Reflections From The Pulpit

Reflection on Acts 17:22-31

2011-05-29T23:26:00.001-04:00

What would you think of God if someone came into your life, watched you from afar for weeks, listened well, felt their way into your struggles and hopes, walked beside you through your daily tasks, learned the language of your life, and then presented God to you using the words and images of your own life? Would you be able to see God’s relationship with you as clearly as if someone had just wiped the fog from the glass of your bathroom mirror? What would you give to have Christ’s love put into the words of your own life? Would you give up all you own to have such a chance? And, with your new understanding, would you care for someone else in the same sort of way so that they too could have the sort of life in Christ that you have?

Unfortunately, I am not so certain that all of us get that sort of tender care and concern for our spiritual development. Often our first encounters with Jesus look a lot like the children’s sermon that Randele and I sat through while in seminary. The pastor invited all of the kids to the front of the church and then asked the simple question, “Why did your parents bring you here today?” Of course, the pastor held a young child in his mind that would wisely answer, “Because at our baptisms our parents promised that they would bring us here so that we might know the unconditional love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The vision of this spiritual honors student floated around in his head while the very real children before him raised their hands. Choosing a young boy, he asked again, “Why did you parents bring you here today?” In an exacerbated tone, the boy answered, “Because kids can’t drive.” Duh! Of course, since kids can’t drive, their parents drove them to church. You could literally see on the pastor's face the vision of his spiritual honor student pop as all of the children mutinously agreed that this was indeed the best and most obvious answer.

Sometimes I think back on that children’s sermon, and I wonder how differently it would have been if the pastor had taken time to simply play with the children of his congregation. Would he have been able to learn and use their own language to tell them about baptism and Jesus. What if he had simply remembered what it was like to take a bath? Would the fleeing dirt in the water have given him an idea as to how he might talk about sin and God’s cleansing grace?

As the Apostle Paul entered Athens, he did something that today we might see as extraordinary because we have such busy lives; he simply walked around and looked and listened. He went through the city and stared at their statues, looked inside their temples, read their plaques, and studied their poets. What Paul noticed as he looked around was a plaque underneath a statue. The dedication read, “to an unknown god.” What Paul saw, was that God was already at work here. What Paul saw was that the Athenians were open to seeing God and God is…they had no preconceptions.

Only after taking the time to learn about who the Athenians were and what they thought and how they lived, did Paul decide to paint a picture of Jesus, the unknown God, who has come down to earth and made himself known.

What would it be like to have Christ’s love put into the words of your own life?

How much joy would a farmer have when the farmer learned that God’s word is like seed that was spread and fell onto good soil? Would he understand and scatter the seed on other farmers?

How much joy would a homemaker have when she learns that life with God is as abundant as yeast that raises the bread so much that it spills out of the pan? Would she understand and spill God’s love on other homemakers?

How much joy would a poor person have when he or she learns that, in God’s kingdom, all of the awards shows would honor them; the poor, the blessed. Would they run into the streets and shout for joy that they have not been forgotten?

Over the years I have learned a lot about living in Jesus and Jesus in me. There is much more to learn I am sure, but one thing that I do know is that, through the Holy Spirit, Jesus walks beside me…not moving too quickly…taking the time to see and listen and learn my language, and then shaping me using words and images and stories that I can understand.

Have you ever considered just walking with someone, learning their language, and seeing what God is up in their lives, and then, using their own words, revealing the unknown God to them? Belief is more than simply accepting and reciting a Creed. It is an actual relationship with Christ. And, relationships require some time to learn each others’ languages before the friendship can grow. So, have you ever considered just walking with someone, so that through a relationship they may gain Jesus’ assurance to all?

Reflection on John 20:19-31

2011-05-29T23:21:00.001-04:00

There are a few things that I refuse to do today, and most of them surround Thomas the twin! The first thing that I refuse to do today is to call Thomas by his common nickname: Doubting Thomas. Such a derogatory name makes Thomas sound like a weak of faith, short, and depressed disciple. The name makes him sound like the primary actor in a black and white Zoloft commercial. “Do you find that you cannot believe in the Lord at least four times a week? Do you have chest pains at the sound of his name or troubles trusting in his word? Maybe Zoloft can help.” Cannot you just imagine the image of a modern Thomas sitting silhouette in a window, staring gloomily outside with the bible uselessly collecting dust on the floor nearby?

But, Thomas is not depressed, and I can prove it. When most of the disciples are mopping about, locked in their little tomb of a room in fear of the Judeans (this is the same time when Jesus comes and appears to them) guess who has not holed himself up in a little room and therefore was not there to see Jesus? Thomas, of course. Who knows where Thomas is when Jesus reveals himself, but at least Thomas is out in the world. Unlike his fellow disciples, Thomas is far from depressed.

Nor, is Thomas plagued by the lack of trust in God that his nickname, Doubting Thomas, seems to imply. Thomas does not have a problem trusting in God. He is the one who leads the rest of the disciples to “go and die” with Jesus when Jesus reentered hostile territory in order to raise Lazarus from the dead. Now, that is trust. How could I possibly degrade this courageous soul by dubbing him “Doubting Thomas?”

Of course, there is the part where he refuses to believe that Jesus is risen. But, refusing to believe off hand what someone else has experienced can hardly be considered doubt, it is merely unbelief. Doubt and unbelief are not quite the same. Doubt is a deep, fundamental lack of trust. Unbelief is just that, not being able right now to believe something; a condition caused by lack of evidence. And, the next time you to sit down next to the fireplace and crack open the Greek Bible for a little bit of light reading, if you looked at this story you would see that the Bible never says that Thomas “doubted.” Trusting God was not his problem, but I do think he did have one issue: he did not want to be hurt again.

You can hear it in his words, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” He refuses to simply let himself be hurt like this again. The very person, whose cause Thomas previously would have died for, was gone. Unless, Thomas can have proof, he will not be hurt again! This is not doubt, this is wisdom, and I can understand it.

I can understand it. People get their hopes high all the time, only to have them destroyed in seconds. I knew of a woman who had her hopes set on a man who might deliver her from the poverty stricken houses of her childhood. She did not ever want to find her shelter under a car again in her life. The woman poured her heart and soul and entire life savings into this wonderful man, who promptly took her savings and gambled it away. Guess what, she found herself taking shelter under a car once again. After the man was gone from her life, she was skeptical of future men; as she should have been. She would not be hurt again.

And, Thomas is skeptical, as he should be. You do not just pour your heart and soul into someone again after being hurt like that. Thomas is no fool. You need proof the second time. Thomas needs proof that the Lord really is back. He needs to see and feel with his own eyes and hands.

Unbelief is an underrated virtue. The gift of unbelief…the gift of skepticism…is a gift from God and it allows a person to focus on the truth, rather than simply what others say is the truth.

I refuse to say anything against Thomas this morning because, rather than being the doubting disciple who lacks belief like I have heard so many other preachers spout out of their mouths, I see that Thomas is actually a model disciple of sorts. He did not fear death, nor those who might bring it to him, either before or after Jesus’ crucifixion. In addition, he never simply trusted what anyone said, even those closest to him, preferring to see and feel the truth for himself. Preferring to be close to Christ; preferring to abide in Christ and Christ in him.

And, there is one last thing that makes him a great. It is the one gift from God…ability really…that I hope each of us can take away with us this morning. When Thomas looked and touched, he not only saw Jesus, but he saw God. Thomas is the only person in scripture to look at Jesus and say, “My Lord, and my God.” When Thomas looks around and studies what is in front of him with his skeptical eye, he is able to see God at work in the world.

God is at work in the world; despite the pain and despite the loss. Really, God is there, even in the tornado damage of the south and the fallen houses of Japan and Haiti, and in the streets of Towanda, and even in your own friends and family. It may be difficult, but look hard, God is at work, present with the joyful and suffering alike. May we have the eyes of Thomas to see God, so that we can join in the work God is doing.

Reflection on Matthew 28:1-10

2011-05-29T23:13:00.001-04:00

Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia. I once had a pastor who made us say that phrase over and over and over again Easter morning. "How many times are you going to make us do that today!" I asked myself.

As if he could hear my thoughts, he declared, "We are going to say this until you mean it!"

“Until you mean it,” that is what another pastor said to me during my teenage years…alright he did not say it to “me,” he said it to everyone. But, I felt like he said it to me, and I feared that every time he made us shout that thing the word “dork” would slowly scribble again across my face until I was completely blackened with dorkyness. “Stop Pastor already, you are embarrassing me in front of all of the other Christians who are saying it too at the exact same time.” Alright, I was a teenager so cut me some slack. I was focused on myself and I did care about what I said and did. And, I did not think it was honest to shout something that I did not even understand. Say it until you mean it…what if I did not mean it? What if I did not even know what it meant in the first place? “He is risen indeed.” Who cares?

Well, Mary Magdalene cared for one.

Mary Magdalene comes in and shouts to the disciples that Jesus is risen, and that she has seen him!

For Mary this was not just some embarrassing, ancient, out-of-date church rite. For Mary, the sight of Jesus raised from the dead was the unsealing of a tomb for her life. You have to understand, Mary and all of Jesus followers put their whole lives into his ministry. Mary went as far as putting even her money and trust into Jesus. So, you can see how the execution and death of the one she trusted meant her own death, both emotionally and probably even financially. All of her hopes and dreams were sealed in the tomb with Jesus. And, as we all know, once tombs are sealed, there is no coming back. Her hopes were gone, for good.

Have you even been there? Have you ever had your hopes and dreams buried away in a tomb? Maybe, someone else buried them for you: telling you that you would never be good enough or smart enough.

Tim was convinced that he would never amount to anything. I have to say right out that Tim was a brilliant teenager. He did extremely, extremely well in school. He simply was a genius, and he was kind and caring on top of it all. Now, at this point, I understand that this story makes no sense to you. How can such a great kid feel like he would never amount to anything? Well, Tim’s Uncle, brother, and even his own dad were all in federal penitentiaries for separate murders. As his friend, I knew he was a great person, but when everyone else looked at him, they simple saw someone to be feared. Other people had carved out Tim’s tomb and rolled the stone over the entrance, sealing his dreams inside.

Have you even been there? Have you ever had your hopes and dreams buried away in a tomb? Maybe, unlike Tim, you did it yourself. Maybe, you destroyed your entire life all on your own and you have no one to blame but yourself. It does not matter if you did it or someone else. A tomb is a tomb, and what is put in a tomb never comes out again.

But, what if it did? What if your dreams did come back? What if you opened your mail and found out that you were accepted into the prestigious school MIT on full scholarship, even after they found out about your murderous family? Would you drive around town shouting out of your car window, “I made it…I make it…I made it!” like Tim did?

What if someone gave you another chance at life, even after you completely messed it all up? What if God forgave you for everything, even the unspeakable stuff? Would you run and tell your friends?

What if the one you trusted and in who you put all of your hopes did come back; for you? Would you run and shout to the others who trusted in Him that he was alive! Would you shout, “he is risen indeed?” Because, I am here to tell you, the tomb is not the end. Whether you carved the tomb yourself, or someone else did, the tomb is not the end. Jesus will not let your hopes rot in a tomb. Death cannot hold him down. He is risen indeed, and so are your hopes. What would you shout if Jesus came to you and raised your hopes from the tomb, giving them new life?

Reflection on John 20:1-18

2011-05-29T23:06:00.001-04:00

“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

That first Easter did not start out joyful. There was no initial shout of Alleluia, nor any reassurance of Jesus’ eternal and unfailing light. No, before that sort of celebration was desperate searching for the Lord, and the pain of losing someone very important.

“They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

I still hear these words in my office and in the break room at work, though they sound more like, “I once believed, but now I am not so sure.” “Where is God? I do not know where to even begin looking.”

I remember seeing a heart wrenching scene in the hospital. An elderly mother was laying in the hospital bed, crying out, “I’m so alone,” as her daughter sat next to her, holding her hand and looking helplessly into the woman’s eyes. The old woman did not have dementia, she was simply very lonely. The woman confided in me that God had left her, worse, everyone had abandoned her. I looked up at her daughter and she simply stared helplessly. I knew what she was thinking, “I am here mom.”

Sometimes the one you are looking for is standing right in front of you, but you are locked away tight in your own tomb. Mary did not recognize Jesus, supposing him to be the gardener. She was searching, but she could not find. She needed to see, but was unable to open her eyes.

I do not know about you, but I find it hard, if not impossible to open my own eyes. I find it impossible to make myself see God or feel God’s care. Ask any depressed person and they will tell you that you cannot just make yourself quit being depressed. Heck, they cannot even make themselves get up out of the chair. How do you make yourself do something that you do not know how to do. It is like me telling you to just build a jet. Just do it. How? I do not know how, I have forgotten, or maybe I never knew.

I love the resurrection story in John, because it is about more than Jesus’ defeat of death…though that is important. What I love is that Mary does not find Jesus. In fact, she does worse than not find Jesus, she talks right to him and still cannot see him. Why do I love this? Because, when you are struggling in life, and you cannot “just” do anything, you need Jesus to call you by name. And, Jesus does. “Mary!” Jesus said to her. Only when Mary is called by name can “she turn…and said to him in Hebrew ‘Rabbouni!” (which means teacher). She does not search and find Jesus. Jesus searches and finds her.

You do not find, but you are found. Jesus is not yours, but you always belong to Jesus. Death could not hold him down, and neither can you. When Jesus searches, he always finds.

Reflection on John 11:1-45

2011-04-11T17:00:00.004-04:00

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Did you see that? Did you catch the significance of that? “After hearing that Lazarus was ill, Jesus stayed two days longer.” It is a hot, lazy middle-eastern day and Jesus will get around to the sweaty work of miracles sometime. This proves that Jesus would have felt right at home as a porch sit’n, banjo play’n Southerner on a hot day. He came from a backwoods town, grew up in a backwards area, and considered arriving sometime within the same week a mark of being on time.

Though I am literally not there with you, I can tell that joke did not quite fly like I thought it would. Or, maybe, God’s absence is just not amusing. When you are laying in bed late at night, staring up at the lazy moon, the worthless moon that just sits there in the sky and does nothing to still the fears of the mind, Jesus’ absence is not amusing.

“Where is Jesus?” Mary asked herself while her brother struggled through nights of fevers and chills and then death. “Where is He?” On such nights we desire Jesus to be a Wall Street Hedge Fund Manager; on time, ahead of schedule even, and attentive to every movement and manipulation.

But, God will do what God wants to do in God’s own time, and there’s nothing that we can do about it. Even in prayer we cannot make God do anything; Jesus may simply say, “No,” or “Not right now.” Perhaps, that perception is just a little negative. Maybe, God does do the right thing at the right time and we are just impatient? Maybe, God cares about this life too, not just the afterlife. But, that provides little comfort when we stare at the cold, uncaring moon at night.

Back to the story.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them." 11 After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." 12 The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right." 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

Jesus does act on Jesus’ own time. As frustrating as this can be, we do see that once Jesus sets his mind to something, He will not be deterred even by threats of pain and death from his opponents. For Jesus, death is not an obstacle. Life will win.

I once playfully asked a fellow pastor friend if they would die for me. They looked me square in the eyes and said, “You rate just under my grandmother in importance in life, and I wouldn’t give a finger for that old bitty.” After the smile, he said in a serious tone, “but, Jesus would die for you, and the bible says that Jesus is in me. I think there’s a pretty good bet I would come through for both you and her.”

You can see the stirrings of Jesus and the life that He brings already inside Thomas as he sets off, into hostile territory with his Lord, undeterred by death.

Back to the story.

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.

“And,” it is such a simple, yet important word. “And.” I am the resurrection “and” the life. Martha falls into a religious trap that so many of us do: that faith is only about life beyond the pearly gates. Martha tries to comfort herself with the idea that her brother will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

Once a woman, with tears in her eyes, grieving over the loss of her husband said to me, “the only thing that is keeping me going in life is knowing that he is not in pain anymore and that he is in a better place now.”

Really, where else could this woman or Martha find comfort in such a situation? But, Jesus is concerned about both resurrection “and” life. Jesus does care that life spring forth in the here and now. And, the stirrings of new life have already begun with Jesus’ arrival.

Back to the story.

Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." 28 When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus began to weep.

“Jesus wept.” Need I say more? God may work in God’s own time, but God is not coldhearted. Suffering is suffering, pain is pain, and grief is grief even if you know it will come out well in the end. Jesus wept. As spring showers refresh the earth, sometimes tears are required for new life to spring up.

Back to the story.

36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on John 9:1-41

2011-04-11T16:47:00.002-04:00

1 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; but he is blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.

“I must have done something to deserve this.” “You must have done something to deserve the struggle you have been handed!” “Everything happens for a reason.” “What goes around, comes around.”

There is a famous psychological study that included two groups of people: a control group and the experimental group. Both groups sat in a dark room and watched the same video. It was a scene of a typical interaction between a mother and her son after school. The control group was asked to describe the mother. All in the control group said that she was nice and the interaction was appropriate for a mother and teenaged son. So far, there is nothing exciting about this study, until you look at the experimental group. The experimental group also was asked to describe the mother. However, there was one big difference. After the video was run, the experimenters told the experimental group that a week later the son tragically died in a car accident. To the experimenters shock, when asked to describe the mother the majority of the people in the experimental group described the mother as mean. Most were hyper-critical of her interaction with her son in the video. The conclusion: people inherently need to believe that people deserve what they get.

Did the blind man deserve to be blind? Did he deserve to be locked away in darkness for most of his life? Jesus answer is, “No.” No, he did not do anything. No, his parents did not do anything. “How about you consider this,” Jesus says, “maybe instead of assuming that someone deserves what they get, assume that it is simply a bad situation that God will use to work a miracle.”

Have you ever wondered not “Why did this happen to me?” but, “I wonder how God is going to use this one?” “Great, I lost my job. I wonder how God is going to use this one?” “Wonderful, heart disease; I wonder how God is going to use this one?” “Terrific, I won a million dollars, I wonder how God is going to use this one?” That last one touches me right here (touching the heart emphatically). We do not always see how there will be a good answer, but asking how God will use a bad situation is definitely a better response than one that assumes that we deserve what we get.

Back to the story…

4 [Jesus said,] We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, 7 saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man." 10 But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" 11 He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, "Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight." 12 They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

This story confirms the answer that every young child who plays in the mud knows to their mother’s question regarding mud. "God created mud to get things clean, of course." With plain old mud, Jesus cleans the eyes of the blind. With plain old water, Jesus washes away our sin. With plain old bread, Jesus feeds our souls for life. With plain old you God is going to…well Jesus is going to…well I do not know! I really do wonder how God is going to use pain old you and plain old me and my lazy second cousin on my mother’s side? “I wonder how God is going to use this one,” I ask pointing to the slob of a second cousin, knowing that God can and God will. If God can and will use mud, God can and will use even him, and you, and me. (By the way, the second cousin on my mother's side thing was made up...I do not want any emails from second cousins on my mother's side! Those on my father's side...well...)

Back to the story…

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see." 16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet." 18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

Whoever said that Bible stories set good standards for “family values” has obviously never read the Bible. I think that it is safe to say that these parents would never be nominated for a “parent of the year” award. “Let’s see, if anyone says that Jesus is a savior, the religious officials will make sure to strip away our entire social life including worship and community connections, thus putting job and family connections on the line, we will therefore decide to have them talk to our son instead." Yay, it is throw your son under the bus in order to save ourselves day! "Ask him if Jesus is the Messiah yourself;" thump, thump.

At least the Pharisees are asking questions. At least they are willing to at least try to see. The parents are happy to be blind to Jesus and what God has done for their son. You can say a lot about the Pharisees, but at least they are looking around.

Just as today, people can say a lot about those who say they are atheists, but at least those who say they are athiests are asking the questions…at least they are looking around…at least they are not denying what they know to be true.

Back to the story…

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man [Jesus] is a sinner." 25 He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 26 They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" 27 He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?" 28 Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 30 The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing." 34 They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.

“I once was blind, but now I see, but now it does not matter because I have been driven out of my synagogue, my community, and my family and there is no one left for me to look at.”

On a light note, the former blind man could move on to a very successful country music career…I lost my church, I lost my job, I lost my family, I lost my mule… But, this is not a light note. This is just the way life is, you just get something great, like your sight, and something else is taken away…like your entire life. You just get your relationship with your spouse or children back on track, and then you get cancer. This is not a light note for the blind man. The man's miraculous healing (the thing that he has dreamed for his entire life) has not imporved his life, rather it has left him destitute.

"God what did I do to deserve this? God, why did this have to happen…wait…stop…take a breath…let’s start over. I wonder how God is going to use this one?"

35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when [Jesus] found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36 He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him." 37 Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he." 38 He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him.

The formerly blind man was delivered from a life of blindness, a life with back stabbing parents, and a life with blind religious leaders who would drive you out of town, to a life with the one who loves you and would never drive you away; Jesus. Maybe, God could do something good with this one also.

39 Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind." 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, "We see,' your sin remains.

This is the way of God’s sheep. We do not know where we are being led. We also do not know where we are going, but we are not blind or stupid. The one who leads us also sees us, and we see the one who leads; Jesus the Christ. We do not necessarily know what God is up to, but we do trust that God is going to use whatever falls in our path for good.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Psalm 121 and Genesis 12:1-4a

2011-03-20T21:02:00.001-04:00

I am not sure that I have many answers for you today, but I have plenty of questions. As we stare out to the hills and beyond, staring at a world destroyed by an untamed ocean of tsunami waters that wash away cars, buildings, and lives; staring at a world where dictators gun you down for disagreeing; staring at a world where loved ones can be taken away in seconds; staring at a world where all you have worked for (house, job, car, etc.) can be taken away in seconds either by a flood or by the complete breakdown of your relationships; as we stare at such a world we wonder with the Psalmist, “where is my help to come.”

Of course, the Psalmist has the answer; “my help comes from the Lord,” and that is supposed to be the end of it, I guess. Every Sunday School student knows that either “God” or “Jesus” will stop the incessant questions from the teacher and allow you to go back to eating your crayons. But, it is one thing to say, “my help come from the Lord” in order to answer the question correctly, it is another thing to actually believe it.

The world, has all the answers, of course. When life has destroyed all you have, the world answers, “Maybe you deserved it. Maybe you did something wrong and you are being punished? Why don’t you just work a little harder?”

That is always the world’s answer, is it not? Work a little harder. Trust in yourself, and you will get through it all. Trust in your abilities, and you will be fine. Dig deep down! Find your hidden potential. Your grandfather overcame the greatest of obstacles. This implies at best that you also will overcome the greatest of obstacles and at worst, you are not worthy of your grandfather’s name if you do not.

Sometimes the world’s ideas leak into the church and we say, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” The typical misunderstanding of these words from Paul are not a call to trust in the Lord who comes to your help or a call to trust in your community who, together, can surely overcome anything, as Paul actually meant when he said “God will never give y’all more than y’all can handle." Rather, we hear it as a call to trust in yourself. God will never give you more than you can handle. So, try harder. The words wreak of failure when you indeed have more than you can handle. Sometimes, the church of grace sounds an awful lot like the world: your works will save you. What if my works cannot save me? Where is my help to come?

Surely, there is something to buy that can save you: a book of wise answers maybe; some chocolate cannot hurt; some more clothes will always help. What if you do not have the money to buy these cheap gods? Where is my help to come?

You know where all of this is going, of course. The end of the sermon will surely follow along with Psalm 121 and say, “my help comes from the Lord, who made the heavens and earth.” Then there will be some sort of exhortation to just trust in God. "Trust," another work to be done if you can swing it. Surely that is where the sermon is going.

But, what if you cannot just trust? What if life has beat you down so much that you just are not sure that there is a God to trust. The sermon cannot end there and be considered a helpful Lutheran sermon. I cannot tell you to trust. Luther himself in the small catechism (you know, that little book that you were forced to memorize but don’t actually remember…it actually says some pretty profound and amazing stuff) it says in the explanation of the third article of the creed that, “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him.” A good Lutheran sermon cannot end with, “just trust in Jesus and things will be fine,” because we actually believe that we are incapable of trusting God. Luther goes on to say that faith is a gift given by the Holy Spirit. You cannot go out and collect it off of the lawn or gather it up from the store shelves of your soul. Those shelves are bare.

So now what? If I cannot even get faith, then what?

I guess we wait and hope that Holy Spirit will come to our help. I think that hope is really underestimated in its power. Hope allows you to remember that God created the heavens and the earth. If God can do that, maybe God will create a new life for you also. This is not trust in what is certain, but hope that God may make it happen. Hope allows you to remember that God saved the Israelites from Pharaoh, and brought the exiled back from foreign lands, and raised Jesus up on the third day, and actually helped you through the death of your grandfather. Hope is not certain, but, if God delivered us in the past, maybe God will deliver us again. We do not know for sure, but we have hope.

It was in hope that Abraham set out from where he lived to journey to unknown places with God. Did he know for certain that God would take him somewhere where God would make of Abraham a new nation? Of course not. Just as a newly dating couple has no idea where the relationship will go, Abraham sets out in hope. Nothing more. Just hope. He hopes that God will bring him to someplace good.

I guess, sometimes, there is not much more that we can do either. We can just hope that God has not fallen asleep; we can just hope that God will deliver us from evil; we can just hope that God will give us something to trust; we can just hope that Jesus’ death and resurrection means new life for us also; when all else has failed, at the bottom of life we still have the gift of hope. And sometimes, hope is enough. When we stare out at the hills, we imagine that God will come and deliver us in some unexpected way. But, until we see God crest the hill, we lift our eyes to the hills and hope. Maybe, this sort of hope is actually what faith is all about.

Reflection on Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

2011-03-20T20:39:00.001-04:00

The serpent slithers its way down the tree, the beautiful, bright fruit is plucked from the tree, a crisp bite is taken, the woman shares it with the man and the delicious juices of the knowledge of good and evil run down both of their lips. They look down in shame, the nakedness of who they are and what they have done laid bare.

This is the story of Adam and Eve, of course. It is one of the most iconic biblical images in our culture, featured in fine art, film, and the most refined genres of all the arts; shampoo commercials. It is the story that we all think we know. It is the story about humanity’s fall from grace. It is the story that describes humanity’s sin. But more than those, it describes what it means to be human. And it says, to be human is to be insecure. Before the first sin was ever committed, before the first bite was ever taken, defying the order, “you can eat of all the trees, just not that one, or you will die,” before any of that, there was insecurity. Theologian David Lose goes as far as giving it an official name, not original sin, but original insecurity.

This story of insecurity plays itself out soon after God tells the humans not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent, like a cat surrounding its prey, toys with the human soul and the hole leaching of insecurity that can be found in each person’s heart. “You will not die if you eat the fruit, you are simply missing out on something,” the serpent bats at the couple as they stand there. “You are missing out on knowledge that only God has. You can have it. You can be made whole…more complete…just like God…just eat,” the snake insinuates with its slippery words.

Humans may have been made good, but this story indicates that we were not made completely whole; we are missing God. Being created is a beautiful thing, but it has one inherent problem, the very act of creation separates us from our God. We inherently have a God shaped hole that we try to fill with many things we find at hand; fruits of knowledge, intense relationships, personal accomplishments, delusions of self-sufficiency, and the things we are told will make us more complete, like good looking running shoes that will make us healthy and develop us into a stronger person. Do not believe those advertisers, I have great looking running shoes sitting in the closet and I am not healthier or stronger. They did not fill my God shaped hole.

Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth-century French philosopher, spoke of the God shaped hole, but did not speak of it in these negative terms as I have. He thought of the hole as the one thing within us that continually and inherently draws us to seek a closer relationship with God. Note: that Jesus’ very own notion of ultimate wholeness is when he abides (or lives) in you, and you live in him. You are made complete when Jesus is able to live inside. The hole is a gift that makes us yearn to be closer to God.

So, with that gift in mind, Adam and Eve then are tempted, not to sin, but to fill their God shaped hole with something other than God. Adam and Eve are tempted to think that God is not trustworthy; that God is somehow holding out.

Is this not the very thing that Jesus is tempted with in the wilderness? “If you are the Son of God, you will be given the power to make stones into bread. Prove that God will provide.” “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down and prove that God will send some angels to save you.” “I will give you all the world, all you could ever want, just worship me,” the tempter says. In other words Satan asks, “How do you know that God isn’t holding out on you? Why don’t you fill your hole with something else right here and right now? Why wait?”

You may disagree with me, but I think that most of us would do much worse than Jesus with these temptations, and would then try to cover up our naked shame with the nearest fig leaf. Though I am not going to ask you directly, I bet you could name right now what temptation you use to fill your God shaped hole. This story is about us.

Most of us think we know the end of the Adam and Eve story: Adam and Eve are punished by God with the consequences of working hard, having painful childbirths, and being kicked out of the garden forever. I would pose that this is not the most important part of the story’s end. What we fail to see when we focus on the punishment is that God does not kill them on the day they ate, as promised. God shows mercy. We also fail to see that God takes away the stupid fig leaves and sows real clothes for them to wear. God cares to their needs. And, we ultimately fail to see that God helps them to thrive in the world and build great cities. These acts of love are all in the story. Look it up for yourself. These acts are a sort of resurrection for Adam and Eve, a new life given to them by God; the God who does not forget God’s own children. Even when it appears that insecurity and death are going to win, God still triumphs; this is the promise of the cross.

Perhaps, we fail to see these good things because we are inherently insecure and cannot see good things. Perhaps, we are in too much of a rush to fill our God shaped holes with something else that we fail to allow our holes to be a gift; a gift that draws us toward God just as a baby is inherently drawn towards its loving parents.

The Adam and Eve story, in the end, is about us. We do not do any better with our temptations than Adam and Eve did with theirs; but Jesus did. Jesus remembered who he was and whose he was through all of his temptations in the wilderness, through all of his doubts in the garden, through his pain on the cross, and beyond his death into his resurrection. And, though we might not always allow Jesus to fill our God shaped holes, Jesus most certainly does not forget to keep us in him. We are in him as he rises to new life and to new possibilities.

Pray with me the words of Saint Augustine, "[God,] you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you." May we at last find rest in you, Almighty God. Amen.

Reflection on Matthew 17:1-9

2011-03-20T20:24:00.002-04:00

Welcome to everyone’s favorite church holiday! Transfiguration Sunday! I know you have been waiting all year for this holiday to arrive. After all of the anticipation you can finally…well…go to church and listen to the bible…and sing hymns…and listen to the pastor blab on…you know, stuff you cannot do any other Sunday! Come to think of it, we do not do anything special for Transfiguration Sunday really. What a lame holiday. But, at least you can go to church and see the white banners! That is something you do not see every Sunday except for the season of Easter and the 40 days of Christmas and Holy Trinity Sunday and All Saints Sunday, and Christ the King Sunday, and other random saint commemorations throughout the year. Forget it! It’s lame.

As you may already know from years past, I hate this Sunday. And, it has a lot to do with the story. Look at this wreck of a piece of scripture! It is a story of wandering up a mountain, Jesus glowing like a plastic night light shade, Peter stuttering and bumbling over the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and then as soon as it has all started, it is over…not to be talked about.

What does a preacher say to you about this? Give me a nice “blessed are the poor in spirit.” Or, a striking “love your neighbor as yourself.” Or, at least a story with Jesus healing someone. These I can do something with! “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” You are all loved. No matter how hard you fail and wreck your spirit, you are blessed! Nice…very nice. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Since you are loved by God, join with God in the mission of love others! Bold challenge there. “You are healed.” Words for even the lowest of us…words that promise hope. You are healed. God does not forget you. Inspiring!

What can I say about the transfiguration? Sometimes Jesus likes to rip open his superhero suit and glow in the dark. Should the church buy some glow sticks and wave them around in the dark in celebration? This is all just ridiculous.

I am admittedly a heady person. I like to think about the faith. I like to hold a reasonable faith. I like to understand. And, this story does not allow me to do that. This story is anti-intellectual. It is beyond reason and plays on the soul somewhere else entirely.

Even Peter knows this to be true. He cannot make heads or tails of his situation. He sees lighthouse Jesus, displaying a beacon of hope to all ships sailing up mountains. He notes with interest that Jesus likes to talk with dead people…at least they are famous people; Moses and Elijah. And, as soon as he tries to make sense of the whole situation, create a tent around the situation, create a proper sanctuary for everything…being reasonable about it all, God blasts a voice from the heavens that stops him mid-sentence, mid-understanding, and mid-boxing-in of God.

Maybe, this story is not meant to be understood, or even talked about. Jesus does tell Peter, James, and John to keep their mouths shut, at least until the resurrection. Maybe, they should have just kept their mouths shut period.

It is like the great preacher Will Willimon once related about this text. Once you start preaching about weird, mystical experiences like this to people, they feel like they have an invitation to pull you aside and tell you about their own weird experiences. Like the guy who pulled him aside and said “This might sound crazy but I think that I’ve finally figured out what I am going to do with my life. I am going to be a teacher!”

“Oh,” Pastor Willimon said, “that’s a big thing, how did you come to this conclusion?”

“Well, you see, I was thinking about teaching while driving, and I saw this bumper sticker that said ‘Go!’ It was like it was from God. When I saw that, I was certain.”

Pastor Willimon looked at the man and said, “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.”

Stories like this are a problem to those of us who want to understand the faith. These sort of stories have meaning way beyond the way we do or talk about church. But, they are powerful experiences non-the-less. They are experiences that often shape and define who we are and who we will become.

Maybe that is the problem with this story. It is a story that judges our need to understand God and judges our own need to safely predict the future and make a stable present. It defies our need to make sense of the world and leaves us in an uneasy state of bewilderment.

Struggling in his own state of bewilderment, Peter literally starts to babble, not understanding what he is saying, and like a big finger that reaches down and finally shuts him up God's voice thunders, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" In other words, God says, "Enough of trying to understand and control and predict already! You don’t need to understand! Jesus already has a direct connection. Just listen to him!"

Theology and religion are fun to talk about over a beer or a cup of coffee, but that is not what being a disciple is about. Being a disciple is about a relationship with God. The best relationships are not analyzed; they are just lived and enjoyed. Being a disciple is about living with Jesus and listening to him. You do not understand what God is up to? It does not matter, just listen to him. He will not lead you astray.

As I think about this more and more, I realize that I cannot bad-mouth this text much longer. I remember sitting with a man, behind the locked doors of his hospital room, talking about why he tried to kill himself. His main reason was that he could not find answers. Why did his wife die? Why did his Dad die a week later? Why did he lose his job? I did not have any of the answers. I recall starting to babble a little bit, struggling to find a way to help to young man. I cannot believe I forgot about this, but I actually told him this story, about how Peter did not understand what was going on. And, the solution for Peter was not understanding, but simply listening.

“Seeing as we are both confused, why don’t we just try to listen to Jesus,” I suggested. And, so we did. We listened our way out of the pain. We listened our way into a future life. We did not understand, but we did not need to; Jesus already understands and knows how best to guide us as people of God. We just did our best to listen. Listen to him.

Reflection on Matthew 5:38-48

2011-03-20T19:59:00.000-04:00

I think that by now most of us have seen that amazing photograph stemming from the protests in Egypt that portrays Christian protesters linked, hand-in-hand, circling and protecting the Muslim protesters as they set their bodies toward Mecca in prayer. The Christians, in effect, created a human shield that would block those in prayer from any harm. The photograph is amazing and it strikes us as a rare gift of love on the part of the Coptic Christians. However, this was not the first time that something like this has happened in Egypt.

Some time ago, another photo was taken in Egypt. The photo was not as popular and did not spread around the Internet in any viral way, but it is not any less powerful. It portrays Muslims circling around Coptic Christians while the Christians gathered for Christmas Eve worship just after the New Years Day bombing of Coptic Christians. It is an amazing photo, because among the Muslims protecting the Christians are women and children. They had decided to create a human shield that would protect the Christians against a regime that hated the Coptics.

As we in the West stare at these two photographs, we cannot help but think that they might make ideal posters for Jesus’ message: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

It looks like an example of loving your enemies to Westerners because Westerners, in general, have been convinced by friends, political pundits, some Christian leaders, and maybe even our own experience that Christians and Muslims are to be enemies.

However, in Egypt this generally is not true. In Egypt, most Christians and Muslims are friends. With a bigoted regime aside, most Christians and Muslims in Egypt would never consider each other enemies. Most Egyptians say that any haterd between the two groups either stems from the regime, or it is a foreign hatred leaking onto their soil from the outside.

So, this leads me to wonder, if Muslims are not the enemies of Christians in Egypt, then must they be our enemies in the West? I am not certain that anyone is inherently an enemy of anyone else.

I recall my enemy in late elementary school: Rich (the name has been changed to protect the guilty). He was the class bully and was the enemy of the entire class, including me. There was not much that our class could agree on, but one thing was that Rich was to be uniformly hated. I was fine with this arrangement, except for one small problem, there were times when I actually liked the guy. For some insane reason, I invited him to stay the night once in my home. To my surprise, we had a blast playing in the woods and jumping over the creek. During our adventures, I learned that his Father was constantly on his case, pushing him around, literally.

This story does not have an amazing end. The day together changed nothing at all. Following the night, he was still horrible in school. I can recall wanting to believe that he was a monster; an enemy. However, there was one problem; I knew better. I knew he was a person who suffered and desired to be loved by his father, like the rest of us.

In Rich's story, and in the Egyptian photographs, we see the world as God sees the world. It is a world full of people who God loves. God makes the "sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous" alike. Maybe God does this because our enemies are not necessarily God’s enemies. Maybe God cares for the good and the bad alike because God sees them the same: as children that God loves and desires to redeem.

I ask, what Father wishes for their children to wander far away? And, what Father, when their child has wandered far away, does not wish for someone to befriend them, turn them around, and send them back? I have the sneaking suspicion that God wants us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us” because when we do that we see them as our brothers and sisters who need to our love and prayer.

Loving our enemies is really what turning the other cheek is all about. Turning the other cheek is not a warrant that allows others to abuse us. The truth is that when a right handed person strikes you on the "right" cheek it must be done with the back hand. This is a slight against you meant for an inferior. But, when you offer the other cheek, the right handed aggressor must slap you with an open hand. Not only do you force a person to do more damage than they first intended, but you also make them hit you with a slap intended for equals (the open-handed slap). In other words, a person is forced to consider you as an equal, a fellow person. This offers them the opportunity to reconsider their actions. By offering the other cheek you are doing none other than treating your enemy the way you would want to be treated; as a lost person who is worthy of being turned around.

This care for the enemy reminds me of President Abraham Lincoln near the end of the American Civil War. In a speech, the President was heard speaking kindly about "our southern brothers" An older northern woman chastised him after the speech saying,

"Should we not destroy our enemies?"

Abraham Lincoln wisely responded, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I consider them my friends?”

Abraham Lincoln spoke the truth that Christ embodied; love of the enemy. On the cross, Jesus died to free the world. On the cross, Jesus died to free the enemy. And, because you have been freed, you are also free to love your enemies as a brother and sister. You are free to do this, because in Christ they are your brother and sister.

Reflection on Matthew 5:13-20

2011-03-20T18:04:00.002-04:00

It was the day that the world went weird. The first clue was when the airports started cancelling flights across the nation. For some inexplicable reason, the wings on the nation’s airplanes could not create the natural air foil that causes lift. The ends of the nations runways were looking like used plane lots. Turning the channel on the TV, I found that Regis Philbin was not saying anything annoyingly funny and when switching over to the radio, I heard Rush Limbaugh doing the impossible, praising a liberal.

To sooth my nerves over the strangeness of the day, I picked up my guitar and started to plunk. That is all I got, an empty plunking sound; the vibrations did not bring about any beautiful music. Turning to my coffee for comfort, I found that it was not bitter nor did the sugar I dumped in offer any sweet treat. Dipping my finger directly in the sugar I found that it tasted like flour. In an experiment, I grabbed the flour container, put my finger in, and the substance inside tasted like, flour. The day was ridiculous. I had enough with it. I grabbed the salt shaker, stuck my tongue directly in, and I found that the salt had lost its saltiness. Wondering if it was good for nothing, I threw it over my shoulder and our ceiling fan immediately unscrewed itself from the ceiling and fell on my head. I concluded that the salt was good for nothing.

Of course, the day I just reported never happened. Air foils always lift planes, sound always comes from taut strings on guitars, and salt cannot possibly lose its saltiness.

So, when Jesus calls you the salt of the earth, he is saying something quite incredible. You are already who you need to be to have an impact on God’s kingdom. You need not strive to be more than who God shaped you to be. You are the salt of the earth. You are a gift from Christ to the world.

As Pastor Roger Prescott, my internship supervisor, walked with me into the congregation that I would be serving for one year, he started to describe the people. He described them as real “salt of the earth” people. Previous to this, I had always heard this as a half derogatory comment…referring to people who are nice, but extremely uneducated. To my surprise, I found that I was wrong. Roger’s “salt of the earth” people ended up being a small, biracial congregation, who were passionate about God’s love, passionate about equality in everything that they did, desiring very much to do the right thing to their neighbor, and wanted to make an impact for the good of their community. They knew that their little congregation would not survive in their tucked away neighborhood (in fact, they just closed their doors a couple of weeks ago). They had the opportunity to move to an affluent part of town and potentially build a huge mega church. But, they stayed where they were. Such aspirations were not what they were about. They were salt of the earth people. They stayed because they cared about the small, forgotten community around them. They could not leave. They were salt. How could they choose to do otherwise?

You are the salt of the earth. It is who God created you to be. You cannot be otherwise. You do not have a choice; you are the salt of the earth. You are God’s people and you became one of God's when Christ chose to die for you. Loving you and including you in the kingdom was what Christ was about. He could not rightly do otherwise.

I suppose it is at this point that I have to bring up an unfortunate point. My youth ministry professor put the point this way in class. “As an adult in the faith, children will look to you. You do not have a choice. You are a youth minister. The only question is, what are the children learning about God when they look to you? Are they learning that God does not care about the “least of these,” or are they learning that God loves all? Are they learning that caring for the poor is not important, or are they invited along with to care for others. All adults are youth ministers, the only question is, what the children learning about God when they look to you?”

So, when I declare that you are the salt of the earth, it is more than sending good vibes your way. It is declaring the truth about you. You are God’s representative wherever you are.

What are the people at work learning about God when they talk to you? Do your emails reflect God’s love and forgiveness for the whole world? What would people say Christ is like when they describe your life? This is what some people are saying when they look at the faithful in our area:

“I saw God when I was having an audition and my friend helped me get ready for it so that I would not be nervous.”

“I've seen God this winter when my neighbor shoveled my driveway while I was at work.”

“I saw God today when we overslept and I gave my 15 yr old the chance to stay home or go to school and he choose to go to school.”

“I saw God when I forgot to light the candles on the altar this morning, and my pastor giggled and said ‘It happens.’"

“I saw God these past couple days when a friend made me smile when I definitely needed one.”

You are the salt of the earth. Just as Christ was a gift to you, you are created to be a gift of God to the world. Because God chose you to be, you can be salt wherever you are.

Reflection on Matthew 5:13-20

2011-03-20T17:52:00.001-04:00

“God bless you!” the grandma says to the little girl. Smiling, the girl runs off into the living room. “God bless you!” the Uncle says. The little girl giggles and runs into the dining room. Running up to the edge of the dining room table, peering over the edge to see her Mom and her aunt talking, she takes a deep breath and gives out a large sneeze. “God bless you!” the aunt says. “That was fake…you blessing stealer!” the mother playfully chastises. The little girl giggles and runs off, filled with the joy of God’s blessing.

Of course, in the middle ages, the little girl’s sneezing would not have been such a laughing matter. The blessing for the little girl would have stemmed from fear that she had caught the plague. So many people were dying that the words, “God bless you” were used to ward off what many feared was the inevitable. In the middle ages, blessing came out of fear, rather than joy.

“Blessed are the peacemakers,” the father hissed at his son. With the redness of the fight still draining from his hands, the son lowered his head. “Is that any way to solve anything? What did that little display of fists prove anyway? Blessed are the peacemakers!” the father reiterated with force in order to drive the point home.

Again, blessing is used in a context of fear. But, more than that, God’s blessing is used to reinforce failure. I think that I often hear these blessings the same way that the son did, as a reinforcement of my failure. I am not necessarily meek. I am not certain that I thirst for righteousness in the way God would like me too. After-all, you do not see me out protesting on the streets, at the courthouse, or on the lawn of the national mall for the rights of the ones God loves.

“My anger flares way too quickly for me to ever be a peacemaker.” A friend of mine once observed about himself. “You got that right,” I chimed back. “What do you mean?” he fired back immediately, somehow missing to irony of the entire conversation.

But, I do not think that Jesus intended us to hear his blessings in such a negative light. Caught in our own moral shortcomings and failures, we fail to hear the words as actual blessing. But, they were just that, bestowals of honor upon people who God cares about.

We cannot all have righteous anger when we see someone being treated unfairly. But, it is good that some of us do. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Those same people probably are not the peacemakers. Not all of us are mellow enough to sit back, see the situation from all sides, and enact a plan that will resolve the conflict. But, it is good that some of us are able. Blessed are the peacemakers.

The meek will never take charge like those with righteous anger or the peacemakers, and the mourners will be necessarily fixated on something else, but God does not forget them either. Neither does God forget those who are struggling in life; the poor in spirit. Blessed are they.

Blessed are you. People of God, do not forget that you are members of Christ family. You may be as different as the nations of the earth, but that is of no difference. Each of you is uniquely gifted and each of you is uniquely blessed. Together, we are a blessed community. So, blessed are you.

Do not forget, in your baptism, you were named child of God, never to be forgotten. Blessed are you.

Reflection on John 1:29-42

2011-01-18T14:27:00.003-05:00

John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend like a dove and remain on Jesus. When John's eyes rested on Jesus, he saw the Son of God. He then pointed out the Son of God to two of his own disciples. He wanted them to see for themselves.

The two disciples ran up to Jesus, not knowing what to expect. Jesus asked, “What they are looking for?” They asked, “Where do you abide?” Jesus said, “Come and see.” They came and saw.

The grandmother saw the peace on the face of her life-long love as she held his hand and he took his final breath. His last vision was of God, and it brought him peace. She carried this peace with her from that hospital room. She took that peace out and stared at it through the tears of the following months. She wore that peace like a handbag and gathered as much peace as she could into it again and again every week in worship.

“Why do you go to that building with the plus sign on it grandma?” the granddaughter asked.

“Because it is a good place,” the grandma answered. “Why don’t we go together this morning? We can see what the big plus sign is all about. Come and see.”

And, the two held hands, came, and saw.

The man could not really explain his faith. He could not exactly find the right words that would describe it. If he had tried, it would look something like, "a doubter and skeptic who searches anyway." Long ago he began to doubt the miracles. Long ago he began to doubt the virgin birth. Long ago he began to doubt the talking serpent and talking donkey. Long ago he began to doubt the words of his pastor. But, what he did see in Jesus captivated him. He saw a love that could transform the world from what it is to what it could be. He believed that not only could we show love and do loving things, but like Christ, we could be love. More than anything he desired Christ to abide in him. He wanted the same for his teenage son.

“Why should I go to church. It's stupid and boring,” the teenaged son said for what seemed the millionth time. “You don’t even believe half the stuff they say anyway!”

The man looked at his son with a tired expression, weighing carefully his words. “You are right. Sometimes the music is old and boring. Sometimes I don’t believe a lick of what is said. But every once and a while, if I wait and listen, Jesus comes to me through the boring words of the songs and the long Bible readings. If I am patient, Jesus says something that changes my life. Please come and see."

Together, they sat through another boring service. It was, as expected, a waste of time until the son saw a woman with a deep scar on her face, and torn, dirt smudged jeans on her legs join the nicely dressed at the communion table. The nicely dressed smiled at her and made room for her to kneel. "What kind of love allows that to happen?" he wondered in awe of the people. He came and he saw.

Some say that the three most important words for any Christian to know are “Jesus loves me.” This is probably true. What is more important than God’s love for us demonstrated clearly in Jesus? But, a close second has to be these three words, “come and see.” You do not have to understand why you believe what you believe in order to say, “come and see.” You do not need to be a trained theologian to offer the chance to “come and see.” You do not need to be able to explain the deep questions of life in order to say, “come and see.” All that is required is a desire for others to share what the Lord has done for you. “Come and see;” these are some of the first words spoken by Jesus. They are the very words that inspired the disciples to follow; “Come and see.”

The man caught her in the hall at work. She had seen him before, he cleaned the offices. He was an unshaven tangle of confusion; talking about how he thinks God hates the fornicators; then shifting to how hypocritical church people are; and then, with tears building in his eyes, talking about how he misses his daughter this time every year…the anniversary of the day he messed up and lost her from his custody forever.

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t know if you will find any answers in my church. I’m not sure that I always do, but it wouldn’t hurt to come at least once and see.”

She waited at the church door, but did not see him. As the music started, she took a place at the back of the church, but he did not come. And, as the readings began, and she looked back to the church door one last time. She did not expect to see him there, but there he was. She smiled immediately at the sight of his unshaven face. He looked at her, smiled back, and then walked over as she signaled him to sit next to her. He took a seat, and for at least one Sunday, he came and he saw.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on John 1:1-18

2011-01-18T14:16:00.001-05:00

“No one has ever seen God.” There it is, right there; John lays it right out for everyone to see. “No one has ever seen God.” This truth is painfully real to those who have lost hope and stare out at night to the stars, seeing only the vast emptiness stretches between the stars. If no one has seen God, how do we even know there is a God? And, even if we knew there was a God, how would we know what God is like? After-all, the Bible itself states that “No one has ever seen God.” All we can see are the things around us, and the vast spans of emptiness in between.

“Is God good?” The man laid his question right out on the table. The man sat in the break room; struggling with the reality of unaffordable medical bills and the imminent loss of his job (his medical condition and his poor job performance were intimately connected). “Why is this happening to me? Is God good, or is God like the one I read about in the Old Testament who punishes harshly? I must have done something wrong. I must be doing something wrong right now!” He put his head in his hands and muttered, “I wish God were more like Jesus. I could deal with a God like that.”

“No one has ever seen God.” I am sorry if past doubts are starting to churn once again as you read, but sometimes the Bible does not allow doubts to remain dormant forever. John, of all the gospel writers, is very concerned about truth, and the only way to see truth is to allow doubt to rise up from the pit where it was asleep so that it may be confronted anew.

That said, I am pretty certain that this doubt is not just me or John bringing up bad memories. Christmas Eve is usually great, but it is always followed by the truth that it was celebrated without a certain someone, or ot was not as festive as we remembered it to be.

Perhaps, doubt does not rear its ugly head this time of year for you. Certainly though, your neighbor is not so lucky as to walk away unscathed. And, you will not be so lucky in the future. Sooner or later, doubt rises from the pit and threatens to overpower us once again. If only it could be slain for good and we would be free from the questions and the stabbing chest pains that come with them! Unfortunately, doubt does not work that way. Doubt is an ever-present companion, asking the hard questions. “Is God there?” “Is God good?”

As a pastor, I have the opportunity to talk with lots of church going people. Not simply those within this congregation, but from everywhere. They seem to be able to seek me out. Rarely, do I even get a peaceful plane ride. Each time I sit down in my seat I try to decide whether or not to tell the person next to me that I am a dentist. I imagine that no one wants to talk to a dentist. I would not want anyone staring at my teeth. If you are a dentist, let me know if I am wrong. However, everyone wants to talk to the pastor. It seems like every person who rides planes wants to tell the pastor about how God hates adulterers and fornicators and how people like that deserve the punishments they get from God, because pastors will most certainly agree with a kind, fake smile. If you see that smile from a pastor, it means “I would rather be talking with a dentist right now.” These people definitely believe that they have seen the face of God and know for certain what God is about.

But, the god that they know is the same god that the struggling people sitting in the break room fear. This god, the god of unbendable laws, is the reason the people in the break room do not go to church. They are not certain that such a god is good.

John would assure those in the break room that “no one has ever seen God,” especially not those who claim to know what God is up to. And, John would remind those who think that they have seen God that it was Moses who came bearing the unbendable laws. As for God, “no one has ever seen God.” John continues, “It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made God known.” Only Jesus is close to the Father’s heart. Only Jesus knows what God is up to. Jesus has not seen God, Jesus is God…Emmanuel, God with us.

The law, as understood by the religious, says that adulterers should be stoned to death. But, this is not the heart of God. Of course, God does not like adultery, but, when an adulterous woman is dragged out in the street to be crushed with huge slabs of stone, Jesus runs up to her, faces her accusers and says, “Whoever is without sin, cast the first stone.” The heart of God is one of mercy. The heart of God is the same heart we see in Jesus.

The man in the break room declared, “I wish God were more like Jesus. I could deal with a God like that.” And, the answer to that man is; “God is like that. Whenever you are dealing with Jesus, you are dealing with the heart of God.” When Jesus forgives the sinner, heals the sick, and cares for the poor, God forgives the sinner, heals the sick, and cares for the poor. Jesus shows us exactly what God is about and what God is up to in the world.

I look forward to the day when I sit on the plane and am pleasantly surprised to hear from the person in the seat next to me that God has healed the sick, cared for the poor, and turned the life of an adulterer around. That would be a nice conversation. That would be a conversation that speaks truth about God. No fake smile needed.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 2:1-20 and John 1:1-14

2011-01-18T13:31:00.001-05:00

The Shepherds heard a glorious message declared from the Angel above.

I heard a message blaring at me from the television that I better hurry up, the deals are about gone!

Whose birthday is it anyway?

The Shepherds were terrified when they saw the angel who sent them on their way.

I was terrified when I saw the traffic backed up across the bridge extending all the way past the church; why did I even think to come out at 5:00pm?

Whose birthday is it anyway?

The sign to the shepherd was a child wrapped in bands of cloth, lying a manger. Peace surrounding him.

My sign was a backlight monstrosity; the remains of summer moths still plastered on its surface.

Whose birthday is it anyway?

The heavenly host sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

When I saw the long line of people at the checkouts, despairing even before I searched for my wonderful deal, words to Jesus Christ rang out from my lips also.

Whose birthday is it anyway?

The shepherds made haste to see Mary, Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger.

I made haste and beat a shrimp of a seven-year-old to my deal.

Whose birthday is it anyway?

"Whose birthday is it anyway?"

“It’s my birthday…I’m a Christmas baby,” the boy shouted.

“Your still to slow,” I shouted back and ran off giggling a triumphant giggle!

All were amazed at the shepherd’s story.

I was amazed how big a bruise a mother’s shopping bag can deliver. Apparently, her children where all getting coal for Christmas.
Whose birthday is it anyway?

Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.

I’m not even going to mention the mother’s words, she made sailors sound like a children’s choir.

Whose birthday is it anyway?

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

I returned battered and bruised, with a gift purchased (but not the one I wanted), looked at myself and the people around me, and wondered aloud:

Whose birthday is it anyway?

With all the extravagant gifts bought for other people, I would swear that we had gone wrong somewhere in celebrating this day. It is a birthday alright, but who is getting the gifts?

This year children of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, and members who pitched in also, did indeed buy a birthday gift for baby Jesus. Since Jesus cared about the poor, we bought a milk cow for a poor family somewhere in the world. I love this gift. It is truly a gift to Jesus, in line with the things Jesus cared about. It is a gift full of grace to the poor. We also bought $25 worth of crabs, a nice stocking stuffer…until you reach in the stocking that is. But, my point is, these gifts seem right, and they are. They remember whose birthday it is this night.

Well, yes and no.

The writer of John sees this night, this anticipated birthday a little differently. The one who reminds us this night that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it,” also reminds us that those people who follow the light, Jesus Christ, became on this night children of God, "born not from the will of man and woman, but born from the will of God." According to John, Jesus Christ (the light of the world), was born on Christmas night, and so were we. It is our birthday also. When Jesus entered into the world as a child of God, "on this night" we did also. Maybe there should be some presents for us too.

The kind and generous bishop of Myra in Asia Minor, St. Nicholas, (yes, the one who shares Santa Claus’ name) seemed to think so anyway. One of the oldest legends about St. Nicholas and his miracles is the one about the stockings. A widowed father had three daughters. Unfortunately, he had no money and, therefore, no dowry to give them so they may be married. The father despaired at the thought of selling his daughters into slavery, but what else could he do? To save them from being sold into lives of slavery, St. Nicholas threw three bags of gold down their chimney so they may each have a wedding dowry. The bags of gold landed in the three socks hanging there to dry and the girls were thereby saved by the grace of this saint of God. Through the gifts, the father and the girls were reminded that God had not forgotten them. Through the gifts, and through the generosity of the St. Nicholas, the father and daughters knew that God would come to them and save them.

Maybe, the gifts, and the driving, and the angry shoppers are worth it…to a certain degree. The gifts given have always been, and always should be signs that we have a loving God who is willing to come to us and save us. We had simply forgotten this truth about those gifts under our trees. The gifts are a reminder that we have a new life because of Jesus. The gifts are a reminder of the birthday we and Jesus share.

So, go ahead and give your gifts this season without guilt. Give with the generous heart of Saint Nicholas; a generous heart that is given by God. Go ahead and give your gifts as a reminder that it is your loved one’s faith birthday. It is the day we celebrate our new birth as God’s children and the day we celebrate the one who gave us a new birth, Jesus Christ our Lord. Whose birthday is it? It is the Lord’s and it is also ours. Go ahead and celebrate!

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Matthew 11:2-11

2010-12-15T14:06:00.003-05:00

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for another?” John asks as he paces around his prison cell. Prison cells are terrible places if you want your sanity to remain intact. They are small, and cramped, and they cause you to think way too much. John, the great preacher of repentance in the wilderness, the prophet who would get in the faces of religious leaders and fearlessly point out the faults of secular rulers, the man described by Jesus as the greatest of all people born of women, is trapped, heart pacing, breath fast, wondering if a cramped space is his reward for his hard work for God? “Are you the one?” “Was it worth it?” “Where’s my reward?” “What did I ever do to you God, but serve you?” “Why won’t you recue me?” “Are you really the one, or should we wait for another?”

Every young Jewish boy had been taught about the Messiah. In fact, every young boy was celebrated because he had the potential to be the coming Messiah. John, was no different, except that he knew he was not the Messiah. He knew that he was not the one who would lead the Jewish people to freedom. He knew that he was not the one who would break the chains holding down the people of God. He knew that he was not the one who would come riding in the Jerusalem on a mighty horse to overthrow the Romans and rule with a just arm. He knew that he was not the one who would do any of this, but he thought that he had found the one that would. Now, he is not so sure. He, the greatest person ever born, is full of doubt. John is not even being freed by the Messiah from a little prison cell; how is Jesus going to do something larger like freeing a people from an entire oppressive government? “Are you really the one?”

Today, a home owner looks up from the foreclosure notice after years of hard work on their home, and asks, “What did I ever do to deserve this? Jesus, are you the one, or should I search for another?” A woman is thrown out on the street by her former boyfriend after years of tender love and dedication, looks up to God and asks, “What did I ever do to deserve this? Jesus, are you the one or should I search for another?” A grandparent, after losing a grandchild in an accident and then soon after, a child to depression, looks up to God and asks, “What did I ever do to deserve this? Jesus, are you the one or should I search for another?”

About every three years or so I get a letter or an email from a former youth group member who is off at college. They all go something like this: “When I was in confirmation and youth group, I thought that I could see and understand God so well. Now I am not quite so sure. I don’t think I know who God is anymore. I am sorry if I disappoint you, but I am not so sure that I believe in God at all.”

I would like to say for the record that I am not ever disappointed when I get these letters or disappointed in the college student who send them. There is a time in everyone’s life when we discover that God is not who we expected God to be. Even the greatest person born of woman, John the Baptist, had these same questions.

Jesus answers John’s doubts by telling John’s disciples to "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me." In other words, I am not who you expected me to be. You are right, your Messiah does not exist, but that does not mean the Messiah has not come. God is God, and will be who God wants to be, and God will appear where God chooses to appear. Blessed are the people who realize that.

In the Jewish tradition, God has a name, in fact God has many names, but you cannot say one of the most Holy of them all: YHWH. Spelled out, God’s name has only consonant letters, there are no vowels. As a child you may or may not have discovered that it is nearly impossible to say a word without using vowels. Try saying “sanctuary” without using any vowels, or try “Towanda." It is nearly impossible to say a word without somehow adding some sort of consonant sound. There is a point to this game; if God’s name only has consonant letters, then you cannot possibly say it. And, if you cannot say God’s name, then you cannot own God or say that God is this or God does that. And, if you cannot own God, then God is allowed to be God. And, if God is allowed to be God, then the only way to find out who God is and what God does is to be open to seeing God when God chooses to reveal those things to you.

“Are you the one?” John asks Jesus. The answer is “Yes, but I am not who you expect me to be.”

The Buddhist tradition holds an interesting concept, it goes something like this: if when following the Buddha’s ways toward enlightenment you see the Buddha; kill him. In other words, do not let your own concept of the Buddha get in the way of your journey. And, Jesus invites John to do a similar thing. If when following the Messiah you see him or think you know who he is and what he is about; kill the Messiah in your head. That Messiah is not real. Instead, follow the true Messiah, the true servant of God, and expect nothing in particular. Simply, be open to what the true Messiah has to offer.

I know that the remaining questions are huge questions. So, what is the true Messiah like? What is Jesus about? What is God like? I will not answer any of your questions today. Doing so may simply create another false God for you to carry around and be disappointed in. All I will say is: God is God. Follow where God takes you, and when you walk around in the world, expect to see God at work. Expect to see God at the accountant’s office, because God is there. Expect to see God on the street with the suffering, because God is there. Keep your eyes open, and follow where God leads. It may not be to where you expect, but it will be to a place of grace and salvation.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Romans 15:4-13

2010-12-08T14:48:00.003-05:00

I love the season of Advent. I love the anticipation of it as we wait for Christmas. I love the calm tone of worship during Advent. Most of all, I like Advent’s color: blue. I love blue. As a child, it was the first crayon scribbled down to a tiny stub. I also used the color maroon a lot, but only because it went so well with blue. You see, blue is not only a color with a hue of amazing depth and beauty, but it is also the bridge between the deadly nature of black and the brilliant assurance of white. Deep in the hue of blue you can literally see blackness giving way to light. Of course, in the color blue, the light has not yet shown itself; but blue offers the hope that it will be coming soon. Like no other, blue is the color of hope. Advent is the season of hope, and blue is its color.

Blue is the color you search for in the darkness of the night when backpacking miles from anywhere in the wilderness. Have you even done that? It is a fearful experience. In the dark you hear all kinds of sounds. Squirrels scampering in leaves are easily hungry bears and a cricket flinging itself against the tent is easily a mountain lion carefully cutting its way toward its meal. In the fear of the darkness, you wait until you see the dark blue sky. It is not quite the assuring light of day, but it is the hope that the daylight will soon come.

In the same way, Mary stood at the tomb of Jesus, before the break of dawn, weeping because her Lord was gone. She was in the darkness…there was no hope. If only she would have looked up to the sky, she would have seen that it was not black, it was dark blue. The sun was about to rise on a new day, and the Son was rising to new life. The night was not black; it was blue and filled with great hope.

And though our lives may appear black, in truth they are not. Advent reminds us that they are blue, filled with hope; filled with the knowledge that God’s light will shine in our lives again.

You might remember that last week the scriptures led me to reflect on Jesus’ return and about Jesus’ judgment when he gets here. I reminded you that Jesus instructed us, his disciples, to do hard things such as loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, and loving our enemies. I went even further than that and told you that when Jesus comes back he actually expects to see you doing these things.

I know that many of you felt these words as words of judgment. The words felt black and created fear. But, if that was the only thing you felt as you finished that reflection, then you missed an important piece. It is a piece that I am going to offer you now: Jesus actually expects us to do these things because through you, God is able to transform the world of the neighbor for whom you cared, and the enemy whom you loved. Through you, God is able to transform those people's lives from a world of blackness into a world of hope; a world of blue.

Last year, while helping the high school theatre students with their scenery, I accidentally overheard a conversation in a dark corner of the stage. Alright, so I was eavesdropping, sue me! But I could not help it because one of the teens was sobbing. Apparently, her parents had a huge, violent fight, one of many, and it looked like the family was over…for good. “I don’t know how I’m going to go on, my world is gone” she sobbed.

The other girl sat and listened. Finally, she said carefully and delicately, “I just want to tell you that I am still here and have an OK life. You see, my parents got a divorce, and it was bad for a long time, but, things are better now...they aren't great, but they are better.”

And then, she said something that I would not have ever expected to hear from a teen’s mouth in today’s culture: “God made sure that things worked out somehow. I know God will do the same for you.” With those words and with an embrace of tears, the fearful teen’s black world turned blue. At that moment she was given hope that the light was somehow going to come. The light was not there yet, but she had hope.

Why does Jesus expect to see us taking seriously his call in the scriptures to love the neighbor and pray for our enemies? Because, it is only when we are together, joined with one another, that he has the power to turn the blackness of the world into blue; death into hope; darkness into hope for the light.

Consider any normal church. As Christians, we gather weekly to read the Holy Scriptures. This is not done just because it is something that we were told to do. It is because, when we read them to each other, we can see the color blue. The apostle Paul says that, “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” Paul further prays that the God of steadfastness and encouragement may “grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ask any depressed person if they can make it through the tough times alone. Most will emphatically tell you “No.” The search for hope is not a journey that you can take alone. You will get lost in the darkness and fall into a pit. It is a journey that Jesus sends us on together.

Paul continues, “Therefore, welcome one another, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” This welcome is not a quick greeting at the door just to say hello. This welcome is literally, “taking a person in” or “holding them close.” It is the type of welcome the one teen offered to the other. It is the type of welcome that pulls another person, a former enemy even, into your life so that their blackness may be turned to blue. It is the type of welcome that eventually leads you to sing together the praises of the name of the Lord who brings light to a dark world.

I pray that you can see the implications here? Whenever you see darkness and wrong and sin in the world, the solution is not to declare people evil and simply push them away. Every day I read in editorials and blogs words of hatred against individuals and even entire groups of people. These editorials and blogs paint God’s good creation as being black and evil and wrong. But, we know such words are not the truth. We know that darkness is not permanent. We know that black is not the true color of the world. We know that the true color of the world is blue. It hopes for the light that has not yet come, yearns for the light that is just out of reach, and desires the assurance that blackness will give way to the light of God.

The world desires to have what you have: hope. And, we have it in abundance. We have so much hope that it spills over the lips of our souls. Do not be mistaken, this spilling is not loss of hope, it is sharing hope. Who in your life needs to have some hope spilled on them? Take a moment and actually answer that question, letting God in on the name. Who in your life lives in darkness because no one has told them to look up into the sky and see that it is not black, it is blue? As Paul declares, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Matthew 24:36-44

2010-12-01T13:15:00.001-05:00

I have a question for you (a quiz of sorts): beyond cooking your holiday meal, what is the second best use of your kitchen oven?

It is storage for your dirty dishes when unexpected company arrives, of course.

This was the remedy that my parents came up with one day when they saw the headlights of my grandma unexpectedly turning into the driveway. If grandma came in the door and saw the stack of dirty dishes, she would never let them forget it. They family was extremely busy, but that would not be a good excuse. They panicked, looking around the kitchen for a solution when my dad saw it; like in the movies, a beam of light fell on the oven and angels started to sing. It was a big space, it could hide many things, it was quick; it was perfect. By the time she drove up our drive, walked to the door, and entered into the house, all of the dishes had been transferred to their new, temporary home, and the counter even smelled of fresh cleaner. That night we had spaghetti, all of which could be made on the stovetop, nothing for the oven to heat. Then an oversight was brought to our attention; we had no garlic bread to go with the spaghetti.

“Well, I can just make you up some quick, just let me fire up the stove.” “No grandma!” we answered in fearful tandem. “Just sit here and relax for once, you deserve it grandma.”

We made it safely through the evening, and the experience changed our family’s ways. Though busy, we made it a priority to have the house clean; dishes done, floors vacuumed, and papers put away. Our house was always prepared for the unexpected arrival of grandma…for a couple of weeks at least. But, when she did not pop in unexpectedly for weeks in a row, we let our guard down and the oven trick had to be done again and again to cover up for the truth.

The truth was that we just were not who we wanted to show ourselves to be. The truth was that her unexpected visits created an interruption in our lives, but not a disruption. An interruption causes a temporary change in life for temporary circumstances. A disruption causes a complete change in life. An interruption is a mask that you put on to make other people think you are someone you are not. The oven trick is a mask that made it look as if we were as clean and organized as she was. But, you do not need a mask if in life a disruption has occurred. A disruption actually changes you for good. The truth is, in the end, her unexpected visits only caused an interruption, not a disruption. We lived a lie rather than changing our ways.

I wonder if our lives of faith are often the same way, masks of goodness, kindness, and justice, shaped by periodic interruptions, but ultimately unchanged at heart.

To those of us who have either put on Holy masks or simply just do not care to even do that, Jesus has a warning. He will be coming back to judge the world.

God is a God of love, mercy, and justice. But, because God is a God of love, mercy, and justice he actually expects his people to be those things also. The love your enemy stuff...God actually expects you to love your enemy. Jesus actually expects to see you actively loving your enemy when he returns. No, masks allowed. That stuff about pulling the log out of your own eye first before you point out the speck in another person’s eye. Jesus actually wants you to change yourself before you start bickering away and saying anything about others. God actually expects you to be merciful as God is merciful to you. No, masks allowed. The stuff about giving up your possessions, he was not just talking to fill up the dead space in the air. God actually wants you to give up your stuff and care more about people than things. What do your receipts say about who you are? No masks allowed.

If we trust in a God who actually loves the entire world, shows mercy on others (including those who sin terribly), and delivers justice to those put down by the powerful, than we better not be shocked when Jesus comes back and actually expects to see those ideals lived out by us, his followers.

Jesus will come at an unexpected time. Not even Jesus knows when the Father will send him. And, just in the days of Noah, when those who reveled in the pleasures of the world were swept away by the waters of the flood, do not be surprised when the thief breaks in and takes away those who do not live the life of love, mercy, and justice that God desires us to live. “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” “Keep awake!”

Luther tells us to “fear, love, and trust God.” I think this is what Luther is talking about when he speaks of fear of God. God does not play games with love. It is not for show. Love is radical. It is hard. It puts others first constantly. It does not allow you to judge without looking at yourself first. God does not play games with love. God is serious. And, it can strike a chord of fear.

I apologize if this reflection strikes fear rather than warming the heart. I am tempted to say that there is nothing to worry about if you are truly someone who is prepared. You will welcome the arrival of Jesus as your king and have nothing to fear regarding his rule and judgment. It will be a day of gladness for you.

However, I know the reality. Jesus’ return at an unexpected hour is unsettling for almost all people, “for no one knows the day or the hour.” His unexpected arrival exposes our true selves, and rips off the masks that we wear. I am not going to sugar coat things for you or myself this morning, though I am tempted to do so. I would love to tell you to go on your way and just be kind everywhere you go, God loves you. But, to do so would be a disfavor to you and a delusion for myself. God is a God of sacrificial love on the cross. Jesus does expect to see that same love in his kingdom. Perhaps, the words of God this morning will serve as a disruption to life rather than an interruption. Perhaps, the words of God this morning will, as The Reverend David Lose says, allow us to prepare for Christ, rather than preparing for Christmas. Perhaps, when Jesus comes again, he will find many whom he can proudly stand beside, those who truly strive to bring about peace on the earth. Consider yourselves disrupted.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 21:5-19

2010-11-23T13:47:00.003-05:00

Did you hear? I know this may shock you, but experts in “end of the world-ish” sorts of things have announced that December 21, 2012 will not be the end of the world after-all. I was tipped off by a congregation member, thank you. Apparently, end-of-the-world Mayan experts have all failed us. They forgot to tell us that there are other Mayan stone tablets that have dates predicted far beyond December 21, 2012. This was no surprise to a Mayan elder who is sick and tired of crystal toting new agers seeking him out and asking him about how they should prepare for the end of the world. I love this quote from the captivating October 11, 2009 Telegraph, UK article that broke the story:

But most archaeologists, astronomers and Mayans say the only thing likely to hit Earth is a meteor shower…of New Age philosophy, pop astronomy, internet doomsday rumors and TV specials such as one on the History Channel which mixes "predictions" from Nostradamus and the Mayans and asks: "Is 2012 the year the cosmic clock finally winds down to zero days, zero hope?"

I imagine that your face exudes shock at this startling revelation. The fact that I even wrote the previous sentence was a prediction of my own that you have seen the end of the world come and go too many times to even care. How many of you built shelters to protect you from the destruction wrought by the millennium? That is what I thought; none of you. Every ten years…every decade or so…you see these end-time predictions come about. Most of you have lived through at least four predicted ends to the world.

I mention all of this for a reason. Since you already understand that most predictions of the end of the world are not worth the paper they are written on, and therefore, will in no way affect you, it will not be a stretch for you to learn that the words from Luke for today are not about you either. Jesus says:

When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately…Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. "But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.

These words appear to be end of the world language, and many people have used the recent perceived increase in hurricanes and surge in tornadoes as proof that Jesus was talking about us right here, and right now, and that the end of the world must be near, so go build yourself a shelter and hole yourself up for good. However, there is one important thing you must understand. Jesus was not talking about us.

Jesus was talking to his disciples. And, some time after his death, the temple in Jerusalem did fall. That was the Jews’ 911. It was big, and terrible, and horrible. The Romans slaughtered a bunch of people. And, there were earthquakes, and famines in their time, as there have always been earthquakes and famines. And, unfortunately, the early Christians were arrested, and persecuted, and brought to trial before kings and governors. All of these things did happen to the early Christians. Jesus was not talking about us.

I fear that people are so preoccupied with our own future and our own tragic demise that we miss the whole point of this biblical story in the first place. So, let us invite people to put away their mirrors for a second…to put away those things that cause them to stare at themselves and only themselves…and discover what Jesus does have to say.

The point is this, even though the early Christians went through these horrible persecutions for their faith, we are still gathering in the name of Jesus Christ today. Those persecuted Christians still told the story of Jesus. Were there people out there telling others that the end of the world was coming? Of course, and it did not matter. Jesus told them to share the good news anyway. And, they did. And, because they did, we know Jesus. Was the temple in ruins? Were there wars and earthquakes; and did they appear to be occurring more regularly? It did not matter. Jesus told them that the end will not follow immediately. More than that, Jesus told them that hard times are an opportunity to find God, they are not the time to give up. And, the disciples listened. And, because they did, we know Jesus.

All of us have come to the faith because someone in our past did not decide to throw in the towel and hide in their Armageddon shelter. You are here because someone in your past has endured through the hard times and found something so vital about God and so important about Jesus that they just had to share it with you. You and your faith are the beneficiaries of persecutions and death. You and your faith are the beneficiaries of other’s struggles. You are the dividend for other people’s endurance. And, you are invited to be a part of the same story.

So, I was wrong a little bit. The story is about you. It is not about your tragic demise in an end of the world cataclysm. But, it is about your struggles. It is about your search to find God and trust Jesus in your struggles. And, it is about God giving you the opportunity to share the joys and wonders of faith carved into you through endurance.

Who are your beneficiaries? How will you make sure that God’s story does not end with you? What is your story going to be? What are you going to share? What will you testify?

“Do not worry,” Jesus says, “about what you will testify.” Simply trust him. Keep an eye out for God’s actions in the world and in people’s lives, and wait for Jesus to give you the words. “Make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance,” Jesus says, “for I will give you words and wisdom…”

I am reminded of an eight year old girl. Her grandmother was in the kitchen, crying uncontrollably because she had just lost her husband. Seeing her eight year old granddaughter in the doorway, she tried to straighten up and be strong. Her eight year old granddaughter stepped up next to her, took her hand, laid her head on her shoulder and asked, “Are crying about missing Grandpa?” The grandmother said “Yes, honey, I am.” With tears in her eyes, the granddaughter said, “I miss him too. I think that I will miss him until God lets us see him again.”

The grandmother shared with me that those words were more valuable than those of her pastor, friends, and children all put together. In one simple statement, the granddaughter gave her permission to cry, and to trust God all at the same time. With wisdom beyond her years, the little girl was the embodiment of the words, “Make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance, for I will give you words and wisdom…” You do not have to worry. Trust Jesus and, future generations will have faith because of you also.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 6:20-31

2010-11-08T14:12:00.001-05:00

It was one of the strangest funerals I have ever done. I was called out by a family member to do a funeral on the property of their loved one’s hunting cabin. That aspect was not so strange, this is Pennsylvania after-all. It was the funeral itself that was strange. As I arrived, I walked toward a great tent, put up in a yard next to a stream and small cabin. Hiding away from the rain sat and stood family members who were talking, laughing, and jabbing one another, regarding me with sideways glances and slightly worn and stained, beer themed T-shirts. A stereo blared 80s hair music and an old outhouse stood next to the tent; its front wall and toilet removed; the whole covered by a sheet of plywood and a microphone replacing the wall.

A very nicely dressed woman in heels, sinking in the mud, greeted me with kind words, a nice smile, and the man’s baptism date…obviously somewhat out of place considering the surroundings. She pointed out her children who sat at the edge of the tent in their nice shoes, ties, and fine black jackets. They were dressed for a funeral…they obviously were not dressed for this funeral, but they were dressed for a funeral.

A man with a beer in his hand yelled, “Sis, let’s get this thing over with,” and with that I was handed the microphone and directed to stand on the only non-muddy surface around; that is right, in the outhouse. The toilet paper roll still clung to the wall, missing its estranged toilet friend. Settling into the dry, but cramped space, I mentioned into the microphone something about gathering together now to remember the life and death of the individual, and declaring as we always do, “the Lord be with you.” That gathering statement usually prompts a smile and response of “and also with you,” but this time around, it prompted a brief exodus of about half the congregation to the cooler in the back of the tent to grab a beer. I could see that they were settling in for the long haul. Pops and fizzes accented the words of the Prayer for the Day and people raised their beers high during the Prayers of the Church. A roasting hog stared at the congregation from behind me, representing either the saints who had gone before us and the sacrifice of Christ, or more likely representing the meal that was being held up by the pastor standing in the outhouse. At one point, a friend of the dead man wanted to share his remembrance, so he joined me, in the outhouse, pressed against me in one of the more awkward five minutes of my life.

After the service, the man walked up to me, looked me up and down in my cleric and nice dress and said, “You know, he would have never have wanted this,” pointing to me in particular. I said in return, “I’m pretty sure you are right, he probably would have never wanted this.”

However, I am not so sure that God did not want it this way. I looked over the crowd as we ate and this is what I saw: rich and poor, finely dressed and not, kind and gruff, young and old, outright sinners and refined righteous, all eating and talking together, drawn together under one tent as a community of the saints. It was a perfect image of the community of saints. The pretentions of moral perfection were not in attendance that day. Instead, it was a gathering of sinners. It was a gathering of those God cares about. It was a gathering of those who are blessed by God.

Yes, the poor were there, feasting in their torn beer stained T-shirts; blessed are the poor. Yes, the hungry were there as the two nicely dressed children were finally allowed nourishment, not being allowed to partake in the feast of drink during the service; blessed are the hungry. Yes, those who weep were there, an unshaven grown man cowering in a corner of the hunting cabin, being consoled by another man; blessed are those who weep. Yes, those who are hated, excluded, and reviled on account of the Son of Man were there; the sinners, the out-of-town righteous, and the out of place pastor. We were all there gathered together to remember the resurrection of the Lord; and to have a beer.

Do not get me wrong, I love regular funerals. Pulpits are nice, pulpits are very, very nice to stand in and preach in, but there was something very real about that funeral. That funeral conveyed a truth about God that you just cannot capture in the majesty of a church building. The saints of God are not exclusive to the cleaned up and righteous of the world. The admission price to sainthood is not moral perfection, or even the striving to get there. The admission price to sainthood is simply this: being loved by God. Are you poor, then you are a saint…blessed are you. Are you hungry, welcome…blessed are you. Do you weep? Are you excluded? Are you made fun of? Are you disliked? Well, rejoice and be glad because none of that matters; you are loved by God…blessed are you. You are a saint.

So, I ask, how do you respond to a yard full of mourners with beers in their hands? You respond the same way that you would respond to any other saint of God, with love. "Do to others and you would have them do to you," right? Saints of God, it is not in righteousness that we have been found. Saints of God, in grace we have been found.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Romans 3:19-28

2010-11-08T14:03:00.001-05:00

“For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” Three images, three paintings flash through my head when I hear those words.

The first is a painting on the side of a huge brick wall. The painting was never completed, you cannot go and see it. However, I can use the strokes of words to splash the color and spirit of the painting in your minds. On this huge brick wall, a mountain is painted. It is a tall mountain, but not an imposing one. You would have to scramble up its slopes, you would have to work and put forth effort to reach the top, but you would not need to climb it with ropes. All around the base of this mountain are several patches of the world’s trees: a patch of umbrella shaped baobabs from Africa, a patch of scrubby looking ginkgo trees from Asia, the prominent Oaks of the Midwestern plains, the tall and strong long pole pines of the mountains…you get the idea. The trees would represent the world around the base of the mountain. And, from under the trees emerge the world’s people in all of their colorful differences, from all different parts of the world; climbing and struggling on their way to the top of the mountain. At the top of the mountain is the cross with the glowing resurrected Christ standing with arms open wide in front of the cross, waiting for the worlds people to arrive and become one in him. Rays of light stream down to all the ends of the earth, inviting people to their journey towards the light.

This painting was to be my first commission. I was asked to consider painting the bare wall of the uncompleted portion of Wartburg Theological Seminary, and this image is what I came up with. As I mentioned before, it was never painted. The idea was all mine. I loved the inclusivity of the image. I loved the rays of light from Christ spreading to all the world. I liked the idea that all the world could be united in Christ. I love sideways strokes of the baobab tree and could not wait to paint some. Yet, it was never painted. There was something not quite right with the image.

Over the years I have pondered this painting’s non-existence. It could have been my testament to the world for centuries. Perhaps, I would even get money for the painting. But, it never happened. Seeking God’s truth in the text for today, I have finally come to peace with the painting’s non-existence. “For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” I have finally discovered why this painting was never completed: in the image, people had to struggle to get up the mountain to Jesus. People had to go up. People had to work to find God. But, Romans says something quite different: God comes down. We are made right by Christ. We trust in Christ who came down to us so that we would not have to work our way up to him.

I wonder how you paint Jesus coming down the mountain to the whole world?

The second image is a striking one of a fear stricken man, huddled in the corner of a small stone cell. His hands cling to the rough hewn stone wall, but the cold wall offers no solace. The man looks over his shoulder and stares up in fear, apparently staring up at God, fearful of what God may bring when God chooses to come down. The man is Luther and the image is one laced with guilt over past wrongs; the sense of being trapped in sin; a man who had tried and failed, tried and failed, tried and failed to make things right; and an inability to find love from above…fearful of the Lord.

I wonder about this image. I wonder how many people find themselves in that little cell, fearful of the Lord? I hear people joke off-handedly, “God is going to get you for that,” but I wonder how many people actually huddle in the corner of their bedroom cell with no hope? I wonder how many people do not come to church in fear that God would have harsh words for them when they walk in?

I also wonder what the image looked like when Luther discovered for himself these words, “For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” What does freedom from sin look like? What does freedom from trying to be perfect in God’s eyes look like? What colors and strokes of the brush would you use to create the image of trusting in a loving God, who makes things right again?

The third painting is of Jesus walking in the sand. In his arms, he carries a man who loosely and somewhat unconsciously clings to Jesus. And, over the top of the painting is that famous poem by Mary Stevenson:

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
"You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during
the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one
set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most,
you have not been there for me?"

The Lord replied,
"The times when you have
seen only one set of footprints,
is when I carried you."

What does it look like when Jesus chooses to come down to you? What does it look like when a person trusts in the one who makes things right again? What would your painting look like if you were asked to paint the following words: “For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.”?

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection On 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

2010-10-18T14:52:00.001-04:00

“Hello Pastor, thank you for that sermon,” the man not so innocently said to me just minutes after the funeral had concluded. We were still by the graveside when it happened. We were standing under umbrellas in the cold rain when it happened. There were still people with tears in their eyes, comforting each other when it happened.

And what exactly was “it?” “It” was the sermon that the man launched into about how he doubted the man who had just died was “saved.” This was not a sermon meant to persuade me of the poor character of the man who had just been eulogized, rather it was the rapid firing of Bible verses intended to kill my own understanding of the faith and to make his own look great.

I looked around at the people in pain and could not believe what I was hearing as shots rang out and struck some nearby innocent bystanders. “Really?” I thought to myself? “This is the appropriate time to have a Bible battle?” Like a suicide sprinter in battle, intended to cause a diversion and draw the fire away from the innocent, I moved the man out of earshot of the grieving and allowed myself to be struck again and again with Bible ammo. I would not escape the accusations and condemnations, but at least others would escape to the safety of the funeral luncheon.

I am certain that you know how the conversation went because I am certain that you have been in this type of one-sided battle before. The man sprayed his shots wide, covering every conceivable topic he could in the half-hour, soaking rain monologue, from salvations texts, to hell, to Genesis and evolution, to an etymological history of the word “soul.” Disjointed Bible verses were fired in succession to prove each point as being “right.” And he defended his rightness because the Bible is “God’s inspired and inerrant word,” or as others might say, “God’s perfect word.”

His claims on scripture lead me to ask, "what exactly is scripture?" I ask this question, not because I am fearful that a bunch of Lutherans will go forth from here down to a funeral on a scripture shooting spree. I ask because these scripture shooting sprees often raise questions within our own minds. So, again, what exactly is scripture and what is it not? It might be good to ask this question of scripture itself. Go ahead and do something that is culturally un-Lutheran right now, take out your Bible, and take a look at 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5. In particular, take a look at 2 Timothy 3:16 and 17.

“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

“All scripture is inspired by God.” The word “inspired” is there, and I will come back to that, but the first thing that I want to point out is a word that is missing in this text. In fact, this word never shows up in all of scripture, yet it is a word on the lips of many who make claims about the Bible: “inerrant.” The Bible never describes itself as “inerrant” or “perfect” as we might say. You might not believe me, but it truly, never does. Well, what does it mean that the Bible does not claim itself as “inerrant.” I do not know what that means, but if the scriptures are to guide us in the ways of truth, we know that one truth it does not claim is perfection.

Some will claim that the Greek words for “inspired,” literally “God breathed,” are a claim of biblical perfection. Maybe. But consider where else this concept is used. Creation itself is “God breathed,” created by God’s Spirit…by God’s Word. You are literally God breathed. Now, I do not intend to share any of your family secrets here, but am I spilling the beans and breaking pastoral confidentiality if I claim you are not perfect? Of course, you are not perfect, and neither am I, but we are God breathed. Does this mean that I am saying the Bible is not perfect? I do not know, are you perfect Bible? (Asking the Bible.) Might we consider for a moment that we are asking the Bible the wrong question in the first place.

Instead of asking the Bible questions that it cannot answer, because none of the authors ever thought to ask them, let us look at what the scripture is to be used for: “teaching,” “reproof,” “correction,” and “training.” Notice how active all of these words are! The scriptures are for the purpose of shaping and molding; guiding and changing the people of God. The scriptures talk to us and invite us into a pattern of living the gospel; living the good news of God. This is an invitation to relationship with God. This is an invitation to live in Christ and to live as Christ.

I think one of the biggest mistakes people make concerning the Bible is expecting the Bible to provide perfect answers to all of their questions, rather than expecting it shape and mold their lives. The Bible never claims to be God's answer book that answers all of the questions that we may throw. So, what about evolution? Is evolution true? I do not know, and the scriptures do not know either. The scriptures never ask such a modern scientific question in the first place. You must ask science to have such a scientific question answered. Nowhere in the Bible will you have this scientific question asked in the first place. But, in a similar way, science will never be able to tell you about your relationship with God and God’s relationship with you as a created being. That question is addressed by the Bible and that is a truth that can only be found in the Bible. It would be silly to ask science such a question.

Do you see where 2 Timothy is leading you? The authors of the scriptures were people inspired by God, touched by God’s actions so profoundly that they just had to share that experience with you! These authors had God’s saving and creating breath touch them profoundly, and the authors want you to be touched and inspired also. The authors want their words to shape and mold you into the people of God that God intended you to be, and quite frankly, so does God. God’s breath moves through those words so that you might be moved to be God's people, showing in word and deed the goodness of the Lord.

Luther put it this way: the scriptures themselves are not the Christ Child, but they are the manger that hold the Christ child. They bear Christ to us so that we might be shaped and molded by God’s love. I guess you could say, “so that we might be inspired.” The scriptures are the primary way that God speaks to us and develops a relationship with us, but it does not answer all of our questions.

Take Luke 18:1-8, the story about the woman who continually begs the unjust judge to grant her justice. It is a story that promises results if we pray continually. The question in the back reader’s mind when encountering this story is, “why do bad things happen and why, if God is so quick to answer prayer, has not God answered mine already?” The story from Luke does not answer this loaded question. Instead, it invites you to keep praying. God is there. God will deliver. When? Luke does not know, but keep praying anyway. Keep in a close relationship with God even when you are not sure what God is up to.

There are no answers here. Just the breath of the Spirit moving you to trust in God, even when things look bad, and God seems far away. This is a true, inspired word to us.

What the man at that rainy funeral never even considered was that the Bible was leading him to bless those who mourn. Through the scriptures, God was moving him to be with those who mourn. Care to them. They need to know that they are God’s children, and God does not forget them. Perhaps, next time God will move him to realize that the Bible is not an answer book, and it certainly is not a book to be quoted just so that you can be "right." If he remembers those things, maybe he will not miss the opportunity God has placed in front of him to breathe God’s spirit of new life on those people around him who are struggling with the reality of death. The Bible may not always answer our questions, but it provides something much more valuable than answers: through it, and through those people who share it, God is present with us.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection On Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

2010-10-15T16:40:00.001-04:00

Most prophets of the ancient world came to Israel with a word from God that went something like this: I have good news and some bad news. The bad news is that your life has been quite less than an inspiring example of what it is to be a child of God. In fact, you have forgotten how to be a child of God. You do not worship God. You have not cared for the land. You have forgotten to take care of the poor. You have forgotten to take care of the widows. You have forgotten to love the aliens in your land. In short, you have refused to care about the things that God cares about. Because of this, God is going to utterly destroy you. You will have the land you love taken away from you and you will be forced to live as an alien in another land. But, the good news is, God is forgiving and will restore your land really soon!

That right there, in short, is what many of the prophets declared to the Israelites. Jeremiah is slightly different. He too comes with a word of God that says, "I have good news and some bad news," he continues with a list of sins such as not worshipping God, forgetting about the land, etc., he too declairs that because of this, God will utterly destroy the people, they will have the land they love taken away from them, and they will be forced to live as an alien in another land. But, he continues, "The good news is, well there is no good news. God is not going to let you see your home again for generations, so you might as well file your papers, jump through your hoops, work through your red tape, and become a citizen of the land of which you are a part."

No more apartments for the people of God. They are a people who will not get their homes back for years. No more apartments. They might as well build new homes in their new land.

Now, some of the people of Israel did eventually get their homes back. But, others took God very seriously and never moved back to Israel. They had gotten rid of their apartments, bought some land, poured a good foundation, and never left their new home. I am not so certain that all Christians have followed God’s advice and put up their houses. It seems to me that a lot of Christians tend to live in spiritual apartments.

Apartments are OK for a while, do not get me wrong. There are some wonderful apartments out there. You can decorate them quite nice with walls of kindness, tables of friendship, and an extra bed of peace and restoration. Some friends from seminary were very good at making apartments look amazing. They had no problems literally sinking thousands of dollars into a place that was not their own. New, modern lights hanging from the ceiling, new walls…away with the paneling, hello to drywall…, new paint to brighten up the place, new furniture to make the place home feeling; in essence, they would make the apartment look like they had decided to set their roots down for good. But, if you searched hard enough, there was always one room untouched. There was always one room, in the back, that was not repaired. It was the room that held the boxes. Stacked to the ceiling, this room held all of the boxes needed for moving. And, move they did. They still move quite often. They never did have a home, though it looked like one. In the end, it was just an apartment.

Though you can make apartments look great, the one problem is that you never get around to doing the things that home-owners do, living life right here, right now. When you live in apartments, it is hard to make a commitment to something or someone because, "who knows, I just may need to move."

Why care about the neighbors too intensely? You will just have to say “goodbye” eventually. So, in apartments you have “walls of kindness,” but you lack the walls of grace that would permit you to truly care and serve the neighbor.

Why make a deep connection to anyone? So you offer a “table of friendship” in your dining area, but it is not a nice oak welcome table that is able to seat friends and enemies alike.

How involved should I get in anything, when I will just have to quit soon anyway? So, you have a bed of peace and reconciliation for yourself, but it is one that does not need to be slept in very often. It is in the extra bedroom. You never get involved in anything so deeply in the first place to even need to use the bed of peace and reconciliation. You bought it just in case, other Christians have them after-all, but it still looks new. It has not been used.

The thing is, apartments are wonderful for the short term, but God asks you to go deeper. No longer live in apartments. Instead, God says,

"Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."

In other words, where-ever you are, make a home. Invest in the place where you are. Love the people. Actually, care to know those around. Welcome the stranger and enemy and invite them to your Oak table. Invest in the welfare of where you are making your home. Literally invest with money in those around you. Where you are right now is a gift from God also. God is not always in the excitement of the future; no boxes needed. Where you are right now is a gift from God.

Consider that Jesus’ home was where-ever he was. Jesus made deep roots where-ever he went. He invested in people’s health. He got in the middle of injustice and forgave the adulterous woman. He defended the tax collectors, and aliens, and sinners and ate with them at tables of grace. Jesus put the cross deep into the ground and gave grace to the world, right where he was. And, his followers have the same gift; the ability to make a true home right where they are. This is not easy though. I think that fear often motivates many Christians to live in their spiritual apartments, being nice and kind but not actually investing true grace into any place. This is not easy stuff. But, Christians are not wimps either. They have the grace of God with them. They have the Holy Spirit backing them. They have no reason to fear making a true home right where they are.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection On Luke 17:5-10

2010-10-15T14:25:00.001-04:00

I followed the monk, stepping in the footsteps that he made in the snow as we made our way through the fleshly blanketed forest; small specks of snow showering lightly from the trees. The monk seemed at peace. He filled his lungs full of the fresh evergreen air, and a smile came to his face. He talked gently as we walked along, pointing out the beauty of the things God had made. If he were a Disney character, blue birds would have joined him as he sang and pranced through the snow. He was not a Disney character, but he did seem to be just as unrealistic as a cartoon. Are there really people this peaceful? Are there really people so at home with God?

I was in my early twenties and was anything but at peace. I was buried under piles of college homework, and multiple voices all turned and squeezed me to perform better and faster. We had little money and little time to work for more. The more I studied God, the more God became foreign and unintelligible to me. It was too much pressure. I was not this monk.

This monk was at peace. This monk had time to enjoy the snow covered forest simply because God had created it. This monk had an understanding of God that was so simple, yet so deep. “This monk has lots of faith,” I thought. “If only I had faith like that guy! Lord, give me more faith;” as if faith was grape flavored syrup that could be spooned to a sick little boy from a bottle; as if faith were a Mustang GT that could perform faster if you simply pressed the pedal to the metal; as if faith were something that you could get in bulk from Sam’s Club on a nice Sunday afternoon.

“Increase our faith,” the disciples cry out to the Lord. They share the same desire to believe more, serve more, understand more, love more, and forgive more. Who here desires to be a better disciple? Who here wants to be more like that monk? Who here wants more faith? I know that I do! The disciples walk behind Jesus, amazed at his peace; amazed at his love; amazed at his ability to heal. How does he do that? How does he peer right into a person’s soul, discover the ill, and offer healing? How does he do that? We walk by most people and do not even see that there is an issue in the first place. Increase our faith!

Further, Jesus sits and eats with people who smell, and act nuts. And, the thing is, he truly cares about them. It is not the “Oh, I hope things get better…well I got to go. Bye,” kind of caring. He sits and eats with them as if they were beloved family. How does he do that? How does he literally stomach it? The smell alone would drive most people away. That is not even mentioning their bad habits and wasteful lifestyles. Increase our faith!

And, most of all, Jesus says, “I forgive you,” not once, but over and over and over again even as you commit the same wrong repeatedly and ask for forgiveness again and again and again. This ability to forgive is not just amazing, but if I am honest with myself, and I allow myself to offer a critique of God, I might say, “Lord, that is just plain stupid. There are just some people that do unspeakable things that simply should not be forgiven. You are all omniscient, have you not looked down and seen what they have done? I hate to say it, but I will: Lord, you are wrong. They are evil and you will just let them step on you, beat you and kill you, won’t you…won’t you?”

The Lord and I disagree on this point. I would convince the Lord to be more like me. I would convince the Lord to embrace a bit of harshness and intolerance, because some people do not deserve forgiveness and love. They are monsters. Monsters deserve nothing. Of course, I am the one desiring more faith, aren’t I? I do not see Jesus nipping at a monk’s heals, hoping for just a scrap of faith. I am the student. I am the slave. I am willing to entertain the idea that my view of the world is not broad enough to understand. The slave does not dictate commands to the master.

To me, and those like me, the Lord says, “If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”

The rebuking I can do, I am all over that. But, increase my faith to forgive. Lord, increase my faith!

And, right after asking, the Lord gives me a magical battery that gives me the strength of faith to be like that monk, to be a strong person of faith, to be the everlasting forgiver who just keeps going and going and going.

Of course, the Lord gives nothing of the sort to me. What the Lord gives is exactly the opposite. Instead, the Lord says, if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you would be able to tell a mulberry tree to jump off a cliff, into the sea and be planted there, and the tree would do it.

When we reached the little forest chapel for which the monk is the caretaker, I took him aside and asked, “How did you get so much faith, because I am struggling.” A brief smile shot across his face and he looked slightly up in contemplation. “I am not without doubt. I am not without sin. I am not any different than you.” Looking at me he continued, “But, faith is not something for which you can collect a lot. You cannot get more of it by reading a many books, even if they contain lots of wisdom. Praying more will not even do it. Faith is just God being with you. It is a relationship, nothing more.”

On our way back, I stared down again, putting my footsteps in his, thinking about relationships. I guess you would never ask to have your relationship increased. That just does not make any sense. You just have a relationship. It may be good, it may be bad, it may be a little bit of both, but it is not something of which you have more or less. A relationship is a relationship. What I was seeing when I looked at the monk was not a man with lots and lots of faith. What I was seeing was a man who was simply spending time with God as he walked around the world.

“You do not have to understand anything,” Jesus says to us. “Just walk with me and trust that when I tell you to forgive over and over again that it is the right thing to do. Whether you think a person should be forgiven or not makes no difference. Just trust that I know what I am doing.”

I am reminded of a scene in the book, “The Shack.” As I recall the scene faintly, a man who is walking with God sees a sin being repeated again and again. He looks to God. Instead of seeing anger, he sees joy on God’s face. He questions God’s strange reaction, and God replies something to the effect that this person will only commit this sin 34 more times before they turn their life around. It is exciting to see them getting so close to the goal.

Maybe I do not understand things well enough to dictate to God. Without hearing forgiveness 34 more times, a person may stumble in their walk with God. Maybe, they would never arrive at the new life God wants to provide. This is very important to Jesus. He says, “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.”

Maybe from now on, I will not try to get more faith. Maybe from now on I will not try to impose my desires and opinions upon God. Maybe from now on I will simply walk with Jesus, follow where he goes, and forgive others when he asks. I will do it, not because I agree, but because I was asked by my master and my friend. I guess this is what being in a relationship is all about. I guess this is what faith is all about.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection On Luke 16:1-13

2010-10-15T14:11:00.000-04:00

I still remember the pictures that we would color in that small church classroom with the small chairs and the small table. The pictures were drawn with thick black ink lines that popped up from the page, so as to help guide the preschooler from creating a world outside of the person drawn on the page. The person we colored the most was Jesus: Jesus smiling at the world saying, “I love the world;” Jesus smiling at the children saying, “I love the children;” Jesus smiling at Judas saying, “I love Judas;” Jesus smiling at the cross saying, “I love the cross.” I think that you get the picture. In each of these colored creations Jesus was very appropriate…appropriate and direct with his message of love.

Nothing in my childhood therefore prepared me for this morning’s biblical text, because in it Jesus is neither appropriate nor direct. The text is about as direct as the path from anywhere in the United States to Manhattan. If Jesus were preaching to you today, I guarantee that you would give up and go to sleep. Maybe, the only thing that would save you from an embarrassing slumber would be his inappropriateness. I lived in Omaha during the attacks of September 11th and there was a preacher who must have modeled his appropriateness of sermonizing from Jesus.

Before I explain, you have to understand that right after the attacks, we pastors were deluged with emails from the synod and churchwide and various other church related organizations asking us to be firm in denouncing the attacks, but at the same time being careful not to stereotype all Muslims because Muslims are also our beloved neighbors, literally living next to us. And, it was at our pastor’s text study was when we found out that one of our colleagues apparently did not ever check his email.

No, do not jump the gun in your thoughts; he was not going to preach a word about the "evil nature of Muslims and their religion." No, in fact his plan was quite the opposite. He had decided that he was going to ignore the council to firmly denounce the attacks and he was going to preach about how his congregation should be much more like the terrorists!

No, of course he was not saying that they should not go out and kill. Rather, he stated, “At least the terrorists had the courage to stand up completely for their beliefs, unlike many of you and many Christians in the United States today.” There is nothing like a gentle message of “you stink” to help you through your shock and grief.

We all emphatically counseled him quote, “to reconsider the contextual nature of an event like this,” which in realms beyond the pastoral and theological worlds translates roughly into, “you’re an idiot.” With that being clearly stated in the meeting, another pastor and I stood around, kicked rocks, and talked honestly in the parking lot after the meeting. We secretly admitted that, though it was inappropriate, we were not sure that we disagreed with him. Of course, his sermon was an inappropriate sermon, but in the affluent, “I don’t care if it doesn’t affect me” attitude of the days before September 11th, it seemed like a sermon that did need to be preached at some point. At least they stood up for their beliefs. What if we Christians stood up as strongly for new life, forgiveness, justice, protecting the poor, and peace as much as these terrorists stood up for “death to infidels”? It was inappropriate, but that does not mean that it was not true.

Sometimes Jesus also failed to “reconsider the contextual nature of events” and gave inappropriate sermons. In the one for today, the manager of a business squanders the company owner’s money. He uses his access to the company’s money as a blank check for himself, and as usually happens, is caught. When confronted by the owner, the manager uses the little time that he has left to go to each of the wealthy people who still have outstanding debts to be paid back to the company and slashes their debt. In doing so, he makes himself and the company look good, and secures a future for himself elsewhere. After this act of “good will” to the wealthy debtors, he will no doubt be able to land another job, or at least land a place to crash for the nights ahead and some food to eat.

In reaction to this sly, sneaky, scoundrel, Jesus preaches a sermon that he did not run by his text study group first, and he tells his disciples to be just like the dishonest manager. What? Excuse me? Be a sneaky scoundrel? Cheat people out of their money? What? This is not clear? What happened to the simple, Jesus loves everyone picture? This is not clear!

I assure you, just as the pastor did not want his congregations to get into planes and fly them into buildings for their faith, neither does Jesus want us to cheat people out of their money. But, in the same way that the preacher held up the conviction and faith of the terrorists, Jesus upholds the financial savvy of the dishonest manager. Plenty of people develop financial savvy, but as you know, not all of them put it to good use. In the same way that we asked, “What if we Christians stood up as strongly for new life, forgiveness, justice, protecting the poor, and peace as much as these terrorists stood up for ‘death to infidels,’” Jesus encourages us to ask, “what if the children of the light were as savvy with our money as the dishonest manager; how much more would we be able to advance the kingdom of God that seeks to build new life, promote forgiveness world-wide, secure true justice, protect the poor, and create peace”? What if we were able to find a savvy way to make our money serve us for the good, rather than allowing our money to control us and be wasted on things that do not matter? For we know that we cannot serve both money and God.

This parable may be confusing and inappropriate, but what the gospel writer, Luke, appears to be saying is that there are people out there who understand how money works in the real world. Those people are gifts. They are gifts to the church, and gifts to God’s world as long as one thing is true for them: money is not their God. These wise people exist for much more than providing funding for the church budget or a building project. They are gifted people who actually can figure out how to squeeze water from a stone. They are gifted people who know how to navigate the children of the light safely and directly through the confusing streets from here into Manhattan. In more direct words, they are gifted people who know how to use money fruitfully for the sake of God’s kingdom both in the church and out in the world.

I am not a financial genius, I am not one of these gifted people to the world, but I do know one when I see one. These financially savvy kingdom people (how would you like that title: “Hi, I’m a financially savvy kingdom person,” I would totally do business with them)…anyway, these financially savvy kingdom people look a little like the small business man who struggled recently with the health care costs of his employees. The high costs and low benefits were ruining the business and the high deductibles were ruining his employees. Using his financial savvy, he decided that he would only offer health care that covered the major medical events of life; cancer, heart attacks, etc. His business could afford that with some money to spare. “How is that a good example Pastor Jira?” Just hold on, I am getting there.

With that extra money to spare, he did not take a vacation. Money is not his God. God, the God of love, the God of caring for others is his God. He took the spare money and put it in tax free health accounts for his employees to use on their normal everyday medical events, physicals, flu, etc. In addition, he took the time to compare prices amongst the local medical providers, and created a list where his employees could get the best care for their dollar. Now, I am not promoting this as the end-all solution to the medical finance crisis. I am not that smart of a person. However, I know a financially savvy kingdom person when I see one, and this guy was one.

God has blessed us with gifted people who are like the dishonest manager; shrewd and savvy people. But, they are different in one way, they do not let money control their actions, rather, they allow God to control their money for the good of the kingdom. Rather than being pushed down and degraded for their involvement with money, may they be held up this day as gifts from a loving God.

Reflection On Philemon 1:1-21

2010-10-15T13:52:00.001-04:00

Labor Day Sunday is one of the least attended Sundays of the year across the nation. Now, do not worry, I am fully aware that those of you who attended worship on Labor Day Sunday did not choose to come just so that you could hear the pastor’s moaning and complaining in the echoes of a half empty church. I only raise up the issue because Labor Day has the potential to become the quintessential Lutheran Sunday. Forget for a moment that it is a completely secular day, and look at the holiday’s intent. It is a day in which laborers rest and the nation celebrates the importance and contributions of the laborer and their unions to American society.

This should strike two loud notes of recognition on the part of Lutheran Christians: first, it is a day of rest. Each week the Sabbath is a day for rest and experiencing God. Labor Day Sunday, therefore, should be the quintessential example of Sabbath. The churches should be packed with all of those laborers who are not at work, but resting. Second, it is a day that celebrates the contributions of the laborer. Where in all of theology, will you find a stronger respect for laborers than in Lutheran theology which recognizes that it is through our vacations that God uses us the most. Labor Day Sunday should be a huge Sunday, with people stringing out the door, trying to see in, and the church blessing each and every person for the gift of their labor and their positive impact on all of creation.

But, enough with the “shoulds,” it is not huge. It is usually small…very small. It is usually only a handful of people who either do not own a tent or people who could not make it back up off of the ground if they somehow found themselves within a tent. Every once and a while you might see the odd church professional who is not allowed to play hooky on this day.

I wonder how much of this is the church’s own fault. For years, the church has successfully made itself into a weekly obligation. It is the place where we “should” be on Sunday, but often would rather not. Deciding to go to church is like deciding on the evening meal after a long, rough day at work; do I take the time to fix a healthy well balanced meal, making sure to cut fresh fruits and vegetables, or do I just eat extreme Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream? Do I sit through another worship service or do I go to Dorney Park and get one more ride in on the coasters? There is a disconnect between church and our daily lives, and I think that it is the church’s own fault. Church hasn’t necessarily been relevant to our daily lives in the past, and Chruch has made itself into the place where you should be rather than the place where we get to be! When church is just something that we need to get through, like a root canal (just sit there until the pain is over), then that is a problem.

But, properly, the church should not be an obligation, rather it should be the place where we get to rest and get to experience God. It is the place where God touches our lives; where God enters into our life and makes sense of the rest of the week. In the same way, Bible studies should not be something that we ought to do but do not ever get around to doing. Rather, they are opportunities that we look forward to; where we experience God and everything in our week seems to now make sense, or at least be a little less confusing. If you told most people that you know of an opportunity for them to experience God in all of God’s greatness, and that they would have the chance to share in God’s wisdom…the wisdom that they have longed for and somehow found elusive, would they not pay good money to go overseas and experience that? Is that not the bread and butter of today’s book industry? The Sabbath is the day that makes sense of the rest of your life. I am not certain that I am even convinced by that statement, so I will say it again: the Sabbath is the day that makes sense of the rest of your life.

Paul tries to make this connect for his friend Philemon. Somehow, while in jail, Paul has made a friend in Philemon’s slave, Onesimus, and it is time for Onesimus to go back to his master Philemon. Normally, the slave would return to the master, and everyday operations between master and slave would go forward. There is one problem though, Onesimus is now a bother in Christ. Onesimus is no longer just a slave to Philemon. What does that mean, to be both a slave and a brother? How should Onesimus be treated from now on?

In raising the issue and rasing the questions, Paul urges Onesimus to connect his daily life of business and his life of faith in Jesus Christ. Somehow, Philemon needs to reconcile the fact that Onesimus is both a slave and a brother. Philemon must consider which is more important, his economic reality or God’s reality? Do his finances outweigh his faith or the other way around? Which is more important, the “real world” or the Kingdom of God?

I will not offer the answers to Philemon's economic and interpersonal quandry. But, I will invite you to venture into the same questions in your own life. How do you connect the Sabbath with your daily life?

For Jesus there was no disconnect between the Sabbath and his daily life. Everywhere he went, in everything that he did, Jesus lived as he were living in the kingdom of God. For Jesus the real world was the Kingdom of God. What we refer to as the “real world” is actually not real. It is a fantasy. It is a human construction. It is a reality shaped by the opinions and desires of the created, rather than being shaped by the opinions and desires of the creator. When one lives a life shaped by the opinions and desires of the creator, they have stepped into the reality of the kingdom of God.

The only problem with living in God’s kingdom, it does not conform to the rules of the “real” world, where money is the primary god. It may not make economic sense. It may mean you lose a slave. It may mean that you lose your Father, or your Mother, or your sister, etc. It may mean that you lose your life on a cross. But, do not be fooled, God’s kingdom is the real world.

How do I treat grumpy people in the kingdom of God?

How are slaves or employees to be treated in the kingdom of God?

How is your own labor important in God’s kingdom?

Again, I will not provide answers. However, I will assumre you that your labor can be essential to God's kingdom. Being a mother, volunteer, manager, independent business owner, mailroom clerk, etc. can be essential in God’s kingdom. What does your own labor look like if it is not just a job, but an essential in God's kingdom?

Reflection On Luke 14:1, 7-14

2010-10-15T13:21:00.001-04:00

“On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the Sabbath, they were watching him closely.” They were watching him intently. They were watching his every move. They wanted to see where he would seat himself. They wanted to see what he thought of himself; how important he thought he may be. They wanted to see if this man of God was just like the rest of us and would get an obvious chunk of spinach stuck in his teeth while he talked endlessly about the weather.

Do you not hate it when "they" watch you so close? It is impossible to get anything done when “they” are watching. What if you choose the wrong seat? What if you suddenly notice that each chew of your food makes a disgusting crunching sound? Can “they” hear that? What will they think? They were watching Jesus’ every move.

But, they made a mistake. Eyes can peer both ways and Jesus’ eyes are set on them. Where would they seat themselves at the table? Where would they expect him to sit? What does their seating choice and seating arrangement say about them?

Table arrangements say a lot more than you think. You may be surprised to learn that the table arrangement of the evening meal was one of the first things that we chaplains would ask about when evaluating a mentally ill patient. Taking a sheet of paper with a square drawn in the center, we would ask where all of the chairs in there home were placed, and then have the patients draw and label where each person sat at their evening meal.

“Charles, why is your Dad at the head of the table?”
“Because he controls all of us, he wants to keep an eye on us.”

“Katie, why are your Mom and Dad at opposite sides of the table?”
“I guess they don’t like each other. They never have really. I sit next to my Mom because she doesn’t hold a grudge.”

“Tom, why isn’t there anyone at your table? What’s wrong, why don’t you want to participate today?”
“I am participating. My family sits in front of the TV. We don’t talk. Leave me alone.”

“Lexie, why is only your Dad at the table? And, what is next to him on the table?”
“That’s his computer. He eats at the table with his computer. We are over here by the TV. He doesn’t like to be disturbed while he works.”

“Mary, why did you draw your husband and your kids so big and you so small at the table?”
Mary just stares forward with tears in her eyes.

Tables are powerful things; where a person is seated or not seated matters. Tables can be used to bring all creation together in one unifying meal, and they can be used to divide and put people in their place. The productivity of a meeting between national leaders can be predicted by their seating at the table. Are they equals, sitting across from one another the short length of the table, or is the deck stacked, the inferior leader being placed to the side and the superior at the head?

Tables are powerful things. My High School drama teacher pointed out frequently that even King Arthur’s round table was not an equitable arrangement. Those who were more important would sit nearer to the King, and those opposed would sit opposite. He said during this lesson about staging that, “even at a round table, the audience will know that the one across the table will be the enemy. They also will know that the one close to the king, but facing the king during discussion with the enemy rather facing the enemy will be the one to betray the king. You do not need to say this, the audience already knows it. It is ingrained in our being.”

Only if this is true, that the table is engrained into our very being, does it makes sense why Jesus’ etiquette advice on table placement sends him down a deadly path toward crucifixion. People’s foundations are shaken when they are told that they should not sit where they are comfortable or where it may be advantageous to sit. How would you like to be the one told to choose the side corner of the table, where you will be forgotten? Of course, the host may invite you to sit closer and you would be honored, but more likely, you will simply be forgotten.

And, the nerve of Jesus to tell the host who he or she can and cannot invite. Who you eat with and who you refuse to eat with and where they are placed means everything. It means family harmony. It means grooming the one to come next in line. It means spending time with those who interest and intrigue. It means everything! Jesus says, “Don’t invite your friends and family to your dinner party.” Jesus, you might as well be telling us not to participate in capitalism or not participate in holding a core belief. Tables are powerful things, and you are shaking my foundations Jesus! People who shake the foundations are the ones who are crucified.

We used to have a lime green metal kitchen table when I was younger. It was the ugliest thing that had even been created; plus, the screws holding it together where so loose that if I place my arms on the table, the table would shift and my brother would end up with my burger. After loosing my meal to my brother too many times, I told my parents that the table had to go. It had served its purpose, but it was no longer a good foundation for a meal. And, Jesus invites us to remove our assumptions about tables and who sits where and why, so that when the table is removed we can see that our true foundation is below our feet. It is a firm foundation. And, inscribed in the foundation are the words, “you are mine.” But, you will also see those very words inscribed below the feet of the person next to you, and down at the feet of the person in the far corner of the table you read the same words, “you are mine.”

In Jesus’ kingdom, the power of the table is completely circumvented. Invite the poor to your meal, then you will not even participate in the table game; plus, the poor will have food; it’s a win-win. When at the table, consider the low. Serve the lowest. Think about sitting low. In Jesus’ kingdom, what is low will become great, and what is great will become low.

I once asked a six year old why she drew herself at the far end of the table and her sister up near her parents. I expected to uncover the secret pain of her childhood, but she looked at me as if I were the stupidest person in the world and said, “because she is too young to eat by herself. Mom and Dad need to help her. I have fed myself since I was two.”

As this six year old already knows, it is not about "us." It is about "them;" but not about evaluating and judging "them." It is about watching closely for their need. There are places of honor at God’s table, and they are reserved for those who need them. Sometimes we will be invited up, and after we are healed, we will lead the next guest forward to the place of honor. Christ's table is a different kind of table.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection On Luke 13:10-17

2010-10-15T11:50:00.002-04:00

It is hard to worship. I will fully admit that right now.  It is hard to worship. We are bound by so many things that restrict our ability to move toward God in any meaningful way.

I think of a man who talked to me one day. He regularly attends church, but he does not worship. You must understand that early on in his marriage, he and his wife were excitedly expecting a son. They painted a room, they bought the clothes, and they talked to their son while still in the womb. Not too long before the due date came, something terrible happened; his wife miscarried. She was devistated and he was stricken. He told me that “After that, I do not worship. Pastor, you will see me in church, but hear me clearly, I do not worship.”

It is so hard to worship.

The woman in this gospel story had such a hard time worshipping. From her bent-over position she could hardly see, she could hardly look you in the eye and talk, and there was no way that she could lift up her arms in praise to God.

It is so hard to worship.

Even some of our church's own rites and rituals get in the way. Take the rite of confirmation, this should be a wonderful day of initiation into the adult life of faith. Unfortunately, the idea of confirmation has become more of a “graduation from church,” rather than the beginning of an adult relationship with God.

It is difficult to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. There are so many things that restrict our ability to move toward God. There are so many things that restrict our ability to even be moved by God and God’s word.

We have a basic need, similar to the dead Lazarus, who was bound with the trappings of funeral cloth.  Jesus raised him up and gave him a new life so he may praise God.  People ran up to him and “unbound” him.  The people literally unwrapped him, and we have the same basic need to be unbound from the things that keep us from worshipping God and loving the neighbor. There are so many things that bind us and hinder God’s ability to touch our lives: obsession with stuff, disagreement and hatred (hatred binds the heart so tight that it can barely pump any life-giving blood), and how about other “harmless” interests that simply pull our attention away from God and God’s day of rest.

I have been told by many people that they can worship God on the golf course just as easily as they can in the worshipping community. And, they are correct, a group of players can worship God on the golf course just as easily as they can in church…but they won’t.

To each bent over and out of touch person, Jesus offers healing. With a simple touch of Sabbath healing, Jesus will restore us to an upright position, and we will again see God, worshipping God with thanks for all that God has done, even after eighteen or more years of being worship-impaired.

Ever since God inscribed the commandment to “remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy” people have been testing its limits. It is a command after-all, and like a teenager who needs to see just how far away from the house they can get without their parents noticing or caring, we see how far we can get from God's command.

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
The interesting thing about the Sabbath command is that following it brings its own reward and violating it brings its own punishment. Following does not put you on the fast track into heaven, and violating it does not put you on a fast track to hell.  Failing to follow the command is its own punishment.

When you are tired, burned out, cranky, and cannot think straight, you know you have violated God’s command to rest and remember. When you bind other people with your selfishness and anger, and find yourself alone because your friends have left, you know you have violated God’s command to rest and remember.  And, when you have no idea who God is or what God is up to in your life, you know you have violated God’s command to rest and remember.

Rest and remember: Share in God’s nap, remember God’s good work. The whole process looks like this: work the week, then share in God’s nap all while remembering God’s good works. Repeat again and again.

That is not to say that you will find a nice garden of Eden whenever you enter the sanctuary of the Lord with a cot just waiting for you. People have told me that sometimes going to church is more stressful than shopping in Wal-mart on Christmas Eve. This was certainly true for the bent-over woman. The poor lady just wanted to go to the sanctuary of the Lord and find rest. She did not want a controversy! And, Jesus did not seek out an argument in the house of the Lord. He was simply trying to help a woman rest by remembering the will of God and performing the work of God by unbinding her. Jesus simply wanted to free her so that she could worship.
Now, I must admit that the leader who complained that Jesus worked on the Sabbath was not wrong. Jesus did work. The leader was right in a sense. After-all, you need to guard against violating the Sabbath, or you will find yourself bound. He was right to demand that Jesus and the woman rest. But, he had forgotten one thing: he had forgotten to “remember.” He did not remember that the Sabbath is a day for freedom. It is a day to be unbound from the hindrances and influences of life. It is a day when freedom from all that keeps you enslaved is celebrated.

Is it possible to be “right” and still get everything wrong? Of course it is. He remembered to rest, but he had forgotten that resting sometimes requires unbinding. Most people cannot take off their own burial cloth. Most of the time we need help. The Sabbath is a day when the community helps each other to unbind, just as Jesus freed the woman. There, it does matter if you are not present. Maybe you are rested and do not need the Sabbath, but that does not mean someone else will not need your help to unwrap the burial cloth that binds them from loving and worshipping.
One Sunday I saw a new face in the rear pew. It was a woman who was obviously holding back tears. After worship, I approached her asked what was up. She bust out tears of anguish, sobbing that her husband had just left her. The husband had always done all of the bills and made all of the purchases. She did even know how to drive. "I don’t even know the first thing about living," she cried. And, as she spoke and as we worked together on where to go from here, I saw Jesus unwrap the bindings from her soul, and she slowly began to realize that she was free. “I don’t know what I would have done without you," she said. Frankly, I did nothing but be there. I had remembered the Sabbath day, and God used that as an opportunity.

Rest and remember. Rest and remember. Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection On Luke 12:49-56

2010-10-15T11:10:00.001-04:00

The human state is one of walking on ice. Any distraction in concentration, any slight step to the left or stumble to the right will cause your feet to slip and will cause your entire being to stumble. Your footing is tenuous and it is difficult to keep fully upright. But there are many distractions. The distractions tell you to buy more, fill your lives with more, take pleasure in more, Build yourself up in life by disregarding more. Disregard God’s creation, disregard your neighbor, disregard your own family, simply strive your what you want, the distraction yell out to you. The ice is slippery and you start to waver, you start to fall.

It does not help that God’s fire is close by. For Christ did not come to bring peace to the earth. No, Christ came to bring division and fire. The fire is ablaze and it is making the ice even glossier to the eye, and slippery to the touch. Knobs of ice melt into fine shimmers and foothold disappear into a level glaze. The distractions are too much, you step toward one of them, thinking that it is the way you should go, enticed by what you see and you fall. You fall fast expecting the impact of the ice, but find yourself in the hands of God who now holds you above the fire, the fire that Christ has brought.

The fire burns in a pit and its heat comes up from below. You look into God’s eyes and are unsure of what you see. Do you see peace for your future? Do you see division? The heat from below is hot on your hands. You look close and see that God is trying to decide, about you. You start to plead about your good works. But it is of no use. God’s eyes do not change. Good works do not keep you out of the fire, nor do bad works put you in. All people walk the slippery line, and it is only by God’s good will and through God’s good grace in Jesus Christ that God does not allow Satan to pull us into the fire below.

You have learned from a lifetime of religion that for those who believe the promise of Christ, the promise is true. But what about those who linger in doubt, even if ever so slight? Do you think that God misses to slightest of thoughts? No. Further, you know from everything that you have heard that for those of you out there who have doubts, God neither has to keep to the promise, nor needs to cast you in. God is bent toward mercy, but is not held to it.

Held by the hands of God over the pit, Satan sends up tendrils of flame, tendrils that snap at your soul through God’s fingers. You look down and horror overcomes your heart. It strikes fear in you when you see that from your own hands you have left a smear. You realize how we are dirtying God’s hands and how easy it would be for God to clear the filth away. And who is to save us from God’s decision? Is there an intermediary to come to our defense? But, some of you doubt Jesus Christ, therefore the fires of hell burn hot and bright below.

Your wickedness makes your body heavy as lead. You slide in God’s hands from your own greasy life. A spider’s web would not be able to save you as you fall, your sin weighs so heavy. You have used this life to satisfy lusts, to drink until happy, to buy and to consume, to put down others while you build yourself up, and you have forgotten the poor, those who have been treated unfairly, and those who struggle because they have lost the person close to them who they need.

The words of Mary’s song ring again through the air. “God has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” You had forgotten. You knew the words but you had forgotten.

God looks down at you and anger fills God’s eyes. The clouds move in from behind. You grasp onto God’s fingers. The fire burns brighter from your sin and the winds from the storm of God’s anger starts to push you toward the edge.

You make a case to God again about your goodness, grasping at straws, but God knows the truth. None of us are good. None of us are great. You strive to abate the winds, you strive to show yourself in the best possible light, but God’s furry at your inability to come clean about your life grows, and the waters break forth from the storm to wash you away in a torrent of water to meet your steamy end.

God is not mean. God is righteously angry. You cannot blame God, for God is fair and you will not suffer beyond what strict justice requires; fair punishment for every wrong. But, neither shall anything be withheld, because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. 8:18. "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them.” How awful are those words, and these from, Isa. 63:3, which are the words of the great God. "I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment."

You stare down at the misery in the fire. You stare down at the end that is waiting for you because of your own wickedness and your own sin.

Now, at this point in a traditional fire and brimstone sermon I would shout out loudly that all who need to trust in our Lord Jesus Christ to save us from such destruction to please come forward...or at least email me so that I can lead you in a prayer that will allow you to trust in Jesus so that he might turn to you and save you.

But, I am a Lutheran preacher, so I will not go there. You get something else instead.

God slowly lowers you into the fire. The fire burns hot. The searing heat is almost unbearable. The fire indeed hurts, but yet you look down to see that you are still there. The fire does not completely destroy you. It has definitely left its mark. It has definitely burned you to the core, but you do not look hideous. Instead, the fire burned away your sin, your doubt, and your pain. You are relieved as you are raised from the fire and you look up and see Jesus holding you. Behind him the storm couds bursts forth. The water pours down on you and washes you clean instead of washing you away. You cling to Jesus' wide open arms. As you cling, you see that the grime you had left on his arm before is washed into the fires of the pit below. Jesus arms remain wide open wide open there-after, always waiting for you cling to his goodness and righteousness again and again.

Reflection On Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

2010-10-15T10:49:00.001-04:00

During our four years of seminary there was only one place we were allowed to celebrate on the 4th of July; Kathy’s house. Kathy, her husband, and her two kids would welcome us over for a feast of brats, hamburgers, chips, potato salad, nice wine…you name it, it was there. An hour before, we would make a phone call and ask if we needed to bring anything over. The answer was always the same: “Bring nothing but yourselves.” We did not need to bring drinks, a dish to share, dip…we did not even need to bring fireworks. It was all there, and they were wonderful hosts who knew how to share in the enjoyment of a good evening with friends. There was one catch though, around 9:00pm Kathy would grab the guitar that no one in the house knew how to play, sit it in my lap, and we would start singing church camp songs. There is nothing like a beautiful evening, a full stomach, stars, fireworks, and song filling our souls. It was not in a stain glassed sanctuary, but it was church.

My first year of serving here, I was invited several times to a young couple’s house. The couple had children, were very busy in life, and were very poor. Yet they invited me over for a feast. I asked if I could bring anything, but they insisted that I was their guest. So, we would sit in the kitchen, eat a meal of Mac and Cheese and ham sandwiches, tell jokes, and simply enjoy each other’s company. There was one catch though, I was to teach a new, fun table grace to the children, and I was to bring over communion. So, we would pray before the meal in a fun way and after supper, sitting on the floor of the living room because there was limited furniture in the house, I would open the children’s Bible, share a Bible story with the kids, open the communion set and then share in the Lord’s meal. None of this happened around a beautiful stone altar, but it was church.

I love church buildings. In my home congregation, on the fourth of July, the cover of our bulletin always showed some sort of small church on top of some rolling hill with an American flag waving prominently outside. The small church was always simple, beautiful, peaceful, and full of inspiration. I love large churches also…the type that make you gasp at their tall vaulted ceilings and their beautiful stained glass windows that tell the story of God and God’s people in picture form. I love church buildings, but the buildings are not church. People are church.

In the gospel for today, Jesus turns completely up-side-down our concepts of church. First, when Jesus asks his disciples to do God’s work, he does not instruct his disciples to gather people into his own home so that he can teach and heal them. Instead, quite the opposite is instructed: “Go on your way…Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide…” For Jesus, church gathers not in beautiful buildings, but in people’s homes. Further, the disciples are not in control of the situation. They are subject to the host, to the host’s traditions, to whom the host gathers, and to the host’s food. And, for this wonderful hospitality, the disciples are only expected one thing, to offer the kingdom of God; to bring God’s stories and to bring healing where they can. In this up-side-down world of church, the disciples go out, the people do not gather in.

Now, I must admit that I have never been politically savvy, and I do realize that there is an inherent danger in preaching this during a building campaign. I warn you now, never vote me into public office, I will completely embarrass you. But, since we are in the middle of a building campaign, maybe we should take a look at what this up-side-down world of church looks like when you do have a building.

This puts us in the role of host rather than disciple. And, what do hosts do? They make sure that the place is clean. They make sure that people feel welcomed and cared for and that they have the best place to sit. Hosts sit with their guests. They converse with their guests. They feed their guests whenever they can. And, most importantly, they are listening close for the needs of their guest. A good host is able to anticipate their guests’ needs and find a way to provide for their needs so that they may experience God’s peace in the home. Oh, and one other thing, they expect that they will somehow, in some way, be enriched by the guest. The host does not dictate the gift that the guest will give, but anticipates receiving whatever gift to guest has to offer.

Christ’s church is an up-side-down world. It is a world in which the disciples go out rather than expecting people to come in, and it is a world in which the church is shaped by the needs of the guest rather than the desires of the host.

A classmate of mine was invited by a four-year-old to play in the sandbox. So, she went, taking nothing with her. She ate sand pies. She drank sand coffee. She even lived in a sand castle. After some time, the classmate offered her own gift: she took some water, made the sand damp and shaped the form of Jesus out of the sand. She then told the story of Jesus welcoming the children to the four-year-old. Her preaching did not come from the pulpit, nor was it directed towards adults, but it was church.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection On Galatians 5:1, 13-25

2010-10-15T10:41:00.002-04:00

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine. Everywhere I go, I’m going to let it shine. Jesus gave it to me, I’m going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” In 1935, song recorder Horace Clarence Boyer, heard and recorded on paper this simple, yet strong piece of African American music. Many of us grew up learning this song as a children’s hymn, with actions and with extra verses about not letting the light blow out, but this song was not always a children’s hymn. Though the song probably does not go earlier than 1865, when slavery was abolished, and into the fields of labor on southern plantations, it certainly comes from the heart of someone who has found themselves less than free.

It is no surprise that it was one of the primary songs of the civil rights movement, because its simple message conveys a strong reality: “I’ve got a light, you cannot keep me from shining it, nor can you take it away because it was not given by you, but it was given by Jesus. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine, and there is nothing that you can do about it! You can keep me from eating at the same counter as you, but you cannot blow out the light of God. You can keep me from using the same bathroom as you, but Jesus’ light will shine in right through the cracks in the stall doors. You can pretend that I am your slave. Perhaps, I am a slave, but I am not a slave to you; I am a slave of the one who set me free, Jesus Christ my Lord!”

It is because of this reason that I find it interesting that we teach this thing to children. Who else in our society feels more like slaves than they do? Wash the dishes, mow the lawn, clean your room. The last thing parents want to hear when giving their childen chores are their vocal chords piping up with an African American freedom spiritual! Or, maybe we do. We are a nation of freedom after-all. Maybe, we secretly want our children to rebel…a little. Maybe, we want them to know in their hearts that they have a light and no one is going to put it out. Maybe there is a little secret sense of pride when they rebel and set out on their own, eating celery but not carrots. We parents cannot let it go too far mind you. But, they are free, and they need to know that no one: not you or me, or their teachers, or their future employers, or the government, or even their own parents are going to put out the light of Christ, because they are free. In the same way that Paul declares to us in Galatians, we want them to know in their hearts that in Christ they have been set free. They are not slaves, nor will they become slaves; in Christ they are free.

Of course, we joked about wanting our children to have only a “little” sense of freedom; but not too much. Paul toys with us in the same way also. Yes, you have been made free by Christ, but do not think that your freedom means you can do whatever you want!

…do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

As many multi-million dollar lottery winners will tell you, freedom from whatever held you in slavery before (employers, bill collectors, overbearing parents, out of control expenses) will not make you free from yourself. As many of these winners will remind you, freedom from every financial burden only allows you the opportunity to over-indulge and ruin yourself.

So, freedom from everything is not the point either. Because, when you are free from everything else, you still are slave to yourself. You still are slave to your passions and vices, and who will free you from that kind of slavery?

This is the wisdom that is found in African American Spirituals like “This Little Light of Mine.” This little light of mine was given to me by Jesus. It is not “my” light after-all. Nor do I sit there and just shine it all over myself. “Everywhere I go, I’m going to let it shine.” Look at my light. I am not slave to you, or to other people’s dictations or expectations of me, or to the law, I am not owned by any of you; I have my own light. But, it was given to me by someone else. I am a slave to the one who gave it to me, Jesus Christ. Not only that, but I choose to be a slave to you, sharing the light, loving you the same way that I love myself. My light allows me the freedom to “love my neighbor as myself.” I am free, I am free, to love you, and not only you but everyone I meet everywhere I go.

We are free to live in the love of Christ and the love of everyone around us. We are free to live in a bath of Jesus’ light as his light shines on us from every direction from every person. We are free to be a slave of love rather than a slave of oppression or self-indulgence. We are free!

And, so we sing spirituals like “This Little Light of Mine,” to remind us that we are free. It may not seem so when we look at our lives, but, that does not make it any less true. We are always free to love one another. “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine. Everywhere I go, I’m going to let it shine. Jesus gave it to me, I’m going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 8:26-39

2010-06-22T11:10:00.002-04:00

The friend asked him if he could pick him up a couple of things while he was at the Lowe's. That was all. It was a simple request. He would even provide the money in advanced. But, the guy went off anyway. Like the click of a door knob in a house filled with leaking natural gas, the guy just went off on his friend; accusing of taking advantage, accusing of intruding on his life, accusing of simply existing.

“Dude chill. I just asked you to pick up a lighting switch and some bulbs at Lowe's for me. What’s up?” the friend asked.

And that is when the guy broke down. Where to start? With the finances becoming impossible? With the constant calls of the bill collectors like a constant mantra that says, “You are a loser.” With the kids? With the parents always wanting you over more? With the wife wondering when you will be home sometime when she knows full well that you are trying to keep everyone afloat? With the fact that you are so depressed that you can not even move from the television? And, that is not the end. That is just the introduction to the class “My Sucky Life 101.”

His problems are legion. One thing he can handle. Just set your mind to it and you can fix it. Maybe two things could be handled without too much difficulty. But, 96 different crisis for one life is just too much. He is going crazy…literally being driven mad by stress. He knows things are bad. People treat him specially now. Like someone with a mental illness, they are short and polite with their conversations with him, and they make sure to walk at least five feet from where he is standing. They do not want to be hit by some random piece of sucky life orbiting around his body. He is quarantined away from the world.

Now, there was a man in the country of the Gerasenes who was also quarantined away by the community because he was beleaguered by demons. Now, I do not know exactly what the ancients meant when they said a person was overwhelmed by a whole legion of demons, but I imagine that having multiple internal voices telling you that “you should do this,” “you should get that done,” “you suck because you forgot that,” “don’t forget this” is at least a low grade version of being possessed by a legion of demons. I mean, is not the definition of being possessed by a legion of demons: “having little control over your life because outside forces have invaded and are now dictating your actions.” Become a day late with one payment to a credit card and you are well on your way to demon possession. You know what it means to have your actions dictated by the outside world.

“Just chain us up now because we are likely to blow at any time.”

“Wait, did I just refer to myself in the plural? Symptom number two!”

The problem with demon possession, in both the literal and the non literal senses is that it not only stresses out the brain and the body, but it focuses life on just one person…"myself." This is not a moral judgment; just the reality. It affects everyone one around. They must adapt their lives to either aid you or stay clear of you. People start to depend on your legion of problems to either build a fulfilling life of helping you, or depend on you as a person upon whom all blame can safely rest so that they do not have to deal with their own demons. It is very debilitating. When I look around at many people today, I see debilitated people. I see people who are tied to a legion of demons either by direct possession or in a supporting role of some sort.

Into this world of debilitation, Jesus comes along. He sees the man who is driven mad by his legion of demons. Rather than staying clear of the orbiting bits of suckiness, Jesus steps right into the man's life, stretches out his hands and “heals” the man from his legion of problems. More than heals, Jesus saves the man from his legion of problems. Jesus casts the demons into a group of swine who then immediately drown themselves, and the man is free. He is free from the burdens and stress that a legion creates. He is free to simply sit at Jesus' feet and listen. Free.

And, you thought that having a hog farm built right next door to your property was problematic! You cannot possibly want to get rid of it; that stinky place just may be your future salvation!

Now, when people see that the man has been healed and is now sitting at Jesus' feet (in his right mind), one would assume that people would be amazed at what had happened. Of course, one would be wrong to assume that.

Instead, people responded to Jesus' healing of the legion of demons with fear and anger. They drive Jesus out of town, asking that he never come again and heal. It is strange, but the truth of the matter is, healing has a tendency to upset everything. What if everyone was given a break on their loans by being given 0% or even 3% or 5%? The nation's economy would collapse! Or, at least people fear it would! It would be as if a preacher came and drove your town’s entire herd of swine into the sea. Healing comes at a cost.

We should have guessed this. Since a person's illness affects everyone else around, it would be stupid of us to assume that healing and salvation would not affect everyone equally as hard. When a person with alcohol addiction goes off for treatment and then comes back, they very often find that their problems have not gotten better, instead they have just begun. There were people who needed him or her to be sick so that they could be the responsible people and help him or her. There are the people who needed him or her to be sick so that they could lay the blame of all of their own problems on him or her. Healing disrupts people's lives and sometimes causes many new problems. Healing comes at a cost.

But, just as illness starts a domino effect of more illness, healing...tough as it may be...can also start a domino effect of more healing. Those who depended on him or her to be sick, can learn to help others who truly need the assistance. Those who depended on him or her to be sick, can start looking at their own problems and find true healing for their own legion of problems.

Healing may come at a cost, but healing is healing, and wholeness is wholeness. There is no need to fear Jesus' presence. There is no need to fear Jesus' healing. Trust the healing and then allow the dominoes to fall where they will. Share what Jesus has done for you. Go and share that Jesus has brought healing.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 7:36-8:3

2010-06-22T06:43:00.002-04:00

Simon is better than the woman. There is no doubt about it. Simon the Pharisee is a much more upright, much more blessed, and vastly more moral than the woman who comes, interrupts the dinner party, and makes a spectacle of herself as she wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair and anoints his feet with oil. Simon follows the law. Simon is in debt to no one. Simon is blessed enough to share what he has with an extravagant meal. Yes, Simon is better and much more righteous than the woman.

He knows it too. As he stares at the woman who is groveling over and stroking Jesus’ feet, he secretly indulges in the passing judgment about how petty and filthy the woman is. How dare she presume to come into the dinner party? How dare she presume to touch Jesus with her unclean hands? What a sad, sad child? Pity!

I am not trying to put Simon down; the same kind of thought has crossed my mind before. Sure, I know that as a Christian I am to be loving and accepting of people; even accepting of the unlovable and underprivileged. But, I do have to admit to the fleeting thoughts of Simon; the ones that say, “why don’t you clean yourself up,” or “why don’t you just go get a job and stop mooching off of others,” or “what gives you the right to be here and make a decision,” or “whatever made you think that you would fit in here,” or simply, “look at her, gross.” The thoughts may be fleeting, but they are not trivial.

I once knew a man whom the world would consider “blessed.” He had many things and shared his wealth freely. He was very intelligent and was not shy with sharing his knowledge. The man was a walking encyclopedia and would help you with anything that you desired to know. His hair was slicked back perfectly, which seemed to suit him as he was a devoted usher in the church. He served on the church council regularly and on several community boards. He was an honest and righteous man.

There was only one problem. You could never get close to the guy. He would give you the shirt off of his back, but he would not stick around to help you put it on. He would feed you with valuable information, but needed no help in return. He was tall and looked down on everyone he was around, literally and figuratively. He was God’s gift to the world, and he knew it. A person did feel attended to by the man, but did not necessarily feel loved. To this man, and to us when we live his life even so slightly, Jesus has a message for us:

Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "speak." "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little."

A person who does not need God, is exactly that; a person who does not have God. The woman, who has been granted the loving forgiveness of God, has God’s love to share. God has chosen her and she is overwhelmed that she has the opportunity to participate in that love and grace. The woman participates in the very source of life, Jesus the Christ, as she celebrates the joy of forgiveness. She is close, and intimate, and has love.

So what of the righteous? The problem of the righteous is not that they have transgressed any moral law, they truly are righteous after-all. The problem lies at a much deeper level. The problem lies in their inability to participate in the new life of Jesus Christ. Yes, they want forgiveness, but they do not believe that they need much of it. They love little because they have allowed themselves to be forgiven little.

Lutheran Theologian Paul Tillich, from his book The New Being once asked,

Why do Christians turn away from their righteous pastors? Why do people turn away from righteous neighborhoods? Why do many turn away from righteous Christianity and from the Jesus it paints and the God it proclaims? Why do they turn to those who are not considered to be the righteous ones? Often, certainly, it is because they want to escape judgment. But more often it is because they seek a love which is rooted in forgiveness, and this the righteous ones cannot give. Many of those to whom they turn cannot give it either. Jesus gave it to the woman who was utterly unacceptable. The Church would be more the Church of Christ than it is now if it did the same, if it joined Jesus and not Simon in its encounter with those who are rightly judged unacceptable. Each of us who strives for righteousness would be more Christian if more were forgiven us, if we loved more and if we could better resist the temptation to present ourselves as acceptable to God by our own righteousness.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 7:11-17

2010-06-22T06:36:00.001-04:00

The widow now had nothing. I am not sure that anyone else around her realized this; but as she walked beside the men carrying the body of her dead son, she wept bitterly for her son and for herself, because her son’s death also meant her own death. No, this is not the part of the world where she would need to jump into the fire along with her dead relative, though she might want to. Nor, will she be put on a floating iceberg and sent out to sea to meet her fate. The fate of this lone widow will not be that dramatic. She will simply go home after the funeral, find the last bit of money and food that her son had left her, and slowly die from starvation and neglect because there is no one left to care.

Her husband always saw her, with his beautiful eyes and strong presence. But, he is no longer around. Her son always held true to the commandment, “Honor your Father and your Mother,” but he no longer sees her either. Her problem is that she has faded into the shadows of her world, and she will no longer be noticed.

Is it possible for things to get worse? As anyone who has lived a real life can attest, yes, of course things can get worse. In the middle of the funeral procession, the traditional movements are disrupted by a man from the crowds. As if things were not bad enough, now even the funeral will be sent into the gutters with the lunatic ravings of an approaching itinerant preacher. This is like when your cousin Earl stands up in the middle of the funeral service and asks “if anyone today has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, please come forward.”

The man walks up, and quite literally stops the funeral procession in its tracks as he reaches up on top of the funeral bier and touches the dead body. This act is disgusting on a couple of levels for these people of the ancient world. There is the interruption of ritual of course which is disgusting socially, but touching the dead body is enough to send you into dry heaves. It is like intentionally touching a piece of road kill. Everyone looks away immediately, except for one person. One person does not look away. One person does not let people get lost in the shadows.

Let me quote the text at this point because I want to get it right:

"When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, 'Young man, I say to you, rise!' The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother."

The Lord saw her. The Lord loved her. The Lord provided for her by giving back her son. Two people were brought back from the dead that day, all because the Lord “saw her.” In the Lord, no one will get lost in the shadows for good. The Lord sees, the Lord loves, and the Lord saves.

That could be the end right there. I would feel confident in sitting down right now if it were not for a confirmation student.

When this story was read in a confirmation class some years back, the students were asked whom they identified with in the story. Some said the woman of course, others said the Jesus, or one of Jesus’ disciples, or simply one of the crowd watching, but one beautiful young woman piped up smartly, “I think I’m the dead guy.”

Of course everyone laughed, and she did too, but only after a split second hesitation. In the world of caring for others, it is those quarter of a second hesitations that matter. They are the gaps that reveal truth before the mask that is acceptable to everyone else takes over. She really did identify with the dead guy.

After confirmation, she was asked if she was serious about being the dead guy. She stood, thinking, deciding if it is OK to take off the mask that protects both herself and us from the truth. She took off the mask and spoke, “I feel bad, because I let people down a lot. Sometimes I am not there when people need me. A lot of times, I am the dead guy.”

If more people were to take off their masks also, she would know that she is not alone. A lot of times, we feel like the dead guy. We know that we should rise, but we do not…no let me revise that, we know that we should rise, rise to the occasion, rise up in our standards, rise up to the challenge, or simply rise and be heard, but we cannot. We are dead. We have lost the spark of life. We are the dead guy.

“As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Now rise, you have been healed by Christ. Rise and walk,” were the words spoken while hands rested on the forehead of the teen. The words were healing ones that feed a dead soul. The words were healing ones that allowed a smile to come upon a dead face. The words were healing ones that allowed the teenaged woman to skip away and be who God was calling her to be.

There are people out there who need you to not be dead. I am reminded of a friend in seminary who was amazed at the sudden revelation while in class that there are people in a church somewhere praying right now that she would come. There are people praying right now that you will come. But, dead people cannot walk. Come and find healing for your soul. Let Jesus raise you from the dead. Be healed and rise.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Romans 5:1-5

2010-06-22T06:30:00.001-04:00

Trinity Sunday, ah yes…the Sunday where every preacher becomes a heretic. Why is this? Because it is the only Sunday where we feel compelled to explain to you the unexplainable…where we feel it is our duty to shape mystery and divinity into a tangible thing so that you can get a grasp upon a truth that we ourselves do not have a grasp.

I love Google searches because you can find some really great heretical stuff out there just by typing a couple of words. I typed, “Trinity is like…” into the Google search box and I came up with only a little over 21 million hits. Like I said, Trinity Sunday is the Sunday where every preacher becomes a heretic, and apparently each one of us is so proud of our heresy that we put it on the web for everyone to see.

I love one of the first hits, it sounds so promising in its opening statement:

“Perhaps the most difficult concept of Christianity to explain is the mystery of the Trinity. How can our God exist in three separate and distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, yet be one God?

If Christians find it hard to grasp this possibility, imagine the problem it presents for those of other faiths. Moslems, in particular, cannot understand how Christians can profess to believe that there is only one God, yet worship Him as three individual beings. They claim that Christianity is not monotheistic, but polytheistic.

Can our belief in the Trinity be explained in understandable terms?

Perhaps it can!”

I would just like to say one thing; any time you start using pitches from used car salesmen to promote your theological assertion, you know that you that what follows must be great. And it is great, because did you not know that God is like three-in-one shampoo. I bet you did not know that. I did not know that either. That is right, each part of the shampoo does a different task, but it is the same substance. Tada! All of your questions about the Trinity answered, plus your hair is now shiny and clean! Just fail to mention that this is actually the heresy of tri-thiesm, because there are actually three gods living in that shampoo to do the different tasks of washing your scalp…if you do not mention that, it works perfect!

Oh, is three-in-one shampoo last year’s model for explaining the Trinity, well then, let us look in the new lot. How about the Trinity is like water! Of course, God quenches our thirst, it makes total sense. Plus, water can exist in three forms, as a vapor (steam), as a liquid (that wet stuff), and as a solid (what you use to cool your drink, ice). This is great, I totally get God now. I had no idea that it is actually God coming out of my pours when I get hot. No, actually sweat is not God; this famous heresy is known as, modalism. Yeah, that is right; the heresy that says that God can only be in one place at one time, not as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” but “Father, Son, or Holy Spirit.”

Did you know that God is also an egg, an apple (which solved lots of problems for people who do not like God in the old testament, just peal the tough Holy Spirit off the outside and core the creator God out from the inside and you only have sweet juicy Jesus left), a three layer bar…Oh, I could go on and on with apparently twenty million, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety five more examples.

There was actually one that I kind of liked. The Trinity is like the ocean. The ocean is God and the waves that rise to form are Jesus. Jesus never separates from God the Father, but is distinct. And the ocean permeates the air with its salty moisture, drawing you to its shores just as the Holy Spirit draws us together.

This too is not a great example, but I kind of like where the end is going, with the salt air being like the Holy Spirit drawing us close to God. Of course, God is not an ocean, or a wave, but God does draw us into a relationship. This is what the Biblical witness has to say about our Trinitarian God.

It is interesting that Paul never tries to attempt to describe God so that we can understand God as something (nor does any other biblical writer). They never try the God is an apple bit. But they do talk about God as Father, God as Son, and God as Holy Spirit a lot, and it all has to do with a loving relationship.

God the Father has made us right; God has set us straight, through the love of Jesus, so that we might live in peace with God. Wow, that is amazing. Notice how trite all of this talk about God being like a shampoo is compared to that. God wants to live in peace with you. God the Father has made things right between the two of you through the cross of Christ and the alluring draw of the Holy Spirit. God desires to live at peace with you and with all creation. This is not understanding the Trinity; this is living with the Trinity. Maybe the Trinity is like someone in your home who you dearly love; you will never understand them or what they do, sometimes they make you infinitely angry, but at the same time, they comfort you, they help to direct you, you can get a lot done together, and most of all, without them the house would not be full of love.

You see, the Trinity is not about understanding. We do not understand the ones we love. But, we have a life and we have hope because we have a loving relationship. Understanding is not the point. God choosing to live with us is the point. And, God is present here with us. As Paul says, “God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” God is present now, and so are you, and it is a beautiful relationship.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on John 14:8-17

2010-06-22T06:21:00.001-04:00

When I was a senior in high school, my parents left me. Now, I do not want you getting the wrong idea here; this is not going to be a story about abandonment where I come out the survivor of cruel parents after living years on the hard paved streets of the city. No, while I was a senior in high school, my Father graduated college and was moving on to go to school at the seminary to become a pastor. I was a senior. I had friends. I had a life. I was not going along with. So, my parents left me behind.

I remember the days right before they left. I wandered around the house filled with a strange sort of pain and fear. I was already missing them terribly, my heart was beating fast and the tears held back just around the corner of my eyes. Plus, I had all sorts of question. They could not go because…I was not quite sure how to pay for gas other than at the pump. What if I could not just slide in my card. Who was I to talk to? What was I to say? Or, what do you do when you run out of checks; how do you get more? How much do you tip a waitress? How do you drive in downtown Omaha? I had all of these questions that I needed answered, but the questions were all basically the same question: How do I possibly live without you? I am going to be so alone.

Philip joins me in these questions as Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to leave. Jesus is going to the cross. Jesus is going to die. Jesus is going away to the Father, and the disciples will again be alone. Who is going to show them the ways of God? Who is going to direct them in what they should do and to whom they should give help and where they are to go? Jesus, you have not finished showing us everything! “Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Show us God before you go. Jesus, do not go; we are going to be so alone!

Like every parent, my parents did not just up and move hundreds of miles away without somehow preparing for all of these unanswered questions. Just outside of my new bedroom, were a new set of parents who had graciously taken me in for the year. I moved in with a wonderful family and from them I learned lots of things such as: how to tie a tie. I learned how to sew a button back on my shirt. I learned that Aussie Shampoo will ruin my hair leaving it dry and like wire for more than a month. I learned all kinds of things from these gracious people. My parents were not stupid. They left me people right next to my bedroom door who would guide me in the same ways that they would.

Disciples of Christ, you too have not been left alone. The Holy Spirit, the paraklete in Greek, the advocate, the one who walks beside us, is right here with us. Jesus has not left us orphaned. Jesus has given us the gift of a next door neighbor! But, this is good next door neighbor. The Holy Spirit will not let its dog leave gifts in your lawn, the Holy Spirit will not cut down your apple tree, nor will the Holy Spirit be the drill sergeant of life next door.

The Holy Spirit is the one who will live beside you, walk beside you, love you, and remind you that you are God’s. The Holy Spirit will remind you of the Father, and of Jesus so that you will not go through life alone.

I am not sure that all Christians realize that they have a next door neighbor. Sure, they have been told that in sermons and such, but who listens to them…nice nap fests that they are. No, many Christians do not realize that they have a heavenly next door neighbor. They have let their property line bushes grow tall and thick and they cannot even see over the property line. The neighbor is still there of course. The overgrown bushes are not the neighbor’s fault. But, the bushes do allow us to feel lonely. We feel as if we have no gifts from God. We feel as if God has no use for us. We simple feel scared to try anything for the sake of the risen one, because we cannot see the encouragement and hear the wisdom from our neighbor.

But, if we allowed the bushes to be trimmed we would see that “the one who believes in [Jesus] will also do the works that [Jesus does] and, in fact, will do greater works than these...” There is no need to live in fear. There is no need to live as a sheltered Christian. The Spirit has taken up residence right next to us and will guide us in the ways and works of God.

Did you not hear Jesus say, “I will do whatever you ask in my name…If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”? This is not a divine promise to grant you all of your wishes. It is much better than that. It is the divine expression of a parent that says, “I would do anything for you. You are not alone. You are not worthless. You are special. You are a gift to the world. You have gifts to share with the world, and I would do anything to make you and your gifts shine.”

The Holy Spirit has taken us residence next to you, and together you and the Holy Spirit will make your street a better place to live.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Relfection on Revelation 21:1-6

2010-06-22T06:12:00.001-04:00

A minister dies and, resplendent in his clerical collar and colorful robes, waits in line at the Pearly Gates. Just ahead of him is a guy dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.

Saint Peter addresses this guy, "Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?"

The guy replies, "I'm Joe Green, taxi-driver, of Noo Yawk City." Saint Peter consults his list, smiles and says to the taxi-driver, "Take this silken robe and golden staff, and enter into the Kingdom."

So the taxi-driver enters Heaven with his robe and staff, and the minister is next in line. Without being asked, he proclaims, "I am Michael O'Connor, head pastor of Saint Mary's for the last forty-three years."

Saint Peter consults his list and says, "Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Just a minute," says the preacher, "that man was a taxi-driver, and you issued him a silken robe and golden staff. But I get wood and cotton. How can this be?"

"Up here, we go by results," says Saint Peter. "While you preached, people slept -- while he drove, people prayed."

Ah yes, the “St. Peter and the Pearly Gate Jokes.” There are a million of these things, but they mostly all go the same way. Someone goes up to heaven, is given some sort of test at the gates of heaven, and either does or does not get in based on the comedic twist of the joke. Sometimes the people who get in are not the people who we would expect…sort of the comedic world’s version of “the first shall be last and the last shall be first;” such as in the joke about the resplendently dressed minister and the taxi driver…but other jokes agree completely on those who will not have any chance of getting into heaven. In fact, this high paid group of people would be lucky to even see the pearly gates in the first place. This group of people of course are: lawyers.

Did you know that heaven and hell are actually right next to each other?

They are separated by a big chain-link fence. Well, one day hell was having a big party and it got a little out of hand. God heard the ruckus and arrived to find his fence completely smashed by the wild partiers.

He called the devil over and said "Look, Satan, you have to rebuild this fence." Satan agreed. The next day God noticed that the devil had completely rebuilt the fence...but it was 2 feet further into heaven than before.

"Satan!" beckoned God. "You have to take that fence down and put it back where it belongs!"

"Yeah? What if I don't?" replied the devil.

"I'll sue you if I have to," answered God.

"Sure," laughed Satan. "Where are you going to find a lawyer?"

Not only do these jokes reassure us about who will and who will not get into heaven…certainly we will be the ones getting through the gates, but they also agree on one important claim; you have to do something good or answer something correctly in order to get into heaven. I know, I know, they are just jokes and people do not take them seriously…so chill Pastor Jira. That is true, I love telling these jokes as much as the next fella, but their very existence says something very fundamental about what we believe.

I recently saw this fundamental believe etched into stone in a student art gallery. The piece was beautiful. It was two human forms. One was struggling up the side of a mountain, grasping to climb even higher, and the other was on the top of the mountain, yet the figure still could not get high enough. The figure was still reaching further, into the air, not quite reaching what it was searching for. “The Human Struggle” read the placard next to the piece. The figures struggle to reach and grasp onto that which is the highest truth. Yet, even the figure that made it to the top, still grasped at air.

Most people will not believe you when you tell them that we do not go up to get to heaven. So convinced are we that heaven is above…so convinced are we that we must struggle to reach God, that we completely miss what the Bible has to say about God, and the new heavens and the new earth. Not surprisingly, but surprising to some, the Bible does not offer us the image seen in the jokes.

But, the Bible does offer us this:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."

Did you notice what happens here? Did you see the direction of things? The “new Jerusalem” comes down. And along with the city, God comes down to live with God’s people. The image harkens back to the old days, when the temple still existed in Jerusalem. The inner sanctuary of the temple was where God dwelled; it was where God lived. Seeing Jerusalem on the horizon as you came near was so exciting for the ancient Jews, not because it was a great and wonderful city, but because as you approached you knew you were coming close to God. You could literally see the temple where God was; God, who lived right there, dwelling right there, right here on earth with us. The ancients knew that you do not build temples to go up to God. God destroys such staircases to heaven, ever heard of the tower of Babel that God destroyed? You build temples for God because God comes down. God’s kingdom is and will always be right here…down here…and God will be our God and we shall be God’s people. God will walk with us. God will wipe the tears from our eyes.

You can climb as high as you wants, you can try as hard as you desire, but all that will happen is that you will reach the top and all you will grasp is air. You cannot climb or somehow work your way up to God. God is not there. God has chosen to come to us. We do not go up, God always comes down.

So what? Who cares? Maybe some of us are directionally challenged. What does this matter?

When you have tried and failed, and tried, and tried, and failed again and again and again, it matters when you here that you do not need to go up; God comes down to you.

When you try to make something of yourself, and someone always pushes you back down, it matters that God comes down.

When you have no control over the pain, it matters that God comes down.

When you are stopped by police and are blamed, not because you did anything wrong, but because you happen to have a little darker complexion, it matters that God comes down.

When you happen to be a lawyer, it matters that God comes down.

When God comes down, God’s kingdom comes along with. Divisions between people mean nothing in God’s kingdom, people are healed no matter what in God’s kingdom, and people are forgiven no matter what in God’s kingdom. How can we possibly forget the fact that God comes down when we celebrate it every December 25th? We do not go up to God, God came down to us in Jesus Christ and continues to come down today.

This is the great gift of the reformation! Listen to how Martin Luther phrases everything, “God created me;” “Jesus…is my Lord;” “I…cannot believe…but the Holy Spirit calls.” In all of those phrases it is God who does the action, God who does the saving, and God who gives the faith. We will only grasp at air when we try. But all hope is not lost. God will find God’s people and will live with them. For a world that seeks and never finds, this is a great gift. What an amazing word of grace. No wonder Martin Luther was willing to put his life on the line. It is beautiful word. Let us go out and share it!

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection On John 21:1-19

2010-04-19T20:55:00.001-04:00

This story is just a ridiculous story. Really, how can anyone take this thing seriously? First up, we have Peter. He is continuing his losing streak against the beloved disciple. Did you not know they were competing? The beloved disciple thus far has beaten Peter to the empty tomb (even though Peter started first), he beat Peter by a long shot in having resurrection faith, and now he beats Peter to recognizing the Lord who is standing far from their fishing boat on the shore. Oh, the beloved disciple of Jesus Christ; the disciple who laid his head on Jesus breast, the disciple who Jesus loved above the others, the disciple who Peter is going to be beat, literally, if he does not stop making Peter look like an idiot.

Unfortunately for Peter, he does not need too much help in the “looking like an idiot” department. The guy is standing in a boat, in the sea, completely naked, fishing. Need I say more. He just earned his idiot badge right there. Just give the guy a six pack, stick him on the Susquehanna, and he would be a local.

Wait though, I do need to say more. Did you notice that it was fine for Peter to stand naked in front of the entire world on the boat, but he just had to get dressed so that he could jump into the murky water to go see Jesus? I bet you did not know this but, because of this yahoo, all pastors are required to shower with their clerics on before they go see Jesus on Sunday mornings. I bet you did not know that. Well, I have to admit, that is not true. I shower with my cleric on every Sunday morning because I still have not figured out how to turn on our new-fangled, space aged washing machine.

Ridiculous! This whole story is ridiculous and funny. It is a funny, funny story; like when Jesus first comes onto the scene after the disciples have been fishing for likely more than 12 hours. The disciples are exhausted and frustrated, and some guy…they did not recognize Jesus…hollers out to them, “put your nets out on the right side of the boat.”

“Oh, duh! The right side of the boat, who would have thought to switch to the other side of the boat after twelve hours of casting the net into the water?” (Sarcastically)

Oh, and then the funniest part of it all, when Jesus says to Peter:

Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

Ha! That is so…not really funny at all. “Peter, someone is going to kill you because you follow me,” is what Jesus is saying. The words sound ridiculous, but they certainly are not funny. This ridiculous and funny story has suddenly taken a sharp turn toward a cliff, and, I am not sure that I want to go there. I am not sure that I want to think about being murdered for my beliefs. Why do we not just go back to the funny parts? Do we really need to think about the cost of discipleship? Do we really need to consider the dangers of living a true life of faith? I think that I need some more humor.

After years and years of dealing with families near or during death there is one truth that I have learned, death and humor were born to go hand in hand. A person may be facing certain death, but that does not stop them from remarking that they "cannot wait to get to the coroner’s office, I have been dying to finally lose some weight."

Death has such a heavy hand and can offer such a strong blow that we need a gift that is equally powerful so that we can face it. Humor is that gift. It is God’s gift to us. It allows us to put death in its correct position; death may touch us, but it cannot control us. Joy can and will get the upper hand. Death cannot hold us down. We laugh in the face of death. We laugh in the face of the fact that our faith may get us precisely where it got our Savior: death on the cross.

If it were not for laughter, we just might not stretch out our neck for a stranger. It would be easy to simply play it safe: avoid all danger, avoid all strangers, stay at home, never allow your children to explore or help anyone. Death can frighten us into inaction. Death can frighten us into safety. But, I am not sure that Jesus is primarily interested in our safety. After-all he did go to the cross to save the world. That probably would not be the most prudent action one could take. He asks Peter to do the same. He asks Peter to follow. And, he asks us to do the same. He asks us to follow. I hate to say it, but Jesus is not interested in our safety, Jesus is interested in making sure people are fed, at peace, free from tyranny, and completely loved. This is not safe work.

Just consider, would blacks have the freedoms that they do if Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks had simply played it safe? No, but they had faith, they had love for others, and they had laughter. Could women and children in war-torn regions of the Congo find safety and nourishment if their missionaries and aid workers were primarily concerned about being safe? No, but those missionaries and aid workers who venture into danger have faith, have love for strangers, and have laughter. Can our children stand up to bullies and defend the weak if they are primarily concerned about their safety? No, but they have faith, they have love for the outcast, and they have laughter.

So, when Jesus seeks you out, and asks you to follow, with death hovering above the water, make sure to put on your finest tux before you dive in. Does it make any sense? No, but it will keep a smile on your face. As Jesus sends you out, into dangers unknown, may he fill you with good humor as you dare to serve in his name.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on John 20:19-31

2010-04-11T19:56:00.001-04:00

"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe," Thomas sternly retorts to the other disciples when they harass him with the message they had seen the risen Lord.

“But, he was right here. He came right through the locked door and gave us his peace.”

“I told you, I will not believe,” Thomas is emphatic.

I know that your English Bible says that Thomas doubted and that years and years of biblical interpretation has labeled him as “doubting Thomas.” But, this is not doubt that he is expressing. Thomas is not wavering in his faith and trust. No, Thomas is certain. The appropriate name for Thomas would be Thomas the unbeliever; Thomas the realist.

Thomas is under no delusions. He knows that the one who he trusted and loved is gone. He is dead and gone and Thomas has gotten on with his life. He is not locking himself away in the other disciple's little room of fear. He is out in the world getting on with things. He is rebuilding his life. He is not trapped in a tomb of fear.

And now these cowards who have locked themselves away in fear and self-pity are trying to drag him back into their delusions. They are trying to drag him back into the locked room. Well, he is not going to fall for it. He is not going to let it happen again. He will not be hurt again by losing someone he loves and trusts. He will not dare to make himself have hope again. He will not open himself to such pain again. He will not believe. He will not believe. "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

Why can’t the dead just stay dead? When they don’t, it throws everything out of whack. You cannot rebuild a life when the dead refuse to stay dead.

I once heard the story of a girl whose life was continually thrown into turmoil every birthday until she was 30 years old, because on her birthday, her dad would give her a video-taped message from her mother who died way too soon. It seemed like a good idea at the time; tape some messages so that her daughter could have the wisdom of her mother years after the cancer had taken her life. Well, it was not a good idea. Each year the daughter would watch the new tape and every year the daughter would feel the pain of her mother's death again. Even worse, when her mother would tell her to marry a certain type of guy, go to a specific school for college, or choose a specific career, the daughter could not fight back with her mother and change her mother’s mind. She felt guilty for every decision that she made in defiance of her mother. Why can’t the dead just stay dead? It throws everything into chaos if they do not. They should just die and stay in their tombs.

Only when the dead stay in their tombs can people like we and Thomas build our tombs and stay there.

A life devoid of hope is indeed a tomb. It cannot allow God to do the unexpected. It cannot allow grace to change the order of the world. It cannot allow our Savior to come back from the dead. As horrible as missing out on those things may seem, the tomb of realism is a mighty fine tomb because it is predictable. The stone walls are the same tomorrow as they are today. You can count on a tomb. It will not cause you to love and trust someone only to lose them.

But, do not let yourselves be mistaken. It is a tomb. Tombs by definition do not hold life. Life cannot grow and flourish in a tomb. We are not made to live in tombs.

And, that is the problem; if we have closed ourselves away in a tomb, where there is no life, how can we possibly get ourselves out? You do not escape tombs. You cannot just decide one day that you are going to leave your tomb to go get a soda from the Dandy. Whether it be a tomb of pain and loss or a tomb of unbelief or a tomb for the dead, a tomb is a tomb. Only the dead lie in tombs, and the dead cannot escape.

It is a good thing that locked doors of fear are not an issue for the risen Jesus, who just slips right through and offers his peace and his breath of forgiving life. It is a good thing that sealed tombs in no way hinder our risen Lord.

Jesus bursts right into Thomas’ tomb of unbelief and shows him the scars in his hands and side, just as Thomas needed. It is a good thing that even a tomb cannot hold Jesus down because it means that there is no place in the universe and no place in anyone’s life where new life cannot flourish. “My Lord, my God” Thomas answers him with new hope filling his life.

Today, that new hope, the new life that cannot be locked away by a tomb, reaches to us across the centuries and Jesus speaks directly to us. “[Thomas] Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Jesus' blessing cracks the edges of our own tombs open. It is not much, but it lets enough light in for hope to grow in even those of us who have not seen the Lord with our own eyes. It may just be a crack of light in our tomb of unbelief, but a crack is all Jesus needs to set us free. Blessed are you who have not seen and yet have come to believe.

I guess that tombs do not last forever after-all.

Reflection on Luke 24:1-12

2010-04-11T19:42:00.001-04:00

I vividly remember an Easter dinner spent with some friends of the family. Just as we were settling ourselves around the kitchen table to chat while the meal cooked, the mother of the household came in quickly and declared to everyone the weatherman on the radio had just announced that there was going to be a huge, late snowfall. She said that the boys needed to go out to the barn and get the snow plow back onto the tractor ASAP. That announcement elicited a two second pause in the conversation, and then it resumed with the swift action of raised coffee cups to sipping mouths. No one did anything.

Just minutes later, the Father came storming into the house, announced the oncoming storm, and told the boys to get out into the barn and get the tractor ready. “I’m not going to let any of my guests get stuck here,” he stated authoritatively. And, immediately the boys were putting on their coats and were out the door. You can imagine the mother’s reaction. The mother’s jaw dropped to the floor as she stared at the father. Confused, the father replied, “What did I do?”

I am sorry, but women, is that not just how it goes. You say something and it is considered to be about as important as Groundhog’s Day, but a man says the same thing and it is like Jesus has risen from the dead! Well, you can take a little comfort from the fact that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women…yes these, the first evangelists in the world, were so important to the early church that they get to bear for eternity the name, “the other woman…” you can take a little comfort that no one believed them even when someone did rise from the dead.

Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women were the first evangelists and the first preachers in the world for the Christian church, and they never hesitated in that job. As soon as the two angels in dazzling clothes approached the women…well I suppose that they may not have been angels, the Bible does not say that, they may have been just a couple of lost choir members bumbling around… whoever they were, as soon as these lost choir members in their white robes told the women that Jesus was not dead, but had risen, they were off to share the good news…that no one believed.

Not only did the disciples not believe the women’s story and brush them off as insignificant, but they considered the whole story a bunch of manure. No, the original Greek Bible does not always use family friendly language, but that just proves the point even more of how utterly ridiculous the women’s story seemed. “People raised from the dead, yeah right! What a load of manure.” People raised from the dead is rediculous. Death is anything but.

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

“Death is a natural part of life.”

“We all labor against our own cure; for death is the cure of all disease.”

“Only death has the last word.”

In this world, the women’s words are crazy! They go against the very law of nature. Death is death. It is the end. After death, there is no more. Death is the one thing that we can count on. Anna Carter Florence, a biblical commentator, once shared the sentiment, "if the dead do not stay dead, what can you count on?"

What the women are saying is illogical.

“People do not raise from the dead. And, in any case, we did not see it. It cannot be true.”

The only logical response is unbelief. Therefore, we keep to what we already know to be true, death.

Wow, did you hear what I just said? Did it sound as bad out there as it did right here? “Therefore, we keep to what we already know to be true, death.” Wow, is there not something a little pathetic in that? It is a life of just getting by from one day to the next because we all know it will come to an end soon. It is a life of just living paycheck to paycheck. It is a life of just getting from one episode of American Idol to the next.

Wow, have we really resigned ourselves to death? Is it really healthy to keep Jesus in the tomb? Is it really healthy to live there in the tomb with him? Really? Is death really where we will find our answers? Is death really something to construct our lives upon?

The lost choir members in white have a question for us…alright, the angels in the tomb have a question for us, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

People’s lives are not changed by a monotonous lifestyle of living paycheck to paycheck. People’s lives do not flourish if death has the last word. Are you really certain that death has the last word? "Really? How can you be so sure?" Jesus’ resurrection forces us to reconsider these deep beliefs of our lives. Yes, death is real, but it is not the last word. In Jesus, life gets the last word.

What if? What if the women are not full of it? What if death is not the last word? What might a life that is not focused on death look like? What might a life with Jesus look like, if the women are right that is, and in Jesus life gets the last word? Would life have meaning? Would it build up rather than tear down?

I am not sure that I can tell you for certain, but is it not worth checking out anyway? Go ahead and run beside Peter, the one disciple who listened to the women…you can tell he was married, he actually listened to the women, smart man…go ahead and run with him, and find out what this life in Christ is about for ourselves? What could it hurt? Certainly, it cannot be worse than death. Why not seek life with Christ? Christ has already claimed you for life with him! What is there to lose?

Reflection on John 20:1-18

2010-04-11T19:29:00.001-04:00

Darkness. The sky was dark when Jesus let out his last breath. The morning was dark when Mary reached the tomb. Mary’s soul was dark when she saw that the body of her beloved Jesus was gone. Life was dark when the hope of the disciples was put to death for good. Life was dark. It was dark.

Darkness is a problem in life. Danger can lurk in the dark; you cannot see to protect yourself. You are exposed; naked. You can get lost in the dark. It is impossible to see your way out of a problem when in the dark. It is interesting that the perspectives of people whose lives have gone dark and therefore attempt suicide are described as having tunnel vision. Their vision is limited, they can see only one solution. Things have gone dark for them. Darkness is a problem in life.

Even though the morning was probably starting to break, the darkness had completely overcome Mary. Heartbroken, she searched for her Savior in the garden. She looked and looked, she went and got the disciples to help her, she even asked the gardener. Her life was dark. She was convinced that her Savior was gone. It was so dark that she did not even see Jesus. In her darkness, she could not see through the exterior of the gardener into his soul. She could not see that her own beloved Savior was standing right next to her.

What do you do when you are lost in the dark? What do you do when you do not even recognize your own salvation? I have known people who cry from being lonely all while family is gathered around them. What do you do when the darkness penetrates so deep that you cannot see the love that is right in front of your eyes?

Sometimes your eyes will deceive you. Sometimes you will be convinced of one thing, when another thing is all together true. Legal courts have discovered that eye-witness testimony is an extremely poor way to get at the truth. Statistically speaking, eye witnesses hinder the investigation of truth more than they help. The eyes deceive. The eyes see things that are not there. Or, they fail to see what is there. Sometimes, they cannot see Jesus and let you know that the one who created, saves, and redeems you is standing right in front of you. Sometimes they allow you to be lost and lonely when the one who would die for you is right there with you.

When darkness has overtaken your sight completely, Jesus does have one way of getting at you…one way of saving you from the darkness; he speaks your name. In the scriptures we recall that, "He calls his own sheep by name... and the sheep follow him because they know his voice."

“Mary,” Jesus says through the darkness.

Indeed, the sheep know the voice of the shepherd, and Mary knows the voice of the one who loves her. You cannot forget the voice of someone so close to you when you hear your name lovingly spoken. It was the Word after-all that created the heavens and the earth. It was the Word that became flesh and lived among us. And, it is by the Word that we were given a name. When we hear our name, we recognize our Savior.

Seeing is not believing. It is through listening that we will find the truth. It is through listening that we will remember whose we are. It is through listening that we will hear our names woven through the fabric of life. It is through listening that Christ will pull us from the darkness into newness of life. Take time to listen for the Word. Take time to listen for Christ. Your name is being spoken. And, God speaks your name beautifully, you precious child of God.

Reflection on Philippians 3:4b-14

2010-03-25T18:03:00.002-04:00

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…” Ah yes, the old classic tune which is the favorite of many and known by Christians and non-Christians alike. It is the tune of someone who has been utterly lost in life, utterly lost in sin, but has found forgiveness and release in the grace of God through Jesus Christ. It is the tune of the recovering drunk or addict. It is the tune of the former thief or embezzler. It is the symphonic conversion story of those who have a new life after a former one that ruined their families and their reputations. It is the conversion story of our faith. It is a tune that has NO appeal to my dad.

My dad has hated the tune for years, not disliked, but hated! He would whisper an inappropriate word under his breath every time it would start to be played at church. If a new pastor was coming into the congregation, my dad’s main concern was what the pastor’s favorite hymn was. Because, two out of three times it was Amazing Grace. My dad had the unfortunate luck of landing in an area of southern Nebraska with just one Lutheran Church, that had just one pastor, who had just one favorite song, that we would sing one Sunday after another! Yes, every Sunday in Geneva Nebraska was conversion Sunday as people sang with their hearts and my dad swore with his through yet another rendition of Amazing Grace.

But, why? Why was this such a hated song? What would cause a man who would soon be a man of the cloth to relearn the foul mouthed language of his youth…in church of all places?

Maybe, because it was not his song. I do not mean that he just did not like the tune or the words, but it truly was not a song that was about him. He never was really lost in life. He had a nice childhood, no abuse or drugs or alcohol. He had a normal teenage life. And, his adult life was going as planned, one might say it was even blessed. Why did he hate it so much? Maybe because, by singing it every single Sunday he felt that the church was trying to stuff a conversion story down his throat that simple was not his conversion story. He was not a wretch. He was not lost. He never needed to be found. He never needed any great moment of conversion by God!

I do not think that my dad is alone in this. I have known many people who have grown in the church, come faithfully to worship, brought their children up in the faith, done well in life both economically and emotionally, and have never had any sort of great conversion event as described in the song.

Do not read me wrong. It is good that the lost and broken people of the world have the song, because, in hearing it, they will know that they belong. The great sinners of the world know they have life in Christ.

But, what about the not-so-great sinners of the world? Where do they fit in the church? If they are not the beloved sinners of the story, are they the hated Pharisees? Maybe, but probably not. They certainly cannot be Jesus. Do you not see the problem here? These people who have grown their lives in the church, feel utterly out of place in their community. Where is their story? How does a normal, feeling pretty blessed in life person fit in?

In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul has a dramatic conversion story, but do not put too much stock in it because Paul himself does not. In fact, Paul’s own conversion story is just as normal and mundane as the best of us!

Look here in Philippians, where Paul goes on about how blessed he is: “I was circumcised on the correct day; I am a member of God’s chosen people, not only that, but my tribe is great! I am more Hebrew than most Hebrews…you cannot get too much more Hebrew than I; as to God’s law, I’m a Pharisee…no one follows the law closer; as to righteousness…I’m pretty much your law abiding, kind, loving, blameless sort of guy.” No, Paul was not lost. Paul was not down in the dumps. Paul was normal. Maybe more than normal, Paul was blessed.

But, notice that God does not shut Paul out of the church because he lacked a good conversion story.

What is God’s word to Paul? What is God’s word to those of us who are just normal, with no great faith conversion stories? What is God’s word to those of us who feel left out somehow because we lack God’s forgiving touch for the simple reason that we really have not needed it all that much? It goes something like this; you think you have been blessed? You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

“All of that blessing that you have had in your life? It is nothing compared to what I have in store for you,” says God. “You ain’t seen nothing yet. What I have in store for you is going to make all of the good things of life look like garbage in comparison. Do you have a nice house and a nice piece of property? Looks good? Well, it ain’t nothing compared to living in Christ. It looks like living in a back woods shack compared to living in Christ.”

What a conversion story! What a promise! It makes Paul excited! It makes Paul giddy! He ain’t seen nothing yet! Life has been good so far, he wonders just how much better life in Christ will be?

You can hear the excitement and anticipation in his voice as he talks about trying to live his life in Christ! He talks about how it is like he is running a race…not one that he can win of course, because Christ has already won it for him, but he runs the race as if he could win it. He runs the race of grace and service to others as if he might win. The excitement in his tone is very contagious, like the cold I have…only without the bad side effects. You too can feel the excitement can you not; of trying to outdo Christ in grace, outdo Christ in loving the sinner and outcast, and outdo Christ in sacrifice for the neighbor? Not that you can outdo Christ. You are not going to win a contest against Christ of course. But racing is fun anyway; just like the little brother who races against his older brother hoping to win the race someday. The little brother probably will not win any time soon, if ever, but is it not fun to try?

Now, that is a conversion story that most of us who have not had amazing grace lives can cling to!

So, for all of you with “you ain’t seen nothing yet” conversion stories, I offer you a challenge. I bet you cannot love more than I. I bet you cannot serve the poor more than I. I bet you cannot love outsiders and sinners more than I. This is real challenge to you today. I am placing a bet with you. I bet you cannot reach the goal of living in Christ faster than I. Go ahead, I dare you to take me up on the bet! Hold on world, God has a whole bunch of people racing. Hold on world, you ain’t seen nothing yet, God is going to come through in a big way.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

2010-03-25T17:50:00.001-04:00

The warm embrace of two people who have been separated for years; the tears of joy that come when the face of the one whom you’ve worried about and held in your prayers for so long is right in front of you; the amazing grace that happens when the one who has been lost has finally been found.

It would be an understatement to say that the story of the Prodigal’s Son is one of the most powerful biblical stories in our society. Everyone knows the story. Even people who have never stepped foot on the grass at the edge of any church property know this story. Heck, most people have lived the story. Who has not been lost? Who has not found themselves at the bottom of the pit, swimming in the mud, planning a way back from the bottom of life, and going home again to find themselves? Who has not felt the love and grace found in forgiveness, especially the undeserved kind? This is our story! This is one of the greatest stories we know!

But, hold on before we get too excited! Hold tight before we allow our imaginations to swim in the images of our loving, grace-filled God who accepts us back just as we are. Hold on, because the older brother has something to say also. And what he has to say, quite frankly is right. It is dead on, center of the target, straight as an arrow, 100% correct.

The older brother, angered that the little twerp gets to have a grand celebration, is 100% right about many things:

1. This twerp, this numskull, this son of a stupid and giddy Father has no right to be celebrated! He stripped his Father of loads of hard earned money when he asked for his inheritance, and he left his Father as if his Father was already dead. What is there celebrate? The older brother is right, the younger brother does not deserve this kind of attention.

2. Not only did he take the money early, but he was not even wise. The kid was one french-fry short of a Happy Meal if you know what I mean. In the same way that fourth grade boys blow all of their spending money during a school field trip on some cheap plastic light up toy that makes noise, and then have nothing left over to buy lunch; the younger son blew all that he had on everything fun but ultimately useless and had nothing left for the rainy day. What an idiot! Surprise, surprise, the famine came. And guess what? He had no money. What is there to be happy about in that? The older brother is right, the younger brother does not deserve to be taken back.

3. A grown father, skipping and giggling like a little school girl, jumping up and down with excitement over seeing this long-lost son of a… Need I say more. The older brother is right.

4. And, on top of it all, the little undeserving, scheming, lying, manipulative, does not want to suffer the consequences of a stupid life, son of the father…note, he is no brother, he wanted to be gone and dead and we are happy to oblige…is getting a party! A party! The good silverware has been set out. The twerp will steal it for sure. The good steaks have been grilled. And, who was not even invited to come in from working hard in the fields to celebrate? Who was out making the money for the family? The older brother. What an ungrateful father! What a stupid situation! Where is the justice? When does the older brother get to celebrate? When does the one who stuck around, did everything right, paid the bills on time, worked to make sure his father was cared for, ran the family business; when does he get to be celebrated? The older brother is right. If the stupid younger brothers of the world want the good things in life, they can work hard for it, just like everyone else.

No, I am not exaggerating, I am not rhetorically yanking your chain, I am not leading you down a blind path, I am honestly, truthfully, and correctly stating that the older brother is right. The younger brother does not deserve any of this. This is not just. This is not honoring the correct people. And, this certainly is not fair.

“Then the father said to [the older brother], ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ “

Everything that the older brother says is right, but it does not necessarily mean that it is good.

It is easy to get confused about this, but sometimes punishment is not the answer to the problem. Sometimes, locking people out is not what will make them healthy. Sometimes, we are absolutely right, but we are not good. Sometimes being right blocks your vision. You cannot see beyond your rightness, because, if you could look beyond your rightness, you would see a broken person on the floor right in front of you who could use a new life. Sometimes being right blinds us to the vast possibilities brought about, not by punishment, but by love and forgiveness and rejoicing. “We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”

Jesus does not worry about being right. When it comes to his brothers and sisters, Jesus is worried about being good. Why does Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners? Not because it is right, but because it is good. Even to the end, when the people who had nailed him to the cross were mocking and spitting on him Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus dying on the cross was not the just thing. It was not right. He should not have had to forgive those monsters. It was not right. But, it was good. It was full of forgiveness, and, it was not blinded by being right.

Come to the table and be fed by Christ. Though others may not, Jesus will eat with you. Come to find healing in Christ. Though others may not, Jesus will accept you. Come back home to Christ, his arms are waiting to embrace you.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 13:1-9

2010-03-25T17:39:00.001-04:00

Ok, so this was the easy part. When researching this reflection, seeing that the text included the unexplainable deaths of the Galileans who were killed by Pilate, and those who suffered from the collapse of a tower, it was easy to find a couple of modern day equivalents. We need to look no further than the earthquakes in Haiti and Chili to find unexplainable suffering.

It was also easy to find someone who would answer “Yes” to the question, “where those people worse sinners than us;” in essence, “did they deserve what they got?” A quick Google search revealed Pat Robertson declaring that the Haitian people were paying the consequences of making a pact with the Devil so that the French would leave their nation. Pat makes my reflection writing so easy sometimes. As predicted, he has certainly said something stupid and wrong, and I have the great fortune of quoting him, calling him horrible, and then pointing to myself as a wonderful, caring, smart man.

But, maybe his presence makes things too easy. Maybe his outlandish comments allow us to change the subject too quickly and we do not take a serious look at some of the natural instincts that we have when we face tragedy of great magnitude.

One of our first responses to a tragedy, such as the earthquakes, is one of care and assistance. This is good. This is Christ working in us at its finest. The need for morning $4 coffees and other luxuries goes out the window right away and people try to help the best they can.

But, lingering behind the aid is always the question, “Why?” And though none of us would ever go on television and say that a bunch of impoverished people deserved what they got because of what their government did years ago to free themselves from colonialism, you cannot stop the question, “Why, did they deserve it?” from flying through your head. It is in there before you even know it.

Psychologists have actually studied this phenomena and documented it. They did a study in which they showed a number of people a video with a mom doing something normal, such as baking with her daughter. They asked half the group what they thought of the mother. Of course, they got answers such as, “you can see they love each other,” “she is a good mother for taking time to do such a neat thing,” etc. But, the scientists told the other half that the mother died soon after that video was shot. Then they asked what the group thought of the mother. And, shockingly to us, but predicted by the psychologists, the majority of the people started to pick on the mother; how she did not smile as much as she should, how she did not pay attention like she should, etc. When grappling with great suffering, it is practically human to ask “why” and to wonder if the person or people suffering were worse than we.

Jesus answers differently than Pat Robertson and differently from our natural instincts. Jesus’ immediate answer is “No.” No, they were no worse than anyone else. Sometimes bad things just happen. There is nothing to be done about it. The victims are not necessarily any worse than the survivors. “No,” they did not deserve what they got. “No.”

And, I would love to end the reflection right there. It does not answer the question of “why,” but it does give an answer to some of our worst tendencies when disaster happens.

However, Jesus just has to ruin everything by addressing the other matter. Yes, it is the other subject that pops in our head when we are faced with tragedy. It is the one that sends people into churches after calamity hits and sends people into personal turmoil as they try to deal with death when it lurks so close.

Jesus remarks, “No, [They are no worse than you, but,] I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.” They may seem harsh Pat Robertsonish words, but they are the other ones that pop in our head. In our language today, they take a form that goes like, “Wow, death can strike anyone at any time. Have I done what is wanted to get done…have I become who I wanted to become before the end of my life?”

Life is fragile. Life can be taken from a four year old as easily as it can be taken from a 90 year old. Just because tragedy has not taken us out, does not mean we are privileged. It can happen at any time. Have I become the child of God that I have always desired to be? These are questions that fade into the background of everyday noises, but they are still there. And, if people do not deserve the tragedies that befall them, then we cannot ignore these questions.

The gardener has not yet cut down the tree. The gardener is everyday placing fertilizer around the roots so that it might grow to a great height and produce wonderful fruit. However, it might be cut down if it does not produce fruit. Or, lightening might strike it. But, grace is being heaped up on the roots. Hopefully, the tree will find joy in what it has been given and produce fruit that will feed everything and everyone around it.

The question, “what have I done to show that in am a child of God?” is a good question. It is not one that we should stuff away for later because, in exploring its answer, we will find the grace that has been heaped upon our roots; and in finding the grace heaped there, those around us will enjoy our fruits. Why would we want to stuff that sort of joy away? God, is not willing to stop trying to make us grow, why should we?

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 4:1-13

2010-03-25T17:25:00.002-04:00

“You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

“My Son." The name is still ringing in Jesus' ears as he is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. It is the name that keeps him going as the heat beats down on him. It is the name that he feeds on like a moist, juicy steak as he struggles to go yet another day without food. And, it is the name that he repeats to himself as a mantra while someone walks from the dust of the wilderness and starts to speak.

“They say that you are the Son of God. Am I in the right place? Did I find the right person?”

Jesus stares up through the beating sun at the tester.

“If you are the Son of God then you will have no problem doing as God did for the Israelites as they wandered starving in the desert; turn this stone into manna. Turn this stone into bread.”

He is the son of God. Why not get a little bread? God certainly cannot be against eating? Yet, the Holy Spirit has not led him to bread. God has not given him bread. He is God’s son. Jesus decides to wait for God to act.

“One does not live by bread alone.” Jesus replies.

The tester’s face twitches for a second, and then his calm smile returns. Then in an instant, they are standing high above earth, looking down on the world in the same way that God looks down on the world.

The tester addresses Jesus, "Look at all of this. You are the Son of God. You are the Messiah. This is all yours. Being in charge of this is your responsibility…no, it is your duty. You would not love the world if you neglected it. Therefore, I will turn over to you the authority over this place right now; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."

He is the Son of God. He is to love the world. He is to serve the world. The Son of God should care. Of course, the devil was claiming more than he should. The devil does not own the kingdoms. They are not his. However, Jesus is the Son of God. Why not start taking on his responsibilities now? it seems like a virtuous thing to do but one lingering question remains, if takes the reigns now who is in control? Is Jesus taking control? Is the devil taking control? God has not told him anything yet except that he is God’s Son. Jesus decides to trust God and to trust God’s timing. It is possible to jump the gun, even when doing something good. Jesus decides to wait for God.

Jesus answered him, "It is written, "Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.' "

The devil takes a deep breath, his face flushes with frustration, and in an instant they are standing, looking over all of Jerusalem, standing on the top of the temple. As they look down, they can see the priests right below offering their sacrifices. The smells of the meat rises past their noses. Beyond they can see the people in the temple who desire more than anything to be near God.

“You have not shown yourself to be the Son of God in any way. You are just like those people down there, a pathetic, normal human who stumbles around life and wishes for something better. You are not the Son of God. It is obvious. "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, "God will command God’s angels concerning you…the Messiah…, to protect you,' and "On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone,' " the tester said pointing down at the stone altar. “Only the Son of God would trust God enough to put his life into God’s hands. Do you trust God, O Son of God?”

The question is similar to the ones we get posed to us today. “You are a Christian? Are not Christians supposed to do this? Are not Christians supposed to believe that, or vote in this way, or care about this cause, or not spend any time around this sort of person? Are you not a Christian?” It is not spoken out loud, but the insinuation is clear, “prove it to me by following my criteria for who a Christian is. If you do not prove it to me, then you will not be considered a Christian.” Or, “prove it to me or I will leave your church for a better…more Christian one.”

“So Jesus, prove that you trust God. Prove that you are the Son of God,” the tester says.

But, Jesus knows that he is the Son of God. He heard the voice over the waters of the Jordan. He heard God speak to him. He is God’s Son, the beloved, with whom God is well pleased. He has to prove nothing to anyone. He only needs to be who God called him to be: God’s Son.

Jesus answered him, "It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’" And, with that, the tester was gone.

At your baptism, you heard some words spoken to you also. You are not Betty or Sam or Charles or any of the names that people call you. You are much more than your name. You are a child of God. You are a brother or sister of Christ. And, with you God is well pleased. Your name shapes who you are. Your name directs what you do and do not do. Your name tells you who you follow, and in whose words you trust. Your name is “Child of God.” Child of God; what a glorious and beautiful name.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 9:28-36

2010-03-25T17:13:00.001-04:00

As I was studying the seeming amazing "transfiguration" vision of Jesus on the top of the mountain with his disciples, glowing with white clothes and a deified face, I noticed something that I had never noticed before. I should have because it is quite obvious, but I am willing to bet that you had not either. Before Jesus is revealed to be the glowing, Holy, Son of God on the mountain, Jesus is wearing regular clothes. It is only logical that if his clothes are transformed into glowing white clothes, then his clothes must have been something entirely ordinary to begin with. This seems such a mundane and insignificant point that I hesitated to mention it and talk about it in an entire blog post, but the truth is that it is not mundane and insignificant at all.

Just use google images to find pictures of Jesus and you will see that in most of them Jesus is glowing everywhere he goes, wearing his gloriously white garb.

What idiots people must have been back then to get rid of the obviously glowing and loving Son of God by putting him on the cross! What morons people must have been back then to not realize that this luminous person was someone special! What buffoons people were back then; if they knew that someone divinely extraordinary was standing before them.

Of course, they were not buffoons, morons, or idiots. They may not have had the internet on which they could search Jesus images, but they did have eyes, and what they saw when they looked at Jesus was just another dusty rabbi walking down the road. Sure, he could work miracles, but other prophets also seemed to work miracles. The miracles were amazing, yes, but that did not necessarily make the guy divine. What they saw when they looked at Jesus was exactly what Jesus showed them, an ordinary rabbi in dusty clothing. Remember, only three of the disciples got to see the white, wonderful clothing. In our need to remember the divine nature of Christ, we often forget his ordinary nature.

That is not so bad is it? Jesus, God with us, alleluia, glory to the lamb, and all of that! But, if that is the only Christ we know, then we will never see him. I repeat, if that is the only Christ we know, then we will never see him.

The hospital room was full of people. I skirted through some of the people to get to the bed of the 65 year old woman. The room was full of conversation and laughter, with a few people tending to the woman in turns. As I soaked in the wonderful scene of a healed and recovering woman surrounded by family and friends, I could not help but notice what a contrast the woman was to the scene around her. She was sad; profoundly sad as if the dreary rain had drenched and soaked into her skin.

“She’s not very happy right now,” one of her daughters mentioned to me.

I asked her what was wrong. She stared at her feet and said, “God has abandoned me. God let me get so sick. God has abandoned me. I am so lonely.”

I am in no way belittling her experience, but I do have a question for you: do you think it is a problem when the only Jesus we know is the shiny, glowing, divine Jesus? If that is the only Christ we know, then we will never see the one that heals through doctor’s wisdom…we will never see our Christ who touches us through devoted friends or family…we will never see our Lord who chooses to sit beside us on our bed through all of our struggles.

When we look around ourselves, we cannot expect to find the bright and white Jesus of the transfiguration; however we can expect to see Jesus. We will see him when a doctor’s touch provides healing. We will see him when we cry out in agony, and a friend is there to show God’s love. We will see him when we look at the cross and instead of seeing pain and suffering and torture, we see hope and new possibilities. Only when God reveals Godself in the ordinariness of life, will see start to see a glimmer of the glory that truly lies underneath. Like the disciples, we will discover that God can make the ordinary become extraordinary. That is the way that God’s grace works.

Reflection on Isaiah 6:1-13

2010-02-11T14:47:00.001-05:00

There I am again, sitting at yet another funeral and/or wedding luncheon, lonely because no one dares to come and talk to the pastor. Oh, occasionally you will get the obligatory, “good sermon, thank you” speech, but no one comes over to actually sit down and talk. Alone I eat my scalloped potatoes, roast beef, and apple pie. It is the curse of the collar.

I do not mention this luncheon neglect to make people feel bad for me. “Oh, the poor pastor who has to suffer through yet another free meal surrounded by kind people…that’s just terrible.” But, I do mention it because there is something very interesting going on at those funeral/wedding luncheons. You can correct me if I am wrong, but I think that I understand what is going on.

First, I think that some people are probably just as uncomfortable as I and simply do not have much to talk about with strangers. I understand that is going on for many people. However, I also think that people are afraid to speak to the pastor because their words may carelessly reveal who they are.

I do not know if you have noticed, but people try to act Holy while around a pastor. Most of you, of course, have thrown that façade out the window because you intimately know my own lack of holiness, but people who are not a part of the church do not. And, the scene always plays out something like this: a man comes over to say, “Thank you for the kind words,” and as he says it his son comes up and gulps down an entire glass of punch in one swallow. Trying to be funny the man says, “Woe, slow down son,” but the man does not expect his son to respond, “why are you worried about me, you can put away a six pack in one sitting.”

I see the look in the eyes that says, “Oh, I’m in deep, deep, water!” The man’s sin has been exposed, in front of a man of God no less…in front of someone with the main heavenly phone line…their unclean lips, or unclean livers in this case, have been exposed, and no one wants that to happen. And, so people stay away.

That gets me to wondering, if that is people’s experience with a pastor, imagine how much more people try to stay away from God. To stand before God must be infinitely worse.

Isaiah has been there, and it does not look pretty. He is thrust into God’s throne room to speak face-to-face with God. It is not a meeting of equals, God is so great and powerful that the hem of God’s robe stretches as far as the eye can see. When Isaiah looks up he cannot even see up to God’s face. Quite frankly, God could squash him at any moment.

As if those were not frightening enough possibilities, God has flying seraphs attending to God’s every need. No, they are not cute chubby babies with wings. They are elephant sized snakes with six wings who are circling all around, screeching their high pitched songs of praise to God, and now swooping very near Isaiah.

Taking a look at his situation Isaiah remarks, “Woe is me,” or as we might say “I’m in deep water;” if we are in church we would say that. If we were outside of church we would say something else. You may fill in your own favorite, “Oh, I’m in deep trouble exclamation.” Like the man whose drinking been exposed by his son, Isaiah has nowhere to hide. When in front of God, we have nowhere to run…nowhere to hide.

Of course, Isaiah feels unclean and unworthy and is afraid that this very sight will cause instant death! The prophet's words are to quite so straight forward. Is Isaiah “lost” or “ruined?” I’m going to go a little pastor geek on you here because the Hebrew word in this case has three meanings. The word can mean "to be destroyed," or "be brought to silence," or "made in the likeness of God." One commentator from workingpreacher.com says that “It is possible that all three are meant because each tells a truth about humans and God. God can destroy us; an encounter could stun us into silence; and even when unclean we are still made in God's image.” The commentator finds it interesting that the word for "unclean" here is a word that implies that the prophet did not properly prepare for this encounter.

Perhaps, the guy at the funeral would have talked to me if he had thought to prepare himself…go to church a few times…do something nice for his neighbor so that he would feel pure enough. But, just as I don’t require people to clean up their lives in order to eat with me at a luncheon, neither does God wait for us to "get clean" before coming to us.

In fact, God acts just the opposite. Rather than waiting for Isaiah to get prepared, God sends over a Seraph with hot coals who touches Isaiah's lips and burns his uncleanliness away. God makes sure that he is prepared. What we understand deeply about ourselves is that we cannot properly clean and prepare ourselves. But, God can prepare us, and God does. Think of it; rather than waiting for us to clean up our acts, God sends Christ to forgive us. We have no reason to fear God. How easily we forget.

Maybe, we have no reason to fear God, but the story does not end there. The Lord is not done. We have been prepared for a reason. And it is not long before God reminds us of something very important...something from our distant past that we may have forgotten: our call. The Lord gives Isaiah his call, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And, Isaiah said, "Here am I; send me!"

You were not created to live with no purpose. You were not created by a mistake of a one-night-stand. You were not the oops of your parents. I do not care what some of you have been told. From the foundation of the world, you have been created and called by God for a purpose. A commentator reminds us that, we may of course, "resist our call, but the truth is that we will not be whole until we answer God and become what we are created to be and do."

This truth is powerful, but it can also strike up another type of fear. Answering God’s call may no longer bring fear of God, but it does bring fear of failure, fear of being unliked, fear of being unfit, and fear of the unknown. God’s call will not necessarily make you into a rock star. It may be hard. Isaiah’s own call was to proclaim something hard to the nation which had the possibility of making him hated and lonely. God’s call is not necessarily the ride of your life, but it is the reason you were created. It may strike fear, but at the same time, following the call will feel quite natural. Again, we can resist the call, but we will not be whole…we will not be who we were created to be…until we answer it.

Is there really any other choice, than to say, “Here am I; send me!”

Cited commentary is by Beth Tanner, Assistant Professor of Old Testament at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, NJ and can be found at: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=2/7/2010

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 4:21-30

2010-02-02T16:49:00.001-05:00

Imagine for a moment that you are in church and you sit down in your pew and start to get yourself settled, taking off your coats, thumbing through the bulletin and announcements, and stretching your legs to stand for the first song, when someone comes walking into the church. This person has been a part of the church since the beginning, yet we have never seen him before. He comes to church more often than just Easter and Christmas…in fact he is a regular attendee, yet none of us has ever gotten to lay our eyes on him. No, he is not the phantom of the pew (which by the way is the third one back on the left side). Your eyes pop out of your head and your jaws drop as Jesus…our very own Jesus comes walking down the aisle.

The singing sort drops off as people slowly come to recognize and see who it is. It is Jesus! The choir keeps going, wondering what is wrong with the congregation this morning…must be a lot of flu…but eventually even they see Jesus coming to the front of the church.

Our very own, beloved Jesus reaches the front, turns around, searches for the Bible, and soon he has it in his hands. He opens the scriptures and begins to read,

"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."

He puts the Bible back, and sits down right in the middle of the floor. The eyes of everyone are glued to him. We wait for some words of wisdom. We wait for some words of life. And, finally we get what we were looking for, sort of. He says to us, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

We smile kindly at him. Someone in the back says, “That’s very nice.” Another is heard, “I’ve always liked that one.” Yet another, says, “I always thought that He had blue eyes, and what’s he doing wearing jeans to church?”

Jesus looks around at our adoring faces and says, “I have to be up front with all of you. I have to be straight up. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that those who have been suffering are soon going to find their relief; those who are poor are going to find that they have enough to be filled; those who are held back in life because someone more powerful than them is holding them down are going to find their freedom; those who are in debt will find their debt swept away; and those who are imprisoned by their sin, will find their freedom.”

Then he leaves us hanging. He simply gets up, and leaves through the left rear of the sanctuary. We stare at each other. “Is he done?”

No, he is not. He comes back in with a cup of water in His hand. “Sorry, I got thirsty,” He says as he takes his seat back on the floor.

Dave pipes up, “Hey Jesus, you said that their was bad news, I hope that this isn’t some joke…well actually I do hope that it is a joke.”

Jesus smiles and continues, “the bad news is that all of those wonderful things are not for you.”

We face him, confused; some of us are hurt, some of us are plainly baffled.

“Remember,” he continues, “the story of the widow in ancient Israel and her son who did not have any food? Only she and her son received food from God through the prophet Elijah. And, remember Elisha who was sent to Israel? He did not heal anyone in Israel, rather he healed a foreigner. So, I repeat two things. One: it is the year of the Lord’s favor. The oppressed will go free. You have heard my words. You can live my words. You can be a part of my words. Two: because of this, my words are not for you. They are for someone else. The gift is for others.”

And, so, we stare at Jesus…trying to make a decision. It is the same decision that those in Nazarene had so long ago. Do we sacrifice our own desires and strive to be a part of Jesus…to be a part of the year of the Lord’s favor when the blind see and the oppressed are set free; or do we simply take Jesus down to the river and drown him or on top of the hill and throw him off? Are we here for ourselves, or are we truly here to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor; when everyone will see the love of the Lord? What is our choice?

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

2010-02-02T16:38:00.001-05:00

It is a curious thing, even though Bible studies are rarely attended (not just in Lutheran Churches, but in all of the nation's churches), people are still curious about the Bible. I will be asked about the scriptures in the strangest places. I have been asked about the meaning of the crucifixion while buying lumber…I wonder what they were building. I have been asked about what God thinks of suicide in the post office. I have even been asked what the Bible has to say about pets going to heaven while standing in the K-mart shopping line next to the cheap DVD bin which coincidentally had a copy of “All Dogs God To Heaven” sitting right there. I’m not sure if the DVD sparked the question or mysteriously and quietly gave the answer.

It is so strange, people want to hear the Bible spoken anywhere but in a group that is devoted to engaging with God’s written word. It is strange, but I think there is an explanation for it. People do not want to study the word of God. People want to live with the Word of God. People want to pull it out of the religious institutions and into their lives.

The people of Jerusalem pull the scribe Ezra out of the temple, place God’s word in his hand, and ask him to read to them beyond the temple, beyond the water gate. "We want to hear God’s word right where we are. Give it to us Ezra, let us hear what God has to say to our situation." And, so Ezra begins to read the Hebrew Bible, and then takes time to put it into simple language.

That is what is happening in K-mart or at the lumber yard when God’s Word is sought; people are dragging us pastors and God’s word out into the world where it really matters. I imagine you dragging me downtown to the steps of the courthouse. You throw the Bible in my hand and shout at me, “Read to us all morning!” Not knowing where to start, I take the Jesus’ lead and open to Isaiah. Clearing my throat I nervously read, “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."

The poor, who are walking up toward the courthouse door, hoping to keep their rented house of 20 years that they suddenly can no longer afford, turn and hear that there is good news in store for them from God: “It is the year of the Lord’s favor! The oppressed will not be forgotten.” They cry with tears of hope and push the courthouse door open, prepared to fight to keep their housing. A landlord hears the same words and stops ever so briefly with head down reconsidering his recent housing deals. The scriptures stop him for one brief and terrifying moment as he considers for the first time that his good fortune is in fact another’s person’s nightmare.

You have dragged me and the scriptures out of the church, and in doing so you have set the Word of God loose in the world.

You drag me on a plane down to Haiti. Making our way through confused and suffering people…some ask for water or any food that we might have on us, and others ask if we have seen their family…you drag me to the top of a rubble pile, throw the Bible into my arms, and demand that I read.

While I thumb through the pages with nervous sweat beading on my forehead a man yells, “What did we do to deserve this? Does God hate us?” I stare long, first at the man and then down where the pages have haphazardly fallen open. I read loudly from Luke 13 where some people ask Jesus if the 14 individuals who were killed in a tower collapse were being punished by God. I also read loudly Jesus’ response, “No.”

Again, I read from Luke that this is the “year of the Lord’s favor” where the poor will not be forgotten. The words do not give an answer to the devastation as they echo through the cracks of the rubble and above the crying of children. It is not an answer, but it is a conversation between God and those who are searching through the piles that were their former homes.

This time it is my turn. I pull you into the hospital room where my brother lays on his back, heaving his chest up and down with the assistance of a machine in the corner, struggling to cling to life. I thrust the Bible into your hands, and you open to the story of the empty tomb. You read about Jesus overcoming death and showing his wounds. I am stunned, doubtful that good news might be true now, but glad to hear a word of hope. A couple of days later you read me the same scripture and it speaks of joy for a new start for my brother, and struggle for a new start with so many scars to deal with.

In all of our trips together with scripture, we have not learned about scripture. We have not taken notes and memorized facts. Instead, we have lived with scripture. We have talked with it and it has talked back to us. We have allowed it to breathe into our souls both words of challenge and words of hope. You have drug the scriptures out of the institution and have set God's Word free to live with God’s people. When the scriptures have been turned loose, there is no telling what will happen.

For instance, what will happen if I turn loose this scripture to you, “Go your way, eat a glorious meal today and drink some sweet wine and send some of this great meal out to those whom have nothing prepared to eat, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be sad this day, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." I do not know what will happen, but do you not think it will be fun to see?

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

2010-02-02T16:27:00.001-05:00

Baptisms are a beautiful thing. As a Pastor, you get to hold a small child close, look deeply into the baby’s eyes, and give a warm bath on the head as you say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." On top of it all, you get to share in the warmth of the child as you carry the child around, presenting the child to the congregation. It is one of the most glorious moments that the church has to offer the world. It is not big and flashy, but it is worth a million bucks. Not only is a new member being brought into the congregation, but God’s grace is literally washing over the head of another person.

Now that I have set you at peace with those images of water, grace, love, and babies, I almost hate to continue with this sermon. Where the gospel text is leading me this morning is just not fair to either you or to me. This morning’s gospel text offers anything but a peaceful image of what Jesus has to offer in baptism. It is not water and love that Jesus offers, rather, it is fire and judgment.

But, let us not be too hasty right now. Why don't we just forget the word of God for now, OK? It is not pretty. Let's talk about gently falling snow on roses. Let’s talk about cold, refreshing streams of water from springs. Let’s talk about good times with friends. Let’s talk about a glass of wine in one hand and the hand of your loved one in another. Let’s talk about anything that is beautiful, and refreshing, and full of love, and full of liquid…full of lots of fire squelching liquid. Let’s not talk about fire today.

Let’s not talk about farmers bringing in their grain from the harvest and throwing it on the floor. Let’s not talk about the chaff that is scattered throughout the grain. Let’s not imagine that we see our own face on both the heads of the wheat and the on the top of the long strands of chaff. And we certainly should not imagine a farmer coming along and stabbing our chaffy faces with a pitchfork and throwing part of our very souls into a hot fire. We do not want to think about that. We do not want to think about God’s judgment right now. We do not want to think about our purification. We like John’s nice cool, gentle baptism of water. We do not want to imagine Jesus’ baptism of fire. We do not want to imagine lifting our child above a metal baptismal font filled with red, hot fire, ready to burn away part of our child. Let us just stop talking about judgment already!

But, if we stop talking about Jesus’ judgment on us, then the chaff never gets burned up. It continues to grow and clutter up our lives until it takes over our soul. I have met people who refuse to let the fire of the Holy Spirit burn away their unrighteousness. These people often appear stubborn, accusing of others, and always needing to be right. Do you know someone like this? Are you someone like this? When the Holy Spirit leads a friend to start a fire by kindly pointing out a person's faults, the person blows out the fire and seeks to destroy the former friend. I have met people who refuse to let the fire of the Holy Spirit burn away their unrighteousness, and it is sad to see.

I led the funeral of a woman who would fit the description of someone who claimed to love Jesus, but would never allow Jesus’ Holy Spirit to burn away the chaff. It was sad. A friend paid all of the costs of the funeral out of pocket, but could not find a single good word to say during the service. A son-in-law paid the entire cost of the funeral luncheon, but had no positive stories to tell while we ate. A handful of people showed up to the funeral, but not to pay respect to the woman, rather to be with the friend and the son-in-law in a time of grief. It was sad.

Jesus’ baptism with fire is a good thing. It may hurt; the truth always hurts. But, it burns away what is ugly and leaves behind the beautiful child of God whom God formed and molded with God’s own hands. Jesus’ judgment, Jesus’ baptism by fire is not an eternal punishing end to your life; rather it is the beginning of a new life. It is the beginning of a life that is anything but self-centered. It is a life that does not need to be right, but rather seeks what is good. It is a life that seeks to live in Christ’s love.

The Rev. Martin Luther King once reflected,

Every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, "What is it that I would want said?" ...Tell them not to mention [my]...awards—that's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody...that I did try to feed the hungry...that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked...that I tried to love and serve humanity.... I just want to leave a committed life behind.

Baptisms by fire are beautiful in their own way. They are not clean and pure like baptism by water. But, they are Holy. And, Jesus’ baptism by fire permanently marks us as a child of God, preparing us not to live for ourselves and our own desires, but to live as grace-filled and loving children of God. It will prepare us to be someone of whom it will be said, “He/She tried to love somebody...did try to feed the hungry...did try in his/her life to clothe those who were naked...did try to love and serve humanity.”

Reflection on John 1:1-18

2010-02-02T16:16:00.002-05:00

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."

God’s Word; what a powerful force. Its very utterance cracks open existence and brings forth life. God says, “Let there be light.” And, as soon as God says it, the Word echoes through the darkness and brings light. God says, “Let us create human beings in our image,” and the Word tunnels into the dirt and fashions human beings.

When I was twelve or so, I was fascinated by this idea of such powerful words. I heard through some friends of this group of witches. They were Christian witches, so they said, and they claimed to have stumbled across the ancient words of God; the very words that God spoke to bring about life. They claimed that the word’s very utterance would create life where there was none before. They would run around the countryside, speaking these words, creating flowers and saplings. But this was just the tip of the iceberg; they had discovered words for many things. Interestingly enough, these witches (who were late teens and early twenties in age) had amazingly stumbled across the words to create true love. Also very interesting, none of them had a boyfriend.

With those small elements of doubt cast aside, I experimented in my room with different words, trying to discover God’s ancient words. I would experiment on the dead flies in my window. I would force strange combinations of vowels and consonants at them to get them to come back to life. I figured a fly would be a good place to start. The word to create a fly had to be pretty simple. Sometimes I would think that I finally had it, but my air from my shouting had merely shifted the fly's position. I was not very good at discovering ancient words of power used by God in the beginning of time. But, that did not stop me from trying.

Later on, as a teenager, I would craft finely tuned sentences to try to get my parents to take me to the mall or to an amusement park. Sometimes the mall spell worked, however the amusement park spell never did.

I used finely crafted sentences to weave their way into the life of a friend who was incredibly depressed and doing all of the wrong things. Trying with all my might to keep him from drinking and experimenting with other substances, my words fell short of magical, and this friend ignored their power.

I am discovering that parents also believe that they wield magical words that can change the lives of their children and create new life in their lives. Parents truly do believe that these words will work to motivate and direct. They spend lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of time weaving together their magical words, only to have an hour’s worth of spell casting destroyed by one powerful little word, “whatever.”

We want others to have the best and to be the best. We want our words to weave their creative magic. We want control in a world of chaos. We desire more than anything to cry out into the darkness and create the light. There is only one problem, when we cry out, our words simply echo around in the darkness. They are our words after-all, not God’s words.

John the Baptist, never claimed to have God’s words. He never claimed that he could speak light into anyone’s life of darkness. You see, he knew and understood what we do not want to accept, “he himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.” He was never fooled at a young age that his words could have real power. He understood whose Word could shape the world and whose Word could bring life. “The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.” John understood that he could talk about God’s Word, but he could not control it. He could point to it, but he could not animate it.

Of course, we cannot have control of God’s Word. Of course, we cannot discover how to utter it to shape the world around us, because the Word is not a vowel or consonant that can resound from the mouth. God’s Word is not something to be spoke. God's Word is someone. “And, the Word became flesh and lived among us.”

We cannot shape or control anything with our words, let alone God. But, we can let God in the flesh walk beside us. We cannot force God’s hand with words of demand, but we can ask and trust that God will do what God sees fit. You see, when God comes into the world, God will heap God’s grace wherever and on whomever God wants. We cannot control it. And, we certainly cannot tell God when to do it. All we can do is be a witness, like John, and point when God sends a beautiful young woman into your friend’s life who puts him back on track. All we can do is be a witness and point when God sends someone to gives food and shelter to the self-destructive. All we can do is be a witness and point when God heals the blind. And, perhaps, we will be called children of God, and be sent by God’s Word, Jesus Christ, to be the hands that feed the hungry or heal the hurt. But, notice our role is not one of demand or force. It is one of listening; listening carefully to Christ and following his word.

"It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known."

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Luke 2:1-20

2009-12-31T15:23:00.001-05:00

What a magical night Christmas Eve is! The trees are in houses. The green, fresh smelling branches are decorated and lit. Those tiny rays of light cast away the darkness; reminding us that even a glimmer of Christ’s light is enough in a dark world.

The manger scenes are set up in yards. They are decorated and lit. Those tiny shepherds and iconic figures of Mary and Joseph pointing us to the real reason we are celebrating.

The baby Jesus is placed in the manger. He is decorated and lit…from the inside in most yards. This either reminds us that the true light that comes into the world, bringing life into the world is Jesus, or seeing it sadly reminds us that we need a new plastic Jesus because our old one from 1968 is beginning to look more like a little red demonized child’s toy than the savior of the world.

The Christmas songs have finally broken loose in the church, flying through the pews and around the altar. The stars shine bright and the angels join in our songs, offering their prayers to God as we cry out with familiar melodies and beautiful harmonies of thirds and fifths up the scale. There are even some harmonies of 2 1/2s up the scale that certainly would never come out of the mouths of an angel but are certainly noises of praise. Glories are everywhere, and anticipation of tomorrow morning are on the thoughts of all children.

How can you not be excited about a night like this?

When I was a young child the smell of pipe also entered the picture as my grandfather sat down getting ready for all of us to open our presents. The smell of pipe smoke raised the heart rate as our cousins dealt out the gifts to everyone. Sitting on the floor, staring at the wrapping paper in front of me, the tender stuff just waiting to be destroyed, we sat and sat and sat, waiting to discover the prize inside.

There was only one problem; my grandparent’s house was the opposite of the quick paced, frantic, fantastically joyous and beautiful Christmas season. There was nothing quick about this gift unwrapping. You could honestly wait half an hour before you might open your gift. You see, everyone had to take turns unwrapping presents. We would wait and watch the next person open their present, and that person would then say “thank you,” and then they would both start a discussion of how they thought of the present and the other would sit and talk about how they might use it and how they loved their cousin or Uncle or Aunt or whoever had given them the present. This process took well over an hour, and it was pure torture for a seven year old. I would have rather been hung by my toenails at that age; at least that would be stimulating.

Like the story of Jesus’ birth, the process made Christmas rather simple and plain. Did you notice how plain this story of Jesus’ birth really is? Read it closely, there is no iconic Inn Keeper telling the young Mary and Joseph that there is no room. There also is no stable with talking animals and swirling Angels. In fact, the first Christmas was quite the opposite of tonight’s celebration. It was a regular pregnancy, and a regular labor, in a meager place with ordinary people doing ordinary birthing things. Luke seems to be trying to tell us something about how God works. It is not a great and glorious scene. It is, rather, a simple scene with simple parents connecting closely with their new child.

Connecting closely; that is what was happening during those Christmas gift unveilings after-all. The gift givers and the gift receivers were being given the time to connect with each other through loving words. My grandparents were secretly wise. To the kid’s anxious disappointment, my grandparents knew that the gift themselves were not the important part of the tradition. Connecting with someone who loves you was the whole point.

Today, and through the rest of the Christmas season, take the time to slow down from the gloriousness of the Christmas season and take the time to connect one-on-one with Christ. “Glory to God in the highest heaven” yes, but simple time with a simple God is also very good. It is hard to be loved by someone who is held up with such high glory. But, we can easily be loved by a God who is willing to come down to be with us. Take time right now to connect closely with Christ.

Reflection on Luke 3:7-18

2009-12-31T15:15:00.001-05:00

You pit of snakes! You slithering, slinky, sneaky, snakes of systematic sin and suffering. You literarily alliterated selection of sinful snakes. Who warned you to slither your way onto a website to take sanctuary in a proclamation about God? Who told you to come here? Who told you that you needed to come here and turn your life around?

Are you here to read the words of a fabulous preacher? Or, are you here because you truly are thirsting to soak up the moist, refreshing water of God’s kingdom? Perhaps, the rush of the pre-Christmas season, or the pre-family tension season, or the ever popular pre-post Christmas shopping season has gotten to you. Perhaps, life has gotten to you in general. Perhaps, you cannot wait to stop reading this thing so that you can do something much more productive with your life. Perhaps, John the Baptist is judging you unfairly right now. Perhaps, Jira Albers is suggesting to you that John the Baptist is judging you unfairly while he gets off scot free to do all the judging himself. Perhaps, this reflection is a literary nightmare with way too many “perhaps” taking place all in one paragraph, and it should stop very soon!

Perhaps…why not, I’ve already used seven “perhaps,” can one more really be considered over the top…perhaps, you actually care about your life with God, and perhaps you have heard God’s beautiful symphony, and you simply seek some wisdom concerning living out a life that is in tune with the beautiful and haunting melody of God’s kingdom. In other words, you hear the tune while driving down the road of life, and you want to sing out loud in the car. As John the Baptist did, I will assume that you have an honest desire for God and God’s kingdom.

So, you ask, “What should we do?” The crowds, the tax collectors, and the soldiers asked John in his time and the question still echoes today. “What should we do.”

Some would say that you simply need to live your best life now. Go, make a bunch of money and buy your happiness. Go ahead, it’s simple! Making millions, at least for myself, has never been a problem. I simply do not want to right now. You know, I have other things to do.

Maybe, you should participate in a cheaply made sweat lodge ceremony run by a Hollywood guru?

Maybe, you should just listen to your instincts and do simply what they say. My instincts often tell me that the way to a good life is through a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I am willing to go with that.

Others will tell you to leave all that you have, go move to the top of the mountain, and contemplate the meaning of life alone in the woods with only wild fruits and berries to live on.

Maybe, you should go off and study in the ivory towers of the seminary. Putting your nose in theology books is famous for putting people at peace. You would not believe how far a snore travels in a library built with stone walls.

John’s answer to the question, “What should we do?” is not this complicated, it is amazingly simple. It does not require feats of starving yourself, over-indulging yourself, or living alone in the woods. What should we do? Professor David Lose from Luther seminary puts John's simple message this way, "Share. Be fair. Don't bully."

Do you want to sing a line in God’s symphony? Then, share what you have with someone else. Don’t take or expect things from others, rather share. If you have two coats, give one to someone who needs it. That is not too difficult.

Are you trying to adjust your voice’s pitch so you are not singing flat to Christ’s wonderful tune of grace? Then, be fair when you deal with others. Make sure to treat others as you would want to be treated. Tax collectors should not expect more than what is owed to them and neither should you. Be fair. That does not take a special person. It is well within everyone’s reach.

Does your base note drown out every other tune God has put out there? Then do not bully. The world will continue to run without you having your way, really it will. Soldiers already have intrinsic power, they do not need to prove anything by bullying and neither do you. You will not die if you do not get your way over what to have for dinner. Really, it will not happen. Neither will the world come to an end if you do not get your way at your job or with your spouse. Do not bully. It does not take a theologian to accomplish that.

Does this sermon sound a little like it was written for kindergarteners? Well, it was…in a sense. Anyone is able to participate in God’s kingdom here on earth. Even a kindergartener can display God’s grace when they remember: "Share. Be fair. Don't bully." The kingdom of God is a realm that we all can participate in. God’s grace is not limited. If someone tells you it is not that simple, do not believe them. It is simple. It is a kingdom built for all to live in. It is a place where even kindergarteners can participate in sharing God’s grace with others. As we wait for the coming of our Lord, take the time to "Share. Be fair. And, don't bully."

Reflection on Luke 3:1-6

2009-12-31T14:54:00.001-05:00

“Welcome to history class!” With those words out on the page I am sure that I have completely engaged you. Perhaps not. If you are anything like me your body is now thinking, “Welcome to my nap.” But, this will not be a long history lesson. Luke wants you to understand something about history and how Jesus fits into it but the lesson is very simple and direct.

John the Baptist came to prepare the way of Christ during the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius; who is now dead. That is right, this emperor is now gone and is not worshipped at all today. In a similar way, this nobody John came when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea; who incidentally is also now dead. No one worships or follows the philosophy of the powerful Pilate today either. No one even remembers when and how he died. And, of course John came to proclaim Christ during the rule of Herod, ruler of Galilee; and his brother Philip, ruler of some linguistically unpronounceable regions; and Lysanias, who was the ruler yet another unpronounceable region. Though each of these rulers is remembered in history for their power, might, and political craftiness, guess what? All three are history, literally. Oh yeah, and do not forget the high priests who put Jesus to death, Annas and Caiaphas. Guess what? Yep, they are dead also.

Alright, now for the history test. Are these people alive or dead?

Emperor Timberius?
Pontius Pilate?
Herod?
Philip?
Lysanias?
Annas?
Caiaphas?
John the Baptist?
Christ?

What a great class! Of course, I am assuming that you are extremely intelligent and have shown everyone to be dead with the exception of Christ.

Though the powers of the world try to control by force, corrupt ways, sly dealings, political calculations, selfish motivations, cruelty, false kindness, and suave tongues, all of these powers will be upturned and plowed under as the preparations for Christ’s word of repentance and forgiveness levels mountains, fills valleys, bends roads, and straightens paths. The foundations of the world will be grasped like a child grasps a handheld sandbox and shaken until all of the sand settles into a peaceful, smooth plain, where no one is higher or lower, and repentance and forgiveness brings us all onto the same level.

Recently, my foundations were shaken a little bit and my sands were leveled to some degree. Quite recently, the big news story was not the troop surge in Afghanistan, nor the health care debate, but was all about: Tiger Woods.

I had Tiger set up high on a mountain in my mind. You have to understand, he is the first of my generation. He is the first golf genius of my generation. He is the first of my generation to make it big. And, he was all class. He was what was right with the world. He and his character is what set us apart from the previous generation of drug induced hippies and corrupt politicians. And, as we found out this week, he was no better than any of them. With the exposure of his marital infidelities, the mountain was shaken, and a flat plain was created.

I am not trying to get down on the guy. In fact, it is quite the opposite. I had high hopes for my generation. I had created a mountain upon which we could stand proudly, and that mountain was shaken this week by the inherent need for repentance and forgiveness.

No one is immune to sin and the pain it causes those around you. No one. This should not have been such a big story. This should not have been such a big surprise. When Christ comes into the world, all the foundations are shaken and all the high are brought low and all the low are brought high until we all stand on the same plain facing the same God who has the same piercing gaze of truth and forgiveness for all flesh.

But, do not fear that piercing gaze. Allow your mountains to be made low. Do not fear. Allow your valleys to be filled in. Do not fear. Allow your crooked roads to be straightened. It may be painful and scary, but do not fear, in the end you find yourself standing next to Christ on a flat plain of grace.

Nowhere to hide.
No need to hide.

Nowhere to go in fear.
No need to fear.

All will be gathering on the same flat plain of grace and peace. Do not fear, Christ is coming.

Reflection on Mark 13:1-8

2009-11-20T11:30:00.000-05:00

(The following is a stewarship sermon given on November 15th, 2009. There were many visitors to the congregation that day due to a baptism. That is the context of the sermon, now enjoy this reflection.)

Before I even begin my sermon today, I would like to give just a few words of encouragement, instruction, and reassurance. The reassurance goes out to everyone who is visiting here today. Throughout the rest of the service you are going to hear about money and giving. I want to reassure you that we do not always talk about money and giving. Our primary focus…even today…is the good news, God’s unconditional love for the whole world through Jesus Christ.

I say that because I was visiting a church once, and happened upon their stewardship Sunday. They talked about money, they sung about money, and…as it was a Pentecostal church…they even danced about money. I left that church thinking to myself, “they are God’s people and all they care about is money.” I am certain, now that I think back, that they probably cared about a great many things other than money; I simply had chosen to visit on the one Sunday that they secretly wished no one would visit. Therefore, as a visitor, you do not need to feel compelled in any way to give to this church or make some sort of financial commitment to it. That is the job of the disciples of this congregation. You are here simply to hear the good news of Jesus Christ, nothing more is expected of you.

And, speaking of disciples, if you attend this church, but are certain that you are not yet a disciple of Christ, then you too do not need to worry about any financial commitment this day. The Church is here for you…to bring the good news to you. You are not here for the existence of the church.

And last, if any of you believe that I am a hypocrite when it comes to talking about money and giving, then I will assure you, I will put your heart at rest, that you are 100% correct.

Sometimes I give wonderfully of myself and my possessions to the work of God, and sometimes I do not. Like you, I am a confused mix of good intentions and selfish desires. I desire to enter into the lives of people who are suffering and provide them some comfort from our loving God. And for that you do need some comfortable shoes (tennis shoes are placed on the pulpit). But, what if it’s winter? Then you need some boots (boots are placed on the pulpit). Or, what if it’s summer? Then you need some sandals (sandals are placed on the pulpit). Or, what if you are wearing tan pants? Then you need some brown dress shoes (brown dress shoes are placed on the pulpit). Don’t you see? I am completely a mix of good intentions with a very healthy dose of selfish desires. I am trapped by stuff. I am quite literally trapped by my stuff.

I need to reform! Have you not experienced this? Every time that you commit to reform your ways, to clearing out a space in your house, and you start to give away what you have for the sake of others and for the sake of God, you inevitably have a birthday, or Christmas comes, or Father’s Day comes, or National Potato Day comes? You will not believe the amount of gifts…that I buy for myself on National Potato Day. Agh!!!! I suffocate myself and fill my existence with stuff, and somehow I miss those around me who will not have to worry about the tortures of too much, or the horrors of being full.

It is a huge problem that people…real human beings…are forgotten just as the poor man, Lazarus, was not even seen starving at the foot of the rich man’s door. But, is it not also a problem for me, that I am stuck trusting in something that is certainly going to rot, rather than trusting in the one who gives me life every waking moment?

I think that I would be horrified if I were standing with the disciples, staring up at the beauty of the temple, noticing how glorious are the columns and gold façade, and hearing from Jesus that this beautiful place is soon going to be nothing but rubble. I would be truly horrified. And, when I saw it fall into rubble, I would be stricken. Grief would overtake me, and I would not be able to breathe. Beauty should not be destroyed.

But, have I not been lead astray? Have I been led to believe that beautiful things are important and that relationships are not? Have I been led to trust in the comfort of shoes rather than conversation; and nice cars, rather than welcoming people to my dinner table; and beautiful homes rather than forgiving a former friend; and possessing lots of movies rather than possessing and living out the story of God’s love for all?

Jesus says that temples will fall into rubble and that possessions will rot away, but the word of the Lord will never rot away. God’s unconditional love for the world will continue to live on in the hugs and smiles of newly baptized babies, in disciples who carry forgiveness on their shoulder like a high priced bag, and people who allow God to turn their lives away from dead things, to the living God and the living God’s purposes.

As a visitor, you may be wondering why we talk about money and giving once a year. Surprisingly, the primary reason is not to get more money for the finances of the church. The church will do its ministry with the gifts that it has been given as it has done for centuries. Rather, we talk about it for my sake, and for yours. It is a spring cleaning of the soul, moving out our trust in money, and shoes, and making space for God to direct our lives. Every year, I get tired of being pushed around and reoriented by my things, and every year I get a chance to do some spring cleaning so that my faith can be restored once again. It is a chance to reclaim a simple life in Jesus Christ.

Reflection on Mark 12:38-44

2009-11-20T11:16:00.001-05:00

He noticed her. No one else seemed to pay any attention. No one else even realized that she was there. But, sitting across from the treasury in the temple, peering through the masses of people walking by on their way to throw their large, clanking sums of money into the ornate metal chutes that collected the offerings, Jesus saw the widow when she threw in her two small coins. The clank they made was not even audible. No one around her turned to notice the widow’s contribution. No one around her noticed that she had just thrown in her last bit of wealth. Not even the disciples noticed. No one noticed. That was the problem. She was in a room full of faithful, devoted, religious people, and no one noticed her.

Plenty of people go unnoticed. There is the girl that sits at the edge of the dance floor, waiting for someone to ask her to dance. But, she goes unnoticed. There is the slum containing thousands of poor who struggle to find clean water. The slum is along the rail line between Cairo’s suburbs and the business district. None of the commuters look out the window at the struggling faces. Thousands go unnoticed. There is the boy that needs help. He needs help with his homework. He needs help with his behavior. He needs help because he has no stable parents. He needs help, period. He is technically not an orphan…he has parents, but make no mistake, he is an orphan. He too goes unnoticed. Like the widow, they all go unnoticed.

For the most part, the fact that they go unnoticed is not because people intentionally want to ignore them. Most people do not intentionally ignore the plight of a widow. The widow simply does not register as someone important in an otherwise busy life. There are children to raise, and school to go to, and money to be made, and doctor’s appointments to get to on time, and obligations to take care of in the temple. Who has the time to see her? Who has the time to care?

Of course, the scribes will see her. It is their job after-all to take care of the widows and orphans. In an ideal world, this scene would not be tragic. In an ideal world, the widow would give her last cent in gratefulness to God, and she would have no worries because the scribes of the temple would make sure that she is cared for (food, clothing, shelter, and companionship). In an ideal world, you can give away your last cent for the sake of others because you know that you have a whole community who will care for you. That is what community is all about, is it not?

As biblical scholar Rolf Jacobson says, If God’s people were to write a self-help book, it would not be titled, “Your Best Life Now.” It would be titled, “Your Neighbors Best Life Now.” That pretty much sums up the Laws of God: care for your neighbor first. That pretty much sums up the message of Jesus: "love your neighbor as yourself,” and “be a living sacrifice for others.” Surely the scribes will see her. Surely they will care.

Assumptions are never a good thing. I am not certain the scribes are corrupt, but they have lives too. People expect them to go to banquets and social events and say long prayers and speak eloquently. Surely, they feel good when they do well, and feel the pressure of needing to do just as well the next time they speak. Surely, they are expected to dress well, therefore they get the long robes that make them look like the fine and respectable religious scribes that they are. People would expect no less of them. So, we have to cut them a little slack when they forget the widows do we not?

The widow expects that the religious leaders will not have forgotten her, though they have. The girl on the edge of the dance floor expects to enjoy the night spinning across the dance floor, though she will not. The poor expect someone on the high speed train to see that they are thirsty and need a fresh water supply, but no one will. The boy expects someone to help him, his parents, his grandparents, his friends, his neighbor, anyone, but they will not.

Well, almost no one notices. Peering through the crowds sits a man. He hears the clank of those two, small coins. He sees the widow’s trust in her community. He sees her, period. Only Jesus sees her.

Jesus calls his disciples over to look at her. He tells them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." He calls them over to see the woman’s faith in her community. They need to see that she trusts that she will be cared for. They need to see her, period. Jesus sees her. Jesus will die for her. Jesus will not forget her. Neither should the disciples. They need to learn and see.

In an ideal world, people give what they have for the sake of other people and for the sake of God. They do not fear to give what they have away, because they trust that others will in turn provide for their needs.

“In an ideal world,” I hate that phrase. The “ideal world” sounds like something unattainable; something that would be a waste of our time. But, this is not a waste of our time. I think that Jesus is teaching his disciple to see the widow, because Jesus actually wants us to try to be that community that she is giving her money to.

So how does this sound? “In a grace filled world, people give what they have because they love God and love others. They can do this because they know that they will be loved in return.” This is not an ideal. This is Christian community.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Mark 12:38-44

2009-11-08T03:32:00.001-05:00

He noticed her. No one else seemed to pay any attention. No one else even realized that she was there. But, sitting across from the treasury in the temple, peering through the masses of people walking by on their way to throw their large, clanking sums of money into the ornate metal chutes that collected the offerings, Jesus saw the widow when she threw in her two small coins. The clank they made was not even audible. No one around her turned to notice the widow’s contribution. No one around her noticed that she had just thrown in her last bit of wealth. Not even the disciples noticed. No one noticed. That was the problem. She was in a room full of faithful, devoted, religious people, and no one noticed her.

Plenty of people go unnoticed. There is the girl that sits at the edge of the dance floor, waiting for someone to ask her to dance. But, she goes unnoticed.

There is the slum containing thousands of poor who struggle to find clean water. The slum is along the rail line between Cairo’s suburbs and the business district. None of the commuters look out the window at the struggling faces. Thousands go unnoticed.

There is the boy that needs help. He needs help with his homework. He needs help with his behavior. He needs help because he has no stable parents. He needs help, period. He is technically not an orphan…he has parents, but make no mistake, he is an orphan. He too goes unnoticed. Like the widow, they all go unnoticed.

For the most part, the fact that they go unnoticed is not because people intentionally want to ignore them. Most people do not intentionally ignore the plight of a widow. The widow simply does not register as someone important in an otherwise busy life. There are children to raise, and school to go to, and money to be made, and doctor’s appointments to get to on time, and obligations to take care of in the temple. Who has the time to see her? Who has the time to care?

Of course, the scribes will see her. It is their job after-all to take care of the widows and orphans. In an ideal world, this scene would not be tragic. In an ideal world, the widow would give her last cent in gratefulness to God, and she would have no worries because the scribes of the temple would make sure that she is cared for (food, clothing, shelter, and companionship). In an ideal world, you can give away your last cent for the sake of others because you know that you have a whole community who will care for you.

That is what community is all about, isn’t it? If God’s people were to write a self-help book, it would not be titled, “Your Best Life Now.” It would be titled, “Your Neighbors Best Life Now.”

That pretty much sums up the Laws of God: care for your neighbor first.

That pretty much sums up the message of Jesus: "love your neighbor as yourself,” and “be a living sacrifice for others.”

Surely the scribes will see her. Surely they will care.

Assumptions are never a good thing. I am not certain the scribes are corrupt, but they have lives too. People expect them to go to banquets and social events and say long prayers and speak eloquently. Surely, they feel good when they do well, and feel the pressure of needing to do just as well the next time they speak. Surely, they are expected to dress well, therefore the scribes buy the long robes that transform their whole being into the fine and respectable religious scribes that they are. People would expect no less of them. So, we have to cut them a little slack when they forget the widows and orphans don’t we?

The widow expects that the religious leaders will not have forgotten her, though they have. The girl on the edge of the dance floor expects to enjoy the night spinning across the dance floor, though she will not. The poor expect someone on the high speed train to see that they are thirsty and need a fresh water supply, but no one will. The boy expects someone to help him, his parents, his grandparents, his friends, his neighbor, anyone, but they will not.

Well, almost no one notices. Peering through the crowds sits a man. He hears the clank of those two, small coins. He sees the widow’s trust in her community. He sees her; period. Only Jesus sees her.

Jesus calls his disciples over to look at her. He tells them, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." He calls them over to see the woman’s faith in her community. They need to see that she trusts that she will be cared for. They need to see her; period.

Jesus sees her. Jesus will die for her. Jesus will not forget her. Neither should the disciples. They need to learn and see.

In an ideal world, people give what they have for the sake of other people and for the sake of God. They do not fear to give away what they have, because they trust that others will in turn provide for their needs.

“In an ideal world,” I hate that phrase. The “ideal world” sounds like something unattainable; something that would be a waste of our time. But, this is not a waste of our time. I think that Jesus is teaching his disciple to see the widow, because Jesus actually wants us to try to be that community that she is giving her money to.

So how does this sound? “In a world filled with love, people give what they have because they love God and love others. They can do this because they know that they will be loved in return.” This is not an ideal. This is what it means to live in Christian community.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Revelation 21:1-6a

2009-11-04T11:22:00.001-05:00

When I was young, my dog Sparky “passed away.” She did not survive the cold night as a family member dog sat her. She was a very intelligent little dog. And, she was the cure for a lonely boy.

It was not too far before Sparky’s death that my grandfather “passed away.” He did not survive the depression that he had sunk into. He remains in my memory the greatest fisherman I have ever known. And, now I alone hold many of those fishing memories. Without me, they no longer exist. When my life ends, those memories will too pass away.

A number of years later, my grandmother “passed away” from an extremely rare and very fast moving cancer that overcame her in just three weeks. She loved to cook and bake, and she loved her grandchildren; and those things, cooking and baking, and grandchildren, go very well together. But, her food has too “passed away.” Those Sunday roast beef dinners with hot, freshly baked cinnamon rolls as dessert shall be no more.

“Passed away,” those two little words are loaded words. They are the words we use instead of “death,” because “death” is either too hard to say, or it carries just a little too much reality. But, let us make no mistake, when we say “passed away” we mean “dead,” and “no more,” and “I’m really going to miss him or her,” and “I don’t know what I am going to do without him or her,” and “is it possible to survive after so much pain?” There is nothing happy about the term, “passed away.”

Well, there is almost nothing happy about the term “passed away,” but there are a couple of exceptions. The first is the day that, at age 13, my brother and I were told that our super cool, fits the whole family and the kitchen, “boy I hope we drive right down main street right past our friends," Ford LTD “passed away.” That sad occasion was marked with cheers and celebration, until we saw the Ford Pinto that drove into the yard to replace it. The other exception is in the book of Revelation.

In the book of Revelation, these words ring out from the throne:

"See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."

What is surprising about the book of Revelation is that the term “passed away” means the opposite from what we think. We think that “passed away” is what happens when death comes, but Revelation says “passed away” is what happens when death, and mourning, and crying, and pain have disappeared. Those first things, those painful things have “passed away” and are no more. The first world, where dogs freeze to death in the snow, and grandfathers kill themselves in the garage, and grandmothers die from ferocious cancers, is no more.

This text is read at a lot of funerals, but it is not a text intended for the funeral of any person; it is the primary text of the great funeral at the end of existence when death itself has “passed away” and all that is left is God. And, just like the demise of our family’s Ford LTD, we will rejoice and be glad when we hear the news that was promised through the cross and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the world where pain and death has the last word, has “passed away.” “Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks for the Holy one….” (Sung). Yes, we will rejoice and be glad.

And, the best thing about the passing away of the first things is that it will not be replaced by a Ford Pinto. It will be replaced by a new heavens and a new earth where the river of life flows freely for all to taste and be washed clean body and soul. There will be the tree of life that bears fruit for every season so that no one in the world will go hungry. The oil of its leaves will heal the nations, making us one. War will be no more. And, this new world will not be led by some corrupt, inept, power hungry world leader, CEO, pastor, or military general. God, will personally come down to the world, and things will be made right. The vision is beautiful.

Of course, the vision is not here yet. We see glimmers of it as it creeps into the world, but it is not here yet for good. As of right now we still have pain and death, they have not yet “passed away.” And, we will still mourn and cry, and tears will still flow…as they should when we lose someone close. But, because of this vision in Revelation, our tears will serve a dual purpose. They will express both: sadness at the death of a loved one; and, at the same time, as they stream down our face, they will remind us of the river of life that flows and makes all things new. They are a cleansing tear that reminds us of our hope in Jesus Christ our Lord who makes all things new.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Refelction on John 8:31-36

2009-11-04T11:09:00.001-05:00

One fine day, two men were walking by a lake in a city park. They were enjoying the autumn leaves and engaging in deep conversation about life when from out of nowhere they heard it approaching. It, was a 300 pound hotdog cart that had escaped its vendor and was now fleeing downhill to freedom. The men only had enough time to look up, and see it crash into one of the men, sending him flying into the lake in a wonderful explosion of hotdogs, buns, ketchup, mustard, relish, and a special, super spicy chili. Splashing around in the water with hot dogs floating everywhere and the super spicy chili cleansing his eyes the man shouted, “Ouch! Help me, I can’t swim. I’m going to drown.” The water was to the man’s neck and he was sinking fast.

“I can help,” the second man called from the bank of the lake. “I can figure this out, I’m a master of truth,” he yells as he survey’s the situation. “It seems to me that you are in danger of drowning.”

“Good read of the situation,” the sinking man says with the water now to his throat. “You are a genius, now help me out!”

The man on the bank quickly scanned all of the hotdogs and yelled back, “Hey, look at all of the hotdogs around you! There must be hundreds. Look on the bright side, you won’t go hungry. People are so negative these days…don’t fall into that sort of negativity. It is very destructive.”

“I’m not hungry you idiot, I’m sinking!” the man yelled back with water now to his chin. “Just help me.”

“I’m trying the best I can. I’m under a lot of pressure here,” the man on the bank whined back.

Now, do not get me wrong. I am not against positive thinking. We are regularly reminded in church to count our blessings; to take a look at the gifts that we have and thank God. But, positive thinking, good as it may be, does not have the power to save…especially when drowning surrounded by hundreds of wieners.

“Take a look at you splashing around out there,” the man on the bank yells. “Just splash a little harder, toward the shore.”

“Splash toward the shore? I can’t see the shore, I think the chili has eaten away my ear balls.”

“The shore is right in front of you. Just splash harded. Just work harder and you will save yourself.”

So, the drowning man splashed water toward the shore, completely misunderstanding the man on the bank, propelling his body quickly backwards toward deeper water.

Now, do not get me wrong. I am not against hard work and the benefits that it brings. Just ask my children. And, people in the faith are often some of the hardest working people you will find. They work hard to take care of their churches. They work hard to feed the hungry. They work hard to care for the needy. They work hard to educate the children. The faithful work very, very hard. But, as Luther discovered just before the reformation, hard work does not save you; especially, when water is now up to your lips.

“I’m a goner. I have a loser for a friend. I can’t swim. I am not going to make it. Goodbye cruel world. Goodbye cruel hotdog stand,” the man gurgles and gushingly weeps, only adding to his predicament.

“Hey, who are you calling a loser! I’m trying my best. I don’t see you doing the same thing you baby. If you just believed a little more, you wouldn’t even have a problem. God probably wanted you to struggle in a shower of hotdogs and ketchup so that you would start to believe harder. Don’t give up, just believe that you can make it to the shore and you will. Just believe correctly and everything will be fine, you will be saved,” the man on the shore reassures.

Somehow, faith discussions always come down to this; believing correctly. Whether you are drowning in confusion and doubt, or drowning in a sea of hotdogs, it always comes down to believing correctly. Do you believe in baptism correctly? Do you believe in the atonement the same way that I do? Do you even know what the heck I’m talking about when I mention the atonement? Well, you better, because you need to believe it correctly in order to be saved. We are saved by truth. We are saved by belief. We are saved by our intellectual understanding. We are speaking a bunch of nonsense. The truth that we seek is not an idea. The truth that we need is not a concept that needs to be understood correctly. The truth is found in a relationship. The truth is a person, and when He has found us, we truly are free.

With his nose soon to go under, that man waves goodbye to the world, and gives a special one fingered wave to his friend on the bank. But, he need not fear so much. A man in a business suit rushes past the man on the bank, jumps into the water, grabs the drowning man, and pulls him to safety.

“Thank you. Thank you. You saved me. You cared and you saved me.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m sure anyone would have done it for you,” the business man replies.

“No, not just anyone would take the time to jump in and save me,” the former drowning but now very wet man stares at his friend.

“Well, I could have done that. Anyone could have done that,” the man on the bank replies.

"Thank you for caring." the wet man says again.

In the end, the truth is not an idea. Nor does it come about by counting your blessings. Nor does it come in the night as a great idea. None of these things can save. Only someone can save. The truth is not an idea. The truth is a person. And, it is to that person we cling, Jesus Christ our Lord. "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection for Mark 10:35-45

2009-10-19T13:37:00.002-04:00

“That would never fly in the real world.” That is the typical response to sermons that lay out Jesus’ vision of the world. It is a vision of inclusion. It is a vision of forgiveness. It is a vision where people put the needs of others first and trust that their needs will be taken care of by others in the same way. It is a vision that, “would never fly in the real world.”

Sometimes, I have to be very honest, preaching is not the shaping of minds to be one with the mind of God, rather it is the continual practice of beating your head against the pulpit. People will whole heartedly agree that the vision of the world that Jesus paints with huge, courageous strokes is the world that they want, but they fear stepping into such a kingdom. Though it appears bright and glows with warm, loving colors, at the same time it is a little too bright. It is so bright and warm that it almost appears foreign and different from what we are used to.

There is a lot to fear when you open yourself up to such radical love of the neighbor. It is hard to take even the first step into God’s good news.

Pastor Kendra Mohn, experienced what this hesitancy is all about at an event in a large stadium. She says that:

Recently, while attending an event in a large stadium, there was a break in the action, the kind tailor-made for a bathroom run. Not wanting to miss anything, I sprinted down the stairs and out into the concourse. In my experience, (she says) hundreds of women usually have this thought simultaneously, so I was thrilled to see that there was no line. I must have beaten the crowds for once! As I emerged from the bathroom to return to my seat, I noticed there was still no one waiting outside. No line for the women's bathroom? What's going on?

Following the hallway around the curve, I came upon another bathroom, surrounded by a huge crowd of frowning women, arms folded across their chests. There were easily fifty people standing in line in the hallway, with many more inside. I walked up to the women at the back of the line and delivered the good news that there was an empty bathroom not twenty feet from where they stood. To my amazement, no one moved. One woman shrugged and smiled, and the rest gave no indication that they had even heard me. I tried again, a little farther up the line, with the same result. Puzzled, I gave up and returned to my seat.

Reflecting…I decided that there were probably several reasons for their lack of response. First, I was a stranger to them, and therefore untrustworthy. For all they knew, I was exaggerating the proximity of the bathroom, or the lack of business there. Second, their life experience (like mine) had taught them that there is always a line for the women's bathroom. Even if I were telling the truth, by the time they got there, there would be a line. Above all, however…they just couldn't give up their place in line. Even if there were forty-nine people ahead of them, they were still in line. They had a spot, and they were not about to give it up in exchange for the unknown.

What had first appeared to be mysterious behavior now seemed logical and prudent. In fact, given the same situation, I'm not sure I wouldn't have acted exactly the same way (she admits). It's the kind of reaction that makes sense in a broken world full of lies, scarcity, and injustice. These realities have a significant impact on us, on both larger and smaller scales. When it comes right down to it, it's going to take a lot for us to give up our place in line. (Kendra Mohn, http://www.workingpreacher.org/columnist_home.aspx?article_id=267)

So, it is no surprise to us this morning then, when we learn that James and John have failed to hear the words of Jesus that call them to be servants first of all. Instead, they are trying to get ahead in a very different line which they think leads to the best seats next to Jesus on the throne, the seats of power. Jesus is not in that line. He is calling them to get into a better line just down the hall. It is a line that definitely is not full and long. It is a line that leads to an abundant life. It is not a line that they are used to. So, they cross their arms and hope that the line they are in, the line which they know well, will take them some place equally as good.

"Who would be willing to give up their place in line, their life, their security, and their money, so their neighbor can have it instead?" Pastor Mohn reflects. The real world does not allow you to get away with such things. In the real world, you may be judged, excluded, and maybe worst of all, just plain forgotten if you switch lines. If you give it all away, who is going to take care of you? Pastor Mohn continues, "It is hard to relinquish what you have managed to accumulate, however small or shabby it might be." It is hard to switch over to the line of giving to and serving the neighbor first.

And, that’s why pastors beat their head against the pulpit. Because, they know that Christ’s way of life is the abundant way of life. But, they equally know that people will just say, “that’s all good and fine to think about, but in the real world…” They are certain that other people will say this, because they say it themselves even as they type out their sermons; not truly believing the words written on the page.

But, what if we all took just a moment to give up our place in line, wander over, and at least look at the other line? We could go back to the line we have been standing in if we really needed. We may lose our spot for a time, but we could work our way up again, we know how this line works. So why do we not just take a moment and at least look at the other line, and after looking at least take one step in it.

If you took a look, you would see Jesus. You would also see him looking with love on the other people around. You would see him giving himself to heal their hurts. You would see him giving himself over to authorities so others might be free. You would see him forgiving people so that they feel free to forgive others. And, you would see his disciples tending to his needs, wiping his face, bringing over some food, and also tending to the needs of each other.

One thing you do not see is fighting to get to the front of the line. In this new area, there really is not a line. The life of Christ is not about lines; who is first or who is last. The whole scene is people putting each other first, and when they do all are cared for. Taking a step toward this glorious scene, wanting to be a part of it, the first thing you give for the sake of your neighbor is...

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Kendra Mohn is an Associate Pastor at Mt. Zion Lutheran Church (ELCA)Wauwatosa, WI and is a columnist for www.workingpreacher.org. The quotes used here are from her 09.28.09 Post and can be found at: http://www.workingpreacher.org/columnist_home.aspx?article_id=267.

Reflection on Mark 10:17-31

2009-10-17T10:36:00.003-04:00

What do you own that is not God’s? I truly do mean this to be more than an academic question. Because, of course, we would all dutifully answer in unison, “there is nothing in the world that is not God’s. God created everything, God owns everything.” Very good you all passed your catechetical class, now you can go home and feel good about how smart you are.

But, what if, while at home you were to actually think about what you just said, and be honest with yourself, and look around at your things? You would probably find something like this: a bread machine. It is from my kitchen.

This is not God’s. I do not mean to sound heretical to you. I do not mean to say that God could not use it. I do not mean to say that God does not want to use it. All I want to say is that it is not God’s because I do not allow God to use it. Nor, is it mine because, guess what, I do not use it either. It just sits, lonely in a corner, waiting to make bread to appease the hunger of anyone who would simple open its lid and pour in some flour and yeast. It sits, waiting to feed the the hungry of the world. It sits…that is all it does. It is one of many items that God has entrusted to me that does nothing but clutter my life.

The hiking boot on my feet are similar. These get used some of the time. Twice a year they get used when I decide that six months of rest has been enough time to repair my muscles from the last time I exercised. God has entrusted these hiking boots to me, that they might help me be a healthier disciple, but most of the time they sit. They would probably do better on the feet of someone with no shoes, but about the time I think of giving them up to that noble cause I think, "but, what if I did want to go hiking sometime next year? What would I do then." So, they sit. Like the bread machine and other items of a similar nature, they sit. They are both strange, uncuddly, adult versions of a security blankets. I have them, just in case. They make me feel safe. They are a part of my wealth.

I the ancient world, being wealthy (having much) meant that God had blest you a great deal. So, when the rich man came up to Jesus, no one was thinking, “filthy rich _____” (fill in your own expletive). Not at all. They were thinking, “God truly loves this man.” And, God did. The man had his needs taken care of by God so much that he had the time to sit and study God’s word. He did not have to spend his days of worship toiling with work. He had been blessed, and all could see it.

And, similarly, when I stare around my home, cluttered with wonderful little stuff, I wonder if God had forgotten to turn off the blessing machine. No, this is not bragging. This is whining. They are very different. But, back to the rich man whom God had obviously blessed.

Making certain that he had not missed out on any of God's abundance, the rich man asked Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” In other words, what do I have to do to live a full life with God right now and forever into the future? "I have already been blessed, what more do I have to do?"

“You have kept the commandments?” Jesus asked.

“Yes, of course. It is what I do day and night.” The rich man returned honestly.

Then, with love, Jesus invited this man who was so close to God’s heart even closer. Jesus invited the rich young man so close that will of God and the will of the rich young man would eventually be intertwined. Jesus said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." In other words, make sure your stuff is God’s stuff. Make sure your wealth is God’s wealth. Make sure it is serving God’s will. Give it to the poor, and you will be on the next step of being close to God. Who wouldn't want their heart to be so close to Christ's heart?

Sadly, the rich man turned down Jesus’ invitation and went away grieving. Grieving his stuff? Grieving life with God? I do not know, but he walked away with a life full of grief.

The disciples, by contrast had gotten rid of everything to follow Jesus. They got rid of a lot of their stuff, they said goodbye to family, they got spit upon and persecuted, even their valuable boats got used by Jesus to go from side of the lake to the other more than they did for fishing. They had given up everything for God. They had nothing.

So, if the rich man, who appeared blessed actually had nothing, and they who had given up everything literally had nothing, then who wins? They essentially asked Jesus, "who wins? Who gets life with God now and forever?" They did not know what they were asking. They too were blinded by things and could not see the truth. They could not see God’s grace literally sitting right next to them. They were walking with God. They were blessed. The only difference between them and the rich man was that everything God had given them was actually being used for God’s kingdom. They simple did not see it.

Maybe that is the way it should be. Maybe it was good that they could not see the truth; that they will be blessed with much because they had given much. Maybe it is good that they were blind to their blessings because if they could actually see all that they were blessed with, they may have started to consider their wealth something that they owned. And, if they did that, they would forget that the items were God’s. And, if they did that, the items might have just sat in the corner, ministry potential gone to waste.

But, most people I think are not like the disciples. Most people can see all of their stuff. Most people are not wonderfully ingnorant like the disciples. If that is the case, all is not lost for this rest of us is it? God has promised to walk with us forever in our baptism. And, if God is walking with us, then all things are possible are they not? "With God all things are possible." Perhaps, God can do what we have been unable to do ourselves; to transform our vision so that we see our wealth, not as our own, but as God's wealth for the sake of God and for the sake of others.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Mark 10:2-16

2009-10-04T14:33:00.002-04:00

“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” the Pharisees test Jesus.

“Is it right or is it wrong?” They seek to hear Jesus’ answer as they bring Jesus into a debate about the ethics of divorce. And, when people bring it up today, though the discussion will go differently today then it would have in Jesus’ time, people seek to hear the answers to the ethical debate.

You know how the debate goes. Someone will say that divorce is wrong period. They will claim that the Bible says that it is wrong and therefore any time it happens, it is just plain wrong. (That may not be the truth about the Bible, but it is what they claim.) Others will seek to say it is wrong except when fraud, abuse, or adultery is involved. Abuse is the big one. It is hard to argue against leaving a marriage that contains abuse. Most people let that one slide with ease, as maybe they should. Some will say if the marriage is hurting the children, then the divorce is a good option. Still others will say, “Why stay with someone whom you will hate for the rest of your life, sure God would not want you entire life to be miserable.”

And the debate rolls on as it surely did in Jesus’ time. They had different arguments about who was allowed to give out a certificate of divorce and who the divorce certificate does and does not protect, but it was an ethical debate non-the-less and the Pharisees wanted Jesus to enter in.

And, so do we. I think that most Christians today want Jesus to enter the debate. After-all, most of us have been touched by divorce in one way or another. Some of us are divorced. Others of us have a good friend, a spouse, a sibling, or even parents who are divorced. It causes us to wonder. Through all of the pain, we wonder, “is divorce right at least some times?” “What should we think of divorce?” “Lord, tell us what you think.”

This is the point in the sermon where I have to admit that I am tempted to say, “it’s all O.K.; don’t worry that much about it; God will heal everything; it is fine; everything is going to be fine.” Then I can go home, kick up my feet, and watch reruns of the bachelor where contestants get to have all the emotional stress of divorce issues without…the ethical debate or the need to get married first.

“Everything is going to be fine, don’t worry, it’s O.K.” was the wise pastoral advice this minister gave during his internship to a young man who was struggling in the first stages of divorcing his wife. It was gentle advice I thought. But, it was wrong.

“Pastor, everything is not going to be fine. Nothing right now is fine. I feel like my heart is being torn right from my body. Pastor, things are not fine and they are not going to be fine. Don’t tell me things are fine.”

The man was right. It was not going to be fine. Things were not fine. He wanted real answers, and the worst thing I could have done, I did. I gave him cheap comfort.

Jesus does not offer cheap comfort to a complex and painful problem. Jesus is not scared of speaking. But, Jesus also refuses to enter the ethical debate about divorce. He does not lay out which instances of divorce are right or wrong. He does not expand upon the law of Moses and give us the technical answers to the technical questions that we ask. He does something different. He does something better. He answers a much better question. It is the question that is in our hearts but has trouble bubbling up to our lips, “Why the heck does divorce hurt so much?”

People who are in the heart ripping process of divorce have mixed feelings and ask, “Why the heck does divorce hurt so much?” Children come to me with confused lives as they try to navigate the reality of two homes, two sets of rules, and two people to love who do not want to talk to each other and they cry out, “Why the heck does divorce hurt so much?” Parents of children who are divorcing do not know who they are allowed to love anymore. They struggle in a separation of love and family that they did not ask for. And in all of the pain they ask, “Why the heck does divorce hurt so much?”

To this question, Jesus has an answer, “from the beginning of creation, "’God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one flesh.”

When God draws two people together, God weaves their lives so tightly that they become one flesh, one piece of fabric whose links are so tightly woven that they are not even distinguishable. Marriage is the greatest example of what God intends for all of creation. We read in Colossians that “in Jesus all things hold together.” It is the Lord’s intention that all things be drawn together; that all creation be woven into one strong fabric.

So, why the heck does divorce hurt so much? Because, something that has been woven together is literally being ripped apart.

I have news for everyone. Whether a particular divorce is decided to be right or wrong through ethical debate, it is still going to hurt terribly.

Jesus does not tell us which instances of divorce are right and which are wrong. But, he does say that divorce is not something to be taken lightly.

When the disciples press him to say more, Jesus says "Whoever divorces his wife in order to marry another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." In other words, anyone who sees another person who is prettier, or smarter, or understands my situation more, and divorces so that they can have that better looking option is going to do terrible damage. Divorce is not frivolous. It rips people’s lives apart and has all kinds of unintended casualties. Friends are hurt, children are confused, and parents are put into a dilemma. Divorce is not frivolous. God’s act of weaving people together to become one flesh is not something to be taken lightly.

We know this don’t we? Could not each of us written this very sermon? Those whom divorce has touched already understand that Jesus’ words are not condemnation for doing something wrong, they are merely words of truth. Divorce rips apart and that is the simple truth.

“So, if I have divorced, am I unloved and unlovable?”

That is the real question. And, Jesus has a real answer for you. There are many who are beaten and broken. There are many for whom others simply do not care. There are many who have been touched by the sting of sin and now suffer the ripping apart of their lives.

To all of these people Jesus says, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”

Have we so quickly forgotten God’s intention for creation; to draw everything together? Are you unloved or unlovable? No. “In Jesus all things hold together.”

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on James 3:14-4:3, 7-8a

2009-09-28T10:50:00.002-04:00

“I healed a man’s foot, John; a foot…you know that thing you need to get the necessities of life, work, water, food…I healed that,” James sneers.

“So, you know how to scrape off a little foot fungus…big deal. There’s a guy out there that can see because of me. He can see. The guy was so happy that he gave me a tip of three talents,” retorted John.

“I fed someone.”

“Shut it Tim,” John and James sing in unison. “You tried for bread and got a hand full of Cheerios. We already know how great you are.”

Peter stopped the group of disciples in their tracks with one hand, turn and faced them. “I can’t believe you. Look at you. Listen to you. There is one thing that Jesus said that makes this discussion of greatness idiotic, he called me the rock upon which the church will be build.”

And with that, the group exploded into angry conversation, one-ups-man-ship, and even the occasional fist. As the group fought and walked, fought and walked, the blind along the road heard them, but were not ever seen by the disciples. As the fists started flying, the hungry watched, but clung to their rumbling stomachs which held no hope of restfulness. As the disciples imagined glory for their great works, a little girl stepped out in front of them seeking help for her mother, but she was accidentally tripped over and pushed aside. It was not until they approached Jesus that their helium filled heads started coming out of clouds. Jesus stared at them and they went silent.

“What were you arguing about?” Jesus demanded.

Regressing back to his elementary years James ventured a meek “nothing Lord,” but the silence was too thick. It did not even make it past his larynx.

Jesus ripped the silence apart saying, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

Again, there was an uneasy silence. Their selfish ambition left a metallic taste in their mouth. For the first time in a while, their desires fell from their eyes like scales and they realized that they had no idea how they had gotten to where they were and who they passed by on the way.

If James, Jesus’ brother, had been traveling with them he might have instructed them:

"For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind…Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts."

I would love to say that I am not like these disciples and that I often follow James instruction to wisely make peace, be concerned about others and not oneself, and in his own words to follow the wisdom from above which is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy." In other words, care for others before yourself.

But, I have been on that playing field at recess and I know what it feel like when the class loser…I’m sorry “socially challenged”…kid is chosen before you. In your mind you are thinking, “isn’t that nice and compassionate.” But in your heart you are seething, “what am I the new class clown? I can kick that ball further than all of you! I’ll show you!” And, the class looser soon discovers that he is still at the bottom as you humiliate him once again to prove your greatness.

There are these desires within us that do not come from above but raise up from below. The need to be right, even when you may be wrong. The need to look good in front of others and prove your worth, even though you may deserve to look bad. The inability to look at your mistakes and the tendency to cover them by pointing out everyone else’s, even though your mistakes are many. The striving for the top, even though you leave everyone else behind. Seeing what you want, and murdering in order to get it. These desires are from below. These are gut desires, and they are powerful.

“Shame on you,” I could yell from the pulpit. “I know what you did,” I could accuse. “I know what you think,” I could venture. But, you would be able to do the same to me, and it would be a worthless waste of energy as we tried to climb our way over one another. Jesus is not interested in wasted energy. Jesus is not interested in wasted anything. Avoiding a fight to the top, Jesus sits down with his disciples and lays out a simple truth, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all."

This is opposite advice from what I received when I graduated from High School. As I was leaving home to be on my own I was given this advice from a teacher, “make sure you care for yourself, because no one is going to do it for you.”

Jesus disagrees. In the kingdom of God (the kingdom of love that resides right here on earth) you will care not for yourself, but for someone else. You are safe to do this because there will be someone who will be doing the same for you. It is counter intuitive, but does it not somehow feel right? It does not seem logical, but do we not know that it is right. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

In God’s kingdom, each of us are fully gifts to one another. Like the great Redwood trees of California, we depend on each other in order to survive. Our roots are locked together and we hold each other up. If we were to ever sever our roots and care only for our own self, we would surely topple over. The wisdom from above says, care for someone, and you will be cared for also.

I heard of a mother in Africa who was taking in the sickest of people from around. They held communicable diseases that would make most people turn and walk the other way. She was approached by a reporter who informed her that this was not safe, she should not being doing this because it puts her own health at risk. The woman looked and the reporter and replied, “I am careful. Besides, someone needs to care for them. That person is me. And when I get sick, someone will be there to care for me.”

It defies logic, but it somehow seems right. It is the way of love. It is the way of the cross. It is the way of God.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.

Reflection on Mark 8:27-38

2009-09-13T14:45:00.004-04:00

“You are the Messiah.”

The words seem so certain. The words come out so confidently. The words project out of Peter’s firm lips; Peter knows that he is right.

I have seen those lips before, those firm lips that declare confident religious statements. Those lips cross my path a lot. They speak their confidence on the bus. They speak their confidence over coffee. I cannot even take a nice quiet flight without hearing those certain lips.

On a flight from Arizona, I had just settled into my seat, raised the pillow to my head, and closed my eyes to let all around know that I intended to rest and not talk about poodles or how we wish we got more peanuts on this flight. That is when the lips sat down next to me.

“How are you doing?”

“Fine, I’m just trying to rest after a long week.”

The words were out of my mouth, and like watermelon seeds well on their way toward your sibling’s face, I could not suck them back in. A person never says, “after a long week” if they intend to get some rest. Never. Because, the only response to that can be:

“So, you’ve had a busy week, what do you do?”

“I’m a fork lift driver. I’m a toll booth attendant. I take plastic bags of trash out of apartments all day long.” All of these would have been acceptable answers for someone who does not want to hear those confident lips start spurting. Those careers foster no more than a 30 second conversation. But, no...I’m honest. I believe in truth. I believe in love of the neighbor, even annoying airplane seat mates. I believe that I said the worst thing someone who wants sleep should ever say, “I’m a pastor.”

And that is when it started.

“A pastor huh? What do you think about homosexuals? I think they and their homosexual agenda are ruining the moral fabric of our nation. What do you think?”

What I actually was thinking was, “why are homosexuals the first thing anyone talks about with pastors on airplanes?” I am certain all of you would be happy to know that I do not think about homosexuals every minute of my life. For a happily married pastor, I think that this is a good thing. I do think about hungry people. I do think about people struggling to forgive those they love. I do think that Jesus cared much more about these subjects. And mostly, I was thinking at the time that I needed a little sleep. Did I not just say that I needed rest? With that thought in mind, I confidently declared in a pastoral tone, “I don’t…I mean…Uhhhhh.”

This must have been a satisfying answer because he responded, “And, women who get abortions. Don’t they care about life? Don’t they care that they have a life? I think someone should show them just what they are doing and take their life.”

Letting those words fall between us, I looked out the window and saw something that immediately horrified me that he apparently did not see; we were still at the gate. This was a three hour flight.

The guy was confident. The guy was very religious. The man understood a great many things. The man got under my skin because he was so much like me. In the end, you do not want me to get going either. Those firm, confident lips of Peter will form on my mouth and I will declare a great many things to you.

Now, the problem with Peter was not that he spoke confidently. It is much more complicated than that. In fact, what he did say was the truth. This is Peter’s great declaration, “Jesus, you are the Messiah.” He got it right. He spoke the truth. He will be remembered centuries later because of these words.

But, he will also be remembered for Jesus’ words to him, “Get behind me Satan. For you are setting your mind not on Divine things but on human things” when he disagreed with Jesus' plan for the future.

Peter’s problem was not that he spoke confidently, it was that he did not understand what he was saying. Being the Messiah does not mean that Jesus will become a strong king who will set the world straight and create peace with a strong presence and strong commands.

That image is how many churches present Jesus by the way. They own huge lit crosses and place powerful thrones in the front and center of the sanctuary. But, this image is not what it means to be the Messiah.

Instead, being the Messiah means that Christ will suffer and die; and in suffering he will save the world. That looks more like a small bloody cross in the back corner of the church.

Peter was confident, but he did not understand what he was saying. This is the human condition is it not? Are we not constantly getting ourselves into trouble because we are confident in our beliefs, but in the end we really do not understand what we are saying. We really do not stop and think whether or not our confident beliefs line up with God’s vision of love for the other; love to the point of suffering for the other.

Christ’s self-sacrificing love does not make sense. Right and wrong makes sense. Heaven and Hell makes sense. These we can confidently declare. Dying for your enemy is not as easy to understand.

These are much harder words to declare confidently to your neighbor on a flight:

“Hey, I think that when you get home you should lay your life down for your enemy. You know, go a die in place of the woman who had an abortion…so that she might have a new chance at a life that she completely messed up.”

That is much harder to declare confidently. But, it is also the way of Christ.

It is not as easy to understand, but it is the type of God we have. Christ lays down his life in love of you, and me, and the annoying neighbor on the plane.

When someone has given up their life for you, life seems to take on a characteristic other than confidence, it seems to take on something that looks more like humility and gratitude. Do not worry. If you keep reading, Peter will get to that point eventually in the story. And eventually, so will we.

All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.