Francis’ small faith

                   Some of Christ’s commands

—some of the bedrocks of the Christian faith in fact, are easy to dismiss. 
For example, Christ’s repeated instance that our faith ought to be like a mustard seed
—his call for a small faith
—is rarely tried. 
Small is so often seen as failure, 
And large is so often seen as success… 
that we don’t even question what is faithful to the vision of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                  Yet there are times when faithfulness flourishes
—moments in Christian history, where the faith and faithfulness coalesce, 
there are people who live out a mustard seed faith.

                  One such person is Francis of Assisi, 
a Renewer of the Church in the Lutheran Tradition, 
whose life and ministry exemplified the awesome power of a mustard seed faith. 
Today I want to talk to you about Francis’ small faith.

Prayer

 

                  Francis’ small faith.

                  Francis’ faith journey began when he went off to war
—fighting for one of the Italian City States around the year 1200… 
he watched his childhood friends killed in battle, and himself was captured, 
for about a year he was a POW—a Prisoner of War. 
In that time of mourning and lament, something new bubbled up inside of him… 
who Francis of Assisi would become, 
can be traced to that time where God met him in lament and sorrow
that time of humiliation
—being humbled transformed his life.

And I hope, all of us for whom the words of Lamentations ring true, 

“How lonely sits the city… 
the roads mourn, the gates desolate… 
we are disempowered and pursued.” 

All of us can hope for transformation, 
for fresh callings, out of clear cries of distress and disgrace.

 

                  Francis’ small faith.

                  On the other side of the war, he had a vision of a leper!
—one of those people most everyone sought to shrink away from and avoid
—he was called out of his humiliation to humility 
He was called to embrace the leper as Christ himself… 
in fact in his strange vision—the leper IS Christ

 

                  This call to embrace the least, the last, and the lost of the world
—that’s the very thing the Disciple’s are dreading doing in today’s gospel
—Jesus has just commanded them to:
1. never undermine the little ones, 

2. instead stand up for them
3. and be a forgiving people… 

                  These commands so stun the disciples that they plead, “increase our faith!”

                  We too, when we are confronted by the challenges of caring for those in greatest need
—we too often cry out, “increase my faith!”

                  So much of Christianity these days is known for scandals and foolishness and controversies of all sorts
—but imagine… 
imagine if Christianity was known for that one thing
—embracing the least, the small, the weak and wayward
—what a large impact this small faith would have!

 

                  Francis’ small faith.

Francis had a deep desire to do God’s, and, like many people in the medieval world, he did something that most of us would find rather superstitious, 
he flipped through a copy of the 4 gospels and just sort of pointed at random. 
The three pieces of scripture he landed upon were: 
“Sell everything and give to the poor, 
take nothing on your journey, 
deny yourself.”

Unlike most people in the medieval world, 
Francis followed through on these three commands for the rest of his life, 
first as an individual and later as leader of a group of other people, 
both men and women, 
who took these words on as a way of life
—a way to live the Christian life simply.

They lived this life, not for a reward, 
but because it was who they were
—It’s who Francis was
Later it’s what it means to be a Franciscan
—its who you are, so its what you do.

 

So too, Jesus says to the disciples, “Just do it.” 
1. Don’t undermine those in great need, 
2. instead support them, and 
3. be a forgiving people… 
You don’t do that because I’m going to reward you with 
a beatific vision, 
or a full church, 
or your best life now, 

No, you do it because that’s who you are, you’re Christians, it’s what you do.

                  Imagine the relief we have to offer people
—the central message of the faith
—we’re saved by God’s grace!
—stop chasing all these little heavens you’re trying to make for yourself or your family, 9 times our of 10 you’re just creating a little hell for yourself… 
instead of striving, savor
—savor what our savior has already won for us, 
savor the life we’ve been given to live… 
Imagine…

 

                  Francis’ small faith.

                  Francis was know for preaching to the birds
—yet somehow more than the birds heard and were moved by his message. 
A small act of faith spilled out into a wider world.

                  Francis was known for hearing a command from God, 
“rebuild this church” 
and he found an old run down country church and rebuilt it 
brick by brick and beam by beam
—yet when the Pope heard of Francis’ ministry, 
he knew Francis was not simply working on a building, 
but rebuilding the Church itself—
renewing its people, 
so the faith mattered again to them.

                  Imagine faith like a mustard seed
—tiny faith, trust, in the God we find in Jesus Christ… 
Jesus Christ who can transform even the smallest faith into the most fruitful of lives.

                  Who can take: 
Marbles and make conversations with grandchildren, 
Quilts and make hope for hurricane survivors,

Food Pantry Volunteers and make a sustainable life for 38 families.

 

                  I pray that something of Francis’ small faith, might be found our own.

A+A

Sermon: What kind of God is our God?

 You’d be shocked at how much ink has been spilled over both our lesson from Jeremiah, as well as our gospel today. 

Scholars fight back and forth, line by line, over whose line is whose in Jeremiah
—it is after all, a conversation between God and God’s peoples, spoken internally, inside,Jeremiah

         Likewise, in the Gospel there is broad disagreement about what kind of manager this man is
—cleaver, wise, or dishonest…

         But, among all the spilled ink, 
the fighting over particulars, is a larger question. 
What kind of God is our God?

         Jeremiah reaches his answer after a back and forth rattling around in his soul, that goes something like this:

-Where is God in this suffering? 

-God is punishing you.

-God has punished us long enough. 

-God wails in anguish with you! 

Then God, God’s people, and God’s prophet 
all three… weep for those who have suffered and have died.

         After this strange prophetic, 
internal back and forth, 
Jeremiah knows, 
in the center of his being, 
that God is a God who identifies with the people, 
who feels for His people, 
who cares for God’s people in a heart wrenching, eye watering, kind of way.

Our God is that kind of God.

 

         And Jesus has been making a similar case about God
—that God as he knows as Father, 
is a God of almost embarrassing abundance, 
embracing with grace, 
all those who yearn for his face, 
especially the least, last, and lost. 

As you might remember Jesus has just finished telling a series of parables defending his ministry among sinners and tax collectors 
Defending this stewardship… management… of God’s grace 
after being condemned by the Pharisees.

Jesus responded with parables about a lost son, a lost sheep, and a lost coin.

Now, Jesus tells another parable
—and this is a strange one, 
vats of ink spilled on this parable, as I said before…

Jesus flips the script saying in essence, “I do what I do because I know my vision of God to be true!” 
But, he adds, “Even if I’m wrong
—even if your way of understanding God is right, 
my ministry is still effective and true. 
It still pleases God!”

 

         Let us pray

         Let’s try to hear this Parable with Jesus’ ministry front and center. 
Let’s hear Jesus tell the story those who oppose him are telling each other…
Let’s hear Jesus tell the Pharisee’s Parable.

 

         God gets wind of the Religious Authority’s grumbling… their saying that: 
“Jesus… this man claiming Messiah-ship… 
claiming that he is the steward of God’s bounty… 
This Jesus is squandering God’s grace and goodness. 
He’s lying about God’s nature, 
his real master is the Devil himself!”

         So, God goes and summons Jesus and says: 
“I’ve heard you’re spending the treasury of Heaven, 
the goodness of God, 
on those who are undeserving. 
Show me your books, 
for you can no longer be my Messiah, my manager, any longer.”

 

         Jesus rushes back to Capernaum and crunches the numbers and bring God some spreadsheets. 
Cost-benefit analysis and return on investment, 
so God can audit Jesus’ ministry.

 

The Tax Collector owes God 100 vats of oil, he pays Jesus with 50. 
The Sinner owes God 100 containers of wheat, Jesus accepts 80…

         To make everything balance out, Jesus calls in all his clients… 
he heals Peter’s Mother-in-law, cures the lepers, 
heals the man enslaved by the centurion and the widow’s son… 
Each one praises God for a transformed life 
and forges new relationships with their neighbors.

 

Isn’t that how it actually works? 
Actual life transformation is rarely imposed by hard rules or stern warnings… 
(sure you can keep the cat off the counter when you’re watching, spray bottle in hand… 
but that’s not sustainable, or healthy)

You can maybe gain compliance, 
but not transformation
—not goodness…

Fresh obligations sink people,

But love… 
love launches people!

Transformation comes from loving stability and trusting relationships.

A space from which to explore and innovate,

Where you can make mistakes and it won’t be the end

Where you can make a renewed life your own!

 

These folk, who Jesus frees… 
they are unchained from their burdens
—believe God, 
trust God’s mercy!

Even though Jesus was too “free” with God’s goodness… 
No, scratch that! because Jesus was too “free” with God’s goodness…
the chorus of praise, the sinner’s rejoicing
—it was so loud that heaven shook… 
This mercy led to manifold honoring of God and loving of neighbor.

More blessed was heaven by this, 
than all the tight-fisted hording of God’s goodness by the Pharisees 
and all those who have shrunk God down so small.

If this ministry of Jesus, with such bountiful fruits, is dishonest, or unfaithful, or the squandering of the treasury of Heaven
—may we all be so dishonest and unfaithful! 
May we all squander so well!

 

You hear it, right? Even if the Religious Authorities are right about 
the What kind of God is our God? Question… 
right about the character of God
—and they are not
—the way Jesus administers God’s Kingdom
—Jesus’ stewardship of God’s possessions, 
his management of the Kingdom of God
—is far more effective than the micromanagement and law-sickness that assumes stinginess and scarcity, 
that assumes God is a tight-fisted titan 
hording grace and counting every penny against us.

 

How much better is all this, 
if Jesus is not only being effective, 
but also honest! 

Jesus is being honest when he describes God, 
Jesus’ stewardship, management, ministry, 
is faithful to who God is, 
Jesus is, in fact, the ultimate experience and example of God’s actual character!

Jesus is the invisible God made visible for us.

What kind of God is our God?

Our God is a God who is open handed, merciful, and generous.

Our God searches for the Lost. 

God squandered His very self for the sake of those He seeks!

God takes on our life and lifts it to eternity.

God makes our every moment into ceaseless praise.

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We Need to Talk about Galadriel!

 

              I distinctly remember reading the Silmarillion’s account of Middle Earth being sung into existence, of evil being a discordant tune, redemption the song of creation improvised to include even Morgoth’s cacophonous tune, while sweeping up (poorly, I was reading and sweeping at the same time after all) the converted barn for some sort of soiree at St. Mark’s, the Anglican youth retreat center in rural England I volunteered at for a year.

I remember my best friends, Micah and Billy, going back and forth about whether Balrogs had wings, at the lunch table at Carey Junior High.

I remember buying the Hobbit after seeing it at an elementary school book fair.

For years the release of each movie punctuated hum drum life like a religious festival.

              As such, I was excited about Amazon’s The Rings of Power, so much so that my dear wife powered through all six movies in about a week, so she could watch it with me last Friday. (Side note, her atypical opinion is the first two movies stink, but Peter Jackson figures out what he’s trying to do starting with the third Lord of the Rings movie).

(MILD SPOILERS)

              One of the main characters of the TV show is Galadriel, and what a character arc she has! I love the way it is unfolding so far.

We are introduced to Galadriel as a small child; she creates an origami swan that begins to come to life when sent down a stream. It is then smashed by the other elf children. Her brother Finrod steps in and stops this bullying; he is the embodiment of kindness and love, calming and comforting her in her distress.

Next, we find out Finrod has been murdered by Sauron. Galadriel responds by growing up and becoming a soldier. More than a soldier, she is transformed into a vengeful warrior, pursuing her dear brother’s murderer to the ends of Middle Earth. She is confronted with a choice between an idyllic heavenly existence or going against all reason and continuing her quest, avenging her brother, and she chooses the latter.

              Those of us who’ve read or watched Lord of the Rings know where she ends up. Frodo offers her the Ring, her enemy Sauron’s most powerful weapon. In one of the most intense scenes in the series, she is sorely tempted, but knows that it would make her “great and terrible”, the antithesis of her beloved brother. So, she refuses.

Instead, the little hobbits keep the Ring, and eventually destroy it, thus defeating Sauron. It is, to quote Gandalf, “the small everyday deeds of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” The Ring’s destruction wreaks havoc on Galadriel’s immortality, but she is accepted back into the heaven she had previously rejected for the sake of her quest.

              A hero who loses their loved one, single mindedly pursues justice for them, sacrifices it all to try to capture the killer, is given the enemy’s ultimate weapon but doesn’t use it because doing so would dishonor the very person they seek to avenge, the killer is defeated in a way that honor’s the dead, and the hero receives back that which they sacrificed. Wow! This is all being set up just two episodes in, I can’t wait to see where this all goes! I can't wait to watch Galadriel's whole character arc!

A Re-Constituting Convention

             We recently received an update from the Bishop about the goings on at Churchwide Assembly (CWA) this year. A lot happened in that multi-day meeting in Columbus Ohio, but one of the things that the Bishop wrote about has caught my imagination: “The commission will report to the 2025 CWA with the potential for a reconstituting convention to be called. It has been 35 years since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America began so it seems time to examine whether what served us well then still holds. I’m excited to participate in this work, especially since change is one our synod’s core values.”

            In Aristotelian ethics, there are three things a person or organization needs before doing something: Glasses, a Tool Belt, and a Map. You need Glasses to see the situation you are in. You need the Tool Belt to do the actual work—the types of tools you have limit and shape the actions at your disposal. You need a Map to know where you are going, what you hope to accomplish with your action. 

From what I’ve seen of the ELCA, it feels like we’ve dealt with the Glasses and Map questions. For example, back in 2009 the ELCA did a big self-assessment eventually called “The LIFT document” and in 2014 the Presiding Bishop defined who we are this way: “We are church, we are Lutheran, we are church together, and we are church for the sake of the world.” For that matter, our current goal as a denomination is to: “contact a million new people and introduce them to the ELCA as a community of Jesus.”

What we’ve not dealt with, is restocking our tool belt. By that I mean the ELCA’s constitution, how we define the rules of the game. The ELCA was formed by a merger of three different forms of Lutheranism, and where there were disagreements we often papered over them, were a little vague, allowed for regional variety, and said, “we’ll define that more clearly when we’ve lived into the arrangement.” Well, we’ve now lived into this arrangement for 35 years, and it might be time to intentionally go through that tool belt: your beloved trusty hammer that you got from your great grandfather, well, maybe it is time to hang it up on the mantel and replace it with one of the other ones you own that has less sentimental value and you’ll actually use with full force, clean the rust off the screw driver and use WD40 the wrench, and buy a whole new tape measure—they have some with lasers and internal levels now!

As I said, the prospect of a reconstitution convention has caught my imagination. Imagine the ELCA as a self-aware and confident church, newly equipped for the opportunities and challenges of 2025, empowering each and every congregation to reach 112 people in our local communities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Sermon: Watching Jesus

 

         Grand tension
—Pharisees watching Jesus, 
Jesus watching them! 
They wonder, 
who is he?

Is he a lover of purity? 
He is a follower of John after all
—a puritan if they’d ever seen one… 

Or is he wise to the point of cunning
—gaming the Grecco-Roman system of Honor/Shame culture? 

Or is he something else entirely? 

-As Jesus does yet another healing on the Sabbath, this time of a man with dropsy, 
-as he speaks the words we read today about guests and hosts, 
-and then concludes with words about the reign of God… what it means that God is the host and we are the guest…

As all of this unfolds, 
they watch him, 
waiting to find out who he really is.

Prayer

 

         Watching, wondering who he is, the Pharisees think… “Perhaps he’s a purity man, this Jesus
—more stringent than the Pharisees
—the kind of Holy Man who might find escape from all this day to day stuff,
might uphold the strictest reading of the Law as balm for him, 
and condemnation for everyone else.”

         Imagine Jesus, confronted by this man with dropsy, bloated and in pain, and generally ostracized, 
and Jesus doing nothing
—using this sick man as an example of strict Sabbath observance, 
parroting the Law as interpreted by the Qumran sect, “It is unlawful to heal on the Sabbath, it is even unlawful to rescue a child or oxen.”

         Imagine Jesus as a reluctant, absent, guest, too severe to celebrate a wedding, 
not humble, but distant.

         Imagine a Jesus who is so concerned with ritual defilement that inviting the outsider is forbidden, 
because that outsider’s status is a sign of God’s displeasure. 
“No man with a physical handicap—crippled, lame, blind, deaf, dumb, blemished, or a doddering old man,” can eat with us.

         Imagine a Jesus who declares that the Messianic Banquet
—that the Holy Meal showcasing God’s Kingdom, 
is a small affair, 
it can fit in a single room, 
place settings for two, maybe three at the most
—because the Kingdom of God belongs to the few, 
the most pure, 
the true believin’ religious elite, 
only they belong.

 

         Watching, wondering who he is… perhaps, the Pharisees think, carefully observing this Jesus of Galilee, 
“he is in on the hustle, 
he’s a player 
who is good at the game… 
perhaps, they wonder, he’s drawn so many followers, because he understands the Roman game of Honor/Shame, better than the rest of us… 

perhaps he’s in tune with the pecking order that shaped more than popularity, 
but quality of life
—he’s mastered the society where the awkwardness of where to sit at the Junior High lunchroom the first week of school, would determine: 
-who you would marry, 
-how much money you could make, 
-how successful you’d be in life…

perhaps he knows how to get what he wants, 
how to move the crowd to anger with a few striking accusations, or how to open people’s pocket books with a certain look or promise.”

         Imagine a Jesus who dismisses the sick man, 
not because it’s the Sabbath, 
but because he’s got nothing to give… 
so he prepares to leave, only to be healed, 
because the sick man now owes Jesus everything… 
and this imagined Jesus is the type to collect.

         Imagine Jesus’ advice
-the goal of being a guest is to be seen and be somebody. 
-If you do nothin’ else, work the room! 
-Thrive in a society that is built on you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-your-back...

The goal of being a host is to invite so you can be invited back… 
who do you owe a favor to? When you plan a party, 
draw up a list of things you want 
and a list of who can get those things… 
wring every cent out of this dinner party, 
this investment… 
the whole point of get togethers is to get one over on someone else, 
to make contacts, 
to touch the live wire of influence and flaunt what you got so that you can get some more… 
quid pro quo all the way down…

 

         Imagine Jesus describing the Kingdom of God as on opportunity,
 to get and to shame, 
the Holy Meal 
a hall of mirrors and manipulation.

         They watch him so very carefully to see on which side his bread is buttered
—is he another religious extremist 
–or a charlatan collecting favors and scratching backs, until he’s top of the heap?

 

         But they started watching him too late
—at his birth Mary sang about what kind of man he would be
—he will scatter the proud and lift up the lowly…

         Too late, they should have listened to Jesus’ first sermon “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” to bless the poor, captive, blind, and oppressed.

         The Pharisees were too late,
they could have listened in when John the Baptist’s disciples asked, 
quite openly, 
the same sorts of questions the Pharisees hope to get answered by passive observation, 
“the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news.”

 

         They should have listened earlier… but they waited, 
and now they wonder and watch… 
so he gives them a show. 
He shows them that he is neither… 
he is something else entirely!

         He insists that the Sabbath is meant for liberty
—for restoring the image of God in those whose lives have had it marred in one way or another.

         He insists on quoting from Proverbs 25, 
lifting up humility as the right posture of the guest.

         He insists that hosts ought to invite those in who are the furthest outside the inner circle, 
those who cannot repay a kindness…

         He insists that the Kingdom of God is for all, 
there is still more room at God’s table!

It might not sit well with some people:

-Those for whom God’s grace is offensive, or for whom God’s Word has become blasé. 
-Those who seek to be holier than God.

-Those who sit at the table only to shame and use God’s name for gain.

         God’s open table and inviting Kingdom 
might not seem right to folk like that, 
but for those of us who are perishing! 
My God!

         God’s Welcome, charity, love… 
it gives us grateful hearts. Christ’s message and mission… 
it is peace, gentleness, healing and rebirth! 
Thanks be to God!

A+A 

Sermon: Strange Songs

            Songs get inside you and can stay with you

—they are how we learn our ABCs and multiplication tables “Three is a magic number” right…
For that matter, everyone from Athanasius to Luther to John Wesley to Marty Haugen insist
—Truths about God’s relationship to the world are often incomprehensible, 
until they can be sung.

            That said, there are a few instances in scripture where a song about God is sung in such a way it almost becomes MORE incomprehensible
—we read two such instances today
—The Psalmist’s story about the Oneness of God, 
and Isaiah’s Blues ballad, or perhaps a sad country song—about God’s vineyard.

            Both strange songs, 
sung about God in minor keys and nearly as parodies.

            Strange songs.

Prayer

 

            Strange songs.

There is a scene in Back to the Future, where Marty McFly plays the song “Johnny B. Goode” three years before it is released, and everyone is utterly confused by his playing.

He responds, “But your kids are going to love it.”

Psalm 82 is sung in a similar vein 
(his generation is baffled by monotheism, but the next will embrace it with all their heart) … 
the Psalmist is struggling to explain monotheism
—the belief that only one God exists
—to a society chock fully of gods, 
a culture saturated in polytheism. 

He’s like the first fish who crawled on dry land trying to describe it to other fish…

The Psalmist comes up with this song, to explain it, 
explain to people who can’t wrap their heads around the idea, 
that God is one and all other gods are idols…

The one true God, the God of Heaven and Earth, the God of all that is, seen and unseen
—calls all the other gods of the world together into his office, and reads them the riot act.

God says to them:
“you gods, you have been judged as wanting! 
You brought about injustice, 
you’ve shown partiality to the powerful 
and waited on the wicked, 
you’ve been incompetent, 
you stumble and cause natural disasters, ruining lives.

And as such, no longer shall you be gods, 
you shall be mortals, and die like anyone else.”

            Again, this is a strange song! 
A strange way to say, “God is one.”

            But the Psalmist, like Marty McFly, knows that singing: “God is one” is a little hard to hear for his generation, but the next will hear it plain, and won’t need a song about God slaughtering the other gods… 
“But your kids are going to love it.”

 

            This song might seem distant to us… because it is… 
distant… until we take seriously what our Lutheran tradition has to say about idols
—false gods are anything that we fear, love, or trust excessively… 
creaturely things that we elevate to the position of the creator.

            Yes, for the Psalmists generation it was Ba’al and Tiamet, and a whole host of heavenly hosts… 
but today we have our own pantheons… 
there are plenty of things that we give our loyalty to, 
experiences that make us feel small, and so we cozy up to them hoping to feel big, 
ideals we idolize…

            One way to find our false gods is to ask ourselves: 
“When the stuff hits the fan, where do I turn?” 
Whatever that thing, or person is, has the potential of being an idol to you…

            Or, read ads and watch commercials, with a critical eye
—what is the thing that the ad is telling you will fix all of your problems?

 

            For that matter, our Idols can be people too… 
Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber—the closest thing the ELCA has to a super-star
—starts off every one of her new members classes saying, 
“I’m going to disappoint you,” 
because so many people buy the hype around her, that they elevate her to an idol, 
when she herself is very aware that she’s O’ so human, 
and will fail at times, 

like all humans, 
all created things 
fail at times…

            Elevating ideas, and people, and things 
to a place of honor that ought to be persevered for God, 
warp us, sometimes warp whole societies, 
just as the Psalmist describes
—the needy go unaided, 
people’s lives get shaken in unjust ways, 
all of it…
but fear not! The Psalmists’ good new is that 
all these would-be idols, are mortal
—they will pass away, 
there is a place for created things, 
but it is not always, not forever. 
We don’t need to make anyone, or anything, into a savior
—He’s already come!

 

            Isaiah also sings a strange song

            It starts off as a love song
—similar to the Song of Songs 
(8 chapters of sensual songs, 
sometimes read in order to embarrass bride and groom 
on their wedding)
—but Isaiah sings it strange
—a marriage ballad… 
between a farmer and his farm… 
a song about working hard to produce what is good… 
and getting nothing in return.

Like a blues ballad, 
“My baby done left me. What should I do? 
My baby left me, it’s misery through and through.”

            And yet this farmer and field, 
vinedresser and vineyard… 
they’re revealed to be God and God’s people…
—God planted justice, 
but it grew up bloodshed…

            It’s like planting carrots 
and finding out you got turnips instead… 
worse still… the turnips are poison!

God have mercy!

Isaiah’s song is a strange song 
turning us inward, 
to seek the intentions of our hearts, 
and outward 
to look carefully at the fruits of our heart, 
the results of our intentions.

            A song, too, 
that reminds us of how much God loves us, 
and God’s will for us
—God loves us like a bride loves her groom, 
like a farmer loves his field, 
a vinedresser her vineyard. 

 

            Strange songs, moving us to prayer: 
God who transcend all the idols we might put ahead of You, 
God who love us and desires our fruitful growth
—make resentment cease, 
bring us all to merciful reconciliation, 
let our lives spread your peace.

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Sermon: Unexpected God

        On my vacation last week, Lisa and I visited Philly and we stopped in at my seminary; I got to chat with two wonderful professors and show Lisa around the campus… 

and she was blown away by the artwork all around
—a painting of Christ by Sadao Watanabe, 
an etching of Christ’s head by Albrecht Durer. 
Now, if you don’t know who those artists were—don’t worry, I didn’t either…

         And that was just it… that campus was the center of my life for four years… and I never once noticed these famous images of Jesus Christ… 

I wasn’t alert to them.

         Today, I want you to hear two things:

         Be alert—know thyself and,

Be alert—don’t miss what God is up to.

Prayer

 

         The scroll of Isaiah has a starling start to it
—in the midst of the Assyrian siege of the nation, 
Isaiah of Jerusalem begins his Word of the Lord with a discussion about worship
—that there are worship practices that do not honor God. In fact, God rejects worship without ethics.

         He is saying, in effect, “Don’t give me ceremony, instead cease doing evil.”

         He is warning his community
—and all of those who see ourselves as within his tradition
—to be alert, be alert so that our worship doesn’t hide our sins.

Modernizing Isaiah for a moment he might write about worship like this:
“Gather to do Good. 
Read God’s Word in order to transform your deeds. 
May the Holy Meal move you to share. 
You are sent out from worship in order to seek out the least, last, and lost.”

 

 

         The reason we begin worship with either confession and forgiveness or Thanksgiving for Baptism—is so that we don’t kid ourselves, we don’t pretend like our intentions are always honorable, like we’ve went a week without fault or foible—like our lives aren’t one ongoing return to the font and Jesus’ promise there. 

         One of my favorite morning prayers begins, “forgive me for the sins I have so labored to hide from others that I have hid them from myself.” I love it because it is so true… 
we humans are really good at putting the best construction on our actions, and the worst on those of our neighbors.

         Be alert, Isaiah warns, so that you don’t use worship to hide from your sins and the sins of your society.

         Be alert, as well, Jesus warns, in Luke’s Gospel, that that you don’t let your possessions possess you. 
Don’t let markers of success in this world, wealth and padded purses, persuade you they are your Master, 
or lull you into a false sleep of materialism, and you stop following Jesus!

         Be alert so that you know yourself as you truly are, warts and all…

 

         Be alert, but, don’t be afraid.

         Ultimately, God calls us to be alert, 
not to catch and punish others, or ourselves, 
but so that we can see what God is up to! 
So that God’s forgiveness and salvation and sustenance
—might be real for you, 
real for us.

         Be alert, because God is an unexpected kind of God
—God is going to show up in ways we’d never anticipate…

 

         I’ve been reading a biography of the Civil War general Ulysses S Grant… now he and General Sherman, eventually won the Civil War preserving the Union… but only after every other general had had their crack at things
—neither general was an expected kind of war hero, 
neither was the kind of leader anyone in the Union anticipated… 

The powers that be thought West Point Professors, and “Self-Anointed North American Napoleons”, and General McClellen who asked to be referred to simply as “Little Mac,” were what would win the war… 
but it was Sherman, who dealt with mental illness, 
and Grant, who struggled with addiction all his life
—who won the day.

(as a side note the two formed a beautiful friendship, on account of their mutual struggles… Sherman went so far as to write, “Grant supported me when I was crazed, and I supported him when he was drunk.”)

 

         Just as they were unexpected leaders, 
God is an unexpected kind of God.

         After all, the idea that a god would forgo worship… 
that’s bizarre… 
ethics before devotion… not the most common religious tradition in Isaiah’s day…
that’s why you gotta be alert and watch, 
watch for the God who shows up, 
not only in bread and wine, water and word, 
but also in the midst of our daily choices, 
our roles and responsibilities, 
when we’re at our best 
and when we’re at our worst. 
Be alert!

 

         Be alert, because our Lord Jesus will seem strange to us as well… 
just as I missed these beautiful, famous, images of Jesus
—for 4 years! 
So too, we can miss Jesus among us. 
After all, the way Jesus describes his arrival among us, frankly, breaks the mold!

 

Jesus says he’s going to show up as a Shepherd (this is sometimes a way people talk about Kings in the ancient world)… 
a Shepherd… who gives away his kingdom! 

In other words, a Prince, a Shepherd, who pushes away fear, 
whose father—the King—finds pleasure in giving us his Kingdom, 
giving us the riches of the Kingdom of God! Be alert!

A Master, who, finding us awake and aware of his joyful return from the wedding feast
—a Master who then serves the servants… 
this is Maundy Thursday kind of stuff
—Jesus kneeling to wash the Disciple’s feet, even the feet of Judas who would betray him… be alert!

A Thief, who is the Son of Man… 
an exalted figure found in the book of Daniel… 
a Thief, let us confess, who takes what is ours, and gives us what is his… 
who takes our worship
—always ambiguous, even when faithful
—takes that which possesses us and stupefies us, 
so that we do not know the goodness of God… 
takes all of that 
and gives us the stores of the treasury of Heaven
—his inheritance is our heritage
—goodness and justice, 
rescue and defense, 
encouragement and help
—forgiveness, salvation, blessing, 
mercy and love!

Be alert, 
because God is strange and wondrous

Be alert, 
the Son of Man comes at an unexpected hour.
Amen and Alleluia!

Sermon: How, not Who

Today, Jesus is asked the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

How do I live a life that transcends the ages? 
How do I live faithfully? 
How do I live a life that matters?

Jesus, responds with his own question, “What does it say in scripture? How do you read our tradition?” 

         The Lawyer’s response is not unusual, he thinks back to the second verse of the Jewish morning and evening prayer known as the Shema:

         “Hear O Israel the Lord our God, the Lord, is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” 
         To which he adds from Leviticus, “You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
         And that could have ended the discussion right there. Jesus answers, 
“Yup. Love is the shape of a human life… 
So go on and love God with your whole self and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Everyone gets to go home early!

         But, the Lawyer insists upon asking the who question. 
“Who,” he asks, “is my neighbor?” 
“Who,” he asks, “must I love as myself?” 
“Who,” he asks, “must I love to gain eternal life?”

         He is looking for the geography of love, borders, sides, 
lines compassion ought not cross…

         But, when it comes to the question of a life of love
—the question of Christ’s command to love… 
we must ask how questions, 
not who questions. 

 

Let us pray

Jesus takes this question about eternal life

—this who question

—and takes it out of the abstract

—he solidifies, 

“love your neighbor as yourself,” in the form of a story.

After all, “Once upon a time,” is a more effective instructor than, “thou shalt not,” or even, “thou shalt.”

         He takes this lofty concept and lowers it onto a road

—the Road from Jerusalem to Jericho. 

This road winds and twists, gets narrow, and is an easy place from which to ambush someone.

Travel was a dodgy business back in those days and Pilgrimage to and from Jerusalem was especially harrowing; 
the zealots financed their war against Rome with ill-gotten gain from the very people they were said to be protecting…

This road, was a dangerous road, and a deadly place to ponder the meaning of life.

Jesus answers the “who question” the Lawyer had very clearly and very concretely. 
         -Who? The bloody carcass of a man mangled on a dangerous road—he is your neighbor.
         -Who? A man stripped naked, so you can’t tell if he’s your kin or not—he is your neighbor.
         -Who? A man without any means to repay you—he is your neighbor.

 

Acting merciful in the midst of death and danger
—think of those scenes of panic after any number of recent shootings, showing compassion at times of intense need
—that’s how Jesus answers the eternal life question and the who question. 

When you can’t even tell who it is you’re helping and you help them anyway

—that’s when you know you’re loving your neighbor. That’s the fruits of a meaningful life.

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. 
He then turns to those who ask the who question, 
and shows how the who question leaves persons stranded and dying on deadly roads.

You see, the Priest asked the who question, 

“Who is that there, is he dead? 

Who is he? A Zealot pretending to be hurt, waiting to ambush me?” 
The Priest then decides that he’ll go to the other side, to be on the “safe side.”
         The Levite asks the same questions—the who questions. And he too decides to go to the other side, in order to be on the “safe side.”

         Both these men were people the injured man would have naturally seen as his kin
—as his neighbors, 
yet they passed by.

         Perhaps both of these men they were simply numb, no longer able to be moved by the horrors of this world. 
Perhaps their souls were no longer awake to his humanity, they simply couldn’t see him as a fellow human being.

Then—to add insult to injury—the man who helps the injured man
—the man who doesn’t ask the who question
—is a Samaritan! As close to kin as the Levite and Priest were
—this man was not…

 

We just can’t hear the scandal of this today—after all we know this story as “The Parable of the Good Samaritan.” But in Jesus’ day there was no such thing as a “good” Samaritan.

The enmity Jesus’ people had toward the Samaritans was old… 
In the year 722 the people who would become Samaritan were first introduced to the region of Galilee. 
Centuries of festering ill-will…

The hatred Jesus’ people had toward the Samaritans was religious, cultural, and ethnic.

Samaritans were the ancient enemy, the wrong religion, the wrong culture, and the wrong race.

 

Jesus doesn’t mess around when he tells a story! The hero of Jesus’ story—the one that doesn’t ask who—is a Samaritan.

This Samaritan asks a different question, he asks how.

“How am I going to help this man?”

         And his actions answer this question loudly. He becomes personally involved. 

He personally binds up wounds, he gives of his oil and his wine, he puts the wounded man on “his own beast” and gives of his own monies.
         When confronted by someone broken by the conflicts and snares of this world

—by banditry and by pain

—he did not ask who is that? 

Is that person worth helping? 

Is he someone of my religion? 

From my nation? 

My race? 

My social standing?
No!

         He asked, “How can I help him?

What resources do I have, or do I know of, that can help that person!”

He was not numb, or asleep, or in anyways uncompassionate to this man’s plight.

He was moved! (Literally moved in his inmost parts—physically overcome with pity and empathy).

 

And once Jesus finished up his parable, he asked another question of the Lawyer. Because the Lawyer was so busy asking who is my neighbor?

So Jesus asked a different question—
“Which of these three was neighborly to the man who fell among the robbers? Which one was neighborly to his neighbor?”
         Sheepishly the Lawyer must admit, “The one showing mercy on him.” 

That is, the one who is moved in the gut, so that they are forced to move with hands and feet, moved to minister and give aid!

         Jesus isn’t concerned with who the neighbor is

—he’s concerned with how we treat the neighbor. 

He is concerned with showing mercy in the midst of death and danger!

Concerned that we are awake to our neighbor in need, 
Concerned that we are creating a community of love.

Concerned for All God’s Children!

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