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Pentecost XI Richard Holmer
First Reading: Proverbs 9:1-6 Second Reading: Ephesians 5:15-20 Gospel: John 6:51-58
The Feast Is Spread
The Jesus who encounters us in the Gospel of John is a bit different from the Jesus we get to know in Matthew, Mark and Luke. It’s the same Jesus, our Lord and Savior, yet we see aspects of Jesus in this gospel that are not as apparent in the other three. The Jesus in John’s gospel is mystical and cosmic. He says things and is described in words and images we don’t hear in Matthew, Mark and Luke. It is in the Gospel of John that: - Jesus is the “Word Made Flesh” - Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am” “The Father and I are one” - All the “I AM” sayings: “I am the door” “I am the light of the world” “I am the Good Shepherd” “I am the vine, you are the branches” “I am the resurrection” “I am the way, the truth, and the life” “I am the bread of life.” And today: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life.” In this gospel, Jesus says some things that are hard to swallow. You get the feeling in the sixth chapter of John that the crowd is not quite ready for Jesus. He’s talking over their heads. They can’t grasp what he is teaching them. They can’t make sense of who he is. Jesus is looking for a response of faith, and is finding it to be a rare thing. In verse thirty he says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” In verse thirty-six he laments, “you have seen me, and yet do not believe.” In verse forty, “My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him.” And in verse forty-seven, “Whoever believes has eternal life.” Toward the end of his gospel, John explicitly states his purpose in writing: “these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” Faith is the main agenda—for Jesus and for John. What, then, is Jesus looking for? What does it mean to have faith in Jesus? In this sixth chapter, Jesus calls us to embrace him for who he is—not who we would like him to be. Jesus refuses to fit into our preconceived notions of who he is and what he is about. He doesn’t want to be an earthly king. He is more than a miraculous feeder of the masses, more than a wonder-worker and healer. He’s more than just another Moses. The miracles Jesus performs are signs that point beyond themselves to something greater and more enduring. To have faith in Jesus is a matter of receiving his life into ours—and so he speaks of eating and drinking. Jesus isn’t looking for intellectual assent at a safe distance—he wants nothing less than full communion with his followers. Jesus keeps breaking the mold. Jesus is the one in whom all the fullness of God is pleased to dwell—he is overflowing with grace and truth. He is more than people can handle or comprehend. He is more that we bargained for, more than we’re ready to accept. Jesus baffles and offends his listeners because he invites us to a new and different life: eternal life, life lived in and by grace—life lived in constant relationship with God our Father, not on an occasional basis where we turn to God only when we think it necessary. Jesus is offering union with God—which is a hard thing for us to grasp. The goodness and greatness of God is overwhelming to us—it can make us feel weak and small. * * * * So what do we do? Like those first century followers, we hold ourselves back from relationship with God in Christ. We are reluctant to have faith, to trust God, to take the leap, to truly live by grace…like Jesus lived. God is this great, wide ocean of grace and peace—and yet we can barely bring ourselves to dip a tentative toe in the water; we're leery of taking the plunge, afraid of drowning. * * * * In chapter six there is a level of frustration and exasperation in Jesus at our unwillingness to embrace what he is offering. Is this the humanity of Jesus showing through—or does it reflect God’s impatience with his creatures? Jesus offers abundant life—and what do we do? We're still looking for a king to be responsible so we don't have to be. We’re looking for a free meal, a quick fix. We're looking for a new set of rules to follow. Jesus offers us freedom—and we're not at all sure we want it. Somehow we've grown comfortable within the constraints of our familiar ruts. Jesus offers us eternal life—when actually we'd settle for a long weekend. Jesus offers forgiveness—and we hesitate, because something tells us that to accept genuine forgiveness might take away our excuses and actually oblige us to change. What is it to have the faith Jesus is looking for? It's to believe that the grace of God is more than a possibility—it's reality. It's how things really are! Grace abounds! It's all around us! Christ is risen; Christ is alive. God is with us; God’s love is for us—right here, right now. There's nothing we can do to make God love us any more, or any less. To have faith is to trust that we are truly forgiven--and so to let go of guilt and regret and shame and fear—and be free to be fully alive in each and every moment: - free to love others as we are loved - free to forgive as we are forgiven - free to be generous, caring, adventurous. It's to believe we have eternal life—not wishing it were so, but to live trusting that it is so. In other words, it's to be FEARLESS, unencumbered by all the anxiety and dread that paralyze us and drain the life from us. To live each day instead with courage—daring to be bold in our decisions, willing to take risks for Christ’s sake, because, finally, we have nothing to lose. To have faith is to be at peace and to be full of hope to live with blessed assurance, to actually start looking a bit more like persons who have been redeemed. * * * * The hymn we sang at the beginning of worship today captures the essence of the vibrant faith Jesus wants to plant in our hearts. It’s an invitation to live an abundant, gracious life in Christ: 1. Come let us eat for now the feast is spread. Our Lord's body let us take together. 2. Come let us drink for now the wine is poured. Jesus' blood poured, let us drink together. 3. In his presence now we meet and rest. In the presence of our Lord we gather. 4. Rise, then, to spread abroad God's mighty word. Jesus risen will bring in the kingdom. Jesus is saying to us: Don't hang back by the doorway, standing on the sidelines. Enter into the joy of his banquet. Start living gracious, abundant, eternal life today! Amen
Pentecost X Richard Holmer
First Reading: 1 Kings 19:4-8 Second Reading: Ephesians 4:25--5:2 Gospel: John 6:35, 41-51
Taste and See
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8 What a strange yet intriguing verse this is! It comes across as a straightforward invitation, very confident in nature: “Try it, you”ll like it.” “The proof is in the tasting.” At the same time it is a rather curious suggestion that a person can actually “taste” God. In the poetry of the Psalms, such artistic license is allowed. The goodness of God can be tasted and enjoyed. This verse from Psalm 34 has a direct relation to the statement we hear form Jesus in today’s gospel: “I am the Bread of life.” Bread is definitely for tasting. Everyone is familiar with the goodness of fresh baked bread. You don’t have to be a sophisticated expert to appreciate good bread – all you need is a mouth. I have a well-earned reputation in our family for emptying the bread basket they bring you at restaurants. God is like that. God is to be tasted – experienced- enjoyed. God is not merely an idea to be pondered and debated in solemn tones. The bible doesn’t tell us of people who thought a lot about God or who liked to sit around talking about God. The bible is filled with people who tasted the goodness of God and who kept coming back for more. If the goodness of God is for real, then it must be more than a nice idea. It must be a goodness that we can taste and experience.
How does such a thing happen? It happens most marvelously in Jesus Christ. - Our faith feeds on the wonder of the Word made flesh, the baby boy born in Bethlehem. - Christianity is an incarnational religion: we take spiritual reality very seriously, but not at the expense of material reality. - We believe in a flesh and blood Savior. - We are saved by Grace: not grace as a point of theology, but grace walking around on two legs, grace with a beating heart, grace with a human face. - As Christians we believe we taste and see the goodness of God in Jesus. Christian faith really only makes sense when you get close to Jesus. Apart from him, it all starts to seem like a bunch of rules and speculations and promises. But in Jesus it all comes together and God is alive and approachable and for real. The invitation to a hungry world hasn’t changed in 2,000 years: taste and see for yourself the goodness of God in Jesus Christ.
Which brings us eventually to the blessing and the mystery of Holy Communion. The one who said, “I am the bread of life” continues to come to us in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. Around this holy table we have the opportunity to literally taste the goodness of our Lord. Now when we talk about taste, we’re not talking about bread vs. wafers, or what kind of wine we serve. If our focus is on things like that, we may not taste the goodness of God at all. Like Jesus’ first disciples, we sometimes miss the boat – we can’t see the forest for the trees. Nevertheless, at communion we are consistently offered the opportunity for an intimate encounter with God. Lutherans are not always absolute biblical literalists, but there is a kind of simple, old-fashioned literalism in holy communion. Along with Martin Luther, we take very seriously the biblical account of the Last Supper. When Jesus takes the bread, he declares: “This is my body” not: this is like my body this will remind you of my body this symbolizes my body but: “This is my body” And so we believe Christ is actually present to us, with us, in Holy Communion – in, with, under these ordinary elements of bread and wine. - The theological term is “real presence.” - But more than theology, it is the experience of closeness, the intimacy of eating and drinking that is profoundly moving. - We don’t presume to say how Christ is present – we just take him at his word.
Holy Communion is communion with God – and also with the people of God. Communion and community come from the same root. Communion creates community. And it is in this community of believers that we also experience the goodness of God. Jesus said, “When two or more are gathered in my name, there am I.” Any early theologian once said: “One Christian, no Christian.” In other words, you can’t be a Christian or experience Christ all by yourself. God has chosen to reveal himself and to be active in the community of believers. Which is why it is called the Body of Christ. Christ is tangibly present in the gathered community of faith. This is the power of corporate worship: singing and praying together, confessing our sins and confessing our faith, sharing the peace of God. This is a hearty helping of the goodness of God. Even at a funeral service – perhaps especially at a funeral – in our coming together to share our grief, our hope , our faith, we can experience in a vivid way the reality of God. This is the compelling quality of retreats, camp and mission trips; when the many different parts of the body come together at one time and place, we can get a clear vision of Christ our head.
Finally, we taste and see the goodness of God in the rich experience of being loved – which is the consistent experience of those who encounter Jesus. Why, despite all the demands for sacrifice, all the challenging teaching, all the calls to change, did people keep coming back to Jesus? It was because they experienced the gracious power of his love. * a love that can be rigorous and demanding, * a love that ses us as we truly are, * a lover that cares too deeply to simply pat us on the head and bless our status quo – yet a love willing to begin with us wherever we are, * a love that forgives whatever is wayward and broken in us, and shows us a better way, * a love that can discern in each of us the image of the God who created us, * a love that frees us to discover the abiding joy of loving others.
* * * * Friends, this is what we are about together. We are invited and we are called to invite others to taste and see the goodness of our God in Jesus Christ. We know God is good because we have experienced this goodness in Jesus: - we taste it at his table - we experience it in this family - we cherish the blessing of being loved with a love so steadfast and dependable. Sometimes we are like the prophet Elijah in our first reading: - we lose track of God’s goodness – we get run down - we feel lost and forsaken - we can’t seem to taste God’s grace in our lives - we wander into a lonely and desolate place God’s message to Elijah is also a message to us: The angel says to him: “Get up and eat!” “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” That’s exactly right. Get up and eat! Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Amen
Pentecost IX
First Reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15 Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16 Gospel: John 6:24-35
Today Guest Pastor Terry Dufur preached on the living bread from heaven, Jesus Christ our Lord. The congregation was reminded to believe that Jesus is the bread of life. Only in seeking him will we never be hungry or thirsty. Next Sunday....doughnuts?
Pentecost VIII Richard Holmer
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44 Second Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21 Gospel: John 6:1-21
The Bread We Need
At the beginning of the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is surrounded by a large and hungry crowd. Jesus has been teaching all day long, and now as the dinner hour rolls around, stomachs are growling and people are wondering what’s for dinner. What had been a good day for the mission was on the brink of going bad because there was no food for all these thousands who had come out to listen to Jesus. All they have is one boy’s lunch of 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. The disciples are anxious because they can see no solution to this dilemma. But Jesus remains calm. He instructs his disciples to tell everyone to sit down and that dinner will be served. Jesus takes the loaves & fishes, gives thanks to God, and distributes them to the crowd. Now John doesn’t describe exactly how it happened, but he says everyone ate at much as they wanted. Everyone was satisfied, and when they gathered up all the leftovers, they filled 12 baskets. The people are not only satisfied, they are deeply impressed. They have witnessed a miracle! They say to one another: “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” Right then and there they want to take Jesus and make him their King. * * * * Now this would seem to be a moment of great success, a real breakthrough. It couldn’t have worked any better if they had planned it this way. Jesus has attracted a large following. They are eager and excited. Jesus has them literally eating out of his hand. They are actually hailing Jesus as the One for whom they have waited so long. They want to proclaim him as Lord and King. No doubt some disciples of Jesus were thinking: “Mission Accomplished!” * * * * Yet just when he seems on the brink of success, Jesus backs away. When he realized they wanted to make him King, “Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Instead of fanning the flames of his popularity, he turned his back on the crowd. Jesus was not willing to do or to be just what they wanted. He knew that they needed something more. Jesus tells this to the people the next day when they all show up hoping for another free lunch. He says, “You are looking for me because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.” This chapter which begins with a miracle story about bread for the thousands moves into an extended reflection on Jesus as the Bread of Life. Like that crowd by the sea, we are encouraged to see beyond the bread we want to the bread we need, to see Jesus as our living bread. So often it is hard for us to see beyond what we want to what we truly need. We can easily approach Christianity as just another means of getting what we want, “Sure, I’ll try Jesus if Jesus can help me get what I want, go where I want to go.” So we come to church looking for what help we can get. We may not have empty stomachs, but we’re looking to be “filled up” in other ways. The church can become a willing accomplice in this enterprise, trying to attract new members by giving them what they want. The church markets itself to potential consumers. Isn’t it all a bit odd? We come to church thinking mostly about ourselves, but then the liturgy and the scriptures talk mainly about God. What are we looking for from Jesus, anyway? What is it we want? If not a free lunch, then maybe some other kind of miracle, like a new job or more control over our lives. Maybe we’re looking for comfort or healing. Maybe we just want to hear a good story, something to entertain us and distract us from our boring, stressed out lives. Maybe we want to make sure Jesus punches our ticket to heaven. We come with all our wants, often oblivious to our genuine needs. We want control, when what we need is peace. We want to be liked – we need to be loved. We want to make a good impression – we need to be forgiven. We want to be left alone – we need to be brought together. We want entertainment – we need spiritual formation. We want security – we need to get out of our comfort zone. We want to have our own way – we need to follow God’s way. The great irony in this gospel story, and in our own lives, is that Jesus wants to give us a lot more than we’re looking for. Jesus wants to do more than impress us, amuse us, please us, satisfy us. Jesus wants to fill us in places that we didn’t realize were empty; to lead us in a direction we hadn’t planned on going; to bring us together with people we probably would not have chosen; to give us priorities we had not imagined; to create in us new hungers, instead of merely satisfying the old familiar ones. * * * * Throughout the Gospel of John we are reminded that God is a God of abundance. - In chapter one John proclaims, “From his fullness we have received grace upon grace.” - The first miracle Jesus performs is at the wedding in Cana, where he transforms 180 galloons of water into fine wine—overflowing abundance. - Jesus promises the Samaritan woman at the well an everlasting spring of water gushing up to eternal life. - He multiplies the loaves and fishes to feed the huge crowd. - He raised Lazarus from the dead, and then is raised himself. - In one of his post-resurrection appearances, he tells the disciples to let down their nets and they catch so many fish that they can’t pull the net into their boat. - Midway through John’s Gospel Jesus announces, “I came that they may have life—and have it abundantly.” God does provide for our physical and material needs. Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry. He taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Yet the abundance of God is not primarily material abundance. An emphasis on material abundance is just one more marketing strategy used by some churches, the so-called prosperity gospel which suggests that God’s main agenda is to make people rich. The good news, that may not sound so good on first hearing, is that Jesus wants to lead us past our felt needs and our instinctive desires. Jesus wants to give us a lot more than we might be looking for. To use St. Paul’s expression, Jesus wants to fill us with nothing less than “all the fullness of God,” to fill us with holy love that is broad and wide and deep—a love that not only comforts out troubled hearts, but also challenges and transforms us. Like John, St. Paul realized that God “is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine. * * * * Jesus is not about consulting our wishes and desires, and then fulfilling them. Jesus is not out to please us. Jesus is all about giving us new wishes and new desires… --giving us hearts that are hungry for goodness -- giving us hearts that are hungry for justice -- giving us hearts that are hungry for the grace of God -- giving us hearts that are hungry for the Bread we truly need. The Bread Jesus wants to give us is himself—the bread that endures. Amen
Pentecost VII Richard Holmer
First Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6 Second Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22 Gospel: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
He Is Our Peace
Stress happens—it happens to all of us. Stress is an inevitable feature of life in this world. If you have a job, you have stress: deadlines to meet office politics increased hours cutbacks and layoffs If you don’t have a job, you have a different kind of stress – a stress that only increases as time goes by and money runs short. If you have a family, you have stress: kids with all their needs and their conflicting schedules aging parents and the hard decisions that need to be made. a marriage that requires ongoing energy and attention. If you don’t have a family, you may be dealing with the stress of loneliness. If you have a house, you have the stress of paying for it and maintaining it. If you are homeless, you have the stress of wondering where you’ll sleep tonight. Throw in all kinds of random challenges and hassles like car trouble, health issues, plumbing problems, natural disasters, road construction, and the general state of the world, and there is surely no shortage of things that can disturb our peace.
Author Natalie Goldberg made this observation: “Reality is the leading cause of stress--for those who are in touch with it.” Everyone hopes to be happy-yet what we truly long for is peace.
The prophets foretold that the coming Messiah would usher in an age of peace. The picture they paint is very soothing and inviting: “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” “the wolf shall live with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion and the fatling together” “they will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain” “everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
Jesus is that promised Messiah, and he is rightly called the Prince of Peace. Nevertheless, following Jesus can seem like a rather unlikely path to peace. When you read the gospel stories, it becomes apparent that Jesus stirred things up wherever he went. Sometimes Jesus didn’t even allow the dead to rest in peace; he brought them back to life. Jesus could fairly be called a disturber of the peace. In fact he described himself this way: “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” Luke 12:49-53 So much for an idyllic, stress-free existence! Jesus was a controversial figure, to be sure.
We know Jesus wasn’t crucified because he made everyone feel at ease. Those first disciples who chose to follow Jesus led lives that were not exactly peaceful. The paradoxical peace of God is described in a hymn written by William Percy. It’s #449 in our hymnal: They cast their nets in Galilee, just off the hills of brown; Such happy, simple fisher folk, before the Lord came down. Contented, peaceful fishermen, before they ever knew the peace of God that filled their hearts brimful, and broke them too. Young John who trimmed the flapping sail, homeless in Patmos died. Peter, who hauled the teeming net, head-down was crucified. The peace of God, it is no peace, but strife closed in the sod; yet, brothers, pray for but one thing--the marvelous peace of God.”
So, just what is this “marvelous peace of God?” And what is St. Paul getting at in our 2nd reading when he says of Jesus, “He is our peace?”
Peace as we tend to think of it is hard to find, even for Jesus. We look for a peace that is characterized by the absence of stress, conflict and demands. It’s the peace we have in mind when we go on vacation. It’s the kind of peace that Jesus has in mind in today’s gospel, when he says to his disciples: “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” This attempt at a peaceful retreat didn’t work out as planned. People figured out where they were going, and a great crowd followed them there.
Jesus was unfazed by the pressing crowd and their unending neediness. Instead of getting exasperated, Jesus responded with compassion, “because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
What we begin to see in the ministry of Jesus is that there is a peace that isn’t based on tranquil and serene circumstances. There is a way to be at peace while you’re not on vacation, when circumstances are not comfortable, when everything is not under control. Peace is not the absence of all trouble and stress; peace is the presence of Christ. This is the message implicit in the story of Jesus and the disciples in the boat when the storm hits on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus calms the storm, but then he asks what happened to their faith. His presence with them could have given them peace in the storm, if their faith hadn’t deserted them. We see this faith later on in Peter and John in the Book of Acts. When they are arrested for preaching, and imprisoned, and ordered to cease and desist, they remain calm and unintimidated. Their opponents then realize that this peace, this quiet strength, came from having been with Jesus. Psalm 23 describes the peace that is possible in the presence of enemies, even in the face of death, when a believer trusts in the presence of the loving shepherd.
You and I can never remove all the things that cause stress in our lives. We can never avoid all the people and circumstances that make life difficult.
What we can do is to trust that nothing will ever be able to separate us from Jesus Christ. We can believe the promises God made to us when we were baptized: * that forgiveness is always available * that death will not have the last word.
When we remember the promises of forgiveness and eternal life, guilt and fear lose their power to disturb our peace. Every time we come to this table to commune with our Lord, we have a tangible experience of his presence with us, a foretaste of heavenly peace.
To pray is to practice the presence of Christ, the presence which conveys a peace this world cannot give.
When we are willing to serve as instruments of his peace, when we do what Jesus invites us to do: bringing hope where there is despair joy where there is sadness faith where there is doubt light where there is darkness when we actually follow his way, we find that it is not an easy way, but it is the way of peace. It is the promised way of the Savior, as Zechariah proclaims in the first chapter of Luke: “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace” Luke 1:78,79 Jesus is our peace. He shows us the way. Not a way out of this world and all its cares and stress, but a way to be in this world.
The peace of the Lord be with you always!
Amen
Pentecost VI Richard Holmer
First Reading: Amos 7:7-15 Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14 Gospel: Mark 6:14-29
Whistle Blowers
Last week I watched the movie Erin Brockovich on cable. Julia Roberts portrays the real-life title character, a struggling single mom who takes a job as a file clerk in a small law firm. By chance she comes to find that a number of people living close to a pumping station operated by Pacific Gas & Electric have developed all kinds of serious health problems. She first has to convince her boss that there’s a legitimate case to pursue, and then she has to win the trust of all those who have been victimized. Finally, they have to bring the class action suit against a powerful, multi-billion dollar corporation. There are many twists and turns and setbacks along the way.
I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn’t just a story – that hundreds of people actually suffered from cancer and other terrible diseases as a direct consequence of this pollution. Ultimately, they received a settlement of $333 million from Pacific Gas & Electric.
* * * * *
Stories about whistle blowers make for good drama. There’s plenty of conflict & suspense, the struggle between good and evil, clear cut heroes and villains.
What also becomes apparent is that it’s not at all easy to do the right thing. There’s lots of resistance and push-back, sometimes from unexpected sources. Seeing justice done is an uphill struggle. It’s the same as it ever was. Biblical prophets were some of the original whistle blowers, calling God’s people to account, pointing out injustice, insisting on righteousness.
Some people have a misconception about biblical prophecy. A prophet’s task is to tell the truth, not to predict the future. Prophets tell it like it is, without regard for the consequences. Now part of telling the truth may be to articulate the logical consequences of present behavior, and thus anticipate the future. But prophets have nothing in common with astrologers or fortune tellers. Prophets focus on what is, not what may be.
We heard from the prophet Amos in our first reading. Amos was relentless in his condemnation of the corruption and infidelity in Israel: “they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals” “they oppress the poor and crush the needy” “your people hate anyone who challenges injustice and speaks the whole truth” “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos called upon the people “to seek the Lord & live.”
* * * * *
John the Baptist was a prophet in the same tradition as Amos. He called the people to repent and turn from their sins. John preached to the masses, but he also singled out Herod for special attention. He chastised Herod for taking his brother’s wife to be his own – it was against God’s law.
Neither Amos nor John was well received. Amos was banned from prophesying at Bethel and ordered to leave Israel. John was thrown in prison, and ultimately executed. Nobody welcomes the bearer of bad news – even if it happens to be true, perhaps especially if it’s true.
Amos used the image of God holding up a plumb line against a crooked wall to demonstrate the injustice rampant in Israel.
As Christians, we realize that each one of us is personally accountable to God. God’s plumb line is held up to our behavior, and our shortcomings are evident. It’s not easy to be held accountable.
But you and I are also called to hold others accountable. The prophet Micah said: “What does the Lord require but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Doing justice requires more than keeping our own side of the street clean. It’s also a matter of holding accountable those who are messing things up across the street, down the block, on the other side of town. It means speaking up not just for our own rights, but for the rights of others. It’s risky to tell the truth, especially when the truth is painful and inconvenient and no one wants to hear it.
In ways both great and small, we are faced from time to time with a choice between doing justice and doing what is expedient. To opt for expediency is to do whatever is immediately advantageous, without regard for ethics or any concern with consistent principles.
For Amos, the expedient thing would have been to say, “Let someone else bring the bad news. I’m just a shepherd and a dresser of sycamore trees.”
For John, it would have been expedient to ignore Herod’s immorality, and to concentrate instead on all the people who were coming to him, eager to repent.
We all know there’s a lot of practical, common sense wisdom that speaks in favor of expediency: You’ve heard the familiar advice: “Mind your own business.” “Keep your head down.” “Don’t rock the boat.” “Live and let live.” “Don’t go looking for trouble.” “No good deed goes unpunished.” “Go along to get along.”
And often, that’s what we do. We don’t report someone for cheating. We don’t speak up when our company bends the rules or cuts corners. We’re quiet when someone makes racist comments. We look the other way when a neighbor serves alcohol at a graduation party.
It’s easier not to bring it up. It’s easier to do nothing.
But there are some alternatives to the self-serving pragmatism of expediency. * Edmund Burke said: “All it takes for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing.” (Silence & inaction have consequences.) * Martin Luther King observed: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” (Our choices determine whether or not we are on the side of justice.)
There are good reasons to speak up on behalf of the truth. Ultimately, the truth will out; it’s just a matter of time. It’s good to tell the truth, because then you don’t have to remember what you said. As Jesus said, the truth will set you free.
* * * * *
Last week I talked about living what we believe, having the courage of our convictions. Speaking the truth & doing justice are prime examples of this. It can be hard, because we are aware of our own imperfections – we are reluctant to be judge over anyone else.
But we’re not holding people to our standards, but to God’s. God holds the plumb line. It’s God’s judgment that matters, not ours.
Often there’s a price for speaking the truth. There was for Amos and for John. Whistle blowers are not often appreciated. People don’t like to hear inconvenient truth.
Yet consider the cost of doing nothing. What you permit, you promote. Silence conveys assent.
It’s not for us to judge the world or to fix the world. What we can do is to speak up, to try always to speak the truth in love – no matter how awkward or inconvenient it may be. To tell the truth is to point the way to a solution, and if you and I are not part of the solution, then we’re just one more part of the problem.
Amen
Pentecost V Richard Holmer
First Reading: Ezekiel2:1-5 Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Gospel: Mark 6:1-13
Living Our Beliefs Another Fourth of July has come and gone. I suspect that many spent their day enjoying the usual activities: parades, picnics, fireworks, barbecues – without giving much thought to the origin of the occasion, the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The fact is, most of us refer to this holiday as “The Fourth of July,” not as “Independence Day.” In many ways, “The Fourth” has become an end in itself – a time to celebrate, because. . . well, because it’s summer and it’s fun to celebrate together. Certainly, there’s nothing wrong with relaxation and enjoyment – getting together with friends and sharing a good time. But of course there is something vital that is the source of this annual observance. The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, is a landmark not only in American history but in human history. The stirring words in the preamble to that declaration have inspired hearts ever since: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The signers of that declaration were passionate and audacious in their beliefs. While they stated these truths to be “self-evident” it was clear that not everyone shared their belief in these truths – certainly not the King of England or its Parliament. What’s even more intriguing is that not everyone living in America at that time shared these beliefs. Historians estimate that back in the 1770’s, the population was roughly divided into thirds: one third strongly favoring independence, one third loyal to the king, and one third somewhere in the middle – either undecided or else indifferent. The passionate belief of that minority strongly supporting independence ultimately carried the day, but not without many trials and setbacks along the way. You and I tend to take our independence for granted, but in fact the whole thing was a pretty close call. The revolution might have failed. The ones who hung in there and fought the good fight did so because what they believed really mattered to them. They endured many hardships because of their conviction that the truth that all men are created equal, with God-given rights, was worth dying for. Their beliefs gave them a clear sense of purpose, and they had the courage to live out their convictions. As Americans, we continue to subscribe to those beliefs, and we are the beneficiaries of their striving. As Christians, we also hold beliefs, beliefs that go back much farther than the American Revolution. Compared to the Apostle’s Creed, the Declaration of Independence is late-breaking news. The beliefs we hold regarding the God who is referenced in the Declaration have a much longer history. I spent last week down at Augustana College with a bunch of 8th grade confirmation students. It caused me to reflect on the purpose of confirmation: Why do we take the time? Why do we go to all this trouble? Without a doubt, our aim is to help these confirmands to believe in God. There is a certain amount of stuff a person ought to know about God and about being a Christian – but the essential thing is to believe in God: to actually believe and trust that there is a God who loves us, forgives us and saves us. So our mission is not teaching information, but rather faith formation. * * * * Each day, we have song time at camp, and one of my jobs is to be song leader. Each year one of the favorite camp songs is “I Am the Resurrection” (the Gospel of John). I am the resurrection and the life, Those who believe in me will never die. I am the resurrection and the life, Those who believe in me will live a new life. I have come to bring the truth. I have come to give you life. If you believe, then you shall live. That’s some pretty basic Christian theology. “If you believe, then you shall live a new life.” * * * * To be a believer is something more than acknowledging the existence of God and knowing the words to the creed. - Believers trust that with God all things are possible. - Believers are confident that God forgives their sins. - Believers have faith that not even death can separate us from God. - Believers operate on the premise that God’s grace is real and that love is the most powerful force in the universe. To believe these things is to live a new and different life. We live in a world full of unbelief. Cynicism and skepticism are the order of the day. Rampant materialism deadens the soul and stifles spiritual life. Wordsworth said: “The world is too much with us – getting and spending we lay waste our powers.” It’s not cool to be a believer. Unbelief is not a new phenomenon. When Jesus returned to his home town of Nazareth he was amazed at the unbelief he encountered there. His old neighbors and friends could not conceive that Mary and Joseph’s little boy could be the promised Messiah, the Son of God. They thought that they already knew all there was to know about Jesus. They couldn’t see him with eyes of faith. * * * * There are times when believing is difficult for us as well: things go wrong, disasters happen, prayers go unanswered, the wicked prosper. We find ourselves teetering on the edge of unbelief. We can recite the words of the creed, but we lack the courage to live out our convictions. We say we are followers of Christ, but we often find ourselves following the crowd. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. St. Paul knew that feeling. He found himself in that place where his spiritual batteries were running low. He felt God was ignoring his prayers and leaving him to fend for himself in this cruel world. But then Paul got a message from God: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” No matter how strong our faith, the power never belongs to us; it always comes from God. If our faith is in ourselves, we are bound to be disappointed. The faith that saves us is faith in the God who is greater than our hearts. Faith goes boldly forward in the darkness, even when there seems to be no reason to keep believing. Nurturing that kind of faith isn’t a task only for our confirmation program. It’s our continuing mission as the church. We are here to encourage one another to keep doing something that is not easy or obvious: to believe in God, to live each day by faith in the grace of God. Such faith is caught more than it is taught. We catch it by hanging around with other believers, being encouraged by their example and inspired by their words. It is hard to over-estimate the value of speaking our faith to one another. The testimonies our fellow members share are vital food for faith. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said: “The word of faith in the mouth of a fellow believer is stronger than the faith in my own heart.” In the absence of such encouraging words, it gets hard to keep believing. Jesus doesn’t have much use for lukewarm Christians. He knows that even just a few who are passionate in their faith, who not only know what they believe but also live what they believe, can make all the difference. May God grant us grace to live with such faith. Amen
Pentecost IV Richard Holmer
First Reading: Lamentations 3: 22-33 Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Gospel: Mark 5:21-43
Seek the Lord When Columbus sailed off with the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, he wasn’t looking for a new world; he was looking for a new way to get to the world of the Far East: to India and China. He hoped to get to the East by sailing west, thereby establishing a new and lucrative trade route. What he found instead was whole new continents, the western hemisphere. He found that the earth was far larger and more surprising than he had imagined. His discovery had consequences far beyond his original intentions. None of this would have happened if Columbus had simply stayed home. Columbus didn’t find what he set out to find; instead he discovered something far greater. But he wouldn’t have found anything at all if he hadn’t made the effort to look. * * * * * Many have had a similar experience while seeking employment, whether for a summer job or for a permanent position. If you sit at home, waiting for the phone to ring, waiting for someone to come and offer you a job, you could sit for a long time. To get a job, you need to put yourself out there, to make contacts, get interviews, go to where the work is. You may not find the exact job you were looking for. You may find something completely unexpected. But you won’t find much of anything if you don’t bother to look. What’s true practically can also be true spiritually. You may not find God if you don’t bother to seek God. Now, to be sure, we have a God who seeks us. God can reveal himself in unexpected ways when God is the last thing on our minds. God is quite able to find us, when so inclined. The whole story of Jesus Christ is a story of God coming to us to make himself known to us. That’s all very true. Nevertheless, you and I also have a part to play. We are not only lost sheep waiting to be found by the Good Shepherd. We are also called to seek the Lord. In our reading from Lamentations we heard these words: “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.” This is not an isolated or random notion, but a theme that runs throughout scripture: “Those who seek me diligently find me.” Proverbs 8:17 “When you search for me you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9 “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be yours as well” Matthew 6:33 In our convenience oriented world, it is good to remember that God is not convenient. God does not wait on us hand and foot; we are instructed to wait on the Lord, to seek the Lord. God is known by those who make God a priority, not an afterthought. God is revealed to those who don’t give up on God in hard times, who persist even when God seems unavailable. The Book of Lamentations is an account of some of the most miserable times in the history of Israel. Jerusalem has been ransacked and the people led off into exile. There’s no shortage of reasons to despair. Yet, it’s in these dire circumstances that the author writes, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.” The gospels tell many stories of persons who actively seek Jesus. On many occasions these persons are driven by necessity, often a health crisis they or someone they love is facing. We heard two such cases in today’s gospel: * Jairus, a leader in the synagogue, implores Jesus to come to the aid of his daughter, who is near death. * An unnamed woman, suffering for twelve years from hemorrhages, reaches out to touch Jesus, in hope of being healed. This pattern continues in our own time: people seek God when their need is great, when all other options fail. We look to God when we need help in a big way. But there are other examples as well. There are stories of persons who seek the Lord not because it’s an emergency or because they’ve run out of options, but simply because he is the Lord. * Think of those wise men who traveled a great distance to pay homage to the baby Jesus. To seek for a King was their intent, and to follow his star wherever it went. * Or consider Simeon who waited a lifetime to lay eyes on the promised Messiah. Simeon sought the Lord by faithfully going to the temple each and every day to see if God’s promise would be fulfilled. * There was Nicodemus, a religious and political insider, a member of the Sanhedrin, who came to Jesus by night because he was filled with questions about the things Jesus said and did. * Then there was Zacchaeus, the ultimate outsider, the despised tax collector, who just had to get a look at this man from Nazareth that everyone was talking about. What all these have in common is that they made an effort to seek the Lord. They took some chances; they made it a priority. They didn’t wait to be found; they went out of their way to encounter God. That could be one definition of a pilgrimage: going out of your way to encounter God. The purpose of a pilgrimage is to draw closer to God, to experience the holy, to enter God’s presence. It’s for this reason that people travel to the Holy Land and other sacred sites. This is also a purpose for mission trips, like the one our youth will take next month: to meet Christ in the lives of people they will serve, people in need. Jesus assures us we can always find him there. Now a pilgrimage doesn’t have to be a long journey. It can be as short as coming to worship. More than distance, it’s a matter of the state of our hearts and minds. Do we come here looking only for what is safe and familiar, or do we come here with some expectation of encountering the living God? You can seek the Lord by taking the time for a bible study, certainly by taking the time to pray. Making a serious effort is the common thread: Giving God some priority, some energy, some urgency. We won’t find God if we’re focused mainly on ourselves, devoting our time and energy to our personal comfort and security. We’re not likely to encounter God if we are primarily interested in being entertained. We won’t experience the holiness of God sitting back in our armchair watching TV. So then, when we actually bother to seek the Lord, what can we expect to find? * To be surprised, for sure * To have our assumptions shaken * To be humbled * To find new questions as well as answers And we can also expect to find that God is both faithful and merciful—maybe not on our terms or timetable, but faithful on God’s terms and timetable. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” The thing is, this world doesn’t lack for wonders, only for a sense of wonder. And maybe that’s a prerequisite for seeking the Lord: cultivating a sense of wonder. “The heavens are telling the glory of the Lord”-- for those with ears to hear and eyes to see. In a moment we’re going to sing about the faithfulness of God “All I have needed thy hand hath provided…” That’s certainly been true in my life. All I have needed and much, much more. When I remember to seek first the Kingdom of God, all the other things somehow fall into place. Or, as St. Paul reminds us, when you have Christ, you realize you have everything you need. Truly, “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.” Amen
Pentecost III Richard Holmer
First Reading: Job 38:1-11 Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 Gospel: Mark 4:35-41
Don’t You Care? The disciples are in a perilous situation. They are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a terrible storm blows in and threatens to swamp their vessel. The boat is tossed about by the wind, and waves are crashing over the sides. Jesus must have been exhausted, because somehow he remained fast asleep in the stern of the boat despite all the chaos. In their desperation, the disciples wake up Jesus, and shouting over the howling wind they ask him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” It’s a fair question. After all, it was Jesus’ bright idea to set off on this voyage across the lake. Jesus is the one who said, “Let us go across to the other side.” “Teacher, don’t you care that this boat could sink, that we could all drown in this storm?” We know how this story ends. Jesus calms the storm and all is well. Jesus then admonishes his disciples for their lack of faith. But the question those disciples raised won’t go away, because not all storm stories have such happy endings. Hundreds of people died when Hurricane Katrina came roaring ashore on the gulf coast. Thousands more perished in that devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean several years ago. Surely, many of those who were lost cried out to God for help, yet perished all the same. Did God care that they were perishing? In a popular song Gordon Lightfoot memorialized the crew of the ore boat Edmund Fitzgerald that sank in a bad storm on Lake Superior. In that song he asks the question, “Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?” In their final terrifying minutes, I imagine many of those 29 crew members prayed for deliverance. Yet the storm didn’t stop, and the boat sank taking the whole crew with it. * * * * * We want to know why bad things happen—and where God is when they do. This is the question that runs throughout the Book of Job. Job was a good man living a good life when terrible things started happening. Job lost his livestock and all his wealth. Next all his children were killed. Then he loses his own health, suffering from a terrible skin disease. Job’s would-be comforters are certain that he must have done something wrong to deserve such suffering, and they tell him so. But Job insists he has done nothing wrong—certainly nothing deserving of such misery. And Job keeps demanding an explanation from God; he keeps asking, “Why?” * * * * * This question has troubled the hearts and minds of countless people: - The millions who perished in the Nazi holocaust, and those who were slaughtered in Rwanda. - The parents of children who are starving to death in places like Darfur. - The person who learns that his cancer has come back. Bad things happen to all kinds of people: good, bad and indifferent, to both believers and non-believers. We live out our lives under the sign of a big question mark: Why? As believers, what can we rightly expect from God? - We can’t expect an explanation. The bible is very blunt about the reality of suffering, but doesn’t offer much in terms of explanation. In our first reading we heard the beginning of God’s answer to Job. God essentially says, “Who are you to question me? How could you ever expect to understand the ways of God?” - We can’t expect God to provide an easy way out of our troubles. Following Christ may likely increase rather than decrease our burdens. Jesus plainly says the way of faithfulness is hard and narrow. - We can’t expect miracles on demand. God can and does work wonders, but not at our beck and call. God doesn’t operate like some divine 911 service, responding to every emergency. So what can we expect? For certain, Jesus is the best indicator of what we can expect from God. In Jesus, God came to live among us—to experience life with all its twists and turns and sorrows and pains. The God who speaks to Job seems far off and remote—untouchable and unapproachable. Jesus is God right here with us—quite touchable and very approachable. Jesus was in the boat right along with the disciples, as vulnerable as they were. We can expect Jesus to be in the boat with us as well. His promise to us is, “I am with you always.” He doesn’t miraculously pluck us out of life’s dark valleys, but he does walk with us as we go through them. We can be sure that Jesus understands what it’s like to walk in our shoes. For all his miraculous power, the time came for Jesus when he, too, asked God that most human of all questions: “Why?” On the cross he cried out in bitter agony, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He experienced not only physical pain, but also the emotional and spiritual pain of abandonment and rejection. Jesus knows what it’s like to hope for a miracle—and not get one, at least not right away. God did not rescue Jesus on Good Friday. He didn’t keep him from being crucified. He allowed his own Son to suffer terribly. Despite all the theological explanations, all the theories of atonement, part of us still can’t help wondering: Why? Why did Jesus have to suffer? Why do any of us need to suffer? We live our days under that question mark. We learn to live with things we can’t understand. But we also live our lives under another sign: the sign of the cross, a sign traced on our foreheads at baptism. By that sign we are reminded that God has in fact entered our world and shared in its suffering. We know we are never alone. The One with the power to calm the storm has also entered into the teeth of the storm and suffered its ravages. Jesus knows what it is to suffer and to die. More than that, the cross is the sure sign of victory over pain and death and despair. Jesus was not rescued from the cross, but he was raised from the dead. He lives. His resurrection is our assurance that God has not and will not forsake us. The cross of Christ doesn’t answer all our questions, but it does assure us that we can live our lives not in vain or in despair, but in confident hope that, finally, nothing will be able to separate us from God. * * * * * In the meantime, human suffering is not likely to go away. And as long as we suffer, we’re likely to keep asking why. Jesus also has some questions for us. He asks: - What are you doing for the ones who are suffering? - What are you doing today and tomorrow that shows the love of God? - What are you doing to bring peace and hope to this hurting world? - What are you doing to reach the ones caught in a storm who wonder if God cares about them?
Amen
Pentecost II Richard Holmer
First Reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24 Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:6-17 Gospel: Mark 4:26-34
Last Sunday Ken Olsen was our guest preacher, giving me a break on the 30th anniversary of my ordination. In his sermon he offered up some insights on the ministry of preaching. Even before Ken’s message last week I had been reflecting on preaching—which has been my life’s work for the past 30 years.
Of course, pastors do a lot more than preach—yet preaching is at the heart of what pastors are called to do. Ordained ministry is a ministry of Word and Sacrament. Sacramental ministry is a great blessing and privilege: to baptize and to celebrate holy communion are joyful duties. At baptism and communion, God does the work, and I get to be God’s instrument. The ministry of the Word is also God’s work, but it requires a lot more effort and input from the preacher. At baptism and communion, I repeat again and again the words Jesus gave to us: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” “This is my body, this is my blood which is shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins.”
In preaching, the challenge is to keep finding new and compelling ways to communicate what Jesus said and did, new ways to tell the old, old story, fresh ways to impart the good news.
The weekly scripture readings we hear run in a three year cycle. So I have preached through the lectionary ten times now. The Word of God is still fresh! Holy Scripture is alive. Sometimes, however, I’m a bit stale as a preacher. Sometimes sermons come out like bread without any yeast: flat and dense.
The purpose of preaching is not to entertain, nor is it to simply share information. The consistent goal of preaching is to plant and to nurture seeds of faith. As St. Paul understood, “Faith comes through hearing.” This is how faith has been passed on for centuries. We’re all created in the image of God, and yet we are born ignorant of God. Faith is not passed on genetically from one generation to the next. Faith must be received—and for this to happen, the story must be told, God’s promises must be shared. Now this transmission is certainly not the work of preachers only. The liturgy of baptism reminds us that all the baptized are called to bear God’s creative and redeeming word to all the world.
Yet ordained pastors are given a special privilege and responsibility: to proclaim the word of God in all its fullness, all its richness, all its beauty, all its mystery, all its goodness. “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel,” said St. Paul.
It's the preacher's task to try to tell the whole truth. A wise seminary professor taught me that in order to be effective, a pastor needs two things: a pastor needs to know something about the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and something about the human heart. Effective preaching sheds some light on each of those. A good sermon helps us to see God more clearly—what God intends, what God expects, what God promises—and also helps us to see ourselves and our neighbors more clearly—who we truly are, what our lives are about.
Seeing God and ourselves clearly will not always be a pleasant experience. Last month Terry Dufur filled in while I was away, and in his sermon on the parable of the vine and branches suggested that not all God’s people are bearing fruit. It was interesting to hear the feedback on that sermon from different people. Some felt challenged, some felt criticized—apparently he had everyone’s attention.
Sometimes preachers are tempted to tiptoe around the hard words of scripture and ease up on the demands of God. Yet to see God clearly is to see the bar of expectations set pretty high—as well as seeing amazing grace. And to see ourselves truly is to see our shortcomings and faults as well as our strengths.
Preaching aims not only to help people to see, but also to believe. And so, as in Jesus’ parable of the sower, preaching is the ongoing task of planting seeds of faith. A sermon can’t make another person believe in God. Certainly it can’t compel them to trust God. (Sometimes the seeds a preacher scatters fall on hard ground where they can’t take root.) Yet unless the seed of faith is planted, there is no opportunity for faith to grow. Jesus speaks of this process in today's gospel reading: “The Kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow—he does not know how.”
It’s a mystery!
In this sense, preaching is as much a mystery as the sacrament of holy communion. In communion, Christ comes to us: strengthening, forgiving, encouraging—I do not know how. I just know it happens. Likewise, through preaching the gospel, people experience the goodness and presence of God—and come to have faith in God—I do not know how. But I do know they are comforted, challenged and inspired.
Faith comes through hearing God’s word proclaimed. And faith is what we live by. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Faith is what is distinctive about us as God’s people. We hope for what we do not see. We trust a God we’ve never met. We believe God raised Jesus from the dead. We believe God will also raise us from death. We trust that Christ is with us now—and that finally we will see him face to face, and be at home with him forever.
I can't prove any of this to you. I can’t talk you into believing it. What I can do is plant a seed, often by telling a story.
The bible—our book of faith—is a book of stories: wondrous stories of God and God’s people. * Some hear these stories for the first time, and they are bowled over. * Others have heard the same stories countless times, but they never grow old. Stories like Joseph and his brothers, Jesus and the Adulterous Woman, Jesus and Zacchaeus, the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
It is when we hear our own story in these biblical stories that faith is planted and nurtured and sustained. These stories are oases on our journey, giving and supporting life.
The thread running through all these stories is the great love God has for us. It’s the love most fully made known to us in Jesus Christ. St. Paul knew the power of this love. In our reading from Second Corinthians he writes: “The love of Christ urges us on.” The love of Christ is the bottom line, the firm foundation for faith. Other translations of this verse read: “The love of Christ controls us compels us leaves us no choice.”
The love of Christ is the potent seed that produces faith. We grow to trust the One who loves us steadfastly and unflinchingly. To experience such love is to be changed.
God's love is not a love that merely coddles us and pats us on the head. It is a fierce love. It’s a love that takes us just as we are, but loves us too much to leave us as we are. It’s a love that compels us to act in faith, to be and to do more. Love compels action. * It’s the love that moved Abraham and Sarah to get up and go to a new land. * It moved Peter and Andrew, James and John to leave their nets and follow Jesus. * It literally knocked Paul off his horse. * It moved people to make the sacrifices to plant this congregation back in 1962. * It moves busy people to volunteer their time to serve and care for others. * It moves people to give generously—even in these uncertain times. * It moves people to welcome the stranger and to forgive the ones who hurt them.
This is the Love which Paul describes as a great treasure—treasure which you and I carry in our ordinary, earthen vessels, walking on our feet of clay.
I never get tired of speaking of this love, for it is what gives us life. It keeps calling us to live abundantly by loving one another. It feeds our hope of eternal peace and joy. When all else fails, this love endures.
“…the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.”
Amen
The Holy Trinity
First Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8 Second Reading: Romans 8:12-17 Gospel: John 3:1-17
Pastor Ken Olsen, former Bishop of the Metro Chicago Synod, preached our sermon this morning. As we celebrated Pastor Holmer's 30 years of Ordained Ministry, Pastor Olsen reminded us of the many pastors who are members of St. James and the many years of ministry represented. We were then reminded that through our baptisms we are all called to minister for Christ. The morning was a double celebration of Pastor Holmer's ministry and the service of Carol Bennett as she retires as Business Manager of St. James.
Day of Pentecost
First Reading: Acts 2:1-21 Second Reading: Romans 8:22-27 Gospel: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Youth Service This Sunday was our annual Youth Service. The morning included First Communion for six fifth graders and a Farewell & Godspeed for the Graef Family. In honor of Pentecost, the reading in Acts was read in seven different languages. Our high school youth filled all the servant positions for the morning. Peter Moore and Jenny Long each delivered a statement on their faith as our sermon. It was truly an inspiration to see our young people so faithfully lead our worship.
Easter VII Richard Holmer
First Reading: Acts 1: 15-17, 21-26 Second Reading: 1 John 5: 9-13 Gospel: John 17: 6-19
Handling the Truth
Most of us have mixed feelings when it comes to the truth. We can be very ambivalent about the plain, unvarnished truth. - We get angry with politicians when they conceal the truth – yet we also get upset when they tell it like it is. (need to raise taxes) - We believe honesty is the best policy, yet we are very protective of our right to privacy; we like to keep the truth to ourselves. - We will avoid going to the doctor when we’re not sure we want to know the truth about what’s wrong with us. - And there’s that dreaded dilemma when anyone asks: “How do I look in this outfit – is it slimming?” - We’re caught between wanting the whole truth and nothing but the truth – and complaining, “that’s more than I wanted to know: too much information.” Sometimes the truth hurts. The truth isn’t always pretty. Some things are too true to be good. So there is a part of us that wants something other than the simple truth: we want to be schmoozed, flattered, romanced – whether it’s by a politician or a salesman or a lover. * * * There are some parallels between our attitudes about the truth and our feelings about Jesus. There is some of that same ambivalence. Jesus was in some ways a polarizing figure: - Many were drawn to him. - Others were threatened and offended. Sometimes that polarity exists within us. Of course we want to know Jesus. want to learn from him, want to follow him, want to be blessed by him, want him to do for us what no one else can. And yet, we are also cautious: - Cautious because there’s something challenging and even intimidating about Jesus. - There’s the threat of being judged. - The challenge of being changed: “Deny yourself, take up a cross and follow me.” - Jesus brings high demands. We know that Jesus will not schmooze us, or sugar coat anything, or tell us just what we want to hear. With Jesus, it’s always the truth. More than the other gospel writers, John focuses on Jesus as the truth: Chapter 1: “The law was given through Moses – grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Chapter 8: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Chapter 14: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Chapter 17 (today): “Sanctify them in the truth, your Word is truth.” Jesus is not just the bringer of truth, like one of the prophets, nor is he only a teacher of the truth. He is the one who is the truth incarnate. - Jesus embodies the truth. - He is God’s true word made flesh. - He is the Logos, the One in whom and for whom and through whom everything exists and hangs together. * * * Truth is on his mind as Jesus is with his disciples at the Last Supper. In the long prayer he prays in Chapter 17, he prays: - That the disciples may remain true. - That they will continue in the truth. - That as the Body of Christ, they will bear witness to the truth. Now, some 2,000 years later, we still struggle in our relationship to the truth. - We live in a scientific age, in some ways vastly different from the 1st century. - Science is dedicated to uncovering and establishing and codifying the truth in an ever expanding body of known facts. There is a wealth of information available to us in the form of facts: - Altitude of highest mountain. - Depth of deepest ocean. - Speed of a humming bird’s wings. - The distance between the earth and the sun. - How the human heart works. - How to cure many frightful diseases. - How DNA passes traits down through generations. Science and religion sometimes are seen as being in competition – even conflict – perhaps because they share an agenda: seeking the truth. - But it’s a mistake for believers to be threatened by science – because every truth that science uncovers reveals a bit more of the whole truth of God. - Science can’t prove or disprove the existence of God – but it can accomplish a lot by way of revealing the glory of God. - The wonders of cell division and the stupendous vastness of interstellar space are telling the glory of God. * * * It is ironic that the church has many times had an uncomfortable relationship with the truth that science brings to light. The brilliance of Galileo and Darwin was met with scorn, denial and suppression. How strange that the church which is called to bear witness to the truth would feel compelled to resist the truth. It’s ironic because this is exactly what happened to Jesus. - Ultimately, Jesus was killed because powerful people couldn’t handle the truth. - On trial before Pilate, Jesus testified: “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Jesus made people extremely uncomfortable by revealing to them the truth about themselves: - Their pride and self righteousness. - Their self-serving compromise and hypocrisy. - Their unwillingness to risk change and grow. - Their jealousy and resentment. The truth isn’t always pleasant or comforting. The truth can wound before it heals. Yet those who drew closer to Jesus came to know that the truth he embodied finally did not threaten or destroy – but brought life and hope and joy. - That beyond all the unpleasant truth of our sinful imperfection, there is the greater truth of God’s steadfast goodness and grace. - That in Christ we meet mercy and forgiveness for all our failings. - The truth of Christ that is an overpowering light, revealing all our flaws, is balanced by the truth of Christ that is a gracious shepherd, a grace that embraces us in our imperfection, breaks through the hard shell of our selfishness, and creates in us new and clean hearts. What’s unique about Jesus is that truth has come to us in the form of a person. John lays this out in Chapter 1, and keeps reminding us along the way. Christians believe that knowing the truth is more than knowing a great encyclopedia of facts – more even than knowing facts about God. (Now there are facts to be known about God and the world which are good and helpful to know.) But to know the whole truth is to know a person – Jesus Christ, the word of God made flesh. And the thing about a person is that a person is always more than a summary of all the facts about that person. Truth in the form of facts can be learned, mastered, and then filed away. There is no need to keep studying, pondering and revisiting established, concrete facts. We don’t meditate on: 2 + 2 = 4; 16 oz = 1 pound; Washington DC is our nation’s capital; George Washington was our first president; Christmas is December 25; Water = H2O On the other hand, truth that is a person, truth that is revealed in relationship with a person needs to be visited and pondered again and again. - You and I can never be done with knowing the truth that is Christ. - Jesus, the Truth, is not a fact or an idea that can be learned, mastered and filed away. - That would be like someone saying, “I know all about the ocean”, having seen it on vacation – or even having lived on the shore for a lifetime. - There are depths and mysteries and wonders to the ocean that you could never exhaust in a whole lifetime of experiences. - So it is with another human being. - And how much more so with Jesus Christ? - We are never done getting to know him. - There is always more truth to be revealed. * * * As a church, we are way off track, if and when we convey the notion that there is a discreet set of facts to be learned and known about God. - An approach that says: “Memorize these verses, learn those creeds, study that catechism – master the information and move on – is misbegotten from the outset. - Sometimes our best efforts at Christian education miss the boat, because we’re trying to impart the truth as a collection of facts. That’s not at all how Jesus went about it. Jesus told stories. Jesus said: “I am the True Light”; “I am the True Bread from heaven”; “I am the True Vine”; “I am the Good Shepherd.” Even more than in his words, it was in the way he lived his life that Jesus revealed the truth – never more clearly than on the cross. * * * More than teaching about God, or sharing information about God, what we really need to do is to motivate and inspire individuals to fall in love with God! And the way to do this is to get better acquainted with Jesus. You can’t fall in love with a bunch of facts – but you can come to love a person. To know and love Jesus is to know and love the living God – to be in a relationship with the TRUTH. Which is what Jesus prays about at the Last Supper: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” To be sanctified in the truth is to be in a loving relationship with the One who is Truth. Sometimes you and I can’t quite handle the truth. But even if we are not always able to handle the truth, we can come to love it – and finally to depend on it. The hymn verse has it right: “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” You and I are really not meant to “handle” the truth that is Jesus Christ. The truly good news is that Christ is able to handle us. Amen.
Easter VI
First Reading: Acts 10:44-48 Second Reading: 1 John 5:1-6 Gospel: John 15:9-17
Just Do It Richard Holmer
Columbine. That single word has power to stir up memories and images of terrible pain and suffering. Columbine is for us a symbol of cruel and senseless violence.
On an ordinary day ten years ago, two students came to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado—armed to the teeth—and went on a rampage: Killing thirteen people and wounding many more before finally taking their own lives. It was shocking that such a thing could happen—and all the more so that it happened in a seemingly safe and secure community like Littleton. The entire nation was stunned—and we all shared the sorrow of that grieving community.
The 10th anniversary of that terrible day has brought those events back to mind. There have been other school shootings since Columbine. Such cold-blooded violence is still very disturbing and troubling. People of faith can’t help wondering: Where is God is all this?
* * *
There is a Lutheran Church in Littleton. Don Marxhausen began serving as the pastor of St. Philip Lutheran Church back in 1990. Before moving to Colorado, Don was a pastor here in Illinois. Don and my brother became friends as they served in neighboring congregations. My brother actually set Don up with a blind date with the woman who is his wife.
I got to know Don through my brother and also through serving together on a synod committee. He’s a great big bear of a man—very bright, full of energy. He has a booming voice, and he’s not shy about expressing his opinions. Don has a big heart and a great sense of humor. You could hear his laughter across a crowded room.
* * *
Through Don’s leadership, St. Philip grew to be a strong congregation with a thousand members. Among those members was the Klebold family. The Klebolds’ son, Dylan, was one of the two shooters at Columbine. When Dylan’s parents approached Don to do the funeral for their son, he immediately agreed.
You can imagine that along with the overwhelming grief in that town there was also a terrible, righteous anger. Since the perpetrators were both dead, where could that anger be directed? Inevitably, a good portion of that rage fell upon the Klebolds. They became pariahs. When the entire community was pouring out their bitter wrath and revulsion, Pastor Marxhausen reached out to them in compassionate concern. He said to them, “God, who knows about suffering and pain and loss, wants to reach out to you.” There were many who were angered by Don’s behavior. They saw it as offering aid and comfort to the enemy. Ultimately, it cost Don his job as pastor at St. Philip's.
Why did Don do what he did? I’m sure he’s thought about it a lot in these last ten years. With benefit of hindsight, he might do some things a bit differently. Yet from what I know of Don, he reached out to the Klebolds because that is what he was supposed to do. It’s what he was commended to do.
At the last supper, Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” * Loving others as Christ loves us is not based on a feeling. It’s not about loving when your heart is moved to love. It’s not loving when it “feels right.” * Loving as Christ loves is not a suggestion. Jesus didn’t say, “Hey, think about this; you may want to consider the upside of loving.” * Loving as Christ loves is a commandment; it’s a direct order. Do this: not because it feels good or because it seems like a good idea, but because I’m telling you to do this.
Sometimes we seem to have a mistaken notion of the Christian message. We think: commandments, that’s old school, Old Testament stuff. Rules to obey are for primitive, immature, unsophisticated people. We’re New Testament people—Gospel people. We’re into grace and mercy and FREEDOM. We bridle at the notion of “obedience.” Obedience is for children, for soldiers, for hired help, maybe for monks in a monastery. But for us? Not so much.
Nevertheless, Jesus speaks quite plainly about the necessity of obedience: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” “This is my commandment, that you love one another…” “You are my friends of you do what I command…”
There's not much wiggle room there! Jesus flat out tells us to obey.
Why should we do it? Why should we obey? For starters, because of who it is that’s asking. When it comes right down to it, who are you willing to obey? * someone you fear: a police car on the highway, the IRS * someone you trust: a coach, a friend * someone you love: your mother, your spouse
According to Martin Luther, the First Commandment is that we are to fear, love and trust God above anything else. Jesus is God incarnate, the Word made flesh. Who is more worthy of being obeyed? Do what he says because it’s Jesus who is asking.
But also, do it because of what it is we’re asked to do: To love. As Christians, if we know anything, we know the surpassing value of love. We’ve experienced the beauty and wonder of love. We realize the necessity of love. We understand that without love, we are nothing.
We are not asked to do something stupid or meaningless—like digging holes and filling them back in again. We are not asked to do something routine—something that anyone could do. We are not asked to do something easy or trivial. What we are asked to do is something essential, vital, life-giving.
It's been said that the command to love is at once the simplest and the most difficult instruction in the whole Bible. Nothing could be more clear or more daunting. Even when we want to be loving, we are not always up to the task; we are not always sure how to go about it. I’ve lived long enough to have had plenty of encounters with my limitations in my efforts to be a loving husband, a loving father, a loving son, a loving pastor. And yet as Paul makes so clear in I Corinthians 13, there is nothing more important, more valuable for us to be about.
Finally, for all the difficulty, despite the enormous challenge involved in loving, the “never finished” reality of obeying this command, there is Joy in obedience. Jesus is hard-nosed in this matter—that’s why it’s a commandment. He’s hard-nosed for a reason: our own good. Jesus says he gives this commandment in order to make our joy complete. It is in loving (as well as in being loved) that we experience life’s greatest and most enduring joy.
Frederick Buechner makes this observation about obedience: “It is generally supposed that to obey somebody is necessarily to do something for somebody else’s sake. However, Jesus asks people to obey above everything else the law of love, it is above everything for their own sakes that he is asking them to obey it.”
Jesus is not only the one who gives us this commandment to love. He is also our model for obedience. Jesus freely submitted to his Father’s bidding. “Thy will be done,” he prayed. Jesus obeyed, trusting that the Father’s will is always good and true. He obeyed, knowing that to love is always to bring a blessing. He was obedient unto death, showing us the greatest love of all.
Week by week, we pray as Christ taught us: “Thy will be done...” That is, thy will be done in us, and by us. It is God’s will that we love one another. This is what it means to “live the gospel,” as we are instructed at the close of worship—to love as we are loved—to love not only those who love us, but also those who frustrate, disappoint, hurt and oppose us.
Christ saves us by loving us. And his extraordinary plan for saving the world includes having us love others with that same extraordinary love.
Just do it.
Amen.
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