose to devote our lives to achieving wealth instead of being faithful to God and his ways. We can choose to be reckless, throwing our life away, or we can choose to be faithful to God and his ways. We can choose to try to get prestige and positions of power in the world instead of being faithful to God and his ways. We have free will. We have choices. And faithfulness to God is one of those choices.
In the desert, when Satan tempted Jesus with choices, Jesus stayed faithful to God. When Satan said, “I will give you wealth;” Jesus said “Man does not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God,” by the way God teaches. When Satan says, “you can jump off this cliff and live,“ Jesus says, “You don’t test God by throwing away your life.” And when Satan says, “Follow me, forget about God’s law, I will give you great power and position; I will make you a King,” Jesus says, “It is written, put no other gods before me.”
That is the story of the temptations. It meant to the people that Jesus was strong in his faithfulness, that he was committed first, above all other things, to living in God’s way. That faithfulness made him someone people wanted to follow, someone who made their faith strong. It made them want to stand up to the hypocrites, to injustice, to be restored to God and to spit in the face of their oppressors.
Now Jesus was in the desert 40 days. Let me tell you what that “40” means. God saved the Israelites by bringing them to Egypt where they could find work and food. He said go there and I will make you to have many children and to become a great people, to be “as many as the stars in the sky.” And then, when the Egyptian Pharaoh began to oppress them and make them into slaves, God saved them from the Pharaoh. But after they were saved, they wandered in the dessert for “40” years. And during that time they failed to stay faithful. They broke God’s law. They worshipped the golden calf. They chose to worship wealth and power. They chose to be reckless with their lives.
You see the story of Jesus in the desert was a way of telling the people that Jesus was faithful where his people had failed to be faithful. And in this way he would be there savior, their redeemer. He was strong in the desert, showing them again what it meant to be faithful to the God who had saved them. Being around Jesus restored their faith.
And when Jesus chose faithfulness, he became what he was called to be – for his people. As we learn about the life of Jesus again in the next weeks, we will be learning in many ways what it means to be faithful to God.
We will learn through Jesus that our God is a God of life. We were very fortunate to get Emma to the hospital quickly to get very good care when she had her heart attack. As a result she will be back with us working again soon. We were fortunate because we have insurance and because we have as our doctor the medical director of one of the best hospitals in the country.
Only a week ago, we went for a “posada” at that same hospital and we got the hospital to admit 7 people who were undocumented and needed health care even though they had no insurance.
In fact, there are millions of our people who have no insurance. The 12 million undocumented will not be permitted to even buy the new national health insurance. Remember Obama said, “This insurance is not for those he called “the illegals.”
What that means is that they will die 20 years sooner than those who have insurance. Those are the statistics in Chicago.
Now, 12 million times 20 years is 240 million years of life that will be lost because we don’t get early detection and treatment of treatable diseases. Yet in the Bible it says that where God rules, no child will die when they are only two or three years old and no adult will die before the age of 100. And if we are faithful to God, then we will fight to get health care for the undocumented this year and that is what we are going to do.
And we are taught that what “God has joined together, no man shall separate” and that is why we will continue our fight to stop the deportations that separate families. We have won a “case by case”moratorium and that means we must inform the community and help them to prepare their defense.
And we know we will win these fights, step by step, as we began last year to change the policies of the nation and win case after case.
Yet the question is not whether we will win these fights, but what kind of people we will be when we win.
For God has given you a destiny. Like he did the Israelites, He brought you here, some walking across the desert, some in the trunks of cars, so that you could work and eat and raise children to become a people as many as the stars in the sky.
And when this nation began to persecute you and try to destroy your families, he has been with you to defend your families and last year we saw great progress in this fight. I am telling you today that not one person in this church today will be deported or separated from their family and many will become citizens along with their children and have a voice in changing this country!
God has done this for you, and with you, because he wants you to grow in numbers in this nation to change it, to be his witness to his ways in a nation that is dominated by greed and selfishness and has forgotten the ways of God.
God has done this for you and with you because He wants you to change this nation from one that makes Mexico and Latin America poor to one that helps to raise up those countries out of poverty and suffering. In fact, you are already doing that: the remittances you send back home are larger than any foreign aid package this government sends to any country in the world! That is a foretelling of what is to come !
Yet to live out this destiny, you must have a strong faith. You must not give up when times are hard. You must be faithful in your friendships and your marriages, in your church and in the struggle.
Jesus says, ”Don’t test the Lord; don’t be reckless with the gift of life he gives you.” But when the young “wanna be” gangster draws a gun and shoots at a car for almost no reason, he is throwing away his life, he is testing God.
And when young people “hook up” and make babies before they are married, before they know they are with someone who will help them with their faith, who is going down the same path of faithfulness, and then they are being reckless with their lives and testing God.
And when men or women spend half their lives working and the other half spending their wages getting drunk, they are testing God and being reckless with their lives – and they will pay the consequences.
God has given you a word to live by, a destiny and a place in history. And to do that, you must be Jesus to each other. It is good to pray and talk with Jesus. It is good to study Jesus. But we need to commit to walk in his footsteps, to put God and God’s ways first in our lives, so that by being strong in our faithfulness, we make each other strong.
I cannot stay strong in my faith if you are not strong in yours. We need each other. The miracle of Jesus is not that he made a blind man see but that he left behind a people who helped each other see. You too can be sons and daughters of God. That is the journey with Jesus we start today again this year.
Join us! Put God first! Be like Jesus! You are not perfect but you are going on a perfect journey. Come with us this year - and bring others!
Your faith will make them stronger and their faith will make you stronger!
Our walk with Jesus has begun this year! Walk with us. Walk with your friend!
Scriptures for the First Sunday
in the Season of Galilee
Isaiah 61:8-11
“For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.” I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
Matthew 3:13-17 The Baptism of Jesus
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 4: 1-11 Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Preparation Time: The Birth of Jesus
Sunday, December25th, 2011
Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the rebirth of the people of God and the miracle that God comes into our lives and makes everything new. But how does this happen – and can it happen every year?
They say Emiliano Zapata was a great general even though his troops were poor and poorly armed. For Zapata had a genius for dividing his troops into units and giving them each a different assignment. When each unit carried out its assignment, then the battle was successful. The units, the parts of the army, working together, were greater than they would have been if he had not divided them and given each unit a different assignment. The whole became greater than the sum of the parts – and it became something new.
When a man and a woman come together and bring into the world a new child, science tells us parts of both the father and the mother, and even of their grandparents, are brought together in the child – but the child is something new. The whole is more than the sum of the parts. That is the meaning of miracles!
Joseph was to be father of Jesus in order to bring him up in the world. But Joseph was reluctant. He thought Mary was a virgin and he knew he was not the actual father of Jesus. He was angry. He was ashamed of what people would think.-
So the angel came to him and explained what God had done – and what Jesus would mean to his people. He came to Joseph in his sleep – but when he woke up, he knew what he had to do. He married Mary and accepted a Holy Covenant to protect and raise the baby Jesus.
God gave Joseph a sign. Joseph was one piece of the story and God brought him together with Mary and with Jesus. God made from them a new family.
For Jesus to do his work, it was necessary for the people he came to save to expect him. They needed to look for him – so that they would see him. They needed to listen to him so that they would hear the words he would bring to them. So the angel appeared to the sheppards. He told them to expect a savior for the people and he gave them a star to follow so that they would know this child was really sent by God.
Now sheppards were poor men – but they were also men with responsibility to take care of many sheep. Jesus called himself a sheppard. And he told Peter to be a sheppard to his people after he died. You see God was choosing men who would take responsibility for the leadership of the people and bring them to hear and see his messenger. They would become more than sheppards of sheep – they would become sheppards of their people, they would become something new.
Each year, if we live according to the scripture, and to the way God asks us to live, we listen to God’s call, we look for a sign so that we can be made new. It is a chance to start over, to start over with each other, to start over with our lives – because God promises to make us new again this year, just as he brings a new crop of corn from the seeds in the ground.
Some of you have had an experience; you have been given a second chance. Maybe you were caught on drugs or alcohol. You got clean, recognizing the help of your higher power.
You were scheduled for a deportation but at the last minute the movement prevailed and you had another chance together.
Some found a new chance in a new love or relationship – or in a new calling. You felt new, no longer chained to your past and your past mistakes. But scripture teaches that, just as the farmer plants a new crop every year, so God can make us new every year if we listen to his call, make us young and strong even if we are old and weak, make us clear headed and energetic, even if we are confused and infected by demons.
So this year, as always, I looked for a sign. Our year ended with many small victories against deportations. That meant to me that we must carry on our defense work and build a structure around the country to make our defense strong, to make it works for hundreds of thousands of people this year.
And surely, the opportunity presented itself to us, right on time, to get dozens of organizations and dozens of cities to take up the cause. I could see God putting all the pieces of our work, out contacts with different people and different groups, our experience with cases right here in this church, which taught us what to tell them. I saw God making something new.
But I was still looking for a sign.
Yesterday, it came.
Now we have been working for several years trying to put together the pieces of a health program that would challenge this nation’s refusal to give health care to the undocumented. We were insulted when Obama announced that his new health reform would not include those he called ”illegals”. We wanted to fight back as we watched people from our communities have their lives cut short by treatable diseases just because they did not have health care.
We had worked hard to recruit young people; to learn how to screen people for different kinds of illness, to get resources to build a big program, to get transplants for some people we loved in our congregation. We had gone to meeting after meeting. We had a lot of pieces – but they didn’t seem to fit toether.
Then our sister church in Little Village called us. They had some people who were undocumented and needed health care and they proposed to take them to Rush Hospital for a Posada – and to demand that they be treated.
We were tired. We did a lot this year. We just wanted to spend Christmas in peace and rest up. In truth, we had skipped the tradition of posadas this year. But I felt something happening. And I talked to Emma and she felt something happening. TheHoly Spirit passed byand we felt that mysterious wind on our backs. So we decided to mobilize for the Posada at Rush.
Now we had been meeting with the doctors at Rush, presenting our ideas. We had worked to get at least one person on the transplant list at Rush. But things were not coming together. Yet when we arrived, the doctor in charge of the hospital was there. How he got to Rush in that position is another story. He made the hospital let us in for our posada. He accepted the five people Fr. Landaverde brought with him in the hospital.
Was that a miracle.? When we read that Jesus healed a blind man we recognized that that was a miracle. Yesterday, there was a man who had been declared legally blind from diabetes. He could have been healed by laser surgery but he did not have the money. But yesterday, the hospital committed to give him his surery and he will see again!.
Was that a miracle? You see all the pieces were there: the doctors, the hospital, the medical knowledge and technology, the church that chose to bring him as part of their posada, our church with its relationships with the doctor and the hospital, the young health volunteers that we had trained that filled the posada with their families. These were the pieces that were necessary but what brought them together? And was not the whole bigger than the pieces?
Most important, we have got our meeting with the top administrators to address the problem of health care for the undocumented, a commitment to work at this problem not only with Rush but with all the hospitals and clinics in Chicago.
I know that something new is happening, something that will come together in Chicago and spread across the nation. Yesterday was a sign of what God is calling us to do – a sign of what God intends to do with us this year.
When we say that God makes everything new, that he can make your life new this year, it means that God puts the pieces of our lives and our struggle together and this becomes something new – because like Zapata’s army, the whole is greater than than parts!
Today, in the last weeks of preparation time, we are called to look and listen for what God is calling us to do. When he calls, like General Zapata, and we answer, like his loyal army, he will put the pieces of our lives together and make us new again this year.
I am not saying this is easy. Often the pieces of our lives seem to pull us in different directions. The members of our family seem to be going in different directions. We want peace and harmony at home but instead we find conflict. The necessities of our bills and our jobs, or lack of jobs, drive us crazy. We look to the church, to our faith, but the faith is asking us to do things which pull us away from other things we feel we have to do. We love the struggle – the marches, the demonstrations where we feel so much spirit and unity – but the work of building the movement is hard and so many people have other responsibilities and let us down. It as if we can’t get everyone together at the same time.
No it is not easy. And even the best of us lose faith. And we get involved in negative things which confuse our lives even more.
`We need a General Zapata to coordinate the pieces of our lives ! Well the Good news is that we have the best general anybody ever had! We just have to listen for his commands and be willing to follow them!
Look at the pieces of your life. Keep whatever is good and righteous – turn away from what is negative and wrong. You know the difference!
Stay faithful to the people you have been given to love, to the struggle for your people you have been given a place in, an important place.
Don’t worry if they don’t seem to fit together. God will make them fit! It may take a while but you are going to get that feeling this year. You are going to see the pieces come together! You are going to be made new this year! You are part of God’s plan for his people, to stay and struggle in this land and be a witness to God’s love and justice. He has made you to be fruitful and multiply. He has a purpose for you. And he will use all the pieces of your life, of our lives together, to make something new and wonderful.
After our prayers today, we will ask each person to make their promise to God.
Commit yourself to him today.
Accept him as your General.
Open your hearts and let him work through you.
You are going to know the Lord this year as you have never known him before. Believe it!
You are God’s people and he will never leave you.
Let us go forward together for the Lord God Almighty is with us. Adelante!Adelante! Amen! Amen!
Scriptures for Preparation 5: the Birth of Jesus
Isaiah 9:2, 6, 7 For To Us A Child is Born
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
Matthew 1:18-25 Joseph and the Angel of the Lord
This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Luke 2:1-7 The Birth of Jesus
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:8-14 The Shepards and the Angels
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Christmas Hope
By Elvira Arellano
I think this Christmas we should pray for the rich, for the 1%. They had a bad year in 2010 with their average income dropping slightly below 1 million dollars. Although they had a better year in 2011, boosting their average income back over a million, they still feel bad and I am told suffer from frequent anxiety. You see, the world capitalist economy is slowly collapsing and that means their future possibilities are shrinking.
We know how that feels. We struggle.We work our way up from a temporary job to a full time job that pays the minimum wage. We get the rent, the utilities, the school supplies paid for every month and are able to buy one of our kids a new coat and the yearly quota of shoes as their feet never stop growing. Then the government threatens the company we work for with fines if they don’t use e-verify, checking the papers of all the workers. We get laid off. We try everywhere but can’t find even temporary work. The letters from back home in Mexico or Guatemala or Honduras keep coming, asking for money. Christmas is coming and our possibilities for survival are shrinking up to nothing.
So we know how it feels to face shrinking possibilities but I still say the rich need our prayers. We are really better off than them. Once Jesus told his disciples, “You will always have the poor.” That is because we will always survive. Our hope, our field of possibilities, comes from another source and does not depend on the world economy.
Last week my son Saulito had a birthday. Like all mothers, a birthday always makes me remember the day he was born and the days when he was a baby. Now look at him! He is so tall and strong and intelligent and handsome! I did it! And he is still growing, still creating new possibilities for himself and for our people!
The possibilities that are created by wealth cannot compare with the possibilities that are created by life. From the time I was little I always wanted a son – and God granted my prayer.
As we read the Christmas stories we celebrate the miracle birth of Jesus to Mary. We celebrate the gift of the child John the Bpatist to Elizabeth and Zechariah, who had grown old thinking they would never have a child. The birth of John and then Jesus was surrounded with the prophecy that these two little babies would grow to bring new hope to their people. They believed that they would renew the faith of a people who had grown hopeless and given up on their traditions and even their dignity. When the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to Juan diego at the worst time in the history of Mexico she called him “My dignified son!”
For us, the birth of Jesus to a family forced to migrate to a foreign country, reminds us of the blessings of our own children and the endless hope they bring to us. They are our treasure in the field for which we will give up everything else we own. They are our field of possibilities. And we know in our hearts that just as God blesses us with children so He will protect us and be with us even in the most difficult situations.
So this Christmas, if times are hard let’s turn to our children- and turn to each other. If you find yourself alone, reach out to your people and make new friends. Reach out to the people who have your same struggle and your same source of hope. If you are separated from your family, remember that your people are your family wherever you are because they have the same source of hope.
As for the 1%, pray for them. There is not much else we can do to help them.