156 10 word or less quotes Or 3 years worth of Good Church Signs! Seventh Batch

1. You intended harm, God intended good—Joseph
2. You shall be holy
3. See, I receive a command to bless
4. Justice, only justice shall you pursue
5. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go
6. Speak, for your servant is listening
7. Nathan to David, “You are the man!”
8. The Lord is my rock and my fortress.
9. God’s steadfast love endures forever
10. Consider my servant Job
11. I know my redeemer lives
12. The Lord is my shepherd
13. Be strong, and let your heart take courage
14. Why are you cast down, O my soul?
15. Create in my a clean heart, O God
16. Two or three gathered—there I am.
17. Teach me your way, O Lord
18. In his word I hope
19. I am fearfully and wonderfully made
20. Get wisdom get insight!
21. Vapor vaporizing, vapor, all is vapor.—Ecclesiastes
22. For everything there is a season
23. Do not be quick to anger
24. Love is stronger than death
25. Here am I; send me!

Scarcity and Abundance (An outline of My sermon on Luke 12:11-24)

 A roughly filled out outline of today's sermon:

Money and Luke:

The Gospel of Luke emphasizes very heavily the dangers of wealth. For example it starts with the Magnificat—in it Mary says the hungry will be filled, but the rich will go away empty. Similarly Luke does not just have beatitudes in which the poor are considered blessed, but it also includes a part in which Jesus states, “Woe to the rich.”

Finally, as we see in a few weeks, it is pointed out you can’t serve both God and Mammon.

I bring this up because—

The 1^st two weeks of August & the last two weeks of September are week in which it is impossible not to preach about God and Mammon—God and money. On top of that  Synod Stewardship Guy will be preaching in a few weeks time, and I bet he’ll mention money in one way or another.

Dangers of talking about wealth:

There are several dangers when the church talks about wealth.

1.    There is the danger we’ll say nothing, after all it’s impolite to talk about sex, politics, and money. But that’s not an option—Money is 15% of what Jesus talks about—there are well over 2,000 verses in scripture dedicated to the subject.

2.    The next danger is that the Pastor will say—“Love of money is the root of all evil—but none of my concregation would love money—so we don’t need to worry about it.

3.    Lastly, the Pastor might simplify things and say “Money is evil—unless you’re giving it to church, then it’s good stewardship… and call it a day.

This week and next week—Scarcity and Abundance

I would like to define these two ways of looking at the world, by the first questions they bring up in us—they are:

ScarcityàWhat don’t I have? What do I need?

Abundanceà What do I already have? What has God already provided for me?

Prayer

Jesus begins today’s lesson by telling everyone it’s going to get rough, they’ll be drug before religious and political leader—but they shouldn’t worry, the Holy Spirit has them covered—they have an abundance of God’s help

Then he’s interrupted, with a question from the back—what about my inheritance? What about money?

Jesus responds to this request, as he often does, with a story… in this case a Story of Scarcity

A man collects massive amounts of possessions, then he dies, unable to “take it with him.”

There are a few things we should take away from Jesus’ story:

1.    Talks to self (The man in Jesus’ story talks to himself—he says I, Me, or My 13 times in 3 sentences—because he’s obsessed with scarcity he is constantly looking out for #1, he’s stuck in a defensive crouch

·       For that matter he sounds like Smeagol from Lord of the Rings, whispering “My precious” to his possessions

·       He’s the classic definition of sinful—he’s Homo Incurvatus in Se a person curved in on their self—he’s so concerned about his needs that he’s stuck in his own belly button.

2.    A Dis-ordered life (The man also has a disordered life—think about this number sequence:17, 2, 3, 4. 17 shouldn’t be the first number, one should—likewise scarcity can make possessions, our number one thing, which isn’t where they should fit in our life.

·       Think about it, he’s put things before his very life! And now that his life is being called for he realizes his mistake. You’ve heard the old phrase, there are People to love, things to use—well scarcity can disorder this formula so you use people and love things.

·       Think of our reading from Ecclesiastes—the author chased after money, and wisdom, and such things, and when attaining them found it all to be “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” “Vapor vaporizing, all is vapor.” The wealth he grasped at in his barn was elusive, and fled from his fingers like smoke.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there, he follows this story up with a Story of Abundance

He says, “Hey, look at that Raven—it looks plump and happy, God provided for it… and it doesn’t have a barn! It has enough!

Jesus is saying to the man who interrupted him:

1.    Order your life. Consider what you have (You’re alive, the person you’re inheriting from is dead, count your blessing!)

2.    Talk to brother. Consider who you have (You’re in danger of breaking your relationship with your brother over material things—don’t do that!)

In conclusion, when you start with abundance instead of scarcity you are thankful for your life and all you have. Also, you might even start saying I, me, and my less and saying we, us, and our more.

I’ll more about that last one next week.

Amen and Alleluiah!

156 10 word or less quotes Or 3 years worth of Good Church Signs! Sixth Batch

1. Go and make disciples
2. The Good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
3. Who do people say that I am?
4. Whoever welcomes a child, welcomes me
5. The Son of Man came to serve
6. Terror and amazement had seized them.
7. My soul magnifies the Lord
8.  Glory to God in the highest
9. Every mountain and hill shall be made low
10. Do not judge, and you will not be judged
11. Love your enemies
12. The Kingdom of God has come near to you.
13. Our Father who art in heaven
14. God searches for the lost
15. Father, forgive them.
16. In the beginning was the word
17. The Word became flesh
18. I am bread, water, light etc.
19. New Commandment—Love one another.
20. That you may believe and have life
21. I see open heavens and the Son of Man!
22. What is to prevent me from being baptized?
23. We too are his offspring.
24. The Lord bless you and keep you.
25. Indeed it was very good

156 10 word or less quotes Or 3 years worth of Good Church Signs! Fifth Batch

Scripture:

1. Sighs too deep for words.
2. Nothing separates us from the love of God
3. I am not ashamed of the gospel.
4. We are justified by grace!
5. There is now no condemnation
6. If God is for us, who is against us?
7. We are the Lord’s!
8. There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
9. This is my body that is for you.
10. This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
11. My grace is sufficient for you.
12. Power is made perfect in weakness
13. For freedom Christ set us free.
14. Bear one another’s burdens
15. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self Control.
16. Forgive as you’ve been forgiven
17. He emptied himself.
18. Rejoice in the Lord always; against I say, rejoice!
19. It’s a lion… no wait… it’s a lamb!-Rev. 5
20. This is my Son, the beloved.
21. Salt and Light
22. Come and see!
23. Lord, let our eyes be opened.
24. Love God. Love Neighbor.
25. Did you hear the one about the Samaritan?

156 10 word or less quotes Or 3 years worth of Good Church Signs! Fourth Batch

Miscellaneous:

1. What vitamin is best for a Christian? B1.
2. We support the separation of Church and hate.
3. Buckle Up!
4. You are welcome here.
5. Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last
6. Love
7. I gave in, and admitted that God was God.
8. Pray, and let God worry.
9. "We have one word for people like you: Welcome"
10. "Our pastor is on vacation...it is a great time to visit!"
11. "Christians aren't perfect - just forgiven."
12. "Now accepting new members!"
13. Wanted: sinners.
14. Sign broken. Come inside to hear the message.
15. Sinners only.
16. Now open between Easter and Christmas.
17. "Christians are like this road - always under construction"
18. "This is a sign from God"
19. Still plenty of good seats up front.
20. Established 33 A.D.
21. Our speakers go to eleven....
22. We're on a mission from God.
23. all are welcome come as you are
24. "We need not think alike to love alike."—Francis David
25. I bow in trust, forgive, sustain, here.

156 10 word or less quotes Or 3 years worth of Good Church Signs! Third Batch

Worship:

1. Gathering, Confession, Baptism, Word, Thanksgiving, Meal & Sending
2. Go in peace. Remember the poor
3. Go in peace. Serve the Lord
4. Thanks be to God
5. We are clothed with God’s mercy and forgiveness
6. The Lord be with you
7. This is the feast of victory for our God
8. Lord, to whom shall we go?
9. Taste and see that the Lord is good!
10. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, watch over me. Amen.
11. Word of God, Word of Life

156 10 word or less quotes Or 3 years worth of Good Church Signs! Second Batch

Lutheran:

1. What shall I do to be saved? Nothing!
2. You are just for Jesus’ sake
3. I love you, you are mine
4. God loves you. Period.
5. Not if-then but because-therefore
6. Sola Gratia, Fide, Christus, Scriptura, and Deo Gloria
7. God is in the last place you look
8. Law and Gospel found within

156 10 word or less quotes Or 3 years worth of Good Church Signs! First Batch

Luther:

1. I say we are all beggars; this is true—Martin Luther
2. “To achieve means always to begin again anew.”—Luther
3. Sin Boldly—rejoice in Christ more so
4. The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid.
5. When schools flourish, all flourishes.—Luther
6. Forgiveness is God's command.
7. Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement. 
8. Changing your son’s diapers…more holy than prayer—Luther
9. Here I stand, I can do no other. God Help Me. Amen.

Doing the Large Catechism to the Congregation

          In the year 1528 Martin Luther visited churches throughout the German territory of Saxony. He listened to the preaching, he interview both pastors and lay folk.

          By the end he was greatly disheartened—he lamented that the parishioners were all like lazy cows that knew nothing of God and worse still that the pastors didn’t even know the Lord’s Prayer.

          And so Luther admonished the clergy to take 4 days a year—Ember Days they were called—days when all the people would fast and study the Small and Large Catechism.

          Well, today, prompted by Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, today feels like a good enough day as any, to be an Ember Day—to tell you about our tradition’s instructions about prayer.

          I will begin, as Luther does, by telling you all to pray!

          Sure, you’ve seen Televangelists pray hypocritical prayers

sure, you are sometimes underwhelmed when the pastor or deacon prays a prayer written by the national church.

Sure, you’ve heard plenty of bad praying.

          But that doesn’t mean you boycott prayer.

That would be like having once been to a bad restaurant that served you rancid pasta and thus deciding to upturn your nose at all food and starve yourself to death.

         

          No—we pray because God has commanded it of us! God tells us to pray and therefore it is right to do so.

          Not only that—we pray, because God promises to hear our prayer. God not only commands “ask” but also promises “receive” “it will be given” and “I will deliver you.”

         

          Yet, you might say, “who am I to go before God and talk to Him—am I holy enough to do such a thing? I’m no Peter or Paul, no Pastor or a long time church lady.”

You might not feel good enough to pray to God.

          And it’s questions like that—feelings like that—that bring a core of the Lutheran insight to the forefront

--you see, even something as practical as prayer is fortified with a theology of grace. It’s not our goodness, nor our initiative, but always God’s loving actions for us—God’s gracious yes.

          In fact, it’s not you who prays, but the Spirit which intercedes within you with sighs too deep for words. Your prayers are God’s prayers.

Your prayers express God’s deep loving concern for your needs.

          And that last thing—says something about how we pray.

It’s not all about saying things, let alone saying them loudly or ecstatically. Prayer involves time in reflection—reflecting on where we are at in the world and what abiding needs we have—that we are to bring forward to our loving Father.

          Let us pray

Our Father Who Is In Heaven

          We begin by stating the relationship. It is one of genuine trust—God as a good, loving, compassionate, parent.

That’s who we are addressing. We can come before God with a genuine trust—come before God as God’s beloved child—Jesus himself before the Almighty.

“Dear Father, your will be done.”

“Yes, dear Child, it shall be done.”

A father will not give a scorpion when an egg is needed—nor will a mother give a snake when we are in need of a fish.

          We can trust God.

May You Name Be Hallowed

          One of the great insights Luther borrows from the Augustinian tradition is that prayer is not about making sure something happens,

it is about pleading that we ourselves—the petitioners—the prayers—are involved in it.

          We have no power to make God’s name holy—it is by its very nature Holy.

That is why it is said by Isaiah that God’s throne is surrounded by angels singing continually “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Affirming that which cannot be false—the truth about God’s name is that it is Holy.

          Yet, in our prayer we ask that this Holiness will dwell in our own words and deeds. That our trust in God’s Word, and our living out God’s Promises-for-us, will point to that holiness that already is. That we will be a part of the Holiness of God.

May Your Kingdom Come

          You’re going to get tired of me saying it—but just as prayer doesn’t make God’s name Holy—neither does it make God’s Kingdom come. The rule of the Gospel, the message of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection—is irresistible. The Kingdom already comes, without our praying for it.

          So we pray that it might come for us as well. That our faith will be in God’s faithfulness, that God’s Kingdom might intersect with our actions—That the Spirit might flow through our whole life and that our destiny might be enwrapped in God’s promises. That the Kingdom will come for us.

         

May Your Will Come About On Earth As In Heaven

          God’s will, as you might expect by now, is done, yet we pray that it might be done amongst us.

          We hope, we pray, that God’s glory and salvation—that is the Holiness of His Name and the Kingdom of God—those first two things we pray for—might be defended against wills that are not of God—including our own.

          This petition suggests that the Christian life will be one filled with challenge. We can expect misfortune and grief—and for that reason we pray for God’s will to be done among us, that his Holiness and Rule might be preserved among us with steadfast patience.

Thy will, not my will.

Give Us Today Our Daily Bread

          We pray for Bread—but in doing so we pray for much more than simply physical bread, but in fact for all things necessary and nourishing for our bodies, from food and shoes to money and good government, good weather and good friends.

          God provides for every need of the body, provides it to both the just and the unjust, the Christian and the Atheist, Democrat or Republican. It is all here for us, with or without our prayer.

          In fact, since it is all here for us, it would be fitting for all organizations that spend time distributing these things—especially those who govern countries, cities, towns, neighborhoods—it would be good for them, to brand the image of bread upon their bottoms, to remind them that alone is their lot in life—their purpose—and also to remind everyone of that good thing they do, so that we might pray for good to befall our civil leaders.

          We pray for this bread, however—in order that we might realize we receive it from God’s hands, and recognize in every meal, and every good thing, that it comes from the goodness of God. All bread is in a sense, bread from heaven.

And Remit our debt, as we remit what our debtors owe.

          Again, our sins, our debts, are forgiven while we are yet sinners, while we still owe much—released before we pray to God for our forgiveness. It’s always God’s initiative—God’s grace. Prayer isn’t pulling one over on God.

          Yet if you get up the gumption to think that you are without sin—just pause and reflect—for as long as we live in this world we will be caught in conflict with what is right and what is right—many good things competing with one another.

So we constantly need the reminder that God forgives us.

          And one of those reminders comes about when we live out this portion of the Lord’s prayer—when we forgive! When we remit the debts that are owed to us.

          In fact, forgiving those who sin against us, is like a 3^rd sacrament—it strengthens and gladdens our conscience; we enter into God’s promise of forgiveness when we forgive! We know we are forgiven by God when we forgive!

And Lead Us Not Into Temptation

          We are never tempted by God, but we are tempted in many ways.

We are tempted by the tenuous nature of our lives, so vicious things can bubble up from within us.

We are tempted by a world in which everyone wants to get ahead of everyone else—and it can drive us mad—that which is outside us can oppress us!

Finally, we are tempted to the very core of our being—despair, blasphemy and worse can enter into our soul.

          And we pray that we might resist these assaults.

But Deliver Us From Evil

          There is such a wideness to the misfortunes that haunt humanity that it is incomprehensible—it can be like an abyss.

Cancer, Suicide, Starvation, Racism, Insanity, Abuse, Addiction, War, Poverty, Despair, Disgrace, and Death.

          But know this, none of these take us beyond the limits of God’s love.

We can, and should, lift up any and all affliction—all needs—to God. God is with us in them all.

Amen.

Amen—yes is how we finish this prayer—

believing with certainty

that God hears it—

trusting God’s promise to do so.

Look!

Be confident God hears your prayers—

call on God in every need.

A+A

A reminder—The ELCA has a statement on Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

            So, you may have heard about the president’s speech on his experience of racism and how most of the African American community has heard the Travyon Martin verdict.

            One line in his speech that particularly caught my attention was:

             “There has been talk about should we convene a conversation on race.  I haven't seen that be particularly productive when politicians try to organize conversations.  They end up being stilted and politicized, and folks are locked into the positions they already have.  On the other hand, in families and churches and workplaces, there's the possibility that people are a little bit more honest, and at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can?  Am I judging people as much as I can, based on not the color of their skin, but the content of their character?  That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy.”

            With the president’s call to church communities and to families in mind, now would be a fine time to review the ELCA’s 1993 statement on Race, Ethnicity, and Culture. To view this document click here.

Martha and Mary Sermon

97 words in the Greek, 116 in the English, Five verses, three characters, Mary, Martha, and the Lord. Yet, many layers of meaning.

          This single moment in the Gospel of Luke is like a net cast in a well stocked stream—it hauls in much meat—a multitude of fish, shiny and attractive, each important and interesting in their own right.

          These five verses tell us something about Church Work, something about Gender Roles, something about Family Relationships, and something about Ultimate Value.

          Church Work, Gender Roles, Family Relationships, and Ultimate Value.

          Let us pray.

          Church Work, is a funny term—it indicates there is a particular job to do—that things must be done in a churchy way—in fact, there is always a danger that we can focus on being churchy—focus on doing church work, to the point that we forget to do the work of the church.

          Consider Pastor Martha.

          Pastor Martha was driving to the local nursing home to visit a parishioner—she was doing church work—and it was mighty hot out—and she saw a car stalled out in the middle of the road—a very tired and hot looking couple pushing the car to the side of the road—and she passed by because she was busy and had to do church work.

          Then, at the nursing home she passed by a family crying, as she hurried to her parishioner’s room to administer communion—to do church work.

          She rushed to the elevator, because she had to get back to church to be at office hours—to do church work—but was stopped by the wife of the family who was crying, and asked to say prayers with the family and stay with them a while—to do the Work of the Church—being the Body of Christ for another in a time of need.

That was the better part.

         

          Gender Roles are something some churches talk about a lot.

          For example, focusing not only on if women can preach and preside, but if women can serve communion or carry a cross—I don’t think that would work very well here—without women doing those things I’d end up juggling chalices most Sundays.

          But if you engage with fellow Christians for any length of time, you’ll end up running into people who see the faith as being fixated on genders doing fixed tasks, strict roles for men and women both inside and outside of church.

         

          For that reason, it’s important to hear what’s going on in today’s gospel.

          Martha invites Jesus into her home. A great honor upon her household I’m sure—the Lord taking time to be with them—it probably brought all the eyes of her neighbors toward her house, and her management of her household.

          And then there is Mary—who plops down in front of Jesus—sits at the Lord’s feet.

          Think of that phrase for a second.

The Apostle Paul sat at Rabbi Gamaliel’s feet—in other words was his student—he learned from him—he justified his religious understanding based on that time at Gamaliel’s feet.

          And Mary does the same with Jesus.

          When the disciple Levi ends up sitting at Jesus’ feet at the start of the Gospel of John it’s because he was already sitting down and Jesus showed up—but Mary—she takes the initiative and sits there and learns from Jesus.

          What A Scandal.

          Think what the neighbors would say? Think what Jesus—this upright Rabbi—this respected teacher—must secretly be thinking but politely not saying!

          If Martha was thinking in modern terms, she’d likely be saying “hold on now, don’t Lean In, Mary—don’t take the lead, Mary. Let the system work itself out, Mary—don’t make a place for yourself at the table, Mary, be let in, Mary—don’t rock the boat, Mary.”

          And yet Jesus, none to politely—weighs in on this matter—saying Mary had done nothing wrong.

          Family Relationships are curious things—each one different. Some families share everything—there are no secrets

/some families share nothing.

          Some families fight in public,

/ some families don’t even fight openly in private—instead passively punishing one another and pushing one each other’s buttons.

          Other families use third parties to push their agenda. This is called triangulation—there is a dispute between two people and you bring in a third who you believe will side with you and use them as an ally so you won’t need to get your own hands dirty.

          That last one is true of Martha—while she is pulled in a plethora of directions, she pulls Jesus in to punish, or at least control, her sister.

         

          Listen to it again—Martha wants Mary to act a certain way, so she forces Jesus into her argument. She embarrasses her guest by forcing him—the Lord—to be party to a private dispute. “Do you not care Lord?” Clearly you aren’t foolish enough to not side with me, Lord. Clearly if you’re a real Rabbi, a Good Lord you’ll agree with me.

          She wants Jesus to side with her—she wants to force Mary from Jesus’ feet in order to be on her feet alongside Martha.

          But Jesus sides with Mary.

          I guess what I’m saying is, if you try to triangulate Jesus, you might end up on the far side of the Isosceles.

          Church Work, Gender Roles, and Family Relationships are all important—they are sharp edges of scripture that goad us toward love of God and love of neighbor.

          But the central message of today’s reading from Luke is pretty simple. There is need of only one thing.

          The thing of Ultimate Value—is Jesus Christ.

          We will turn ‘round and ‘round in this life, chasing after squirrels and shiny things.

          We will worry and be anxious.

          It is in our nature, and our foolish affections, to “seek and strive for many things, but we will not attain them—and if we do—we will not enjoy the possession of them, but instead will find only sorrow and harm.”

          Because the one possession that matters—the only one for us to turn to—turn to again and again, repenting daily and remembering our Baptism—is Jesus Christ.

          Jesus Christ who possesses us and will not be taken away from us. A+A