Ramblings

"Little Flock" - 8/11/2019

Sermon based on the Gospel text from Luke 12: 32-39.  Preached at Hope Lutheran and the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection.

This question, is not about the President of the United States; Twitter — love it, hate it or just don’t care much?
For the many who do not know, Twitter is an international, micro-blogging platform where users can post and interact with messages known as “tweets.” Tweets were originally restricted to 140 characters but in the fall of 2017, this limit was doubled to 280 for all languages except Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
Registered users to twitter can post, like, and retweet tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. Suffice it to say, this sound-bite approach to “a penny for your thoughts” was and is a polarizing presence in our culture.
Twitter --- politics aside --- either can be loved, hated or just another thing to be ignored, regardless there are many who are finding new ways to apply the platform. For example: Twitterature. Two University of Chicago students over the last couple of years have turned the classics from their English lessons into a book of Twitter summaries. As if the little yellow cliff notes didn’t castrate the classics enough, this new “genre” of “writing” reduces classic literature into 280 character tweets.
As you probably suspect, things like metaphor, parallelism and thought development all yield to e-grunt. The book editor at Penguin calls it “huge books made ridiculously small; great stories told in silly voices.” Hamlet. Of Mice and Men. Huckleberry Finn. Dante’s Inferno. And almost 80 other great works have been so converted in to 280 Twitterature. And as you can imagine, the authors’ summaries use text-speak such as OMG! and LOL, and ALL CAPS TO EMPHASIZE A POINT!!!!
If you are wondering where I am going with this there is a connection. Today’s gospel is a short course on eschatology; the arrival of God’ full kingdom. Although longer than 280 characters, Jesus provides a short preview of death, God’s reign, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind. Now to prime the pump, before engaging in the words of Jesus let us take a short pop quiz:
1. In what year did William Miller predict “the second coming of Jesus Christ?”
A. 2012
B. 1844
C. I’m bored — why are we talking about dead people?
Who was William Miller? He was a convert to Christianity who felt that the Bible could be deciphered so that we could predict when Christ will come again. Up to that time, generally speaking, the Church took the view that the time was more or less unpredictable.
2. Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins is:
A. My other Bible
B. Sitting at Goodwill next to The Prayer of Jabez
C. A hit country song
The Left Behind series is a fictional account with roots in William Miller but focuses on one key fictional account that there is rapture before Christ’s coming. Rapture is a concept partly based on Revelation 20 along with a view that things are broken down into thousands. Perhaps you have heard of premillennial, a millennial, postmillennial. Those descriptions are of course not hipsters and their phones but a description of people who are involved in this thousand year, rapture, second coming thinking.
Last question.
3. Eschatology should be:
A. A major at all universities
B. A topic in the National Enquirer
C. Does the quiz count as the sermon, or is there more coming?
Well, again regardless of how you answered any of those questions. I would suggest that all of us have something to learn from Jesus in what I call “practical” eschatology. Today is a short lesson on God’s full reign.
First the context. Earlier in this chapter, the author of Luke places Jesus in the presence both of his disciples and the large crowds (12:1). Jesus appears to be speaking primarily to the disciples, though within earshot of a large number of people. Even though teaching the disciples, “someone in the crowd” in verse 13, for example, is able to interrupt with a question.
Right before today’s lesson, Jesus follows the parable of the rich fool with appeals to live without anxiety. Worrying about food or clothing is unnecessary in light of God's love and grace. “The nations” in verse 30 worry about such things --- that is to say, people who think and act in light of the world’s assumptions will find themselves riven with uncertainty and anxiety. Whereas followers of God will not be so inclined toward fear.
Jesus follows with our first learning found in the phrase: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (v. 32). Jesus is transitioning from the parable and his appeals, warning about the world’s assumptions into how we understand God’s kingdom and its full revelation. It is transitional because Jesus understands that this God centered worldview brings its own anxiety. If we don't focus on the basics food and home, how will we survive? We don't know any other way!
In light of the anxiety caused by such a radical re-orientation toward God --- away from the worlds view scarcity, and toward God’s abundance; away from anxiety and toward reassurance of God's care --- Jesus encourages his listeners not to worry: “Do not be afraid, little flock.” Jesus reminds us that the biblical approach is we are to choose trust in God’s often unseen ways, even when it isn’t easy or comfortable including in the coming of God’s reign.
Jesus’ words are full of care and assurance: “your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” God wanted to do something good for the “little flock” and so freely gave them the kingdom --- the reign of God --- in which tables are open, status is upended, and all people are treated with respect. In God's kingdom --- on earth as it is in heaven --- there is no scarcity, not of food, nor of human dignity.
Now please note that Jesus also reminds us that God has already given this kingdom. It is not something that kicks into effect after we die or in a cataclysmic event, but something that is present right now. It has already been “freely given” in Christ. Like a benevolent parent, God gives us grace and love that his cherished one’s need --- including the perspective that our life is truly fragile. We can die, we will die, and the Kingdom of God will fully avail itself on any day, regardless we have signs of the kingdom now.
This leads to our second short course on eschatology; “[W]here your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (v. 34). Part of living out the eschatology --- knowing that the kingdom has come and will be fully revealed --- means having an eternal perspective. If we are very fortunate, we may have a long life and die peacefully in bed. Although statistically speaking dying peacefully in bed will not happen to many of us, God wants our years lived in the world with our hearts hell-bent --- so to speak --- on life eternal and why Christ came.
Practically speaking, that means having a very loose hold on stuff --- not our stuff having a firm hold on us. Jesus talks specifically about one topic: giving alms --- charity given directly to the poor and needy. Regardless of what that charity is, charity is one outward expression of an inward reality: Christ-followers who see stuff like money as a temporary means to an eternal end.
This leads to our third learning; “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit” (v. 35). Jesus gave a parable that tells of servants --- in other words us --- waiting for their master --- Christ --- to return from a wedding banquet. If this sounds like you have heard it before it is because Biblically speaking “wedding banquet” is a well-used image for the eternal kingdom of God. Because “the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour” (v. 40), the servants are supposed to be prepared for his arrival at all times on the edge of their seats.
Now to remind us, the Lord is not grim-faced in this parable as he “comes and knocks.” “The son of Man” will not come with a fearsome accounting of one's misdeeds. “The son of Man” will not come with pious exhortations to try harder. “The son of Man” will not come to put anyone in their place.
Quite the contrary. Where is the Christ coming from, he's coming from a party, with a spring in the step and a song in the heart. To those who are watching, “he will fasten his belt” --- that is, he too is in a condition of heightened anticipation and readiness for action --- except that, in this case, this action will be to “have them sit down to eat, and he will come to serve and serve them.”!
Talk about status reversal. Before we are servants and now we are being served. Just as serving the weak is the same as serving the Almighty, so the Lord comes to those who have been waiting, draws near to them, and serves them. This is what God's full reign looks like.
Our fourth and final learning about Christ’s coming is that the Lord comes as a “thief.” The thief is secretive, like Jesus. The thief quietly breaks in, like Jesus. Most of all, we don't KNOW when the thief is coming, like Jesus. If we think our house, or our lives, are about to be broken in to, we will post up our defenses ---psychologically to be sure, even physically if we feel enough threat. If we come to faith out of fear, then the roots of our faith is self-protective not rooted in the gift of grace and love. That's why the Lord uses so much misdirection. He comes in ways we do not expect, and a time that is “unexpected.”
How does this short primer on eschatology help us? Practically speaking we do not need to buy another book, or watch another movie, or listen to anyone who tells us what to look for. Christ doesn't bother trying to tear down our puny defenses. Christ doesn’t bother to give us a timeline, Jesus sneaks around them instead. And if we do so anyway, know this whatever we read, or see we are not to be afraid as God’s little flock.
Oddball and out-of-sync with our current arrangements all this may be, but this is the way of God’s fully revealed kingdom. So to reduce this practical eschatology to a Twitter feed, here’s what we have: The kingdom of God has come in Christ; we are not to fear; we are to adopt the perspective of eternity; in the meantime, we are to be ready for action; It will fully come like a thief. That by the way is 186 characters. Pretty much says it all. Amen.

"Brand Jesus" - 8/4/2019

Sermon presented at Hope Lutheran and the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on August 4, 2019.

Moment of silence for El Paso and Dayton in aftermath of mass shootings.

Prayer: Gracious Lord who loves us so perfectly, help us to better love you and each other. We weep for the gun violence that kills children and so many others, where guns have replaced prayers and where homes now breed frustration. May hearts be changed through your Holy Spirit that justice, mercy, all our resources and, yes, even guns might be used rightly under Heaven, through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
Amen.

Walk into your average middle or high school in the US and you’ll encounter some of the most self-conscious people on the planet. Teenagers are a jangle of nerves and emotions. So, on one hand, they can be arrogant, hateful and sometimes both. And on the other hand they are some of the most sensitive of any age group particularly to injustice. They eye roll a lot.
We see this in but one example --- clothing. For countless generations, some young people begin the day believing that every fashion choice is a critical one. After all, everyone else is watching! It’s important to make a statement with what you wear or don’t wear.
But then imagine these same students walking into an art class and noticing that their teacher has worn the same boring outfit day after day, month after month! Like, really? Aren’t art teachers supposed to be all colorful and stuff? Or have they been around tempera paint and hot glue a little too long?
Actually, meet Julia Mooney, an art teacher at William Allen Middle School in Moorestown, New Jersey. At the beginning of the 2018 school year, she decided to put on a simple gray button-down dress and then wore it every school day for 100 days straight. It wasn’t about being weird. For Ms. Mooney, it was about initiating a conversation with her students about the “culture of excess;” a culture of excess that has filled American closets to overflowing with cheap clothing that isn’t ethically sourced or manufactured and that, most of the time, eventually winds up in a landfill or dumped in poorer communities undercutting local businesses.
The typical American --- not just teenagers --- now buy 60 percent more items of clothing than we did 15 years ago --- and keep them half as long. Ms. Mooney thinks this is a major problem on a lot of levels. “There’s no rule anywhere that says we have to wear a different thing every day,” says Ms. Mooney. “Why do we ask this of each other? Why do we require that we each wear something different every day and buy more clothes and feed into this fashion culture?”
Instead, Ms. Mooney advocates for what she calls “sustainable fashion”: wearing clothing that’s made in an eco-friendly way along; buying fewer, but better-made pieces of clothing; wearing the same clothes more often; and making sure they’re recycled when they are replaced or no longer needed.
What was the reaction from the staff and students? Some students began their own experiment of wearing the same clothes on consecutive days. Some of the other staff got into the act as well. And, yes, in answer to the obvious question, Ms. Mooney does wash her dress frequently! It’s not about hygiene — it’s about wearing something of quality for the long haul while making a difference in the world.
Ms. Mooney is not alone in her thinking. Look at our gospel and in particular our 2nd lesson. In Colossians 3, the author makes a similar statement about the sustainable fashion that marks the “outfits” of Christians. For the author this fashion isn’t so much about what disciples of Jesus put on their bodies but about how they clothe their “minds” (v. 2). Because Christians have been “raised with Christ,” we should “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (v. 1). It’s about a mindset that seeks to sustain our lives that are “hidden with Christ in God” until Christ is revealed (v. 3). For the author, the only label that matters is the one put on us by the risen Christ!
We live in a culture where people seem to change their minds as much as they change their clothing. If you are what you wear, then the author of Colossians says in this part of the letter that we are --- “fast, cheap and easy” --- when it comes to our spiritual clothing as well as our lives. If we are going to live sustainably, with integrity, then we have to be willing to first do a purge of whatever we have been hiding not only what may lie in our literal closets but in the shadows of our lives. “Put to death, therefore, whatever is in you that is earthly…” says Paul (v. 5). Earthly of course does not mean to throw away our expired cans in the pantry or rotting produce in our refrigerators, rather get rid of all that we have been keeping that doesn’t fit anymore: “the ways you also once followed” when you were living life apart from Christ (v. 7). Dump things like “anger, wrath, malice, slander and abusive language from your mouth” (v. 8). These are the things that the rest of the world puts on and displays regularly as a way of comparing themselves to one another.
Instead we are to have a new mindset, one that is sustainable, that begins with stripping off “the old self with its practices” (v. 9) and replacing our spiritual wardrobe with a new one — a “new self” that is “being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator” (v. 10).
In other words, the wardrobe we’re called to wear is the one we were given from the beginning when God created humans in God’s own image (Genesis 1:26-27). Now we need to be careful because what is meant by this “image of God” has been debated for centuries among Christians and Jews. It is not that we resemble a God who has two legs, eyes and ears, walking around on puffy clouds. Instead, the author of Colossians suggests that since Christ’s character is in the image of the invisible God (1: 15) we are to remember that those first humans started out “naked and unashamed” and it was only after their brokenness that they began comparing themselves to one another and “knew that they were naked” (Genesis 2:25; 3:7).
The author of Colossians reminds us that the character with which we were originally outfitted was the character of God, which bears no shame. Christ, the model of that divine character, enables us to put on our original wardrobe through his defeat of our brokenness and separation from God in his crucifixion and resurrection.
Meaning that unlike a few trend setters and designers in the fashion world who set the agenda, the renewed and sustainable wardrobe of the church in Colossae, says the author, is sustainable, universal and designed to be worn by all kinds of people (v. 11). Whether you’re a gentle soul who prefers to wear tweed or a slave to the newest fashion, what matters is not what we wear on the outside but what we are wearing inside. “Christ is all and in all,” says the author, and as Christ is within, then our spiritual mindset will reflect Christ regardless of whether our outer clothes come from Walmart or Prada.
What does that sustainable spiritual character look like? I think like most of our closets, a sustainable spiritual character needs to have some basic pieces that are the foundation for the everyday. Therefore, it is less about other people and more about ourselves; the base layer. It is not all about “tighty whites.” “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience” (v. 12). Those are foundational, whether male or female, gay or straight, elderly or young.
Notice that the author says that we should clothe ourselves with these things, which means that they are a mindful choice for ourselves. Just as a person stands in front of his or her closet every morning and wonders what to put on, the author suggests that we who have been “raised with Christ” make a daily mindful process to put on Christ’s character; a base layer that translates into our daily life. We are to “bear with one another” and “forgive each other” as the Lord has forgiven us (v. 13).
But over all these things we are to put on love, “which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (v. 14). Love is the base mindset that forms and completes our base ensemble and marks us as belonging to the Jesus brand. It’s the article of our spiritual character that becomes more broken-in and comfortable with extended, everyday use. Furthermore, love never wears out, never goes out of style and is always culturally appropriate and yet non-violent love can challenge things from “Jim Crow laws” to racisms itself. We’ve been given the perfect pattern of love in Jesus, and as we let the “peace of Christ” rule in our hearts, we become “one body” that can influence the world as part of Jesus’ brand as well (v. 15). Our mutual sharing, our admonishing one another in wisdom, our worship and our every word and deed are commercials that point to Christ (v. 16).
In our Gospel Jesus tells a parable of a man who, for all his self-centered strategizing, doesn't run his own life after all. The decision to build bigger barns is entirely reasonable, even smart. Yet, God calls him a “fool.” His foolishness is not in his attempt to “be merry,” to be wealthy. No, the man is a fool because, in pursuit of profits in the market, he has acted in disregard for his neighbors. To which God says out loud what all of us refuse to acknowledge: “Hey, you can't take it with you.”
In discerning whether one should place their interest in their own self, or the needs of their neighbors, it might be prudent to consider God's opinion on the matter. Ms. Mooney understood that what we present to the world from our inner selves can spark a conversation. She caught the attention of some students and staff by doing so.
When we make the daily choice to put on the character of Christ even before we put on our clothes, it is a statement that the neighbor can’t help but notice. “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (v. 17). Brand Jesus is not only sustainable forever, we don’t need larger closets or barns to house it, and our neighbors notice! Those young people who ponder their mornings in front of the mirror in a way do have it right, who wouldn’t like to be known by what they wear? Amen.

"Ignition - Prayer!" - 7/28/2019

Sermon presented at Hope Lutheran and the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection based on Luke 11.

In the movie Sister Act when the main character Sister Mary Clarence arrives at the convent at their first dinner, Sister Mary Patrick invites the new sister to prayer. Sister Mary Clarence played by Whoopi Goldberg responds: “That is very thoughtful of you, Mary Patrick. But I really ... Oh. Yeah. Yeah. I can ... I can do that. Uh. Sure. Oh. Fudge. Uh. Bless us. O Lord for these Thy gifts which we're about to receive. And. Yea. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of no food, I will fear no hunger. We want you to give us this day our daily bread ... and to the republic for which it stands, and by the power invested in me, I pronounce us ready to eat. Amen.”
I always get a charge out of that particular scene, because although the Whoopi character we later find out went to Roman Catholic schools, she never gained comfort in praying out-loud. I find that same response when I have been in situations with folk who are asked to pray out loud. Although, they may have been part of a church since birth, when asked, they are caught like deer in the headlights. Now before we get all “holier than thou,” I wonder what if we were to take the challenge, should we on Sundays start drawing names from a hat and invite those picked to lead this community in prayers?
This other point may be easier to swallow. “Children are now half as likely to know the text of the Lord's Prayer than they were 40 years ago.” That's the lead of an article in the British Newspaper The Telegraph, published in March 2012. It was reporting the findings of a survey of 1,000 children ages 6-12 and 1,000 adults who were in that age group 40 years ago. It found that 92 percent of the adults said they knew the Lord's Prayer at that age, while only 55 percent of today's children knew it. While the survey about the Lord's Prayer was conducted in Britain, I suspect that a similar poll in this country would yield similar results, for secularization is a feature of our society as well.
Again before we get all high and mighty and go into another litany about who is at fault --- always the fault of others --- never ourselves --- many of us may have memorized the Lord’s Prayer but end our prayer life at that point, in our fabricated check list of what Christians are supposed to do.
So, let’s review, if nothing else, what is the purpose of the Lord's Prayer, as a basic framework and vocabulary whereby a person can have a sense of addressing God as a jumping off point into a deeper life of prayer. And just as the learned lyrics of a hymn or the memorized lines of a Bible verse can help us when in dark valleys, so can the remembered words of a prayer. At the very least, the Lord’s Prayer is a good way to reach out in the darkness toward the source of light.
First some background, the gospel for today includes Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer, along with a parable and commentary from Jesus about persistence in prayer. Luke's version of the prayer is shorter than the one from Matthew 6, containing only five petitions instead of the seven in Matthew. But the included five are all key: the first two --- “hallowed be your name” and “your kingdom come” --- are spiritual linkages, and the other three --- for daily bread, for forgiveness of sins and being spared the “time of trial” --- ask for help with daily life. And of course, neither Matthew’s version or Luke’s version include “thine is the kingdom and the power….,” because that is the doxology which I will not get into today.
Another difference between the two renderings is that in Matthew, Jesus gives the Lord's Prayer as a model in the course of a larger discourse about praying in general, whereas in Luke, it is in direct response to a request from a disciple, who says, “Lord, teach us to pray .... as John taught his disciples.” We don’t have whatever prayer John taught but the larger question is to wonder why the disciple made that request in the first place. After all, all the disciples as far as we can tell were children of the synagogue. They had grown up going to worship and hearing public prayers. So didn't they already know how to pray?
Regardless of the background, apparently the disciple felt whatever they were taught needed some support, or reinterpretation, at least in any way that this person felt in light of what he was discovering about God in Jesus' presence and the spiritual life Jesus modeled. Maybe the prayers heard or memorized didn't translate easily into a life experience with Jesus? Indeed, in Matthew, Jesus referred to “hypocrites” who stood and prayed in the synagogues “so that they may be seen by others.” That doesn't sound like much of a teaching example! In any case, the fact that Jesus responded by giving this prayer as a model suggests that Jesus understood that praying is something with which people need help.
So, let us take the time to review the purpose of the model because it's not just newcomers or people at the edges of the faith who need a reminder. And although praying out loud before others is not something everyone is to do, our personal prayers may be fraught with problems of a wandering mind, sleepiness, itchiness to get on with the demands of the day, the boredom of praying about the same topics over and over, and philosophical questions about praying itself --- such as ‘If God knows what is in my heart, then why do I have to tell God?’”
While we could discuss that question and others, we are probably better with the Lord's Prayer to highlight that Jesus didn't address the philosophical nature of prayer questions. Instead, Jesus said, “When you pray, say ...”, which perhaps we can take to mean that it's more helpful to speak --- even to recite --- a set prayer than not to pray at all because we have unanswered --- and probably unanswerable --- questions about conversing with God. Jesus simply said, "When you pray, say ...” Jesus therefore intended for the prayer to be a springboard for a deeper prayer life therefore it is important to understand several things about the Lord’s Prayer.
First, I know I am being old fashioned when I suggest this because I am using an image that is based on my life experience, cars before power steering and brakes and automatic transmissions. I even remember when cars had a “choke.” And as most of you are too young to know just imagine life before electronic start, think of the Lord’s Prayer as a “choke” to get a cold engine started; adding fuel to ignite the spiritual chambers. In other words, we are to recite the Lord's Prayer to “warm our spirit” so that we can more easily enter into other praying and meditation. The Lord’s Prayer is not meant as end all, be all, of all prayers, it is just the beginning.
For example, I remember a person in a former congregation when we were chatting about prayer who mentioned that she prayed daily and I asked innocently, what did she pray? She said “The Lord’s Prayer.” To which I responded “And….????” She looked at me like I was crazy, the Lord’s prayer is the kickoff, or the post-game show to something deeper.
Second, we are to ask questions such as, “With this line, what am I asking God to do?” “What am I offering of myself in making this petition?” “Which petitions are the hardest for me to really mean when I pray them -- and why?” “What else should I pray for as a result?”
Here is a suggestion that does not appeal to me but it may appeal to you. Use the lines of the Lord’s Prayer as the topics of a prayer journal. Keep notes under each petition about how you have responded to, changed, gained new understanding or still need to learn about the subjects of that petition. Martin Luther, our namesake did that and is the basis for a portion of the Small Catechism; we are to pray the Lord’s Prayer while thinking about the meaning of each sentence
Another reminder is that the Lord’s Prayer helps us settle our lives, when our mind rebel against praying our own prayers. I know that seems to contradict what I said earlier, but praying something is better than praying nothing. But we are not to get settled with what just comes out. In other words, we are praying the Lord’s Prayer when our heart is aching so bad that we can't form our own petitions. Along with the understanding that it will become a channel through which God's Spirit can flow.
And perhaps most challenging of all, let us consider using the Lord’s Prayer as a shorthand way to teach others about God and faithful living. Just as we might say to people, “I love you,” let us help others understand what prayer means without having to always explain what it means.
Let me give you an example. Now I know this is a controversial, political issue but hear me out as I am bringing this to illustrate prayer. A while back there was a controversy about the phrase “thoughts and prayers” in response and regarding numerous school shootings. Some criticized people who responded to school shootings with “thoughts and prayers” but then took no action on addressing the fundamental issues that may have led to the shootings in the first place. Obviously there are issues of whether or not to have firearm control, along with what how and should firearms be sold. Couples those issues along with mental health, drugs and alcohol, bullying, poverty, parental neglect to name just a few.
However, for me the criticism over “thoughts and prayers” as one’s only response was a fair one for two reasons. First, it is a criticism of how far people of faith and people of no faith misunderstand prayer and the Lord’s Prayer specifically. And second, that people of faith have been guilty of “thoughts and prayer” as a knee jerk response so that people of no faith think of it as a meaningless excuse.
The task is ours as Lutherans to illustrate that prayer is like saying “I love you” to God and to others. Prayer is our time and effort in response to God’s love. Yet, just like we say “I love you” there are actions that support those words. When my grandmother said “I love you” it came with a whole set of experiences from warm, homemade cinnamon rolls, to a kiss and hug, to a card with money for a birthday.
We are to help our world and nation understand that when we pray the Lord’s prayer and say “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us” it is not meaningless words but that God forgives us, loves us and … we forgive others, we love others; the words of our prayers are concrete not only in God’s response to us but in our response to the world.
Centuries ago, God told Israel, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” Also known as the first half of the “Shema.” God then told the Israelite adults to not only “keep these words” themselves, but also to “Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7). We can do the same with the Lord's Prayer, a visible, model prayer not only to recite, but as a springboard into a fuller, spiritual life.
Practicing, teaching and modeling the Lord's Prayer may not turn the world around spiritually or be the start of a worldwide religious revival. I don’t believe it is intended rather it points to grace alone, faith alone. But the Lord's Prayer is a spiritual starting point, a way to reach out toward God when we're too numb, too much in pain, too blind, too angry, even too tired to do much else. From young children to the oldest adult will benefit from it and enough reason to recite. Praying something is better than praying nothing. So yes, the only time some may say a prayer out loud is the Lord’s Prayer, at worship with others, but the Lord's Prayer is the ignition as the words become our own in our daily life. Amen.

"Our timely responsibilities" - July 21, 2019

Sermon based on Luke 10: 38-42.  Manuscript basis for sermon preached at Hope Lutheran and the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection.

Some sisters have a unique bond, a special relationship. Some sisters can be the best of friends, encouraging one another when there's trouble, as well as sharing clothes, and supporting each other with phone calls and texts that speak right to the heart during the ups and downs and drama of life.
It's the positive side of sisterhood that Sisters Day aims to celebrate. Seriously, just when you thought you'd caught up with every holiday obligation, it turns out there's another. The first Sunday in August is National Sisters Day which aims to recognize and celebrate the special blessings that a sister brings into one's life. Now, before you begin to think --- yet another manufactured, Hallmark moment --- think again. If you were to take five minutes and hit up Pinterest.com, the “idea” web site that's hugely popular with “do it yourselfers”, and do a quick search on the topic. You'll find all sorts of projects on the subject of sisterhood. Clearly there's something about having and being a sister that needs to be, and is already being, celebrated.
But you will also see another aspect of sisterhood for while some are the best and most intimate of friends, sisters can also be the bitterest of “sis-lings.” Some sisters are not the best of friends but bitter and broken. I am only speculating but I suspect that some sisters can push one another's buttons and compete for attention in a way that can lead to lots of eye rolling, door slamming, tear jerking, and not-so-passive-aggressive comparing and competing.
Take for example Eppie Lederer and Pauline Phillips, two of the world's more famous siblings who had a sisterly conflict. Both now deceased but when both were living, they engaged in a very public battle for the title of “America's favorite advice columnist.” Hard to know for some but before Google search, people would turn to newspapers and advice columns like Eppie and Pauline --- or “Ann Landers” and “Dear Abby” as they were known for advice. Yet just think of it two sisters both giving advice, estranged “sis-lings.”
But perhaps the most well-known example of the unique relationship of adoration and irritation shared between sisters is found in today’s chapter 10 of Luke's gospel. Although we are working with just a little information it seems that Mary and Martha when Jesus began teaching, speaking the word, as our text suggests, they responded differently. While they obviously either by life circumstance or choice shared a home together --- their differences welled up in a moment of deep frustration, a moment where their seemingly contrasting character and personalities took center stage. And while this moment so beautifully captured by Luke, may be just one of many for them, it is an important one for us. Sure, it highlights a relational dynamic we can all relate to. But more importantly, Luke redeems and utilizes their moment of sis-ling to bring to life a simple truth about following Jesus that each one of us, sister or not, need to pay attention to.
Let’s take a moment to review because the context is critical in grasping the learning for us. Just before we hear of Martha welcoming Jesus and possibly more into her and Mary's home, we're told the parable of the … Good Samaritan, where Jesus vividly and scandalously illustrates a Kingdom spirituality; what it means to live in harmony with the values of the kingdom of God where all people are neighbors. It was Jesus' way of bringing to life, in story form, one half of the “great commandment,” what it looks like to love one's neighbor as one's self.
But the lesson is not over. In this moment of sis-ling action and reaction, we see two very different responses to the first half of that all-important commandment. Mary and Martha are not just two very different sisters. They are sisters with two very different takes on what it means to love the Lord your God with all you've got.
While the text doesn't tell us that Martha is the older sister, I tend to think so. Thinking about the details, overflowing with a sense of authority, Martha has all the characteristics and then some of a Type A, first-born sibling. Not only does she proactively invite the would-be Messiah into her home, reconsider the “they” of verse 38. How many of “they” were there? Does this still include the 70/72 who went out on mission and returned? If so, then Martha has a legitimate gripe. Even whipping up some “pita bead and humus” would be challenge if you have 70+ people who suddenly show up for dinner but Martha dives head first into serving. For me that is an “older sister” type: she has the idea for a grand party but then can't even relax enough to enjoy it. “Martha,” Luke tells us, “was distracted with much serving.”
Such attention to the details is not in and of itself a bad thing. In fact, it can be a very, very helpful thing. Psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman, author of The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are, asserts that this older child bent on life is what accounts for the fact that so many astronauts, presidents and leaders in general are firstborns. They tend to strive to meet expectations. Whatever Martha’s birth order, this was certainly the case. Jesus had come to dinner, and she would not be caught flat-footed, rude or with a hair out of place.
Martha's view of the world was very clear. Perhaps we can relate. For her, that which was expected trumped what was immediate. And responsibility was what was expected. Those of us who are wired --- be it through birth order or otherwise --- meeting obligations --- can't stand when someone else doesn't seem to live with the same sense of responsibility. Thus, Martha is not entirely off-base by suggesting that she doesn't have enough help in serving. In fact, she seems to assume that Jesus would agree her. “Tell her then to help me,” Martha says, in the imperative.
Jesus acknowledges her concern --- “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.” Yet, “there is need of only one thing.” Stick with pita and humus! Don’t focus on putting out such a large spread. We also need to state the obvious as well. In the context of that time -- and perhaps ours --- one might simply have assumed that of course Mary should be helping. Serving meals is women’s work, after all.
Jesus won't go there. In Mary’s revolutionary action of ditching her expected gender role of “helping in the kitchen” as well as responding differently than Martha, Jesus --- the Lord! --- backs her up. Luke within scant details seems to suggest that Mary's approach is an important contrast to the Martha’s of the world. While Martha was driven by a sense of duty and the gender roles of that day, Mary responded differently. For Mary, that which was immediate trumped that which was expected. Mary for whatever reason responded more to the moment --- at least on this day --- and the value of pressing “Pause” on the expectations of her sister, others and the culture. Mary yielded to what was unfolding in front of her. Yes, this would frustrate her sister, and not fit gender roles, but some things, to Mary, like the Samaritan in the parable were worth changing course for. This was one of them. We almost get the sense as well that Mary was not even aware that she was shirking responsibility. For example, Mary must have overhead Martha saying what she did to Jesus, yet we get no response that Mary even heard.
But that is just the veneer of this lesson, for what does this mean for us 21st century Americans? The challenge in today’s gospel is that Mary's approach to this moment proved to be marching more in line with the priorities of the kingdom of God. Yes, both sisters were simply trying to love their Lord. One tried to love him with all her activity, her busyness and her attention to culturally expected details. The other loved him by dropping what was expected and dealing with, dwelling with, and focusing on the immediate presence of God. Compare that to the Pharisee in the parable who failed to love his neighbor simply by hustling on to life busyness. Martha is in a way is doing the same, inviting Jesus and perhaps more into her home only to stay overwhelmed in her responsibilities.
In the kingdom of God, what matters most is ---- well, God --- which mean what matters most is not our plans and perfectionism, not the approval of others or the expectations of our culture, not even what we consider responsible or not. When God shows up, in his Word preached and his body and blood given to us from the Altar, as well as in the unexpected opportunity to serve him by loving the least of these and the hurting, we drop what we're doing and we attend to the Kingdom. Is that what Jesus is suggesting what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Is this why, as Jesus himself said, Mary has “chosen the better part.”
Sister or not, sibling or not, personality types or not, we are, each day, each one of us given a similar set of circumstances. And although I would love to blame our faith responses to our nature --- or on our siblings --- as followers of Jesus Christ we have all, like Martha, invited him into our homes. In doing so, whether in our homes or in our journeys we must be ready and willing to engage in the immediate opportunities, to participate in the presence and activity of God even if it means ditching for a moment what's expected, our visions and demanded by our other concerns.
For me, it seems unfair and almost wrong to pick sides in this sis-ling drama. Martha would have, undoubtedly, a moment of faithful response in her own right. Are not these the same sisters introduced as the well-known persons living in Bethany mentioned in John 11? On this day it was --- Mary --- who was able to discern it was time to seize the day.
That had to burn Martha, it would have burned me. But whatever happened after this conversation, we can safely assume somehow everyone got fed. Maybe it was just pita and humus rather than what Martha had planned. We also have to wonder, did Martha stop at these words of Jesus or did she go back into the kitchen in a huff? Maybe they were the kind of sisters who could talk about it later? Whatever happened, Luke reminds us that whether in our homes or in our journeys, we have choice moments to live like Martha and Mary, the Pharisee or the Samaritan, to live the values of the Kingdom. Some of those choices go to the core of who we are and our relationships. Amen.

Who is a stranger? - 7/14/2019

We may know our next-door neighbors. But how about the people two doors down? Or three? Or four? For example, we live a condo with three other units of similar size in one building. We know them all and have called upon each other when needed and have a post-Christmas annual event together. We recently attended the funeral of one of our neighbors, wondering who will move in once the family has emptied the condo.
But we do not know many others in the 300 other units. We may leave through one of the three gated entrances and wave at the stranger. I have served on the Home Association board and served as President, but I have yet to know many others besides those who live in our building. We try to attend the monthly gatherings and occasional community events, but we do not know many well.
This was recently brought to my attention in an exercise we did under the guidance of our speaker at our annual Synod assembly. The exercise is in your bulletin and on the screen.

The grid is not for tic-tac-toe when you’re bored rather the grids have two questions that were asked of us at the synod assembly. The first question is can you name those that surround you? The second question is can you name those around the church? In the exercise we were to put ourselves at the center of the tic tac toe grid and put the names of the people around us. Not a description but a name. If you can’t put a name, then leave it blank. So, how many can fill in all the blanks?
Now let us go to the second question, what about those around the church. How many can fill in all the blanks?  The speaker at our synod assembly pointed out that may be a reason our congregations may be so disjointed from our communities… we don’t know who they are and they don’t know us. In other words, we may be a neighborhood church but not neighborly.
This loss of neighborliness can be for many reasons. People die like our neighbor Chuck, or move on. We may have known the people before, but now not so much. It is also due, no doubt, to the fact that we seem to be busier today than yesterday. But no matter how we slice it, many observers of the American culture have noticed that just about all forms of organized social life --- including the church --- are experiencing the decline of what sociologists call “social capital.”
Social capital is another way of saying “community.” On one hand, we live in the most connected, plugged in, wired culture in the history of the world, yet on the other hand we may feel isolated, lost, unloved and unvalued. Mack McCarter, a pastor and community activist in Shreveport, Louisiana, puts it another way. He believes that our collective estrangement has had corrosive and crippling effects. We've become a “cut flower civilization,” he says. “It looks pretty for a while, but it has no root.” The bloom fades over time.
Don’t feel bad or blame the Republican or the Democrat next to you, rather this has been a problem for ages --- our human condition --- for this is precisely the concern on the heart of the apostle Paul in today's text as well as our Gospel. Let’s just concentrate on our letter to the Colossians. True, Paul’s enthusiastic about what is happening in the newly formed church at Colossae. Its members are vital and active: “Just as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the grace of God.”
Yet, the Apostle Paul is reminding them that without the attention, even a congregation like the one at Colossae could become little more than a “cut flower church” no longer rooted. That's why he provides in this text a list of the essential nutrients to help blooming believers remain as healthy, deeply rooted Christians. “For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…” In other words, the apostle Paul knows that it what is present now will not remain --- “for this reason” --- unless it is replanted daily.
How does the writer of the letter do this? Interestingly enough by recapping for them of the importance of person and place. We are holy and we are family. This is implied by the language of brothers and sisters “to the saints and faithful brothers and sisters.” This is our essential identity: in relation to God, we are holy; in relation to others, we are family. We all need to be reminded of that. Every day --- as our namesake the reforming Roman Catholic priest and monk Martin Luther wrote in his Small Catechism: “In the morning, as soon as you get out of bed, you are to make the sign of the holy cross and say: 'God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit watch over me. Amen.’” For Luther, baptism “signifies that the old creature in us … is to be drowned and die through daily … repentance, and … that daily a new person is to come forth and arise up to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” If you were to have a printed copy in front of you, Luther cited Romans 6:4, and added his own accent on the word daily. We are not reborn once in baptism, it is a daily exercise and event.
As for place, we are in Christ, and in this case Paul reminded those Christians in Colossae we have got one foot in heaven and the other on earth. But Paul also suggests to them that that have one foot in the church and the other in the world. In other words, Paul is prompting this community that they function best when the bloom is in the air and the roots are in the soil. Take the flower out of the soil, and it soon dies. Take a plant that is all roots and no stem and bloom, and you've got a plant that's, well --- not good for much.
Paul in this first chapter of Colossians suggests that this community is able to thrive both in Christ and in the world because of the power of faith and love --- transforming, connecting, enabling love. That's more than social capital or community, it is being disciples.
Mack McCarter the person I cited earlier has been trying a method. In 1991, he founded Community Renewal in Shreveport, Louisiana to work on the disintegration of personal relationships that was undermining the quality of daily life in that community where he lives. Its mission: to strengthen neighborhoods from the grass roots up by getting people to make friends. McCarter did not assume that neighbors will naturally get to know neighbors. Instead he suggested we have been to be shown the way. To get started, McCarter visited a section of the city that was experiencing a rash of shootings with the premise that if he could make friends that may encourage others to get to know their neighbors.
Not many doors opened at first. But McCarter kept knocking. After a year people were actually sitting out on their front porches waiting for him to show up. They talked, telling the stories of their lives. As it turned out, the neighbors had more in common than they had realized. All wanted better lives for their children, including improved schools and more daycare and recreation facilities. It began when people began to know their neighbors.
This community has been working on moving from being a cut flower community into one that puts down roots and develops relationships in the neighborhood. From this first effort grew a network of what the organization calls “haven houses” in the city – homes whose inhabitants are trained to nurture caring relationships among their neighbors. There are now a few such houses in Shreveport along with similar style ventures in 10 other cities as well as an international version in Cameroon.
Obviously they are still at it. It is not a magic bullet. People move on, die, life. Also many things are competing for our time and attention. Each day is a pie, cut into slices for work, getting to work, planning, preparing and cleaning up meals, nurturing and caring for children, maintaining our dwellings, enriching our relationships with spouses along with many, many other responsibilities and activities. Finding time is a challenge.
Yet, as those simple neighbor grids remind all of us, our participation in getting to know our neighbors, building relationships, these very things breathe life into our homes and into our congregations. Our speaker at the Synod assembly illustrated that point by telling us of a congregation that went around their neighborhood and asked a simple question. “What do you know about First Lutheran?” Not a single neighbor could tell them anything, or even knew their congregation existed even though the steeple of their congregation could be seen by every one of those neighbors. We may have the same impression, don’t those who drive by ______  know we are here. I suspect probably not.
We don't know if the Colossians spent less time walking to work than we spend driving, or spent money on their house church as we do at ours, or worked longer hours. In all likelihood, their daily lives were more physically and emotionally demanding than ours, yet the apostle Paul tells us that the church at Colossae had a vitality that he wanted to wrap his arms around and take to other congregations.
Perhaps we need to come to a place where the rewards of creating social bonds among us are worth the same effort. Think about it: do we get more enjoyment from watching whose winning on Jeopardy or from talking about daily joys and concerns with a friend or neighbor?
Now let me be clear, I am not trying to put another thing on our “to do list” which I am sure is long for all of us. Nonetheless, it is clear, we can't alter the complex dynamics that undermine social capital, undermine community in our society, in our world and in our own church if we don’t know our neighbors. Paul’s advice is to remember that we have a foot in heaven and on earth, in the church and in our neighborhoods.
As you may have noticed in our Gospel. It was the enemy, the Samaritan who places himself at personal risk both physically and financially. It was the Samaritan who went over to the man in distress. It was the Samaritan who paid for the injured man’s care. The lawyer had asked, “Who is my neighbor?” The question assumes a dialogue on who, exactly, is “near” and who isn't. At what point can we say that “neighbor” stops and “stranger” begins? Who, exactly, am I obligated to love?
Jesus ignores that question. Instead, he tells a story of an enemy --- an enemy who, through his merciful actions, is a neighbor. If a Samaritan may become neighbor to a Jewish man, and the lawyer is enjoined to be like the Samaritan, then anyone may be neighbor, like the person right next to us.  Instead the question could be Who is a stranger?  No one as everyone is a neighbor.
Avoiding the “cut flower” syndrome and building social capital in our lives doesn't have to be exhausting, but it does require more effort than exercising our thumbs on the remote control, or making a donation after the most recent flood. Paul names a neighbor Epaphras in the church and community whose has made the church in Colossae known. May we be so named in our communities, let us start small, let us begin with the person right next to us. Amen.

"Peace of Mind" - 6/16/2019

Sermon preached at Hope Lutheran and the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection based on Romans 5.

I understand about indecision.
I don’t care if I get behind.
People livin’ in competition;
All I want is to have my peace of mind.
If you’re a classic rock fan, you’ll instantly recognize that is the chorus from the band Boston’s 1976 hit “Peace of Mind.” While some of us may recognize the lyrics we may not know the story behind them. Founder and lead guitarist Tom Scholz, was a grad from MIT, working as a senior engineer for a famous company in the 70’s called “Polaroid.” As he plugged away at his day job, Scholz noticed that a lot of people around him were “climbing to the top of the company ladder.” Scholz wanted more than a corporate life. He wanted “peace of mind,” and for those who know that song, it soars with hope, urging listeners to “take a look ahead” to something better.
Here we are more than 40 years later, and as many of us know there are plenty of people who still resonate with Scholz’s lyrics. That struggle then is the same today, peace of mind. In a world where conflict and hopelessness seem to be epidemic, where people are “livin’ in competition” for attention, success and even just the basics of life, real peace seems pretty elusive.
What does real peace of mind look like? The well-known actor from the 1950’s and 1960’s Robert Mitchum had a thought. Famously, Mitchum had a difficult and challenging upbringing that included everything from growing up in tough New York neighborhood, to being a hobo riding the rails, to spending time on a Georgia chain gang and even doing a stint in the boxing ring before becoming a Hollywood star.
From those experiences Mitchum later defined peace of mind as, “becoming the person I always wanted to be.” In other words, no matter the circumstance, Mitchum recognized that peace of mind is the result of one’s internal orientation. It’s not dependent on what one accomplishes or accumulates. It isn’t that just a little more mindfulness or meditation is the answer, it’s far deeper.
As Christians a diagnosis for this puzzle lies in the fact is that we know intuitively that we are not the people we want to be and, more importantly, we tend to fall short of being the people that God created us to be. It is of course called “sin.” Sin is that theological term used to describe the human brokenness that distorts for example our self-concept as people made in the image of God. This sin additionally causes us either to focus on our past mistakes, to worry exceedingly about the future, or our present condition. Furthermore, crucially, biblically speaking, this peace of mind doesn’t come from being solely centered internally, rather it comes from standing 100% externally on the promises of God. God can actually do something about removing the internal barriers to real peace.
We see that in today’s second lesson. The apostle Paul’s life makes Robert Mitchum’s upbringing look tame, for while Paul was climbing the religious career ladder in his former life, he understood that real peace of mind begins with an intimate knowledge of God more than just oneself. We see that in his letter to the small Roman Christian community. In this famous section 5 of Romans, Paul reveals an intricate understanding of the human condition and lays out a suggested path to peace; peace that is the result of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.
First, Paul talks about peace with God as the foundation for peace in general. We know this because of the preposition “with” being the operative word. Who knew prepositions could be so important. You will notice that in verses 1 and 2 he writes, “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand.” When we put our faith, allegiance and trust in Jesus and in what God has done through him, we have peace with God. God’s grace has been extended to us in Jesus, who died for our human condition.
This is of course what is called in Christian circles as justification. The essential meaning of justification is, as the old adage suggests, that we exist now “just as though we had not sinned.” This is possible because of the life, death and resurrection of Christ has been imputed or ascribed to us. God sees us as righteous through the rainbow prism of Jesus Christ.
To understand this, imagine if you will that we have committed a crime. We are not innocent, but so far the authorities have not caught on to us. To remain free, we need to move around a lot. As a fugitive, as exciting as that may be, think about it. We live as liars. We have to create false identities. We have to use aliases. We constantly have to be looking over our shoulder.
But then, magically, it all goes away. Perhaps the evidence room is destroyed in a fire. Perhaps a President has pardoned us. Whatever the case, the charges cannot be brought against us. We don’t need to run anymore. We don’t need to worry about getting caught. How good would that feel?
This is what Paul’s saying. The law is satisfied. The All-Points Bulletin with our face on the FBI most wanted has been withdrawn. It is as if we have been given a fresh start. In the same way, we are now in a state of peace with God, and God is no longer demanding justice. Justice has been rendered. It’s not that there wasn’t a cost, just that the cost was paid by Jesus on the cross. And so, God has no argument with us. We have peace with God, and God has peace with us. That’s why we shout, if we were the shouting kind, rather than Lutherans, “Thank you, God!”
According to Paul, without that foundational peace with God, it’s virtually impossible for us to have any other kind of peace. If we were to look at the primary reason our world is not at peace, Paul would argue that this is the root --- all of creation is not at peace with God.
But if we have peace with God, Paul says that we are then able to build upon the peace of God --- the preposition “of” being the operative word. In verse 3, after Paul says we have peace with God, he goes on to say that “we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”
Peace with God leads to the peace of God, and that is a peace that produces other kinds of peace. For example, we have freedom from anxiety and panic because God is present with us in the Holy Spirit. It’s not a peace that is dependent on life circumstances but based on peace with God. It’s not that the struggles of life suddenly disappear, not at all. Rather we have this peace of God especially when we are in the midst of trying times. Paul is reminding this small church in Rome, that peace with God makes us resilient people, and interestingly enough makes us stand out to an anxious world.
This leads to a third concept of peace laid out by Paul; people with peace with God are attractive to others because they want to have that kind of peace for themselves. Many people have endured horrific circumstances in their lives and yet have a deep peace about them --- people who have experienced loss, grave illness or unfair treatment, and yet still have peace of mind. For Paul this comes from peace with God.
People who are at peace with God, now have the peace of God. Paul suggests these people can endure suffering with grace and, as a result, have strength of character and hope for the future. It’s not about simply pretending --- “fake it ‘til you make it.” Instead it is about an inner peace refined by the Spirit’s presence from which to build. As Paul puts it in Philippians: “The peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (4:7). The peace of God is the fertile ground in which peace of mind can really grow when it is cultivated by the Spirit.
What is also interesting for us is that this peace of God is not the end goal. We Americans to forget this because we are so intensely individualistic. Peace with God is on its way to all of creation. When Jesus sent out his disciples to spread the good news, he told them to greet everyone with “Peace to this house” (Luke 10:5). It is why we have the passing of the peace in worship.
Peace with God was not just something for us to have as an inner feeling, but something to be extended to others. Later in Romans, Paul puts it this way: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (12:18). When we have peace with God, it extends into peacemakers for God. We extend God’s peace to others. This is the essence of what Paul means when he includes “peace” among the fruit of the Spirit --- it’s the peace we share that really matters (Galatians 5:22).
What does this kind of peacemaker extension look like? We get a clue about what living “peaceably with others” looks like toward the end of Paul’s letter to the Romans. How do people of peace act peaceably through God according to Paul? Listen to these and see what you think:
Peacemakers of God show genuine love to others (v. 9). People who live peaceably hate evil and hold fast to what is good, serving one another in mutual affection and showing honor to one another. They are enthusiastic, serving the Lord with the fire of the Spirit (v. 10). People of peace are not a “frozen chosen” but are genuinely excited about serving and doing the peace work of the Lord. Paul suggests that they have hope --- no matter the circumstance --- being patient in suffering and fervent in prayer (v. 12). Likewise, they contribute to the needs of the saints and show hospitality to strangers (v. 13). They are able to bless their persecutors instead of cursing them (v. 14). Peacemakers are empathetic, rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep (v. 15). In other words, a genuine hope for the well-being of another.
For Paul peacemakers live as part of a community where they see everyone as equals and are humble about their own abilities (v. 16). And they don’t seek revenge when wronged. Instead, peacemakers care for their enemies and let God handle the rest (vv. 19-21). Instead of overcoming evil with revenge and retaliation, the peace of God conquers evil with good to the point that their enemies are embarrassed.
To summarize, for Paul peace of mind comes from Peace with God. This leads to the Peace of God lived out as Peacemakers. May God strengthen us in this journey of Peace with, of and through God --- Amen.

"Spiritual Conversations" - 6/9/2019

One day, a priest from the local Roman Catholic Church and a pastor from the local Baptist church were standing by the side of the road holding up a sign that read, “The End Is Near! Turn yourself around before it’s too late!” They planned to hold up the sign to each passing car, until the first driver sped by and yelled, “Leave us alone you religious nuts!” From around the curve they heard screeching tires and a big splash. “Do you think,” said one to the other, “we should change the sign to just say, ‘Bridge Out’?”
Today is the birthday of the church, when on that first Pentecost, we are told that the church began to speak in a variety of languages; enabled to voice the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Over the past fifty days since Jesus’ resurrection the disciples had lived in fear, with occasional appearances from the risen Christ to strengthen them and help them understand scriptures. Now Jesus had ascended and as they feel that fear return the Holy Spirit came, and sparked them to speak. In today’s Acts reading, our first lesson, we discover that the apostles “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” We are also told that the international Jewish community in Jerusalem was bewildered by this, “because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.” Using a variety of languages, the apostles started to talk publicly about “God’s deeds of power.” And Peter, who a little more than 50 days ago, had denied Jesus now felt able to raise his voice and boldly proclaim that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
On Pentecost with the help of the Holy Spirit, the followers of Jesus Christ now talked openly about God’s deeds of power and about the salvation offered by Jesus. On this day, the birthday of the church, it learned how to speak, then, as now, God-talk has the power to change lives.
But it appears that we are losing our voice in this nation, and I am not speaking about some urban myth about Christians being persecuted in this nation. Hardly. Rather, little less than a year ago in The New York Times, the religion writer Jonathan Merritt reported that it’s getting harder and harder to talk about God. And it’s not for what you may think. Merritt pointed out that although more than 70 percent in the United States identify themselves as Christian, and we live in a free nation, yet most do not feel comfortable speaking about faith. It has less to do about feeling one can’t say anything and more to do with fear. Granted we are starting from a deep hole as Christians because if anything is said all it we may repeat stuff that’s not in even in the Bible. For example, nowhere in the Bible does it say “The Lord works in mysterious ways;” nowhere does it say “moderation in all things;” or “This too will pass.” Or we may repeat scripture out of context like “Charity begins at home” or “God helps those who help themselves” neither is what the Bible really says.
Merritt’s main point however is that according to a recent Barna survey, more than three-quarters of Americans do not often have spiritual or religious conversations at all. Six in 10 say that they have spiritual conversations only on very rare occasions and only a mere 7 percent of Americans say that they talk about spiritual matters on a regular basis. To put it bluntly, we can’t blame those many silent nominal Christians who we rarely see in worship rather, Merritt points out that it is practicing Christians who attend worship weekly who don’t do much better than the general population.
So why do we struggle so badly with God talk? Jonathan Merritt says that today, “work often takes precedence over worship, social lives are prioritized over spiritual disciplines and most people save their Sunday-best clothing for Monday through Friday.” Certainly, God talk can be tricky — no doubt about it, but on this Pentecost let us take just a moment to remember that we are to speak of our faith and we need to find ways to communicate it.
Thankfully, the apostle Paul gives us some guidance in his letter to the Romans, which he wrote to those small churches in the capital of the Roman Empire. He knew in that day and age in that context spiritual conversations could create tensions and arguments. Paul was well aware that Christians in Rome could come across as weird and peculiar. So the language he uses is very carefully chosen.
Like Paul, we need to be careful with the language we use in conversations about faith. J.R. Briggs, author and pastor outside Philadelphia says that if you ask someone with no church experience what it means to “feel called,” they might think you’re “referring to the phone vibrating in their pocket.” Although Briggs has been a pastor for more than 15 years, he still doesn’t know exactly what people mean when they say goodbye with the words, “Be blessed.” He is also aware that phrases from Scripture can be confusing --- being healed “by the blood of the Lamb” and giving your “tithes and offerings” are religious jargon that can be mystifying to people outside the church.
Return to the jargon of by the blood…it’s fine to talk about being washed “in the blood of the Lamb” with someone who knows that you can’t quote Revelation with knowing Leviticus, that the blood and Lamb has deep historical and theological meaning. So no wonder telling someone that their sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus to a neighbor who’s just moved in next door, maybe not a good idea. Two people with MBAs might discuss the difference between a Roth and regular IRA, but when they’re explaining to a friend what they do, they’re likely just to say that they are accountants or financial planners.
Fortunately, Paul does not make such mistakes in his God talk to the Romans. Not only is he careful with the language he uses, but he also talks about values, not dogma, faith not rules.
What can we say about God directly in 21st century US? Paul assists us by referring to family. God is like a parent who’s adopted us to be his children. This means at least three things for Paul: We are chosen; We can talk to God; We are heirs. What does this mean? Basically, Paul is telling those early Christians, we can’t pick our brothers and sisters, or how God sparked them to join this community, but what we can say is what God has done is by adoption.
Let’s look a little more deeply at each of these and perhaps learn some new vocabulary as we are inspired to share our faith:
We are chosen. According to the Roman legal concept of adoption during the time when Paul wrote, an adopted child has a whole new identity, status and set of relationships. One’s biology does not matter. Rather an adopted child is chosen to become part of a new family. “Because the Spirit makes us God’s adopted children,” writes professor of biblical studies Richard Carlson, “we are empowered to address God in intimate and direct parental terms: Abba, Father.”
Therefore, let me connect that meaning with someone today who may ask about your conception of God. You can reply: “God is like a parent, like a mom or dad, who’s adopted me --- and go from there. So let’s practice. What is God like? God is like parent! God adopted me into God’s family.” Once again, no mystifying religious jargon: God is in an intimate and direct parent-child relationship.
Second, for that reason, Paul says we can talk to God. No fancy, strange language that one has to learn. Rather because of this close kinship, we can approach God with any concern and do so at any time, just as a child can do with a loving parent. When we come to God in this manner, “it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” Paul says (vv. 15-16). The Spirit of God makes it possible for us to experience a new identity, a new status and a new set of relationships as members of God’s family.
Furthermore, in a world of so many dysfunctional families, the family of God is always going to be an attractive topic of discussion. And this is key, although we say God is like a parent, in this family, God shows us unconditional love and unlimited grace. Our values come from who we are, adopted children from God, not from what we do. There is truly nothing we can do to make God love us more, and nothing we can do to make God love us any less. Rather, in this family, the Spirit bears witness “with our spirit that we are children of God” (v. 16).
Third, in addition, Paul says we become heirs --- “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (v. 17). This means that we will be “fully conformed to the glorious image of God that now exists in God’s Son, Jesus Christ,” says Carlson. We will find ourselves side-by-side with our joint heir Jesus, the one who is “the firstborn within a large family” (v. 29).
I don’t know about you but being an heir is nice; an inheritance! But being a joint heir with Jesus does not mean instant luxury and ease, an RV with the bumper sticker reminding everyone that we are spending our children’s inheritance. Just the opposite, Jesus emptied himself, so this inheritance is crazy stuff like loving our neighbor. This inheritance is no gold or diamonds in some Swiss vault, rather it is love, mutual affection, honor, passion, hope, perseverance and hospitality.
I know it is challenging, but all of this can be spoken by any of us. Let’s review: Paul talks about values, not rules; Paul talks about God by once again referring to family; God is like a parent who’s adopted us — chosen us — to be his children. This means three things:
—We are chosen; and so are others. Don’t worry about who is! It’s not our problem.
—We can talk to God; and so can others. Don’t worry if there is perceived silence on the other end. It’s not our problem.
—We are heirs; and so are others. Don’t worry about why bad things happen to good people. It’s not our problem.
On this day of Pentecost, the church celebrates God talk. Let us begin to speak of faith, not shy away from what the Holy Spirit has taught us. Let us not speak with religious jargon, but with clear words about what it means to be chosen, children of God, led by the Spirit of God with an inheritance. Each of us has been adopted by our loving God, and out of that love we can serve God right alongside our brother Jesus. So, when we speak of love, honor, hope and hospitality — and, better yet, when we back up our words with our actions — guess what, I think the world will get the message and will know what we know, we are not religious nuts, just loved and forgiven by a loving God. Amen.

"A New Heaven ..." - 5/19/2019

Sermon preached at Hope Lutheran on May 19 based on Revelation 21: 1-6

In 1917, a poem by an anonymous author appeared in the Hobo News. Called “The Hobo’s Last Lament,” it relates the last words of one of those princes of the open road. Imagine the author writes of a fellow hobo solemnly listening in to hear his friend utter these last words:
I’m going to a better land,
Where everything is bright,
Where beef-stews grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night;
And you do not have to work at all,
And never change your socks,
And streams of goodly whisky
Come trickling down the rocks.
Hark, I hear her whistling,
I must catch her on the fly;
I would like one scoop of beer
Once more before I die.
The hobo stopped, his head fell back,
He’d sung his last refrain;
His old pal stole his coat and hat
And caught an East-bound train.
So, what is heaven like? Surely it’s a question that’s occurred to all of us. Is it, as the fictional hobo imagined, a place of perfect idleness, of plentiful beef stew and open-air fountains of whisky and “a better land where they hate the word called work”? Does our view of heaven confirm our views just like that lament of 1917 pandered to the view of transients in the early 20th century?
Or does heaven conform more closely to the vision of John in the book of Revelation? Later in chapter 21 --- just beyond the passage that is today’s 2nd lesson --- the author of book of Revelation, John of Patmos, describes the very dimensions of the place with precision: “The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using. The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel. … And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass” (21:15-19, 21).
What is heaven like? Perhaps you have heard of “the pearly gates”? These verses are the source of that image embellished with Saint Peter’s at his desk, quill pen in hand, leaning low over the Book of Life, guarding a couple of wrought-iron gates.
Actually John of Patmos’ image of the gates of heaven is nothing like that. Each of the 12 gates is a single pearl of immense size. Is there a passageway cut through the middle of each pearl, or does that giant translucent gem somehow swing aside to allow the souls of the blessed to pass? John of Patmos is not clear about the finer details because that of course is not his point. Or perhaps you’ve heard of “streets of gold”? This is where you find that image as well. But this is no earthly gold. The gold of heaven’s streets and boulevards is of such astonishing purity that it’s “transparent as glass.” How can that be? But that of course is not his point. Or is heaven just some undescribed place as this Internet meme about the grumpy cat suggests?
Perhaps surprisingly the vision of Revelation 21 is not about some distant heaven. The golden city with its gates of pearl does not exist in some far-off realm, on a higher spiritual plane. What we often forget is that John of Patmos’ triumphant vision is of heaven come to earth! The city comes “down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (v. 2). It is not a place one goes to be, rather this heavenly city comes to earth.
By the grace of God, the day will finally come when we need not make a spectacular leap to celestial heights. On that great, glorious day, heaven will come to us. That is not often our image is it? But what does that mean? The Danish author Hans Christian Andersen must have read the Book of Revelation because he captures this image of heaven on earth in an odd little fable called, “A Leaf from Heaven.” It goes like this. An angel, carrying a heavenly flower, happens to drop a little piece of the plant, which slowly rides the air-currents down to earth. It takes root in the soil.
It grows up, different from any other plant: a vision of perfect loveliness, but strong enough to resist the snows of winter, drought of summer and the attacks of nearby weeds that have nothing but contempt for this newcomer. One day, a botanist shows up, but is stymied in his attempts to categorize it. “It must be some degenerate species,” he concludes. But not long after, a young girl of deep piety happens by. In Andersen’s words:
“The girl stood still before the wonderful plant, for the green leaves exhaled a sweet and refreshing fragrance, and the flowers glittered and sparkled in the sunshine like colored flames, and the harmony of sweet sounds lingered round them as if each concealed within itself a deep fount of melody, which thousands of years could not exhaust.
“With pious gratitude the girl looked upon this glorious work of God, and bent down over one of the branches, that she might examine the flower and inhale the sweet perfume. Then a light broke in on her mind, and her heart expanded. Gladly would she have plucked a flower, but she could not overcome her reluctance to break one off. She knew it would so soon fade; so she took only a single green leaf, carried it home, and laid it in her Bible, where it remained ever green, fresh and unfading.
“Between the pages of the Bible it still lay when, a few weeks afterwards that Bible was laid under the young girl’s head in her coffin. A holy calm rested on her face, as if the earthly remains bore the impress of the truth that she now stood in the presence of God.” By now the plant has grown to resemble a small tree. And what happens a Farmer comes along, looking for firewood. He cuts it down and burns it. And so, the one heavenly plant on all the earth has been destroyed.
It’s only now that it’s gone, that people begin to appreciate its value. The king in that land is afflicted with depression --- Andersen uses the antique word, “melancholy.” He’s desperately seeking a cure. The king’s wise men know of this odd plant, and suggest he seek it out for its medicinal value. But alas, when he sends his servants looking for it, there is nothing there but a hole in the ground. No one knows of the surviving leaf, buried in the girl’s coffin.
Hans Christian Anderson obviously had read this vision of John of Patmos but for him, even if heaven did come, humanity will know that it stands out, that it’s odd and different, but have no idea what a wonder it will be. For Anderson, if it doesn’t even recognize when a generous plant from heaven falls to earth to grow in common soil, would we recognize heaven on earth?
So what is heaven like and will we recognize it when it comes? You see that is one key for us to understand the Book of Revelation. Certainly it is a book based on John of Patmos’ spiritual vision as well as one based on his life experience as a possible refuge from the destruction of the actual city of Jerusalem. But more importantly this vision in Revelation was originally written for those whom South African theologian Allan Boesak calls “God’s little people” small communities of people who struggled under oppression --- it was not intended for people with access to airplanes, cul-de-sac’s, money or the latest technology. Instead Revelation is a concrete spiritual message to and from the underside, written to comfort beleaguered churches struggled under Roman imperial violence and power.
If we have that understanding of the audience, when John of Patmos talks about “heaven on earth,” it is the stuff of a people’s most persistent spiritual yearnings for the downtrodden. Now in the 21st century, when Americans use that phrase, they call to mind the most perfect earthly reality they can imagine: a vista of dazzling natural splendor. Early in my twenties I had the privilege to live and work in Iceland. Over the course of a summer I hitchhiked around the island and happened to visit “Godthafoss,” one of most famous falls on the island. It was at just the right moment with mist, sun and temperature. It was breathtaking… it was heavenly.
That however is not the main reason for John of Patmos to present a heavenly vision to the poor, oppressed Christians. Because that makes life on earth, by necessity, an impoverished vision, for how could anything earthly compete with heaven’s glories? But Revelation is not a “sweet by and by” to encourage Christians to just bear it until they die. Nor John of Patmos vision a Hans Christian Andersen’s pessimistic view that we wouldn’t recognize if it got here anyway.
Instead, why don’t we catch the image of what John of Patmos was visioning, that when we hear of heaven on earth, we are thinking “I saw the holy city … and name our city of San Antonio…. “I saw the holy city, God’s New San Antonio coming down out of heaven…”
What does heaven look like in our “new” city, envisioned in light of God’s vision of heaven? You see, that is was what John of Patmos was bringing as good news. Not some violent dispensationalist vision to support a political agenda, John of Patmos was bringing hope because the people had already experienced so much violence.
Because when we can imagine that New Jerusalem in our world, and help others envision it too, we see that the Lamb, the risen Jesus Christ is beside us at every moment, standing on our corner, transforming the way we live today and giving hope for tomorrow. By imagining on what perhaps is up in some spiritual orbit, we miss the fact that God’s new age has already dawned in the cross and resurrection. John of Patmos is telling us it is here. The dawn has arrived. By grace, through faith --- God dwells with us. If we can see that vision, then the good news is that when even the barest seed of heaven falls to earth, we know from its presence that the transformation of this earth has already begun. If we can see that vision, then the good news is that all that clouds our vision from grief, to hopelessness to despair, have been wiped away. If we see the lamb on the corner, that we see the first glimpses of the new heaven, the new earth, and the New Jerusalem.
I suppose we can wait until we die, or come up with Hobo laments, memes or cartoons, but then we would miss all the heaven here on earth, the seed planted by Christ himself, that we have to share. Amen.

"In God's Fullness ..." - 5/12/2019

Sermon based on the Acts: 9: 36-43 and the story of Dorcas/Tabitha

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… let’s say 100 years ago, and not so far way, in this nation. One hundred years ago and for centuries before that, most people --- average, regular folk --- did not buy mass market manufactured things at stores because one there weren’t many stores around. There was limited and expensive mail order and no delivery by Amazon and gosh-darn it was also because things themselves were expensive.
Instead, much was made at home. People made the family’s clothes first by hand and later buy and foot powered Singer sewing machine. Clothes were washed with a tub and a scrub board. If the clothes developed a tear, someone had to sew things back together.
They even darned socks. To “darn” does not mean to cuss them out, rather it means to stitch it back together again. If your socks got a hole in them, you didn’t throw them away; one would darn them! Or, if they were too holey, you would made a hook rug out of them.
This went to many things. One didn’t buy bread; one baked bread. One didn’t buy bedspreads and blankets; one made quilts. One didn’t buy much furniture; one made the kitchen table, sideboards and cupboards.
And if your family needed things that the family couldn’t provide, or you didn’t know what to do or how to make it, you didn’t go to the store; you went first to someone called “neighbors.” Maybe you needed eggs; you went to the neighbor with laying hens. Maybe you needed plates and cups; you went to your potter. Yes, sometimes you had to go to the store to buy things like fabric or needles. But as much as possible, people made things themselves.
But after World War I, a transition that had begun less than a 50 years before began to accelerate. Mass production had started certainly with automobiles and before that some machinery like those Singer sewing machines, but increasingly less expensive mass production really took off after the WW II. Average Americans started buying and have not stopped.
Not that people are not interested in handmade items anymore! Not at all! In many cities around the world, one can find stores devoted to the sale of handcrafted items. There is a market for handmade items, especially if they’re creative and of high quality.
That is important to remember because handmade was the norm 2,000 years ago and did you notice that they loved Dorcas’ handmade stuff?
Dorcas made handcrafted items. Yet, among the artisans of her day, she stood out. Scripture makes a point to tell us that her work was of great need, and she worked on behalf of the poor. So, when death took her, as we are told in this story from the early history of the Church, the entire community realized that it had lost a valuable resource.
Our first lesson is a wonderful story from the early church but other than countless church groups who have taken on the name Tabitha or Dorcas, I wonder, what can we learn from this story recorded for us in the book of Acts?
The first clue is as I indicated, the response of the people she served. When Dorcas died, the community threw a fit. “All the widows stood … weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them” (v. 39). They had a hard time accepting that she was gone. So strong was this sentiment that when some disciples heard that Peter was nearby, they sent a message to him saying, “Please come to us without delay” (v. 38).
When someone dies, we understand that --- as much as we may mourn the loss --- the deceased is not going to return. But this community dispatched messengers to the apostle Peter --- who arrived, and ---- well, you know the rest of the story.
But have you ever considered what all this means? The response of the community to Dorcas’ death gives us pause. For example, when we die, some of us will surely have a circle of friends and family and perhaps church members who will miss us and mourn our absence. This is only natural, and is primarily related to our bonds. But what helps us 21 centuries later understand the importance of this event is the question raised by the death of Dorcas, will there be a wider circle in the community adversely affected by our absence because of the impact our lives and our ministry had on the community? In other words, beside our family, friends and church members will people from the community notice? We also need to wonder, other than us, will anyone notice if suddenly the church on 5714 Callaghan Rd had to close?
This story highlights one very important reason for how Christians were known: for the benefit of the larger community and not for just themselves, family or to the larger church. The loss of Dorcas was devastating for those who had come to appreciative and love her in the broader community; a sign of at least one church member in this community of saints and what they had become to the broader community.
This is not the only thing we can assess from this story. The Bible says she was “devoted to good works and acts of charity” (v. 36). The actual expression is “full….” The Greek word pleres or full is often used to describe individuals as “full of” for example, “the Holy Spirit.” In Matthew’s account of the feeding of the 5,000 the disciples collected “twelve baskets full” (14:20) after the crowd dispersed. It is the same word: pleres. Someone who is pleres is “full, abounding in, complete or completely occupied with.”
So, our NRSV’s translation as “devoted” is not a bad, but it doesn’t supply the extraordinary sense in which in her case good works and acts of charity were absolutely Dorcas’ life; she was full. She did not dabble in good works. They were not a hobby. They were not a compartment in an otherwise busy life. It was so intertwined with her faith that her good works were one and the same. It was her totality. One then has to ask, how is our vocations noted? In whatever we are called to be by God is it fully part of our life in faith? In other words, if good works is such a natural part of her life in faith, Dorcas was the example par excellence.
A third learning we may have missed is did you notice, we never hear anything from Dorcas herself? The author of Acts tells her story for her. Her faith and good works are so fully intertwined in her life that when she dies --- perhaps suddenly, that after Peter restores her to life, she sits up, Peter “shows her to be alive” (v. 41), and instead of saying something the author notes that she resumes ---- her work!
On one hand we could chalk it up to the fact that more than likely Acts was written by a man, and in that highly patriarchal society, a woman was healed and what happens she is put to work. As reflective of the patriarchal culture as the Bible can be, I think that little note tells us that for Dorcas is a woman who knows exactly what she’s good at. She loves it so much that when she has a moment it is what she loves that she wants to do --- all in response to her faith.
Did you also notice that she’s the first woman in the New Testament to be called a disciple (v. 36)? We need to be clear that this means that she is like other disciples, she is co-equal. Peter for example, certainly had his gifts but the early church did not recognize that Dorcas was better than or inferior to the other disciples, rather her vocation was to make handcrafted items for the needy which was no better or worse than what others were called to do.
A fourth, reason this event is recorded and is important to for us especially on this day that we remember the importance of women is that the author of Acts is pointing out to future readers how the mandate of Acts 1:8 was being fulfilled. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Here we are by chapter 9, were the gospel had clearly extended from Jerusalem, into Samaria, and now to the coastal regions. The author of Acts wants us to know that the Pentecostal fire was spreading by men and women of faith.
Fifth, take a look at Peter for just a moment. The message he receives is: “Please come without delay.” Why is this important? This is Peter’s first pastoral call. Yes, he and John had an encounter with a crippled beggar, according to Acts 3 and right before this, Peter had healed Aeneas, a man who had been bedridden for years. This however, is his first emergency call! Before this Peter had been responding to people in need he met along the way, this incident however is the first church call to the greater church.
Now I think this wonderful because 21 centuries later we kind of expect that well, a pastor or someone is available at any time. But this incident in Acts is before clergy as we have come to understand it. In this story we get a clear example where there was a coming together of a local community with the larger church. So for example when a local church in Rockport reaches out after a hurricane, and the greater church responds, the roots of that is found in this story of Dorcas where the saints of a local church call out to the larger church.
Finally, consider Dorcas herself again with me, like us, she was a piece of work! Let us not forget, we like her are God’s handiwork. We are handcrafted by God so that we might fulfill our vocations as followers of Jesus Christ.
Meaning that from this early story in the history of the church we get the first practical pieces of how God will have us work. St. Paul’s describes it this way to the church in Corinth for example, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same LORD. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”
In the story of Dorcas we have one of the first examples of assessing gifts; how are they being recognized by the large community around us? Are the fullness of our faith and our calls be Dorcas like in response to God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ?
As I close I want us to reflect on the following as I think about this story of an important woman in the early church: 1. Let us remember daily that we are God’s handiwork in the family of God through baptism. 2. In that fullness, let us begin by asking God each morning, “What can I do you for you God in response to your love?” for each one of us is God’s handiwork. Amen.

"The Rumour of Death" - April 21, 2019

Sermon presented at Hope and the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Exactly 50 years ago, a rumor began to fly around the world: “Paul is dead.” The year was 1969, and many people were convinced that a rock star by the name of Paul McCartney of the Beatles had died in 1966 and been replaced by a look-alike.
How did a pre-google, pre-Facebook, pre-twitter, pre-Instagram, pre-YouTube, pre-reddit and the myriad of other ways people spread rumors and conspiracy reach that conclusion --- word of mouth. Just, play a certain song from The White Album backwards? And what about the cover of the Abbey Road vinyl, the four Beatles are crossing the street in what looks like a --- funeral procession. And of course, the Volkswagen in the background has the license plate “28IF.” Obviously, twenty-eight is the age that McCartney would have been, if he had survived. Put all that into the blender of rumor and a vacuum of intelligence and what do you get, Paul McCartney was dead.
Of course, the Beatles’ press office quickly issued statements denying the rumor, saying Paul was still very much alive, but who can trust them, isn’t that all part of the deep state? Was Paul dead? Not according to Paul McCartney, himself. In an interview, McCartney said to the BBC, “If the conclusion you reach is that I’m dead, then you’re wrong, because I’m alive and living in Scotland.” Years later, Paul had some fun with the rumor by recording a live album called Paul Is Live.
Why bring this up on this blessed Easter morning? On Friday of Holy Week, many of the acquaintances of Jesus, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a safe distance from the cross and watched Jesus die. Then, a righteous devout Jew by the name Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus off the cross, wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb. The women saw the tomb, and over the course of a few day prepared spices and ointments to put on the body. Yet, as many of us know it is not that easy because in the shock of their grief, they wondered was Jesus dead, or had it all been a nightmare.
Yes, he was. No doubt about it. Jesus had died on a cross a couple days ago. And when he was placed in a tomb, in front of the women they had seen the stone rolled into place. The ground of the hewn rock cave was over him; he was dead. So, yes, Jesus had not fainted on the cross. Had they not seen that Jesus was so dead that the soldiers who had been ordered to break his legs to hasten a death by suffocation decided not to waste their time and energy on an already dead man. He had not swooned. He was not in a state of suspended animation. Jesus did not have a pulse. No brain wave activity. Nothing.
And let us be honest as they thought about, in the era before medical devices that could prolong death, in a time when family and friends prepared the body for burial, they knew what “dead” looked like. They weren’t fooled. His death was not just a rumor. This was not fake news or a witch hunt. Jesus was quite emphatically dead, wrapped in a linen cloth and laid in a tomb. To seal the deal, a massive stone had been rolled over the entrance to the tomb. Even if there were a strong, alive man inside, that stone was going nowhere.
So just imagine, that first morning, at early dawn, the women walked to the tomb with the spices they had prepared. They were expecting death, not life. But when they arrived to anoint the body, wondering along the way who would be moving the stone, they found the stone had already been rolled away. When they went inside, they were unable to find the body.
Yet, their working hypothesis was still that Jesus was dead and someone had taken his body. The women were like the people around the world who assumed that Paul was dead when he appeared on the album cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely-Hearts Club Band with his back to the camera. Paul’s voice on the radio was not him. It seemed like a logical assumption. But at the empty tomb, two men in dazzling clothes suddenly broke into their confusion. The women were terrified and bowed their heads, while the men said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.”
It took more than that for the women were not able to absorb this news immediately. “Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee,” the mysterious men in the tomb said, “that the Son of Man must be handed over, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again?” At this the women began the process of resurrection life and to put together how both death and resurrection were part of the plan. The raising of Jesus from the dead suddenly seemed more logical than the story of Paul McCartney being replaced by an orphan, with the help of MI5 and the CIA.
What to do? The women returned from the tomb and told this to the disciples, as well as to the rest of the followers of Jesus. It is significant, at this point, that Luke takes the time to identify the women by name, no nameless, anonymous sources, rather “it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.” It is eyewitness testimony, says Luke, made by women who are well-known and trustworthy in the community of Jesus’ followers.
It is of course not a surprise; the women were unable to convince their friends. Their words seemed to the apostles all men of course, to be “an idle tale,” and lent their words no credence whatsoever (v. 11). Only Peter ran to the tomb to see the evidence for himself, and then he went home, “amazed at what had happened” (v. 12), that is, that Jesus’ body was no longer in the tomb.

Why rehash what is in the Gospel? For the simple reason that many still wonder, “Did Jesus really die?” Some people say yes, since the basic fact of a resurrection seems so rationally implausible from an implausible compilation of books, we call the Bible. Either Jesus didn’t die or if he did then there is no resurrection.
That is the crux of the matter, Easter is the affirmation that the rumor of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is not a rumor. Luke asks us to not ignore the testimony of the women at the empty tomb. Do these eyewitnesses make a compelling case for the resurrection of Jesus? I would suspect not.
So, why else believe in these eyewitnesses? As those first eyewitnesses came to understand, the resurrection is experienced whenever we focus on life instead of death. The two mysterious men asked the women a simple but important question, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
So often we look for death instead of life, as was abundantly clear when the “Paul is dead” rumor swept around the world. For some reason, we are naturally drawn to stories of bloodshed and disaster and death, as is captured in the well-known maxim of news programming, “If it bleeds, it leads.”
Thankfully, one of the signs of resurrection is a focus on life instead of death. The women saw it when they take the message of the empty tomb to the disciples. The children’s television star Fred Rogers saw it. Rogers was a Presbyterian minister, and his Christian faith infused all his lessons. He taught that with children “if it bleeds, it leads” is not helpful. Instead he kept his focus on the living, not on the dead, especially in situations of tragedy and suffering. One insight came from his own childhood when he saw scary things on the news. His mother always said to him, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” “To this day,” he said, “especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers --- so many caring people in this world.” As a believer in the eyewitness story of the resurrection, Rogers focused on life instead of death and saw the helpers? Can we not only the death and burial but the helper resurrection?
We also see resurrection when we remember the full story of the life of Jesus, from ministry in Galilee to crucifixion to resurrection. The two men in dazzling clothes told the story of Jesus by the empty tomb, and the women remembered it and acted on it. Even though some of the story is painful, it holds together, and it gives us a pattern for understanding our own experiences of death and new life, as individuals and as a community. Is that possible? Bart Millard is the lead singer of the contemporary Christian music group Mercy Me and he believes in the women’s story. After his father died, he wrote a song called “I Can Only Imagine,” which explores what life in heaven might be like.
What the song doesn’t reveal, however, is what a jerk Bart’s father was. For years, Arthur Millard beat his boy, sometimes three or four times a week. Bart grew to hate his father, and the two became estranged. At one-point however, Arthur became a Christian, and then he developed terminal cancer.
Bart decided to give his father a second chance at a relationship. “My dad was a monster, and yet I saw God transform him,” said Bart. Their story was painful, and it took a terminal illness to bring some reconciliation. Can we see death and burial and the reconciliation resurrection?
Fred Rogers believed that the resurrection could turn heads from “If it bleeds it leads” to the resurrection helpers all around us. Bart Millard believes that the resurrection can bring some resurrection reconciliation. Paul McCartney is not dead … yet.
Jesus Christ however is dead and buried and risen and alive today; Christ is Risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.

"Breakthrough"- 4-7-2019

Sermon preached at Hope Lutheran based on the first reading: Isaiah 43: 16-21

Occasionally, human beings experience a breakthrough. We discover or have a personal insight into our lives, the lives of others, our families our world. Other breakthroughs impact more people. Penicillin gave us a way to treat several previously deadly diseases. The steam engine provided a way to power the factories, trains and ships of the Industrial Revolution. And don’t forget the printing press, ranked by The Atlantic magazine as the top innovation since the discovery of the wheel. Our namesake, Martin Luther may not have used the printing press to start the Protestant Reformation. But it sure helped to spread ideas on catholic reform around Europe. Other well-known innovations include electricity, paper, vaccination, the internet, and refrigeration. Whether well-known or not, all were life-changing discoveries or inventions.
On Friday, April 12 of this week, a movie called Breakthrough will be released nationwide.  The plot is not that complicated, and I plan to give most of it away; a14-year-old named John falls through an icy lake on a cold winter morning --- a tragic, life-threatening and literal breakthrough! After being pulled out of the water, John is taken to the hospital and lies lifeless. CPR is performed for 27 minutes without success. Although his life seems to be over, his mother calls on her faith and strength. Miraculously, John’s heart starts to beat again.
In the days that follow, John defies predictions and opinions. Finally, 16 days after falling through the ice and being clinically dead, he walks out of the hospital. The movie is based on a true story, as well as on the book written by the mother, Joyce Smith, called The Impossible: The Miraculous Story of a Mother’s Faith and Her Child’s Resurrection.
As Christians we affirm that not all “breakthroughs” occur in the realm of science and technology. Some are found in the world of faith. I bring this to your attention because in our 1st reading from Isaiah the words are not directed at individual but toward a community, the people of Israel who need a breakthrough. They’ve been exiles, suffering in Babylon, and they ache to return to their homeland. In this time of despair, the prophet Isaiah says that God is the one who “makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick” (vv. 16-17).
The prophet Isaiah is encouraging, reminding the people that God was the architect of the Exodus from Egypt --- the one who made “a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters.” When the Israelites were stuck between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea, God opened a way where there was no way. God separated the waters and overwhelmed the attacking army, giving Israel a breakthrough.
The reason this all interests us of course is that not only because of a movie on April 12, or pastoral assistance to understand this chapter of Isaiah, but the good news is that God continues to make a way where there is no way. God does this finding by helping us find new paths to walk, new stands to take and new ways to serve.
When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, thousands of people died, and 400,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Along with many other church leaders, Gadiel Ríos, a pastor, was in shock. “What would happen with the communities of faith?”
“A few days after the hurricane, local congregations started to meet,” he tells Christianity Today. “A sense of shared community kicked in, and everyone started to look for opportunities to serve.” Volunteers collected donations and headed to the places of greatest need, and then many mainline, evangelical and non-denominational churches like our own Evangelical Lutheran Church poured financial resources and thousands of volunteer hours into the recovery not just toward our own Lutheran churches on the island but to countless others. “A crisis like this brings us back to the core of our calling,” says Ríos.
After the hurricane, God gave a breakthrough --- a new path to walk ---- For Pastor Rios it was the realization that he needed to focus on individuals, offering them a shoulder to cry on, a safe place to vent anger and a reassurance of God’s love. He and his church will press on, he adds as quoted by Christianity Today, “bringing the gospel of Christ with compassion and love to those who live in despair.”
Now although finding new paths to walk whether rebuilding after a destructive hurricane --- as challenging as that may be ---- it is not the only breakthrough God initiates.
In our first lesson, God says through the prophet Isaiah, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (vv. 18-19). Look forward, says the Lord, not back. God is doing something new, both in us and around us. This leads to a second way God cracks through our human propensity toward brokenness --- God leads us to new stands against the evil in this world.
Some of you may be familiar with Beth Moore who over the years has developed many helpful Bibles studies especially for women. Although I do not always agree with her on her interpretation of the Bible, and some Bible Studies are better than others, a leader in one of large protestant churches in the United States has said to The Atlantic that it would be hard to find a church “where at least some segment of the congregation has not been through at least one Beth Moore study.”
I bring up Ms. Moore not to argue with her theology or biblical scholarship, rather because Ms. Moore had a breakthrough --- a stand has been taken. “The old way is over,” she says. “The stakes are too high.” What is the breakthrough? She is appalled by the sexual misconduct in the world of politics and the church. She knows that many of whom used her studies have suffered abuse, and she herself was sexually abused as a small child.
In a tweet to her nearly 900,000 followers, she said, “Wake up, Sleepers, to what women have dealt with all along in environments of gross entitlement & power.” Although Moore’s strong stand has caused her to lose support in the conservative evangelical community that is her home, she is convinced that God wants her to address this issue. She is adamant that a new stand should be taken and to her conservative churches the men need to treat women exactly as Jesus did: “Always with dignity, always with esteem, never as secondary citizens.”
“I am about to do a new thing,” says God through the prophet Isaiah; “now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” According to Beth Moore, God is challenging her church to turn away from the way’s churches have overlooked sexual misconduct, and to be about respect and healthy behavior.
Now again, that for many of us should seem self-evident. How is that a breakthrough? Well, a third breakthrough that God initiates may hit closer to home. Return with me to Isaiah where God promises to “give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that --- they might declare my praise” (vv. 20-21). Now as strange as that assortment of English words may seem, notice that God gives drink for reasons beyond the quenching of our thirst --- God wants to refresh us so that we can serve.
Now the ways we serve are many from not only using our gifts, time, talent and finances to serve in the community and world. But I wonder in doing so if there is a fundamental aspect about serving that we needed to be reminded of today. When we gather to worship on Sunday, we use a term called “liturgy,” a word which literally means “work of the people.” Yes, work --- not entertainment, show or presentation. Why gather on Sunday for a “work?” It is in worship that we serve God. Worship is not for us … it is for God.
I wonder however, and this is just my out loud wondering; is how this basic but vital “service” to God, coming and participating in worship, can lead to a breakthrough in an American culture were coming to worship, service to God, has come to be all about the inverse, the opposite, more about audience than God, on whether you or I “do or don’t get anything out of it.” Did you ever realize that word “service” comes from the word “to serve?”
The reason you and I are here on a Sunday morning is to give and declare God’s praise. It is not to educate, make us feel better or hear the latest gossip, although all those things do happen. Now as un-earthshattering as that may be to serve God means to worship God, I realize that we need a breakthrough because the way we have been about worship in this nation is a challenge.
For example, I remember a discussion I was having with an infrequent attendee to worship in a former congregation who pointed out that the reason he didn’t come to church was because of the hard pews. If we installed cushions, he said he would be back, however it was what he said next that struck me “If you installed recliners you would have me every Sunday.” We may laugh but are we that different? Is the breakthrough to install recliners?
I bring this up not to criticize that person, or the many more who feel no need to serve God through worship or are critical of whatever current worship tradition trend we are part of, rather because I believe God is about breakthroughs, and worship is one them. But it is a breakthrough that we have yet to see or experience and I do not see any others who have a monopoly on breakthroughs in worship.
Which brings me to the final point from this first lesson, some of the context of the words. You see, when the people finally returned from Babylonian exile, the journey back did not go as they had planned. There was no parting of the red sea. However, it did include changing course and being open to something new. It meant leaving and giving up homes, relationships and the bones of loved ones in cemeteries long gone. The breakthroughs were not easy, did not follow their timetables, and there were many prophets yet to speak on that journey. We have yet to hear from Jeremiah and Nehemiah.
Yet, it was in the words of Isaiah that we are told of Jesus, a root of Jesse, a breakthrough hundreds of years away. God does the finding of new ways to serve, new paths to walk and new stands to take. May we be open to God’s breakthroughs into our lives and world and as they come may God help us be patient, understanding and open to God at work. Amen.

God's Hen House - 3/17/2019

As many know, when we are reading or listening to the Bible some of it seems strange until a life experience opens a new way of viewing what had before been ignored. Something passed over or not understood until a life experience, or a story gives new Biblical insight not noticed before.
Just take that image found in Luke 13:35 today, where Jesus laments over Jerusalem and says, “Look, your house is left to you ...” (NRSV). It wasn’t until I had a conversation with an executive living in and attending the international congregation in Nagoya, Japan where I was pastor and missionary that my eyes were opened. This conversation was around 2009 and we were discussing the housing situation outside of his home in one of the suburbs of a city in the upper Midwest.
Thanks to the home-foreclosure crisis of a year before he had become all too acquainted with literal desolate homes, or as Jesus calls it “See, your house is left to you.” If you remember, neighborhoods in cities and towns across America were decimated because of houses abandoned after their owners were either forced out by mortgage holders or had given up and walked away from them ahead of inevitable foreclosures.
This executive shared how things had gone in his neighborhood: With no one tending the houses in his upper income neighborhood, eaves sag, windows are broken, and yards become overgrown. The houses begin to languish and so do the neighborhood in which they sit. Although this executive had been able to maintain his home, because of the financial problems of his neighbors his home was now included.
As I heard that story I was reminded about today’s lesson because in New Testament Greek and modern English, the word “house” can stand not only for a building but also for a family.
How is that helpful as we read understand today’s gospel? Today’s portion of Luke begins with the Pharisees passing along a threat from Herod, whom Jesus would refer to as a fox. Thus, for one Jesus is referring to the house of Herod because the House of Herod did not resemble so much a mighty tree as a tangled ball. This Herod referenced as the Fox, named Antipas, had other relatives called Herod as well, and their marriages, divorces and remarriages for just one were not only often ill-considered, but were sometimes incestuous.
Yet on the other hand, the House of Herod were greatly admired in the larger Roman Empire. Herod the Great, for instance, had fully funded the 12 BC Olympics. Herod the Great was also admired by the Roman elite because he left behind many great architectural works, including substantial improvements to the Jewish temple --- so impressive that it caused one of Jesus' disciples to marvel: “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”
Jesus, however, replied, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down” (Mark 13:1-2). Jesus was right of course, and eventually, that desolation would become all too tangible. In A.D. 66, the Jewish population rebelled against Rome and the House of Herod. The empire could not allow that revolt to succeed, and so in A.D. 70, Roman legions under future emperor Titus retook the city and destroyed much of it, including the temple.
But as much as we may like to think that was all Jesus was talking about --- this desolate House of Herod --- Jesus was also referencing all the neighborhoods and brokenness among the common people as well; the failure by many to love God with their whole hearts and love their neighbors as themselves.
With that in mind, it's not much of a stretch to jump 20 centuries and “the house left to you” --- to our lives, neighborhoods and world. An unattended life, at the grassroots -- one littered with missed opportunities, broken relationships, repeated procrastinations, a lack of empathy, unkept promises, false starts, yielded-to temptations, selfish priorities and the like -- can quickly become a forsaken “house” or as the New International Version of this lesson translates this Biblical Greek “See, your house is left desolate.”
And it is easy to find desolate-house-type lives in the news. We need not go far to think of any one of the celebrities, politicians, and religious figures who destroyed their families, lost their positions, ruined their reputations and betrayed those who trusted them because of some act of infidelity or gross selfishness. But let us not limit our thinking to just that, because it's often much smaller acts of inattention on less public screens that render us forlorn.
In a TV cop show from years ago called The Closer, the main character, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, was an effective police officer with an innate ability to discern who the bad guys were and wrangle admissions of guilt out of them. But she had one habit that drove her family and co-workers nuts: When she was hot on a case, she became so focused that she usually deflected their requests for her attention, even if they only wanted a moment, putting them off until “later.” As the series went along, it became obvious that she was always behind in tending the most important relationships in her life, and in an episode near the end of the series, it caught up with her.
In that episode, Brenda's parents, whom she loved deeply but too often shortchanged with her time, are visiting in her home. Just after Brenda gets a fresh lead on her current case, her mother asks for a moment to tell her something important. Reluctant to look away from her case, Brenda promises to give her some time over breakfast the next morning. Her mother agrees but looks disappointed. The next morning, intending to keep her date with her mother, Brenda goes to the guest bedroom to awaken her, only to find that her mother had died unexpectedly during the night.
The next episode, set a week or so later and after the funeral, has Brenda, still grieving, back at work, where in a reflective moment, she tells a co-worker that she's sorry for not listening to him better. In the concluding scene of that episode, her husband finds her sitting on the bed where her mother died. She says to him, “The last time I saw Mama, she asked me if I had a minute, and I didn't have the time just then. Now, I'm the one who could really use a minute, and Mama has no time at all.”
Lent is that season when we are to hear that it is our houses, need Spring Cleaning, not later but now. It is to our houses that Jesus laments in today’s gospel. Improper or deferred maintenance is always bad for relationships, and that includes our spiritual ones as well. An unattended spiritual house can yield a life where God is supposedly welcome, but where God is ignored by the occupant --- so ignored, that the occupant doesn't even notice when the Lord is no longer there. Just as we can become so accustomed to starving our relationships, breaking our promises, failing to carry through, ignoring our spiritual health and so on that we don't realize how bad things are until the whole thing comes crashing down.
So today is an opportunity for us to review our “houses.” What might it mean for our House to be left to ourselves? For one thing, it means that life is only what we can make of it on a time-based scale, devoid of any hope that extends beyond our lifetime, devoid of any confidence that God will multiply our efforts in this life. For another, it means that we have no ultimate authority to which we answer. Yes, we still have societal standards, but no rock on which to stand.
In a way, we keep our spiritual houses from becoming desolate by tending our relationship with the Lord. We can't keep telling the Lord “later” or “someday” and expect that to keep the relationship strong. In the Closer episode following the death of Brenda's mother, her husband stops by the police station and asks Brenda if she has a minute. She's begun work on a new case and almost reflexively, she responds, stalling him, and she begins to walk away. But then, with the memory of what she missed by doing that to her mother apparently hitting her afresh, she turns back and says, “Sorry. Yes, I do.” After they are alone in her office, she tells him, “Don't ask me. If you need to talk to me, just say, 'Listen,' okay?” It's good for us to be in that kind of relationship with God as well, where he can just say, “Listen,” and we give God our attention. (Pause)
Yet, as I reflected on that conversation with that executive, years ago, I also heard the blame, “If others had taken care of their home, if others had not overleveraged their mortgages, if “they” hadn’t moved in.” It is far easier to blame others or that systems that we are part of from our current political leadership to our education system to minorities, aliens and migrants. Granted when it comes to our actual houses, it's not always possible when our emergency funds were intended for a shorter time, or we just don't have the budget for every repair the house could use. But that thinking permeates our spiritual thinking as well, you see it not only the language of white supremacy but also in language as simple as this “house” would be different if we simply build stone monuments with the 10 commandments or imposed school directed prayer on all.
Thankfully, this is where our literal homes and our spiritual homes diverge because our spiritual houses not up to the occupant alone. God is ready to help us keep the place up. For just as Jesus is lamenting about the desolate houses, Jesus juxtaposes the image of the hen. What is often missed is that as much as we have an image of a fluffy hen with wayward chicks, we miss an additional vital portion of that protection for a hen to save, a hen's heart and other vital organs must be completely exposed when her wings are open to protect her chicks. This is the posture Jesus takes figuratively, for Jesus will eventually take such a posture literally, with arms wide open to gather all people to himself. In Christ, we have what our houses cannot produce on their own: grace, hope, love and forgiveness – gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ lamentation we have not only the challenge to review the status of our “house” but the seeds of comfort, hope and strength as God opens his household to all of us. Amen.

"Universal Shot" - 3/3/2019

Sermon based on Luke 9:28-36 for Transfiguration Sunday at Hope Lutheran Church.

On July 20, 1969, the world became a very different place. Astronaut Neil Armstrong hopped off the ladder of the lunar module Eagle and put the first footprint on the surface of the moon. From that point on, generations of people would point to that event as the pinnacle of human achievement and subsequently wonder why everything is not easier by comparison. If we can put a man on the moon, for example, then why can’t we cure cancer? End world hunger?
In their book The Moonshot Effect: Disrupting Business as Usual, Lisa Goldman and Kate Purmal define a moonshot as an aspirational project that harnesses humanities gifts. It’s a turn away from business as usual, and involves, new processes, audacious innovation and collaborative teamwork.
Think of the massive numbers of people, men and women with slide rules and those first plucky astronauts at NASA who invested their lives in the Apollo 11 mission and its predecessors, and you get the idea. A moonshot goal looks impossible on the surface but determined people with a clear vision can make what seems impossible --- a reality.
In today’s gospel, what is termed Transfiguration Sunday, the disciples of Jesus did not seem all that interested in going to the moon, but that did not stop them from aspiring. If you remember, they had left behind their former occupations to follow a traveling rabbi around Galilee because they were compelled by his vision of the kingdom of God. For first-century Jews, that moonshot vision was not the peaceable kingdom of Isaiah, but the social justice like the message found in the Old Testament prophets like Amos or Joel. Their visions were gritty and political. For many of them, someday their Roman occupiers would be overthrown, God’s anointed king and messiah set on the throne, and God’s presence returned to the temple; Jerusalem as the capital of a reunited kingdom, a beacon to the world. It was a vision of freedom from oppression with peace and security for all.
It seemed like an impossibility given the number of Roman spears that patrolled the roads and streets. But then again, there was this Jesus who seemed to fit the mold of the kind of leader who could make it happen. He had performed amazing miracles, drawn huge crowds, was anti-elite and somewhat popular with the people. Maybe he was the one who could shoot the moon, reverse their fortunes and transform their nation.
As we are often reminded, it didn’t take long for Jesus to profoundly upend and transform that vision. Earlier than this point in our Gospel from Luke, Jesus had asked his disciples who they thought he was, and Peter answered, “The Messiah of God” (v. 20). In response, Jesus, as you remember however, would define the Messiah’s mission in far more graphic terms than Peter and his mates could have imagined. Before being fitted for a crown, Jesus would need to embrace a cross. Jesus would need to empty himself completely into and through death. It was an unimaginable scenario. It was an upside, turn around moonshot.
Now eight days later, the transfiguration the disciples experienced in a new light was twofold; a transformative vision of Jesus and their place in the world.
Let’s review the first aspect of the transfiguration. As I mentioned, eight days after Jesus had asked his disciples who did they think he ways, Jesus pulls his executive team of Peter, James and John aside and takes them up on a mountain for a retreat. The little detail of “eight days” is important because it indicates that it was a new week which, biblically speaking, is a sign that something new is about to happen --- a sign of the new creation (v. 28). For on this unnamed mountain, Jesus gives them a glimpse of his ultimate moonshot if not universe shot idea by revealing his own heavenly glory.
While Jesus was praying, his face and clothes were transformed into a kind of heavenly brilliance (v. 29). It’s an image that recalls a similar account of Moses’ meeting God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34). Moses’ face became so brilliant that he had to cover it with a veil afterward. But have you ever wondered about this other piece, the presence of Moses and Elijah. How did the disciples know it was Moses and Elijah with Jesus? It wasn’t that they were wearing nametags like one would on a corporate retreat!
Instead, those disciples knew their Scriptures and the tradition. According to Deuteronomy, Moses died and was buried by God before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, but some traditions had said that Moses hadn’t died at all and, like the prophet Elijah, had simply been taken up into heaven (Deuteronomy 34:1-8; 2 Kings 2). Moses and Elijah, many believed, would someday return as forerunners of the Messiah. If Jesus was the real Messiah, as had been discerned, then it made sense that these two glorious figures should appear beside him in his glory, representing the Law and the Prophets.
The key here, however, is not so much the appearance of the two towering figures of the Old Testament, or Jesus all in bright newness, but the conversation. The author of Luke says they were speaking of Jesus’ “departure” which would soon to take place in Jerusalem (v. 31). The Greek word for “departure” is --- “exodus.” It is of course before Bob Marley so this exodus that is being discussed is Jesus’ mission in the larger context of the biblical story.
As you remember, in the days of Moses, the Israelites were set free from slavery in Egypt --- an amazing achievement for which they had prayed some 400 years. Their freedom, that Exodus, was signified and subsequently remembered by the Passover meal and the blood of the sacrificed lamb that saved them from death and pointed the way to new life and a promised land.
Jesus was about to initiate a new exodus, but in this case, this exodus would deliver all of humanity from the enslaving power of our human brokenness and death itself. That deliverance would require a new Passover and a new once-for-all sacrifice as Jesus himself became the Lamb. This was Jesus’ universe shot mission and destiny: the salvation of the universe. All that Moses and Elijah represented, the witness of the Law and the Prophets, had been pointing to this goal.
Therefore, in this revelation of glory, we learn along with the disciples that the Jesus is to empty himself completely, give it all away, and die as any human must. He will not go there because it is easy, but because it is hard --- to borrow a phrase from former President John F. Kennedy. It is a challenge Jesus is willing to accept out of love, one Jesus is unwilling to postpone and one that he will win for all of us. It’s the ultimate “universe shoot,” but one that will be accomplished by the very God who put the moon, the earth and this vast universe there in the first place!
That of course leads to the second aspect of this transfiguration. Let me return to the Apollo mission. For as much as we may like to think about the human achievements of landing on the moon, tang and Velcro, there was another significant episode that happened in a subsequent journey with Apollo 17, the last Apollo mission. It is a picture taken on December 7, 1972 of the earth. The picture is commonly known as the Blue Marble. It is a picture of the earth from the perspective of the astronauts. It shows this spaceship earth traveling through the universe that God has created, fragile, without boundaries. It is the most reproduced image in history.
Those disciples were told that upon his death and resurrection, they were free to share what God intended through Jesus. Those disciples were the first to get to the mountain top, but as much as we may like to focus on “heaven” and let our imaginations run wild, their eyes were turned back down over their shoulders down that mountain, at the blue marble, all creation, and the valleys that do not reflect God’s love and forgiveness. That image taken by Apollo 17 was the first of the whole planet and showed the oneness and fragility of creation.
The disciples still don’t get this universe shot view right away. In the next scene, there is the dilemma about casting out a demon, which they can’t seem to accomplish (vv. 37-43). And in the next they are arguing cabinet positions in the coming administration (vv. 46-48). It will take the death and resurrection of Jesus to bring things into focus and help them realize that God’s project was more audacious than anything humans could ever conceive.
To know that Christ has died, Christ is raised, and Christ will come again reminds us that anything is possible. We are each in our own way, grudging, cantankerous, doubting, individualistic, mean-spirited, yet forgiven and loved. We are followers of the one who has beaten sin and death and given us the freedom not only to imagine God’s kingdom of ultimate peace, redemption and renewal. Equally we are to live out this vision in the present on this little blue marble in the vast universe.
When we look at the world as it currently is and what seems to be an increasingly broken way of life, and its deeply flawed leadership, we remember that this is not the way things will always be. We live and work in the present in light of the future made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus. To that end, Jesus invites us to dream of our own universe shots for the places we live and serve. Often, we have dreams, ideas and goals that are too small --- goals that are better suited for a stat sheet or in our bank accounts.
Jesus, however, invites us to dream of the transformation of the world and the community around us. For example, as this church transition’s into the future, what kinds of universe shots do we have? How fast this congregation can become the next mega-church? How many energetic people with vans full of children with hours and days of volunteer time they want to give? Those are stat sheets.
Instead, can we imagine the living Christ running loose, toward equity and justice and love and forgiveness? It was God who raised a man from the dead and “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but in the age to come.” (Ephesians 1:20-21). This is the Christ, the Son of the living God, about whom the voice on the mountain declared, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him” (v. 35).
As we follow Jesus, there is no universe landing too imaginative, too daring, too audacious for us to consider. Didn’t Jesus say, “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you” (Mark 11:23)? The transfiguration was a twofold sign of God's grace and compassion. When times are difficult, as when the disciples move off that mountain toward Jerusalem with Jesus, the memory of their encounter with God, and God's own witness to Jesus, will help them follow on the way. It does the same for us by giving us a vision of not only what will be, but where we are. Amen.

"Faith is not futile" - 2/17/2019

Sermon shared at Hope Lutheran Church based on 1 Corinthians 15:12-20.

“For Sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” Supposedly, that’s one of the shortest stories ever written. It’s an example of something known as “flash fiction.” “For Sale: baby shoes. Never worn” — all of six words in length — has been attributed to Ernest Hemingway, although scholars are doubtful. The legend is that he wrote it in order to win a bet. Whether the six-word story came from the pen of Hemingway or someone else, its helpful today for us to think about.
You see, the thing about flash fiction is that it draws you in. It does so not by what it says, but by what it doesn’t say. Our six-word example is a very compact mystery novel. To whom do the baby shoes belong? Why are they for sale? And how did it happen that they were unused? Was it because of some sort of falling-out between the person who purchased the shoes and the baby’s parents? Or are the parents so desperate for money they must sell them? Or, did something terrible happen to the baby? Instead, we live through our engagement with it.
So, why theme of flash fiction? Well look again at our second reading and Paul’s comments regarding faith and the resurrection: If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile. These lines draw us in and engenders numerous questions: Didn’t Christ rise from the dead? Who said he didn’t? Who said he did? Why is it futile? What would our life and faith be like had Christ not been raised from the dead? What would remain of the gospel if we stripped away that one foundational proclamation?
Paul’s not denying the resurrection, of course. Anything but. Yet, his statements and “What if’s” provided the small congregation in Corinth an introduction into some implications of our faith. You see this congregation had expected that Christ was going to return soon; in their lifetimes. But as the years went on, no Christ and members of their community were dying. This was a fundament challenge to their faith.
For us centuries later, perhaps we have made theological peace with the topic, ---- or have we? Let us consider just the words to the Apostles Creed and the line: “I believe in …. the resurrection of the body” or “the dead” as an earlier version goes. I kind of like the words used by the Lutheran reformers when they affirmed the phrase used in the church of that day “the resurrection of the flesh.” I don’t know if you have realized it before for in those words, we affirm that flesh itself will be raised from the dead. Or have we thought of it as flash fiction we go along with?
For example, just like the ancient Greeks, some in our contemporary world see our flesh body as merely the “covering” or the “container” for something else. In our contemporary world we let our imaginations run wild with the lack of details. Is our body something to discard when we die so that whatever is inside us can be set free? But the fact is we believe that our redemption includes our physical forms. Fact is in the Apostles Creed we affirm that we believe that redemption will not be complete until the body itself is resurrected from death. Wow!
But again, that may even provoke deeper questions for within those words from the Apostles Creed just imagine, if Christ has abolished death, why does all this flesh come to an end in the first place? How can death then be truly both abolished and yet the “last enemy” of the people of God?
The answer lies in understanding the basic nature of death for us; the essence of death is separation. Death is the unnatural separation from God. That runs parallel to the fact that death is a “natural” part of life. So, which is it? Is death natural or not? It’s both. Death is “natural” just as a seed must die to have growth, yet, there is nothing “natural” about death. In the words “we believe” we are expressing the fact that death is the most natural “unnatural” event in the universe. We are stating the belief that death came into the world because of sin (Romans 5:12). Death exists because our brokenness from God exists. When our brokenness from God has been removed once and for all, death will no longer exist the way it does now. That’s why there will be no death as we know it in heaven (Revelation 21:3).
In other words, death is “unnatural” because sin is “unnatural.” Paul in our second lesson is asking the people of Corinth to imagine a world where our human brokenness from God no longer exists. In faith there is such a world, in faith that world is the “real” world --- God’s kingdom. In faith this world that feels so real is the one actually passing away. So, until then we live in an “unnatural” real world where death as we experience stalks our trail.
Just like in Corinth, centuries later we in in these 8 words of the Apostles Creed are saying that Christ truly destroyed death when he died and rose again. We are affirming that Christ abolished death as a ruling power in the universe. Death itself will one day end, and the true state of creation including our bodies that God intended will be restored. Until that day comes, we live in an odd situation best described by Ecclesiastes 12:7, which says that when we die “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.” Most of us have heard the phrase, “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.” We come from the dirt and we return to the dirt. From a purely human perspective, that is the natural destiny for all creation.
In the creed however we are affirming that there will come a time when all this will be completely turned around, the body that is raised will be a new body --- not just the old one patched up. If a loved one dies of cancer, it won’t do any good to be raised with cancer. Personally, I don’t want a “renovated” body. I want something brand-new that won’t wear out or run down, or has experienced the ravages of time, a body suited for eternity.
This runs counter to additional “fiction; death is not reincarnation. If I come back as a Chihuahua, I’m going to bite someone on the ankle. But as much as I would like that, I won’t come back as someone else or something else. I’ll be raised as Charles Fredrickson with all the destructive marks of sin removed from all parts of my being. The parts of me that annoy other people will be gone forever, thank God. What remains will be Charles Fredrickson, cleansed and purified and refined by the grace of God but we will also be like Jesus because we will see him as he is (I John 3:1-3). We will have new bodies fit for new people who will live in this restored creation.
You get the idea. When Paul is writing to that church in Corinth and states, “If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile” Paul is helping those early Christians to consider that our only way of understanding the resurrection body is to consider the experience of Jesus. After Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples could still recognize him, and he bore on his body the marks of his suffering. He ate and drank with them, yet he also appeared and disappeared from their midst, suggesting that in his glorified state, Jesus transcended time and space.
The resurrection of the body means that when God saves us, he saves the whole person --- body, soul and spirit. Yet because not all are questions are answered, our imaginations are full of creativity. For example, on one hand, death has been so thoroughly defeated in the life, death and resurrection that the moment of death has become a victory, “blessed are you...” Yet on the other hand, over the centuries, our questions have led our ancestors after medieval battles to search for the cut off limbs of those who had died so that they could be buried whole. For centuries there have been people worried that someone whose body was blown apart or lost at sea would not be resurrected because there was not body any longer. It has led to refusing to be cremated and lots of unnecessary anxieties about airtight caskets and other types of preservation.
That's not what we mean when we talk about the resurrection of the body. We mean what Paul means, which is that we rise to the light of God like a plant rises out of the dirt and into the sun and receive the new body that can interact in the world of air and spirit just as successfully as our bodies here can relate to earth.
The other part of this flash line of the Creed is equally important...we believe in the life everlasting. We may skim through that part or just mouth lines like “forever and ever, Amen,” but the notion of everlasting life is a big one. Even though our natural earthly bodies give out, we affirm that God’s breath in us lives on, no matter what...always...beyond life here, beyond all time. Forever. Eternal life is not just about after death...it begins now and never quits.
But the notion of life everlasting has other implications as well because life on earth and our earthly bodies are a gift to us to help us learn our basic lessons --- to learn to live with and love God, ourselves and each other. To explore and learn from this this grand diversity that makes up God’ creation.
We have life everlasting...beginning now and lasting forever. In today’s Gospel, Luke’s version of the beatitudes, Jesus in not saying that the hell of living in poverty or grief for example is somehow better, somehow blessed because of it. Not at all. Rather, in life everlasting, we shed the graveclothes now, we live knowing we are getting out of the tomb, living now as if we already have life everlasting, whole complete.
“If Christ has not been raised” is not flash fiction, although we can imagine and wonder so much as we live our days in faith. Pauls’ challenge to the people in Corinth is ours: Let us live as we will die trusting in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

"Legacy Living" - 2/10/2019

Sermon shared at Hope Lutheran based on 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. 

Legacy living. As we live in a wealthy nation where our first thoughts turn to our economy; we usually think of legacy as something financial. We can leave financial assets for future generations. It can range from a life insurance policy to be distributed to our beneficiaries, a will for how in case of death how we want our property to be distributed, to leaving monies or property toward a foundation or endowment.
When prodded we may think of legacy in sense of progeny. For example, our view of how we may want to be remembered may be like the words of author Augustine Og Mandino who wrote: “I am convinced that the greatest legacy we can leave our children are happy memories: those precious moments so much like pebbles on the beach that are plucked from the white sand and placed in tiny boxes that lay undisturbed on tall shelves until one day they spill out and time repeats itself, with joy and sweet sadness, in the child now an adult.”
When we think of leaving a legacy we may think of our vocation, jobs or careers and the mark we may leave on the world. As one employer put it, “our company is the legacy of good people” who have used their time and talents to serve our customers. Maybe your hope is that your legacy will be a combination of all three!
Yet, I wonder are there any other meanings to legacy living that may come to mind! Today, we celebrate the past, present and future of scouting to be and build young people who are trustworthy, loyal and helpful for example. But of course, not all options for leaving a legacy for future generations are open to all of us, like not all of us have or will have children. Not all of us have or will have the financial resources to make much of an impact, unless they turn over the cushions for some loose change. And of course, not all of us are in job, careers or living out a vocation that we may feel we may have much of an impact, much less now or the future.
Yet, I was thinking recently about the theme of legacy living after I re-read an illustration, I used several years ago in a sermon. It was a story about Derek --- you see Derek K. Miller was dying. After a long battle with cancer, the tech expert was coming to the end of his life and decided to post his last words on his blog. “The Last Post,” was the title, and it began with this: “Here it is. I'm dead, and this is my last post to my blog.” On the day he died, as arranged, his wife clicked “Publish.”
But the reason it is remembered at all is because soon after this post, the buzz on social networking sites resulted in his blog getting bombarded with traffic, causing it to shut down intermittently with an error message that would pop up suggesting that people contact Derek if the problems continued.
Awhile back Google launched a tear-jerking ad campaign called “Dear Sophie,” where a man sets up a Gmail account in his daughter's name and e-mails her throughout his life as a kind of digital memory book. The implication is that this will be a record she'll keep forever online, and dad's memory will always be just a click away. Tech experts call this 21st-century phenomenon is “Digital Death.” What's left on the web, our living legacy after we're gone is our “digital remains” that need to be managed and archived just like our physical remains.
Yet I wonder if there is something more legacy living? Well as Christians thank God for Easter. Easter reminds us that death; the grave and digital purgatory are all temporary problems that God has already solved. Easter reminds us that although people’s memories of us will fade, that we may not leave a cent for those who follow or that our jobs may have left more a mark on us than the other way around. Easter reminds us that even if we may not leave a single snippet of DNA/RNA around, Easter is the assurance that God never forgets us. Without the resurrection, Jesus would have been long forgotten as just another idealist who got nailed to a Roman cross. Without the promise of our own resurrection, we would indeed be eventually forgotten. While the Internet can't guarantee forever, God does. Resurrection is what makes forever possible!
This is the “good news” that Paul wants to convey to the Corinthians in this famous resurrection chapter, our 2nd lesson. The good news of Jesus' resurrection is the hope upon which people should “stand” (15:1) and through which they are “saved” (v. 2). The core of Paul's preaching and work was centered on the central fact of the resurrection of Jesus, who “died for our sins ... was buried ... raised on the third day ...” (vv. 3-4). To add support to this bold statement, Paul has a three-fold use of that phrase “in accordance with the scriptures.” Remember this was before we have the New Testament canon, but it does indicate that the record of what had happened over the centuries in the past, wasn't just a random Instagram of God's work. The resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of a story that had been moving from the beginning of human history; The empty tomb stands as God's ultimate last word on human suffering and death. As God raised Jesus from the dead, two millennia ago the promise is that we, too, will be raised to a new life in a renewed world where we will not only be remembered, but will be part of a restored creation, the Kingdom of God --- no forgettable password required. We won't need to preserve our words because we will see the Word that became flesh.
Paul in writing to this congregation in Corinth reminds them for that reason, and with that promise in mind, they now had an opportunity to use the present as a time for living with a different kind of legacy in mind, that will last beyond them and into the coming kingdom of God; a kingdom reality made real to us first in Jesus' resurrection from the dead and in this who follow.
What Paul realized and is now sharing with the small church in Corinth is that the reality of the resurrection, a sign of what is to come, is that it puts our lives, and whatever legacy we may have in mind, in the context of God's larger purposes and perspective. We may not be remembered as individuals three or four generations from now, but the legacy of what we do for the kingdom is something that lasts. Leaving behind words is a good thing, but an even better legacy to leave behind has to do with making the world look more and be more like the kingdom so that when it comes, it's not such a culture shock.
The criteria are set for every time we feed those who are hungry, provide a healing touch to the hurting, give our attention to the outcast, challenge the principalities and powers, and give our lives humbly and passionately in sacrificial service to others, we are building a legacy that will last well beyond us. When we not only take in the words of Jesus but also apply them, we are living the resurrection already.
Jesus' resurrection clearly shaped Paul in such a way that his writings were less important to him than his ministry, which would continue long after he was gone, in the generations of people who became disciples of Jesus through the churches he planted. As Paul indicates is that God’s trust through grace in him has not been in vain, that the legacy he will leave reflects God’s own legacy. When Jesus finally appeared to Paul himself, then known as Saul, this appearance was unlike the others, and it occurred at the very time Saul was persecuting the church. Because he was an enemy to Christians everywhere, he now considers himself the least of the apostles.
And it is with this self-assessment that Paul addresses the importance of grace --- God’s lavish, unmerited, merciful and amazing grace. Without God’s grace, he has no place … no ministry … no job … no nothing. And he knows it.
Saul/Paul retraces what had happened within his lifetime. Christ appeared to Peter, John, Mary and all the apostles. He showed himself to the two believers walking on the road to Emmaus. He appeared to a crowd of more than 500 people (vv. 5-7). These people for Paul/Saul sort of “deserve” to be elevated to a special place of recognition. They merit the attention given to them. They clearly qualify for a place at the table. They rightly have a legacy.
Saul/Paul however sees himself as unfit and undeserving. “Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle” (vv. 8-9). Paul feels that his former opposition to the “church of God” counts against him. But he recognizes that despite what he was then, God reached out to him making him the new “creation” he is now. God’s loving grace saved him, lifted him up and set him on a new course, giving a new and quite different meaning to his life.
But look at verse 10: “By the grace of God,” he wrote, “I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain” (v. 10). In other words, Paul wasn't concerned about taking credit or making sure everybody remembered him forever. Whether it was the disciples of Jesus or anyone else who was preaching resurrection, Paul was satisfied that the Corinthian church was coming to believe it (v. 11). Meaning that his living legacy was vested in these people and showing them the resurrection life in the present.
What does that mean for us gathering at this spot of earth called Hope? Do we have similar view of legacy life that goes way beyond death? Has God’s grace nurtured us, or do we feel that it was given to us in vain?
Perhaps there are those who will think, “Well, what does God expect me to be and to do? I go to work every day, and I do this to help support my spouse and children. I try to be there for my kids and raise them to be kids with integrity. And I help in other places, too, as I am able, like church, the library and the humane society?” This is a good question. One I ask myself.
The answer of course is that God expects that we reframe our lives so that we recognize that legacy living is our life. By God’s grace we are who we are --- single, parent, spouse or professional. God’s grace is not in vain. Rather, we legacy live in the light of God meaning for example that we are conscious that in our various roles, we are recipients of God’s grace, and all the glory and praise go to God. God’s grace saves us and nurtures us.
Paul felt he was the last person who should be granted grace, yet he was. Peter responds to Jesus’ miracle of plenty by saying, “Go away from me, Lord: for I am a sinful man!” Yet, Peter steps out of the boat and follows. Without question, God used these flawed and fragile human beings to proclaim God’s mercy and love. Jesus didn't fade away into dead space or cyberspace, rather he lives. And because of the assurance of our Baptism, by grace, we are part of and legacy live. This is a wild idea, within our grasp, it only takes the will to live a legacy. Amen.

"Transparency" - 2/3/2019

Sermon presented at Hope Lutheran based on Luke 4: 21-30

One observation among many tourists to our nation is this: many Americans have a love affair with a quintessential condiment found in many refrigerators and tables --- ketchup. Keen foreign observers will note that American’s put it on everything from eggs to fries to hot dogs, the thicker and for some quantity the better. I realize that ketchup isn't something that we normally talk about, especially on a Sunday morning. It's just something we take for granted. But have you ever wondered why?
It wasn’t so long ago that ketchup could be dangerous. In 1866, as the nation was recovering from the civil war ketchup was, according to cookbook author Pierre Blot, “Filthy, decomposed and putrid.” A short tomato growing season, coupled with carelessness, lack of clean storage, generally unsanitary conditions, no government oversight, and the addition of highly flammable coal tar to the mix to enhance the red color, all combined to make ketchup a potentially lethal concoction.
Enter Henry J. Heinz. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_J._Heinz In 1876, the Pittsburgh visionary bottled his first batch of tomato ketchup. However, Heinz was not simply looking for a fast buck, Heinz was a man who believed that “heart power is better than horsepower,” and worked hard at developing a safe environment and process for ketchup to be produced in a way that was honest, enjoyable and transparent.
To accomplish his vision, his factory was spotless. His workers were encouraged to be meticulous about cleanliness, and Heinz rewarded them not only with a living wage but with fresh uniforms, free laundry, free life insurance and health care, and athletic facilities.
Heinz was so focused on his product that he realized that that alone would not work, transparency was just as important. He refused to bottle his ketchup in the opaque brown bottles that were common at the time, choosing instead to use clear glass bottles as a way of demonstrating the product to the public. Heinz even opened his factory so they could see that the company had nothing to hide.
The history of ketchup is helpful to remember as we continue the story that began from last week as Jesus begins his public ministry. From last week, Jesus reads from Isaiah 61:1-2. The good news is this: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Jesus then tells the congregation, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” As I shared last week, this is his public statement about the future of his ministry and to whom he will sharing the good news. Added to that Jesus is also being very honest and transparent. Why is this important?
Initially, the congregation’s response is quite positive to Jesus’ assertion. “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” Then, they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?” Now, this is not derogatory. They hear what Jesus is saying and they gossip with each other.
Now that may seem odd to us unless we realize that their point is that Jesus is a hometown boy, and, therefore, special favors for Nazareth are expected. In terms of middle-eastern values of the first century, a person had an obligation first to their family and then to their hometown. Was not Joseph one of us? Does not Joseph's son, then, have a special bond with us? Should we not be the first beneficiaries of his “gracious actions” which, we are now assuming, follow his “gracious words”? In a sense the community feels they won the lottery and since we are his hometown, Jesus will be remembering us.
Jesus however anticipates their reaction and responds by saying that surely, they will cite the proverb “Doctor, cure yourself.” What does this mean? Jesus knew that the future this hometown crowd has in mind that he would bring the “year of the Lord's favor” first to them before others. If Jesus pronounced the Isaiah passage as truly fulfilled, then they assumed they must be the first and special beneficiaries of it. The “doctor” is to cure not just himself, but also his own --- his kinfolk, his neighbors. Jesus does not let this expectation go on for long for he then adds that “no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown.” And to further make the point transparent, he alludes to two biblical stories about which they were quite familiar.
The first reference is to a famine during which God sent the prophet Elijah to a poor starving Gentile widow rather than to any poor starving Hebrew widow. The second story involves the prophet Elisha and his healing ministry with the wealthy Gentile Aramean military officer Naaman who had leprosy. Elisha, apparently, was not sent to heal any of Israel’s lepers. The people in the Nazareth congregation get Jesus’ point --- that even though Jesus is a hometown boy, his fellow Nazarenes have no special first claim on his powers: Jesus came for all. Jesus is not being dishonest --- not at all. What is the reaction to Jesus’ honest transparency?
At this point they had a choice; acceptance or anger? Not hearing what they want to hear, they reveal their true colors. We can almost hear one of them shriek, “Fake news!” Soon, a mob mentality takes over. They try to throw this purveyor of honesty and transparency off a cliff. Jesus of course, escapes and goes on his way.
But’s lets return to that question: What makes Jesus’ words so unacceptable to them? A major piece is that Jesus’ words don’t conform to the commonly held understanding that the Messiah would destroy Israel’s enemies. Jesus talking about God’s mercy to a poor Gentile widow and a wealthy Syrian soldier doesn’t fit that image. Therefore, in their minds, Jesus isn’t fulfilling a basic requirement of that Isaiah reading and what he says is fake at best, and dangerous at worst.
But why would they think that? All Jesus said in his adoption of Isaiah 61 as his own statement of mission is that his work was to: bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free, proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. and, by omission, not proclaim the day of vengeance of God. Jesus was being honest and transparent that there was no favoritism toward them in the delivery of the ministries cited above.
Then again, we all know that anger and violence are sometimes the last defense of those who must face the honest and transparent truth. That transparent truth will continue throughout his ministry, with his disciples, to the crowds and religious leaders, through his trial, through his death and subsequent resurrection.
So, what might this story of honesty and transparency at the beginning of his ministry mean for us. Well, we could go many directions, but I decided for us to focus on one truth that continues to challenge and even anger us.
In reading through the New Testament it's clear that God somehow uses --- but not causes --- suffering. We hate the truth that although we are faithful, suffering is a bitter pill. Didn’t we win the lottery?
Instead, what I usually hear are excuses and blatant untruths. One of course is that “God causes suffering.” That is not true. Just like the Nazoreans we have expectations that as people of faith we are supposed to be excluded from suffering. I am nice, try to be good, been baptized …but…just like the neighbors of Jesus we expect association to be a golden ticket to God’s factory of good stuff.
Second, it is true that God does use suffering ---- however, we get angry with that as well. In Romans 5:3, for example, the apostle Paul says that “suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope.” How often do we apply that to others but not ourselves? Jesus said that we are to rejoice when we suffer, because it means that we're representing Jesus and we're coming closer to the kingdom. Although Jesus is reminding us, in a counterintuitive way, that suffering can wind up producing the best in us, I don’t want to rejoice in suffering, and I am happy the way I am, I don’t want endurance… thank you very much.
We only need to look at a ketchup bottle to be reminded of this. The classic glass Heinz bottle doesn't make it easy to pour out the ketchup. The thick tomato mixture is strengthened with xanthan gum, which makes it a “non-Newtonian fluid,” or one that changes its flow rate under stress. That's why we must whack a glass bottle of Heinz ketchup repeatedly to get the good stuff to come out, but it must be done correctly. Pounding on the bottom of the bottle only causes the mix at the mouth of the bottle to get thicker, thus restricting the flow. The way we get the ketchup to transform into sheer thinning fluid, or non-non-Newtonian fluid, is to tap on the top of the bottle or, even more ideally, to tap two fingers on the “57 Varieties” label on the bottle's neck. That's the force that produces an even flow.
In our life in Jesus the pounding of suffering can produce the same effect in us. It can cause us to stiffen, or get angry ---- or it can trigger a flow of the fruit of the Spirit in us that can season the world. This is exactly what happened with Jesus, who emptied himself on the cross, bringing people to God (v. 18).
Jesus is honest and transparent as we are to be honest and transparent with others. God does not cause suffering, but God does use our lives as disciples by producing the kind of fruit that is clear in conscience, and pure in heart, life and motive.
Let’s take that down to the personal level. What kind of suffering has been pounding on us these days? It is not coming from God and Jesus is fully transparent that he will not take our suffering away. Rather, Jesus is clear by reminding us how can we allow the Holy Spirit to help us be more fruitful. As Jesus said, the people of God will be “known by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).
In other words, are we presenting ourselves to the world as beautiful yet opaque bottles? I got it together yet inside I am rotten fish guts, full of hatred, sin and revenge, full of hypocrisy? Or, are we fruitful by being honest and transparent not as a diorama of stiff saints but as a hospital of the living but broken? Inviting the world to see the vision of the one who loves us, cares for us and employs us?
As disciples let us trust in faith and respond with honesty and transparency, even when others are trying to dump the spiritual equivalent of toxic coal tar into our life. Suffering is just one aspect of the Christian life, but the way we react to it can make a difference. Jesus at the inception of his public ministry modeled honesty and transparency, let us not take it for granted. May we follow the way of the cross. Amen.

"A Disaster Map and Action Plan" - 1/27/2019

Sermon based on Luke 4: 14-21 shared at Hope Lutheran Church.

It wasn’t too long ago that we here in Texas were watching Hurricane Harvey slamming into the gulf coast, the Rockport/Victoria area and then swerving over to do major damage to the greater Houston area. Not only did that hurricane cause a great deal of damage, it taught us a great deal, like how much of Houston’s rapid growth is built on flood plains. But we were also reminded of another fact, the benefit of social media.
In a massive disaster like Harvey, one of the greatest challenges for aid agencies is finding displaced people who need to be rescued. Ordinary phone lines are down, and the few cell towers still operating can be overwhelmed with voice calls. Even when voice calls do get through, the survivors may be on the move. For rescue workers, knowing yesterday’s --- location is of little use.
But voice calls are not the only communications carried over cell towers. Many social-media users, such as Facebook customers, have their location services turned on. Without them even being aware of it, our mobile phones are constantly sending identifying signals to cell towers, and Facebook’s servers are triangulating our location. Often, those tiny pips of data get through when voice calls do not.
Realizing the value of their location data to rescue workers, Facebook’s Data for Good Division has a service called Disaster Maps. During a disaster like Harvey, Facebook aggregated the location data of all its customers and reported those overall trends to government agencies and NGOs coordinating the emergency response. Disaster Maps was able to tell officials during and after the hurricane where the largest the survivors were located or where they were headed.
I don’t mean to laud Facebook as the abuse of our data is of major concern, but there are some benefits when disaster strikes.
What is interesting is that in today’s gospel, in a day and an age when social media was nonexistent, Jesus places himself on a map and provides us a plan for his ministry. The map is not at the centers of power, Rome or even Jerusalem.
The author of the gospel of Luke begins by telling us that Jesus is “filled with the power of the Spirit.” The author of Luke by the way, loves this phrase. It is Luke’s way of communicating to us readers that Jesus is about God’s business. We are also told that Jesus is in Galilee, teaching in “their synagogues.” This is another unique feature to Luke. Jesus is a devout Jew --- he went to the synagogue on the sabbath “as was his custom.” The author also informs us that Jesus’ mission thus far has met with astounding success.
But then, the author quickly narrows from Galilee to Nazareth to synagogue. In a broad sense we can understand why the author wants to get to the point quickly. This is a big deal, by stepping up to read and preach, Jesus begins his public ministry. You can tell Luke notes its importance by the way the author narrates it. Sometimes in scripture, whole centuries can pass in a sentence. Here, the action slows way down with seemingly everybody movement noted. Jesus “went in.” He “arose to read.” The book of Isaiah “was given.” He opened the book. He found the place.
As many of you know, in any work of great literature, the first statement by the main character has special import. That is likewise the case here. Though the book of Isaiah “was given to him,” Jesus chose which passage to read, and the first words of his public ministry were those of Isaiah, specifically most of 61:1-2 with dashes of Isaiah 58.
And what else catches our attention is the accent of the first three phrases for it is on Jesus himself: “The Spirit...is upon me...for (the Spirit) has anointed me... (the Spirit) has sent me.” This is of course, establishes a firm link between the anointing of Jesus, his being “in the Spirit” and being about God’s business.
But it is the second half, the disaster map and his plan for ministry that caught my attention this past week. Reading from Isaiah, Jesus declares that the Holy Spirit has anointed him “to bring good news to the poor ... to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” For the people of God, his mission is to proclaim good news, announcing “the year of the Lord’s favor” (vv. 18-19).
Jesus is laying out his where he sees that disaster and what he will do. In other words, centuries before our smartphone era, Jesus demonstrates an unerring awareness of where the hurting people are and what they most desperately need.
Even after he’s become “Jesus Christ Superstar” in the eyes of the awestruck multitudes, he’s grounded enough to stop and speak personally with the woman who touches the fringe of his robe or visit Mary and Martha at the death of his friend and their brother Lazarus. His feeding of the 5,000 would have left even the most efficient Red Cross canteen operator standing slack-jawed in awe. Our Lord, however, is no mere aggregator of data, Jesus is a hands-on healer and helper, a spiritual --- sometimes even material --- first responder to the “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” according to Matthew 9.
Not only do we find out today his disaster map and plan for ministry as Jesus closes his remarks, Luke again slows the action down to include Jesus' body movements. “He closed,” “gave”, “sat down.” This gives the remarks additional importance and provides a time for the reader to integrate what has just been said for “the eyes of all...were gazing intently upon him.” Jesus gives what is perhaps the shortest sermon ever: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.” The word “today” appears twelve times in Luke's gospel. Fulfillment is a present reality. Today, means today.
What does this have to do with us. Well, practically speaking this means that Jesus’ disaster map and plan for ministry is ours as well. By his example, Jesus calls us to become first responders, too. Remember his words to Peter in that miraculous scene on the seashore following his resurrection? After feeding his friends barbecued filet of fish, Jesus asks the fisherman a simple question. He repeats it three times for emphasis. “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” “Then feed my lambs” (John 21:15).
As Jesus prepares to depart this earth, he knows his days of grilling fish will soon be over. But his mission to the lost and lonely, the homeless and the hurting, remains more vital and more urgent than ever.
Now as I suspect many of us are probably good with this. The first response to a disaster is often a compassionate, rescuing response. We Christians, particularly as Lutherans are very good at charity. Jesus, however, is more than a carrier of charity to people and places of disaster.
It’s the second part of his response, which is more challenging because after the floodwaters have subsided or the wildfire has burned itself out, another sort of response is called for: the preventive response. After the mine closes or the factory is boarded up in an economically depressed community, the first-response services of a food pantry may be much appreciated, but charity is not a permanent solution to hunger.
Not only did Jesus follow a disaster map he had an action plan, so not only did call up words of encouragement to Zacchaeus, but think about why was Zacchaeus the tax collector hated in the first place? It wasn’t simply that he collected taxes for the Romans but also his corruption. Jesus challenged and addressed the cause of people’s pain, the corrupt actions of Zacchaeus. When Jesus stormed into the temple courts, interrupted the business of the day by overturning tables, yelling, and driving both people and animals out of the courtyards using a whip, he was condemning the greed and corruption of political and religious leaders.
There’s a little parable that I have heard expressed in a variety of ways but let me share an old version. A man was relaxing beside a fast-flowing river one day. He looked up and noticed a baby in a basket quickly floating down the water toward him. Of course, he waded into the water and pulled the baby out. Then another baby floated down to him, and then another. It became apparent that something upstream was happening and casting babes into the stream.
What is the most faithful response to the problem? One response is charity, pulling the helpless babies out of the water one by one. And an additional response is to hike upstream and discover why the babies are in the water in the first place.
Unlike Facebook’s Disaster Maps --- which rightly knows that hurricanes and earthquakes are forces of nature beyond our control --- there are some human disasters Christ’s church can and is to directly address. We have many ways to do so but one mentioned often comes in the form of fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Have you ever noticed that all of fruits of the spirit include some type of action? To be kind, to love, to share peace, to model patience and self-control and in order to do so, we are to confront those who do not love, or share peace.
Think about it, many of the great social-reform movements of past years have been spearheaded by who --- Christian disciples. The abolition of slavery is a notable example. The abolitionist movement would never have succeeded were it not for people of faith responding not only in charity but also in action. England’s William Wilberforce, who labored for decades to convince Parliament to ban slavery in the British Empire, was a devout Christian. So were the Quakers and others who operated Underground Railroad stations. So, too, was Presbyterian minister Elijah Parish Lovejoy who was murdered in Alton, Illinois, defending his printing press from an anti-slavery mob. It took faithful Christians praying for, educating, confronting and convincing and cajoling the Christians of the south to stop interpreting scripture to support slavery. It can messy for example, the Presbyterian church split between the north and the south over this very fight.
Just last week we remembered the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. The civil rights movement is the most notable example in recent memory of people of faith rallying to fight against voter suppression, segregation and racism in non-violent opposition. The recent resurgence of white-supremacy groups shows how much that work continues to be needed today.
And recently people of faith --- especially those of the younger generation --- are deeply engaged today in Earth care organizations that are courageously naming and fighting the causes of climate change as well as the welcome, inclusion and celebration of LGBTQIA+. In all those cases the fruits of the spirit lived out through charity and action is following Jesus at the local level.
I grew up in the old world of folding gas-station road maps, so I am easily impressed by the way that Google Maps, for example can zoom in, with just a few mouse-clicks, from a very large-scale view to a local perspective. For those who don’t know once the map is zoomed in to a given locality, it’s possible to switch over into Street View. In my opinion, that’s when Google Maps really shines; Street View makes it seem like we’re there, like we would see from our own car window.
But Google Maps isn’t always accurate. In 2010, a detachment of Nicaraguan troops crossed the San Juan River that separates their country from Costa Rica and planted the Nicaraguan flag on an island. It was by accident because while they were looking for a place to make camp, the soldiers were relying on Google Maps, which clearly placed the island on the Nicaraguan side of the border. The Costa Rican authorities were not amused. Fortunately, after the Nicaraguans apologized, a serious international incident was averted.
As faithful followers of Christ, it is at the street view where our charity and our actions mean the most. Today, Jesus begins his public ministry proclaiming what he will be doing for the roughly next three years. The same is with us. The real street view is right out on Callaghan; our disaster map and action plan. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us. The Spirit of the Lord has anointed us. The way of the cross includes charity and action on the street. Amen.

"A Beloved Household of God" - 1/13/2019

Sermon preached at Hope Lutheran Church based on the Gospel, Luke 3.

When we adopted our two daughters, we spent a lot of time on their names. We wanted names to fit their Chinese/American identity and were not too long.
Our first decision had to do with their last name. For those who are not aware my wife and I followed the practice of my northern European heritage where women did not necessarily change their last name upon marriage. My wife has kept her last name of Borstad. So, when it came to our daughters, we decided that if we were going to live in the United States it would be easier to have their last name of Fredrickson.
Next, we wanted to continue to use their Chinese names in some way. We chose to use their Chinese first names, as their middle names.
However, it was it their first names that took the most time. After a lot of back and forth between my wife and I, a few resources we consulted as well as our mutual family trees, we ultimately decided on Mari for my oldest and Anna for my youngest. “Mari,” a form of Mary and “Anna” are both relatively common first names in Northern Europe and would fit the last name of Fredrickson. But their first names are also translatable and transferrable. Mari is how the Chinese translate Mary and Anna are found in the Mandarin version of the stories in Luke in the Bible.
Not everyone takes that amount of time on names, like the woman who named her baby Female (pronounced feh-MAH-lee) for no other reason than that it was on the newborn’s wristband. Another couple also after some time in the hospital, named their child Urine (pronounced yuREEN). One couple I heard decided to pick a random middle name, and so they settled on Random. And of course, here in Texas we have the famous Governor James Stephen Hogg and his wife Sarah who named their daughter Ima.
I have been thinking about names because of our Gospel. Not only are names and their meanings common in biblical times but names provided some identity. For example, if you read the footnotes of your Bible, they will often explain the meaning of various names. Aaron means “teacher” or “mountain of strength.” Isaac means “laughter.” John comes from “the grace or mercy of the Lord.”
Biblical names also carried an identity; A hoped-for destiny. In Matthew we are reminded that “She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Although the name “Jesus” was as common in that day as Michael, John or David, the meaning Jesus had was entirely uncommon. Jesus literally means “salvation” or “the Lord saves.” In this case, his name and his life were one; they show his meaning, identity and destiny.
This has meaning for us, in the season of Epiphany, when we affirm the combination of not only Jesus his identity but affirm but his title as “Christ, the Messiah.” In Luke’s version of the story of Jesus’ baptism not only do we recognize the shining forth of God to humanity in human form, but we hear captured an element of his destiny as the Messiah.
It begins today, as we hear today, with John the forbearer, unfurling God’s ultimate plan for redemption. John was then --- as we would probably see today --- as somewhat of an oddity in society --- dressed in camel hair and eating locusts and wild honey. We also get the sense that --- now as then --- that wild look in his eyes bore the divine authority of prophecy. He was a man on a mission.
We are also informed that this John toured about the countryside, smashing societal conventions not only through his clothing but what he said. John said, that this redemption plan of God’s would not come through a redeemed religion or a redeemed ancestry. It would come through the very Epiphany of Redemption.
John went about “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The messiah, John said, wanted their public proclamation of their brokenness and need. This messiah would be a righter of wrongs who would level the playing field between spiritual haves and have-nots. All people could access this salvation from God, and so even tax collectors --- our modern-day terrorists and death-row murderers --- even those people could be baptized by John and have their identity realigned.
We are told that in response to John, “the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah.” But John said that he was not to be named the “messiah.” Nor was John baptizing them in his name --- in his identity --- in his destiny. Instead, “Christ” the anointed, John knew would be the one. “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
So, as the people entered the waters with John, he baptized them into this kingdom coming. Into this Name which would one day arrive.
And then one day … the Name appeared.
We get so little of Jesus before today. A baby Jesus, a circumcision, a refugee, a 12-year-old in the temple, and then quickly we have gone through the sands of time and suddenly we have an adult man, a roughly 30-year-old Jesus leaving his home in Galilee and entering his life of public ministry. We are told that Jesus came to the Jordan to be baptized by John as well --- a symbol of his inauguration of the kingdom --- his identity as its King.
God, however, would not have an ordinary coming-out naming party for his Son. God made it spectacular. As Jesus emerges from the waters of baptism, God attended through a supernatural manifestation of his Spirit and through words each of us would be giddy to hear: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” “Salvation” is called “Beloved.” While Jesus was being baptized, his Father named him Beloved and showered him with pleasure. But what is also interesting is that this naming of Jesus today as beloved, means something for all of us as well.
What might it mean? Well, in today’s naming of Jesus we get the inauguration of what will be our identity in baptism. It is a family name without a name; a family of “faith.” Certainly, Jesus had a nuclear family in Mary and Joseph and siblings. Also, Jesus grew up, lived and died a Jew. For example, shortly we will hear that when he returns to Nazareth his former neighbors exclaim, “isn’t this Joseph’s son and aren’t his mother and siblings here with us?” But that is not the only identity we hear today.
When we adopted our daughters, it was important to include a family name. Somewhere in my distinct past I had an ancestor who was Fredrick --- and in that culture the son took on the father’s first name and added “son” --- and became Friedeksson. It was the same for the women, “dottir” or daughter added to Fredrick would be Friedeksdottir and would remain unchanged.
Today we hear that the public identification with family is important and pleasing to God. But the family name we are talking about of course is not one designed by biology, ethnicity, sexuality or gender, Jew or gentile, rather it is the family of God, i.e., a family of faith.
Second, in Jesus’ baptism we see the signs that this naming includes a kingdom. At our wedding my wife and I formed a new family. We certainly came from families but in marriage we established a new household. Later, after we realized that biological children were a challenge, we chose adoption. Our daughters then became part of our household, “our kingdom” with rights and responsibilities. Similarly, today, God confirms that Jesus is part of a family and kingdom. This household of God, this kingdom has business in the world. It has work to do with rights and responsibilities. As the author of the gospel of John would quote Jesus reminding us: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (13:35).
Now we could spend time what it means to be part of this household, this kingdom but for us 21st century Americans, let me mention one important aspect. God’s household includes some distinctly unfavorable people and as you notice Jesus didn’t say distance yourself from Judas so they will know you aren’t whacky, too. Likewise, this kingdom includes people I personally have difficulty with, people I consider outright racists and homophobes. A symptom of that is Sunday’s mornings are most divided hours in the US.
The tax collectors were baptized by John, and then Jesus was. Our family name is “Beloved” and just like our human families, it may have a few characters as well --- relatives we wish would just go away. Yet, we all have rights and responsibilities, along with vocations, in this household of God, this Kingdom of God bound by God’s forgiveness and love.
And finally, one other aspect that we remember and see in Jesus baptism is that it reminds us what baptism means for us. It isn’t a hoop to jump through and a box to check. It isn’t a spiritual security blanket for our children. It isn’t a religious routine that just goes with the territory or because we don’t want to hurt grandma’s feelings.
Jesus goes into the waters of baptism to publicly affirm that he identifies who he is and whom God has made him to be. So, by the same token an important aspect of Baptism in not only do we recognize the baptized persons place in the family, we agree with them that they are God’s and God is theirs. And we agree with them that we engage in a lifelong commitment to grow in our faith asking for and trusting in forgiveness. It is a means of grace as we grow in rights and responsibilities.
That is why when children have an opportunity to affirm their faith, they join us in affirming a faith every day. And affirmation even through death, that in faith we have an identity, eternal to which we belong. Throughout this journey our baptismal destiny as part of God’s eternal family is celebrated.
We can be such insecure, approval-seeking people. Our clothes have labels, our honor-roll children have bumper stickers, our titles put letters behind our names, we idolize the most handsome or most beautiful. There is a corner of cyberspace that many of us call social media whether Facebook or snapchat or Instagram where we can carve out as our own --- our pictures, our music, our quotes, our blogs and journals --- and to cap it off, a counter numbering all those who have added us as their friends and a place where they can leave us messages.
But before cyberspace was even invented God provided a way for us to know we are liked, even more so, beloved. Much of social media is a way for to impress, add our voice, distinguish ourselves and gain approval, but in Baptism God identifies us and call us into a family and kingdom with right and responsibilities.
Meaning, if we are good enough for God, we are good enough.
In following God, through the baptismal waters, we are given God’s name --- God’s meaning, God’s identity, God’s destiny.
After the naming event, Jesus left the water and went ashore and started living out his identity and name. May we sisters and brothers rise and bear the family name as we live out the grace of God! Amen.

Janus Faith - 1/6/2019

Sermon presented at Hope Lutheran Church on January 6, 2019 based on Matthew 2: 1-12. 

Here we are in transition. Last year you and I experienced some changes with the retirements of both Pastor Bill and Music Director Vicky during the summer. I experienced a departure from Good Shepherd to serve as your transitional part time pastor beginning in late July. Together we are exploring the development of a parish among this and the other three congregations on the northwest side of San Antonio.
So, it was some trepidation that I begin my sermon this morning by reminding you that in some ways, January is an exciting month because we are in tension, but not for what you may think on this, the first worship of 2019.
In fact, the name of this month not only has associations with tension, but it goes along with the concepts of beginnings, doorways, openings, and gateways while simultaneously with a foot firmly rooted in the past.
First some background. There’s little doubt that the name of our month of January derives from the Roman god Janus. Janus is usually depicted as having two faces, one looking to the past and one to the future. But before we jump to the conclusion, “That is why January is the beginning of the year!” we would be wrong.
What we often forget is that the Roman calendar (from the Latin calends) began with March, not January. And that makes sense because for the Romans, the months before January were numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10 --- and thus you all who have some Spanish ability recognize --- September comes from septem, October from octo, November from novem and December from decem, Latin for “ten.”
Why the names and numbers on the months no longer match is that in 1582, Pope Gregory adjusted the calendar so that January became the first month of the year. And in 1752, the British and the colonies adopted the same calendar which we call the Gregorian calendar.
That of course means very little for us today except for as I said we have an opportunity to understand this “tension” between the past and future through the eyes of faith.
Janus as I mentioned is usually depicted with two faces, one looking toward the past and the other toward the future. And in some ways, this is where we are today. We are “Janus” like, alive in this tension between the past and future. We are looking ahead and wondering what’s next. “What will this year bring forth? What can I reasonably expect?” And perhaps we’re also wondering, “Where is God leading us? What can we do better to utilize our gifts in the kingdom of God?” Likewise, we have our eyes on the past with longing and sadness as well fondness for what was.
Into this discussion, the Bible can help us, particularly, the story of the Magi. Because it is through the eyes and experiences of these foreigners, traveling from their native lands, east to west, that we can learn as we live in this tension.
The “magi,” not so much kings as our sending hymn our 18th century folk song suggests. More than likely they originated from a priestly class. Therefore, they were sorcerers, fortune-tellers, astrologers. They represent the “wisdom of the east.” Which in of itself is interesting because as you may know, Judaism and Christianity traditionally did not and do not care that much for fortune-tellers and astrology. If you are wondering why, Leviticus 19 is but one example. And to clarify we don’t know how many Magi there actually where, we go along with Longfellow’s famous poem, there were three because of the number of gifts. But perhaps the Orthodox churches have it right and there were twelve.
Whatever the number, the author of Matthew presents them as a bit innocent. They seem naive about Herod, and the political and social culture they enter, though they followed generally the proper trajectory --- east to west --- they wind up nine miles off, to Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem.
Yet it is there in Jerusalem that we are told, the magi tell King Herod about the birth of a “king of the Jews.” What a shock for these foreigners to tell Herod this because that of course is the title which technically belonged to Herod. But we digress for however innocent there were, they came following what they had believed a star had told them.
Now King Herod and the people of that day would not have been surprised at the mention of a natal star. The births of Pliny and Alexander the Great had supposedly been attended by astral events. Virgil notes that a star led Aeneas to the place where the city of Rome was to be founded.
More importantly however, at the news Herod we are told is agitated, troubled, filled with inner turmoil --- “and all Jerusalem with him.” Jerusalem as you may remember was a “company town,” dominated by the Temple bureaucracy, the king and their overseers, the Romans. So, when the king gets nervous, the whole city gets nervous. A “king of the Jews" other than Herod could be upsetting.
In response, Herod does what all of us can resonate with, he mines the past, trusts in what he knows. He calls the experts together --- “the chief priests and scribes.” Not so much unlike ourselves when confronted by something that throws us off balance; don’t we look to mine the past for answers. The “chief priests and scribes” provide an appropriate citation. The central text appears to be Micah 5: 2: “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to rule in Israel.”
Now after the past has given direction, we move but not without an interesting query; Herod quizzes the magi on the time the star appeared. Why is this important and how is it that everyone but these Magi missed this visible star we are left in the dark, nonetheless their response establishes a range of age that will set the stage for what happens in the section that follows: Herod's slaughter of the innocents. All born within two years of this “exact time” will be killed.
And perhaps using their naivety, Herod sends the magi to Bethlehem with his permission with the condition that they supply him information about the child. He wants to “worship” him, he says, but, of course, he really wants to eliminate this rival. Lying and violence go together. They are “business as usual” all under the guise of honoring the past. The magi seem to go along with this. They go interrupted by the star, which returns to guide them to the child.
We are then told that the magi see the child --- Mary is mentioned via preposition, and Joseph not at all --- and they worship. We are also told that gifts were presented. The magi bring gold and frankincense, which recalls Isaiah 60:6 --- “they shall bring gold and frankincense.” But those well-known gifts fit for a king also include myrrh, a very expensive perfume used by the Romans to mask the smell of decaying corpses. Why is this third gift included? It is as many have wondered does it portend the future --- that Jesus will die on the cross.
Before the magi take their leave, they receive a dream which tells them to avoid Herod, and they go home “by a different way.” The magi are led and instructed by God onto a new path.
Again, how does this story help us? Astrologists from the East recognizing what in hidden right before everyone? Magi giving gifts fit for a king and the dead?
In this final story regarding his birth we have a reminder of what the 20th-century Quaker theologian Elton Trueblood called the “holy conjunction” this tension between the coming together of “and:” Christ’s humanity and divinity, king and messiah, roots and fruits, the life of devotion and the life of service.
The late M. Scott Peck, a psychiatrist and best-selling author who wrote a lot about religious themes, took this idea of the holy conjunction further. He argued that the ability to integrate faith and reason into our lives is part of what constitutes integrity. Like the magi, “instead of an either/or style, we are pushing for both/and thinking. We are not trying to get rid of reason but promote ‘reason plus.’ Reason and mystery. Reason and emotion. Reason and intuition. Reason and revelation. Reason and wisdom. Reason and love.”
In other words, in the magi we have the conjunction of reason and mystery and in Herod we have the unwillingness to live in this tension and the threat it brings with the temptation to respond with lies and violence.
Another name for what Peck is talking about is the tension of opposites. It is this Janus-like looking backward/forward of this month: an exercise in seeing our opposites in tension; our beliefs and our actions often seem at odds or our strengths appear at times to be cancelled out by our weaknesses; our habits by change.
Parker J. Palmer, who writes on spirituality, says that more than once he “despaired at the corrosive effect” upon his life of his contradictions. He explains, “I had thought that living spiritually required a resolution of all contraries and tensions before one could hope, as it were, to earn one’s wings.” But he says that as he labored to remove these contradictions before presenting himself to God, he eventually realized he had to become less focused on the contradictions in his life and more focused on what God wanted him to be. “Perhaps,” he concluded, “contradictions are not impediments to the spiritual life, but an integral part of it. Through them we may learn that the power for life comes from God, not from us.”
We have placed January as our cultural beginning, but we would be amiss if we were not to be honest and see our tensions this new year; neither complacent about the places where we fall short, but fearful of what change in the power of God might mean. The foreign magi were comfortable living in that tension of reason and mystery but not Israel at the time of Jesus.
Let us therefore once again this Janus day, neither deny nor exalt in our contradictions --- are we foreign Magi who recognize Jesus/or are we so into our American culture we do not recognize Jesus --- but more importantly let us recognize and live into these tensions between our dreams and deeds and count on the grace of God each day. Paul would later explain it this way to the Philippians, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”
The ancient Roman god Janus along with our gospel story reminds us that six days into 2019, on the first day of new season, while we know we have not yet reached the goal of full identification with Christ, let us press on for we are in Christ. Let us live into the tension between our dreams and deeds and live on Jesus. Christmas is over and now is the time to leave from the manager a different way than the way we came.
Today, this is more necessary than ever. At Hope do we live out as a church with habits of the past or live into the unknown because Christ Jesus has made us his own? This question can be one for us as citizens, can we be politically conservative and advocate for social justice? Can we be politically liberal and promote personal responsibility?
In our story of the magi can we be foreigners and recognize the reason and mystery of the Christ child? Can we both give and leave our gifts and go a different way? As Martin Luther put it, can we be simultaneously saint and sinner?
Let us live into this two-faced Janus for in faithful living will we find grace for the new year as we are Christ’s own. Amen.

"Our Song" - 12/23/2018

Sermon presented at Hope Lutheran Church on December 23, 2018, 4th Sunday of Advent based on the Gospel Luke 1: 46-55. Recently, I had an interesting experience that I have not had in a long time. We were invited to someone’s home for fellowship but that was not what was different. What was interesting was that we had group singing! Over refreshments and before a light dinner, we sang Christmas carols at someone’s home!
Group singing is rapidly becoming a lost art in our wired culture. I am thankful for our shared ministry “beer and hymns” events we had this past year, but I realize that are some of you who remember the singalongs around a piano in someone’s living room or a church hall. That’s a pleasure largely lost on most of us who are younger.
In thinking about that experience, I also realized that as 21st century Americans, there are just four occasions --- outside of hymn-singing in church and perhaps at a concert with our favorite performer --- when we typically consent to turn off the TV, or remove the earbuds, stow the smartphone and join our neighbors --- in song.
The first one I thought of is the solemn observance we share: singing the National Anthem together at a sporting event or community gathering. The second time we seem to sing together is during the seventh-inning stretch at a baseball game. Against all odds, at the first stanza of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” --- a pop song of a bygone era --- people join in. The third is at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. Although the Scottish dialect of “Auld Lang Syne” is largely incomprehensible to many, it is the one foreign language song that some will cheerfully mumble their way through it --- maybe it is the champagne that helps. I wonder if we should try some prosecco or champagne at church to help our church singing?
But it is the fourth national if not international song that I think is truly the one where even the most diehard, “I can’t sing” person will join. The fourth is “Happy Birthday to You” just before the guest of honor blows out the candles on the cake.
It is this fourth one, that I have been thinking about as we approach Christmas for some obvious and less obvious reasons. There’s something very personal, even intimate, about singing “Happy Birthday to You.” Unlike the other numbers in our oh-so-limited national American songbook, this is the only song directed to an individual. It is not directed to support patriotism, each other or a seventh inning stretch. Rather it is a song which the whole gang may cheerfully join, in a personal way by name!
We do remember and observe the birthdays of some people we don’t know personally, mainly because there are Monday holidays associated with them ---George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. --- but if it weren’t for the day off from work, even those would probably escape our attention.
The other big public birthday celebration, of course, is Christmas. The irony here, though, is that nobody knows when Jesus’ real birthday is. December 25th was chosen by the early church, several generations later, to blunt and co-opt the impact of the Roman winter solstice celebrations. As the pagans in the northern hemisphere celebrated the coming of the sun, it was easy for Christians to celebrate the birth of the Son of Righteousness.
That is why today’s gospel reading is so interesting because for Christians. “Happy Birthday” is not the preferred song as we prepare for God to blow life into this world. Rather we have a new song, the Magnificat, Mary’s song.
Fortunately for Mary, she has a home to go to sing, a place where she receives a warm welcome. Although we don’t include the back story, her older cousin Elizabeth is also expecting. Whatever her neighbors in Nazareth may be whispering about her, she knows she and Elizabeth will have much to talk about.
Elizabeth receives her with the warmest possible greeting: “Blessed are you...” It’s not the sort of thing people typically said to an unmarried teenage mother. No, the people around such a young woman are more likely to say, “Cursed are you. Cursed are you, to have brought such a fate down upon yourself and upon this family.” Elizabeth, however, has no such reservations. She welcomes her relative with open arms. She blesses her.
Mary’s not the only one who can sense the blessing in this upcoming birthday. Elizabeth does too. Between them, they have more than enough faith to see this thing through, giving life to both Jesus and John: two men who, between them, will change the world. It couldn’t have happened, though, without the faithful vision of Mary and Elizabeth, enabling them to bear the burden of this birthday. It is to this welcome from Elizabeth that Mary sings.
Now we know that there are of course several others what are called songs in the Bible, poetic words without the music. In the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, there are the songs of Moses (Ex 15: 1-18), Miriam (Ex 15: 19-21), Deborah (Ju 5:1-31), and Hannah (1 Sam 2:1-10). And there are a couple more in the New Testament all found in Luke who will besides Mary’s Song provide three more, the song of Zechariah (1:67-79), Simeon (2:28-32), and that of “a multitude of the heavenly host” (2:15).
But it is this song, commonly called “the Magnificat” that we are all encouraged to group sing along with today. It is a song where Mary in the first part (1:47-50) speaks of what God has done for her. What does God do for Mary? God “…has looked upon the humiliation of his servant, for behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed...” In first century Israel, one could hardly be more humiliated than to be a dirt-poor, unmarried, teenage woman.
Yet, “behold!”, Mary exclaims. “Behold” is an important word. It signals: “Pay special attention.” “From now on” --- from hitting bottom onward --- everyone “will call me blessed.” Mary’s relative Elizabeth had already done so, and repeatedly, but now everyone will.
“...for the Powerful One has done great for me and holy his name, and his mercy (is) into generations and generations, to the ones fearing him...” Mary concludes her own personal exaltation of God for doing “great for me.” She then celebrates God's mercy far into the future.
In the second half (1:51-55), Mary speaks of what God has done for Israel and the world, a theme that we will hear repeated throughout Luke; the proud, the powerful, and the rich are the opponents of Jesus. But now in Mary's child, God has intervened on behalf of the “lowly” and the “hungry.” God lifts them up, but “scatters the proud ones,” “destroys the powerful ones,” and “sends away empty” the rich.
Mary is singing that God has a “preferential option for the poor.” God is always on the side of those on the bottom, those who are excluded, those left out. It is of course, not that the poor will suddenly become materially rich, rather that God is about justice. Yet, God does not triumph over the rich and powerful in a vindictive way, but rather as a loving parent. God wants the rich and powerful to change, like Zacchaeus and join the mission of the kingdom.
What this group song reminds us is that this is how God triumphs. God triumphs not through violence. Violence is the way of the powers of this world, and of evil and is their customary pattern. God, however, triumphs through compassion and love.
So, as Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth, she sings her own birthday song. Unlike however when we sing “Happy Birthday to you…” Mary’s anthem of God’s triumph is not without its dark themes --- the scattering of the proud, the fall of kings. What a burden she must bear! Yet, what a blessing she discerns during it all.
On this 4th Sunday of Advent, can this be our song as well? Absolutely for all of us have been lifted, no matter the depth of where we are or where people or society have put us, we are lifted by God’s love, forgiveness and grace. Or perhaps we are the rich, reminded to walk in the steps of Jesus. Today Mary teaches us a new song, that not only does God not care about our wealth, what we have or have not achieved, God prefers the poor.
When Mary’s sings todays, there is a so much behind it. For example, Jesus’ upcoming birthday is a burden for Mary and Joseph, no doubt about it. The news of Mary’s pregnancy during her betrothal period sets off a minor scandal. It nearly leads to a breakup of her relationship with Joseph. As so often happens with awkward pregnancies everywhere, Mary travels away from home for a while. Whether her parents arrange to have her sent away, or through Joseph’s insistence or whether she undertakes the journey on her own, no one knows and is left unsaid. This journey could very well be that everyone needs to get a little distance from each other to sort out this ambiguous news --- a mixture of joy and anxiety.
This is where it returns to us. It is a mixture of joy and anxiety for us who live 21 centuries post-Birthday to remember it’s not always an easy thing to glimpse God’s promise in these days. It is hard to join in group singing.
It’s so much easier to avoid the truth and focus on the veneer, the things the world is fond of seeing this time of year. The promise of the secular Christmas is merrymaking --- without true joy. It’s a profusion of material goods --- bereft of spiritual values. It’s frantic, scurrying people grasping --- all the while failing to celebrate gifts of the Spirit they’ve already been offered in abundance.
Faced with the onslaught of Christmas materialism, it’s easy to avoid singing during the holiday. It is easier to complain. We complain about Christmas trees going up in department stores before Halloween. We complain of how “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” so often seem to drown out “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and “Silent Night.” We complain about people rightly pointing out that the words to “Baby, it’s cold outside” has a much darker meaning 50 plus years later. We complain that the holiday seems to have hijacked the holy day.
Well, these things are all true, but if we let our distaste for all that birthday materialism eclipse the deeper meaning of Christmas found in Mary’s song, then this birthday will lose it depth and simply become another “Happy Birthday.”
In just a day, we will be singing Christmas carols. Within days we will sing for a new year. Bowl games will begin with our national anthem.
It is today, in this Christmas group song from Mary that we truly are blessed. Blessed are we, as we walk through these final days of Advent with eyes wide open to the signs of God’s presence for the lowly --- and God’s promise to the rich and powerful --- ready to sing along with Mary. Amen.

"Fear" - 12/16/2018

Sermon based on Zephaniah 3:14-20 and Luke 3:7-18 shared at Hope Lutheran Church.

“Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
That line is from the carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” It is a wonderful image of eternal light beaming from a stable setting where the Christ child dozes. But did you do what most of us do, not really hear that line? Hope springs eternal from this birth to a world where hope so often seems in short supply …. but fears? “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” What does fears have to do with Christmas?
The history of the carol provides a hint. It was written in 1868 by the famed Episcopal pastor of Trinity Church in Boston, Rev. Phillips Brooks. As you may have noticed it was 150 years ago and the American Civil War had ended only three years earlier. Yes, Lee and Grant had signed their peace accord. Yes, battle-weary veterans from both sides had laid down their arms and trudged home. But just imagine, families had been decimated by the carnage of the most brutal war America had ever known. Families counted themselves lucky if those returning had come home lacking an arm or a leg or an eye or shivering with PTSD. They knew their loved ones could just as easily have not come home at all. Major portions of this nation still lay in ruins, the KKK was growing in power and influence and President Andrew Johnson --- regarded by many historians as our nation’s worst --- was doing his best to dismantle everything his predecessor President Lincoln had accomplished for former slaves at such a terrible human cost.
Therefore, when Rev. Brooks wrote the lyrics to what became “O little town of Bethlehem,” it gave war torn Americans some comfort to picture the humble Bethlehem stable as the place where hope and fear meet each other in the Christ child. Almost seems quaint --- but is it? Although most of us ignore the lyrics of what we sing, I wonder if it is important to review why fear is included at all?
Do we have fears? Our answers, no doubt, are probably as varied as our numbers this Sunday morning. Now I don’t want to engage in a debate into what is real or imagined because public perceptions do not match reality. Although you and I are largely safer and on average will live longer than fifty years ago I sense most of us would say these are anxious times. Whether rich or poor, employed or unemployed, member of the majority or minority, the cacophonous “Isn’t it awful?” refrain of our American society pounds its way into our hearts and minds.
Now if you are still wondering what that has to do with preparing for Christmas look again at our gospel and John the Baptist. How can that voice crying in the wilderness be something other than a bump in the road. It seems quite the opposite from anything Christmas: “Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet, let me let you in on a little secret, Christmas is as much about fear as it is about hope; we cannot have one without being honest of the other.
We do not vanquish fear by denying or avoiding it for fear is as much a part of the Christmas story as peace and joy. By acknowledging our fears, it will help us prepare for what comes. It is only by moving through our fears can we fully grasp the joy that awaits us on the other side, the triumphant good news of the Christ child coming into the world.
We see that played out in today’s scripture not only in Luke but in our Old Testament lesson as well. If you ever wonder, why Lutherans bother to read from the Old Testament, this week is a good reminder. The author of the gospel according to Luke seems to be trafficking in fear while the Zephaniah passage sounds a note of triumphant hope: “The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.”
Not that Zephaniah’s larger prophecy is all sweetness and light. Like his contemporary the prophet Jeremiah, Zephaniah earlier voices the message of an angry God seemingly with words that John the Baptist could have repeated: “On that day, says the Lord ... I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the people who rest complacently …., those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm.’”
Those words from over three thousand years ago could be an indictment of our culture. How many of our neighbors respond to God with a shrug, “The Lord will not do good, nor will God do harm”? How many of us feel the same? But that is the point of Zephaniah and John the Baptist, if we do not grapple with our fears honestly, we will certainly not be able to understand a God of love.
Now if you are wondering how is it that John’s and Zephaniah’s words that seem more about judgement help us to understand our fears? I know I am getting ahead of myself, but we hear it in the angel’s repeated greeting: “Do not be afraid.” To Joseph, to Mary, to Zechariah, to Elizabeth, to the Shepherds, just go down the list of Christmas characters. What is said to all of them, “Do not be afraid!”
There is the obvious, an angelic presence might have seemed startling, but fear is about the future. We humans have a negativity bias. Our brains pay more attention to the negative situations, experiences and information in life than the positive. It’s easy to imagine a future of gloom and doom rather than to imagine a positive and happy one. So for example, God sends a message about the future and we imagine ---- gloom and doom.
Second, fear is about loss. We fear change. We fear the end of things. We fear that someone we love will leave us or die. We fear losing a job, income or the pleasures we’ve come to enjoy. We fear losing our health, comfort and control. We fear we’ll be rejected. We fear dying alone. That is why when we hear about God’s judgement, like in John’s message, we immediately assume the loss of control, and we do not like change!
Once we walk out these doors, we don’t get any of this discussion in the secular version of the coming holiday. I triple dare you, when you are at HEB next time and O little town of Bethlehem comes on and the line is repeated “Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight” see what happens if you were to shout out, “Let’s talk about our fears!” and see what happens.
Christmas has been made into all light and no shadow, all merriment and no wickedness. And for those who turn for a moment from the relentless yuletide cheer to acknowledge some all-too-human problem, difficulty or fear, they might be accused of lacking enough “Christmas spirit.”
Our secular American culture may be quick to domesticate God into a benevolent philanthropist, a kindly figure very much like Santa Claus, but that’s not the full biblical witness. To prepare for the coming of the Messiah we are preparing as John the Baptist is reminding us that “God is to be loved, yes; but God is also to be feared” and we can’t have one without the other. We are afraid of loss; we are afraid of loss of control and can’t imagine God any other way! No wonder it is a shock when it comes in a baby! Fear in a baby?
I realize that is a problematic thing to say, because none of us wants to hear about fear when churches around this nation are less and less important in people’s lives. Who wants to be reminded of fear especially to neighbors who already have an image of God as harshly judgmental --- perhaps even terrifying. Pastor, what we need right now is to be reminded that God is one of love and peace, of empowerment and affirmation.
Well, God is all those things as well, to be sure --- but in order to do so, we need to bring our fears as Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth and all the rest brought theirs. Clearly, John the Baptist sees the connection, as do the gospel-writers, as they bookend the Christmas story with angels who preface good news with “Fear not,” on one side, and with the soldiers of a jealous national leader who run babies through with their swords, on the other.
We don’t get to Christmas by detouring around fear. Rather in this season of preparation, if we listen to our fears, Zephaniah and John are telling us good news. They’re telling us that all these fears of ours are ultimately powerless when laid up against the great plans God has for this world and all who dwell therein.
Theologian Leonard Sweet describes this Sunday this way by in a story about a certain Native American tribe who had a unique way of preparing its young for adulthood. On the night of a boy’s or girls 13th birthday, they were led out into the wilderness to spend 3 days alone. Most young people, at that point in their lives, had never been away from the security of their elders. Yet, these young teenagers were blindfolded and taken miles away. When each one took off their blindfold, they found themselves in the middle of the wilderness. Alone. Dependent on nothing but their wits, what they remembered from their survival training and the good will of the Great Spirit.
We can well imagine the three days for these young people. Imagination magnified every sound, until it seemed like a fearsome monster. But then, finally, came the fourth day. When dawn broke, they would rub the sleep from their eyes and look around. What they would see would not just be the wilderness in the light of the day but — a person from the tribe, standing armed with bow and arrow. It would be a parent or other elder. They would have been there all along, weapons at the ready, watching over these youngsters for the whole time.
What did that teach those young adults? Fear is human. We are all afraid. There are indeed times when thick darkness surrounds us, and we may justifiably wonder if we’ll ever see daylight again. Our nights can be long and dark. But those young people were taught that even in our deepest moments and times of loneliness and despair, we are not alone. There is one who waits beside us.
In a matter of days, we will gather to celebrate the good news of the Messiah’s birth. Will these days of fear meet hope in the manger? The fear of God, as Proverbs says, is “the beginning of wisdom” because we when we are honest about our fears, we are open to the fact that we are not in control, and we will face loss, and those fears will be met by the presence of God as a babe. Amen.

Christians under Construction - 12-9-2018

Sermon shared at Hope Lutheran on Sunday, December 9th based on Philippians 1: 3-11. 

How are the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City and the Ajuda National Palace in Lisbon, Portugal related? All are unfinished, incomplete, still in the process of being built. Link to list of unfinished buildings
The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, is 601 feet long and 124 feet high and features the longest Gothic nave and rose window in the U.S. Yet, although construction of this colossal building began in 1892 and has been fully open since 1941, there are still portions still waiting to be completed. Over the years, the congregation has been plagued by financial woes, changes in architectural plans, wartime delays, engineering problems and, in 2001, a fire. Thus, today, 126 years to the month after the cornerstone was laid, this massive church is dubbed “Saint John the Unfinished.”
But if you think that project has taken a long time, consider the Ajuda National Palace in Lisbon. It originally started in 1796 as the home for the Portuguese royal family. Over the centuries a series of wars hampered construction as well as financial problems. Yet through it all construction continued until the 1910 Portuguese revolution which abolished the monarchy and evicted the occupants. Currently the half-finished palace functions as a museum.
Yet, I wonder if those ventures along with the countless others from the New Zealand Parliament building to the Westminster Cathedral hate it when that word --- unfinished --- gets attached to their names? I know I do because we have a few at our home. We have yet to repaint my youngest daughter’s bedroom, even though she is now away to college. Along with that, we have several other projects that we would prefer to call “a work in progress.”
However, we label such incomplete projects, whether large or small they seem to stand in judgment of us, reminding us that while we may have plenty of ideas and ambition, we’re not so good with follow-through. No matter how much we would prefer to say we are done, we have plans, projects, that remain.
Of course, it’s one thing to have unfinished plans around the house; it’s quite another thing to realize how unfinished we are as individuals --- how far short we fall of the goal of being the persons God calls us to be. Given that the New Testament uses the word “saints” to refer to living followers of Jesus, that means we could refer to ourselves as “Saint Charles the Unfinished,” or “Saint Carolyn the Unfinished.” We acknowledge that we are works in progress --- “Lutherans under construction.”
Dr. Martin Luther, the 15th century Roman Catholic priest, university professor, and reformer, our namesake, called it being “simul justus et peccator” which we loosely translate into English as “simultaneous saint and sinner;” that is at the same time both righteous and broken. Human beings are justified by grace alone, but at the same time we will always remain sinners, even after baptism.
How can this be? Luther pointed out that being a saint isn’t simply about what we do or don’t do but about who we are in relationship with God. Likewise, that is also true of being far from God, for it isn’t all about what we do or don’t do, but who we are living yet in a broken relationship with God.
For example, the focus of the story of Adam and Eve’s is not just that they ate a piece of fruit; broke one of God’s rules. Their real issue in the story was their desire to be “like God,” relying on their self-centered judgment rather than trusting God above everything else including their own consciences. For us, too, our specific behaviors are only symptoms of this self-centered condition that theologians call “original” to all humanity. Meaning that you and I may not be murders, a symptom of this broken relationship with God, yet we are in the same boat.
Well, whether you are Lutheran or not, this image of being unfinished is not a Lutheran invention; it comes right from Scripture. For instance, the author of Hebrews wrote, “Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God ...” (6:1).
The writer of Hebrews wasn’t suggesting that we abandon the basic teachings about Christ in the sense of rejecting them for something different. Rather the author was saying that if we’re spending all our time repeating the basics of the faith --- it is just echoing --- then we aren’t moving.
For example, I lived in Iceland for a year in the early 1980’s in what people call nowadays a gap year during college. The family who gave me board were building a new home and I provided some cheap labor. As you can imagine in that context, to do any construction you have to spend a lot of time and money on the foundation going deeply below the permafrost. We spent days on the rebar and forms until finally we had reached the point of pouring the cement. I remember the fears of the family, “Had we done enough?” Likewise, there comes a time when we need to build upon our foundation. That connects to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, where after commanding his followers to love their enemies, he added, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
I realize that is a lengthy introduction, but I think that is helpful as we hear Paul’s assertion in our Philippians reading: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”
“The day of Jesus Christ” in that verse refers to the time of Jesus’ second coming and is no doubt the reason that the lectionary committee selected this passage as the 2nd reading for this Second Sunday of Advent, a season of the church year that both celebrates Jesus’ first coming, in the Incarnation and anticipates his second coming at the consummation of the age.
But the apostle’s Paul’s point is, the completion point of a life in God is not until the end, and even then, it only comes with God’s help. In the meantime, we are not to let our shortcomings in our lives derail us from going on toward perfection in love, from growing in Christ, from gaining faithful maturity. In other words, we have no clue as to when God will complete what God has been doing since the dawn of time, through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, so don’t let what God is doing, stop us from doing what we are to be --- towards perfection.
In the Philippians passage, Paul goes on to say that his prayer for the believers in Philippi is that their “love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help [them] to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ [they] may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.”
The late British author C.S. Lewis, the author for example of the “Lion, Witch and Wardrobe” wrote about this. He said that when we seek Christ’s help in being the person God wants us to be, Christ doesn’t settle for giving us just a little.
As an illustration, Lewis explained that as a child, he had toothaches and knew that if he told his parents, they’d give him an aspirin to deaden the pain for the night. But he wouldn’t tell them until the pain got bad because he also knew they would also take him to the dentist the next day and he didn’t want that. “I wanted immediate relief from pain,” Lewis wrote, “but I could not get it without having all my teeth examined. And I knew those dentists; I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache. They would not let sleeping dogs lie; if you gave them an inch, they took it all.”
Lewis went on to say that Christ is like the dentist, Christ provides love and forgiveness but will not stop there, for he wants to make us perfect. Lewis pictures Christ saying “Make no mistake, I will make you perfect. ... I will never rest, until you are literally perfect… until my Father can say without reservation that he is well pleased with you, as he is well pleased with me.” If you give Christ an inch, he’ll take it all.
So, why is this fact of faith important to recognize. I think that diagnosing the unfinished nature not only reminds us none of us is to be stagnant in faith. It also reminds us about the nature of growth. It is not however about morals, certainly morals come into play. Rather it begins with being humble, recognizing that we aren’t all that God intends for us to be. This humility is so that we are gracious and willing to listen far more than we are to about to tell others what to do.
Likewise, this is a reminder to beware of certainty. The unfinished nature of our knowledge means that our “Christ lite” opinions aren’t the last word on all the topics of faith. Some of our notions on faith may even turn out to be “half-baked” --- which is a synonym for unfinished. I remember seeing this in some of the missionaries I experienced in Japan, so full of certainty that not only did the ignore the nearly 600 years of Christians in that nation, but of a spirituality that goes back for a millennium.
This realization is also a reminder that we work on being perfect in love. We do that by saying yes as God reveals new things to us that need to be converted to go forward in our relationship with Christ and with others. Consistency in the Christian life does not begin at Baptism rather and ends at confirmation or when we have reached 80, faithful life comes slowly and sometimes even painfully through subsequent submissions to God’s call and refining Holy Spirit. For instance, Lutherans are celebrating over 40 years of the ordination of women, yet to this day not only are there other Christians against this very notion, there are capable women who are not accepted in positions of leadership. The same goes for pastors who are LGBTQ. Every day is a new beginning what have we yet to learn?
Remember that although the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine is far from finished, ministry has been taking place there since its beginning. It is true in our lives: although we may be half-baked, we are God’s people not only in acts of love, generosity and faithfulness but exploring new ways that are being revealed. Where in our lives of faith do, we need to explore as we live out God’s kingdom?
As always let us be hopeful although unfinished. Reminded that as each of us remains in Christ, “the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” So, we are Christians under construction moving toward perfection. A fellow pastor shared it this way. During her final year of college, she sought some advice from one of her professors. He said, “Remember that even if you make the right choice, you’re forgiven.” True enough! Amen.

"What do you know?" - 11/18/2018

Sermon preached at Hope Lutheran based on Mark 13: 1-8

“What do you know?” The standard response of course is “not much ---you.” Today’s lesson is a reminder to us as Christians that we live on a need to know basis, that is why when some may ask us, “What do you know” --- “not much you” are so accurate.
Of course, that expression is found in other places when honesty to the question of “What do you know?” “I know enough.” For example, one’s “need to know” probably has military origins. When the military believes that certain information is extremely sensitive, the files are placed under severe restrictions. In these cases, the government does not want someone who is unauthorized or lacking proper security clearances to be privy to sensitive data. What do you know when you are low on the list, “not much…you”
Parents --- to cite another example --- do not tell their children everything. They don’t want their children to be burdened or to worry about things children should not worry about. What when a child was to ask another, “What do you know…” the child can truthfully answer “not much…you?”
God, likewise, does not tell us everything, perhaps for similar reasons as parents with children. A part of our faith journey includes acknowledgement that we’re on a need-to-know basis and “what do you know?” --- “Not much you?”
In Acts 1:7, Jesus tells his disciples that there are some things they do not need to know. “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.” But here’s the thing: We do know something!
In today’s text, clearly, the disciples need to know something and receive a reminder of “need to know.” So, what do they “need to know?”
Before that let’s back up. In our gospel, Jesus and the disciples leave the Temple for the last time. The next time they are here it will be for Jesus’s death. As they leave, an unnamed disciple exclaims on the magnificence of the Temple. “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”
That is not that odd, remember many of the men and women who followed Jesus were from the small villages around Galilee. They probably had not wandered far from the Sea of Galilee, which gave them their livelihood. So, when you take those who have lived among a few rough homes and where a few dozen people were the whole community, to the city for the first time, or bring some uneducated fishermen from the uncultured north, you’re going to get men and women who are mightily impressed with what they see. We are told that all the disciples were impressed. “Look at these buildings! So cool! Look at this temple! And the size of the blocks of granite! Wow!”
Jesus, however was not impressed. Of course, he’d been to the temple before and had even held a seminar there at the age of 12 for some of the most learned rabbis of the country. Jesus told the disciples that the temple was just a heap of rocks. “Ah, you’ve noticed! Yes, these buildings and stones are huge, but I will let you in on a secret. The day is coming when not a stone will be left untouched. This place is going down.”
After this comment, the disciples and Jesus continued their way. Then we have a rather abrupt change of venue. Jesus and the disciples are sitting “over against” --- the Temple on the Mount of Olives. An appropriate setting because the Mount of Olives had apocalyptic associations. For example, it is the place from which God would fight against the enemies of Israel according to Old Testament prophet Zechariah.
There we are told four of the disciples --- Peter, James, John and Andrew --- took Jesus aside and away from the others --- perhaps they thought the other disciples did not need to know, “and they asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’” (vv. 3-4).
Surprisingly, Jesus agreed with them --- to a point. At the end of this chapter, Jesus reminded them that “about that day or hour [when the heavens and earth will pass away] no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (v. 32). So, Jesus begins to share what he does know and what he feels these four disciples “need to know.”
What does he say, and what does it mean? Our reading is only a small part of what Jesus does say to them. Briefly let’s review. Here’s how he begins: “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs” (vv. 5-8).
From that we gather, we need to know that false teachers exist. Falsehoods are always lurking. Their selling points? They have some authority otherwise they wouldn’t be “shepherds,” but what they are adding to what they know is not true. In other words, they are suggesting that whereas most of us are on a need-to-know basis, they are not. Somehow, they have access to knowledge no one else has.
Be cautious, Jesus, says. What you need to know, Jesus is reminding them, is that NO ONE knows more than you will know right now. He will later say that neither he nor the angels know what is known only to God. Be careful about signing on with a charismatic leader who claims to have knowledge, a key to the Book of Revelation for example that no one else has.
What else do we need to know? We need to know that faithfulness to God is not about buildings, regardless of their size or history. The temple was beautiful, marble and gold among others, with a thousand plus year history at the time of Jesus. Today, that temple of stone and marble is gone. All that remains is a base of one wall. Yet, the church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. What do we need to know? We may worship in buildings, we may even spend most of our budget on maintaining them, but God does not live in buildings made by human hands. God dwells in the human heart here and out these doors.
What else do we need to know? Well, we know that our faith is not linear. Yet, Jesus reminds us that life will not keep going around and round in repetitious moments of joy and suffering; all of this is headed toward a culminating point --- a point about which we know very little. There was a beginning, and there is an end point. God is a God of story, of creation. God is going to wrap things up. This is our hope. Jesus told the disciples that when the temple comes down, it is not the end, but the beginning of the “birth pangs” … the end is still to come, and then a new beginning.
We also need to know that there is no cause for alarm. While we may feel everything is falling apart, coming down, things are simultaneously, coming together. For example, an Episcopal priest by the name of Michael Marsh once wrote, “I remember the morning of my divorce. I remember the afternoon my younger son called and said, ‘Dad, I just joined the Marines!’ I remember the night my older son died. With each of those events one of the great buildings of my life was thrown down. Stones that I had so carefully placed and upon which I had built my life no longer stood one upon another. Temples of my world had fallen. My world had changed, and my life would be different.” He goes on to write that we all build temples, and all of them will eventually come crashing down. Jesus reminds us that as we stand in the rubble, God is alongside prepared to help us rebuild.
Granted while all this provides us somethings for us to know it also leaves many, many questions answered. But think about, what don’t we need to know? Well, for example: For one moment in our lives we once held a world record; when we were born, we were the “youngest person on the planet.” More people die while taking “selfies” than from shark attacks. The world’s tallest building --- Burj Khalifa --- is so tall that, after seeing the sunset at ground level, you can grab a lift to the observation deck at the top and watch the sunset again! All trivia, and now we know. But do we really need to know it?
We don’t need to know when or how soon Jesus is coming. No matter what TV garbage a preacher might say, what we did need to know we have been told, and just a reminder they don’t know either. For all of us are on a need to know basis.
We don’t need to know what is going to happen tomorrow. Instead, now I don’t like to quote scripture out of context but let me read Matthew 6:34. Jesus said, “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” We’re on a need-to-know basis because we already have enough that we know about.
What should we do in the meantime? First, and therefore most important, keep calm and get ready for Thanksgiving and give thanks! Second, be alert and watchful. Jesus, too, tells us to “keep awake.” What should we watchful for? Not for caravans of people searching for a better life, or wars or famine or deadly fires, or earthquakes. Rather, we are watchful so that we can be the helpers to rebuild and care and share the love of God through Jesus.
For Mark, God is indeed intervening, but not in the form of earthquakes or war or bad things happening to good people, or the occasional miracle rather God has come as one who suffers, one who reigns from a cross, who as Simeon suggests at this very same Temple 30 plus years before when he saw Jesus as an infant, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation of the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
So, what you know? Not much you? And what we do know, we have been given: forgiveness and love through God's grace from Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

"Enough is Enough" - 11/11/2018

Sermon presented at Hope Lutheran based on Mark 12: 38-44

Picture two older people. Both are in their 80’s and struggling with pain. At first it was the small things, the difficulty they noticed with getting dressed, getting out of bed or the car and the walking. Over time the pain reached a point that it got to be too much and first my father and in December my mother went through and will be going through hip replacement surgery. Their threshold of pain had been reached; Enough is enough.
Picture a man who’s been struggling for many months with a thought. He’s always enjoyed having a drink with dinner, but what began long ago as one drink has turned into two, or three and where he needs a drink to get through the day. His marriage and job are on the rocks. He’s troubled by the thought that maybe he’s an alcoholic. A friend of his who’s in recovery himself has said as much. He’s told him about Alcoholics Anonymous and how it literally saved his life. He’s given him his card and said, “Call me any time.” The man fishes the card out of his top dresser drawer. Enough is enough.
Picture a woman who has been abused for years. She has compromised, lied to herself, and given in, traced and retraced the same pathways, resurrected the same tired, old arguments for and against staying in the marriage. There seems to be no way out. Over the years, she has gently suggested a therapist and once even caught herself in the car ready to drive away. But each time, she stayed perhaps too frightened and for a while there was the children. Now, one morning she realizes there is only one solution. She packs her bags and leaves. Enough is enough.
Why is it that, in each of these instances, somebody’s finally able to say, “Enough is enough?” While others of us may continue? Today’s story of what is commonly called the “Widow’s Mite” is perhaps an example of someone declaring “enough is enough” with profound ramifications.
Let’s review. It is Tuesday of the week that Jesus will die. Jesus had entered the city of Jerusalem two days previous. On the first day, upon entering the city, Jesus had gone to the Temple, looked the place over, then left for Bethany which was about two miles away.
The next day, Monday, Jesus came back to the Temple, this time he famously drove out both “those who were selling and those who were buying.” In anger, Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers, who changed coinage into coins that could be used at the temple, coins without any face or symbol so not to break the commandments all for a fee of course. Jesus also turned over the seats of those who sold doves. Why doves? They were the least expensive animal sold to the poor that could be purchased for the obligatory sacrifice at the altar of the Temple.
Now remember that this is a direct attack on that whole system. The Temple was not only a religious but an economic institution as well. It had hundreds of employees, and Jerusalem was a “company town.”
So, our reading today comes the day after that outrageous incident, on Tuesday of what we know as Holy Week. During this week Jesus also spoke on several controversial topics, skewering all his major opponents --- chief priests, scribes, elders, Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians --- we are told to the great delight of the crowd.
Today, Jesus began speaking about the scribes --- those who kept the rules of the Temple who desire to prance around in long robes, receive greetings in the marketplaces, and sit in the most desirable seats in the synagogues and at dinners. In a society heavily influenced by issues of honor and status. Jesus mocks them for it.
Apart from their ostentatious display, however the scribes also do real damage. In that economic system, they are “the ones devouring the houses of widows.” When someone died, for example, the scribes would help “manage” the deceased person's estate. Naturally, the scribes would charge a hefty fee for this “service.” Making matters even worse, the scribes accompanied their exploitation with a thick layer of sanctimony --- “praying publicly, praying long.”
Then --- notice the stage direction in this event --- Jesus “sat opposite the treasury.” This treasury was in the Court of Women section of the Temple. It consisted of 13 flute-shaped chests into which people threw their offerings. This was quite an open procedure. That such a system might generate some “showing off” would not be surprising. Thanks to www.progressivinvolement.org

It is there we are told, Jesus notices a poor widow among others who came and put in two small coins, worth a penny. After witnessing this, Jesus called his disciples. He prefaced his remark to them with “truly I tell you,” indicating as you know an important message. The poor woman has given more than anyone, he says, “for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” Jesus' gives a three-fold description of the woman's economic condition. She gave: “out of her poverty,” “everything she had,” “all she had to live on.”
We need to be reminded Jesus does not laud the woman nor is there any comment on her faith. Even Jesus himself, it seems, thinks the widow’s gift is too much for he notices that she gave “all she had to live on.” And yet, it’s her decision --- her desire to give herself into poverty. No one --- not even those around her --- would have said this woman ought to give up the very last two coins she had, placing herself in abject poverty.
But she does it anyway. She does it of her own volition. Strange as it may seem she decides that having --- absolutely nothing --- enough is enough. What led to that? Perhaps Jesus knew but he does not tell us. Had she given up on life? Was she terminally ill? Depressed? Whatever it was for her in giving she guarantees she will not have enough. She may die as a result of this action.
Why is Jesus noticing this? One reason may be because, remember this is during the week Jesus will die. It’s parallel to a decision Jesus himself will soon make, just a few days from the date he tells this parable. As Mark tells it, Jesus struggles with the agony in the garden when he implores, “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want.” A short time after, he will be on the cross, when this happens: “Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ... Then Jesus breathed his last.”
Have you ever wondered, why did Jesus choose that Friday to say enough is enough and give it all? Why that Passover holiday? Why not another year or two later? Why not a year before? Was it in this woman’s example that Jesus saw his own giving. “Enough is enough” and gave it all?
Well, what can this mean for us? Saying “enough is enough” can be a good thing. At that time, it may not feel good, pleasant or an easy decision, but it’s a recognition that it’s time for a change. It’s a decision to move on. What is that trigger?
Let me give you one possible example. “You can never be too rich or too thin,” said Wallis Warfield Simpson, who married King Edward VIII of England --- a decision that led to his decision to abdicate the throne. Many people --- thinking of the deadly diseases of anorexia and bulimia --- would disagree with the Duchess of Windsor on the too-thin part. But too rich? What does that mean? To quote a character in one of Jesus’ parables, “You can always build a bigger barn, right?” --- but that when it comes to the accumulation of material wealth, do we believe the sky’s the limit? Is there ever enough is enough?
We notice that in the book of Revelation. As many of you know at one spot the author spins a colorful picture of a heavenly city that’s about as far removed from the widow’s last two coins as possible. This city --- God’s city --- is positively glittering: “The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel. ... And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.”
This opulence of course, is beside the point. Why? Like much of Revelation, the author provides a message of hope in comparison to the opulence --- the beast --- of Rome, the center of that known world. The author points out that God’s kingdom is greater, that even that earthly glitter is insignificant because of the glory described in the verses that follow: “I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”
Do you notice the irony? What value are streets of glittering gold and gates of shimmering pearl in a city that is lit by the glory of God? Exactly, no value what so ever.
Let’s return to the widow in our story. Whatever drove her to say enough is enough and give everything away into abject poverty Jesus may have seen a flicker of God’s light. Even if she could have contrived to take that copper with her --- it would be utterly insignificant.
Similarly, what leads any of us to say “enough is enough” … but a glimmer of hope? That the pain and fear of surgery will lead to some pain relief? That the dullness to life that alcohol can provide is not worth life itself? That the fear of what might happen when one drove away compared to the freedom from abuse?
We do know that to Jesus within days, Jesus gave it all. So, when we are desperate, terminal, when whatever has led us to “enough is enough” that on the cross Jesus is hope, a glimmer of the glory of God. In her sacrifice it was a window into that glory of God. Enough is enough when we see hope. May we be open to that good news every day of our lives. May we be the sign of hope for others, may we find hope, that whatever glitters, whatever we hold on, is dark in the Kingdom of God where we truly find our hope. May we be open to that glory of God found in Christ. Amen.

 

Emotional Jesus - 11/4/2018

Sermon based on John 11: 32-44

As many of you know, emoticons or better known using the common Japanese word emoji are those little graphic ideograms or facial representations we might use in an instant messaging, email, or text message. Today, I just want us focus on those of faces showing various expressions. I have an example of the simpler ones up on the screen.

Because emoji are often used as shorthand for emotional responses, we're likely to think of them as a creation of the computer age, with the ubiquitous yellow "smiley face" as the first of them.

But emoji are much older than the computer era. For those of us old enough, the smiley itself, (the picture on your left) with its black, bracket-shaped mouth and two oval dots for eyes inside a black circle, was reportedly first created in 1963 for an advertising campaign by the State Mutual Life Assurance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts. It wasn't copyrighted or trademarked then, so that is one reason Walmart was able to so easily incorporate it into its advertising.

Yet emoji are older than that. In 1912, journalist and novelist Ambrose Bierce, wrote an essay in which he advocated using printed symbols to represent snickering, heavy laughter and irony. But before any of those, an 1881 issue of a British magazine combined type symbols as a tongue-in-cheek way of expressing emotions. Even that usage, however, isn't the oldest appearance of emoticons. Some illuminated manuscripts from the 15th century have figures and faces included in the illustrations to cue emotional responses at points in the text.

But it even goes back further: to the late first century, when John's gospel was written. If you were going to create an emoji-illustrated copy of John's gospel, chapter 11 would be a good place to start. That's not because the story told in this chapter is particularly simple but because it's filled with developments that raise emotional responses in the participants. And, if we read it closely, it's likely to provoke emotional responses in us, as well. What's more, none of those responses is silly, trivial or childish.

I bring this up because unfortunately, as Christians we may have found ourselves in a place where we may think emotion is not meant for worship, or Christian community or as behavior appropriate for Christians. For example, if you would take a random poll and ask people in America what they think being a Christian means, most of them would say something like, “To live good lives and go to church.” As you know that has nothing to do with being a Christian. Sure, living a good life and going to church are wonderful things, good to emulate, but being a Christian is something entirely different.
The word “Christian” actually means “being like Christ.” We could live good lives and go to a place of worship every day, but still not be a Christ like. To be a Christian means to be as much like Christ in our everyday life as we possibly be. And if that is the case, which I believe to be true, today’s lesson reminds us that being like Christ includes sharing our emotions.

As Jesus and his friends were affected by the emotional component of their human nature, likewise Christians today aren't exempt from the raw experience of human emotion. Why? Simply, emotions expressed without hesitation is both honest and redemptive. God designed our emotions to be gauges, not guides. Emotions are meant to report, not dictate. The pattern of our emotions therefore will give us a reading on where our hope is because they are wired into what we believe and value — and how much. We see that in Jesus where we hear of his emotions, and where his hope lies.

If you don’t believe consider this myth we may have found ourselves: The myth that Christians are to trust in their knowledge, not their feelings. That we are people in Jesus and therefore shouldn't be so weak as to succumb to feelings of fear, distress, anger, grief or irritation. That somehow, we are to transcend earthly cares. No wonder some consider Christians mere unfeeling robots.

Jesus on the other hand, experienced paying taxes, heartily eating and drinking and climbing into fishing boats. Jesus was hungry, thirsty and weary, so weary that Jesus was able to fall asleep in the cramped quarters of a small boat in a storm.

We also know that Jesus experiences the darker emotions of a troubled human soul --- loneliness, perplexity, alarm, dismay and despondency. And just look at today, Jesus wept.

If you still don’t see it, write today’s gospel with emoji. When we jump into this lesson, Jesus finally has arrived in Bethany, Lazarus is dead. In fact, he's been dead four days. Martha has just finished talking to Jesus and out comes Mary to express her grief and disappointment in Jesus, saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” There's no way to read that except as accusatory, and there's an emoji for that, but that single one isn't enough to illustrate what's going on inside Mary at this moment. We need the accusatory emoji, to be sure, but we also need the ones for hurt, grief and even anger.

Now, we need a flurry of emoji. For when Jesus sees Mary and her neighbors weeping, he was, in the words of our NRSV Bible, “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.” A surface reading of this phrase suggests that Jesus felt deep compassion at that point, but Bible scholars tell us the underlying biblical Greek words communicate not compassion but agitation and indignation. And then we are told Jesus started sobbing.

Of course, we know the rest of this story. Jesus, “again greatly disturbed” goes to Lazarus' tomb and calls him forth from death. Lazarus comes forth, alive again. For the neighbors who witnessed all this, the amazement emoticon is likely the appropriate one. But the final emoticon for Mary and Martha surely is the one for joy.

What does this all mean for us? I think we need a good reminder on this All Saint’s Sunday when the memory of loved ones’ those we want to remember and perhaps those we want to forget are now in God’s hands yet linger in our hearts. It's okay to experience all those emotions those memories bring. Jesus did. So, we're allowed. When our emotions are painful, we can remember that we have a Savior who weeps with us. And if we stay with Jesus, the final emoji to tell our story will be the one for joy.
Yet, why the struggle, why do we think emotional response are so misplaced? Are we somehow better than Jesus…? I think not. Rather, let us be honest, the reason worship for many of us is not a place where we share our emotions has nothing to do with Jesus, it all has to do with our own pride… When we recognize it as such we may be more aware of course, there is for us the ultimate mark of Jesus’ humanity, namely his mortality. Jesus died! It is not that Jesus fainted from fear or swooned from pain, but that Jesus died from mortal wounds. None of us so proud that we will not experience death.
So, cleaning our spiritual house for the fresh winds of the Spirit includes our emotions and they impact how we treat each other, how we express ourselves in faith, and whether our emotional expressions include love, thankfulness, joy, and grief, as well as anger. As we see today, emotions aren’t imperatives; they’re not our boss. But they’re indicatives; they are reports. Our emotions are gauges not guides.

What would our faith be like if we had an emotion-less or passion-less Jesus Christ? If in today’s lesson Jesus had not wept, or Mary had not expressed her anger? What if the neighbors had not been amazed!
We all experiences challenges along life’s journey. Our feelings as we react to circumstances and situations we encounter reveal much about each of us. God created us with emotions. God knows that our emotional needs are just as important as our physical, social, and educational needs. Being aware of our own and other’s emotional needs can go a long way in helping all of us experience the love of God and be Christ-like. Likewise, as we consider the needs of others in our community it is vital to listen and be empathetic to each person’s story as guide.

This is such an enormous topic, and all I have done is scratch its surface. It leads to other considerations such as the role of how Christians have shared their emotions in history and faith, the role of other emotions in faith, and the challenges of ill placed behavior out of manipulated emotion that for example have led to Jewish pogroms in the past and a host of other evil like white supremacy and Christian nationalism today.

We have an emotion filled faith called to be like Christ, aware of what masks needs to be put aside so that we can engage and fight against evil. Do we have the courage to place an emoji down in our faith journey this day making room for God? And what would we put? Perhaps not even one but a whole sentence! Because when we do, we may be surprised to realize that when we do express a whole sentence of emoji, we are being more like Christ, and more open to God’s cleansing Holy Spirit, found in community, in reading God’s living word and at the Table. …. Amen. 

Cup of Humble - 10/21/2018

Sermon based on Mark 10: 35-45

Back in 2006, there was a bestselling book that caused quite a stir. It was called “Three Cups of Tea” and it was written by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It was about Greg’s life, a life-threatening experience in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and how it came to be that he began building schools. If you remember this was about five years into the US invasion of Afghanistan after the September 11th attacks in late 2001.

That book touched a chord with many leading to numerous fundraisers including a program called “Pennies for Peace” where pennies were dedicated to building schools especially ones that included girls.

Four years later however, we came to find out in an expose by the TV news program called Sixty Minutes and a book published shortly later by Jon Krakauer called “Three cups of Deceit” that the monies raised and donated to the non-profit created by Mortenson called the Central Asia Institute was being inappropriately used for personal use by Mr. Mortenson. Furthermore, come to find out that Mr. Mortensons’ story about his journey in the mountains, befriending a Pakistani tribe and building schools had a lot of holes and was less than accurate.

Well, after several lawsuits and investigations, Mr. Mortenson returned over a million dollars and resigned from the board of the institute, but the repercussions continued in subsequent years. For example, co-author David Oliver Relin committed suicide in 2012. And in 2016 a documentary was distributed called “3000 Cups of Tea” which initially was intended to refute the allegations but ultimately led to only more concerns.  Story

That lingering story came to mind after I re-read today’s gospel, an incident between Jesus and two disciples, brothers James and John and later the other disciples. According to what we are told, they responded to Jesus query, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” James and Joh responded not with sorry, we take back our request to sit on the right and left side of you Jesus in glory, instead they answered: “We are able.” When Greg Mortenson published his book, I am sure he intended to put himself in the most flattering light as many of us would do, not knowing what was going to happen and the impact on his later decisions. When James and John answer, “we are able” and to which Jesus says, “…you will be baptized…” we see the coming together of the best of human intentions and failings.

So much like James and John. Because all of us know --- since we have heard the stories many times --- what will happen. Jesus is on a journey to the cross. Within a year, the disciples scatter hither and yon in the garden after his arrest and absent upon his death on the cross. Later we hear how the disciples gather behind locked doors in grief and fear, confused by the message of the women, and then experience the shock of Jesus’ resurrection and accession. And on one fine morning are filled with Holy Spirit, become fluent in other languages and are off into the world as missionaries.

Tradition has it that James was martyred in what we now call Spain and that John, lived the longest, is the only one to die of natural causes after having written several books found in the New Testament. Yet, today, they say: “We are able.”

Their story is our own, because like it or not, we are implicated when those two disciples and all those who follow answer with “We are able!” James and John are nothing if not bold --- boldly wrong at what they were saying perhaps, but bold nonetheless. Just like we and countless others before us have boldly confessed our faith, bold in our affirmation, but without too much time passing act far more like Peter when he proclaims he will never deny Jesus, then promptly does.

We could of course argue, as I indicated earlier they will later receive the Holy Spirit. Although that is accurate, lingering in the air like a bad smell, is that unspoken challenge that we associate with those who we assume are disciples of Jesus. For we join the ranks who begrudgingly affirm “we are able” but speaking for myself, the reality is usually a highly uncomfortable, “It is a work in progress.”

Not that we can’t come up with good excuses as countless others have done before us. Let us focus on one: It’s the fault of the Holy Spirit! But that of course would go across the very essence of faith; that we all have received the gift of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit in baptism. As Jesus himself tells us today: “with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.” We could as many want to do, “well it is because we didn’t get that Holy Spirit in the first place.” At that we may either smolder or search for the right mix of religious leader, community and music that will have us “experience it,” until life creeps back in ….

Thankfully today’s event does not end with the promise of James and John, for later we hear how when getting wind of what happened the other disciples are angry. Was it because James and John voiced in their request a secret longing of all to be recognized? Or was it because they are as conflicted between affirming that they are ready, yet struggling with what that means and their own inadequacies?

We don’t have to think too deeply to see what Jesus is trying to explain to all the disciples, too us. Go back to Mark 8:29-30, where Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus doesn’t disagree. Start reading from there, straight through to today’s passage. It appears that once James and John and the other disciples understood that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, they stopped listening to anything else. As commentator André Resner Jr. points out, in the intervening verses 1. Jesus tells his disciples that following him means thinking of themselves as people who deny self for Jesus’ sake and for the sake of the gospel, risking and accepting worldly shame (8:34-38); Jesus reminds them that they are to listen to his words above all others (9:7); Jesus reminds they to remain humbly dependent on God’s power to do God’s work (9:14-29). Jesus reminds them do not play the games of competitiveness, one-upmanship or glory grasping but choose the role of least of all and slave to all (9:33-37). Jesus reminds them to relinquish control for who does what and how they are to help build the kingdom; in other words, giving up the need to be God’s quality-control experts --- think control freaks --- for anything that’s done for God (10:38-41). Jesus teaches them to keep children at the center of their work, even when it appears distracting (9:36-37, 42-48; 10:13-16); and as we were reminded last week not become overburdened by possessions but receive the gift of the hundredfold promise (10:17-31).

What does that mean? Return with me to the story of Gregg Mortenson. I do not know much of what has happened since, however, I marvel at the irony of it all. Because if you were to read that initial book, that started it all “Three Cups of Tea,” the whole premise is that in the process of being rescued and then living with these mountain tribesmen, he discovered that the cup of tea is filled with humble tea. On that mountain he learned to be humble. Ironic because if he learned it that is what not happened later in his life.

Likewise, it’s not too difficult to see the irony of the request of James and John, from the perspective of what they should’ve known by that point: “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Because, if you read it in context, of what I reminded Jesus had said up to this point, that the way of cross was NOT toward any glory.

I am thankful that if we hold to tradition James and John faithfully lived out their promise “we are able.” Because whether James made it to Spain or this John is the same John with the vision on the island of Patmos, today’s event is a healthy reminder that we disciples are called to drink a humble cup of tea that the Lord puts in front of us, seeking not to be served but to serve.

Granted, however it's strange because it is the superhuman that we hold to be the model, not the way of Christ. The way of Christ goes against every human instinct because in the process of evolution, it has favored the strong, the powerful, and the paranoid. Those are our own ingrained “default positions.”

When Jesus, in a radical reversal, says that true life comes from denying one's evolutionary instincts and following instead the “way,” it means that as we follow it is not based on how much Holy Spirit we think we have, how much courage or faith the size of the mustard seed produces, rather in following we affirm the whole of our human experience, pain and brokenness, whether it's in our knee, or family or in our neighborhood. In following we acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers and the ones we do have run counter to all our human instinct. In following the way, we realize we walk with others in the same boat and all that separates us from someone else is very thin indeed. In following we become open to reconciliation --- open to the humbling restoration of our relationship with God, with others, and with our own true self not because of anything we are, have done or will do, but because the restoration we have is a gift from God.

Martin Luther King Jr. put it this way: “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.” Rather to follow the way of Jesus, means doing as Jesus did, giving of one's self to be “slave of all.” And what is a slave? A slave is a human being with limited power and no resources and all one has come by the master. The truth is that none of us is “able,” but we serve a Great God. With Christ's forgiveness and inspiration filled “with a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."

That was true for James. True for John. True for any one of us who drink humble tea, who live out our affirmation: “We are able.” Amen.

Vocation - 10/14/2018

Sermon based on Mark 10:17-31

    How do you change a negative into a positive? Now I am not discussing mathematics and changing negative numbers. Rather, I was thinking of something entirely different. Parker Palmer, an author and educator, in a book about discerning our vocations, discusses what he calls the Rosa Park Decision. Link
    Rosa Parks is that famous African American activist who on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, rejected a bus driver’s order to relinquish her seat in the “colored section” to a white passenger, after the whites-only section was filled. That action helped encourage what became a pivotal event in the civil rights, the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
    Parker calls this “the Rosa Parks decision. She essentially said, ‘I'm no longer going to behave on the outside as if I were less than the full person I know myself to be on the inside.’” Or to put it another way, “How do people find the courage to bring inner convictions into harmony with outer acts, knowing the risks involved?”
    When the police came to Rosa Parks on the bus and informed her that they would have to put her in jail if she did not move, she replied, ‘You may do that.’ It was that moment something clicked according to Palmer, a very polite way of saying, ‘How could your jail begin to compare with the jail I have had myself in all these years by collaborating with this system that has treated me as less than equal?” What happened to Rosa Parks is where all of us need to be.  Palmer wrote: “They decide no longer to act on the outside in a way that contradicts some truth about themselves that they hold deeply on the inside.”
    That question on vocation posed by educator and author Parker Palmer came to mind, after reading today’s gospel reading, where a would-be follower --- identified only as a rich person --- approaches Jesus, whom he believes to be have some insight regarding the kingdom of God.
    This man seems to be interviewing for a job and even has an impressive resume. He seems to be looking for a place to live out his beliefs. According to what we read, Jesus looks at this guy and likes him --- a lot. In fact, the text says Jesus loved him. Jesus would love to have him --- let’s call him Jose --- join the team. And why not? Jesus would be smart to add this discipleship candidate. Our congregation certainly would!
    All indications are that he is young. He’s reverential ---- he knelt before Jesus. Jose we are told follows the Law of Moses, so he’s religiously observant, indicating that he will pass his background check, has no criminal record and is an upstanding citizen. And --- need we forget --- he’s a potential angel investor, a wealthy person with financial resources to fund Jesus’ mission!
    With that impressive resume, Jesus gives Jose the good news: the job is his. All he must do is donate 100 percent of his possessions and give them to the poor --- not 5 percent or 10 percent, but 100 percent. Then, Jesus adds that once Jose has disposed of his possessions, he can then, return and follow. The opportunity is his. He has found a place to live his values!
    But we are told that Jose, alas, is “shocked.” Now some of us probably can see this coming as Jesus had recently posted a memo about picking up the cross and following. Nonetheless, we may be surprised as much as Jose, because in the past Jesus had not explicitly demanded that level of sacrifice. Was it perhaps because the other disciples, other than Matthew the former tax collector come from more humble beginnings, being fisherman and all for example.
    Regardless, Jose we are told is genuinely disappointed and went away not upset but grieving. He just can’t do it. Jose turns away and we never hear of him again in the gospels.
    Palmer says when Rosa Parks refused to stand she was putting into harmony her true self, undivided. Parker Palmer suggests what ultimately changed for Rosa Parks was that she was not longer willing to put up with the punishment she knew she would receive by remaining in that seat with what she was doing to herself on the inside.
    But what about Jose? Does that explain what happened to him, divided between what he voiced, the language he used, the right things he said, and what was in his heart? Let us go back to the text --- notice at least six things: Jose wants to “inherit” eternal life. Jesus gets a little touchy about being called “good.” And then for us Lutherans this whole thing about, “entering” the kingdom of God is all about what we do --- not what we believe --- is grating. And in this era of President Trump, Jesus says it is difficult for the wealthy to get into the kingdom of God. And although Jesus doesn’t really explain this comment, Jesus does say that “for God all things are possible.” Then of course we have that famous line often misquoted where Jesus says that “many” --- not all!!! --- who are first will be last, and the last will be first.
    So, let’s take a closer look at these six statements.
    First, Jose --- who in Luke is called a “ruler” (18:18) and in Matthew is called “young” (19:20) — wants to inherit eternal life. This is a good thing. How can it be a bad thing? But Jose is not sure what he needs to “do."
    Overall this gives us a positive image of Jose. He runs up to Jesus. He’s eager and excited. He kneels before Jesus right there in the road, in public, in broad daylight. He doesn’t seek a midnight meeting with Jesus as did Nicodemus. He’s bold, self-assured, reverential and respectful.
    Jose must have been encouraged when Jesus began to rattle off portions of what is known as the second table of the Ten Commandments, which pertain to one’s relationship to one’s neighbors. Jose was probably feeling, “Yes! I got this!” He tells Jesus, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth” (v. 20).
    But Jesus somehow knows that there’s possibly an obstacle which has such a strong hold on this young man that he’ll not be able to commit to this life of following Jesus; this journey of combining heart and life.
    Second, Jesus gets a little touchy about being called “good.” Why? Jesus might have been trying to dampen this young man’s enthusiasm. “Hold on for a second! Don’t call me good.” And citing Jewish tradition which reserves the title of “good” for God alone, he reminds Jose that eternal life is all about God. But, still, Jesus’ response seems odd, and the young man might not have understood the point Jesus was making --- just like we, too, don’t always understand what the Lord seems to be saying to us, this challenge of faith in our heart and on our lips.
    Third, “entering” the kingdom of God is all about what we do — not what we believe. This is the    conclusion we might come to when reading this passage. Again, for us Lutherans that is distributing because it is God’s grace alone that brings us right before God, but this reading is a good reminder that what we do --- does matter. For the rich man, his failure to do the one thing that would demonstrate his faith in Jesus revealed this disconnect. Jose didn’t even try.
    By asking Jose to give his possessions to the poor --- an ultimate expression of his ability to keep the second table of the Ten Commandments --- Jesus reveals that Jose cannot keep one of the commandments from the first table, that is, the prohibition against idol worship. His possessions where his idol and when it came down to it, that was the truth.
    Rosa Parks knew that she was equal to anyone else but was being treated as subhuman. Today, we come to find out who Jose was. Jesus’ command unerringly zeroed in on Jose’s exclusive source of well-being. His most important sense of self came from the status, power and security his affluence afforded him. Not faith in God. It was the fact that he was privileged, and Jose is exposed. He is an idol worshiper and his idol are mammon. Jose ultimately cannot give up his privilege for the promise of being made whole.
    Fourth, Jesus says it is difficult for the wealthy to get into the kingdom of God. Jesus’ suggestion that Eli impoverish himself also flies in the face of the common understanding --- even currently --- that blessings are a sign of divine favor. Jesus says it is no such thing.
    Jesus’ command not only shocks the man, but it stuns those who cling to the standards of first-century faith at the time of Jesus. While there was no scriptural prohibition preventing Jews from giving away all personal belongings, it was expected that no one give more than one-fifth of one’s personal property. This ensured that no one would not be reduced to poverty --- thus becoming another candidate for charity them self.
    But note that although Jesus says it is hard for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God, he does not say it is impossible. It’s difficult not because there’s anything inherently wicked about being rich, but because the love of wealth so often makes it difficult to be our true selves. It could be because they don’t know who they are apart from their wealth. Do we know we are children of God adopted into the family of God by Baptism?
Fifth, Jesus doesn’t really explain himself to the disciples, but only says that “for God all things are possible.” In fact, that the wealthy or the powerful enter the kingdom of God is nothing short of amazing. For us Lutherans of course, that is something we know well because it’s mindboggling that anyone is allowed into the kingdom of God! It’s only by the love, grace and mercy of God! Jesus’ final words reveal where we place our confidence: “For God all things are possible.”
    Lastly, Jesus says that “many --- not all!!! --- who are first will be last, and the last will be first” (v. 31). Jesus reminds his disciples --- after Jose has arisen from his kneeling position and left, unhappy and grieving --- that a little humility, any humility, goes a long way. Or as Parker Palmer suggests: “every journey, honestly undertaken, stands a chance of taking us toward the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need,” if we only are honest. For example, what if Jose instead of walking away had simply said, “Jesus help me, for I cannot.”
    How can today lesson help any of us who perhaps are in the same boat as the wealthy young, man. I suspect none of us is fully ready to deed everything over to this church and come live in this building to do mission and ministry all day, every day. Perhaps that is why we honor such people as Rosa Parks! Nonetheless the truth is eternal life is found only in the Way with Jesus. This young man’s failure to follow through on Jesus’ final demand reveals that all his language did not reflect his heart and was governed more by possessions and position than by a true thirst for justice.
    Now let us be clear, the wealthy man’s shock and sadness are not a judgment of his worth in the kingdom to come; they simply reveal his inability to accept the call of Christ that is before him. Jesus still loved him. Rather, he has missed the opportunity for a true blessing, to be whole.
    God's demand is for all our heart, mind and soul not because God needs anything, rather so that we be made whole.  We are broken people. Recognizing how far we are from God’s desires but even more so trusting in the only thing that carries us, Jesus life, death and resurrection. May we grow each day into whom God has called us to be. Trusting in the grace we have received so that we act on the outside in a way that does not contradict the faith and truth that we are saved by the cross, adopted into God’s family and blessed. Amen.

Words - 10-7-2018

Sermon based on the Gospel: Mark 10:2-16

Quiz time. What is the longest word in the English language? If we were to be one of those Trivial Pursuit types, we may come up with the word that's been the gold standard: Antidisestablishmentarianism. At 28 letters, that's a mouthful, and while many of us might know the word, fewer will know its definition as “the belief that opposes removing the tie between church and state.” It's not exactly a word used in everyday conversation, especially in the US that has a long constitutional history of separation of Church and State. But it would make a killer point-getter in Scrabble.
But is it really the longest word? Not exactly. There is a one letter word that is longer: Floccinaucinihilipilification, which means “an estimation of something as worthless.”
And to be honest, there are people who spend time poring over such things who point out that there are chemical names that are a lot longer than that, including names of proteins that have more than a thousand letters and place names like the 85-letter name of a hill. For example, from a medical perspective, the longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis --- a 45 letter word that describes a disease of the lungs, which would seem to be a bad thing if it takes that long to say.
When it comes to big words, English has more than its fair share but, if the events of this past couple weeks in our nation’s capital regarding the confirmation of now associate supreme court judge Kavanaugh and the accusations of drunkenness, sexual assault and his temperament has reminded any of us, we humans are often very guilty of failing or trying hard to avoid saying what we mean. Big words, avoidance and host of ways are used by us to avoid the truth or allow us to say very little while speaking a lot.
Conversely, equally the wonder of humanity and the way we communicate is that, sometimes, small words along with a few words, allow us to say a great deal. Big words may sound impressive because they are hard to pronounce, yet they may rarely be fully understood, and perhaps a way for us to avoid difficult topics. Instead it's often the small and few that are the hardest to say but have the clearest and deepest meaning.
I am not bringing this up to assist you with your crossword skills, or to help us get out of the rabbit hole of Washington D.C. that we have created, rather today in this week's text, Jesus is teaching about words and relationships. While the lesson is apparently some large thoughts about divorce and the relationship between married individuals, Jesus is helping all of us shift the center of our language on relationships from the language of law to the language of love.
How do we know that? Well let’s begin where the story begins with the first verse missing in our reading, the geography: “the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan.” Why would we begin there, because remember context is everything. For this location was the very same region where Mark tells us at the beginning of his gospel that John the Baptist had operated during his ministry (1:5), and John's ministry echoes through this passage.
Earlier in Mark 6:14-29, we read the story of how John the Baptist had died at the hands of King Herod Antipas. Think of that episode as a kind of first-century soap opera: The king ditches his lawful wife, Phasaelis, and Herodias divorces Philip so that the two can be together. But the reason this setting is important is that while this divorce was legal according to Roman law, Jewish law was quite different, and John the Baptist called the king on it, saying, “It is not lawful (Jewish) for you to have your brother's wife.” In response, John gets beheaded.
Simply put legal and illegal divorce and marriage is the air so when those interested in what is legal --- the Pharisees --- want to “test” Jesus, they do it with; a faith based system from the vocabulary of the law court; “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” The test was to place Jesus squarely in the same position that had resulted in John the Baptist being killed. It seems that they are hoping at least to challenge his popularity or perhaps even allow them to bring him up on charges of treason.
At first, Jesus sounds like a skillful lawyer, answering the question with a question: “What did Moses command you?” The question is subtle. Moses had no “command” on this issue.
Jesus perhaps knew how the pharisees would respond. “Moses permitted to write a paper of divorcement and to release.” Moses had permitted divorce as he helped the community develop a faithful response to living out this covenant with God. The provision for divorce in Deuteronomy 24 was, essentially, a concession to the reality of human relationships and an attempt to provide structure and guidelines in its wake. The pharisees present an acceptable legal and faithful argument based on the book of Deuteronomy.
Jesus however, recenters this permission with a sharp rejoinder. “For your hardness of heart” Moses allowed divorce, he says. The accusation of “hardness of heart” is a serious one. For example, do you remember from your Biblical studies who else famously in the Old Testament we are told was “hard of heart?”
Well the Pharaoh was one. The Pharaoh who had received the message from Moses to let his enslaved people go, had also had “hardness of heart.” Yes, it was technically legal in covenant law, if you took it literally in Deuteronomy, for a man to divorce his wife by simply writing her a certificate of dismissal. Do the paperwork and it was done (v. 4).
Jesus however centers the nature of the language from the legalese of the hard heart, to the language of love. Rather than the legal bonds his interlocutors are concerned about, Jesus is concerned about the bond of love. Put aside the law of Moses in this case, says Jesus, and look at what God intended from the beginning of creation (vv. 5-6). In effect, Jesus will base his argument on a broader understanding --- not specific commands or permissions, but a general attitude toward lives and relationships based on God's design of creation.
Going back to Genesis, Jesus outlines the intent of the bonds between two in the first place: the leaving and cleaving and becoming one. What were once two separate people now become “one flesh” --- one person joined together by God who created this diverse humanity to fit together emotionally, physically and spiritually. As God's own nature is three-in-one, so too is the nature of human relationships: reflecting the diverse image of God they were created to be from the beginning. The legal language of divorce is symptom of our separation. The language of love is about bonding.
We can see that Jesus seems to understand divorce as a indication of human vocabulary. And what is that vocabulary? Well, rather than a bunch of words that are longer than your arm, the increasingly become more and more specific and less understood. Instead the vocabulary of creation uses short words that carry a lot of meaning. Words like: I am sorry (three words, 8 letters). Please forgive me (three words, 15 letters). I love you (three words, 8 letters).
This vocabulary of love for many of us isn’t any easier to say than floccinaucinihilipilification, but they mean so much more. In our relationships, Jesus calls us not to turn to the legal dictionary but toward each other.
Certainly, it's clear from this text that Jesus is anti-divorce. To his disciples in private, Jesus gets serious about the kind of cavalier attitude that people in that time frame took when they ditched one spouse for another (vv. 10-12). Jesus understood that the kind of selfish male individualism that characterized Herod's court is all too common. In that male centered culture, where polygamy was possible and common, adultery was a crime only for women. But, contrary to the common assumption, Jesus does not “prohibit” divorce.
What Jesus does do is remove divorce from being something of a technical issue as cover for male sinfulness, and places it in the much broader context of God's desire for human life at the beginning of creation. For example, notice that the author of Mark follows up Jesus' teaching on divorce with a scene of Jesus with children (vv. 13-16). They are the ones to whom the kingdom belongs. Jesus blesses them and calls us to bless them, too but this is not about the "simple faith" of innocent children and how we all should emulate their unquestioning trust. Rather, in the kingdom of God, which is to be practiced here on earth, children are to be “received.” They are to be accepted. The vulnerable are not to be turned away just because they are small and powerless. Quite the contrary, in fact. Turn a child away --- turn away those who are weak --- and you are not living a kingdom lifestyle.
Following a lesson on divorce the author of Mark places Jesus words again in the language of love, not the law. So Jesus is not implying here that divorce is forbidden under every circumstance. What Jesus does say, however, is that we need to place the foundation of the Kingdom of God vocabulary in love, constantly aware of small and powerless, and to use every word and every opportunity we can to bring reconciliation to our relationships with a spouse, with children, with everyone and, most importantly, with God. That's how we were designed by God to be: one flesh, bonded by love, together.
Secondly, what about us who have divorce as part of our life journey? Whether as adults or children of divorce, as you may notice Jesus does not say, well now everyone needs to get back together. Rather Jesus is speaking to present and future relationships and possibilities. Jesus asks for us to ask to confess for and accept forgiveness and begin anew daily.
Moving forward in grace then how does that process enable us in our language of love not only to change our vocabulary, but even our sentence structures? Just return to the events of these past few weeks in our nation’s capital. What if from the onset before Judge Kavanaugh was even chosen, it had begun in the language of love, confession, forgiveness and reconciliation --- how could it have unfolded?
What happens on the public stage is a symptom of our own lives. What words would we use to characterize our relationships? What words do we need to change in our vocabulary to strengthen the bonds we have between each other, and between us and God? And how is even our sentence structure toward the immigrant, refugee and the vulnerable a sign of our brokenness.
God did not design us to have relationships that are examples of floccinaucinihilipilification. We were designed for each other, and that's the good word! The children had been brought so that Jesus might bless them. Jesus does that, and much more for all of us. Amen.

Location - 9/16/2018

Sermon preached at Hope Lutheran Church, San Antonio, Texas.  Based on Mark 8: 27-38.

    Who knows that you are here? Perhaps you have a family member who knows that you attend worship on Sunday mornings at Hope Lutheran Church. Or maybe you have friends or neighbors that know that on Sunday mornings when you leave your home it is to go to church.
    I know this however, if you have a cellphone with you, ATT, Verizon or Sprint or whatever phone provider you use knows where you are. From the data that they are receiving to provide you service, they know that you are here. Now, I am not an Alex Jones conspiracist, so I am not mentioning this to you for some outlandish reason, instead this “data” is why the technology boom of the last few decades have so impacted our world. That same device that we use to make phone calls, use as our map, phone book or even store have been a godsend not only for many of us but also for marketers. So, ATT, Verizon or Sprint know that on Sunday mornings you will be found at Hope Lutheran Church.
    And so much more. Say you are searching online for a new pair of shoes. You surf through images of Doc Martens, wedge sandals and Ugg boots. You then decide to see what’s happening on Facebook. Suddenly, ads for Doc Martens and Ugg boots are plastered all over your page. And you will continue to see them until you search for something else, which will then take over your page and so on and so on.
    It’s little wonder that we have begun to believe that marketers know more about us than we know about ourselves, and they know what we want even before we do from all the data from me and you! But did you know “data” is not just in our century?
    When Jesus took his disciples to Caesarea Philippi discussed in the gospel, he gave them a couple of poll questions, but in this case it’s a survey not so much designed to gather information or data as an opportunity to define the brand of discipleship Jesus was looking for from them and, by extension, from us.
    Jesus knew his disciples better than they knew themselves, and Jesus knew that their preferences for the kind of Messiah they were looking for --- needed refining and redefining. Here, in this largely Gentile region near the Cave of Pan --- which many people in the ancient world regarded as one of the entrances to Hades ---Jesus begins to turn his disciples’ attention from their needs and desires toward the way of the cross --- admittedly, a much tougher sell!
    The gospel seems to begin that as they were walking, Jesus suddenly gave them the first survey question: “What’s the word on the street about me? Who do people say that I am?” (v. 27).
    As they had traveled with Jesus through the villages of Judea and Galilee, it is safe to assume that the disciples had collected data, hearing the buzz, feeling the pulse of the crowd. The crowd had a variety of opinions and just enough data to begin forming a profile of this healer and teacher from Galilee.
    One significant data point seemed to dominate the survey: The crowd believed Jesus was a prophet in the mold of John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the earlier prophets who dominated Israel’s history. To the crowd, Jesus was a kind of a throwback to an earlier age and perhaps, like John the Baptist and Elijah, he was in the model of a forerunner to the real Messiah to come. This was a radical interpretation of the data, but it wasn’t quite radical enough.
    Many opinions about the Messiah’s role and mission were in circulation. We know from a variety of sources outside of the New Testament that Messiah wannabes had popped up before Jesus and would continue to do so afterward, each gathering their own group of followers and selling their vision of what God had planned to do through them. We still have that to this day.
    The common thread of the data around the Messiah --- which means “anointed one” --- was that he would be a descendant of the Old Testament figure of David and restore Israel’s independence, bringing earthly deliverance to the earthly kingdom of Israel, a great nation to guide the other nations.     This vision of a Messiah was also skewed by the bias of people looking for relief from oppression by Rome and years of foreign domination before the current regime. Therefore, it is understandable when people heard the word “Messiah,” they thought of someone who might be the modern equivalent of a new populist leader.
    This is also why the crowd saw Jesus as a prophet and not a Messiah. He wasn’t acting like someone who wanted to cooperate with Rome, and thus his poll numbers would not seem to indicate that he would be a viable candidate “to drain the swamp” and restore the nation of Israel.
    We recognize now that their view of Jesus is rather myopic, seen through the skewed lens of cultural and personal bias toward what a prophet and a Messiah might really look like. It’s no coincidence that in the story immediately preceding this one, Jesus heals a blind man who at first sees people but not with the full clarity of vision. Indeed, to him they looked like trees walking around (v. 24). It took a second application of Jesus’ healing hands for the blind man to finally see things clearly and in perspective. The crowd, too, needed a similar retooling of vision to understand the information about Jesus’ identity.
    Returning to the gospel, Jesus then asked a follow-up survey question of his disciples, not what did others think --- “But who do you say that I am?”
    Peter, an eager guy who today would be the first to participate in every online survey, gives his opinion without hesitation: “You are the Messiah” (v. 29). That seems like the right answer. The author of Mark has already told us up front that his gospel is “the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1). “Christ” is the Greek rendering of “Messiah” and so it seems that Peter has grasped the message.
    But like the crowd, Peter’s own bias gets in the way of understanding what that word, that title, means. Indeed, there is still great potential for misunderstanding until all the data is in, which is why Jesus “sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him” (v. 30).
    Instead, Jesus himself then begins to fill in the data. In the first of three predictions about his death, Jesus tells his disciples that he will be rejected, undergo great suffering and be killed, but then he will rise again after three days (v. 31). The author of Mark reiterates that Jesus said this “quite openly,” giving the information as clearly as possible (v. 32). But this new piece of information doesn’t fit Peter’s messianic profile, and he took Jesus aside and began to “rebuke” him (v. 32).
    Peter was close to Jesus and saw some potential. After all, one who could feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish and then walk on water had to have the ability to be the kind of Messiah who would do great things and kick out the Romans. But now Jesus was talking about rejection, suffering and death. How can you be the Messiah if you’re dead? That kind of data made no sense to him, nor to the other disciples or the crowd.
    It made perfect sense to Jesus, who understood the bigger picture of where things were trending. Jesus rebuked Peter’s rebuke with a stern word, one Jesus uses to cast out demons: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (v. 33).
    In the rebuke of Peter, Jesus recognized the temptation to be the kind of Messiah that was all about polling numbers, the kind of Messiah Satan himself had earlier tempted Jesus to become (1:12).
    Jesus is moving in a different direction --- one in which they and perhaps a few of us may want to go.
Jesus calls “the crowd together with the disciples.” This instruction is for everyone. It is a call to deny one's self, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. We have tended to psychologize this and make it over into something more in tune with 21st century life, such as interpreting “taking up one's cross” to mean putting up with one's circumstances in life. We have also taken this to mean putting up with abuse both physical, verbal and sexual.
    Jesus makes it clear: It’s about the cross. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (v. 34). To get behind Jesus is to get under a cross and walk on a road to rejection, suffering and self-denial. It’s a life of doing what’s right and hard, rather than wrong and easy with all the stumbles and falls that will mean. Following Jesus is not trendy and cool. And if it ever is, we’ve got the wrong Jesus. It’s following Jesus in a life lived on behalf of others: the poor, the marginalized, the “lepers” of our day and age. Those are the “divine things” Jesus wants his disciples to focus on, not the “human things” of popularity, prosperity and power.
    To follow Jesus, in other words, is to embrace a downward mobility towards justice not only for all of us who have been cast aside but for all in favor of Christ’s preferences for all of creation. We know this because Jesus does not use the language of courts or politics, as we might expect. Rather, Jesus uses the language of economics: “For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and to lose one's life? For what might a person give in exchange for that one's life?” (vv. 35-36).
    All those biblical Greek words --- profit, gain, lose, exchange --- in that sentence are terms of the marketplace. A definition that is chilling and startling for us who live in the most powerful and wealthiest nation in the world but Jesus calls us to check a different box and follow a different, unprofitable life --- the way of the cross.
    Jesus recognized that this isn’t a popular way, and that the world sees the cross as a weird and gross marketing strategy. It seems far easier to live blaming those of a different skin tone, class, sexuality and gender, but as Jesus reminds us those who are ashamed of him, his words and his way will feel the real sting of shame (v. 37).
    It’s easy for those of us who are 21st-century disciples of Jesus to want to tailor our message and our methods to better fit market trends. I’d like myself and Hope Lutheran to be popular, trendy and have a lot of people following us. We’re tempted, like Peter, to answer Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” by making him into a Messiah who fits a profile and shows up on searches.
    But Jesus won’t have it. There’s only one real answer to that question --- Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, and he calls us to follow him to the cross. It’s the way of self-denial, self-sacrifice and self-giving. It’s not just about information; it’s about imitation. Yes, like those early disciples we may be clueless, need to be rebuked on occasion, but every day we have a new opportunity to answer, “Who do we say that Jesus is? ATT, Verizon and Sprint can locate us instantly, but it is up to claim that we are located on the path of the cross. Amen.

Sparring - 9/9/2018

Sermon, preached at Hope Lutheran based on Mark 7: 24-30.

    Manny Pacquiao is a Filipino world champion professional boxer, named the boxer of the decade in 2010. This did not happen overnight for Pacquiao started boxing at the age of 14 while living in the streets of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Manny turned professional when he was 16 years old, and now nearly 20+ years later has a record of 60-4 as an amateur and currently has a record of 60-7-2 as a professional, with 39 wins by knockout.
    Manny is, one could easily say, a successful professional boxer, so it should interest us how that came to be. Obviously he had some natural talent however in the world of professional boxing, Manny developed his skills over time in training which included sparring against other boxers. There's nothing unusual rather it is standard practice to have fighters train against other boxers --- it's a case of steel sharpening steel. Sparring of course does not mean that one will be as successful as Manny, nonetheless it an important component of training and is not limited to boxing. Sparring is a factor in wrestling, Karate, Taekwondo and a host of other sports.
    This matter of sparring, that is, going up against another for purposes of improving or honing one's own output, is not limited to the contact sports. One place where, over the centuries, a kind of sparring was common was among the rabbis who studied Jewish law. It's not uncommon over the centuries to see such rabbis described as “sparring” with one another over biblical texts and points. Here is but one example, from a reference book published in 2017 including from the period of Jesus: in making a point about the interrelatedness of biblical texts, it was recorded, “This is nicely illustrated in a rabbinic tale about R. Simeon ben Azzai, sparring partner of Rabbi Aqiba” (emphasis added).
    Now why should that interest us? Well, do you recall that in several places in the gospels, Jesus' contemporaries address him as “rabbi?” Most certainly it was a term of respect, and it denoted that the person so addressed was considered a teacher and spiritual leader. Therefore, when we keep in mind that people called Jesus “rabbi,” and that rabbinic sparring was not unknown, it goes a long way in helping us unlock one aspect of what may be going on in the 1st half of our gospel reading, one that many of us find troubling.
    The challenge for 21st century ears is that this dialogue between Jesus and woman seems to portray Jesus as treating the Syrophoenician woman poorly.
    Before we get to deeply into that let us set up the context. The author tells us up front that Jesus has retreated to Tyre, a Gentile area, in present day Lebanon and doesn't want anyone to know where he is --- “definitely did not want.” Jesus, in fact, is “preached out, prayed out and peopled out,” as commentator John M. Rottman puts it. Jesus needs not only some down time, but more importantly, some alone time with himself and some up time with his heavenly Father.
    Then we are told that somehow, word gets out that Jesus, now with a growing reputation as a healer --- confirmed in the 2nd half of our gospel --- is in a house, and a woman whose daughter has “an unclean spirit” finds Jesus. This unclean spirit could cover a broad spectrum from epilepsy to mental illness to a persuasive evil. Regardless this woman asks for his help; she wants Jesus to literally in Biblical Greek “throw” out this spirit in her daughter.
    Now let us not that by ordinary standards of the day, the male Jewish Jesus could and should have ignored her completely. First, she's a Gentile, and Jews and Gentiles had and unfortunately have had centuries of bad blood between them. Second, she's a Gentile woman in an era when it was considered inappropriate for a woman to approach a man to whom she is not related. Not only did she address him, she threw herself at his feet.
    Now remember, back to what is stated in our lesson, Jesus is worn out, wanting only to rest and recharge, and she is intruding. Given all of that, we could hear Jesus' response to her in the context of “Go away, and don't bother me.” Not that that is much better to our 21st century “Jesus is always kind and good” mindset.
    Instead what Jesus did say was “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.” His meaning, apparently, is that his primary mission is to his fellow Jews, and it's not right to take that priority and throw it to dogs --- the Gentiles.
    Now as I have said, to us modern readers, that sounds awful; it sounds -- well -- un-Christlike. In our day and age, when Jesus is erroneously portrayed as a peaceful, white, blond almost inhuman male this seems incongruous.
    Now to be fair, although Jesus was using a common word among the Jewish community of that era for Gentiles, there have been countless commentaries on the fact that the word Jesus used that is usually translated into English as “dogs” was a diminutive, more like “puppies.” And based on our tendency in this nation to be far more concerned about our pets than fellow humans, that may sound better.     Nonetheless, still, we must wonder is that any way to behave toward a woman who's desperate?
    Here is a possibility. We may not be hearing the exchange the way the woman did, and Jesus intended. We may be overhearing a sparring match. Then Jesus' comments to her about the puppies is, in fact, not rude, but an invitation to her --- to be his sparring partner. Jesus may be honoring her with this invitation, because any kind of rabbinical sparring, or even an intellectual discussion was explicitly denied to women in that time, especially a Gentile woman.
    The author retelling this event does not give us how much time passed but it seems like she doesn't hesitate for even a nanosecond to dish it right back at Jesus: “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”
    In an astonishing turnabout, Jesus agrees with the woman and grants her request. Note also that Jesus doesn't say anything about the woman's faith, rather, it is her argument that he applauds --- “because of this word” --- “for saying that” --- “go.” We can almost imagine Jesus nodding his head in admiration when the woman fires this at him.
    Another reason to believe this interpretation may be helpful is that it in the context of sparring it should not necessarily surprise us for there is biblical precedent for sparring with God.
    Take Hannah found in the book 1 Samuel in the Old Testament. In that case we find Hannah praying and praying and praying, and finally has a compromise with God, a child but one dedicated back to God. Or take Abraham. When God told Abraham of the forthcoming destruction of Sodom, Abraham pushed back by asking if God would spare the city if 50 righteous people could be found there. Abraham then whittled the number down, successively, to 45, 40, 30, 20 and 10.
    There's also the time when God, speaking from the burning bush, called Moses to lead the Hebrew tribe out of Egypt. What we may forget is that Moses spent most of the ensuing conversation talking back to God, arguing that God had called the wrong person. He didn't win that argument, but, in the process, Moses did receive the help he needed to succeed. And if we really want an interesting review of sparring, the book of Habakkuk is, if nothing else, a transcript of the prophet disputing with God.
In each of these cases, important changes took place in their lives of faith. Hannah got her heart’s desire only to then to have to give him for God’s purpose. Abraham learned more about God's expectations for righteousness. Moses the one who wondered why on earth God chose him freed his people and led them through the wilderness using the tools God gave him. Habakkuk learned about trusting God during trouble.
    So, what does all this mean for us? For one thing, it's a reminder that questioning, pushing back, expressing doubt, showing irreverence and arguing are not out of bounds in our relationship with God. We needn't fear that we'll offend God. Of course, God will have the final word. Yet in the sparring, we may receive insight, inspiration, understanding, “a blessing” if you want to call it that --- or if not that, at least the comfort that comes from having aired our grievances, doubts and fears even if the reaction isn't what we'd hoped for.
    Second this event with Jesus and this woman tells us that speaking plainly about the things that nag us could be considered an act of faith. There is no mention of faith in this story, yet, was it only desperation that brought this woman across the threshold, across the cultural divide and the sexism of 1st century Palestine? Our faith may be thin or weak, or based on desperation but, even in a diminished condition, it's a route to truth. What's more, faith given by grace is a channel through which God works.
    To further support this view, if we read this story of Jesus and this unnamed woman from Matthew’s gospel, Matthew adds a detail that Mark doesn't mention. In Matthew's account, after the woman spars with Jesus, he replies, “Woman, great is your faith!” What faith did she show?
    There is one more aspect to this event for in sparring with Jesus, this woman was, in fact, serving as steel that sharpened his steel. This woman had her daughter healed but what did Jesus gain in sparring with this woman? Perhaps like Manny it added strength for the impending journey to the cross.
    As 21st century Christians citizens, let us not be afraid that in the hustle and bustle of our lives, in despair, anger or simply with a sigh, sparring with Jesus is not out of the question. Sparring does not depend on when’s degrees whether black belt or no belt in faith, on one’s number of knockouts or getting knocked down. Rather the question is “What is God inviting us to spar?” Because if we have learned anything, that in Scripture, when we do spar with God taking what is deep in hearts and minds up to God, not only do we learn something about God we learn about this faith we have received by God’s grace. Amen.

 

"Imitation is ..." 9-2-2018

Sermon based on James. Presented at Hope Lutheran.

    How did you learn to drive? I learned to drive in the badlands of western North Dakota in an old borrowed pickup truck with a classmate as my teacher. Being that it was stick shift and on rough rocky ups and downs, I learned through many stops and starts how to let out the clutch and push on the gas without stalling.
    I don’t know about you, but what if we could skip all that and just “YouTube it” instead?
That’s what an 8-year-old boy in Ohio did on one recent Sunday night. Our young innovator had a problem: mom and dad had fallen asleep, and the boy and his 4-year-old sister were hankering for some late-night McDonald’s. The golden arches were a mile and a half away --- too far for a walk in the dark. So, the boy did what any self-respecting Gen-Z kid would do when confronted with a conundrum. He looked up “How to drive a car” on YouTube, emptied his piggy bank, then bundled his sister into the car and headed out for a Happy Meal.
    Police said later that the boy obeyed all the traffic laws, didn’t hit a single thing, and drove “effortlessly” through town as though he had been driving for years --- all because he watched a few minutes of video instruction and then did precisely what it said to do.
Our young adventurer seems to have grasped early on what many of us grasped much later in life. That is that, on the internet, someone somewhere has created a video to show us how to do what we’re about to attempt. Whether it’s a repair for our home or our car, how to put on makeup, learning self-defense or making dinner, our even how to prepare a sermon, all we need to do is look it up on the world’s most popular video site --- even if its expertise on the best way to massage our pet opossum --- because, apparently, opossums need massages --- something else we can learn on YouTube!
    For the few of us who don’t know, there are millions of these tutorial videos, most produced by people who have a skill and simply want to share it. It’s the crowd sourcing of expertise that makes it possible for the most mechanically inept person to fix a faucet, or a maker of microwave mac and cheese to become a gourmet chef. Of course, all this instruction depends on the viewer’s willingness to experiment and put the information into practice. Without that, it’s just another internet time-waster with cat videos.
    People in the ancient world obviously didn’t have YouTube. Most of their learning was accomplish ed by watching someone model the activity in question face to face or by receiving a letter from a distant instructor --- which took way longer than even dial-up internet service, for those who remember!
    The reason that I bring this up is that over the course of September our second reading will be from one of the books of the New Testament called James. The author of James, who some Biblical scholars have suggested could even have been a brother of Jesus, intended audience were Christians of Jewish background who were caught up in the upheaval. In mid-first century Palestine, there where outbreaks of violence and insurrection --- a conflict that would culminate in the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66-70 and the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem. In fact, the whole Roman world was dealing with unrest, including economic problems, food shortages, and the rapid turnover of Roman emperors that led to an erratic government policy toward minorities like Jewish Christians and others.
    The problem before the church in that time of uncertainty that this author tried to address in his letter can be summed up something like this: “How do we remain a faithful Christian community in the midst of this time of trial and temptation?” James wrote to encourage his brothers and sisters and to give them some practical instruction on how to navigate in difficult times.
    Therefore, because we live in our own turbulent times and we will be hearing from the book of James all of September, some time on the book may help.
    The first and most important concept found across the chapters is that the author of James suggests that faithfulness is to be practiced. If we were to read the letter from beginning to end, it seems to read like a series of random tutorial videos on life, but James made clear that no amount of instruction matters unless it is put into practice. We can watch all the video’s we want to, but unless we are willing to be like that 8-year-old and take the wheel it only remains a video. James wanted the church to represent faithfulness not only in hearing the instruction but doing the instruction as well.
    “Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him” (v. 12). In that strange language of 20 centuries ago, James saw his situation as a time of testing for the Christian community, but also an opportunity to demonstrate faithfulness.
    For James, this time of testing was not something that God had thrown down in front of his people to break them. It was not a test of their faith, but rather it was a chance to shine as a community of the new creation that God had brought forth in the death and resurrection of Jesus (vv. 13-17).
    You see in that day and age many in the Greco-Roman world, many consulted astrology and the alignment of the stars as a kind of first-century YouTube to help determine their course of action. James called the church to remember that they have been given the “perfect gift” of God: the “Father of lights,” the one who created the stars in the first place.
    Unlike the changeable nature of events in the world James said, there is “no variation or shadow due to change” in God’s nature (v. 17). God and the word of God are the only reliable bedrock for a community of faith, which God created “in fulfillment of his own purpose” and birthed “by the word of truth” (v. 18).
    James sets this up as a direct contrast to the other kind of “birth” people have; a birth conceived out of heterosexual sex, which, in turn, gives birth to death (v. 15). Now we could look up “How to give birth” on YouTube and find a whole bunch of videos --- you know, in case we need to check out a video while racing to the hospital. But for James, the only birth that really matters is the one that happens when we are born anew daily, “first fruits” of God’s new creation in Christ (v. 18).
    Unfortunately, our fundamentalist Christian brothers and sisters have created this impression that this word is black and white in King James English. But what James had in mind, is that God’s word is reason under holy inspiration that helps us when the world seems to be spinning out of control. It’s tempting to give into anger, revenge and nasty words. Just like there are a ton of instructional videos on YouTube, there are plenty of folks who also use that platform to rant, spew venom and conspiracy about some person, cause or issue.
    James instead reminds us that this is like trying to deal with a problem without taking the time to read the directions first. “Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness” (vv. 19-20). James instructs his brothers and sisters to get rid of that kind of toxic reactivity and instead, begin with step one: “welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls” (v. 21). The same “word of truth” that gives new birth daily also guides the words and actions of the one whom God has saved.
    How does that “record” button start? James says that we are at our best when we practice. “But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (v. 22). The purpose of receiving instruction, receiving the “word of truth,” is to put whatever we do know into action. If, say, I watch a YouTube video on how to fix a leaky faucet but never pull out the tools and get to work trying what I’ve learned to use, then I will still be stuck with a constant drip. If we just watch the video and say, “Yeah, I’ll need to get back to that,” We will quickly forget everything we’ve learned.
    The author of James says the same thing happens when we only hear or watch and don’t put it into practice. When we fail to take the word, we have received and put it into rehearsal, nor built a kind of spiritual muscle memory, then we fail to recall who God created and redeemed us to be as people gathered to be co-creators for the kingdom of God (vv. 23-24).
    If, on the other hand, we keep our focus on “the perfect law, the law of liberty,” and persevere, being hearers and doers as flawed as we are, we will be “blessed” in our doing. “Blessed” is not getting our Powerball number or the tornado missing our homes, so it flattens our neighbors, rather blessed is satisfaction in practicing what we have been instructed to do.
    Now, I don’t know about you but when I have looked at some of the YouTube videos to accomplish a task which in my case is usually with a plumbing problem, some tutorials don’t quite convey the information in a way that’s easy for us to follow. Try tying a bow tie while watching a video, for example. It’s difficult because that mirror image forces me to do everything backwards. Rather to tie that bow tie effectively I need someone standing beside me to show me how, guiding my fingers and helping me develop the internal memory of the process until it becomes second nature. It’s one thing to conceptualize the process, and quite another to execute.
    The same is true for “faith,” says James. It’s not simply about a solo running of the mouth and declaring one’s faith; nor is it about lashing out at those who might be challenging (v. 26). It is faith, in other words, that uses the model of Jesus for both its belief and its practice. But perhaps like tying a bow tie, there are some things YouTube just can’t quite teach. It can’t teach us how to be a follower of Jesus. Oh, sure, it can teach us the principles of discipleship, but to really learn, we are stronger and healthier when we live out faith with others who likewise strengthen and help us be healthier along the way. Information alone won’t get it; it takes imitation in community as well. That’s why we need a community of faith to guide us and give us examples for putting this infinitesimal faith we have into practice.
    In a culture where there is plenty of upheaval, we are the opportunity to be the glimmer in the night that reflect God’s glory. And we shine most brightly when others have a sampling of faith come up in their top ten searches and want to be instructed in how to do the same.
    Sure our “videos” may be clumsy, amateurish and there may be others with more views, but an 8-year-old learned to drive by watching a poor tutorial video and then grabbing the keys. Because, all the motivation he needed was not found in the video, or in what he heard or saw, but in the prospect of a Happy Meal.
    Over the coming month as we hear the words from the book of James, may we be motivated to take the examples of faith we have been given by grace in, with and through Jesus Christ to put into practice God’s grace because we are models of faith in hopeful community to an even greater destination, better than just some golden arches. Amen        .

Psalm 111 - 8/19/2018

Sermon for Hope Lutheran based on Psalm 111.

    “Great are the works of the Lord,” says the writer of Psalm 111, “studied by all who delight in them.”
    But I wonder do we? Not only do we study? Do we have delight in them? In this American era of angst and depression I wonder if we shouldn’t take a moment and start from square one. I decided this Friday to take an different Psalm than in our lectionary because I wonder if not only we forget God’s great works we forget the works of Brownie Wise, Art Fry and Lonnie Johnson, studied by all who love stories of successful startups. These folks put energy and creativity into small projects that became really, big.
    Brownie Wise, for example, was a secretary at an aviation company in 1947. She began to sell brooms at parties in private homes to make a little extra cash. Soon she began to offer a product called Tupperware, and her “party plan” sales technique took off. Today, party businesses offering everything from jewelry to candles to animated Bible stories.
    In 1974, Art Fry was working as a project developer at 3M. He wanted a better bookmark for his church hymnal, so he and Spencer Silver, a colleague, invented Post-it Notes. The 3M company now sells 50 billion of them annually.
    Lonnie Johnson was working as a nuclear engineer in 1982, and he invented an environmentally friendly heat pump. But guess what? It was also a very cool water pistol. Known as the Super Soaker, his water pistol sold 200 million units in its first 10 years.
    Great are the works of Brownie, Art and Lonnie. Without them, we wouldn't have Tupperware, Post-it Notes or Super Soakers. Our leftovers would spoil, our bookmarks would fall out and our summer picnics would be much less fun. Drier, perhaps, but less fun.
    Of course, it may be that you are not a big fan of those products. Fair enough. But the point is that they were all startups --- small that quickly became very, very big.
    What we take for granted in God’s great works we forget began small. Twenty-one centuries later in our self-absorbed and individualistic culture we may miss how those small God initiated innovations turn out have lasting and deep connections to our lives. In other words, what has God done for me lately?
    That if anything is a good reason to review today’s Psalm 111, a song of praise for God's wonderful works, a celebration of the spiritual projects that have touched and transformed not only our individual lives but the universe for all time.
    Call them God's startups. The first is the Righteous Startup. The psalm begins by speaking of God's “righteousness,” which endures forever. Righteousness is one of God's most innovative projects, with a long track record, beginning with the people of Israel and continuing into our church. In the Old Testament, Job was one of the more interesting examples of a righteous man, called “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” In the New Testament, we may encounter a righteous woman named Dorcas, who we are also told was “devoted to good works and acts of charity.”
Now to clarify, these two I mentioned, Dorcas and Job were not self-righteous --- holier-than-thou, self-satisfied, smug. No, they were truly righteous, we are told which means being in right relationships. Self-righteous people are annoying, while truly righteous people are healthier to be around even when they are going through difficult times like Job.
    A life of righteousness includes treating your neighbor as you would like to be treated, neither    oppressing nor being oppressed. It means that we keep God's will and put energy into good works and acts of generosity. A righteous person follows the example of Jesus in stressing that the most significant matters of the law are “justice and mercy and faith” (Matthew 23:23).
    Rule-following which we often equate as honorable has the unfortunate tendency to make a person self-satisfied and smug, which is why God's righteousness goes beyond a checklist of rules and regulations. “You are buying a flat screen TV and live off food stamps therefore you must be a delinquent bum” so says our rule-based self-righteousness. But the practice of God's righteousness involves loving the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. It also includes loving our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). By that standard, we have a measurement of true righteous where being in a right relationship with God means a right relationship with the people around us.
    The other aspect of this of course, is that none of us can achieve this righteousness on our own. We need constantly need help, which is why God sent Jesus Christ to assist us. Using Pastor Eugene Peterson’s version of the Bible he quotes Paul as saying in Galatians, “We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through faith in Jesus Christ.” God's righteousness startup reaches its greatest success when we are made right with God and with each other by the gift of grace through our faith in Jesus Christ.
    The second startup mentioned in Psalm 111 is the Covenant. For many in this nation, covenant gets lost in a misguided attempt to place a piece of covenant the Ten Commandments in stone into public spaces. But as Lutherans we know why not the beatitudes as well; or bread and wine or the baptismal font?
    Instead, let’s review covenant. After the great flood, God made a covenant with Noah, saying, “I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants.” God promised never again to destroy people with a worldwide flood (Genesis 9:9, 15). Similarly, God made a covenant with Abram and Sarai, saying, "I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will make you exceedingly numerous" (Genesis 17:2).
    In just those but two stories out of so many, we are reminded that a covenant is a promise-based relationship, one in which God promises to be our God and we promise to be God's people. The good news is that God is always faithful to the promise, even though we people quite often, repeatedly waver, fall away or go our own ways.
    You might think of the covenant as being God's “Like” button, a divine version of the button that we push on Facebook when we like something. But, did you know that the “Like” button itself was a startup? In 2007, a team of Facebook developers and designers built a working prototype of what they called the “Awesome” button. A couple of years passed before CEO Mark Zuckerberg approved the “Like” button, and then it quickly took over.
    The covenant is in a sense, God's eternal “Like” button. All through the Old Testament, in countless episodes in people’s lives from through the horrific from drought, illness and death to the profound acts of love, God renews the covenant and calls people back to faithfulness.
Then, in the New Testament, God makes a new covenant --- a promise of a relationship through Jesus Christ. According to Hebrews, “Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant.”
    From the beginning of salvation history to today, God keeps pushing the “Like” button by repeatedly renewing the covenant in our faith journeys. That is our model. God's faithfulness is a template for our faithfulness, especially as we try to honor our commitments in the covenants of marriage and other important promise-based relationships.
    The next of God’s startup is redemption. Psalm 111 says that God "sent redemption to his people" (v. 9), from the earliest days of the biblical timeline. But what is redemption all about? According to religion professor Timothy Willis, redemption was needed in the ancient world when people had been imprisoned until the family could pay to reconcile a debt. The redeemer was the one who paid the debt for the debtor, buying back the debtor. In a similar manner, prisoners of war were redeemed through the payment of a ransom.
    God fashioned this idea of redemption and made it big, extending it far beyond the paying off debts and the saving of prisoners. Over time, the word described any kind of rescue or deliverance, and God became known as the Ultimate Redeemer. We have God redeeming persons from death (Job 33:28) and redeeming a Hebrew tribe from Egypt (Exodus 6:6).
    In the New Testament, Jesus became our Redeemer. Jesus redeems by his life, teaching, death, and resurrection giving us the forgiveness that we cannot give ourselves. In Christ, God redeems us from our human brokenness, to adopt us as children into God’s family.
    Maybe you have traveled to Rio de Janiero in Brazil and seen the prominent mountain with a statue that stands 98 feet tall, with outstretched arms that span 92 feet. The statue is called Cristo Redentor, which means “Christ the Redeemer.” Standing on a 26-foot pedestal, it dominates the skyline. From a distance, it appears to be either a cross or a person extending a welcoming embrace. But it pales in comparison to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Today, the redemption offered by Jesus is the greatest wonder of the world.
    Righteousness. Covenant. Redemption. These divine startups are now so common, that they become throw away lines to be fought over rather than studied.
We forget that the exploded like the tutoring provided by a hedge-fund analyst named Sal Khan, who s    tarted out by helping his cousin with math via Yahoo. Then he moved his instructional videos to YouTube. Now he runs an education nonprofit called Khan Academy, and his videos have been viewed 1.25 billion times.
    Bigger than Khan Academy are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Those are square one in our lives in the wonderful works of God. For God's innovations are our key to a daily life of righteousness, one in which we can enjoy a daily right relationship with God and with each other. When we relish God's startups, we discover that covenant-keeping is the foundation of healthier relationships, friendships and commitments. When we marvel at God's innovations, we realize that redemption is needed by all of us who require daily forgiveness that we cannot give ourselves or others.
    “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” says Psalm 111. “All those who practice it have a good understanding.” In daily practice of God's startup efforts, we gain wisdom and understanding about what is most important in life. And by trusting in the gift of God's righteousness, covenant and redemption, we gain a relationship with God that is greater than any human innovation.
    I like my post it notes, and we have a cabinet full of Tupperware and its generic knockoffs, and I have been known to use a super soaker on the unaware, but it is in God’s startups that truly make our lives meaningful because in them we are forgiven, picked up off the ground, and loved. Amen.

Perservative Free Bread - 8/5/2018

Sermon for Sunday, August 5, 2018.  Based on John 6: 24-35.  Shared @ Hope Lutheran, San Antonio.

Did you go through the drive through on your way to church this morning and pick up a breakfast sandwich or taco? Or perhaps after worshipping this morning, will you swing by Panera for what is termed “fast/casual”?

Over the past 100 years, huge changes have been made to the way food is prepared and delivered to us. If someone from 1918 were to suddenly appear into our world today, one major shock would be how our eating and drinking has been transformed by innovation.

Just imagine the changes. Telephone-based food ordering with delivery started at a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles in 1922. Now, food delivery in the United States is a $43 billion business, involving apps such as Grubhub and Postmates. Drive-thru restaurants first appeared in 1948, when a burger chain called In-N-Out Burger allowed people to order and pick up food without ever leaving their car. Today, up to 70 percent of fast-food sales are drive-thru. Using consistent preparation methods and a dependable supply chain, the McDonald's system was created in 1955. Now, almost every restaurant has a similar system.

In 2017, robots became the latest growing innovation. Chowbotics is a salad maker, Cafe X is a robot barista, and a pizza company is testing delivery via self-driving cars. “Customers will grab their order from the back,” reports Fast Company, “just imagine, no human interaction necessary.’”

That's kind of creepy, isn't it? No human interaction necessary. What a shock to someone from 1918.
Today we are reminded that the true innovator of eating was Jesus not only by feeding thousands with little, but Jesus always had that universal and human touch. Famously, in one of the few miracles to appear in all four gospels, Jesus fed 5,000 people by the Sea of Galilee. With just five barley loaves and two fish, Jesus created a meal in which everyone gets as much as they want, and all are satisfied.

Our gospel is a follow up to that miracle from the perspective of the author of the gospel of John. In response to the miracle and the reaction, Jesus warns the crowd not to focus too much on the bread that he has just given them. “Do not work for the food that perishes,” he says, “but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

Perhaps that event is so much part of our Christian knowledge that we may not realize the curiosity of the people with that innovation. And considering that it happened over 20 centuries ago, we may not understand all the dynamics of this “food that endures for eternal life.”

With any innovation, it would be helpful for us in to remind ourselves that Jesus is not speaking about an easy-to-store, vacuum-sealed miracle, packaged for delivery, rather a food that endures.

First, let us briefly summarize this portion of the gospel. The people of Galilee have already had a memory of an innovation in eating. Not drive-thru restaurants, but by a miraculous bread that came from heaven. “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness,” Jesus is reminded; “as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” (v. 31). As a practicing Jew, not only does Jesus know all about this manna-style bread, Jesus goes on to explain that he is not replicating some story from the past. Rather, Jesus wants to introduce something innovative. “Very truly, I tell you,” says Jesus, “it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven” (v. 32). Jesus' answer is not only to affirm God over Moses, but that God “gives” --- present tense --- while Moses “gave” --- past tense.

From the point of view of the fourth gospel, the crowd is focusing on the past. Today, Jesus is shifting them to the present and future. Moses gave “the bread from heaven" while God gives “the true bread from heaven.” Where once God gave “bread” to the Israelites wandering in the desert through Moses, now the “bread of God” is “the one coming down” ---Jesus --- who “gives” in the present into the future. An even bigger innovation.

Furthermore, Jesus is talking about heavenly bread that doesn't simply fill the stomach, but a bread that actually “gives life to the world.” Not only is it something not found on the menu at Bill Miller’s, it feeds in a new and innovative way.

Not surprisingly, like we do for the free samples of a new product at Sam’s Club, the people respond by saying, “Sir, give us this bread always” (v. 34).

Well what does all this mean for us? There are those fond memories of how we were fed in the past, perhaps it is a homemade meal during Thanksgiving or Christmas that we seek to replicate. Yet no matter how much we try to follow the recipe, we can never quite replicate the emotions. Perhaps those past remembrances, like manna, still feed us even though we are fully aware that it leaves us living in the past.

There however something else in today’s lesson for us to explore. I think we can understand the hunger of those people around Jesus, and although we are on this side of the resurrection, we may have some of their same challenges and questions. What exactly is this bread of God that gives life to the world today? We know it's not a loaf of Mrs. Baird’s that has gone through an assembly line and we know it's not a type of bread kneaded by a robot or delivered by a driverless car, sooo…. what is it?

Shockingly this bread of God is nothing less than Jesus himself. “I am the bread of life," says Jesus. "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (v. 35).
In other words, the greatest of all innovations in eating is the appearance of Jesus as the “bread of life.” Into the past, present and future, we can receive “the true bread from heaven” which gives life to the world and satisfies our deepest hunger and thirst. Wow….

What does it mean for Jesus to give life to the world? Over the years that I have been Pastor I have come to see it as both something that is both universal and very uniquely personal, and both levels are equally important. Not only is bread a universal food, a form of it is available almost everywhere around the world, bread is also very personal in the sense that it appears with different tastes and textures in a variety of cultures, from pitas to baguettes to corn tortillas to gluten free.

Likewise, bread exists on a universal level, Jesus is the Word of God in human form. As God's Word, Jesus existed "in the beginning with God." John tells us that all things came into being through him, and “what has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (1:2-4).

So, whether we are pondering the Big Bang or the creation of life on Planet Earth, it is important to realize that Jesus was there. Everything has come into being through him, including life, all of life, not just a certain kind or type or sexuality or gender. The apostle Paul says much the same thing in his letter to the Colossians, when he describes Jesus as the firstborn of all creation. “All things have been created through him and for him,” says Paul. “In him all things hold together” (1:15-17).

Jesus was in the beginning with God. In Jesus all things hold together. This is the universal, metaphysical Jesus, the eternal bread that gives life to the world.

But maybe this cosmic Christ is too big for us to swallow in one piece. It is hard to take a bite out of something this large. It may help to move to a much more personal level, focusing on Jesus as the bread of life for each of us. Perhaps that's why he was born in the little town of Bethlehem, which means "house of bread."

As our personal bread, this body of Christ, life in the daily grind of faith, in community, is bread that strengthens us to face the challenges of life, both small irritations and huge obstacles.

For example, how many of you have seen that snicker’s bar commercial where one moment they are an irritable, famous person, then after eating snickers bar the person returns to their normal selves with the tag line “Snickers satisfies.” Everyone knows what it feels like to be “hangry” -- that is, bad-tempered or irritable because of being hungry. A little snack can lift our spirits and give us the strength we need to move ahead. Long-distance runners know that they cannot complete an entire marathon with the fuel they have in their stomachs from breakfast. They must eat along the way, fueling their muscles with gel-packs and power bars and other carbohydrates. Without being too silly, likewise we can say “Jesus Satisfies.”

It is in that personal faith that means something to us today, as the bread of life, in faith, in community, that Christ feeds us. Christ is the Word of God in human form, offering us correction and guidance and forgiveness. Jesus is the bread of life in an anthropological formula of story and experience that gives us nourishment and strength and inspiration. Without this living bread, we may not have that little extra for another day in our own exodus journey’s. Jesus is the One who is with us and available to us, able to satisfy our hunger and our thirst; to feed our soul, to connect us more deeply with others.

Shortly, we will be celebrating the Eucharist, the sacrament of the Lord's supper, Holy Communion. It's no surprise that this meal is offered regularly, because we all need the nourishment that comes from the bread. When Jesus broke bread at the Last Supper and said, "This is my body that is for you," Jesus fully expected that his followers would break the bread regularly in remembrance of him (1 Corinthians 11:24). Jesus knew that we would need the bread of life not just once, but repeatedly.

But what about those who are not in community? Who are not gathered around this table? This bread comes with an extender not preservatives. For example, in the summer of 2010 forty volunteers spent three months constructing an outdoor oven at White Bear Lake UMC. After pouring cement, mixing mortar, setting brick, constructing walls and chimney and applying stone to the exterior, that oven is used weekly to feed people through bread bakes and pizza events, building community, extending the bread.

Jesus is God's greatest innovation, the one sent into the world "so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (3:16). Nourished by "the food that endures for eternal life," we can be Christ's people in the world as well as point others toward the peace and justice.

Over the centuries, there have been many innovations in eating, from food delivery to salad-making robots. The goal of much of it is to prevent spoilage, it is "the food that perishes" (v. 27). Contrast that with the Biblical Greek word we translate as “endures” in vs. 27 which can also be translated as abiding (menein). In every single case, Jesus is the one who "abides," the one who is there, the one who is with the people, and does not spoil.

Today and every day, we are reminded that in community we abide in the bread of God, cosmic and personal, which gives life to the world. Today, we join the crowd around Jesus in saying, “Sir, give us this bread always” (v. 34) challenged not only with the personal and universal of Jesus in our lives but likewise entrusted and transformed into the body of Christ to extend this bread. Meaning, that when we are fed, it is to become conscious that we are the bread of life and by living it, we can make all the difference.

The only question left I leave for you to wonder, how many Lutherans does it take to serve this innovative bread? Amen

 

Double Vision - 7/29/2018

Sermon for Hope and Lutheran Church of the Resurrection.  Shared on July 29th.  Based on Ephesians 3.

Property taxes! If there is anything that riles people up these days is property taxes!
As you may know property taxes are a percentage based on the determined “value” of our property. And there is the rub. What is the value of our homes and land? Should it be determined by the sale price of comparable homes? And what exactly should be considered similar?
Now somethings should be obvious. For example, if one home is 3000 square feet that would be not be the same as a home that is 5000 square feet. But what about a home that is say is 2000 square feet but is on a hill side overlooking the Guadalupe River? Should the view of the river be considered?
That is exactly the case in New Hampshire for example. Officials in New Hampshire in 2003 decided that all those majestic panoramas for which the state is famous are not priceless after all. Homeowners pay through their nose for what they can see with their eyes. Officials consider views as a bonus features of houses, akin to a pool or an attached garage, and tax assessors put dollar amounts on them. This, in turn, requires homeowners with a glorious view to feed the community coffers.
New Hampshire is not the only state that taxes property for the grandeur beyond their gates --- the practice has taking root elsewhere --- but it’s really began in the Granite State because of an influx of people seeking homes with impressive views, and because the state like our own state of Texas has neither a state sales tax nor a levy on personal income. So, property tax has become a primary revenue source for government operations. Heavenly beauty outside your manor means hefty bills inside your mailbox.
The irony is that from a property owner’s perspective, the more valuable view can be the one from which little inspiration and/or uplift can be drawn. Which would you rather have? A large home whose value is found in an less than onerous tax bill but overlooks a slag heap, or barren, straightforward landscape? Or would rather pay more for a small, rustic cabin with a latrine out the back but with a spectacular mountain vista and tax bill to match? It is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder. It is from our Christian perspective … a sign of the human condition.
I wonder, if all things were equal ---- recognizing that we have deliberately practiced racist redlining ---- but just go with me, without the incentive of keeping one’s property tax low, would we deliberately choose the hardscrabble, the rocky? How many of us would intentionally purchase land or a home because it has a horrible view?
Yet, guess what, when we move beyond the realm of actual real estate, that is exactly what God’s people have done time and again. We deliberately are called to choose the mustard seed, the distinctly unpromising terrain because we have a bigger view of things. The way of the cross … it is in the eyes of the beholder!
Just look at Paul’s words to the Ephesians. Consider how Paul invested himself in barren land. If we read Paul’s words in Ephesians 3 out of context --- as we do by starting at verse 14 and not verse 1, chapter 1 --- it is easy to assume that Paul is residing in some fancy digs. “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,” Paul writes. He goes on to say that he prays “according to the riches of [God’s] glory.” He speaks of knowing the “fullness” of God and then concludes with a line of benediction: “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly ...”
Such words and phrases as “riches,” “glory,” “fullness” and “accomplish abundantly” hardly leave us thinking he is speaking from a grim, disheartening circumstance, but that was the case. Paul is in prison as he writes these words. And in the verse right before our reading, he mentions his sufferings. “I pray therefore that you may not lose heart over my sufferings for you; they are your glory.”
Consider what Paul is saying. I am in prison and I am suffering, yet in this very next paragraph he begins these powerful words of praise for and confidence in God. What on earth is Paul smoking?
It’s because from his prison window, Paul says he has a great view. With the perspective of faith, Paul can see glory emanating from God and he catches a vision of the human-scape as God wants it to be, a realm in which God “is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.” It is not that he is oblivious, but it means that his prison does not define him.
In the centuries since Paul wrote these words from prison, Christians have done the same time after time. We have come upon repulsive and heart-sickening situations, but instead of running away, we have set up camp. Think of Albert Schweitzer doctoring the disease-ridden poor of Africa and Mother Teresa caring for the dying poor of India. We also live lives of faith in the communities of which we are part think of William Booth ministering to the dirt-poor of England and the number of charities, helping organizations, 12-step groups, hospitals and ministries that began because somebody looked at bleakness but saw the opportunity for blessing.
On a more personal scale, and far less famous this same sort of thing happens every day. People take their nieces and nephews and grandchildren into their homes, volunteer to hospice, help at soup kitchens, answer hotlines for people in crises, and do the thousands of other thankless tasks that help struggling brothers and sisters make it through another day.
Returning to Ephesians, it seems like Paul, when we catch the vision of Gods “breadth and length and height and depth” we can invest ourselves in the most unpromising circumstances, have little that is tangible to show for our efforts but still see God’s grace from our vantage point. Then we can declare, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father ....” In a sense, the way of the cross calls for a kind of double vision, so that when we look out of our spiritual window upon our neighborhoods, we see two things: the faraway and the near-at-hand, the cost and the vision.
What do you think? Is this double vision as easy as Paul seems to make it out to be? Is it difficult to look outside a prison window while seeing bars, also see God’s horizons? Not in a sweet bye and bye, but in the here and now?
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American philosopher, poet and writer gives us a way to think through this. One day in 1836, after walking the land around his Massachusetts town, Emerson famously returned home and wrote: “The charming landscape which I saw this morning is indubitably made up of some 20 or 30 farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet. This is the best part of these men’s farms, yet it is to this their warranty-deeds give no title.”
Emerson was talking about having the vision not of a tax man but as a poet who can look at the faraway sweep of what’s before him and see not tax able chunks, but the panoramic glory of the whole view.
Poetry is one kind of vision, akin to the spiritual farsightedness that enables us to “see” the coming kingdom and trust its reality. It perhaps was that sort of poetic vision Paul had when he declared, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine ....”
Emerson does allude to the other kind of vision, too --- the near-at-hand. He mentions property owned by three of his neighbors, Miller, Locke and Manning. Their lands, along with those of others, made up the larger landscape about which Emerson waxed poetic.
But how do you suspect did Miller, Locke and Manning viewed their land? Did they wake up in the morning, cup of coffee in hand gaze from their porch and wax poetically as Emerson? Remember this was New England, known for its rocky soil, so Miller, Locke and Manning were the ones who had to dig the boulders out of the ground. They were the ones who had to plant the fields, mend the fences, tend the livestock, maintain the buildings, reap the harvest and foot the tax bill. Their view was the nearsightedness, their view was out of bent back and arthritic knees, that feeds the hungry at hand and deals with the fundamentals of daily existence. Emerson did not pay their property taxes, did he?
That is of course the danger of what happens when we take scripture out of context. Paul is realistic. Later in Ephesians, after his rhapsodic burst about the big picture, discussed with his readers about the daily nitty-gritty of the cross: “Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.”
That is of course the nub of our faith journeys isn’t it? This dual vision; We have the view of Emerson and live lives of Miller, Locke and Manning. We have the vision of Paul as well as the lives of a small, struggling congregation in Ephesus.
The hardscrabble abound, but often don’t look much like vistas. Usually they look more like overwhelming needs or intractable problems. It is often hard to see much promise in them. Our lives often don’t much match the way the kingdom of God is described in the Bible --- because I don’t know about you but when we walk out these doors it doesn’t seem as a place where death, mourning, crying and pain will be no more, and where God himself will wipe every tear away.
Instead it may feel more like that view that Emerson had that is now long gone. Because that land in Massachusetts that Emerson wrote about is no longer tended fields with stone walls. Why? Well because the children of Miller, Locke and Manning traveled west where farming was far easier! If you go back to those fields that Emerson told us about the land has been reclaimed by brush and trees.
Faith that comes by grace means that God’s kingdom isn’t here yet in any complete way. Rather in the meantime, we live in the hardscrabble with a vision. In this meantime we may want to curl up and wait for the undergrowth to cover us in a canopy, or we move into the unwelcoming terrain and to join in the wiping of the tears.
There’s a story, probably apocryphal, about Igor Stravinsky that illustrates this point. Stravinsky was considered by many the greatest and most versatile composer of the 20th century, but he was also known for writing extremely difficult passages into his works. One time the story goes that he created a violin interlude so formidable that a master violinist declared to Stravinsky that it was impossible to play. “Of course,” Stravinsky replied. “I don’t want the sound of someone playing the passage. I want the sound of someone trying to play it.”
That is what gives you and I hope because by God’s love and grace in places of great need, indeed in life itself, that is the definition of our faithfulness to God’s call, a vision while simultaneously a full awareness of whose and where we are. We are not asked to be successful or effective or even feel blessed and bury our emotions and foreswear our reality, rather we are asked to tend the fields of our rocks and see the wildflower. There is holiness in the now! For no matter where we find ourselves, we can declare, “What a view!” and “For this reason I bow my knees before God ....” Amen.

The "Ark" - 7/15/2018

Based on the optional first lesson 2 Samuel. 

I have been thinking about “stuff and moving” as I vacate my 7 years of accumulation here at Good Shepherd. Having had to move in the past, I began with the best of intentions in May of 2011 --- one day I will have to move. And yet, here I am moving out of an office with seemingly more stuff than when I came.
So, tell me, what is the best way to move? Let's count the ways: pods or containers, u-drive trucks, bus, car, overhead containers, air, ship. But have we ever thought about God moving? More on that later.
If you haven’t noticed, the moving industry is changing before our eyes. It seems like almost every day we hear about new startups that offer easier, cheaper and more innovative ways to move our stuff. Like what Amazon did with the publishing industry and then with retail, and the impact Uber and Lyft are having on the taxicab industry, businesspersons are aiming to disrupt the moving industry as well.
For example, on-demand storage companies like Closetbox and Clutter give people the option to outsource their storage needs versus the traditional self-storage model. These companies will pick up our stuff, take it away, and bring it back when we need it; in other words, our stuff is only a phone call away. There are also on-demand transportation and labor companies that specialize in small moves or delivering furniture bought at a local store or even via Craigslist.
I bring this up not just because I am in the middle of cleaning out my office ---- these seven years of accumulation --- but we hear in our first lesson that King David felt like he had stuff and David felt like he had a moving problem. But what he finally found out is that God is the mover.
First, David had a stuff problem; the people felt they had old holy furniture that needed to be brought out of storage. The Philistines had the Ark of the Covenant which properly belonged to Israel. People felt it wasn't right that foreigners had the Ark in storage. Second, David had a moving problem because he had this holy stuff --- to move. He had to move this Ark from the control of the Philistines to his new Jebusite capital of Jerusalem.
And what happened? David and his people learned that God is not stuff and God is not moved around like stuff.
Before we get to far ahead of ourselves, what is the Ark? This question should probably be addressed, because if there is any story from the Old Testament that people like it is the one about Noah, who builds and ark and saves his family and animals.
However, the English word “Ark” is a one-word translation of a Hebrew concept that describes something that carries something in safety. The ark that is described in our lesson was not a ship but a large trunk, maybe 4 feet by 3 feet by 2 feet -- something like that carried the presence and glory of God found in three important pieces of history and tradition for the Israelites. The Ark was purportedly to have held the original two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments; the rod of Aaron, the miraculous shepherd’s staff used by Aaron the brother of Moses in Egypt during the Exodus; and a golden pot that contained the last piece of manna allowed to survive, the daily bread that came down from heaven that fed the people in the wilderness.
Furthermore, this ark had specific instructions for being moved. It was supposed to be always covered in a certain way with animal skins and a blue cloth, virtually concealed as it was moved from one location to another. It was to be carried by means of two poles threaded through brass rings on either side, as porters might carry a fancy chair for a king. The transportation people entrusted with the job of moving God in the Ark were supposed to be from a certain tribe called Levites and particularly the priestly class.
And like a lot of old family furniture this ark not only had instructions it had a history, it has a past. Not only were the contents important, how it was to be moved, the ark itself was linked to several stories. For example, one famous event happened when the Israelites crossed the Jordan and moved into the land. Just like the early United States, the land was not empty. The Israelites encountered formidable resistance at the ancient city called Jericho. The story goes that the priests carried the Ark around the walled city for a week, and on the seventh day, the walls came down.
By the way, this miracle is also the beginning of the Ark's association with military success and what ultimately led to being captured by the Philistines.
What had happened is that years before today’s lesson, Israel, suffering a defeat at the hands of the Philistines, concluded that their losing was due to the absence of their mascot --- the Ark. The Israelites brought the Ark to battle --- and lost. The Philistines captured the ark and took it along with other treasure as war reparations.
Now, years have passed. The leadership of Israel fell to the last Judge, Samuel and then to their first king Saul and then now to David. David however had more success and over several battles like the one over “Goliath” ultimately defeated the Philistines. David, now King, chose to retrieve the piece now fondly known as the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines and bring it to his new capital Jerusalem.
Although we don’t have all the details in our lesson today, we have enough. David either forgetting how it was supposed to be moved and/or clueless, chose to put it on a cart like the Philistines had when they moved it. And like many political leaders, David put on some pomp and circumstance with music and dancing. But the cart hit a pothole or something, where one of the movers walking beside the cart, reached out to steady the Ark. That man died. This was a definite buzz kill, and the Ark went no further. Instead it was left where it happened in storage under care for another three months.
David now learned that how do we move God? Very carefully!
So, why bring up this ancient story and what can we learn? Well, as I shared I found the story interesting personally as I leave this congregation and you all continue.
The first important piece that I was reminded from this story, is that like David, we want God's presence with us as we journey through life. It is the reason we build churches, have crosses in our homes and around our necks and put up symbols. David had moved his capital to Jerusalem and David wanted God symbolically to be where he was. The presence of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem was ceremonially and symbolically significant not only for David’s political power but as a reminder for the people of God’s presence with them.
Likewise, although we may pooh pooh needing stuff to remind us of God’s presence, let us be honest, who doesn't want God to go with them and to be with them in life? Just like we get attached to buildings as a sign of God’s presence with this, likewise as faithful Christians, we are anxious not to make any big decisions or changes in our lives unless we feel God’s presence.
So, we completely understand David's desire to have the Ark moved to Jerusalem, not only for the overt political symbolism it would give him as King, but all of us hope that God will be with us through all the events of our lives. God does not want us to be alone, and we aren't --- yet as much as we pretend otherwise, there are moments when we treat God like an antique piece of inherited furniture from our loved ones with memories of the past. It is for that reason that this congregation struggles with maintaining this large facility.
This leads to another lesson from this event. None of us can presume to speak for God, set God right or move God back into proper safe position. A God who needs our protection is no god at all, and when we do try to do so, then we have assumed God-like duties and placed ourselves as idols.
For example, we often feel as though we need to speak up for God against what we believe are pernicious errors, doctrinal mistakes, cultural misinterpretations and so on. Perhaps there's nothing wrong with this as most people can differentiate between a follower and God. But we should probably use caution when claiming to speak for God. For example, I will deeply miss that where I go to next is not an official reconciling in Christ congregation. As I have learned grudgingly over the years when we as Christians have publicly expressed “all are welcome” but not include acknowledgment and repentance for the centuries of oppression, discrimination and even violence toward people and God’ creation all under the banner of somehow speaking for God, we are hypocrites.
A third lesson is that God is in the details. David learned quickly that there is a right way and a wrong way of doing things. Sometimes, our motives might be pure and our intentions laudable, but the detailed practice leaves something to be desired. We're impatient when patience is needed; we're unkind when kindness would be better; we're stubborn when flexibility is needed; we're more inclined to talk when listening is critical. It is a fine balancing act between details getting in the way of us moving forward. David ignored the details, just like our own political leaders in their desire for political expedience, forget that human beings are not just “details,” and it is up to us to remind our political leaders of that fact.
Another learning from this lesson is that God’s kingdom is not all about us. In the first attempt, David travels with a huge entourage as king; in the second, he's wearing the same robes as the priests. For example, although I deeply respect the fact that my picture is on a wall with others who have served this congregation as pastor, it is but one face among hundreds of people who have shared their time, talent and gifts in this community over the nearly 65 years of this congregations’ history.
A fifth piece I noted in this lesson is that in his second attempt, David was willing to learn and change. David prepares to bring the Ark from storage in another country. In the first attempt it did not work. From that experiment they learned that in fact, not only was it not to be in a cart but the priests were supposed to carry it. Similarly, if there is anything I hope I have tried to model is to be honest and transparent, open in mission and ministry learning from our past as well continuing to live out the grace we have received. David’s first plan failed. But that was not the end of the story. David did not give up. David recognized that this mistake was simply a step on the path.
I suspect there is more we could discuss but I think I have gone on long enough. God, as the ancient philosopher Aristotle noted, is the Unmoved Mover or Prime Mover. God has never been moved; rather it is God who does the moving. As we move out in faith, let us remember that as much as we want signs of God’s presence with us, God is not like a piece of antique furniture. Let us be humble and remember that we don’t speak for God but are vessels of God’s grace. Let us remember to work through the details balancing this endeavor in faith. This is not all about us and we have, much to learn as we keep trying.
We really don't need to move God. Rather, let us be in a frame of mind in which we are willing to let God move us out into this creation where God is moving, Amen.

Living Parables - 6-17-2018

    Sermon preached at Hope Lutheran Church based on the gospel, Mark 4.  Have you ever tried to retell a funny story or joke that before split the sides of your audience --- only to see it fall flat as a pancake the second time around? The same setup, the same characters, the same punch line that left some of my friends holding their sides and wiping their eyes, leave the men’s breakfast yawning as they sip their coffee.
    I don’t know about you, but I have some standard phrases that I can turn to when that happens: “I guess you just had to be there.” “It loses something in translation.” Or the old fall back…. “You just don't get it.”
    But the fact is, storytelling of any sort, amusing sketches or tragic tales, or sharing a joke is an art form. Good storytelling is sensitive to the variety of people listening, the inflections in our voice, the mood of the day, the color of the sky --- they all combine to create a one-time-only atmosphere for the words we speak. A story may bring a tear or a smile at one telling, and yet, the very next audience experiences the same words in a completely different way.
    Today, Mark's gospel tells us that Jesus chose to speak in parables. Over the years that I have been a pastor, some people have shared how they find that very annoying, even a bit dishonest of Jesus. Why didn't Jesus come right out and say what he meant? Why did he leave behind all these cryptic sayings, loaded with innuendo, instead of a crisp code of laws or a stack of essays with titles like “How to Be a Good Disciple,” “An Abundant Life,” “Your best life begins in the morning,” “A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of God” or “Seven Key Features of the Coming Kingdom and What This Means to You?”
    But no. Instead we have this cross-eyed, cryptic, incomplete, awkward, and at times seemingly absurd collection of sayings known as “Jesus'    parables.”
    Somehow Jesus must have missed the memo that a list of rules never changes --- but Jesus knew that rules never adapt. Or Jesus must not have had time sit down at the key board to write essays beautiful and precisely formed, or he realized that in short order essays can feel no longer vital or alive.
Instead Jesus chose to take the fluid format of a story --- a tale that can never quite be told the same way twice, retold in medieval castles, or under African skies --- to keep breathing new life into the Good News. If you still think Jesus would have gotten his points across better with hard and fast rules, try remembering the last time you sat down and really enjoyed reading Leviticus or the first few chapters of Numbers. Maybe a bored Jesus at 12 at another day of Hebrew school thought to himself, “no rules out of my mouth!” Without the ability of story --- Jesus' parables --- engage us and entice us into their world, even God's Word becomes a hard read.
    Thankfully however, by preaching to his followers in parables, Jesus let each listener make the Good News become their own story, their own experience. As we are swept up in the story, we ourselves become part of a new parable --- the parable of our lives. In other words, taken all together, our individual experiences of the kingdom, our personal stories of God's work and witness in our lives, end up creating --- a “new” gospel.
    You see, we are greatly mistaken if we think our tradition, the traditions found at Hope, stems from only four canonical gospels. As well as “The Gospel According to Matthew,” “The Gospel According to Mark,” “The Gospel According to Luke” and “The Gospel According to John,” the church has almost 2,000 years' worth of other gospel books to celebrate. "The Gospel of Augustine," “The Gospel of Martin Luther,” “The Gospel of Thomas Merton,” “The Gospel of John Wesley.” All these “gospels,” these testimonials have remained vital parts of our tradition because of their eternally rechargeable parable power. Because Jesus is all about talking about the mystery of the Kingdom of God (4:11). And, the “Kingdom of God,” is not about going to heaven when you die. It is about living in the “reign of God” right now. It is about the establishment of “the way” ---God's way --- on earth.
    So, all those other gospels may not be quite so well-known, but they work just as persuasively in our lives. How many of us know that the personal parable stories making up “The Gospel According to Grandma,” or “The Gospel According to Aunt Mary,” or “The Gospel According to Pastor Bill,” or “The Gospel According to That Kid at Camp Whose Name I Can't Even Remember,” have affected our lives dramatically?
    The point for today is simple. We constantly need a reminder, “All of us are in the process of writing our own gospels -- our own accounts of experiencing the Good News of the coming kingdom in our midst.” All of us are writing a gospel through the very act of living is part of being a disciple of Christ. It is why Jesus gave the power of the parable to all those listening to his words. Storytelling is one of the most basic practices common to all human communities. Stories connect us to one another, to our ancestors, to our world and to our God. Because according to the author of Mark stories increase and yield “thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” From small beginnings --- even secret beginnings --- the way of God will, inevitably and ultimately, “come to light.”
    That is way as we read, in this week's gospel text, Mark notes that when Jesus spoke to the crowds around him, he “spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it …” Jesus knew that only parable power had the ability to make the Good News of the kingdom a potent reality for our listening ears.
    If you don’t believe me, what chapter did we add to our gospel this week? How did the parables act out in our life witness to the Good News? Do any of these titles remind you of this week's additions to our work in progress? The Parable of the Crabby Boss and the Lutheran Coworker. The Parable of the Kids Who Won't Clean Up Their Rooms and the Mother Who Is Threatening to Ground Them for Life. The Parable of the Flat Tire and the New Suit. The Parable of the School That Doesn't Feel Safe and the Kids Who Must Attend There. The Parable of the Emperor and the children at the border. The Parable of the Empty Cupboard and the Overflowing "Bills to Pay" Slot.
    You see, we are not too worry if these, or the parable stories we experienced this week, didn't seem to have any grand significance, any definitive “gospel” quality to them, as we lived through them. We are not to be concerned that somehow those life parables didn’t seem religious enough? Or with the right words, or the right length.
    Rather, the power of a parable is partly its ability to stand up to scrutiny and self-examination later --- and there to reveal its true meaning, its gospel heart. Because as we need to be reminded repeatedly, Jesus spoke in parables to the crowds. And only later did Jesus explain to his own disciples the kingdom kernel that lived within his stories. Likewise, only later do we find a kernel of the kingdom in our stories through grace.
    So here we are at another week of worship, gathered to praise God, see how fast children grow as we celebrate with them their first communion, give thanks or not for those father figures in our life as well as struggle to hear the still, small voice of God in our world. Meaning, that it is the job of all of us, as Jesus' disciples, to come together and plug into the parable power running through each other's lives. Because we have an inkling to the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John --- the gospels of Augustine, Aquinas, Abelard and Avila -- the gospels of Luther, Calvin, Wesley and Edwards --- the gospels of grandpa, our Sunday school teacher, Cousin Emilio and our little sister --- we, as a Christ-body community of faith, work together to discern in what new direction each week's parable power has taken us.
    Our final duty, then? We are to return to the world Monday morning and tell the parables of our lives not because they are pretty, neat rules or fantastic essays, rather it is this way we become living gospels of Jesus Christ. A gospel lived through the sowing of seeds of truth, love, and mercy by words and deeds. Amen.

Clay vessel - 6/3/2018

    Amphorae. They were the mass-market beverage containers of the ancient world --- distinctive, two-handled clay jars used by Greek and Roman merchants to transport wine. Some amphorae were glazed and intricately decorated, intended for use by the upper classes. Most were not, having been fashioned from working-class red clay.
    The typical amphora --- when full --- weighed about 100 pounds. Sailors would stack them by the dozens in the holds of their ships, lacing ropes through the twin handles to stabilize them in rough seas.
    Once the amphora had been delivered to their destination and their contents consumed, no one bothered shipping the empties back to their point of origin. It wasn't economical to do so: amphorae were cheap and plentiful. It was easier just to smash them. For example, when we were in Rome we were shown the famous hill, near the River Tiber, called Monte Testaccio. It's more than 100 feet high and nearly a kilometer in circumference. It's not a natural hill at all. It's an ancient trash heap, composed of the fragments of an estimated nearly 53 million amphorae! That's a lot of wine. That was then.
    Now many of us will remember the role Coke bottles played in the 20th century. Those thick-bottomed, green-glass containers, with their iconic shape, used to be everywhere. A Coke bottle even played a prominent role in a film: the 1980 comedy, The Gods Must Be Crazy. The film is about an indigenous African who spies a Coke bottle falling end over end out of the sky, after a careless aviator tossed it out of his airplane. We know that this is a racist portrayal of an indigenous African, portrayed as knowing nothing of aviation and concludes that the bottle --- an utterly novel object --- must be a gift from the gods. The rest of the movie is about his encounters as this man travels from his home into modern society, seeking to cast the bottle off the edge of the world, thereby returning it to the gods. To this indigenous African, who's never laid eyes on this glass, the Coke bottle is a rare treasure. But to the man who drained it, then discarded it, the object is utterly forgettable.
    Beverages today are far more likely to arrive in cheap, clear plastic bottles and whereas the green-glass Coke bottles at least could be recycled, plastic bottles have become so ubiquitous many are bobbing in the world's oceans and have become an environmental cataclysm-in-the-making. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a huge floating raft of millions of discarded plastic items. Quite apart from their danger to marine life, there are so many of these castoffs concentrated in such a small space, that they can be a hazard to navigation.
    Whether composed of the red clay of the ancient world, the glass of the 20th century or the plastic bottles of the 21st, disposable beverage containers have long been with us. And although we have acted as the container is of little consequence, there is one thing that unites them all, it's the contents that hold the most interest, whether wine, soft drink, water or the gospel.
    In 2 Corinthians 4:7, it's surely a disposable beverage container --- an amphora --- apostle Paul has in mind as he writes, “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.”
    Over the years that I have been a pastor, I have found that most of us focus on the treasure. However, I am wondering if we perhaps have been missing some other aspects of Paul’s message.
    First some background. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Corinth in present day Greece was a major port in the Roman world whose main reason for existence was its location. It happened to be situated at a crucial point on the Mediterranean. Therefore, undoubtedly the wharves of Corinth's harbor were stacked high with hundreds, even thousands, of amphorae waiting to be loaded onto waiting ships. We can imagine the apostle remembering that distinctive sight as he writes to these Christian Corinthians.
    It's a visual aid they and he knew well because those ancient amphorae held treasure indeed. Not only did it transport grain, but more importantly wine. For the people of the Roman Empire, wine was more than merely a beverage. It was liquid wealth.
Think of the dilemma faced by ancient vineyard owners in a world thirsty for a safe drink. Before sanitation, water for many particularly urban dwellers was risky. Wine and beer were the beverages of choice. However, for winegrowers in particular, their crop was fragile and highly perishable. Grapes couldn't travel far. Today we don't have that problem. Like many other forms of agricultural produce, bunches of grapes can be shipped around the world in refrigerated cargo ships, trucks, rail cars and airplanes. But that wasn't an option for the ancients.
    The solution was to stomp grapes into a pulp, let the juice drip down into collectors and then allowed to ferment. Wine is, of course, perishable, but with its alcohol content it's far less susceptible to spoilage than the original grapes. Now, using the technology of winemaking, coupled with cheap, mass-produced amphorae, landowners made the leap from subsistence farming to agribusiness.
    With that in mind, clay jars holding a treasure is an apt metaphor for Paul as he writes to this small church about how God uses ordinary people to bear, to carry, divine truth, the treasure.
    But why is Paul reminding this church in Corinth about a treasure in disposable jars? Although we don’t have the original letters from the congregation in Corinth that had been sent, it seems that Paul and his helpers have evidently become the target of certain detractors. It was to those detractors that Paul wrote the first letter --- 1 Corinthians.
    Now in 2 Corinthians, those who are slandering Paul appear to differ from those of 1 Corinthians. During the brief interval between the two letters, apparently another group of “false apostles” arrived who were more dangerous than those referred to in 1 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians, however, those who created problems were intruders from outside the church. These zealous missionaries emphasized Jesus’ miraculous powers and perhaps like within in our Christian communities, these Christians demanded miracles and revelations from Paul to authenticate his ministry as an apostle. It also seems that they also accused Paul of misappropriating offering funds for personal enrichment.
It is to all this that Paul responds. “Not so!” replies Paul. “You've got us all wrong. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake.” (v. 5). “Certainly, I'm the container, the clay jar,” he says to them. “but it is in this that brings to you, Jesus the Lord!”
    In saying this, the apostle Paul strikes a note that is like something he wrote to the Philippians as he struggled to explain himself and his ministry. In chapter 3 of that letter, Paul constructs what could be called his spiritual résumé. Cataloguing his reasons for having “confidence,” Paul recalls his birth into the people of Israel, his distinguished ancestry as a member of the tribe of Benjamin, his exalted status as a Pharisee, his flawless record as a persecutor of heresies (including Christianity), as well as all the progress he made in the pursuit of righteousness. Yet, all that privilege and achievements, Paul maintains, are nothing --- even rubbish to be cast away --- compared to “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." (Philippians 3:4-8).
    That is repeated in a sense here. The outward form of Paul the apostle --- truly an earthen vessel --- yet likewise carries the good news of Jesus Christ; that's worth paying attention to.
    Intellectually we may understand this but internally this may be a hard thing for most of us to wrap our minds around because we've been so carefully schooled to value ambition and achievement. Ambition is a wonderful thing, but ambition can be a two-edged sword. Ambition can achieve much but it can also test priorities, limits and relationships.
    The second reason Paul’s point is a challenge for us is because we live in an affluent part of the world. We ourselves may not feel wealthy, we may not feel privileged, we may not feel that we have achieved much, but we live in and are part of a culture where all that is measured and of value making it difficult to realize the importance of Paul’s words.
    Rather, what Paul has made clear in 1 Corinthians is that he knew the Corinthian church was primarily poor, marginalized and oppressed but he thanked them nevertheless because they were able to provide an offering for the equally “poor saints” --- Christian Jews --- in Jerusalem.
    So not only does Paul push aside that unless one performs miracles or does wonders make him false. Paul now in 2 Corinthians describes the poor, marginalized and oppressed as partakers of divine riches like himself. And, just like the community in Corinth was largely made up of the marginalized and are suffering oppression, Paul reminds them that they are free in Christ and have been chosen to carry and distribute an unbelievable treasure. So lift your chin high. This is nothing to be ashamed of!
    We also know that is the message because perhaps more than any other book of the New Testament, 2 Corinthians emphasizes human weakness --- especially that of Paul himself --- and God’s solidarity with the weak. For example, it is in 2 Corinthians that Paul admits to having a “thorn in the flesh” and as someone “weak,” but lifted and strengthened by divine grace: “[God] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness’.... for whenever ι am weak, then ι am strong.”
    We are weak -- but holders of divine power. And God’s power manifests itself in history --- not just in Christ and his miracles --- but in liberating justice, salvation, forgiveness, reconciliation and healing --- provisionally in the church, but eventually for all of creation. “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.”
    Paul is placing himself squarely into the same boat as the people in that small church in Corinth. To his detractors, Paul says the allure ambition, achievement and privilege mean nothing. Instead Paul, like the community of Corinth, is weak, even disposable but strong in God’s grace.
Moreover, Paul frequently was the victim of slander, injustice, oppression and violence. Just like the widows, slaves, orphans and single women, of the community of Corinth, a wandering foreigner like Paul could not count on relatives’ protection as he traveled. And although today we often hear the Bible cited in support of a traditional family value of a married man and woman that type of nuclear family is virtually nonexistent in the New Testament, where point of fact it is the single life of Jesus and his followers like Paul that is lived.
    So, when Paul talks about the contemporary image of plastic beverage containers, he is not just necessarily talking about us being fragility. Although true in one sense, Paul is more importantly speaking to people like himself, discarded by the world, but with an unbelievable treasure.
    We know the truth. The truth is that most of the people of this world are thrown on to the rubbish heap of this world as disposable. Likewise, we may feel like some discarded plastic bottle thrown on the side of the road, flattened by life. But in Christ, we are trusted, loved and carry a treasure of surpassing value, the love of Jesus Christ. We may be clay, but it is to us the rough, red clay of this world that God chose to fill to the brim. Amen.

Sermon preached at St. John's Lutheran in Marion, Texas as the supply pastor for the local pastor.  Based on the Hebrew Bible text from Isiah.

    Guardians of the Galaxy is a growing movie franchise based on the Marvel Comics of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios. It first hit the screen in 2014. Vol. 2 appeared almost precisely a year and 21 days ago, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is scheduled for release in 2020. In these films, a team with quasi, semi-impressive superpowers comes together to be guardians of the galaxy.
    I am not going into further details, but I bring it up because today we have our annual liturgical remembrance of a key concept about God, the Trinity. We have Christmas, a day we put aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus, God incarnate. We have Easter, when we remember Christ’s resurrection. And last week we just had Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, when the Holy Spirit blew into the hearts and lives of the first disciples and pushed them out the door of their gathering, a gathering that is the birth of the church.
    We could discuss many aspects of God, but I thought today considering the popularity of the Guardians movies one aspect of God that we are to consider, that God is the real Guardian of the galaxy. This Protector is the ruler of everything, the potentate of innumerable universes filled with galaxies we cannot see, and is more powerful, fearsome and wise than we can imagine. And, based on today's lesson from Isaiah, this Guardian is holy and just --- more holy and just than we can imagine.
    Moreover, this Guardian is triune and thus exists in three forms, each being peculiar and unique and yet each possessing the powers of the other. In a word, this Guardian transcends everything we know or think we know about guardians. A trinity of powers; a unity of personality, a community in one.
    This is the triune deity who stunned Isaiah in our text. The prophet writes, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.”
    If we had millions of dollars we could make a pretty good video game couldn’t we. All the elements are there: A powerful Being whose glory covers “the whole earth,” cool clothes, celestial beings that fly around with six wings, lofty thrones, powerful earthquakes, lots of smoke and a cool name for the all-powerful Being --- “The King, the Lord of Hosts.”
    Now of course, this is not the only place where God is described as the Guardian of the galaxy. But how about we start with the same prophet who had the vision of God as recounted in today's first lesson. Isaiah records the words of the Guardian who says, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” Not only is God the Guardian, but this same God created everything that is now guarded.
Moreover, Isaiah says of the Guardian, “All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?” Just think of that with me for a moment, we tend to think of nations as just on our little blue marble spinning around a sun, with borders in sand or along rivers. But just imagine all the galaxies, planets and stars, all that is nothing before God.
    “Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.”
    Whatever we may experience in life, have read in our history books, or stood in awe of the pictures from the Hubble telescope, all that is mere one grain of sand, on the largest and longest beach one can imagine, yet, even that is nothing to compare to God.
    If that gets a little overwhelming or as usually happens sounds like we are droning on and on, no wonder that the focus in the Bible and the church moves to the attributes of this Guardian of the galaxies
    The list of God's attributes includes at least the following, in alphabetical order that I have read, heard and used --- you may have others: eternal, good, grace, holy, immanence, immutability, justice, love, mercy, omnipotence, omnipresence, righteousness, self-existence, sovereignty and transcendence. Obviously, if I spent time on each attribute your eyes would be more glazed over than now.
    So, let me pick out just a couple of those attributes for us to ponder this morning: goodness, justice and love. Those three are important in my mind because those are not ones we necessarily hear very much about.

    The Guardian is Good. God is not only good in God’s essential nature but is the source of goodness as well. Consider these verses. In Psalm 34:8 we read, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” The psalmist also declares, “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.” And of course, Jesus reminded the rich, young ruler that if you remember came to him asking “Rabbi, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” To which Jesus answered, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good.”
    What does God’s goodness have to do with us? Well, God is so good that just by understanding the goodness of God, we can forswear the bad stuff we do. This is the apostle Paul's point in Romans: “Do you not realize that God’s goodness is meant to lead you to repentance?”
Why else is the goodness of God an important attribute and again why does it matter to us? Well I don’t know about you, but I wouldn't want God to be an evil tyrant.
    There are so many who believe that God is exactly that. That God is all about judgement and anger. Bring prayer back to schools! Bring commandments back to the front of courthouses! Bring those things and our school shootings will go away. I wish it was that simplistic. All we must do is look at history to sober us up and see that those attempts failed. Just read up about John Calvin and the city of Geneva in present day Switzerland that tried to establish a church led civil society. What do you think happened? Just try to get everyone of Marion to think and even act with justice and peace, at home, within their families much less in this community. I am sure all of you are lovely, gracious people, but….
    Instead, we follow a Good God who draws our hearts to goodness but more importantly, forgives us, so that every time someone screws up in Marion which must happen what once a year…. Our God is good. Everything about our Guardian is good and pleasant. An evil god is by definition or according to reason an inferior god to a super God who is all goodness and as the apostle Paul reminded us, is what leads us to forgiveness and change.
    The Guardian is Just. God can hardly be unfair, even though we may be inclined sometimes to think that God is. Why let people starve in parts of Africa and we throw away food? Why let a hurricane bypass one place and hit another? We don’t know why God doesn’t use God’s awesome power at every beck and call from us, but an unfair God lacks perfection. A perfect God is one who is just and fair. And so, God is.
God is not only justice, but God is the judge! Listen to Abraham pleading with God to save the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” Notice that God is called the Judge of the earth. God is also described as a judge in book about Judges in the Old Testament, “Let the Lord, who is judge, decide today for the Israelites or for the Ammonites.” And in James 5, the same thing: “Do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors!”
    How about us? I don’t know about you, but I like someone who is fair and just. It's a quality that I appreciate in those in life, whether in a church and church council, a parent, a neighbor, a judge, a political leader or someone possessing great wealth. If these people try to be fair, the quality of fairness highly recommends them to me. If they are unfair they are divisive.
    To be unfair is arbitrary, unkind, unreasonable and mean-spirited. No one could like such a God, much less worship such a God. Granted, God's justice is often delayed. Sometimes the wicked seem to prosper. Evil seems to be winning. Despite all our best efforts, the tide of evil continues to march forward. One thing we can safely say is that in the end, evildoers and the wicked will face justice. They will meet the guardian, who is just. This leads to the third attribute.
    The Guardian is Love. This God of the universe does not want anyone to face wrath and justice. “God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance,” says the author of 2 Peters. Thus, although God is just, and God's justice demands that evildoers receive their just reward, God offers everyone, everyone from those on death row to those who built their wealth on the underpaid, a path to redemption. Just remember Zacchaeus the man who became wealthy on the backs of the poor, who changed at the first sight of God’s grace?
    Because of our guardian, God provided this cross-shaped loophole because God's essential nature is pure, white-hot, all-encompassing, blinding love. God is love. God loves. God loves the world. God loves the natural world. God loves the mountains and lakes and Texas scrub. God loves the meadow and its bluebonnets. God loves the deer and the rabbits. God loves saints and sinners alike. God loves children. God loves us when we're good and when we're bad, when we're happy and when we're sad. In fact, there's no power in the galaxy that can now remember the words of the apostle Paul …. That can separate us from the love of God.
    So, what's not to like and love about this Super Guardian who loves us, is fair with us and who is essentially good? We stand, like Isaiah, in total awe and amazement in that moment when God's incredible power and fearful essence are revealed to us. Like Isaiah, we might say, “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a [person] of unclean lips ... yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
    Granted, God can often seem confusing to us. God sometimes God seems testy, capricious, whimsical and moody. Perhaps part of the confusion is generated by our attempts to understand God's nature with our limited intelligence. Yet, even our need for God to be tidy, understandable and rational is a human need. We cannot fit God into that kind of box. God will be testy with Job, have compassion on the inhabitants of Nineveh and forgive someone like David. God will be God.
    But, guess what, the most incredible part is this same guardian of the galaxies desires us to be part of the team. Not as superheroes but just as we are, mutual guardians. In verse 8, we read, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’” Isaiah responded as we, too, should respond: “Here I am; send me.” God then said, "Go and say ..."
    I can’t do it for you. Pastor David can’t do it for you. It is our individual responsibility, but rather than a burden, for God doesn’t need people on God’s team with superpowers, God can do everything and more. Rather God wants us to be part of the team to lift and live out God’s attributes of goodness, fairness and love. Whom shall is send….Here I am; send me. Amen.

"Canopy" - 4/29/2018

    Those who work the land as ranchers, farmers and gardeners have a knowledge base that many of us from more urban backgrounds do not. Sometimes it can be funny like the time my dairy farmer uncle asked a group of visiting school children from the city, “Do you know how we make chocolate milk? We pull the cows tails” to which the children nodded in solemn agreement. Later during the tour, he would show them that all milk comes in various shades of white depending on levels of buttermilk and that chocolate milk comes when chocolate syrup is added. That does not happen at the farm and that pulling is cows tail is not a good idea.
    So, when I was living and working as a volunteer for the United Farm Workers in California, I paid attention to the farm workers who worked day in and day out in the fields and vineyards of central valley.
    One of the things I learned was of the many issues that must be addressed in making good wine one that is frequently overlooked is canopy management.
    The topic is relevant to any discussion that one has about the Gospel of John particularly John 15. As one of my seminary professors suggested about the Gospel “before you read, go work on a farm or ranch.” This was simply the professors point that when we jump into Biblical interpretation of the Gospel of John without agricultural background it may leave readers of passages such as today without some important clues. “He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit” could be read as some type of Texas chainsaw massacre ministry with “hellfire and brimstone.” Or we may read through the lens of privilege and power suggesting that Jesus is engaging in a ministry of possession, “either you have it or you don’t.” Instead, what Jesus is discussing is canopy management for disciples.
    More on that in just a minute, but first some background. These verses are tightly packed with layers of meaning and we do not have time to go through all of it so let me point out several important pieces for our consideration this morning. Our gospel begins with the divine name, ego eimi, which is the Greek form of God's name in Hebrew, YHWH. This is the name if you remember that was given to Moses out of the burning bush, a word with an intriguing and elusive meaning, “I am who I am.”
    So why this “I am” here? This “I am” is repeated frequently in the Gospel of John because the author wants it to be known that God is present in the world and his name is Jesus. Moreover, God --- this “I am” --- is present in ways that are understandable and approachable --- the gate, the door, the good shepherd, the light, and, here, the “true vine.”
    Another motif of course is “the vine.” Now if you have heard about vines before in Bible study and worship that is no accident, as vines and vineyards are important images used over centuries. For instance, the vineyard, can be traced at least to the 8th century BC, as in Isaiah 5:2: “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the vineyard of Israel.”
    We also know from archaeology that the vine was a popular image in the time of Jesus. The Temple in Jerusalem was decorated with the vine theme and during the Roman-Jewish War, AD 66-70, roughly twenty to thirty years after Jesus’ death, the vine image was used on the coins minted by the Jewish rebels. Therefore, when Jesus uses the image of vine, he clearly is playing with a well-known motif.
    Today with that in mind, Jesus focuses on one aspect of the vine and vineyards --- production. Producing fruit is the whole purpose of the community of faith Jesus seems to be suggesting. To produce fruit means for the author of John to follow the way of Jesus. Whoever does not produce fruit, God will “take away.” Now for Christians who like using the imagery of “once saved” this portion of the Gospel of John obviously causes some discomfort.
    But let’s get back to the canopy management this gospel addresses. Let us address the issue of runaway growth. That seems counter intuitive until I did some reading and listened to those who work vineyards. Vines left to themselves will sprawl out all over the place and produce huge canopies of shoots, leaves and branches, and unless that canopy is controlled, the vine won’t yield much fruit or top shelf grapes. For all the greenery, all those leaves suggest that what we’ve got here is a very healthy vine is in fact, it’s all show and no tell.
    Jesus is afraid that the disciples might face this same problem. This community of faith might become all show and no tell. Jesus was not interested in showy disciples any more than Jesus is interested in churches bursting at the seams today. Rather, what Jesus is interested in is fruit --- and not just fruit --- excellent fruit.
    For example, pick up a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, and after we sniff the bouquet, swirl it around the glass, examine the claret and perform other tests in our best Frasier and Niles Crane impression, take a sip. Daniel Sogg, of Wine Spectator, says that if you catch a flavor “reminiscent of onion skin and jalapeño peppers,” you’ve just encountered the problem of canopy management. A vine with a huge canopy may be looking good, but it isn’t doing any good to the fruit.
    This reminds me of the BBC comedy Keeping Up Appearances. In the tv show there was a matronly woman, by the name of Hyacinth. Her main concern in life is to maintain the illusion that she is well-bred and in touch with the upper crust of British society.
    That’s why when her neighbor drives Hyacinth to her sister’s house in one early episode, she instructs her neighbor to park the car in front of a well-appointed home on one street, and after asserting it is her sister’s home, dashes to the door, then ducks around to the side, climbs a six-foot brick wall in her dress, heels, flowered hat and all, falls to the ground, brushes herself off and marches to her sister’s actual abode --- a rundown apartment building the next street over. Hyacinth according to Jesus is concerned about her “canopy,” the outward show.
    But again, this lesson is not a personal, “we will know you are Christian” image instead, a grapevine is really a community --- many individual branches interconnected and intertwined, but all designed for the sole purpose of bearing fruit together.
    While the individual branches are important, it’s the collective quality of the whole that determines whether the fruit will be labeled as excellent, mediocre or simply sold by the box. God, Jesus is suggesting, like any good winemaker, understands the need to control the canopy.
    So, what does this mean for you and me? Well, the goal of canopy control among the vineyards of California is threefold:
    We are to work on canopy management that makes picking and disease control relatively easy. One problem with a huge covering of branches and large leaves, is that it makes is difficult to see the fruit, hinders good air circulation and creates a problem for the future, getting access to pick the fruit.
    So, one way to read this is that sometimes all that external paraphernalia, rules, accoutrements of the church get in the way --- not of growing the fruit --- but quality and access. Over the centuries churches have sometimes called this legalism. Our conventions, systems and traditions sometimes keep the world from seeing the fruit, and therefore unable to pick the fruit that it cannot see.
    Now just remember Jesus is talking about a community here, not simply individuals. What this reminds us is that we grow in, with and under faithful communities, community is both critical but also one that we need to carefully prune. As we know, the world is full of people searching for the truth, for a sense of meaning for their lives. We have the love of God, by grace through Jesus Christ. The fruit is hanging lush from branches. But that message may be hidden by the very things we think should be the signs of growth, the showy and meaningless appearances of nonessential issues. Jesus called it, in another place using another metaphor, “hiding our light under a bushel basket.” The world doesn’t need shoots, leaves and branches; it needs fruit.
    Another important component of canopy management is how we regulate the size and quality of the fruit. Sogg in commenting on the taste of the wine is telling us that “a huge crop buried under a dense thicket of vegetation translates into lousy wine.” There may be fruit, but God is concerned about the quality of the wine - God wants a superior product.
    What does that mean for us? Perhaps it cuts to core of something I have struggled with loosely called “church growth.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t call the vine to growth, he calls it to fruit. Our mantra ought to be “church fruit.” When God takes the pruning shears to our life, or to our church, it’s not an issue of whether we are growing, but of what we are growing. Of course, there will be some fruit, but the larger issue is the quality of the fruit we are bearing; a sour grape is fruit, but it’s still sour.
    But that leads to another aim in faithful community canopy control, striking a balance between growing leaves and growing fruit. Without shoots, leaves and branches, we can’t have fruit, particularly year after year. We are not people who cannot have a roof over our heads, and particularly here in South Texas some AC. It is within that faith life that the fruit grows. God wants us to get and have a life. God tells us not only to get a faith life, but to get “an abundant life.” But it must be a life under some care, a life that on one hand has some green growth, but also suited to render the fruit of the Spirit.
    Now not to let ourselves completely off the hook, all this is accomplished by “abiding.” We can’t go it alone. Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” God is the one who watches over the whole process. We are to abide in Jesus. If we go it alone, we’ll dry up, become so much dead wood. Sogg concludes that with proper canopy control, a winemaker can produce a wine that is a “friend to food.”
    What Jesus is saying to his disciples is that with proper canopy control, they can produce fruit that is a “friend to the Table” to the altar.
What does that mean. Well, unfortunately for all of us we don’t have all the chapters of John in front of us. Careful readers would notice that chapter 15, our chapter today is a redactional mystery. Jesus, at the end of chapter 14, we are told just “concluded” his farewell discourse, with: “Rise, let us be on our way” (v. 31). However, instead of rising and proceeding on their way, today’s reading begins by recording another of Jesus’ “I Am” monologues that are peculiar to the Fourth Gospel. It is not until chapter 18 that Jesus and his disciples get up and go across the Kidron Valley to the garden.
    So, why say “Rise up…” and not? Is this some type of Colombo moment with Jesus turning around just when ready to leave when “Oh, by the way…” to the guilty party? For me the location of this sudden interjection before rising reminds us of the location of these words, the upper room. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is saying these words around the table of bread and wine before Christ’s betrayal and subsequent trial and crucifixion. In other words, this is a kind of Jack and the Beanstalk loci where the vine represents the connection between creation and God.
    Canopy management or “pruning” is not a massacre or for punishment, but so that the community of Jesus can be even more fruitful. Indeed, Jesus says that the pruning has already been accomplished and that those who remain have “already been cleansed” (v. 3).
    Or to put it into our experience, when we gather around this table we not only get a taste of the fruit, we are “cleansed” --- so that we may go out there and produce even more fruit. As community at the table, tasked with judicious canopy management, we leave the table to share the message of Jesus Christ.
    As people in faithful community it is important to be realistic in our assessment of our broken world, with its hatred and suffering. Yet, there's nothing to be gained, for example, by saying to a mother grieving the loss of her child, “Chin up, things will get better tomorrow.”
On the other hand, we Christians are too quick to condemn and thus rightly are pigeonholed as people who deny the fundamental goodness of all God's creation. We need a healthy balance. As vines forever attached to God by grace, let us be judicious in trimming what needs to be trimmed in our lives and community, yet let us not hide in fear in whom and what we abide trusting in the fruit of the vine. Amen.

Easter Joy - 4/8/2018

Sermon for Sunday, April 8, 2017.  Is there much to laugh or smile about today? We have the unending and dysfunctional American political drama in the White House. We have events all around the world like Central American migrants stuck in limbo trying to reach safety from gangs and violence. Closer to home we may be mourning the death at 35 of a young man we had been praying for, Neal Hudson. And of course our congregation continues the unending struggle of maintaining our older, large campus with scarce dollars. If that alone does not take the smiles off our faces we have our own individual challenges from work, to health, to family to finances.

So, I would not blame anyone, if this morning, if Aristotle, the Greek philosopher was right, and we are all constantly drawn toward a state of happiness, that no one would, on a natural level, be moved to enter this house of sour people. No smile here. No laughing here. There would be no moths coming to this light of sadness.

Yet, we at this one mission outpost we call Good Shepherd are not alone. It seems like we North American Christians whether in our places of worship or in our homes, are wallowing in sadness. It seems like none of us is far from uttering the fateful lyrics of Buck Owens and Roy Clark from the TV show “Hee Haw:” “Gloom, despair, and agony on me; Deep, dark depression, excessive misery; If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all; Gloom, despair, and agony on me.”

This is understandable I suppose. If we view our Christian life as battling the “powers and principalities of this world” a crusade that is not exactly a light-hearted affair. Or if not in battle, we may live with the theological vision that our true happiness cannot be found in this world. Either view opens at least for me, a whole metaphysical discussion on God’s involvement in the world.
Well, be that as it may, whatever the reason, whether a Christian life is a crusade or a creation of a wrathful God, a good proportion of us who identify as Christians in the United States are a dour people and the world is noticing.

Now wait a minute pastor, is not the mirthless nature that has become synonymous with many public expressions of Christianity often a ridiculous stereotype, just think of the Church Lady on Saturday Night Live? Well intended or otherwise, there is a noticeable layer of doom and gloom sprinkled quite liberally on even the most faithful of Christians. For instance, a priest had a chance encounter with Groucho Marx, the noted comedian from last century. The priest extended his hand and said, “I want to thank you for all the joy you've put into this world.” Groucho reportedly shook his hand and shot back: “And I want to thank you for all the joy you've taken out of this world.”

I bring this all because every day forward is to be an upswing from Holy Week, when on Good Friday arguably the lowest point of that week we met the sadness of the cross. That mood changed on Easter, however. You see, today, the first Sunday after Easter was once celebrated as Holy Humor Sunday. In Latin, today was called risus which translates into the English word “laughter” and Paschalis which is “Easter.” Side by side, the words say “Easter laugh.” In the ancient church, practices of happy celebration go back as far as A.D. 385, connecting them to Saint Gregory of Nyssa. Joyful traditions during the Easter season sprang up that celebrated a God who had the last laugh over death.
That solemnity born out of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the solemn approach to the tomb early Easter Sunday was transformed into rejoicing with the news that “Christ is risen!” on Easter morning.

It was understood by the early Christians that the celebration did not cease on Easter, but instead flowed over into the days that followed. Early Christian leaders who celebrated a form of “Easter Laugh” often told jokes and uplifting, lighthearted stories in the days following Easter. Surprise! Jesus is not dead! Jesus Christ is risen! The tomb is empty!

Over the centuries in various places, traditions sprang up including pranks and jokes, to help people lighten up. Long before the Internet / Facebook ice bucket challenge, and before coaches were baptized with a bucket of Gatorade following the championship game, there are even stories of people dumping buckets of water on people --- especially the clergy --- on the first week after Easter. Link
But perhaps this is what caused Pope Clement X to end these practices. Maybe the pope who suffered with gout was doused with water too often or listened to one too many bad jokes coming from the pulpit. Perhaps he'd had like many of us too many depressing days. Or it could have been in reaction of our Protestant forefathers who were not known for jocularity. For whatever reason, by the mid 1600’s Pope Clement X put an end to all this tomfoolery and banned Risus Paschalis.

I wonder though, if we North American Christians need a return to that celebratory traditions. Because we so quickly forget, in the post-resurrection season of Eastertide, we can laugh. Remembering to have a good laugh is not a matter of being unfaithful, rather the last thing we as Christians should want to be seen is as humorless.
Just look at today’s gospel with that perspective in mind. On Easter evening those mirthless disciples are sitting in their root cellar with the trap door closed in fear, in hiding. Then suddenly, someone else is in the room! Do you suppose it's possible that Jesus said “Boo” as he jumped out of the shadows, scaring the living daylights out of his timorous followers? No wonder Jesus says, “Peace be with you.” Peace is exactly what they need, peeled to the ceiling as they were.

Jesus we are then told brought some life into these scarred disciples. Do you suppose the Holy Spirit came with frowns and worry lines? Yet even with the Holy Spirit we see the difficulty in breaking free from fear. We see that played out because Thomas was right to doubt this whole appearance thing not only for the illogical resurrection but consider the mood of those first disciples. Even though they had seen the risen Jesus, and had the Holy Spirit, they could not quite break out of their “gloom, despair and agony on me.” Not only had Thomas missed the first appearance, but the disciples were not providing much of a glimmer. No wonder Thomas struggles with the whole notion because he certainly was not helped by the disciples. Thankfully, Jesus returned this time and several other times challenging not only Thomas, but all the disciples because these words were not to Thomas alone, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Often, we put ourselves in the shoes of these disciples at those Biblical events with serious, sad faces. But another way to view this gospel is that we the church are very much like those first disciples, who are still struggling, more fearful than faithful. And then when a Thomas comes into our midst, someone with reasonable doubts, like a visitor at our worship, instead of a questioning Thomas receiving the reassurance and joy of the faithful, the message of the church is one of fear.

So, I wonder what might our Thomas culture be seeing in all us? In our consumer culture, people are seeking a theology and a church that fits them instead of being “fitted” or transformed by the gospel. For example, charity is often what the world understands and expects of us. Meals are prepared to feed the hungry in the community; shelter given to the homeless or those in dire straits. That fits nicely, do good things without being transformed.

Although charity is a visible reminder of our faith, I wonder if a more basic sign for our day and age is as simple as a laughter. We heard in our first lesson from Acts regarding how that first Christian community interacted. Many of us may focus on the issue of property, that of course is because we live in a first world, wealthy nation. How can that be? How can one share --- property? But, what others have taught us from Christian communities around this world who are not coming from the perspective of wealth, is that an important aspect of this community was that they were of “one heart and soul.” A community that is of one heart and soul not only in tears but in laughter is a community that understands the triumph of the resurrection and enormous power of God. It is a community that understands that the smartest of humans and the most stunning accomplishments of humanity are but foolish child's play for God.

When we consider the great things, God has done for us and the reason we celebrate Easter, laughter and shouts of joy can bubble out of our mouths. God has done great things. God has left us an empty tomb as a punch line to the greatest prank ever played: Jesus rising from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is no joke, so we can imagine God's pleasure, even laughter, when everyone thought death would overcome divine power and love.

We read elsewhere in the Bible that we are to make a joyful noise. What is more joyful than a good knee-slapping, hearty belly laugh? Studies show that a good laugh is good for our health. Yet researchers aren't sure if it's actually the act of laughing that makes people feel better, or if it is having a good sense of humor in life.

Teresa of Avila was correct. That Spanish Carmelite nun from the 1500’s with all her profundity in reaching the depths of the spiritual life, was also renowned for her one liners --- the most famous of which was, “From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, Oh Lord, deliver us.”
Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican friar and immensely influential Christian philosopher from the 12th century, not exactly a lightweight on the life of faith, once remarked that a person who is unable to say or laugh at anything funny was morally unsound. Much, much later, the British author GK Chesterton wrote that the test of a good religion depends on whether one could joke about it.

We should not downplay or honestly face the ups and downs of our lives. We cry with Nathan’s family just like Jesus lamented in the face of the reality of death. Yet let us not forget that Easter points out to us that sadness is not at the heart of divine revelation and, thus, is not at the heart of our ultimate reality. Nor is sadness a sign of Christin community. Laughter is Easter joy. Easter reminds us that Christ is raised and that sin, death and the devil have been vanquished! We celebrate. We laugh, sing and dance.

Meister Eckhart, the German 13th century mystic was right, the reality of God that came in the cross and resurrection is brimming with laughter, a laughter that echoes faintly in every age and behind every moment of sorrow; waiting for the day when it will finally booms forth from between the cracks of sorrow, breaking the awkward silence of the cosmos that groans inward for its redemption. So, let us laugh, or if not laugh at least people let us crack a smile, Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

 

Exit Lines - 3/18/2018

Sermon based on John 12: 20-33

What is the best exit and/or exit line of all time? This past week we have seen a few exits, like Stephen Hawking, the English theoretical physicist and cosmologist who died this past week. He famously wants his exit line to be chiseled into his gravestone, a mathematical theory that black holes aren’t entirely black but instead emit a glow. Another exit and exit line we heard this week was from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who was fired by presidential (twit!) tweet. Tillerson closed his goodbye speech, with praise for his fellow Americans, citing their “devotion to a free and open society,” “acts of kindness to one another,” honesty, and “quiet hard work.”
It will be interesting to see if those exits or exit lines will last the test of time. For example, to draw on recent history (and by recent, I mean the last 50 to 75 years), on November 7, 1962, Richard M. Nixon conceded defeat to the successful candidate for the California governorship, Pat Brown saying, “You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.”
Although Nixon -- and much of America -- thought it was his exit and exit line, the media called it his “last press conference,” it was not. In a remarkable comeback, Nixon returned to politics and in 1968 was elected president. Then, on August 8, 1974, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, then-President Nixon resigned from that office. The final words of his speech on that occasion were: “To have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every American. In leaving it, I do so with this prayer: May God's grace be with you in all the days ahead.”
We could go but I would like to focus on another exit, corresponding exit lines and its implications found in today’s gospel.
Now most of us focus on one of Jesus’ exits, but when we think about it, the exit on the cross perhaps was the most dramatic wasn’t the only one! Jesus made a habit of taking exits off the stage during his short ministry of three years. For example, Jesus makes an astonishing appearance at the Jordan River where his cousin John is baptizing people. After John baptizes Jesus, Jesus immediately walks off for 40 days into the wilderness.
That is not the only time Jesus would take an exit stage left. Jesus would more than once take a quick exit from crowds to get away, for retreat, for prayer, for time with his disciples, for sleep, for lake excursions. Some more dramatic than others, for example, Jesus left nearly everyone asleep after the drama of the Last Supper to go to Gethsemane to pray. And then of course we have “the big exit.” Jesus died. On a cross. A few brave sympathizers got his body and put it in a tomb. Jesus was dead and entombed. A final exit and his final exit statement?
Well, no. Jesus reappears and spends some more time with his disciples and then exits again with just the soles of his feet to look at. Into the clouds. Poof. Gone. And the Bible says he now sits at the right hand of the Father.
The same goes for exit lines. Jesus had a few of those, too. We might remember the so-called “seven last words” of Christ on the cross that are repeated annually on Good Friday. Or we might remember his post-resurrection exit line recorded as the last words of Matthew's gospel, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
But those were not the only times Jesus had an exit line. Today we have several spoken only days before his death. “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.”
Why this exit line, at this time? To rehash, soon after Jesus enters Jerusalem for the Passover festival, some Greeks approach the disciple Philip and say to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Some argue that these “Greeks” were Greek-speaking Jews. That is unlikely. Rather, this generalization as to “Greeks” who came to see Jesus were more than likely, believers in monotheism and conducted their own sacrifices in a manner like that of the Jews. They therefore saw some affinity between themselves and Jews, but they were not Jews themselves. Not being either Jews, they would have been excluded from worship participation in the Temple and from aspects of the festivals.
It is this group who came to Philip from Bethsaida in Galilee, asking, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. What was Jesus’ response? Jesus tells them --- in so many words --- that he will die soon, and then he compares himself to a seed. “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Now why these exit lines to Greek monotheists visiting Jerusalem during a festival; a people that more than likely Jesus had never met? Perhaps it could have been that these Greeks grew up with oral versions of Aesop's fables, so they know the power of a simple story to teach a moral lesson. Whatever the case may be, Jesus continued: “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
In other words, although death is very close, Jesus tells the disciples and these monotheists that his own death will be a metaphor for understanding how his followers must live every day: they must live by dying. When they do, like a seed in the ground, they will grow and bear fruit.
I suspect most of us can certainly understand the confusion of the Greeks and the disciples. They understood that the dead tend to stay dead. But Jesus is telling them that fruitfulness comes from going into the ground, and a loss of life leads to eternal life. And then he drops this exit line: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Although neither Roman or Jew, more than likely this monotheistic Greek audience along with the disciples saw the cross as a scandalous death and a humiliating defeat. How can it be that this event will not repel people but will draw people to God?
In Jesus’ exit line today, fruitfulness and eternal life are both found in the cross. Both are connected to the power of the cross, a cross that Jesus elsewhere says we must embrace as an instrument of our own metaphorical death. And when we do embrace the cross, we will bear fruit and live. So, the cross, in a sense, is simultaneously exit and entrance --- death and an entrance to a new level or plane of living.
In reflection we may wonder what that might mean for us? What might Jesus mean for us when he said: “those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Over the ages, Christians have pondered these amazing profound and personal exit lines.
For one, Jesus is reminding us that those who love life are those who are attached to the things of this world, perhaps wealth, fame and power. Jesus knows that we cannot take material goods and worldly achievements into the grave.
Let me share an example. In 2016, baseball player Adam LaRoche walked away from a $13 million contract with the Chicago White Sox. He did this because he wanted his son to spend a lot of time with him and the team, and the team's management did not agree. He announced his retirement on Twitter, thanking God for the game of baseball and ending with the hashtag #FamilyFirst. Fellow players responded by commending LaRoche for “standing up for his beliefs.”
LaRoche was quoted as sharing this question: “What do you want written on your tombstone? Do you want 'Adam LaRoche: Gold Glove, batting average, hit so many homers, and has a million dollars in his bank account,' or do you want 'Adam LaRoche: Child of God, with integrity, raised a great family, loving.' Let's be honest: I don't know anybody who wants their stats.”
In other words, for LaRoche he was living --- by dying. He “put to death” his fame and money. In return he planted a seed, possible fruitfulness and meaning by changing course. Now that cynics among us might say that it was easy for him to do this because he already had earned millions and stashed it away. Maybe. Maybe not. And the angry among us aware of the unfairness of this world, a future not knowing what the future would hold for he and his family, mutter “What will happen if his marriage were to fall apart or his children end up in jail or worse, dead?”
This process by the way of coming to terms with “loving their life and losing in and hating their life and keeping it” incidentally is what Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who died opposing the Nazis regime, was getting at when he talked of “a world come of age.” What he meant was that, in a “world come of age,” we Christians would have opportunities, choices if you will, to become adults. For Bonhoeffer, to become adult was not about Christians having “a child-like faith,” as we engaged with the world, rather it means gladly accepting and gladly taking responsibility for our own life, without recourse to or dominance by any other authority.
But again, what might today’s exit lines from Jesus mean for you and me? What might the cutting edge be for us to demonstrate the value of “putting to death” so that we can live?
Before we jump into a grocery list of self-denial opportunities and important additional consideration can be found in words of RC theologian Gustavo Gutierrez who pointed out the pitfall of individualism in faith; as though the message of the cross is always about one-on-one individual acts. In other words, what might “hate their life in this world” mean for our whole society? What would it mean for us have for example, our structures of injustice, replaced with structures designed to benefit all people. That would impact many of us who are wealthy compared to most of world. What would it mean just in our community, for the city of San Antonio to have systems that would impact some who “love their life in this world?” What would it mean for us in that case when it may impact not only the salaries of CEO’s but our own taxes. Is that living by dying like Adam Roche?
Now I don’t know about you but when I began to ask myself those questions, my first response is “Nah, Jesus really can’t mean that!” Yet, if what we need to “put to death” isn’t soul troubling --- than we would be better than Jesus who we are told was deeply, deeply troubled by the implications. Today’s exit lines to the Greeks were a serious message, and for all of us is a life-long endeavor that is not only personal but across society. Let's follow where “losing and hating and keeping it” leads us further into fruitful service and eternal life. Amen.

Windows of Mercy - 3/4/2018

Sermon from March 4, 2018 based on John 2: 13-22.

Is it that our ancestors were fearful of being alone in a wild and unpredictable world or was the reasons entirely different? I suspect their reasons for creating representations of a plethora of gods and goddesses, whether it was the 200 or some among the Aztec, or the nearly 30 among the Celts, or the 15 among the Norse or the 12 major and thousands more found in local communities across Asia was for the very same reason we create idols. Idols can be anything that takes God’s place in our lives, such as nationalism, possessions, careers, relationships, hobbies, sports, entertainment, goals, greed, addictions, etc. Perhaps our ancestors were simply better at distilling them down into visible representations of anxieties and fears.
    All of us come with a long line of ancient gods and goddesses among our ancestral trees. Not only where their gods and goddesses but among the communities were the all-important oracles. Men and women who were called upon to be mouthpieces; to relay, interpret and provide some clarification, to give voice to these idols. Oracles were considered the human mouthpieces of the gods providing individuals and communities divine guidance concerning religious and moral questions, proper practices in the religious cult, or the interpretation of a strange or foreboding human experiences.
    Idols and their worship is one of the more frequent problems mentioned in the Bible or as 1 Chronicles noted: “For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” Frequently the Hebrew people were criticized not only for reconfiguring gods for local demands but the oracles to which they would visit. Depending on which version of the Bible you use there are over 350 mentions of idols not including their oracles or as the Bible likes to call them, false prophets. We know from archaeology that in both time periods --- during the first and second Temple in Jerusalem --- in homes throughout the land --- people had a small altar with house idols, to represent both male and female gods that they would attend to.
    Now before we get to uppity, and consider how much we have progressed, we need to be sober and reexamine our world and lives. It is not that difficult to trace idol worship throughout history to our nation. In each of my visits to Washington D.C., inevitably, people will enter our national sacred spaces and as if by an on/off switch would lower their voices to whispers as if entering a temple, gaze with awe and contemplate the words chiseled into stone. That is way it is not too difficult to find our idols, our gods and goddess in the 21st century, nor is it too difficult to find our present-day oracles.
    Why bring this up --- that we are not that far removed from idols, our false gods and their oracles --- because for us followers of Jesus we need to realize just how radical the call to monotheism was then --- as it is now. We may get so caught up in our sense of pride in what we voice on a Sunday, one God, in, with and through Jesus Christ with the power of the Holy Spirit --- that we consider anything but as primitive or alien. Is it so culturally acceptable for us in the US to go along with this public one, a flag waving omnipotent being thing that we forget how scandalous rejection of idols and their oracles was in the ancient world as it may be today. We forget that this belief, distilled and detailed in our Exodus passage was so profoundly counter cultural that its repercussions still reverberate today.
    Our smug 21st century American mindset needs to grasp that although worship at the temple at the time of Jesus was ringed with ritual we may find strange, there was to be a profound difference compared to the world around it.
    In the heart of old, ancient Jerusalem was the temple. In the heart of the temple, within its innermost sanctuary, was the “Holy of Holies,” where only one person, the high priest could visit. In the heart of the “Holy of Holies," separated by partitions and curtains sat the ark itself. Of course, the ark of the covenant that housed the tablets of stone with the commandments as the story goes, incised by God’s own power --- was carted off to be melted and destroyed in 587 BC. Although that ark was lost to the sands of time, in the Second Temple the spirit of the ark remained in its essential component, not some refabricated slabs of stone, rather a “mercy seat.”
    The kapporeth or “mercy seat” was a flat slab of gold resting on top of the ark in the first temple and a stone altar in the second. Guarding either end of this slab, and of one piece with it, were the golden cherubim, their faces inward turned toward each other and their wings arching over the mercy seat. Here between the cherubim and over the mercy seat was understood to be the throne, the dwelling of the God of Israel. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement it was on this “mercy seat” that the high priest sprinkled the sacrificial blood for forgiveness.
    Now understand that the cherubim did not reside on the mercy seat. Nor was there an actual throne, rather nowhere was God's presence anywhere portrayed within this “Holy of Holies” or within the temple. All that greeted the high priest was a blank slab with an open space, a void, above or as the former Episcopal Archbishop Rowan Williams called it, “the great speaking absence between the images.”
    In other words, the most sacred space where this one omnipotent being called God, amid the Hebrew people, was empty, but simultaneously filled. Meaning that first Jews or Hebrew stragglers who came out of the hills and from slavery in Egypt had a radical notion; a revelation. That what they carried with them through the wilderness and to which they protected with their lives was a seat with nothing but everything on it. Corresponding to what they carried was this notion, this belief, that a one, omnipotent God was present with them. Centuries later after the establishment of Temple, people would go to Jerusalem to visit God, to make a pilgrimage to find mercy and comfort, was a visit to empty space --- the holy absence and holy silence of the holy space between the cherubim. It is exactly because there was no gilded statue or idol, no gods or goddesses that the Israelites were able to experience the living presence of this one, omnipotent God holiness in their midst.
    With that in mind, just consider this one episode in the life of Jesus, his rampage in the temple as shared in John. Certainly, it was partly a reaction against the intrusions of unholy noise and unholy images into this holy silence. Certainly, it was a reaction against the political and economic climate that separated and denigrated people and preyed on the poor.
    But there was something else as well. We are told that it was during Passover --- a lively affair. The population of Jerusalem would quadruple as people made their pilgrimage to the city for this most important festival of the year. Streets and alleys would be packed with people. The crowds would include soldiers, zealots, families and children, religious fanatics, wonder workers, magicians, hell-raisers, pietists, thieves and animals of several kinds.
    Jesus is described as going directly to the Temple where Jesus makes a “whip of cords” and then we are told “threw out all out of the temple.” The incident is often called “the cleansing of the Temple,” but that is an unfortunate way of phrasing it. Jesus “cleansed” nothing. For a lone figure to throw “all” out of the Temple precincts for example, an area the equivalent of 15 NFL football fields, would either have been impossible or a miracle. Rather the fourth gospel is telling what is called a “theology in narrative form.” This “theology” is that there is a “great speaking absence between the images.”
    The temple site had transformed from a center of spirituality --- a center of otherworldliness --- a center that can lead one to greater silence and greater space for holiness --- into just another place of hustle and bustle. The crush of crowds and commerce threatened to fill in the cracks of holy absences and break this relationship between God and God’s people. Thus, when Jesus overturns a few tables and remarks on their presence, it was not only against an economic system that had been set up to support the wealthy, it was to remind all of the speaking absence in their midst.
    What does this then mean for us 21 centuries later? I believe this realization of what Jesus was doing and why, challenges us to wonder about that holy, that empty, that space in our own lives. Have we absently fallen into our natural inclination for idols, god or goddesses? In other words, what kind of noise have we let into our lives to avoid listening to that “speaking absence?” What imaginings of God --- idols really --- are preventing us from finding the mercy seat of help and healing? Are we to afraid to listen for and be open to God's “speaking absence” in our own lives?
    As Christians, there is not one central, location in this vast universe where God’s holy throne needs occupy empty space to remind us of our relationship with a one, omnipotent God. We have the cross and resurrection to thank for that. Rather, in the “foolishness of the cross” as Paul puts it, Jesus himself became the new temple, the new mercy seat for God's presence, likewise Jesus made it possible for each one of us to be mercy seats. In that transformational event of Jesus’s death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, by grace, Jesus became a “holy place” so that we might each become a holy place. Jesus became the new mercy seat that we might each become a mercy seat. Not only us, but all humanity, all creation, the universe so that the foolishness of the cross --- Emmanuel --- God with us.
    By taking God's “Holy of Holies” to the world, Jesus restored as central God’s desire to be Divine Presence for all people, for all creation. The body of Christ became the Christ-body community profoundly dispersed found in each one of us.
    It sounds deep, but when we begin to understand, it has very real and practical implications. For example, let me share this story shared by Angles Arrien in a chapter called “Walking the Mystical Path with Practical Feet” in the book Nourishing the Soul. She wrote, “Recently I witnessed a moment of deep soulfulness between two strangers. I was at a bus stop, sitting next to a woman reading a newspaper, but I was totally engrossed in the performance of a 14-year-old boy on a skateboard. He had his baseball cap turned around with the bill in the back, and he was skating beautifully and very fast. He buzzed by us once, then twice. When he came by a third time, he accidentally knocked the woman's newspaper out of her hands. She said, “Oh, why don't you grow up!” I watched him glide down to the corner of the block, where he stood talking with his buddy. The two of them kept looking back over their shoulders at the woman. She hesitated for a moment, then rolled up her paper, tucked it under her arm and walked into the street, motioning to him. “Won't you come here?” she called. “I want to talk to you.”
    Very reluctantly, he skated over to her, turned his cap around with the bill in front, and said, “Yeah?” She said, “What I meant to say was that I was afraid that I might get hurt. I apologize for what I did say.” The skateboarders face lit up, and he said, “How cool!”” Ms. Arrien continues, “In that moment, I witnessed what is called in Spanish a milagro pequeno--a small miracle. This small miracle was a holy, healing moment between generations, between two human beings who had just become important strangers to each other. The woman chose to shift the shape of her experience by moving out of reactivity into creativity. This kind of shape shifting is possible when we allow ourselves to speak directly from our souls.”
    That is but one small example of where the holy, empty spaces in our lives becomes a milagro pequeno. A woman for a moment becomes a mercy seat for another. Monotheism, our trust and hope in one, omnipotent God is as radical then as it is today. It counters our idols, our gods and goddesses. By grace, we have received mercy, to share mercy, to be windows as “mercy seats” of God. Amen.

It is not about Mental Illness - 2/18/2018

Second Sermon for Feb. 18, 2018.  I dumped my first sermon after arriving at worship early on the 18th and felt complelled to change the sermon based on the shootings at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida - News

Does character matter? What I mean is does the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual matter? I have been thinking about the most recent school shooting in Florida and the young man who shot and killed men, women and students.

There has been a lot of discussion since the murders on mental illness. And I have been dwelling on that association we have been making because I think it is wrong. I have met people who are mentally ill from the homeless to the tidy, whitey, wealthy. All were diagnosed with mental illness, yet they were also people of character. For example, I had a mentally ill homeless person return lost property and a wealthy business owner who worked hard at hiring those with criminal records --- all signs of character. Could they have gone in some mad delusion purchased or used a military arsenal to shoot and kill the innocent? Perhaps a better question is, could we? Because humanity is far more complex than a simple mental illness to purchase gun which leads to murder analysis.

For example, many in the LGBTQ community have taught me that character is deeper than one’s sexuality or gender. I had been taught that the LGBTQ community had character flaws and that was the reason for who they were. It was simply a matter of choice. It wasn’t until I sat down, listened and begin to have conversations with people from a variety of sexual and gender expressions did I realize, no a person could be for example, lying and deceptive regardless of one’s sexuality and gender. And a person could be of the highest mental and moral character and be somewhere on the sexuality and gender spectrum. Being LGBTQ is not a choice, just as my being a straight, white cisgender male is not a choice, it is who I am, it is my skin as you live in your skin.

Rather, in our ongoing debate around gun control including the availability of military style armaments for non-military purposes, our US constitution, age, mental illness, our American culture, violence, masculinity, power, racism and a host of other issues, we as Christians have an important additional message that is vital to this debate raging in our nation and the problems we have created.

We begin from an anthropological view that the human being in this vast cosmos is created and loved by an omnipotent being --- God, who loves us, forgives by grace, and challenges us to stand up and go that extra mile in forgiveness and love --- a forgiveness and love which goes against our very grain and the cultures that we are part of.

On Ash Wednesday this past week, Message below) the same day as the shooting, I gave a sermon about King David, the extraordinary and exemplary leader in the Old Testament. Tradition would suggest that David was the author of Psalm 51. That Psalm is one among seven that is of lament, a psalm on how deeply one has messed up or how life has unfolded. If true, and someone like King David wrote it, or someone else with a similar deep life experience, how can King David be a man of as mentioned in 1 Samuel, be of “good character” and in the same instance, abuse his power, rape a woman and have her husband murdered. Was King David mentally ill? I suppose we could brush it off as literary storyline, but I think it is truer than we care to admit.

I tried in my message on Ash Wednesday to bring us back to a beginning point as we begin a 40-day journey, about how in this season of Lent, we are challenged to acknowledge and bring to light our deep imperfections, broken relationships, our character flaws, our complete package I would say. In this necessary grounding, we bring all of ourselves forward to this same omnipotent being God and to our community. And at the same time, recognize that this God bestows grace not as a commodity, to be distributed or purchased or earned, but is a fundamental characteristic of God that will culminate in a display on the cross in the person of Jesus Christ.

This is counter intuitive, counter cultural and counter to our very core in that it is just the opposite of what we want as a characteristic of God’s grace. Grace does not come as white Americans like to imagine with guns blazing on a similarly color coded white horse and Stetson to vanquish evil, a marvel hero that brings justice and truth culminating in a final Armageddon with white angels. A simplistic vision just as the view that it all can be traced to a parent, or lack of, or as simple as having children uniformly bow their heads and clasp their hands when school begins.

Rather, this Lenten journey helps us to take stock, listen to ourselves, who we are, the life we have or have not led, and recognize our skin, bones, heart, mind and soul and become comfortable with all that it is and that we are each loved by God. It is from that fundamental platform that we hold on to dear life, getting strength to speak truth to power when needed. That truth to power is that we have a gun problem created, developed by each us of as a nation and people. We are cause and we are the symptom.

As the prophet Nathan spoke to King David, we and none other, must do likewise, and clearly share for example, that we have too many guns designed for the military and too often fall into the wrong hands.  Furthermore we share that message and at the same time extend it with the same grace we have received in love and forgiveness.

Yes, character matters, but for Christians, being children of God, loved and forgiven matters more. Yes, mental illness matters just as does education, poverty, bullying, homophobia, parental skills, racism and a gun culture all matters as does much more. Yet, that is not the basis for our platform in this debate. Our platform as Christians in this and other debates is not the US constitution, not our age, background or experiences, education or our mental, emotional or physical health.

Instead we know that character is a skill set that needs nurturing and although desired, can be as flawed as we are flawed, regardless of our aptitudes, strengths or weaknesses, background, wealth or poverty. Rather we come from the fundamental paradigm that humanity in all its grand and wonderful diversity is loved by a God who from evil’s perspective, never has a smile but always a frown. We know that image to be false, as evil is a lie.
Instead we are God’s joy when we as individuals and as people demonstrate to all that not only am I loved but so are you and that we are created to live in relationship with God and each other. A creation that is full and rich, and that death takes us back into this very God designed creation, as dust to dust. We do a disservice to creation and to God when we live out our lives, opinions and perspectives not on the foundation of God’s grace. We do a disservice when we trust that we do not begin with the paradigm that “neither death, nor life ... nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We do a disservice to our faith when we abandon our fundamental platform in God and exemplify our faith in anything other than telling the truth in love and forgiveness.

Before closing let me share this story published in an article in the Catholic Hearld. “Once I met a woman who had worked for years in fashion and modeling. Unsurprisingly, she was seen in our culture as strikingly attractive. She was accompanied by her teenage daughter who, by contrast, was by the same system and culture unremarkable to look at, maybe even would be said a plain-Jane.

After spending time with them, I began to sense that the mother, whose life had largely revolved around her appearance and how she was seen, seemed to look down on her daughter, perhaps unconsciously, because of her appearance. Her daughter seemed aware of this lack of acceptance and seemed troubled and uncomfortable as she tried to compensate and please her mom in other ways.”

The teenage girl's situation is a strong reminder to us of how important it is for all to understand God’s unconditional acceptance. Unconditional love profoundly and beautifully molds us as human beings. It returns us to God’s true nature, God’s smile.

I could go on, but I think I want to finish with these words from an African-American hymn: “I am tired, I am weak, and I am worn.” True as that may be; to tired to listen to people especially our political leaders; to weak to think of how I can respond to the tyrants of this day and age; and to worn out to do anything. In that state that we may find ourselves, I find a verse in Paul's letter to the Colossians, as a sort of blessing: “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (3:17).

Think about the implications of that. Do everything – everything, especially --- when we are tired, weak and worn. Think about what that means not only for us today, but tomorrow and the next? As tired, weak and worn as we are, we have God’s unconditional love and grace to listen to about ourselves and speak the truth in humble service. Let us if anything, share that. Amen

 

Repair Cafe - Ash Wednesday 2/14/2018

Message presented on Ash Wednesday, 2/14/2018 based on Psalm 51: 1-17

It is a well-known fact that we Americans live in a “throwaway” culture. We throw away just about everything.
Granted, not that we haven't noticed. We have been using this expression “throwaway culture” since a magazine called LIFE published an article in 1955 about a “new” phenomenon. “Throwaway Living” the article was called.
Instead of blowing our noses using washable handkerchiefs, we use tissues and throw them away. We diaper babies' and incontinent adults’ bottoms, and then throw them away --- the diapers, not the bottoms. We buy a pair of shoes and throw them away. We buy water packaged in plastic bottles, drink the water -- and throw the bottles away. Almost everything we purchase comes in what some would suggest is excessive packaging which --- is thrown away. We buy small and large appliances and when they break down we buy new ones and throw away the old ones. We buy TVs and throw them away.
Certainly, we try in a mindful way to recycle, but we are a long way from putting a major dent into our throwaway culture.
One reason for this is this systemic cycle we are caught in is that in an era long past, small shops existed to repair items that consumers were loath to throw away. We could get our TVs, toasters, radios and irons repaired for a charge and they were good to go. Just look up on YouTube the old “Andy Griffith Show.” In that show there was Emmett's Fix-It Shop in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina. One of the recurring characters, Emmett Clark would fix clocks, lamps, radios and more. But this fictional town of Mayberry also meant that a small repair shop like Emmett’s could provide a modest income to its owners and employees. Now, we are loath to pay anyone more than a percentage of what it costs to buy new --- “it’s cheaper to buy new.” It is the main reason why for the most part, fix it shops have disappeared and we buy new.
This is what makes an organization called Repair Cafés so interesting. Repair Cafés are free meeting places and they're all about repairing things --- together. At a Repair Café, you'll find tools and materials to help you make any repairs you need on clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances and toys. You'll also may find volunteers with some repair skills in all kinds of fields.
Well what does this all have to do with today? Well, not only do we throw clocks, lamps and diapers, we also throw away our common humanity. Some might say that we too often throw away our souls in pursuit of some elusive dream we hold dear. We cast aside the spiritual component of our lives thinking, perhaps, that we will focus on spirituality later. Then, one morning, we wake up wondering who we are and where we've been and where our life has taken us. Or as it was said eloquently by Beatles legend John Lennon “Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.”
Whatever we want to call or phrase it, we sense down deep that something is wrong. Something is broken. Something is in desperate need of fixing.
In today’s Psalm 51, tradition has it that a man by the name of David was taking his life to God's repair café. David --- this towering and impressive figure of the Old Testament --- according to legend the greatest king in Israel's history, the monarch who reigned at the height of Israel's glory --- what we may forget is that David had also developed a throwaway mentality.
Because of power, he had risen to the point where he could throw away or ignore common sense. For example, he threw away the sanctity of a marriage bond in pursuit of his own impulses. David in one of the most famous episodes of abuse of power, threw away his humanity for a woman by the name of Bathsheba. Not only did he throw away his humanity he also ignored her honor and reputation, all under the pretense of lust and blame the victim excuse “well she was beautiful.” David did not stop there for he threw away a man's life -- the husband, Uriah. We could go on, but you get the picture. David recklessly threw away and abandoned the person God called him to be, the person the ancient Samuel had anointed when David was but a young man tending sheep.
Here in Psalm 51 is a man who is reflecting on his life. A man who recognizes that not only is his life in tatters, he has left a wake of victims. In the words of a prophet who had the tenacity and courage to speak truth to power, he was given a diagnosis. After hearing the mirror raised to his face by Nathan, David acknowledges and accepts who he has become. It's not pretty. And it nauseates him. It should as it should nauseate not only all men of power who harass and abuse, but all of us. This psalm is not about what he said, or she said, due process or not guilty until proven guilty. Rather, David acknowledges that he lied. He raped a woman. He ordered the murder of her husband. He tried to cover up the crime.
One key for us of course as we draw parallels to our own day and age is that David recognizes he needs to be fixed, and so he goes to God, the Weaver of Broken Threads.
David knows a lot about God, and right now the most important thing David knows about God is that God doesn't throw away things, especially all that has been marvelously made. David knows that in the words of another Psalm “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. … He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” That's why he can pray, “Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.”
God will not cast us away from the divine presence. When we feel far from God, it is not because God has moved.
This day, the first day of Lent is that moment when we have a reminder that we are the ones who have moved from God’s visions for us. It could be because we have succumbed to believing in a “throwaway God” in the first place; a God to whom we may listen to when it's convenient, a God to whom we may pray only when we believe we deserve better or that we self-righteously believe a blessing should be in store; a throw away God who is largely irrelevant because we really do not apply the knowledge of God to our day-to-day lives.
However, God does not cast us away. God is in the repair and redemption of creation what God has stunningly made. “For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the LORD” as he said to the prophet Jeremiah. Or to the prophet Joel: “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.” Or to the prophet Isaiah, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Repair to wholeness. This is what God does. Of course, to frequently we fall into the trip of how much does this all cost, anyway? Well let me remind you as I remind myself, the repair is free, but here is the kicker it comes with an awareness, we need to know that something's amiss. It can be as short as a twitter message to world, “I have hurt people.” There's no point stopping by God's Repair Café just to say, “Hey, I'm good,” and then go on our way.
Notice David's attitude. David knows he needs some treatment. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.”
Acknowledging the problem and our part in it is a key factor, and this psalm is full of it. “Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.” David gets even more dramatic, “Indeed, I was born guilty.”
What about those of us who do not acknowledge the problem or blame it on fake news, or our culture. Where is this “alien faith” that Martin Luther spoke about that breaks into our lives like at an infant’s baptism? When will it intercede and create the propensity to acknowledge that they are less than whole and ask for healing?
All of us struggle with the concept that we have a problem. “I am not a murder --- I am better than that!” But that is not the case. The only one free of evil is God. It is certainly true that King David needed the prophet Nathan to tell him the truth as painful as it was for David --- as it was for Nathan. We likewise are commissioned to do the same; we are to hear from those telling us the truth as well as be the Nathan’s to the David’s of this world.
Nonetheless, let's us remind ourselves that no matter how much Psalm 51 speaks to us, or people we know, this repair business is personal. David's remorse was all about his own wholeness, not someone else's.
Submitting to treatment is also important. David asks for specific remedies. David wants the mercy treatment and some blotting done. David also asks for a wash and cleansing session. David wants to do more than a probiotic purge. David wants the complete restoration treatment. For the most important desire is that David wants a new heart, which is the key part of the treatment. The old heart, the old engine, the old nature --- whatever we want to call it --- is from David’s perspective beyond repair. David asks for a replacement. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”
Well, God is all about wholeness for tonight is that simple reminder that God is in the repair business; we're not. We can’t fix David. We can’t fix Donald Trump, Putin, our spouses or our children, we can’t fix anybody really. We can’t even fix ourselves; it can even be dangerous. For example, people stay in abusive relationships believing they can fix the abuser no matter how much we tell them, “No, you can't!”
Instead let us take David’s honesty as a spark to be honest, for as much as we may regret, lament or question, going to God's Repair Café is personal. We may wish we could reach across the table and fix someone else’s problems, but Lent is about our recognition of our own brokenness --- not someone else’s.
So, yes, we begin our observance of Lent with Ash Wednesday. This is a day of penitence, and this is a penitential season. The psalm reading is a penitential psalm, one of seven in the Psalter. And yes, this service can be considered a sort of Repair Café experience. And it is true, we come together to do our private business with God.
But there is one additional small piece only alluded to in our gospel. That is although Jesus calls upon privacy over and against public hypocrisy, you and I can come together for the support and encouragement of others. Because lent is also about community; not to probe but as a balm for each other. God is a great healer. There is nothing and no one God cannot restore to wholeness for we are marvelously made. Amen.

"Wait, Fly and Run" - 2-4-2018

PyeongChang. PyeongChang is a county in South Korea and as you may have seen advertised is the host to the 2018 Winter Olympics. The Olympics will begin this Friday, February 9, and conclude on Sunday, February 25. Almost 100 nations will participate, competing in 102 events. From alpine skiing to speed skating, and from biathlon to ski jumping, athletes will throw themselves down slopes, off ramps and across ice in attempts to be faster, higher and stronger, in line with the official Olympic motto --- Citius, Altius, Fortius --- Latin for “Faster, Higher, Stronger.”

I suspect that at this very moment, athletes are getting pumped up to put forward their best efforts, while trying to keep things as simple as possible. How they do that of course is all up to each team.

In the last Winter Olympics, for example, the goaltender of Finland's hockey team was asked to reveal his strategy to prepare. “My strategy,” he said, “is to stop the puck.” Makes sense. And the coach of Canada's men's hockey team revealed this secret to their success at the last Olympics with: “The main thing we do to prepare is to race over to McDonald's to get an Egg McMuffin before they shut down for the morning.” I wonder what they will be doing this year as I don’t know if McDonald’s will be available. We may laugh, but Canada won the gold medal in hockey in 2014. Two gold medals, actually -- the men's team and the women's team.
Then of course no training can fully prepare one for everything. Reflecting on her past Olympic performance, a ski crosser from Switzerland gave this concise analysis: “Everything went smoothly until I crashed.” Don't you hate it when that happens?

All that aside, for me one of the more interesting events at the Winter Olympics is the biathlon, a race in which athletes’ cross-country ski through a trail system while stopping to shoot rifles at targets. One reason that it holds my interest is that the event is rooted in my ethnic background. Tradition says that the roots to the biathlon began in Scandinavia to pay respect to the Norse god of skiing and hunting. Although no longer part of Norse mythology the biathlon is still much part of the culture. For example, in Norway, the biathlon is used to promote civilian marksmanship in support of national defense.

Did you notice however, that the prophet Isaiah has his own type of biathlon, but it doesn't include skiing or shooting. Instead, Isaiah promises that “those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary.”

Perhaps you have heard of the IOC, the International Olympic Committee. Well, this passage could be called the IOB, the Isaiah Olympic Biathlon. In Isaiah's Olympics, the biathlon includes flying and running. Participants “shall mount up with wings like eagles” and “run and not be weary.” But the ability to do so is not based on consumption of Egg McMuffins.

As I thought about today and our semiannual meeting after worship I considered what it might mean to enter ourselves into this if we want to carry the metaphor a little longer --- the Isaiah Olympic Biathlon.

First, what struck me is that to participate we need to of all things, wait. Of all the things that Isaiah challenges us to do, waiting is probably the toughest. I don’t know about you, I hate to wait. When I buy a product online, I want it to show up at our doorstep when promised. Likewise, our monthly cooperative ministry discussions, have been as I have mentioned earlier, like walking through molasses.

Isaiah however reminds us that good things come to those who “wait for the LORD.” I thought about that in our case as a congregation. What could “waiting” possibly mean? Well in listening to the various congregational members of these other churches in our cooperative, one possibility could mean that to wait for God means to take a moment, slow down and trust in God's presence. To listen for what God might be saying to us without expecting an answer.

One of the things we did in worship at the retreat for renewal I just returned from can be found in Psalm 46:10. It is a verse that provides a simple meditative exercise that can help us to wait for the Lord. It puts us in touch with the presence of God as we repeat the verse slowly, omitting a word or two with each repetition:
Be still, and know that I am God
Be still, and know that I am.
Be still, and know.
Be still.
Be.

When we slow down, we discover that God is the source of all that is, the great “I AM” referenced in Exodus 3:14. When we wait for the Lord, we are confronted by the deeper questions raised by the prophet Isaiah: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? ... Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is [God] who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers ... who brings princes to naught and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.”

When we wait, according to Isaiah we discover that we can trust that our lives, our church, creation are ultimately in God's hands. Isaiah says that “those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength” and compares us to being like grasshoppers in a field, cared for by the Creator who provides the basis for everything we need for life. A reminder that just as those early churches in Ephesus are crumbling skeletons that is the ultimate future of all our visions. The Trumps of this world have no real power in comparison to God, and their schemes quickly blow away like dust in the wind. “To whom then will you compare me,” asks God, the Holy One, “or who is my equal?” Isaiah is of course being rhetorical because the answer is “No one, of course.” When we wait by faith, we begin with the basic good news that no one compares to God, and no one is God's equal. We can rest in God's presence, and trust God to work for good in our lives and churches.

The next piece is the ability to fly. To “mount up with wings like eagles” does not mean that we will soar through the air like ski jumpers at the Alpensia Ski Jumping Stadium in PyeongChang or like Thor with a helicopter twirling hammer. No, to fly in the Isaiah Olympic Biathlon means that we rise above our earthly perspectives and see the world from the vantage points of “the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.”

What does it mean to see things from these eagle-eye perspectives? The gospel of John offers us this point of view, and it is no accident that John's traditional symbol is the eagle. The author begins his gospel in the preamble by describing Jesus as the Word, the one who was “in the beginning with God,” creating all things. This Word “became flesh and lived among us,” says the author, “and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.”

To mount up with wings like eagles is not to literally fly rather it is see the world from the perspectives of God through Jesus, the one who is full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ offers grace to all people, seeing everyone as friends instead of enemies, but just like there are four gospels, each disciple had a unique experience. Jesus practices hospitality, breaking bread with tax collectors and all who have broken relationships with God, the community and world. This is a reminder that there are no cookie cutter churches, we reflect whom we welcome a perspective that is both grand and limiting. Jesus heals the sick, feeds the hungry and welcomes outcasts --- just like the God of Isaiah. A reminder that just like the various healings in the Gospels what brings us wholeness is as diverse as the diseases of this world.

Ultimately it is Jesus however who “gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless.” It is Jesus who speaks the truth to all people, challenging all of us to break out of our walls and find the kingdom of God in the present. Jesus invites us all to fly with him, and to see the world with these eagle-eye perspectives.

Finally, we are to run. After waiting and flying and seeing the world through the perspectives of Jesus Christ, we can “run and not be weary.” We know that Olympic athletes have been doing a lot preparation for the Winter Games, possibly squats, lunges and weight-lifting. This is demanding physical work, and Isaiah is right to say that “even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted.”

That of course is what is wonderful about waiting, flying and running in God’s grace for God is more interested in our spiritual resilience than any of our physical strengths. The author of the NT book titled Hebrews puts it this way, shadowing these words from Isaiah; God wants us to be able to “run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” With the stamina that waiting can bring and the perspectives of Jesus Christ, we can run and not be weary, even when we face obstacles such as losses, relationships, traditions and our many moral failures. When we stumble, Jesus picks us up, dusts us off, gives us a pat on our buns, and helps us to start again.

“Winning” if you want to call it that, in the Isaiah Olympic Biathlon is understanding our strength in grace. Accomplishments like living another day without too badly abusing the privilege of faith does not come from making our bodies, and this community of Good Shepherd powerful in strength. From the onset the IOB begins with paradigms based on God’s grace, our unique experiences and learnings, that God cares, that faithful spiritual practices strengthen our patience are virtues, and that Jesus has given us stamina to carry us through.

Of course, it needs to be said, that in Isaiah it really doesn’t matter if we get a gold medal around our neck, or even a silver or bronze. We will not get a thrill from having billions of television viewers watch us stop a puck, ski down a mountain or perform a figure skating jump. Rather, the biathlon that Isaiah reminds each one of us is simultaneously private with public interaction. This public faith are the twin signs of the kingdom manifest expressed in today’s gospel: healing and casting out demons.

Healing of course are simply not technical examples like healing a disease, rather healing means a restoration of all creation through love by God’s grace. Casting out demons of course is far more than a movie exorcism, rather casting out demons means pointing out humbly and with a deep awareness that evil exists whether it is done by a President or our neighbor, or ourselves. And that evil reflects that we do not love God above all things and we do not love neighbor as much as we love ourselves.

These manifest displays of Olympian proportions are for Olympians like you and me and this congregation of Good Shepherd. One in which Isaiah reminds us includes waiting, with the perspectives like eagles with the stamina to run the distance. Amen

Cleaning - 1/7/2018

Sermon for Sunday, January 7, 2018 at the start of the new year.  Based on the gospel, Mark 1: 4-11. 

Are we up to cleaning --- going after those dusty corners and cobwebs, perhaps even going through some of our stuff? Are we up to uncluttering the closets of our hearts and minds on this the first Sunday of a new year?
I have been thinking about cleaning given the mess our home was after the Christmas festivities, you may be like my family wondering if it is time for some extra housecleaning. After all, taking down all those decorations can expose some dirt in places we don't normally see.
In our cleaning, I don’t know about you, but we have been trying to avoid chemicals as our only cleaning option. Does your bathtub look dull and water-spotted after repeated lengthy baths? One way is to juice up a couple of the grapefruits and add four tablespoons of salt and give the bathtub a good rubdown.
Same goes for those brass or chrome fixtures. They will shine with lemon juice and baking soda. Need to scrub down those kitchen counters? A couple of tablespoons of baking soda, a cup of white vinegar and a few drops of eucalyptus oil will do the job.
In fact, baking soda might be the best kept secret cleaning ingredient in the world. I heard of a woman who visits all her new neighbors and gives them a housewarming present of baking soda and duct tape. Purportedly she does this under the premise of what else do you need to take care of a household?
Now of course, if we don’t want to go the natural route there are many chemical options out there which personally speaking we have succumbed to doing more often than I would like to admit. The point is that there are a lot of ways to get stuff clean in the kitchen, bathroom and home.
On this first Sunday of the New Year, it is beneficial to consider our own practices and what doe we mean as Christians regarding deeper cleaning --- getting beyond the surface of our lives. For that we need some expert advice and, fortunately, this week provides us with the expertise of John, perhaps the “original” Mr. Clean. If you don’t believe me, just look at his name over this many centuries --- John ... the Baptizer!
This Sunday, Mark introduces us to John at the beginning of his gospel --- a gospel which the author of Mark announces as though some old nastiness has already been wiped away; “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” It seems to be Mark's way of telling us that the story of Jesus comes with a base assumption that what we are about to hear is the good news for a world stained and dulled by our broken relationship with God.
Mark continues that the first messenger of that good news is John. Mark doesn't give us the detail that Luke does about this strange figure appearing in the desert. There's no mention of a family relationship with Jesus, nor is there much else of John’s back story. Rather, Mark is more concerned with what John has come to do: announce the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and to prepare people for his coming.
Interestingly, that preparation would involve some opportunities for some deep cleansing action. This cleansing did not happen in a synagogue or bathroom. Rather, John went down to the banks of the Jordan River to instruct people how to get deeply clean in a way that would remove even the most hidden and oldest dirt embedded in their lives.
What intrigued me is that while looking and thinking of this lesson as we cleaned our home, it seems like John has three key tips that will be helpful to us as we engage in some “active cleansing” of our own.
First, I noticed that John uses all-natural ingredients. John's ministry is about as organic as it gets, drawing from the deep roots of Israel's prophets. It's no coincidence that Mark conflates Malachi (3:1) and Isaiah (40:3) in describing John's mission as the “messenger” who will prepare the way and as “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.” For the author of Mark, John's mission is that linkage between the stories of Hebrew Bible and the Good News of Jesus.
God is about to do a new thing, John is saying, but it is springing up from the soil of Israel's history. A history of agreeing to a covenant of being God’s representatives to the world --- an “election” as it is sometimes called. This history of a relationship with God however is marked with problems: exile and redemption.
John himself models that history in his own organic dress and diet. His “camel's hair” clothing and leather belt are a visual reminder to the audience of the prophet Elijah, whom many believed would return before the coming of the Messiah. His diet of “locusts and wild honey” is the ultimate combination of natural protein and sugar --- although some scholars suggest that the “locusts” refers to the pods of the carob tree.
John may not have been dressed in white with the scrubbed and sanitized appearance of television commercials' Mr. Clean, but his way of life had the scent of authenticity and his ministry was all about dealing with the deeply ingrained dirt that had clung to Israel since the exile and to humanity since it’s evolutionary steps.
It is also interesting that John uses the most basic natural cleansing ingredient available -- water -- to do the work. But this water doesn't come from just any source. John stands at the banks of the Jordan River, significant because it was the same river that Israel had crossed to enter the Promised Land generations before. John seems to see his ministry as the beginning of a new Exodus, inviting people to enter into a different sort of Promised Land. As Israel had passed through the waters of the Red Sea and then the Jordan, now God's people would again need to pass through water to realize the new future promised by God's coming Messiah.
This leads to the second tip for active cleansing; know what kind of stain are we removing. When it comes to dealing with our human brokenness, we often think of treating the “sins” we commit. We know we've done some less than admirable stuff over the past year and we make resolutions not to do those things again. Unfortunately, that view of sin places us in the same situation as in Jesus’ day where sin had become reduced to legalistic notions about being ritually impure and “dirty” and unworthy of participating in Temple practices.
That however is a fruitless path because when we think of “sin” as simply a laundry list of missteps and mistakes, we miss the real problem that needs to be handled and that's “Sin” with a capital “S.” Biblically speaking, that capital “S” Sin is that broken relationship with God, along with its partner Death, that only a real Savior and Messiah can repair and remove.
I was reminded of what that means during our cold spell. You see, one day many years ago during a cold day in North Dakota, I was in such a rush for school that I neglected to take my gloves. By the time I had walked to school, I had frostbite. Thankfully my teacher knew exactly what to do, yet to this day when it gets cold I feel residues of that frostbite in my hands. Capital “S” sin is a bit like getting frostbite, once we have experienced frostbite we will feel the chill for a long time into the future.
Why did these people come out to see John and seek this sort of deeper cleansing? The personal reasons were probably as diverse as you and me but they all felt the chill of capital S sin. So, the areas we need to re-consider in our lives is the makeup of what we are trying to cleanse. If we don't think through them we will only scratch the surface and fail to get down to the nitty-gritty of the stain. Attacking a rust stain with a brush alone will not do it. Likewise, simply saying we will “forgive” or “love” without thinking through the full ramifications of what forgiveness and love entails, we only scratch the surface.
The third tip I noticed in today’s reading is the need for cleansing with a purpose. John baptized with the power of water, but repentance and forgiveness of sins was just the first step. The one for whom John was preparing would come and baptize “with the Holy Spirit,” for the future. The cleansing John was talking about wasn't just about what had happened in the past, but also what these shiny, fresh and new people, cleansed in the water of baptism, would do in the future.
This “way” we are on has a lot of dimensions to it, but one of the most important is that it prepares us for a daily future in the way of Jesus. Having been released from slavery to capital “S” Sin, and death, we can continue to walk in the life for which we were created from the beginning -- the “abundant life” of people made in the image of God. Baptism “in the Spirit” empowers and enables us to participate with God in God’s redemptive mission for the world, as it did with those first disciples. We not only get to hear and experience the “good news,” we are cleansed and have a purpose as daily “co-creators.”
This is what meant by Jesus own baptism. Jesus was not baptized because he was a “sinner” with a capital “s”, but because Jesus will be the one who leads us on a new Exodus through the water and on to freedom. Committing ourselves to this daily walk enables us to live in that freedom and deal with the symptoms of our brokenness that plague us recognizing that although we have been made clean we are not quite up to where God can fully settle in.
Our daily baptismal remembering incorporates us into the daily cleansing of Messiah's saving work. And it's important that we remember again that dealing with capital "S" Sin requires of us a deeper self-examination and habit changing in ways which we still find ourselves growing. It is like pretending we have a clean bathroom until, we know that we are going to have visitors at which time we really get to work.
John affirmed that the time had come for something new and it was coming. John is the preamble to the breaking in by Jesus into the socio-cultural-political ways of this world. This new way by Jesus advocates for an alternate deeply cleaned direction; a “way” we did not expect, one of compassion, gender equality, non-violence, non-hierarchical social structure, and radical equality. This is a “way” which will and continue to threaten the powers-that-be and will result in Jesus being crushed by his “adversaries.”
As we begin a new year on the way, John the Baptizer reminds us that it is the natural ingredients that do the best work of starting to strip away the grime that builds up. If we only focus through 2018 on avoiding sin, it is an ultimately futile path, because that would mean the only way to have a clean house is not live in it. Instead, God offers us the power through Baptism to recognize, minimize, and heal future brokenness in ourselves and in others as well as engage in that deep cleaning as live on the way. Amen.

Images - 12/31/2017

   Sermon based on Luke 2: 22-40. 

    Christmas is an interesting time for reading scripture. The reason being that for many people across the US, Christmas is the time when we reaffirm but one image --- the Jesus of Luke 2, an innocent little baby. What is not to like?
    What do I mean? Well, as many of us know, in the United States, even though we see little evidence of that in worship, Jesus is incredibly popular like the image of Jesus as a newborn. But it is also true that no two people have the same image. This was most recently pointed out in American Jesus, by Stephen Prothero. He observed that Jesus in the US is a man “nobody hates.” People may dislike the followers --- but Jesus is a good guy like the innocent baby Jesus of Luke 2. Perhaps that is why Christmas is popular.
    It is well known that Americans are producers and consumers of images of Jesus where Jesus functions as a common cultural coin. That is clear if we travel outside of the United States and look in. In the US, as Prothero points out, we have a history of continually making Jesus to resemble current American hero-types. Over the years, we have repacked Jesus, separating him from the creeds, from the Scriptures and even from Christianity itself. That is the basis for the claim that the religion about Jesus and the religion of Jesus are very different things.
    To back up his point, Prothero points to American history where we have created Jesus the “Enlightened Sage” for example. This was the Jesus Thomas Jefferson proposed. When he was president, Jefferson spent a few evenings scissoring out of the gospels all the references to miracles and Jesus’ divinity, ending up with a slim volume he called The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth.
    Another Jesus we have in our history is the “Sweet Savior,” a product of the religious revival of the 19th and early 20th centuries. During that era, the style of preaching changed from dissertations to storytelling, and the life of Jesus became larger-than-life. The call of these preachers was to an intimate walk with this Jesus --- so intimate, that Jesus is a friend whom we could come to know and hang out with but died for you.
    Another version of Jesus in our history in the US is the “Manly Redeemer,” a muscular reaction to the girly-man Sweet Savior. We see this played out in the creation of the YMCA and YWCA; exercise and be like Jesus. The most recent incarnation of the American Jesus is as a “Superstar.” Jesus is an upbeat guy who offers an experiential high that is better than drugs, including being the subject of the rock musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell.
    Additionally, for those of us in the Southwest, we have the image of “Jesus” as “the buen hijo/the good son.” Jesus is seen in the context of his mother, father and family. Since family is the major source of one’s identity and protection in the Latino culture, Jesus is consequently pictured with “respecto” living with “familia.”
    Why bring this all up on this the last Sunday of Christmas on the edge of a new year. Primarily, because of the gospel that I will get into in just a moment, but I was also recently reminded of our propensity to get stuck into images of Jesus and the impact on our faith life by Richard Rohr. In his recent email newsletter, he shared the following, “The word change normally refers to new beginnings. But transformation more often happens not when something new begins but when something old falls apart. The pain of something old falling apart --- disruption and chaos --- invites the soul to listen at a deeper level. It invites and sometimes forces the soul to go to a new place because the old place is not working anymore.”
    As Christians when we feel the pain of something old falling apart, it invites us to listen and enter more deeply into God. In other words, no wonder many churches receive many visitors on Christmas with the image of a newborn Jesus. When we are experiencing change, we would rather stay with that image of an innocent newborn, when what we cherish feels like it is “falling apart” and the disruption and chaos that follows. Unfortunately, however remaining there with a newborn is not seeing the invitation to listen and be open to faith transformation.
    For course, one place to listen is in scripture where in careful reading not only does the word steady the boat but opens our hearts and faith. One place to see that is in today’s reading where Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus are at the temple. As we know from other places, Joseph and Mary are presented as religiously devout. Here that continues with Joseph taking Mary and the baby Jesus to the Temple for “their purification,” although, strictly speaking, the purification ritual was for Mary only. The “purification” of a new mother occurred some 40 days after the birth of a male child, and some 80 days after the birth of a female child. Jesus, however, the first-born male did not need to be “purified.” All Jesus needed was to be dedicated to the Lord, which could be had for the price of five shekels.
    It is at this moment however where the trio encounter Simeon and Anna. Simeon, we are told is a devout lay person who has been looking “forward to the consolation of Israel” --- the Messiah. Anna is identified as prophetess. Neither is a priest. When Simeon sees Jesus, he takes the baby in his arms, and praises God, for Simeon knows that the one he is holding is the One he has been expecting. Anna words are less well detailed other than she began “to speak about the child.”
    Within this short vignette however we get some important pieces of new information about Jesus. One piece to note is the fact that Luke has a lot of elderly people in his infancy narrative. First, there was Zechariah and Elizabeth. Now, there is Simeon and Anna. Why all these old people? Well, because as we know, the elderly are a repository of tradition and story. From that angle, Elizabeth represents Hannah, from the OT, the mother of the prophet Samuel. And Zechariah of course, represents the clueless priests, also part of the tradition. Simeon represents Israel's long wait for the Messiah. Anna represents not only the prophetic tradition, but also its capacity for renewal and ability to do, as Isaiah said, “a new thing.”
    Now the other piece to note is that given that Jesus was still an infant, days old, a skeptic overhearing Simeon and Anna might have thought they were inventing a messiah to fit their own images. But the subsequent life, ministry and death of Jesus proved Simeon and Anna right. Although Jesus is a newborn, we already see that seeds of how Jesus would completely change the vision of who the Messiah was understood to be. Many in that time and place thought the messiah, the promised one from God would be arriving with sword and winnowing fork in hand.
    Neither Simeon or Anna relied on their own hunches about this baby being the promised Messiah. Rather there were two critical things. First, when the gospel writer Luke tells us that Simeon and Anna were “looking forward…,” Luke is saying that these two were steeped in the Hebrew Scriptures. The term “the consolation of Israel” derives from references in the book of Isaiah to God comforting the people by redeeming them.” So both were basing their pronouncement about Jesus on scripture, yet, this leads to the second point, Luke tells us that both were being guided by the Holy Spirit.
    Those two sources of understanding --- the outward one of Scripture and the inward one of God’s inspiration --- still stand today as means to help us change toward transformation, “not when something new begins but when something old falls apart.” So obviously, if we are going to take a razor to the gospels as Jefferson did, or if we are going to buy the latest incarnation of footsteps in the sand of sweet Jesus carrying us when we can’t make it, we are not necessarily on the path of transformation. In today’s gospel, Simeon and Anna are seeing not simply a newborn, but transformation.
    We likewise, are challenged to listen to who Jesus is --- in scripture itself. And in short, the gospels, if we look at them in total, affirm Simeon and Anna: Jesus is the one, who, after he was baptized, lived up to his baptism every day by the way he honored and obeyed the heavenly Father. Jesus is the one who proclaimed the good news of God, preaching repentance and announcing that the kingdom of God had begun. Jesus is the one who was so filled with compassion that though it sometimes seemed to get in the way of his ministry, he still took time and energy to heal the sick. Jesus was the one who embodied the very authority of God, and whose life embroidered the deeds of God on the fabric of human experience. This was so evident that people who heard him commented on it. Jesus was the one who did not shun bad company, but who called them to a place in the kingdom. Jesus is the one who repeatedly withdrew to pray. Jesus is the one in whom his contemporaries recognized had a special connection with God --- a recognition that led Peter to call him “the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus is the one who went to the cross, understanding that in doing so, he was being obedient to the will of God, and was doing something profound for humanity. Jesus is the one who arose victorious over death.
    Those are the things that scripture tells us directly. We may not understand the implications of all that we can say about Jesus from scripture, but those things are enough to help us frame as we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit and to the guide us through the changes we experience.
What might that mean for us --- satisfied with the image of Jesus we have?
    Mark Twain once said, “It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me; it is the parts that I do understand.” As we begin a new calendar year, we might adapt that line of thought to say, “It ain't the missing parts of Jesus' story that bother me; it is the parts that aren't missing!” Transformation, as Richard Rohr reminded us, “happens when the old falls apart.” In fact, it is necessary for our spiritual growth. Simeon held the child in his arms and saw the salvation of Israel. Anna, responded out of praise and spoke about the child. In both Anna and Simeon, we see the seeds of the future. The old image of the messiah was beginning to fall apart.
    Therefore, what painfully needs to be let go for us, and where are we listening to be transformed, so that we can give praise? Are we ready to let go of the image of an innocent baby Jesus?
    What will the year ahead be like? We can't know in advance, but we can imagine already how Jesus will be with us in our ongoing story and transformation. Amen.

Danger! - 12/24/2017

Christmas Eve Sermon based on Luke 2

St. Francis of Assisi, is credited with staging the first one in 1223, so I wonder what would he thinking regarding the countless types and styles we have created in the 21st century? Not only do innumerable churches across North America stage live nativity scenes, but Mary and Joseph are an integral part of the Posada, the traditional Mexican and Central American nighttime journey to a find a place for the pregnant Mary. But, I also wonder how St. Francis would feel about the limitless other versions of the nativity, those souvenir commercial options fueled from that first crèche. What would St. Francis think of a crèche with kittens as Mary, Joseph and Jesus, or the craft version we can make out of large marshmallows and toothpicks.

According to the first biographer of St. Francis, Thomas of Celano, a contemporary of Francis, and the St. Bonaventure’s biography that followed, St. Francis got permission from Pope Honorious III to set up a live manger with hay and two animals --- an ox and an ass--- in a cave in the Italian village of Grecio. St. Francis according to tradition then invited the villagers to come gaze upon the scene while he preached about “the babe of Bethlehem.”

While it is not completely clear that St. Francis originated the idea of the live nativity, this annual staging blossomed in early, medieval Europe. Historian point out that Francis' display, came in the middle of a period when mystery or miracle plays were a popular form of entertainment and education for European laypeople. These plays, originally performed in churches and later performed in town squares, re-enacted Bible stories in vernacular languages. Since church services at the time were performed only in Latin --- which very few understood --- miracle plays were an important way for laypeople to learn scripture.

So, while St. Francis could not have predicted a yellow rubber duck version of the nativity, nevertheless he was trying to get across an important message. One to which we struggle to understand in our 21st century. It is not just a message of a teenage mother, a father with few details, rather it is the incredible message of a human yet God, born in roughest of circumstances.

The obvious struggle is stable story. It is not exactly the kind of place we would want to have a baby and not the kind of crib we would have chosen. We would much prefer the hospital to a cave. We'd rather hear the controlled voice of a doctor, obstetrician, midwife or nurse practitioner than a cacophony of cows mooing, sheep baaing and goats grunting. We'd much prefer a story with a climate-controlled room with a sanitized bassinet than a cattle trough than the one the author of Luke that was likely made of stone, chiseled in the floor, and filled with hay, manure and who knows what else.

Furthermore, in our sanitized 21st century versions, we avoid the fact that having babies has always been a risky business, not only for the child but for the mother as well. The crib as we know it wasn't invented until the 1800s. Before then, infants generally slept with their mothers, which we now know can be dangerous.
Yet, even with all the modern safety improvements we've made, giving birth is still a risky business. Texas, for example, has the highest maternal mortality rate in the US and the US has the highest rate in the developed world. But it was even riskier in the first century. It was a dangerous situation, much more so than we can imagine given our propensity to put troll doll images into the nativity rather than seeing it for what it was --- dangerous.

The irony of this message is however, even if the manger itself was a dangerous situation, even if Mary had more than a 50/50 chance of dying, that is not where the danger in the story lies, rather it is all about the leaky, burpy, vulnerable little baby wrapped in cloths lying within it! It's hard to think of a baby as dangerous --- a two-year-old, maybe, but not a newborn, but that was exactly what was being born. If the nativity had been an episode of the 1960s Lost in Space, the Robot would be telling the young star: “Danger, Will Robinson.” For just eight days after this birth, the old man Simeon would declare the truth at this little child’s dedication in the temple that this infant would be “destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.” And, he says to Mary, his mother, “a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”

Those are ominous words about this eight-day old. Then again, this is a very particular baby who has some additional baggage for it was conceived by the Holy Spirit. As the angel had announced to Mary, this child “will be holy; he will be called Son of God” (1:35). In John's gospel, he is “the Word” of God made flesh and who dwelled among us (John 1:14). This baby is God become human.

This is dangerous for two reasons: First, if Jesus is fully divine, fully God, then all other definitions of God are rendered questionable because we like to think of God as being, well, God -- and nothing else! Certainly not human. And, second, if Jesus is fully human, then all other definitions of true humanity are also dubious, because we do not want to burden ourselves with the knowledge that we could be better than we are.

Talk about dangerous! From the very beginning, people have tended to either dispense with gods, manufacture their own and have tended to see “being human” as limitless or limited. For example, we tend to like our gods to be “spiritual” and consign them to a distant sort of heaven where we can keep them at arm's length and not have them interfere with us very much. Likewise, we also tend to hold up our humanity as a default excuse for our brokenness, after all, we're “only human.”

Today, however, we have something else entirely! In this story of an infant Jesus born in a stable in a manager, we are told that God is not only real, God is not unknowable, distant and unconcerned with creation. Instead, we come to find out that the God who created the universe is intimately involved in creation to the point of coming to walk among one infinitesimal sliver of creation one little person.

Talk about perilous because a God who becomes human is a God who must be reckoned with, and that makes this baby dangerous to the way the world normally works. We cannot consign God to heaven alone because God has come to earth. We cannot push God aside as a figment of our imagination, because in this story to which St. Francis wanted acted out for village’s, God has come with a human face.

This is a risky maneuver for God is a God who has entered fully into the human mess, living in poverty, living as a refugee and living with people who have major issues. Moreover, it doesn’t end here in this stable, for when Jesus ages, Jesus begins associating with outcasts, along with the poor, the sick and the broken.

“Danger, Will Robinson!” Jesus provides a human face to a God who calls us to follow him, be like him and do as Jesus does. Jesus provides a human face to a God who has come not only to live but to die for the creation God created. Jesus provides a bedrock of philosophical, moral and ethical guidelines. These guidelines have repercussions for in believing in a God who becomes human not only does it gives a face to God, it also defines what it means to be fully human. In Genesis 1, God makes humans “in God’s own image” and calls this creation “very good.” This is not a skin deep, male, simplistic vision but a God pleased with an evolving creation, which reflects God's own being, character and love.

Therefore, when we go home this evening to a crèche on a bookcase, or drive by a plastic one lit up, remember this small bag of bones who survives. In that small bundle of miracle, we begin a journey in which Jesus showed us what that life was to be like. Jesus revealed what it meant to be fully human and, at the same time, fully indwelt and was one with the Divine into and through death. Jesus isn't merely a perfect icon to admire but an example to follow in how to fully engage one's capacity for relationship with God.

Mary and Joseph survived albeit having to shortly run off as refugees, Jesus survived this beginning as a helpless dependent bundle of flesh. For out of this story of a manger-laid bundle Jesus would one day be dangled above a city street --- not as sterile painted, nativity scene for sale --- but on a cross. Because what began in a manager led to a cross, where we are reconciled to God, given the light of God's Spirit dwelling, to be lived out in our fully human lives reflecting and holding together both the human and the Divine.

This is what began that fateful night in this story, with a man, woman and child. This is both the danger and the opportunity represented in the manger. St. Francis had it right, the nativity is a game changer! Amen.

"Tools for Waiting" - 12/10/2017

Sermon based on 2 Peter.  This past week, I had to call customer service. I hit number 1 on the phone pad and waited. Then there was a voice. “Thank you for waiting. Your call is important to us.” I heard those words, and I knew I was on hold.
    “The waiting is the hardest part,” sang Tom Petty in his hit song with the Heartbreakers in 1981. Back then when Petty wrote the lyrics to his song, it was certainly true that waiting was hard. At least that is what I remember. Imagine, for example, waiting for the doctor with no smartphone and only some outdated magazines to peruse. We would have had no contact with the world beyond the bland, antiseptic, boring room until we were mercifully called back to the examination room where we would wait some more, this time without magazines! No wonder they call us “patients.”
Today, however unlike the dark ages of 1981, we have multiple entertainment options right at our fingertips to keep us occupied while we wait. Besides our smart phones, we even have smart TV’s!
    Yet, despite all our technology, waiting is still hard. We wait at airports; we wait in waiting rooms; we wait in traffic; we wait at the post office; we wait at the bank; we wait for a human when calling customer service. We wait ... and our patience runs thin.
A little planning, however, can make that wait time productive and perhaps even fun. For example, here's a list of things I thought of and have done in the past: I have struck up a conversation with a stranger and learned their story. I have pulled out a book or a note pad. I have worked through my unread emails. I have made other appointments. I have brought postcards with me as well as thank you notes to my friends and family to mail later. I have spent time culling through my phone's photo gallery to delete pictures I don't need.
    Although those are just a few things I have done to help pass the hour or two I am sure you have other suggestions. But what if the wait time is going to be longer -- like, maybe, thousands of years or longer.
    That's the dilemma the early church was facing after Jesus' ascension into heaven. Jesus had promised to return, and many in the church believed that return was imminent. As time passed, however, and as the persecution of Christians intensified, the waiting became the hardest part for the church. In fact, some were beginning to question whether Jesus would return at all.
    That's the situation the writer of 2 Peter addresses. This letter, which is a follow-up to the first letter that bears the name of Peter the apostle, reads more like a theological instruction manual than a typical epistle and for good reason. In the first letter, the writer encourages the church, which is being pressured by external forces, while here in the second letter the author addresses the problems arising from internal sources -- namely, teachers who were skeptical about Jesus' return. This 2nd letter reminds the church that Jesus will, indeed, return as promised to bring justice to complete fruition and finally set aside the continuing complications of evil, ushering in a restored creation, and that the way they conduct themselves as they wait for his return has implications.
    The author of 2nd Peter understands that the waiting is the hardest part, but what the author also reminds us is that what seems like a long, slow waiting period for Christ's return is a gift from God. The Lord is not slow or tardy but like our choices while waiting on hold, time is a gift to allow for us to as the author says to “come to repentance.”
    In other words, we are not to be overly concerned as to when the doctor will call our name, because that time will come like a “thief” and on that day the deeds of all on earth will be “disclosed.” Rather, in the interim (even if it's a long interim), the author asks, “What sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness?” What can we be doing while we wait?
    The short answer for the author is that those who follow Christ should begin living the joy of the future as though it has already arrived. There will be a period of waiting, but it's not to be a passive one in which we, like the disciples at the ascension, keep staring up at the sky concerned what to do or where to go to next. Instead, the author says that there are certain things we should “strive” to do in the interim.
If we were to look closely at the full message of the 2nd letter of Peter, we would discover a list of four if not more things we can do while waiting for the new Advent:
    First, we are to remember the promise of the first Advent --- the first coming. The author opens the letter by reminding his readers of the faith that they received “through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” That opening line is a reminder of the powerful witness to the Incarnation, that Jesus is both God and Savior. Peter and the other disciples were eyewitnesses to the incarnation of God in Christ, remembering the voice of God during the transfiguration proclaiming, "This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” So, as we celebrate the season of “Coming” or advent, it's a chance for us to remember again that God has already come to us in the person of Christ and, in doing so, God has confirmed the truthfulness of God’s promises toward us.
    Second, in this time of waiting, we can grow in the image of Christ. When Jesus returns, the author urges his readers to “be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish.” Now for us in the 21st century we need to be careful with those words because what we may hear are echoes of the European Middle Ages --- roughly the period from the decline of Rome to the reformation --- that period was characterized by feelings of internal control. People felt that they were controlled by forces within themselves, like sin and disease. It was thought that the “spots and blemishes” are something inside of us we need to somehow “cure.”
    Instead the author is reminding us that in fact, we are meant to live like God’s beloved, filled by grace, created in the image of God. “Corruption” then is any thought or action that falls short of God’s desire for us which because of what Christ has done in his life, death, resurrection and ascension, we can once again become “participants of the divine nature.” The author of Peter therefore urges us to make every effort to support our faith in Christ through acting out the virtues of our creation which are goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, mutual affection and love. Focusing on those things will keep us from being “ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is what the author means by living lives of “holiness and godliness” -- lives that look more and more like Jesus.
    Third, while waiting we are to pay attention to what it is that masters us. As we move through the Advent season, that's a great question to ponder: What is it that controls us? To what have we become a slave? As Bob Dylan once sang, “It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're goanna have to serve somebody.” Who are we serving?
    Now for those of us in the 21st century who are characterized by desire for our external freedom, who believe that we can use the laws of the universe to be free from being controlled, we believe we are the masters. We can be in control. The great gardens of Europe, for example, are creations of that modern thinking. The gardens express the sense that nature itself can be manipulated and molded --- even controlled --- by human beings. A further sign of that view that we are the masters is racism, homophobia, and sexism. All are signs of control and that the universe must have laws based on skin color, or sex and that we are the masters. So, in this time of waiting, it is an opportunity to once again reconsider, the promise laid out in the first creation story in Genesis, we are not God and that God is present in all. That it is not in mastery but in trust and dependency that we grow.
    Fourth, we are to use our time as we wait wisely. The author of Peter urges his readers to “regard the patience of the Lord as salvation.” In this interim period as we await God’s promise, we can for example, use the time God has given us to share our faith with others. Disciples of Jesus recognize that God has given us time to spread the word, and we need to use that time wisely. In other words, in our daily conversations we might have with people in the waiting room or on the plane are opportunities to have conversations as the Spirit leads, not with all the answers but as members together in human community. As the author says in the first letter, “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting of the hope that is in you.” “Defense” in this case, does not mean ready for war, rather able to explain ourselves in love without fear and without instilling fear in others.
    The waiting might be the hardest part of being a Christian, but it's also the most important part. I’m reminded of a scene in the movie “Ironweed” when a homeless woman, played by Meryl Streep, goes into a church to get warm. Looking up at one of the side altars, she said, “I don’t call it sin. I call it decisions.”
    We must act in the world. We make daily decisions. We cannot escape this. Naturally, we will make mistakes. Nonetheless, while we wait on hold, we can curse the insurance company that has put us on hold. We can seek “control.” Or we can live waiting dependent on God because the good news is not about waiting in fear. Rather, God has given us tools and in the wait to bring God’s good news to the world in anticipation of a second Advent. Let's wait well for this time, our time, is a gift. Amen.

Oil of Preparation - 11/12/2017

   Sermon based on Matthew 25: 1-13.  I have been working on a book. The book is not a novel that will grab the reader from the opening line. The book is not one on theology, so profound that it would become an instant classic.
    No, I am working on something perhaps far more important; the book I am working on is a book of passwords. It all started, this past Christmas when I gave my wife a small diary that she uses to store her user names and passwords for all the important internet sites she uses. I bought it for her because she was using her daily calendar for that purpose and would carry it around in her purse. Furthermore, every year she would have to re-write all her passwords and usernames into a new calendar. Now, she has one book that she keeps in a safe place at home but can turn to it, when she forgets or must make a change.
    After giving her the book, I realized that as the old saying goes, what is good for the goose is good for the gander; what is good for a woman is equally good for a man. Not only have I been known to forget my username and password on occasion, but more importantly working on the book is an acknowledgement that if absent, Beth may need access to some of the important websites that we use. Since so much of our banking and bill paying is done online, unless we prepare, we would needlessly face some major challenges accessing the information if one of us was suddenly absent.
    I share that with you because the Gospel of Matthew has been discussing the challenges of absence --- in this case the absence of Jesus. In the parable of the King's Son's wedding found in chapter 22, the King doesn't show up until the wedding hall was already filled with guests. In the parable which directly precedes our lesson this week --- the faithful servant and the unfaithful servant found in chapter 24 --- the problem of absence revolves around the “delay” of the master. With today’s parable it is obvious Jesus was preparing the disciples for his absence, something to which the author of Matthew and we need to consider as well in our day and age.
To help us let us turn to today’s lesson: the parable of the ten bridesmaids. First some context. In a typical wedding of that time, the bridesmaids would     accompany the groom to the home of the bride, then the bridesmaids would accompany the couple to the site of the wedding and banquet. Just imagine a small rural community that --- unless the bride was from a community far away --- was a joyous journey from home to home to banquet all within a block or two.
    With that in mind, we read that Jesus told a parable and said the “…the kingdom of heaven will be like ….” ten bridesmaids who go out to meet the bridegroom. This bridegroom however we are told “was delayed.” The word we translate into delay in English is chronizontos which not only means “delay,” but it also has the sense of lingering. It indicates that the bridegroom was not being forcibly prevented from coming, but rather is overdue of his own choice. The groom is in no big rush. In the meantime, Jesus tells us that the bridesmaids get bored as they wait that no amount of snicker’s bars could help. It gets so long that Jesus tells us that they all fall asleep.
    “But at midnight there was a cry!” Our translation does not convey it exactly because it is bit awkward in English. Roughly the Bible suggests that in the middle of the night there was an inbreaking --- “a behold!” a “TaDa --- the bridegroom!”
    We can just imagine the impact on the household waking up with start, with the scurrying and sudden need to get ready for the trip to the bride’s home. But it is now that we find out what we readers were told earlier, five of the bridesmaids, had brought extra olive oil for their lamps, but five did not --- there are five who are called “wise” and five who are called “foolish.”
    The five without enough oil try to borrow from those who have extra but the ones with extra do not have enough to share because that would leave everyone short. Rather, the five without rush out to find some to buy. How they were going to find a 24-hr. convenience store at this late hour we are not told.
    In the meantime, the five with extra have enough not only to accompany the groom to the bride’s home --- the part of the journey we are never told about --- as well as enough to reach the location of the banquet. The five who by now had either picked up some olive oil or gave up entirely arrive at the banquet, but find wedding party is in full swing, with the doors locked. What we read is reminiscent of another parable where people then call out, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” What is the response from inside? We are told that the bridegroom, now the husband says, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” Then, we have an addition whether it is from the bridegroom in the parable or Jesus as a commentary it is not clear: “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day not the hour.”
    How does this parable help us as we live in the absence of the Kingdom? Well we could just go to sleep, because in this parable it doesn’t matter if you are awake or asleep. This parable however challenges us all around the theme of “being prepared.”
    I don’t know about you but if all faith meant was to make sure I had enough oil in a lamp not only is that odd for faith is not so simple is it? Because, faith is not about believing correct thoughts with the right amount of certainty. Rather, faith is about trusting in Jesus, which, in turn, means living in the new reality Jesus teaches --- not status quo, business-as-usual living, but rather living in “the way” of Jesus, in anticipation of God's kingdom.
    All the bridesmaids knew the wedding banquet had not been canceled. All the bridesmaids knew the groom was coming and the bride was waiting. Likewise, living in faith, is trusting and anticipating God’s full restoration affirming for example, the absolute equality and dignity of all people. But this “way of Jesus” means hanging in there being prepared even when it appears that the bridegroom has chosen to delay.
    What does this mean for us? How do we live in the “way of Jesus,” faithfully prepared? I think it is important to return to the ten bridesmaids and who they represent. As you may have noticed, there was no noticeable difference between the wise five and the foolish five. Moreover, they all became weary and took a nap while waiting for the party to begin. The only difference between the women is that some carried a spare vial of olive oil.
    The five without represent the “wisdom of this world--the live-by-what-you-see wisdom.” The five bridesmaids with extra on the other hand, represent the “wisdom of faith,” the wisdom of trusting in God's redemption of the world. The five wise bridesmaids lived in anticipation by taking “vessels of oil” in addition to the oil in their lamps. Interestingly, in some places in the Hebrew scriptures, oil is often a metaphor for good deeds. In other words, since we can’t take an extra vessel of faith around because faith does not come in measurable vials, we live out our faith in the way of Jesus, doing as Jesus would have us do as disciples during the absence. Living out our faith is that same as being equipped during the absence.
    The five foolish bridesmaids on the other hand preferred participating in the established market system --- the status quo of the world --- so when the bridegroom interrupted this business-as-usual by breaking in and making a dramatic arrival, they wind up going to the marketplace to try to buy “faith” when they need it. And when they finally manage to make it back to the wedding celebration? They find the door to the wedding feast closed, to which they holler, “Lord, Lord.” This is reminiscent of another place when Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”
    What about the advice to “watch therefore, for you do not know the day nor the hour?” Again, in chronological time, what we measure either by the moon, atomic clock or our number of birthdays it seems that the Lord is delayed. But for God ANY time is God’s time, even and especially the present moment. That said what else can this parable mean for us, who struggle against our marketplace scarcity mentality --- that everything has a price to be purchased when needed; either one has it or not?
    Timothy Merrill, a Christian author, tells the story of running out of light while visiting Israel with his family. One day, they -- two adults and two little kids -- went out to hike through Hezekiah's Tunnel. Hezekiah’s Tunnel or the Siloam tunnel is a water tunnel that was carved underneath Jerusalem in ancient times. Its name is due to the most common hypothesis of its origin, namely that it dates from the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah in the late 8th and early 7th century BCE and corresponds to the water works mentioned in 2 Kings 20: 20.
    It was rediscovered in the mid 1660’s and has become like many things in Israel an option for tourists. The portion of the tunnel that can be walked is not more than 30 inches wide with a varied height from 10 feet to 5 feet in some places with water came up to your knees unless a spring is flowing at which time the tunnel is closed. Well, Merrill and his family decided to walk through it.
    “Is it safe?” his wife asked the man sitting at a little wood table at the entrance. “Yes, yes, safe,” he said. “Very safe. No problem.” Merrill asked him how long it would take to walk through it. “You walk twenty minutes. No problem,” he said. Merrill gave him some money and received in return four candles, one for each person, not more than a third-inch thick and about five inches long. These candles were to provide light for the 20 minutes it would take to slosh through Hezekiah's Tunnel.
    Merrill retells the tale sharing that the candles illuminated the tunnel for only a few feet ahead and behind. As they felt their way through the tunnel, they sometimes had to stoop slightly as the tunnel shaft was not high enough to accommodate their height. After 10 minutes of wading occasionally hunchbacked through the water, Merrill began to think this trip might take longer than 20 minutes. He decided to blow out his candle, since he was the last one. The youngest child, 7, went first, then his mother, followed by the older child, 10, so he had no trouble following his wife and the boys without his candle lit. Now into 15 minutes of sloshing through the tunnel, following its curves and bouncing against its cold sides, and ducking to avoid bumping their heads, he noticed that Jeanie, his wife, was getting a little edgy. “Are we there yet?”
    After twenty minutes had elapsed, they were still in the tunnel, with no indication that they were close to the end. Twenty-five minutes passed, 30 minutes, and now the candles were just about out. First one candle burnt out, then another. Thirty-five minutes and still walking, Merrill says, “Jeanie's candle was just about gone, and I was about to produce my candle when, at 40 minutes, we felt a rush of cool air and heard the sound of water flowing. This development energized our flagging spirits and we pressed on with fresh zeal. Soon we were at the other side, the end of Hezekiah's Tunnel!”
What interests us however is that Merrill goes on to relate that while he didn't carry an extra candle, as a group they had extra light --- his unlit candle --- in reserve should it be needed. Merrill added that for him the church, a diverse body of people of different sizes, backgrounds, needs and perspectives is the one God has given that has “candlepower” and “candle people” who can help to refuel, rekindle and recharge the soul-lamps of those people whose flame is flickering. The man at the marketplace said 20 minutes. It took at least 40. The man at the marketplace said the candles were sufficient for the journey. They weren't.
    Jesus offers no specific condemnation of the women who fell asleep. They all did. But when the “Tada” moment appeared, when the bells rung, five of the women were candle people and had candle power; the others were not.
    As people of faith, a faith that is not purchased but gifted, do we show and glow? Do we value being the oil of preparation not depending on the marketplace but living the way of Jesus faithfully equipped? Or when our faith is flagging, do we look to each other in the church? Or do we prefer to turn to the marketplace of scarcity to relight our faith we have received as gift? What do we do in the absence? Beth and I are trying to prepare for when one us is not there to keep the candle of our family lit. Let us live in faith in the way of Jesus and let us be the light for others faithfully prepared for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Amen.