Lent 5, Year A (2026)

Ezekiel 37:1–14 / Psalm 130 / Romans 8:6–11 / John 11:1–45

 

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA), McKnightstown, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, March 22, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“FIXING THE UN-FIXABLE”

(Homily text: John 11:1–45)

Ever face a situation in which something you own is no longer fix-able?

It might be an old car, say one that belonged to your grandparents, or some other friend or relative, something that dates from a completely different time, where cars are concerned.

Or it might be an old sewing machine. (I have in mind one of those sewing machines that you had to pump with your foot to make it work…my grandmother had one of those.)

In each case, you have something that is dear to you, something that’s been a part of your life for a very long time. Something you’ve enjoyed not only having, but something you’ve enjoyed using.

But now, the repair shop is telling you that there’s no fixing that beloved thing in your life…there are no parts to be had for it, and, in fact, the repairs are such that they can’t be done.

The scenario just laid out pretty much sums up the predicament that two sisters, Mary and Martha, faced: Their beloved brother, Lazarus, had died.

They sent a message to Jesus, hoping that He would come and dispel the sickness that had been the cause of his death. But Jesus hadn’t come in time. (In fact, it seems that He had deliberately delayed coming to help them.)

The two sisters knew of Jesus’ healing powers. They had heard of the miraculous things He was doing, and so they were certain that He could help with their brother’s illness. But they apparently didn’t believe that that power of God, at work in Him, could raise the dead to new life.

But now, they stand at the tomb and weep. There is no fixing this situation: Lazarus is dead, for he had been in the tomb for four days now. Those in the community of Bethany, where Mary and Martha lived, held to the belief – common in those days - that Lazarus’ soul would linger around the body for three days, in hopes of being reunited with it. Four days in the tomb meant, to them, that there was no further hope for a new chapter in their brother’s life.

As is common in John’s Gospel account, Jesus knew the situation with Lazarus. He also knew the solution to the situation.

But Jesus has work to do to get His own disciples to see what that solution would be.

As He tells them that they need to go to Lazarus, He begins by telling them that Lazarus has fallen asleep. The disciples say that, if Lazarus has fallen asleep, he will surely recover. But Jesus then says that Lazarus has died. Then He adds that He was glad that He wasn’t there when Lazarus died. He says that the reason is that what will happen with Lazarus will be the cause for them to believe in God’s power.

Just as Jesus has work to do with His disciples, He also has work to do with Mary and with Martha, more so with Martha than with Mary.

As He nears the village of Bethany, He encounters Martha, who says to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” But then, she adds, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

Jesus says, “Your brother will rise again”. She replies, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus replies with one of those wonderful “I am” statements we find so many times in John’s account, saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in mind shall never die. Do you believe this?” She can’t quite get her mind around this idea, so she says, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world”.

With the conversation with His disciples, and His conversation with Martha, both complete, Jesus then brings all of them to the point of a new understanding of the power of God, at work in Him.

At the tomb, Jesus calls out to Lazarus, saying, “Lazarus, come out”. The dead man comes out of the tomb.

God’s power is most often seen in that divine ability to create, and to re-create. Kind of like resurrecting that old machine or old car that seemed un-fixable.

God’s power, at work in the raising of Lazarus, at work in the raising of Jesus from the dead on Easter Sunday, is at work in your life and in mine.

In what way has God fixed the un-fixable in your life, or in mine? In what way has something that seemed to endure, been dealt with in a way that led to a new and fuller life?

God’s deepest desire is for each one of us to come to the knowledge of God’s power to fix things, things that – to our normal sensitivities and life experience – seem to elude any solution.

Our Christian faith encourages us to believe that this unique power of God is at work in the world and in our lives today, so that when it happens, we will recognize it and give glory to God.

AMEN. 

Lent 4, Year A (2026)

I Samuel 16:1-13 / Psalm 23 / Ephesians 5:8–14 / John 9:1–41

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 15, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“THE PROSPERITY GOSPEL: AN ANCIENT VERSION”

(Homily text: John 9:1–41)

Let’s begin, this morning, by asking ourselves this question: What is it that we most want from God? Closely connected to that question is this one: “What is it that God most wants to give us?”

(Take a few moments to explore those two questions.)

This morning’s Gospel text places before us the miraculous healing of a man born blind. Before we explore the implications of Jesus’ action in giving the man his sight, let’s look at the motivations that seem to have been common in the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Perhaps we can learn a lot from the attitudes that were commonplace 2,000 years ago.

And, we might explore the question with which we began, as we look at the culture of the time, exploring what answers people might have supplied, back then, to the question of “What is it that we most want from God”, and, as well, the other question: “What is it that God most wants to give us?”.

The first clue to the attitudes that many people harbored can be found in the question that Jesus’ disciples ask, as they discover this man, who had never been able to see. They say, “Who sinned, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”.

On its surface, the disciples’ question is firmly anchored in biblical truth, for the Ten Commandments contain the one which tells us to honor our fathers and our mothers.[1] Attached as a sort-of addenda to another commandment is this warning: “(God says) I will visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…”.[2]  The disciples’ question seems to relate to that warning found in Exodus.

But their question points in another direction: They want to know if the man’s condition is due to some grievous sin on his part, or perhaps some major misdeed that his parents committed.

As we dig a little deeper, we can see that the disciples probably believed – along with many others in that day and time - that if a person was ill, sick, lame or blind, then their condition must stem from God’s judgment for some failing or another. The same beliefs would also apply to someone who was poor, or who had suffered loss of some sort.

Turn this supposition around, and the converse (most likely) was also thought to be true: If a person was healthy, wealthy or in some other way seemed to be thriving, then their condition must be due to God’s favor, which had been showered on that person because they had done all the “right stuff”.

I think we’re on solid ground in thinking that all of these suppositions were present in the disciples’ question about the reality of sin, either on the part of the blind man, or on the part of his parents. The Gospel accounts – in general - seem to support such conclusions: Do the right thing, and life will be good to you, because God has blessed the ones who do the right things.

As the account unfolds, and as the Pharisees become involved, they, too, seem to harbor the same attitudes about God’s goodness that were implied in the disciples’ question. They declare that Jesus cannot exercise the power of God because He had healed the man on the Sabbath day. To them, profaning the Sabbath in the way that Jesus had done (by their understandings) meant that Jesus was outside of God’s sphere of influence.

Put another way, God does not, and will not, act through someone who stands outside of God’s goodness.

Essentially, the disciples’ question, and the attitudes of the Pharisees, all point to an understanding that reduces a relationship with God to a bargain. We could characterize it this way: If God’s people are faithful, doing the acceptable things (to the Pharisees, doing the outward actions the Law of Moses required), then God will bestow all sorts of good things on those faithful people.

We might think that such attitudes were commonplace only during the time of our Lord’s sojourn among us.

On the contrary, such attitudes exist today, and can be found among some who claim our Lord’s name. Today’s version of this sort of bargain-making with God is known as the Prosperity Gospel.

The Prosperity Gospel claims that those who do the “right stuff” will inherit good things from God. Most of those “good things” turn out to be material blessings: Money, nice cars, big houses, etc.  We could add health to the list, and favorable relationships in our families. (Feel free to add your own categories.)

Of course, the Prosperity Gospel is a heresy, pure and simple. (Just to be clear, a heresy is – as the Greek word from which it is drawn – a choice (the Greek word means “to choose”) to proclaim part of the truth, but not all of it.)

At this point, let’s return to the two questions with which we began.

What is it that we most want from God – or, better yet – what we should most want from God?

What is it that God most wants to give us?

The answers are found in this morning’s Gospel.

The blind man receives his sight. That, in and of itself, is a great blessing. But his healing points to a deeper reality: His healing is the result of God’s ability to create, and to re-create.

Jesus then gives the man something else: A personal relationship. The man comes to believe in Jesus as the Son of Man.

A cursory reading of the Old Testament, disproves the notions of the Pharisees and those like them who believed that God only wanted to give his chosen ones “good things”. Time and again, God’s chosen people suffered hardships of various kinds…sometimes, the hardships that came their way were the direct result of their own disobedience, but not always. God didn’t spare them from those things. But God was with them in their troubles, often correcting them when they went astray, but always finding ways to redeem and to save His people.

What then, is it that God most wants to give us? Himself!

What is it, then, that we should most want from God? Himself!

AMEN.

 

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[1]  See Exodus 20:12.

[2]  See Exodus 20:5b. 

Lent 3, Year A (2026)

Exodus 17: 1–7 / Psalm 95 / Romans 5: 1–11 / John 4: 5–42

 

This is the written version of the homily composed for Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania for Sunday, March 8, 2026, by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“JESUS: TABOO-BREAKER & BRIDGE-BUILDER”

(Homily text: John 4: 5-42)

Notable people, down through time, are often known for some courageous action they took during their lifetimes. One of the qualities that history regards as being especially noteworthy is the ability to challenge accepted beliefs, and especially beliefs that had lost their worthwhile purpose, or were wrong to begin with. Another quality that we regard highly is the ability to bridge gaps between individuals or between peoples and nations.

Jesus’ actions during His earthly ministry fit into both categories, for Jesus was (is) a taboo-breaker. He was (is) also a bridge-builder.

We have excellent examples of both qualities in our Gospel text for this morning, which relates Jesus’ interaction with an un-named woman in the Samaritan city of Sychar.

We might begin with Jesus’ taboo-breaking actions:

Avoiding Samaria and avoiding Samaritans:  This is the first taboo that Jesus deliberately challenges. Observant Jews, 2,000 years ago, avoided going through the region of Samaria entirely. If they had to go to Jerusalem for one of the major festivals from the region of Galilee, which is located in the northern part of the Holy Land, they would take a long detour around Samaria, going east and then south down through the Jordan Valley, or else they would go along the Mediterranean seacoast, and then eastward to the Holy City.

The reason for this avoidance has its roots some eight hundred years earlier. To understand the commonly-held mindset during the time of our Lord’s ministry, we need to back up to examine history. In the year 722 BC, the Assyrian army conquered the region of Samaria (then known as the Northern Kingdom of Israel). Once the conquest was complete, the Assyrians deported much of the population, and then they re-populated the area with people from other places. The result was a people of mixed racial and ethnic heritage.

That was the basis for the hatred that Jews – back in that time – bore toward the Samaritans. To observant Jews, Samaritans were racially impure.

But notice that John tells us that Jesus deliberately chose to go through Samaria. (John also tells his audience that Jesus had nothing to do with Samaritans, underscoring the radical nature of Jesus’ behavior.)

Men and women in the society of that time: This aspect of Jesus’ actions might surprise us, but in the society of the time, it wasn’t customary for a man to address a woman whom he did not know in public.

In the context of accepted social behavior in that society, the Samaritan woman seems a bit surprised that Jesus, who was a Jew, is speaking with her.

Another taboo is challenged.

The woman’s history: During the course of the back-and-forth with the Samaritan woman, the topic of her husband comes up. The Samaritan woman says, “I have no husband”, to which Jesus replies that she, indeed, has spoken the truth, for the fact is that she has had five husbands, and the man with whom she is currently living, isn’t her husband.

(Over the years, there’s been a lot of speculation about the woman’s place in the community of Sychar…did she come to draw water from the well at midday because she was somewhat of a pariah? Was she someone who’s “checkered past” was notorious to the point that people avoided her? We don’t know the answers to those questions, but it seems possible that that was the case.)

If, indeed, the woman’s lifestyle and marital history was an impediment to her acceptability, Jesus shows no willingness to ignore her. Nor does he castigate her for her past. (Now, at this point, we need to be careful, I think, for it’s possible that the woman has had five husbands due to the simple fact that each of her husbands had died. John doesn’t elaborate on the nature of her history.) The fact of her marital history aside, it’s also worth noting that Jesus didn’t castigate the woman for her living arrangements with a man to whom she wasn’t married.

Another taboo is broken.

The place where worship is to take place:  The last off-limits subject that passes between the Lord and the Samaritan woman is the subject of where proper worship is to take place.

Jesus’ declaration of the truth of the woman’s history and her current living arrangements (Jesus’ ability to know things that only God would know is a common theme in John’s Gospel account) leads the woman to open the topic of the coming of Messiah.

As part of this part of the conversation, she asks Jesus to resolve a longstanding dispute between Jews and Samaritans: That dispute had to do with the proper place for the holy mountain which was regarded as the dwelling place of God. Was that proper place to be in Jerusalem, or was it to be on Mt. Gerazim, the holy place for Samaritans?

Jesus affirms the centrality of the place that Jews would occupy in God’s plan for the salvation of humankind. But then, he upsets the accepted beliefs of the time, telling the woman that, going forward, it wouldn’t be on any particular holy mountain where the proper place for the worship of God would take place. Instead, the worship of God would take place in the depths of the human heart. No special place would figure into such worship.

The taboo of place-worship is now broken.

Tallying up the taboos that Jesus has shattered, we come to four of them.

Now, let’s turn our attention to the other aspect of this encounter: Jesus’ ability to build bridges across societal and other divides.

As Jesus deliberately ignores the taboos of the age, in the process, Hs is reaching out to someone who would, otherwise, be unreachable.

As a result, the Samaritan woman’s life is forever changed. Moreover, she becomes a far more effective evangelist for the coming kingdom of God than Jesus’ own disciples are in this situation.

If we notice the foundations for the taboos that existed between the Jews of the time, 2,000 years ago, and the Samaritans, we find that the basis for the deep hatred of the Samaritans was based on some secondary aspect of who the Samaritans were. Their racial history was something that was secondary to their identity as God’s specific creation. The woman’s identity as a woman was secondary to her identity as a child of God. Her marital history and her current living arrangements didn’t erase her value (in God’s sight) as someone God could love. The Samaritans’ regard for Mt. Gerazim was eclipsed by Jesus’ declaration that holy mountains didn’t matter anymore…the only altar that God wanted to erect was in the human heart.

We, today, are the Lord’s ambassadors, God’s evangelists. As we go about sharing the Good News of God in Christ, we will encounter people in all sorts of conditions and situations. We will need the Holy Spirit’s influence and guidance to be able to look beyond the secondary aspect of those we encounter to see their value as God’s creation. For each person is God’s specific and intentional creation. The Lord seeks to be in relationship with each one of these. The divine intention is to initiate a deep, personal and enduring relationship, whereby the Lord takes up residence in the human heart. And the purpose of this indwelling presence is to change lives, much as the Samaritan woman’s life was forever changed as she met the Lord by the well in Sychar.

AMEN. 

For a Funeral

Romans 8: 38–39 / Psalm 46 / John 14: 1–6

This is the written version of the homily given at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA), Fairfield, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, March 7, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, on the occasion of the funeral for Robert E. Kerstetter, Jr.

 

“WHAT LIES AHEAD?”

(Homily text: John 14: 1–6)

The weather in south-central Pennsylvania in early March can often involve significant occurrences of fog. Sometimes, the fog can be quite thick, making driving and walking (as in along a road, for example) a hazardous undertaking.

In such situations, it’s important for us to know – for our own safety, but also for the safety and the welfare of others – what lies ahead of us.

Knowing what lies ahead is a good way to look at our Gospel reading for this funeral service this morning, but also as we think back over the events of this week, as Bob Kerstetter’s earthly journey came to an end…Those early disciples of Jesus wanted to know what lay ahead. We, also, want to know what lies ahead as we think about Bob’s continuing life and our life in this world, now that he has entered into eternity and into God’s presence.

Let’s begin by looking at our Gospel text, from John’s Gospel account, chapter fourteen.

John devotes five chapters[1] of the Gospel which hears his name to the events that took place during the Last Supper.

In our Gospel text this morning, Jesus tells His disciples that He is about to go away. But He says that His purpose is to go to prepare a place for them, a place in which they may be with Him.

In response, Thomas says, “but we don’t know the way (to where you are going)”.

Jesus then says that He is going ahead of them, to be the way to the Father.

Most likely, at the time Jesus said these words, they didn’t make much sense to Thomas, or to the other disciples who heard them. In time, however, and especially after Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday morning, they made perfect sense, for in the Easter events, they understood that God’s power to create and to re-create were at work in Jesus’ new life.

After Easter, which is the central truth of the Christian faith, the way ahead was clear.

On Tuesday of this week, Bob Kerstetter’s life came to an end. Someone’s passing is never an easy occurrence to accept.

In the wake of someone’s death, we want to ask, and we want to know, “What lies ahead (for that person, and for us)”.

The answer is to be found in God’s ability, God’s power to create and to re-create.

As Bob’s life came to an end, a new life, a new life much like Jesus’ new life, began in all its fullness.

That new life was God’s guarantee back when Bob was baptized, for – as St. Paul tells us in Romans, chapter, six -  we are buried in baptism in a death like Christ’s, and we are raised to a new life like His.

To be sure. Bob didn’t receive that new life immediately upon baptism. He had a life to live in this world before entering into that new life.

Along the way, Bob made it clear that his heart was a heart that longed to know the heart of God.

I’ll cite but one example, which I heard from the family when we met to plan this service earlier this week…

Bob was a teacher for thirty years, teaching fifth graders. One of Bob’s particular gifts was the ability to identify a student who was at the margins of the class. Bob took that student and folded them into the fulness and the life of the class, sometimes to the point of making that student the center of the class.

Come to think of it, that’s just what our Lord did: He reached across the divides in society that existed 2,000 years ago, bridging the gaps between people. He restored them to the community and to fullness of life in the process. Bob had a good mentor in Jesus Christ, as he lived out the values of the Christian faith.

Having received the promises of God in baptism, Bob’s life assures us that he sought to work out his faith, and to cultivate a lively and personal faith with the Lord.

Knowing that he did these things assures us of the way ahead, for now, Bob can hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the eternal rest promised to all the saints”.

AMEN.

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[1]   Chapters thirteen through seventeen 

Lent 2, Year A (2026)

Genesis 12: 1–4a

Psalm 121

Romans 4: 1–5, 13–17

John 3: 1–17

 

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 1, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

“ABOUT THAT ‘LEAP OF FAITH’”

(Homily texts:  Genesis 12: 1–4a, and John 3: 1–17)

A curious tale is told of a tightrope walker, many years ago, who walked across a tightrope that had been strung across Niagara Falls. The tightrope walker pushed a wheelbarrow across the falls, and then back again. Watching him do this were members of the British royal family. When the tightrope walker returned from the second trip across the falls, he looked at the royals and asked, “Do you believe I can do this?”. They answered, “Yes”. Then he said, “Would any of you like to get in the wheelbarrow?”.

Talk about a leap of faith!

If we’ve given any thought to that phrase, the “leap of faith”, we might know exactly why we describe any sort of acting on what we believe. For taking action on one’s beliefs and convictions involves moving from what we know (as in the tightrope walker, making his way to and fro on the tightrope) to what we don’t yet know (as in “Would any of you like to get into the wheelbarrow”).

Both our Old Testament and our Gospel readings that we hear this morning have to do with a leap of faith.

For Abram, it is God’s call to go out from the land and the people that he knew, to follow God’s command to go to a place that God “will show you”.

For Nicodemus, the leap of faith has to do with knowing what Jesus had done, and knowing that He was “sent from God”. For Nicodemus says, “No one could do the signs you are doing unless God was with him”. But Nicodemus doesn’t seem to be able understand or to grasp the spiritual realities that Jesus had come to make known.

Before we look at the conversation between Nicodemus and the Lord, let’s look at God’s command to Abram.

Notice that implicit in God’s command to leave all that he had known, in order to go to a new place that God would show him, probably began with some sort of assurance that the commend Abram was hearing was really from God. Somehow, Abram came to know that, and then came to the point of obeying that command. God’s command also carried with it the need for Abram to continue to rely on God’s leading in order to arrive at the place where God had in mind. Abram didn’t have a destination. He didn’t have a roadmap. He had no GPS system to guide him. Abram had to check in with God periodically to know if he was going in the right direction, and also to know if the place he had arrived at was where God had in mind as his destination.

Now, let’s turn our attention to Nicodemus.

(It’s fascinating to wonder about Nicodemus. We know from John 19:39 that Nicodemus had come to assist Joseph of Arimathea in anointing Jesus’ body after His death on the cross on Good Friday evening. So the question lingers: Did Nicodemus become a disciple of the Lord? Or was he doing his best to try to address a grievous wrong in Jesus’ death. We’ll have to wait until we see the Lord face-to-face to know the answer to that question.)

I am always a bit amused by Nicodemus’ opening comments to the Lord.  He leads with his best foot, saying, “Rabbi” (a term that – in Hebrew – means “teacher”, or – more properly “my teacher”). If Nicodemus had had the good fortune to be a graduate of the Dale Carnegie Course (OK, I’m dating myself…the Dale Carnegie Course – which didn’t exist 2,000 years ago - was designed for people who worked in business to better their skills…its motto was “How to Win Friends and Influence People”), he would surely have been one of its star graduates, for Nicodemus is trying to get off to a good start with the Lord.

In his greeting to the Lord, Nicodemus is obviously trying to win Jesus’ trust and to foster a good influence with the Lord. From there, Nicodemus affirms what he knows about Jesus and Jesus’ ministry and work. He confirms that God is with Jesus in His work, for “no one could do the things you are doing unless God was with him”. Also, notice that Nicodemus affirms the signs that Jesus was doing.

That is the extent of what Nicodemus knows. He knows that God is involved in what Jesus has been doing.

From this point on in the conversation, Jesus and Nicodemus seem to be operating on different levels.

Instead of confirming what Nicodemus had said about Jesus and His work, Jesus begins to talk about being “born again” or “born from above”. (The Greek can mean either one.)

Nicodemus can’t take that leap of faith. He responds literally, asking, “Is it possible for someone to enter their mother’s womb and be born a second time?”. Nicodemus’ response typifies the mindset that was common among God’s people 2,000 years ago: The literal meaning, and those things we can see, were the reality that God’s people, back then, focused on. Little else beyond that was of value.

Nicodemus wonders about this response, saying, “How can these things be?”.

Now, Jesus clarifies His meaning, saying that He is talking about heavenly things, not earthly things.

Knowing about heavenly things means a couple of things: 1.  Heavenly things are things known to God, things beyond our normal, everyday experience; and 2. Knowing about heavenly things means that are dependent on God to lead us into those things. In much the same way that Abram had to rely on God’s leading to know that he was going in the right direction, and to know that he had arrived at the destination God had in mind, we, too, must continue to ask God for direction, leading and insights.

In this holy season of Lent, perhaps we might ask the Holy Spirit to show us the things we do not currently know. Perhaps we could ask for the ability to come to believe and to know the things that, up to this point in our lives, require a leap of faith.

AMEN. 

Lent 1, Year A (2026)

Genesis 2:15–17, 3:1–7

Psalm 32

Romans 5:12–19

Matthew 4:1–11

 

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, February 22, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“KNOWING THE WAYS AND THE CAPABILITIES OF THE ENEMY”

(Homily texts:  Genesis 2:15 – 17, 3:1–7 & Matthew 4:1-11)

“…what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?”[1]

Our Lord made that comment in connection with His teaching about the cost of being a follower, a disciple, of His. “Count the cost”, He is telling us.

We could easily adapt His comment so as to apply it to the spiritual warfare we followers of Jesus are bound to encounter as we follow in His ways. For, as sure as our new life in Christ, which begins in faith and which is a call to a new and amended life, will also involve the attacks of the Evil One.

Any commander of an army, which would include the Lord’s army, will do well to instruct those in his command about the ways and the capabilities of any potential adversary. Fortunately, Holy Scripture provides us with just such an instruction manual. Holy Scripture (the Bible) records the ways and the methods of our eternal foe, the Devil. It also records the successes and the failures of those who’ve followed the Lord in times past. (Those accounts serve as examples and warnings to us today.) And, Holy Scripture also records our Lord’s triumph over our spiritual enemy.

Let’s look, now, at a chapter in the instruction manual that God, our ultimate commander-in-chief, has provided us. It’s the account of Adam and Eve’s’ failure in the Garden of Eden, as the Evil One tempts them.

Among the lessons we can glean from Genesis, chapters two and three, are these:

Evil has an appealing aspect to it: Consider that the tempter’s appeal is to our need to eat. He says to Eve (in essence), “Look at that fruit, isn’t it something you’d like to eat?” So, Eve is persuaded to take a bite. If we think about it, each of the classic Seven Deadly Sins has an appealing aspect to it, ones that arise in the course of living a full, human life. Think of one of those sins, the sin of Gluttony. Gluttony is the misuse of the need for food. Sloth, another one, is the misuse of the need for rest.

God’s instructions are twisted and altered: Notice that Satan asks Eve what God’s instructions were. She couldn’t remember them exactly. But then, the tempter twists and alters what God had said, suggesting that God’s word couldn’t be trusted to be true.

Separating one person from another makes them easier to conquer:  The Genesis account suggests that Adam was standing right next to Eve when the temptation took place. (I am fond of saying that “Adam was the chump”, and is equally culpable with Eve, because he said nothing when the tempter suggested that God’s word wasn’t true.) This point brings us back to the image of military combat: Dividing an army makes that army easier to defeat,

(The analysis given above isn’t meant to be an exhaustive study of all of the aspects of the Genesis account. But I think it does hit the major points in the narrative.)

Now then, God, in His infinite wisdom, provides us with an account of triumph, as Jesus is tempted in the wilderness.

Some similarities arose when we consider the Genesis account and the Matthean account of the Lord’s temptation.

Let’s look at three of them.

An appeal to the need for food: Satan comes at a time of weakness in the Lord’s time in the wilderness, for Matthew tells us that Jesus had been fasting for forty days and forty nights. So the tempter comes and says, “Tell these stones to become bread”. Note the similarities to Eve’s temptation.

An appeal for safety: By suggesting that the Lord throw himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem, Satan is suggesting that the Lord seek safety. Just so, Adam and Eve are tempted with the need for their welfare, made in the suggestion that they eat of the off-limits fruit,

An appeal to assure one is in control: By their temptation in the Garden, which amounts to an appeal to put themselves in control of their futures and their destiny, Adam and Eve are tempted to eat of the fruit so that they will “be like gods, knowing good and evil”. In a similar way, the Lord is tempted to take control of all of the kingdoms of the world. But, in this case, there’s a hook involved: Satan is the one who will be in control, ultimately. The same is true of Adam and Eve.

Where Adam and Eve fail, Jesus triumphs. We, too, can overcome whatever temptations will come our way as we follow the Lord, but we will need God’s help to do so.

AMEN.

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[1]  Luke 14:31 

Ash Wednesday, Year A (2026)

Joel 2: 1–2, 12–17 

Psalm 51: 1–17 

II Corinthians 5: 20b – 6:10 

Matthew 6: 1–6, 16–21

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, February 18, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“INTEGRATION & INTEGRITY”

(Homily text: Matthew 6: 1–6, 16–21)

“If you’re going to come and serve here, your insides must match your outsides.” So said my first Bishop.

What he was getting at is the business of integrity.

Sometimes, we can see integrity in a person when they act the same way when no one can see what they are doing, as when they act when others can see what they’re doing. Their actions, done in private or in secret, match their actions in public, to put it another way. The reverse is also true.

A focus of much of our Lord’s ministry had to do with the business of integrity, of matching a person’s outward actions with an inner transformation of the heart and the mind, of allowing the outward actions and observances of God’s ordinances to be fully integrated into the inner heart and mind.

In the Sermon on the Mount, from which today’s Gospel reading is taken, Jesus takes on the obvious disconnect between outward appearance and inner disposition and transformation.

It would be easy to think that the Lord’s comments, heard by the crowd that had gathered around to hear His thoughts, were actually aimed at the scribes and the Pharisees, for in Matthew’s Gospel account, those two groups are mentioned, time and again.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people, in order to be seen by them,” the Lord says.

Sounds very much like the behaviors of the scribes and the Pharisees, whom the Lord described as being “white-washed tombs”,[1] those who look good on the outside, but are, in actuality, full of dead men’s bones inside.

Later on in his Gospel account, Matthew records a series of indictments against the scribes and the Pharisees. It’s worth reading these harsh statements, each of which begins with “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees…”[2]

What, then, was the problem with the scribes and the Pharisees?

Simply this: They were going through all the motions, observing all the practices that the Law of Moses required, attending worship in the Temple, and attending gatherings in the synagogues where the Law and the Prophets were read each Sabbath day.

However, we get the impression that they had walled off part of themselves to the truths of God, those truths that require “mercy, not sacrifice”.[3]

Here we come to the important part of the purpose of all those outward actions, those requirements of the Law of Moses: Those things that God’s people were required to do were meant to sink into their innermost selves, into their hearts and minds.  Put another way, the outward actions were meant to influence the inner heart and mind.

That’s what the scribes and Pharisees failed to do. It’s as if they had set aside a part of themselves, and were telling God “This part of me is off-limits to you and to your truths”.

Jesus’ warning to the scribes and the Pharisees is also a warning to us.

It’d be easy to simply “go through the motions” of living a Christian life, of regular attendance at worship, of an outward observance of the faith.

But we can – each of us – wall off a part of ourselves to God’s love, God’s truth and God’s deep desire to enter into an intense, inner relationship of love and renewal. For whatever reason, God gave us the freedom to do that.

The Lord’s warning is especially important to those Christians who maintain a liturgical worship heritage, for it’d be easy to concentrate on things like music, the liturgical actions that happen during a Eucharistic celebration, or a building’s beauty. However, those things are all meant to turn our focus to God, to God’s truths and to God’s demand for inner transformation of heart and mind. Each of these aspects of liturgical worship are meant to direct us to God’s majesty, power and love.

This Lenten season, the call comes to us, to each of us, to step back, try to see ourselves as God sees us, and then to take stock of the state of how well and how fully we’ve integrated godly values into the very fiber of our being. Such a journey won’t be easy, and it’s a certainty that we’ll need the help of the Holy Spirit to walk a productive Lenten journey as we make our way to Good Friday, and then to Easter and to new life.

AMEN.

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[1]   Matthew 23:27

[2]   Matthew 23: 1-31

[3]  Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, as Matthew records His comment in Matthew 9:13.

Last Epiphany (The Transfiguration of Our Lord), Year A (2026)

Exodus 24: 12-18 / Psalm 2 / II Peter 1: 16–21 / Matthew 17: 1–9

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, February 15, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor 

“REVELATION AND SUSTENANCE”

(Homily texts:  II Peter 1: 16–21 & Matthew 17: 1-9)

This morning, let’s talk about things that inspire us, or perhaps, serve as a revelation, things that sustain us as we go forward in life.

This past week, I’ve spent a good deal of time looking through boxes of old photos, in search of photos from the very early years of one of the tourist railroads I am involved in, the Walkersville Southern Railroad, located near Frederick, Maryland. (As I am fond of saying, “Pray for my wife, please…her husband loves trains!”)

My search was a trip down memory lane, back to the early 1990s, when a small group of railroad enthusiasts began the process of establishing the railroad. Back then, we were able to gain the use of a stretch of track that had been out-of-service for about twenty years. Consequently, it was overgrown, and had to be cleared of vines, vegetation and trees. In addition, this new entity had no locomotives, and no cars.

The photos I was able to retrieve were testimony to the determination of those early participants. It was also an inspiration to think of what has become of those early efforts, for today, the railroad is a thriving entity.

Those members who’ve become part of the railroad’s staff in the years that have followed have been inspired by the successes that followed those initial efforts. The determination of those early members in the effort to establish the railroad serves to inspire a new generation of crew members, sustaining them in their own efforts to build upon the foundations that were laid years ago.

In like manner, Peter, James and John were witnesses to an event that was meant to widen their perspectives, and to strengthen them for the journey that lie ahead: That journey is the Lord’s journey to Jerusalem, to betrayal, suffering, death and resurrection. The event that sustained these three disciples was the Lord’s transfiguration on a mountain, though – at the time – they probably didn’t realize its meaning and importance.

Up until this point in the disciples’ journey with the Lord, they’ve been witnesses to various miracles, like the feeding of large crowds of people, the healing of those with various diseases, and so forth. They’ve witnessed His growing popularity, His compassion for all sorts of people, and His teaching.

But now, as the Lord’s appearance is altered, displaying the unmistakable light of God, and God’s voice, declaring that Jesus is God’s beloved Son, Peter, James and John have a vision of Jesus as being God’s anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ[1]. It is a vision of the Lord’s eternal being, His one-ness with God. It is a vision of God’s great, big picture and intent in the sending of Jesus to take up our humanity.

Moses and Elijah appear with the Lord, signifying that Jesus is the bringer of a new law, a law which succeeds the Law of Moses. Moreover, Elijah’s appearance signifies that the Messiah has come.[2]

No longer will these three who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration be able to think of Him as merely a superhuman person, one who is possessed of deep thoughts and profound teachings, one who possesses, somehow, the power to heal and to perform miracles. In the wake of the transfiguration, a new understanding, a wider perspective, has been given.

Many years later, St. Peter recalls this event in his Second Letter. In time, and especially after the Lord’s resurrection, the events that took place on the mountain made sense. Perhaps Peter looked back over the years, and saw evidence that the Lord’s true identity had sustained and inspired him to take up the reins of leadership in the early Church confronting with determination and power the challenges that came along.

Revelation and inspiration result in changed lives. That was certainly true of the lives of the Lord’s early disciples, those who would be sent out as Apostles to carry the Good News of God in Christ.

Can we, as the Lord’s disciples today, look back at a time when the Lord has sustained us in some way? Did the Lord sustain us in difficult and trying times? Did the Lord bring us through loss and despair? Were we healed in some way that medical science can’t explain?

All of these might be markers of God’s abiding presence in our lives.

For God’s desire is for us to come to the knowledge that Jesus is Lord of all, far beyond being a memorable figure in history. God’s desire is for us to come to the knowledge, in our heart-of-hearts, that inviting the Lord into our innermost being is God’s deepest and most intense desire.

For then, we will be sustained in whatever lies ahead, for, as St. Paul states so well, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: 38–39)

AMEN.

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[1]   The title “Messiah” comes to us from the Hebrew, where it means “anointed”. “Christ” means the same thing, coming from the Greek.

[2]   In the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, it was widely believed that the Messiah’s coming would be heralded by the return of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. This belief was founded on Malachi 4: 5–6.