26th Sunday After Pentecost
Daniel 12:1-3 Psalm 16 Hebrews 10:11-25 Mark 13:1-8 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who shows us the path of life. Amen This is one of those Sundays where it seems like there should be a question mark after the gospel response. Thanks be to God? How is it good news that stone shall not be left on stone and that people will come and pretend to be God and there will be wars and rumors of wars before the final end will come? It sure doesn’t seem good, And today we have this gospel paired with our first reading, another passage predicting a time of anguish. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of good news in these apocalyptic passages. As a side note, apocalyptic refers to a genre of writing that deals with a prophetic revelation, not necessarily but often including descriptions of disasters to come, and only secondarily but more commonly has the term come to be used as a description of an end of the world type scenario. So we have these apocalyptic texts, these prophetic passages predicting disasters, and the question is: what do they have to do with us? On the face of it, it seems like not much. A group of Pastors and I meet at the beginning of each week to read and discuss the texts for the week, and this week we pretty much agreed that our best chance of finding a sermon, finding good news lay in the other readings assigned for the week, we weren’t going to mess with these texts. And then the other day I was driving to a meeting and I was listening to NPR, and they did a story, an update really on the wildfires in California, particularly the Camp Fire that wiped out the town of Paradise 10,000 homes destroyed, and the reporter on the ground interviewed a resident, who’d seen her former house and the woman said something to the effect of ‘it looks like there’s been an apocalypse.’ I don’t remember the exact quote but she used the word apocalypse. And it hit me, the people of Paradise are in the midst of a catastrophe, life as they know it is over, in a sense that world ended and they are faced with the question: now what? And as I thought about the people in the midst of world altering catastrophes, the disasters of our readings began to fade and the hope began to shine through, yes Daniel begins “There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence” but then he continues “But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.” and sure Jesus says “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines.” but then he pauses and goes on “This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” the birth pangs of what? Of the new world, The new way of life that Jesus has promised he will bring about, Jesus is saying that the turmoil he is describing, that the disciples will experience is not the last say God will work through it, and there lies the good news. For those of us who are relatively safe and secure, apocalyptic passages sound scary, we focus on the pain and suffering that we’d really rather avoid, but for those in the midst of pain and suffering they bring hope, because they describe reality and a life on the other side of the suffering, a life brought about by God who goes through the suffering with us because we have a God who promises never to leave us. Our God is realistic, not making promises that won’t come true. That’s one way you can tell you’re dealing with a false god, they promise that if you follow them, give them $9.95 a month then everything will be okay, your problems will be solved. Our God does not sugar coat things, part of life is experiencing pain and suffering and instead of making false impossible claims our God promises never to leave our side throughout all of life. We see this in our psalm, the psalmist describes different phases of life and in each God is there. For those in danger God is described by the psalmist as a refuge. This is a familiar image for us, we turn to God when we’re in trouble. But the psalmist also assures us that God is present with those who are content, at one point the psalmist says “My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; indeed, I have a rich inheritance.” God is with us in the times when life is going well, these are often times we bless God as a way of giving thanks for the good in our lives. God is with us in the bad times, God is with us in the good times, and God is with us when we are in between, in need of direction, The psalmist sings “I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel;” and speaks with assurance that because God goes before the psalmist they will not be shaken by whatever comes their way. “My heart therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also shall rest in hope. For you will not abandon me to the grave, nor let your holy one see the pit. You will show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of you, and in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Whether it seems like the world has ended or life could never get better or somewhere in between God is with us God shows us the path of life, God travels the path with us. Whatever comes our way, God is there, and we are never alone. Amen
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25th Sunday After Pentecost
1 Kings 17:8-16 Psalm 146 Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one for whom we eagerly await. Amen Contrary to popular belief, our gospel text for today is not a stewardship text. At least not directly. Jesus observes this poor widow giving her last to coins to treasury and points her out to his disciples. Throughout history this act has been lauded as a great act of faith, and held up as an example for faithful giving but I don’t think that’s entirely what Jesus was pointing out. You see, before sitting down to observe people giving Jesus warns against doing things just for the sake of appearances, then he sits down opposite the treasury and watches people giving their offerings to the temple, for the sake of appearances. This is out in the open, there is no check folded in half and slipped into the offering plate, many rich people come and make a scene putting in large sums, and they do this because they know that people will see their large sum and they will honor them for their big gift and it will increase their standing in the community and so they’re really doing this for their own benefit. And Jesus knows their motives, which is why he points out someone entirely different to the disciples, the poor widow who comes and gives her last two coins to the temple, her act of giving is an act of contributing to something bigger than herself, not to build herself up, indeed she gives all she has to live on, and yes this is an act of faith but what if, included in this act of faith is desperation. She had two pennies left, that wasn’t going to get her very far, just like the widow who Elijah encounters, who when he asks for something to eat says to him “I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” She ends up feeding Elijah, he promises her that the meal and oil will not run out which seems unlikely but what’s the harm in trying? She and her son are going to die anyway, if she feeds Elijah and his promise doesn’t pan out they’ll just die a little sooner. I imagine the widow Jesus points out to the disciples is in a similar situation, opening her purse and seeing two coins that won’t get her too far and her saying, well I will give these to the temple and then I will go die. And that’s what she does, in the presence of those who by law are supposed to be taking care of her, and nobody but Jesus notices. Why is the widow down to her last two pennies? Because nobody notices her, All throughout the laws given to the people of Israel by God through Moses are injunctions to care for widow and orphan and she is clearly not taken care of, because to take care of someone you have to know that they exist, you have to notice the people around you and take an interest in their lives, pay attention to someone other than yourself. And the truth of the world is that the people we pay attention to are the ones with power, the ones giving the big gifts, because we want to be like them, and we don’t pay attention to those who are on their last dime who are without power and we hesitate to give to them because we have falsely equated morality and success with money which means in the back of our minds we think if someone is poor or struggling it is because they have done something to deserve it. That is sin, breaking us apart into smaller and smaller divisions, pitting us against ourselves. So what are we to do? In the grand scheme of things We can’t do anything, which is why we need Jesus. Our second reading from Hebrews lays it out nice and succinctly, Jesus came once, for all, to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. He’s done that, past tense completed action. The preacher of Hebrews makes sure we recognize that this was a one time deal, God didn’t require or request that Jesus suffer more than once. Now Jesus is in heaven to appear in the presence of God on our behalf and Jesus has promised to come a second time- not to take care of sin, that’s already settled, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Once again we are faced with our place in the middle of the already and not yet. We are thankful that Jesus has already taken care of our sin but still we wait surrounded by the imperfections of the world, waiting for Jesus to come again, and save us from the brokenness of the world. And here’s the kicker we are not just to wait, but to eagerly wait for Jesus. How do we eagerly wait? The first image of eager waiting that comes to my mind is of a child waiting for Christmas. They too are stuck in the middle, the tree is already up, and presents have begun to accumulate and on the shiny package is the little tag that says this gift is for Timmy. Timmy knows that he has been given a gift, but it is not yet time to open it and fully enjoy it. So he waits. Maybe he shakes the box, attempts to figure out what is inside, perhaps he rushes home from school to double check that it’s still under the tree, and he has trouble falling asleep at night because he’s imagining what it might be like to open the package and behold what is inside and how his life will never be the same. And maybe Timmy’s mom tries to redirect some of his eager energy, and sets him up with paper and crayons to make Christmas cards to share the joy of his waiting with others, possibly others who don’t have a tree or shiny packages with their name on them but who are also waiting Christmas and Timmy realizes that when he gives out those cards it’s almost like a little Christmas morning and that’s exciting too, he’s still waiting but he’s making something happen while he waits. We are all Timmy - we have been given a gift, our name is on it, it’s ours, we claim it, but still we wait for that moment when the world is transformed fully by the opening of the gift. But unlike Timmy we’ve been waiting a long time, a couple thousand years, and it’s hard to stay pre-christmas excited for that long so we find ways to wait that, like those christmas cards Timmy’s mom had him write, approximate what we’re waiting for creating for a moment the reality for which we wait. The reality for which we wait is one where there is no more hunger, or poverty, pain or suffering, no more poor widows going unnoticed no more war and all creation lives in harmony we’ve been given a vision of what the world will be and even as we wait we seek to make it happen right now and one way we do that is to give, often to organizations who work to address hunger or poverty, pain and suffering, sometimes we give directly to people, those who are facing enormous health care bills and in these moments the reign of God is realized and our eagerness is renewed. Amen 2nd Sunday After Pentecost
Isaiah 53:4-12 Psalm 91:9-16 Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 10:35-45 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who came to serve. Amen The disciples in the gospel of Mark, bless their hearts, are particularly dense and I’ve got to say I love them for that because as exasperating as it is to watch them throughout the gospel stumbling along as they follow Jesus, never quite fully understanding his teaching, often turning around to do the opposite of what Jesus just told them to do what we are witnessing is the disciples’ humanity, a humanity that mirrors our own. how many times in following Jesus have we never quite fully understood his teaching? And how many times do we hear Jesus say one thing and turn around and go do the exact opposite? More often than we’d like to admit. The gift of the disciples’ humanity in the gospel is that we get to see how Jesus responds to them, in all their density and contrariness, giving us an idea of how Jesus will respond to us in all of our density and contrariness. Actually we should probably give the disciples a break because in Jesus they are encountering not only new teachings but a way of looking at the world that is completely counter to the way they are used to. The Kingdom of God is very unlike the world, and the way the kingdom of God comes about often runs against the common sense of the world. Take for example what it means to be a savior. According to the world a savior is someone who is heroic, one who is more powerful than average and who uses that power to defend the little guy against some other powerful force, which generally increases the power of the hero. And yet, according to the kingdom of God, a savior is one, the one, who serves others in suffering. We heard in our first reading from Isaiah part of the suffering servant passage that we as Christians view as a prophetic description of Jesus and it is not pleasant, struck down, afflicted, wounded, crushed, oppressed and yet God says “The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous.” This is how God has chosen to save, and we wonder at that, why is suffering necessary? we ask we are confused because suffering on behalf of others goes against the common sense of the world, the sense that says we protect ourselves and honor the strong, common sense that tells us to avoid suffering at all costs. But Jesus doesn’t live by the way of the world, had Jesus lived according to common sense he would have tried to befriend the most powerful rather than the lowly, if he had lived according to common sense he would have avoided the sick and the poor, he wouldn’t have touched lepers or eaten with tax collectors and he certainly wouldn’t have talked about a kingdom of God more powerful than the kingdom of Rome. but Jesus did all those things, Jesus lives by un-common sense, and his un-common sense leads right to the cross because the world moves swiftly to remove anything that upsets the way things are Jesus knows this, and he’s tried to teach his disciples this, by the time we get to our gospel for today Jesus has already made all his passion predictions to his followers, he’s sat them down and told them look: this is what is going to happen, I’m going to be arrested, put on trial and crucified. And three days after that I will rise again. And he heads toward Jerusalem. the disciples continue to follow him but they don’t understand, today James and John come up to Jesus and ask him to treat them according to the ways of the world. They understand that something is going to happen soon and they believe Jesus to be great, the messiah even and they want to assure their places in the new order, and so they make their request, They want to sit in the highest worldly places of honor when Jesus comes into his glory. And Jesus looks at them and says “You do not know what you are asking.” because Jesus’ glory is the cross “are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” He asks them, referring to his suffering, and they with all the confidence of ignorance reply “we are able” and Jesus grants them what they ask “The cup that I drink you will drink and the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.” Jesus tells them, but the positions of honor at the right and the left are not Jesus’ to give out, that is determined by God and those places will be filled by the two thieves who will be crucified on either side of Jesus. And while we might wonder at Jesus granting James and John’s request without their understanding, what Jesus is doing in that granting is offering a moment of grace, what they will understand later and what we as listeners hear is that the moments of failure in the lives of the disciples do not determine the final outcome. Yes, James and John don’t understand, but they are earnest in wanting to follow Jesus, yes they along with the rest of the group will run away when Jesus is arrested, but we know, as Mark’s audience knows that they went on to play vital roles in the spread of the message of the good news of Jesus Christ, Acts 12:2 tells us that James is martyred, killed because of his witness for Jesus. James and John spoke the truth, they were able to follow Jesus in his glory. To be dense, confused, contrary and fail is to be human, to not let it get in the way, that is the way of God, our reading from Hebrews this morning in speaking of Jesus says “He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness” Jesus, son of God, knows what it’s like to be human since he himself is human, he understands suffering because he has experienced it, he knows how we mess up even with good intentions, he knows common sense would say do not to rely too heavily on humans to get things done, and yet Jesus with his un-common sense, calls us, humans, to be his disciples, to live in the world according to the way of the kingdom of God. We are to love and forgive our enemies and those who hurt us, befriend those cast out by society, share our food and resources so that all have enough, speak truth to power even and especially when that truth is not what power wants to hear. and yes living in this way will probably result in some suffering, but it will also make the world a better place, more like the kingdom of God brought near in Jesus. and yes we will make mistakes and fall back on common sense, and that is when Jesus brings us to the table, to share in his cup, the new covenant for the forgiveness of sins poured out by Jesus on the cross as he gave his life so that we could be righteous and could dare to live un-common lives. Amen 21st Sunday After Pentecost
Amos 5:6-7, 10-15 Psalm 90:12-17 Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 10:17-31 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one for whom all things are possible. Amen There’s a bit of folk wisdom that I think we’re all familiar with, the wisdom that prohibits the discussion of religion, politics and money in polite society. And while this is probably a smart rule to follow around the dinner table at Thanksgiving (because you just never know what Uncle Bob is going to say) we have taken this prohibition to the extreme, to the point where we rarely if ever discuss these topics, even and especially at church- the exception being religion of course. And this is a problem, because while we might wish we could separate each part of our lives into individual compartments and boxes, the truth is that they are all intertwined, what we believe about God should impact how we deal with money and society. So as disciples of Jesus we neglect part of our spiritual formation if we fail to take time to consider how our faith impacts all the aspects of our lives, including how we handle money. In our gospel today, Jesus teaches about money, actually, if we look closely as Jesus’ teachings we find that they are often concerned with economics, Jesus frequently mentions the poor and teaches care for the poor, and not just in a causal here have some sandwiches and old clothes kind of way, but care that gets at the heart of why people are poor, care that overturns the systems that have allowed some people to amass a great deal of wealth while many don’t have the basics. “But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Jesus teaches the disciples. It is impossible to separate our money/ resources from our life of faith and Jesus points to this again and again. The man in the gospel finds this out the hard way, he runs up to Jesus and asks him “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” and Jesus quizzes him a bit, finds out that he’s been diligent about keeping the commandments, living a life of faith and we are told that Jesus looks at the man and loves him, and out of love says “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.” and when the man “heard this he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” It’s a shock to find out that even if you’ve lived a godly life when it comes down to it you love your stuff more than eternal life. Then Jesus turns to the disciples and comments about how hard it will be for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, that’s how hard it is. And the disciples look at one another and ask “then who can be saved?” Because while they might not be the most well off, they’re doing okay, they’ve got enough to eat and a purpose in life, so will it be hard for them, followers of Jesus to enter the kingdom of God? And Jesus responds to their confusion “for mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” The man asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, and Jesus out of love told him to do something that he knew was impossible for the man, revealing to him and the disciples watching, that he was asking the wrong question, the man assumed that he had the power to achieve eternal life. if we’re not careful that’s what wealth will do, it will lead us to ask the wrong questions, it lures us into believing that we are self-sufficient, that we do not need God because we are able to do everything for ourselves, even make sure we inherit eternal life, and that Jesus says that is impossible for humans, salvation is up to God and we must trust that it is so, we must have faith. Faith in God is not about hoarding everything that comes our way, wealth is not a sign of God’s favor, but nor is faith about throwing every material thing away, we heard in our psalm for last week that God created humans to be caretakers of creation, food, clothing, housing, meaningful occupation are all necessary for life, all provided by God, the key is how we use these resources in a way that all have what they need as God intended. But because sin entered the world, some hoard while others starve. It is because of sin that we believe we can take care of ourselves and I’d say it’s even because of sin that we don’t like talking about money. Which is all the more reason to talk about it, not in the way of bragging but in the way of working out as a community how to take care of the resources that God has entrusted to us, and when we talk in this way, we keep God at the center of our lives, we recognize that only God has the power to save us, to invite us in to the kingdom of God and because of Christ, we believe that God has already extended that invitation to us, we are saved, it is all God’s doing, not ours. And because we are saved we are freed from the need to believe that we can or have to save ourselves. Now of course, it is always a struggle to determine just how much is enough, enough to keep, enough to give and in this struggle there is grace. This week I was reading “A Christian View of Money: Celebrating God’s Generosity” by Mark Vincent, and in it he remarked on this struggle “If we experience the vast chasm between our good intentions and our hopeless inadequacy, we are blessed because we know our need for God. When God’s grace meets us, we realize that salvation means peace and wholeness, and we cannot hoard anything. We cannot be selfish with income or possessions because of the generous God we serve.” (pg 61) What we need is God. Everything else is details, when we realize this we are freed to follow Jesus rather than money. We are freed to share what we acquire because we have all we need, we are freed to talk about money in community because it is a tool to be used not a means of salvation, a tool to follow Jesus in overturning the way of the world that leads to some amassing great wealth leaving some without the basics, and yes on our own that’s impossible, but with God, all things are possible. Amen 19th Sunday After Pentecost
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 Psalm 19:7-14 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50 Lectionary 26 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who shares responsibility for the kingdom of God with us. Amen The disciples in Mark are notoriously dense Jesus spends all this time with them doing deeds of power and teaching them the ways of the kingdom of God and yet when a new situation comes along they almost always react with the way of the world. This time it’s John who tries to be teachers’ favorite by tattling on another kid. “Teacher we saw someone cast out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” I can almost see his chest puffing out in self-righteous pride while Jesus makes a gesture of consternation. Face-palm they still don’t get it… The disciples have given in to the all too human propensity to create insiders and outsiders despite the fact that Jesus’ ministry has been concerned with breaking down those barriers. In fact Jesus’ ministry has been to those considered outsiders by the world, just last week Jesus taught the disciples who to welcome by bringing a small child into their midst. So, with the patience of God Jesus tries again to get his message across to the disciples, Don’t stop people like this guy, he tells them because no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. What concerns Jesus the most is the spread of his message to as many people as possible and he will do anything to spread the message, eating with tax collectors, touching lepers, crossing the sea to the gentiles. Even sharing the responsibility with others. Jesus has commissioned the disciples to go spread the word, the silly dense disciples who are frequently disappointing yes they have been entrusted with the message- so it’s little wonder that Jesus doesn’t seem too concerned about this stranger doing deeds of power in his name, it means the message is spreading beyond even the disciples Jesus wants as many people as possible to hear the good news that the kingdom of God has come near and that means a variety of ways are needed to get the message across because different people respond to different approaches. For example, the emphasis on the blood and suffering of Jesus in the African American gospel songs doesn’t really resonate with me but it is a source of good news for the African American tradition because the songs originate in the days of slavery when it was a great comfort for the slaves to know that despite what their masters told them about God wanting them to obey, they had a savoir who had suffered just as much as they were suffering. Or, again, the question have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, this question makes me extremely uncomfortable. Yet it has led many people to live a life of faith. What works for me is the message that we are saved by grace through faith as a pure gift from God and that is the message that informs all my preaching and teaching All these approaches have a place in the spread of the gospel what Jesus reacts strongly against are actions that lead to the loss of faith or interfere in the faith of another person, for example the disciples trying to stop the man they saw because he wasn’t a part of their group. And that’s when Jesus starts to sound like an old timey mafia boss, s peaking of hanging millstones around necks before a swim or cutting parts of the body off that cause stumbling. While it seems a little extreme what Jesus is trying to get across to the disciples is the seriousness of the responsibility of discipleship, yes Jesus shares the responsibility with the disciples, with us and that is not a responsibility we should take lightly because while we have the power to help bring people to faith, we also have the power to cause them to stumble, to lose faith and we should take that as seriously as amputation. Jesus really isn’t advocating self-mutilation but his point is that if something starts to get in the way of the good news of Jesus Christ we need to cut it out, if being right is more important than sharing the love of God and news of salvation with the outsiders of society then we might as well go jump in a lake, Jesus shares the responsibility for the spread of the reign of God with us it is a serious task, one that we do not do alone, it is a task shared by the community of disciples Toward the end of this section of teaching Jesus turns his attention back to the community, the one the disciples were so eager to defend, in referring to fire and salt he is drawing on food preparation metaphors, often for something to become palatable it must be cooked, exposed to heat. The community will undergo struggles but that will serve to make them into the best version of themselves, and salt, seasoning is essential to life, we need salt to live and it adds flavor to our food, a community is seasoned by the wide variety of people it encompasses, it needs the seasoning of many different people to sustain the life of the community and add flavor but when many people gather there is the possibility for conflict be at peace with one another Jesus says and welcome others, they add to the flavor of the community even if it’s not an individual flavor we prefer it adds to the taste of the whole dish. Discipleship, is a serious business, like the disciples, we often get it wrong, we get sidetracked by who is in or who is out, we give preference to our own tastes, and yet Jesus still shares the responsibility for the spread of the kingdom of God with us, calling us to be at peace with one another. Offering us grace. Amen 18th Sunday After Pentecost
Jeremiah 1:18-20 Psalm 54 James 3:13-4:3 Mark 9:30-37 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the last of all and servant of all. Amen There’s a term I came across recently, GOAT, no I didn’t just learn about goats the animals that eat everything, GOAT is an acronym standing for Greatest Of All Time, it’s one of the pastimes of sports fans and commentators to debate who is the GOAT of their favorite sport. I did an internet search and from a cursory glance it seems like the most popular GOAT debate is in basketball Michael Jordan vs LeBron James, (though Serena Williams looks to be a hot contender for GOAT of tennis). I even found an article in Sports Illustrated titled “The Art of the GOAT Debate: MJ vs LeBron Examined” where the author went as far as consulting a college debate coach to dissect the discussion. In doing so the debate coach, a Dr. Scott Harris made two points I found particularly relevant: one, he remarked “People never win arguments in sports because people tend not to recognize when they’re losing as much at it. They just think ‘I’m right and it doesn’t matter what you say.” the GOAT debate is really just an argument, if it were a true debate those involved would be open to having their mind changed by their debate partner, as it is people tend to go into the conversation with their minds made up. The second point he made was that before the merits of each particular player can even be brought out on the table you have “to establish a definition of what constitutes ‘greatest’ and the criteria used to determine greatness.” What makes someone great is subjective, each of us admire different qualities in our basketball players, some place higher value on teamwork, while others admire brute force. All of which is to say that to engage in an argument over who is the greatest is generally an exercise in futility, it will never be fully resolved because the definition of greatest is always changing depending on the time and place. In our gospel for today the disciples argue with one another over who is the greatest leading Jesus to teach them the definition of the greatest according to the kingdom of God. Now of course they don’t just start arguing this out of the blue, Jesus, traveling with his disciples hosts another teaching session where for a second time he tells them what’s going to happen to him, he will be betrayed, killed and after three days rise again and Mark tells us that “they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.” They don’t understand, And they don’t ask for help So they do what we all do when we don’t understand and don’t ask for clarification, they concentrate on the part they do understand even if it’s only half the picture the part they do get is that Jesus has said once again that he is going to die, which means they will be left on their own without their leader so as they walk along they try to come up with their back up plan, who is going to be our leader when Jesus is gone? Well, who is the greatest among us? And I bet their argument went along the lines of Michael vs. LeBron, where most had their minds already made up and some placed higher value on teamwork, while others admired brute force. Jesus of course knows what they’re talking about but he asks them anyway and they’re embarrassed because it’s pretty awkward to get caught talking about who is going to take over after the one asking you the question is dead and this is where Jesus sits down - signaling that he’s going to start teaching again, and teaches them the definition of greatest according to Jesus’ way, according to God. “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” and then like the good teacher that he is, he gives them a concrete example, he takes a child in his arms and tells them “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Now this wasn’t like an ancient Lamb Time, where there was a time set aside for the children to come up and for everyone else to see how cute they were, aww. Children, vulnerable and dependent on others for survival and protection had no value socially, they had nothing to offer in terms of honor or status. Despite the varying definitions the GOAT in that time would definitely have had lots of honor and status, which you gained or lost based on who you associated with. This is who Jesus tells the disciples to welcome, the socially invisible, and that by doing so they are welcoming God. This is what it means to be the greatest Jesus says to his disciples, climb down the social ladder, welcome and care for those without status. What motivates your actions matters, when you welcome according to Jesus’ way you are practicing welcoming out of love of neighbor and God, you are not welcoming because of what that person could do for you but for who they are, a person created by God. The one who does this, acts without regard for personal status on behalf of other, this one is the greatest. According to this definition Jesus is the GOAT. His teaching, his actions and even his very existence overturn what it means to be the greatest of all time in the world. Jesus, Son of God, fully God became fully human, immortality becoming mortal, seeking out the least- the sick, the poor, those without direction and certainly without status. This is where God on earth can be found, not among the most religious or the most righteous but among the most sinful, the ones most in need of forgiveness. and for his troubles, for his love Jesus will die, he will be killed, for daring to forgive sins, for loving people because they are children of God and teaching others to do the same. But his love is so strong it overcomes death, on the third day Jesus rises again, just as he said, for us, not because of what we can do for him but because of who we are, children of God. All of us loved by the Greatest of All Time. Amen https://www.si.com/nba/2018/06/11/michael-jordan-lebron-james-greatest-of-all-time-debate Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost
Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 116:1-9 James 3:1-12 Mark 8:27-38 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ grace and peace to you from the one who is the messiah. Amen There are a lot of tongues in our lessons for today. Both Isaiah and James mention that small but important body part. According to James the tongue is a slippery creature (pun intended) “with it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.” for such a small part of our body the tongue wields disproportionate power, like a rudder that steers a great ship or a spark that sets a forest on fire a word on our tongue has the power to build up or tear down. James seems to find the tongue a mostly negative influence, calling it a “restless untamable beast full of deadly poison” James is concerned with the alignment of word and deed, especially as it relates to Christians. In the last couple of weeks in James we’ve heard him call on believers to be doers of the word, not just hearers saying that faith without works is dead now he’s turning it around, just as what we do should reflect what we say we believe, so should what we say James is highly sensitive to hypocrisy and to him it seems hypocritical for someone to praise God in one breath and in the next be horrible to another human, one made in the image of God. What we do and say matters, because these actions reveal who we really are. James says “Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs?” Trees are known by the fruit they produce, and we will be known by what we produce, it doesn’t matter if we call ourselves fig trees if all we produce are olives. It doesn’t matter if we call ourselves Christian if we don’t say and do Christian things. What we say matters because it reflects who we truly are. And yes I’m am bold enough or foolish enough to still believe and proclaim this in an era where what people say and how they say it seems to matter less and less. I maintain my belief that words are powerful even more so when we don’t give them their due. What we say matters. Isaiah on the other hand has a decidedly more positive take on the tongue. In our first reading we hear the prophet proclaim “The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.” The prophet Isaiah has been sent to the people of Israel living in exile in Babylon, conquered militarily and removed from their home in the promised land, all they have left are words, the promise of God that they will one-day return home. God has appointed Isaiah to speak those words to the people but the job of prophet is not simply speaking but first listening to the word of God. Isaiah praises God for the gift the teaching tongue followed immediately by praise to God for opening his ears each morning to first listen to God. and because Isaiah listens to God he is able to stick to the job God has given him even though he is mistreated because of his message, the job of prophet is not only to sustain but to point out the often uncomfortable truth, the truth that people have more responsibility for their current misfortunes than they’d like to admit people who often get upset with the messenger and go to extreme lengths to shut them up. The life of a prophet is not easy but because Isaiah is listening to God rather than the people he is able to be steadfast in his call even proclaiming “the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced;” The shame that the people try to put on Isaiah doesn’t stick because Isaiah is listening to God not the people. Who we listen to matters. Who we listen to, even in the background, forms our concept of the world and ourselves, if we are not careful about who we listen to, it will be the loudest often most negative voices that shape our view of ourselves and the world. Who we listen to matters. The importance of all this speaking and listening come to a head in our gospel for today with Jesus questioning the disciples “who do you say that I am?” knowing that their answer will reveal who they’ve been listening to, who they’ve become. The disciples have been with Jesus for a while now, we’re about halfway through the gospel of Mark, they’ve heard Jesus’ teachings, seen him heal and do miraculous deeds. Now Jesus takes his disciples of Caesarea Philippi, and while this may seem like a minor detail it tells us that Jesus is setting the scene. You see Caesarea Philippi is an ancient place of idol worship, a spring is located there in a cave that, long before Jesus and his disciples wandered there, was dedicated as a shrine to the Greek god Pan. Later King Herod added Caesarea to the name of the place to honor the Roman ruler Caesar. Jesus takes his disciples to a place where the prevailing culture is shouting loudly, the availability of other gods, the bowing down to the Roman empire and it is here he asks them two questions: Who do people say that I am? And Who do you say that I am? What Jesus is asking the disciples with these questions is: who have you been listening to? And who are you because of what you’ve heard? the disciples report what they’ve heard people say about Jesus, John the Baptist, a prophet, Elijah, figures out of the history of Israel and when Jesus presses them for their answer Peter opens his mouth- he’s always the one speaking- and he says “You are the messiah” He gets the right answer. And Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about him. Why Jesus keeps telling the disciples to keep his deeds and identity a secret is a mystery, but it might have to do with what happens next. When Jesus tells the disciples what is going to happen to him, the suffering, rejection, death and after three days resurrection Peter, who has just proclaimed Jesus the messiah opens his big mouth again and with the tongue that just uttered a blessing rebukes him, tells Jesus he’s wrong. What Jesus describes is not the messiah that Peter is thinking of, the one for whom the Israelites are waiting is a King of the line of David, who will come and throw out the oppressors who have taken over the land of the Israelites and bring them freedom to purify and restore Israel. A dead messiah, no that’s not right Peter says and Jesus turns and corrects him. “Follow me, you’re upset because you’re listening to humans not God. you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Yes Jesus is the messiah, but he’s not the messiah Peter or we want him to be. We often talk about Jesus like he’s a magic genie, someone who if we say the right thing will grant our wishes solve our problems and bring prosperity and freedom, of course prosperity and freedom as defined by humans. But if we listen to Jesus carefully and watch what he does, we find that what Jesus is most concerned with is his quest to identify with the lowliest, again and again he seeks out those outcast by society and offers them what other humans have denied them, healing, food, dignity and for his troubles he will be rejected and killed. This is the divine way. And Jesus expects his disciples to follow the divine way. what Jesus is saying when he talks of cross bearing and losing and saving lives is that if you are listening to God, and you say that you follow God, and you live your life according to the divine way, you will get push back, people will treat you like the prophet Isaiah, but like the prophet Isaiah you’ll be able to endure, stick with it, because you’re listening to God and not the people and there is no shame in following the divine way, it is the way of everlasting life with God. Jesus knows that living in this way is extremely difficult, that our sense of self-preservation will often overrule our desire to follow God, on the way to the cross Peter denies Jesus three times and all the disciples abandon him, Jesus knows that this will happen too, and when he is raised up on the third day who does he go to? His disciples. Because while the divine way is difficult, it is also one of forgiveness, and second chances. No matter how many times we abandon him for ourselves Use our tongues for both blessings and curses Jesus will welcome us back because Jesus is the messiah according to the divine way. Amen 15th Sunday After Pentecost
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 Psalm 15 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-23 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who sees us for who we really are and who still loves us. Amen Today our lessons are about extremes. On the one hand we have Jesus in our gospel calling the Pharisees who criticize his disciples for not washing their hands hypocrites They are so focused on human tradition and what they do that they’ve forgotten the meaning behind their actions. Doing too much of the right thing can become the wrong thing Jesus says, intention matters and that comes from within our hearts, not what we put into our bodies. On the other hand, we have James who proclaims “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” and goes on to compare people who hear but don’t act to someone who briefly looks in a mirror and immediately forgets what they saw. Looking in the mirror doesn’t do much good if you don’t remove the lump of spinach you see between your teeth. James wants doers that act, not hearers who forget and warns “If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.” You’re doing too much, you’re doing too little seemingly opposing messages but when we look at them closer we see they have a common denominator: both are about what’s in your heart and the importance of taking time to examine what is in your heart, your intentions because if you don’t no matter what you do or do not do, you’ll get into trouble. What we have here is a message of law. As Lutherans we tend to focus more on the gospel, the good news but remember we are a people of both/and, we are saint and sinner at the same time and we need both the law and the gospel it’s just a matter of timing, we need the gospel when we despair and we need that law when we get cocky, we are saved by God’s grace, and we are flawed human beings, which is why we need help to work on our flaws, and that is where the law comes in the law acts like a mirror and if we don’t like what we see when we look at our reflections then it’s time to make some changes But the thing about the law is that it doesn’t just reflect back who we are on the surface, the carefully cultivated public image that minimizes flaws, no the law reflects back who we are in our hearts, from where, as Jesus remarks to the disciples “evil intentions come” and he lists all sorts of evil intentions, murder, slander, adultery, the usuals but also pride and folly, intentions that, if we are unaware of them shade our actions and turn them on their heads. The Pharisees to whom Jesus is speaking, are faithful people, they understand the law as a gift from God - they’re not trying to earn salvation by following the law, the law is a gift from God that when lived out acts as a witness to the other nations. The intent behind living out the law is to bring people together. But the pharisees have become so focused on the act of living out the law that their efforts to live faithfully have actually separated them from the people for whom they are to be an example it has separated them from their neighbors. The pharisees are shocked by Jesus because he has gone back to the original intent and in Jesus’ way of doing things reaching out to the neighbor is more important than keeping clean, in fact, if you follow Jesus, you should expect to get your hands dirty in the service of others And how we serve matters It might seem like an obvious statement but it’s important to listen to those we serve. A couple of years ago one of the officials of our partner synod in Tanzania came and talked to the leaders at the fall theological conference, and part of his message was that “some of you are doing too much without listening to what we need.” I believe he was referring to a couple of larger churches who had partner relationships with Tanzanian congregations and would help them financially but would dictate what their financial help would go to and this, the official said, was hurting the Tanzanian churches. At some point the help became less about the true needs of the Tanzanian church and more about what the church in the states was doing it was easier to sell people on say building a church in Africa, which had tangible results with glossy pictures easily hung on a church bulletin board or posted to a website as an example international mission, that was more appealing than a general gift of money that could be put towards the things the Tanzanian church needed most, which might not have translated well into pictures or measurable outcomes but which would empower the recipients to do ministry in their own place, in their own way. We must examine the true intentions in our hearts when we act, and yes even when we serve. We have to ask ourselves, is this really out of love of neighbor? Or is this about us feeling good about doing something? Who are we actually serving? On the other hand, if we say we believe something our lives should reflect that belief. I’ve seen a meme go around on the internet that says “Sometimes the best evangelism is simply telling people you’re a Christian and then not being a complete jerk.” We’re called to share this awesome life changing message with others, it loses a little something when our own lives don’t reflect the awe of the gospel, even a little bit. Saying that we are Christian does not give us the right to do whatever we want, in fact it’s quite the opposite. When we say we are Christian, or followers of Jesus or however else you like to put it there has to be the intent backing up the words, intent that acknowledges that it’s a difficult thing to follow Jesus, it makes us uncomfortable at times, it requires us to search our hearts before we act, and it requires us to act on what we believe to get our hands dirty, to change the way we think and live. And yes, learning to live in this way takes a lifetime. A lifetime of hearing and doing and searching the heart, a lifetime where sometimes we do too much and sometimes we do too little but wherever we are on our journey of faith we are not alone Claimed by God at our baptisms we are made members of a community, a community who lives this life together, who is there to point out when we’re going too far in one direction or the other, a community that gathers to confess our sins to God and receive forgiveness, a community where Christ brings us to his table to renew us with his body and blood, then sends us back out into the world to live intentionally. So, gathered in this community take some time, yes right now, search your heart, ask yourself some tough questions. Then come to the table that Christ has prepared for you, bread for the journey. Amen Elisabeth Johnson's commentary on workingpreacher.org was of great help in composing this sermon 9th Sunday After Pentecost
Jeremiah 23:1-6 Psalm 23 Ephesians 2:11-22 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who is our unity and peace. Amen We live in a world divided. I know, it’s an obvious statement, one so obvious that it hardly needs saying everywhere we turn it seems like another division is appearing, another crack in the ground beneath our feet separating us from our neighbor, it’s chaotic and tiring and frankly sometimes it’s hard to know what to believe or if it will ever settle down. into this division Paul proclaims that our unity and peace come from Christ And in the midst of the daily conflict this sounds perhaps a bit hollow, a nice sentiment to be sure, but idealistic, out of touch with reality, we’ve become so tired by everything around us that we even question the peace of Christ as hollow optimism. yet, when we dig a little deeper, this unity and peace in Christ that Paul proclaims on behalf of God is based entirely on reality, it is a message of hope because it is unity and peace that have arisen from chaos, much like what swirls around us today Chaos is nothing new to us humans we heard God speaking through the prophet Jeremiah in our first lesson, “Woe to the shepherds who scatter the sheep of my pasture! Says the Lord.” and God goes on to promise to gather the scattered together again and to raise up from David a righteous branch, who shall lead and bring about justice and righteousness. As Christians we believe that God fulfilled that promise in Jesus Jesus, who we see in our gospel having compassion for the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd, pressing in on Jesus and his disciples such that they couldn’t even eat, and when Jesus and the disciples get in a boat to go to the wilderness, to rest and get back in touch with God the crowd anticipates where they are going and follow them, wherever Jesus goes he creates an uproar because the people, the everyday people on the ground, need so much, education, health care, food, hope. And they find it in Jesus who is our unity and peace Unity and peace that comes about through the sacrificial actions of Jesus as Paul reminds the Ephesians: “For he [Jesus] is our peace, in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us… he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one spirit to the Father.” Jesus brings peace and unity by crossing boundaries, often invisible and stronger than physical barriers. He sees a crack in the ground as a place to build a bridge or take a bigger step, he sees people on the other side as friends he hadn’t met yet, he sees all as beloved children of God who need the loving direction of a good shepherd who will see the sheep through the peaks and valleys of life whose sheep are unified through the shepherd. And ironically Jesus’ peace disrupts the world, because it is true peace, where all live in harmony with one another, as opposed to the peace of the world where one group finally dominates another group and there is an absence of open conflict. Jesus’ peace is a peace that must be practiced, it starts small and begins to grow. In our second reading Paul is giving the Ephesians a pep talk before they continue with the mission of Christ and in the part we heard today he reminds them that though they are one community now they started out as two, two communities that the world said would never get along, and even in Christ, at the beginning there were conflicts, fights over what was required for a person to become part of the community, and now people who started out as divided strangers “are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord…” Sometimes when a community is established it’s hard to remember just what it took to get that way Peace and unity, even peace and unity in Christ is a state that is intentionally grown into which means ultimately that there’s hope for us and the world around us because in Christ we are called be growers of peace and unity. Peace and unity grow when we take the time to listen and try to understand someone who holds a differing opinion than ours, peace and unity grow when we reach out instead of pushing away, peace and unity grow when we build bridges and cross boundaries to reach the children of God on the other side, peace and unity grow when we know that we have enough and work to share the extra. And yes this is hard work, so there are times when we need to go to the wilderness, to reconnect with God, to regain hope for the large task still ahead of us so that when the seemingly endless crowds push in around us we can still look with compassion rather than contempt as we remember that we too were once in that situation but like lost sheep Jesus found us, brought us into the fold and continues to care for us like the good shepherd that he is, guiding us in unity and peace. Amen 8th Sunday after Pentecost
Amos 7:7-15 Psalm 85:8-13 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ grace and peace to you from the one who destined us for adoption as Children of God. Amen Identity and purpose, these are the threads that run through our scripture today, calling us to consider who we are and what that means for our lives. And who we are, Primarily are people chosen by God. Our reading from Ephesians hammers this home again and again, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ… He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will...In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance...you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.” God has acted decisively in regard to our identity, there can be no question, we are God’s and while we use a variety of images to try to explain this, the end result is always the same, God has chosen us, not because of anything we have done or earned but because that’s who God is. We are God’s because of the grace of God. And the appropriate response is to live for the praise of God’s glory. When faced with such a gift, what can we do but offer praise to God? And how do we praise God? In worship, prayer and song certainly but also with how we live our lives, consciously living out God’s vision for the redemption of the world, a vision lived and taught by Jesus, one where all people have value and are treated accordingly, value that is based on their God given identity and not on the many ways that the world has found to define and divide people, rich or poor, healthy or sick, by place of birth, color of skin, what value they’ll add to the economy, age, the list goes on And here’s the hard part, the world, those with power don’t like when we live for the praise of God’s glory in this way, and sometimes we have to admit that when we have power, we aren’t always comfortable living for the praise of God’s glory either, because at times the blessings of the world seem to outweigh the blessings of God. But that doesn’t change who we are and what we are supposed to do, and yes this is difficult, our passage from Ephesians is a kind of pep talk to the community, building them back up before sending them out into the world again, a world that is unreceptive to their message, that will resist it in all ways possible. The prophets are familiar with this resistance, two prophets join us today, in the Hebrew scriptures and in the gospel. Amos is called by God to pronounce judgement on Israel, and when he does he is confronted by the priest on behalf of the king, who says ‘I know you have a message, just go someplace else and share it, the king and the land can’t take it, I won’t kill you, just go away.’ to which Amos responds (I paraphrase of course) ‘I feel you buddy, I was minding my own business tending my farm and my flock when God told me to go prophesy to the people. I don’t see myself as a professional prophet, just someone who is doing what God told them to do.’ In other words, this isn’t about earning a living as the priest suggests but a response to the call of God, however inconvenient that may be. God works through all of us, not just the professionals. And then we have our friend John the Baptist and the end of his story, John who dared to tell the King what everyone knew, that it wasn’t lawful for him to marry his brother’s wife Herodias, who hated John for pointing that out because she had more power married to Herod than his brother Philip. So Herod puts John in prison but protects him because he has some respect for John as a holy man, but then comes the night where Herod hosts a banquet and is pleased by his daughter’s dancing, and in front of everyone present, all his officials Herod promises to give her whatever she wants. She consults her mother and runs back to ask for the head of John on a platter and Herod is presented with a choice: protect a man who he knows to be righteous and holy in front of all his officials or maintain the facade of his benevolent power and do as requested. And we know which he chooses John is beheaded in prison and that is the end of that prophet. Everything is at stake when we proclaim the message of God. John lost his head, Jesus was crucified, but that was not the end. God is bigger than the resistance the world puts up bigger even than death, in God life goes on, and so does the message we are called to proclaim, and more than proclaim we are called to live, The message that God “set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” And when God says all, God means all. Even the people we don’t think deserve it. At the youth gathering Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber spoke about grace and her struggle with the fact that God’s grace is “Both for me and my haters.” She confessed she struggles with the wideness of God’s grace, Her struggle is not a particular to her we all do at times, because it just doesn’t seem fair and yet the only way that God’s good news can be good news for us, is if it is good news for the people we can’t stand, even for the people who have hurt us, because when it comes down to it, we don’t deserve God’s grace either. And yet God claims us as Children Has included us in the inheritance of redemption And marked us with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit So how can we not live to the praise of God’s glory? Amen |
AboutPastor Emily Johnson preaches weekly at Christ Lutheran. These are manuscripts of her sermons given at Christ Lutheran. Feel free to engage with them in the comments section of the blog. Archives
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