Fourth Sunday After Pentecost
Jeremiah 28:5-9
Psalm 89:1-4, 15-19
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:40-42

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
 grace and peace to you from the one who welcomes us. Amen
 
Today we have a very short gospel text 
where the word welcome 
is repeated over and over.
 
 Now when we hear this word
 we perk up a bit because “welcome” 
is such an important concept in Christianity, 
particularly because we are called
 to keep expanding the community
Sharing the message of Christ
Growing the community
 
So when we hear this passage 
as Professor Rolf Jacobson remarks
we hear it as a command. 
 
We place ourselves in the role of the welcomers 
who will receive the reward that Jesus is talking about
 and yet when we back up 
and look at the whole passage that this little chunk of gospel is a part of, 
we realize that rather than a command, 
this passage is a promise 
and the disciples are not the ones who will be doing the welcoming, 
rather they will be the welcomed.
 
Our gospel for today
 comes at the end of what is known as The Missionary Discourse, 
we’ve heard parts of it over the past two weeks. 
 
Jesus summons his twelve disciples, 
gives them power over unclean spirits 
and then he sends them out
 
 instructing them to travel light, 
not to pack extra sandals or clothes
not even food.
  
 as they travel they are to proclaim the good news 
that the kingdom of God has come near
 and to rely on the hospitality 
of those they encounter for their livelihood, 
 
it’s a very vulnerable position 
and Jesus tells them up front 
that it’s not going to be easy, 
“see I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves” he tells them,
 and predicts that they will be beaten and driven out of towns 
that the message they bring will divide families, 
that as disciples they are to take up the cross 
and in following Jesus expecting to lose their lives,
 
 but do not be afraid Jesus tells them, 
this is something bigger than just yourselves 
and at the very end, our gospel for today, 
Jesus promises that despite all the hardships 
the disciples can expect
 there will be those they encounter 
who will welcome them and take care of them 
 
and in doing so these people they encounter
 are welcoming Jesus and his father. 
The disciples represent the full presence 
of the one who sends them. 
 Those who welcome the disciples
 are the ones who will receive the reward.
 
Jesus’ call to discipleship
 is first and foremost a call to vulnerability,
 to dependence on others,
 a call to be present with others, 
to accept their hospitality 
and in that way bring the presence of God.
 
Now this is a very different picture of discipleship 
and even evangelism than we are used to,
 we’re used to being on the action end of things, 
of going out and making things happen
Of doing things for people, 
which sometimes turns into doing things to people,
 
 We generally think it’s others 
who are supposed to accept our message 
and way of doing things.
 
But that’s not what Jesus tells the disciples,
 he tells them simply, go and be among people, 
to offer the message of the kingdom of God
 and to expect that most people will reject it and you, 
but some will receive it and you, 
and that makes the whole thing worthwhile.
 
This is a hard for message for us
 who are so individualistic, 
who love to depend on ourselves, 
who like to make things happen, 
but sometimes it just doesn’t work that way.
 
 Sometimes change, 
of mind, of way of being 
takes the small everyday presence of many people.
 
I’ve experienced this a little bit myself, 
as a woman pastor. 
This week marked the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women 
in the predecessor bodies of the ELCA 
and it took ten more years before a woman of color was ordained. 
 
The big decision was made 50 years ago
 but the culture didn’t change overnight, 
it took years of my foremothers serving
 to get to the place where I could pursue ordination
 without my gender being the primary focus of my resume. 
 
And yet along the way 
there have been reminders 
that it was not always so, 
 
my seminary was built in the 1960s, 
they didn’t anticipate female students, 
so on the main classroom floor 
while the men’s bathroom was just across the hall 
the women’s bathroom was tucked back in a corner
 by the office section, 
and not all denominations ordain women, 
I’ve been in some places
 where I’ve been the first female clergy that people have encountered
 and they haven’t quite known what to do with me, 
especially on CPE where most of the patients in the hospital 
were either Baptist or Catholic,
 I often got ‘are you a nun?’ and ‘what do I call you? Mother?’ 
And I would tell them what to call me
And go on with my job.
My presence a stronger argument than any words
For women serving as pastors.
 
Some interactions are not so mild, 
one of my friends,
 upon meeting a new colleague out in the community, 
(she wasn’t wearing clergy attire at the time,)
 introduced herself and was treated warmly
 but as soon as she got to the part 
where she explained that she was the new pastor 
the colleague withdrew his hand from the handshake 
and refused to acknowledge her existence, 
but her presence in that community
 was a living testament to what the colleague rejected.
 
 Jesus gives each of the disciples gifts 
then sends them out to be the presence of God wherever they go. 
 
Jesus gives each of us gifts
 and calls us to be the presence of God wherever we go, 
 
discipleship, evangelism is a way of life, 
it’s not something we do on Sunday mornings 
or at special times 
and then go back to doing whatever we want, 
 
who we are, how we live, 
the way we treat others
 all show those around us what it means,
 for us at least,
 to be in relationship with God 
and when our actions fail to reflect the ways of God
 people notice. 
 
One of the major critiques of religion
is the hypocrisy of those who practice it imperfectly.
People notice how we live
 
And yet if the expectation to live perfectly sounds impossible, 
you’d be correct,
 no matter how hard we try
 we will never be perfect, 
 
God knows this 
which is why God offers us grace
 in Christ who is perfect, 
Offering forgiveness when we mess up and confess and repent, 
allowing us the chance to grow in faith and life with God, 
sending others into our lives,
 to bring the presence of God
 with their own God given gifts 
To bring the kingdom of God near to us.
 
this is the life that Jesus calls us to live,
 lives that give witness to the grace of God 
who receives us as we are 
and who encourages us to witness
 to the kingdom of God with our whole selves
 even as we are called to grow and be changed
 by the witness of others we encounter along the way. 
 
Rather than attempted perfection
I think the opportunity for forgiveness
and the commitment to growth, to do better
 is a much more compelling way of life 
 
The grace of God sets us free from the need to be perfect 
and the accompanying fear of failure
The grace of God calls us to be vulnerable
To dare to be the presence of God
And to allow others 
to be the presence of God ,
with their own God given gifts, to us
 
And Jesus knows that at times this is difficult
 that some we encounter will expect perfection immediately,
 or will reject the message of grace,
That in the process of living this way
we will lose our lives, 
the lives where we’ve always done it this way, 
 
but in losing our lives we will find new life, 
and God promises
 that there will be people along the way who will welcome us, 
and encourage us,
 even if it’s as simple as offering us a cold cup of water.
 
All this is possible because Christ first welcomes us,
Forgives us,
And sends us out.
 
The kingdom of God has come near. Amen

3rd Sunday After Pentecost
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 69:7-10, 16-18
Romans 6:1-11
Matthew 10:24-39

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
grace and peace to you
 from the one who calls us
 to take up the cross and follow him. Amen
 
Jesus does not hold back in our gospel for today 
as he teaches about discipleship,
 what it truly means to follow him.
 
 to be a disciple says Jesus
 means uncovering the things
 that society would rather keep secret, 
it means that some will want to do bodily harm to you,
 that families will be divided, 
That you will lose your life.
 
Jesus clearly wasn’t working with a PR firm
 on his marketing for recruiting disciples.
 It is not an attractive picture he paints
 and I’ll admit in the past I’ve struggled with this passage.
 
 And yet this year, 
in the midst of all that is going on in our society and world,
 I found this passage oddly comforting.
perhaps because the world is so uncomfortable now
 and at its heart the gospel is meant to comfort the distressed 
and to disturb the comfortable
And my life is generally speaking, comfortable.
 
But Jesus knows
 that in the way of the world 
comfort of one individual or group is achieved 
at the expense of another individual or group
 and the systems that are comfortable
 will fight to the death to preserve their comfort.
 
Jesus has come to bring abundant life for all
And that means dismantling the systems that oppress people.
And the first step in that 
is to bring out into the open 
the things those in power would rather cover up. 
“For nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered proclaim from the housetops”
 
We are in a time of uncovering right now, 
what was remarkable about George Flyod’s death 
was sadly not the way he was treated
 but that it was recorded for all to see. 
 
The holiday Juneteenth 
has been observed since 1866 
and yet many people are only learning about it this year
Scholars and epidemiologists have studied for years
 in preparation for a global pandemic 
and now after the proverbial horse has escaped the barn 
the results of their studies are being widely disseminated. 
 
And while it may be uncomfortable
 for those of us hearing about these things for the first time,
 imagine the relief of those who have known all along 
who have been reduced to whispering in the past 
that now are able to proclaim from the housetops. 
 
Jesus lets us know 
that no matter how hard we try to avoid certain topics of conversation, 
they will eventually be brought out into the open,
 and that is liberating, for everyone. 
What we are experiencing is the next step on the arc toward the liberation of all. 
And Jesus knows that this will divide people.
 
That’s what Jesus means when he says
 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth, I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” 
 
The sword, 
The liberating message of Jesus
has two edges, law and gospel, 
the law to show us how we have fallen short 
and the gospel to comfort, 
 
and actually these two are often the same message, 
how it is understood depends on who hears them, 
for those who have been comfortable at the expense of others 
Jesus’ message of liberation will sound like law,
 for those who have been oppressed
 the message will sound like gospel, good news. 
 
Jesus says that to be a disciple 
we must take the side of the oppressed, 
This is what the call to take up the cross means
 
the cross, was an instrument of state terror 
designed to make a horrifically painful example
 of anyone who tried to defy the empire,
Those who were crucified were killed
Because they were seen as a threat to the status quo
A threat to the comfort of those in power.
 
This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus
To openly talk about the secrets of society
To take the side of the oppressed
To take on the powers of the world.
Why would we want to be a disciple?
 
Because to be a disciple
Also means that we are known and valued by God
Jesus knows his message is difficult,
 three times in this passage he says do not be afraid 
and in the end affirms the value of each individual disciples,
 “even the hairs of your head are all counted, so do not be afraid.” 
 
to be a part of the Jesus movement 
is to be a part of something much larger than yourself 
and at the same time be known and valued for your own individual gifts and talents,
 and it is because we are so valued 
that we are able to take risks for others.
 
Paul picks up a variation on this theme in his letter to the Romans.
Writing looking back through the lens of the crucifixion and resurrection
He says “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life...The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
 
Christ died and rose for us
To set us free from sin
being turned in on ourselves, 
taking care of our own comfort at the expense of others.
 In relation to God
 the matter of sin has been taken care of by Jesus
 
 but just because God forgives us 
does not mean that we keep sinning 
rather it means that we try to live without sin 
and this is a daily struggle. 
 
This is the essence of the baptismal life
The daily dying to sin
And rising to new life in Christ
All because God has unequivocally claimed us.
 
Today happens to be my baptism birthday, 
33 years ago my parents brought me to the font
And God claimed me.
 
 While it’s hard to believe 
that that baby needed to be forgiven for anything, 
what that moment did was start a lifelong journey
to live a life bigger than myself
 
 and sometimes that means 
setting aside my own comfort and security for the sake of others
 just as Jesus set aside his own comfort and security 
as he went to the cross for the sake of the whole world. 
 
This is Jesus’ call to all of us, 
to face discomfort, division and fear, 
not because it might save us, 
but that it might save someone else.
 
 Jesus expects this of us 
because it is exactly what Jesus himself did 
but we do this 
secure in the fact that we are known by God, 
who values us and knows every last detail about us, 
down to the number of hairs on our head.
 
We are in a moment in time 
where we are being called to set aside our own comfort
 and act for the sake of others
 whether it is wearing a mask in public,
 or taking the time to learn about 
how the sin of racism infects the ways of the world, 
challenging the powers that say some are more valuable than others. 
 
And we are up for the challenge
Not because we are particularly brave
But because we are so thoroughly loved by God. Amen
 

Holy Trinity Sunday
Genesis 1:1-2:4
Psalm 8
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Matthew 28:16-20

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 
grace and peace to you from the community of God. Amen
 
Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, 
it’s an odd little festival
 that is crammed in between Pentecost 
and the long stretch of ordinary time 
that takes us to the end of the Church year
 
 it’s odd because it is the only festival 
that is dedicated to a doctrine or teaching of the church,
 you see, the doctrine of the trinity,
 the idea that God is one in three, three in one
 doesn’t appear explicitly in the Bible.
 
 We do hear the trinitarian formula
 at the end of the gospel of Matthew, 
we heard that just a moment ago, 
but as a description rather than a teaching. 
 
because while the math doesn’t work 
and the concept is confusing, 
how can God be one and three at the same time? 
In the end we have found that the trinity 
is the best description we can come up with
 for our experience of God. 
 
We have experienced and believe in God the creator, 
the one who, as we heard in our first reading 
created the heavens and the earth, 
 
and we have experienced Jesus 
who in the beginning was the Word
 and the Word was with God and the word was God.
 Jesus who told his disciples 
that in seeing him they had seen the one who sent him, 
who rose from the dead 
 
and we have experienced the Holy Spirit, 
the wind that swept over the waters at creation, 
who descended upon Jesus at his baptism in the form of a dove,
 the advocate who Jesus promised to send 
who with a rush of wind 
blew the disciples out into the streets
 with tongues of fire above their head
 and all the languages of the world 
coming from their mouths, 
 
We have experienced all three 
and yet we believe that to experience each of these members of the trinity
 is to fully experience one God, 
the God of Abraham and Jacob, 
the God of Moses who led the people out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land, the God who sent his son to once and for all redeem the world, 
who promises to be with us to the end of the age.
 
Our one God is a community within Godself. 
The various experiences of God 
working together to become the full expression of God.
 and yes how exactly that happens is a holy mystery, 
when we try to explain every single aspect 
we invariably get into trouble 
because our explanations fall short of reality
 but we know what we have experienced, 
our God is communal. 
 
Last week we talked about the beginning of the church
 and how it is like a body, one body many members, 
and the one body needs a diversity of parts to create the whole. 
This week we discover that in a way 
the same thing is true for God, 
that even God needs diversity within unity to be whole.
 
 So what does this mean?
(Remember our Pentecost question?) 
 
What the trinity means for us
 is that diversity is essential to existence, 
even the existence of God. 
 
The way God created the world 
means that we need a diversity of people
 to be whole as humanity. 
We need people that look different 
and think and move and communicate differently, 
variety is a strength 
and we will never be whole
while some differences are valued higher than others,
 while some differences hold more power than others. 
 
Until that is acknowledged
 there will always be something missing in the experience of humanity. 
That’s the march toward justice that we have seen break out, 
the acknowledgment of pain of division and the desire to be whole.
 
What the trinity means
 is that the lie of individuality is exposed, 
our wellbeing is inextricably linked to the wellbeing of all 
and when one person or group is hurting, we hurt too. 
 
The same applies to our faith, 
our faith is communal, 
it grows and flourishes when in relationship with God and others,
 and this is so because our God is a communal God.
 
What the trinity means
 is that we are to set aside our own advantages and privileges 
In our quest for the wellbeing of all
because we have a God who set aside the privileges of being God,
 but took on flesh, and in the words of the Christ hymn from Philippians:
6who, though he was in the form of God,
 did not regard equality with God
 as something to be exploited,
 7but emptied himself,
 taking the form of a slave,
 being born in human likeness.
 And being found in human form,
 8he humbled himself
 and became obedient to the point of death --
 even death on a cross.
 9Therefore God also highly exalted him
 and gave him the name
 that is above every name,
 10so that at the name of Jesus
 every knee should bend,
 in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 11and every tongue should confess
 that Jesus Christ is Lord,
 to the glory of God the Father.
 
What the trinity means
 is that we have a God who works in the world through us. 
We heard in our gospel Jesus’ last words to the disciples his last command:
 
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”
 
God comes into our lives and claims us 
through the community of God, 
the parents that bring the child to the font, 
the sponsors and Sunday school teachers and classmates,
 the people who gather together linked by their own baptisms.
 
What the trinity means 
is that joined to God in baptism 
we are never done learning, 
the baptismal journey
 is one whose whole length 
is spent learning to obey the commands of God, 
all summed up in the greatest commandment,
 love the lord your god with all your heart and soul and strength and your neighbor as yourself. 
 
And yes because we are always learning and growing 
we will make mistakes along the way,
 and when we do, 
when we acknowledge our sins and repent,
 we are forgiven and freed to continue to learn and grow
 
What the trinity means 
is that in community with one another and God 
we are never alone, 
Jesus’ last words before he ascended were a promise: 
“And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.”  
 
God the creator is with us always 
in the diversity of creation that God made and called good. 
 
Jesus the Son is with us always
 in the Church, the body of Christ on earth, 
 
The Holy Spirit is with us always, 
blowing through our lives, 
calling, gathering, enlightening and sending us in the world. 
 
Three experiences, 
one God, 
with us forever. Amen.
 

Easter Sunday
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
Colossians 3:1-4
Matthew 28:1-10

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you from the risen one. Amen
 
Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!
 
Today we celebrate the empty tomb,
God’s victory over death
that changed the world forever.
 
We usually celebrate with fanfares and lilies
and lots of singing,
we celebrate at the table
with two thousand years of saints
whose lives were changed by the good news of Jesus Christ
and who changed the world as they lived out that good news.
 We celebrate with signs of new life
 adopted from other cultural celebrations of spring,
 
 and we will do some of this today
but not all of it,
some of the celebration will have to wait
until we are physically present together
when our voices can once again mingle together
and we can gather around the table as a community
 and then oh what a celebration it will be.
 
But not yet,
 and we’re not sure when
 
and because of this,
 I think this Easter feels more like the first Easter morning,
the Marys going to mourn at Jesus’ tomb
as soon as they possibly can at daybreak after the Sabbath,
where they are met with an angel,
who moves the stone away
and shows them an empty tomb,
who tells them not to be afraid
 even as the earth shakes under their feet
then sends them on their way with a message for the disciples,
into a future they could not predict or imagine
but one which was full of hope.
 
Matthew in his telling of the story of Jesus
 wants to convey just how tremendous and unsettling
 Jesus is to the world
and he does that in the story with earthquakes,
the ground literally shaking under the characters’ feet.
 
 I grew up in earthquake country out in Oregon,
 instead of tornado drills in school we had earthquake drills
and learned to duck and cover under our desks
 then quickly leave the building lest it collapse around us.
 
At home we learned to never hang anything heavy over our bed
that could be shaken off a wall and fall on top of us,
 by code the water heaters are secured to walls
and the thing is, as much as you can drill and prepare with common sense measures
 you are never truly ready for that moment
when the earth moves under your feet.
 
You go along with your life
 and even though you know earthquakes can happen
it is still startling and unsettling
when what is supposed to be solid starts moving.
 
As he journeyed toward Jerusalem
Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for what would happen,
 that he would be crucified die
and on the third day rise from the dead.
 But as many time as Jesus told them that this would happen
 they were still unprepared,
 
unprepared for the city in turmoil
 as Jesus entered on Palm Sunday,
 
 unprepared for the earthquake
 at the moment of Jesus’ death
that tore the curtain in the temple in two,
 
and the Marys going to mourn the one thing that cannot be changed,
 death,
were not prepared to feel the earth shake under their feet
 as an angel of the Lord descended from heaven,
 rolled away the stone and showed them that the tomb was empty.
Matthew tells us that the guards that had been placed at the tomb
were so afraid that they shook and became like dead men.
 But not the women,
they manage to stay standing and the angel greets them
“do not be afraid”
 a phrase used in response to visible fear.
 
“Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He had been raised from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him.”
 
And having seen,
and been given a task,
 Matthew tells us that the Marys
“left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.”
 
They left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy.
 
The earth has shaken under their feet,
the only thing they know about the future
 is the next immediate step,
to go and tell the disciples,
after that it remains a mystery.
 
The women are still afraid,
and added to that fear they are filled with great joy.
 These two emotions are not contradictory,
both are true for the women.
 
This Easter, we like the Marys
 are filled with multiple emotions
 as we come to the tomb to find it empty.
 
 We are filled with great joy at the news announced to us,
but there is also perhaps some fear for the uncertainty of the future
 and sadness that we cannot be together
 at the place that Jesus has promised to meet us.
 
But we rest secure in the fact
that Jesus keeps the promises he makes,
even the ones that seem impossible to us.
 
The Marys go to tell the disciples the message of the angel,
 that Jesus has been raised from the dead
and promises to meet them in Galilee,
to gather them around him again like a shepherd gathers their sheep,
to forgive them and renew their sense of mission
 in a shaken and changed world.
 And Jesus will keep that promise
 
 but as the women are running
 suddenly Jesus meets them,
 greetings he says,
now in the Greek, the word used for greeting is literally “rejoice!”
and the women do
they take hold of Jesus and worship him,
 
and after a brief interval
Jesus sends them on their way
 “do not be afraid” he repeats,
 “go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
 
I like this moment,
because it seems like Jesus just couldn’t wait to see some of his disciples.
He has promised to meet them,
 the angel has delivered his message
and the women are on their way
 but he just couldn’t help himself,
 he had to go see the Marys
so he shows up suddenly
 
and
 he will also be in Galilee just like he promised.
 
Jesus promises to be in the midst of us
as we worship as a community,
and present in the bread and wine, his body and blood,
and Jesus keeps those promises
 which is why we long to gather as a community
 to be with Jesus and one another.
 
 And
Jesus can’t wait to see us,
as we go through our lives with fear and great joy
on the way to where Jesus has promised to be
Jesus also appears for us
suddenly along the way,
saying greetings, rejoice,
and offering times for worship in unexpected places,
the middle of the road,
 a worship service done online,
a funny picture or story that makes us laugh
 and aware that Jesus is right in front of us
 reassuring us,
 do not be afraid,
and sending us on the way with our appointed mission.
 
 Jesus is with us
because nothing stands in Jesus’ way,
not even death.
 
The tomb is empty.
Alleluia, Christ is Risen. Christ is Risen Indeed, Alleluia.
 
 
 
 
 

Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29
Philippians 2:5-11
Matthew 21:1-11

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
 grace and peace to you from the one who saves us. Amen
 
Welcome to Holy Week,
the high point of the Christian calendar
where we remember Jesus’ last days
 and his saving acts.
 
 Usually this is a time where we gather together more frequently
Sunday and Thursday, and Friday
and then a big celebration Easter morning.
 
 But not this year,
 this year we are practicing our own acts of sacrificial love,
 we are sacrificing gathering together
 out of love for our neighbor,
 
and as we walk this most familiar week
in an unfamiliar way
 we will get to see things through new eyes,
our experience apart
will deepen our experience of Holy week   
 
This year I have noticed with new eyes, two things,
 the cry of the crowd
and the state of the city as Jesus enters Jerusalem.
 
We are coming to the end of Jesus’ ministry,
much of which has taken place in and around Galilee
 with a few side trips to visit the gentiles and Jerusalem.
 
Jesus has been ministering to the crowds of people
 who have come to him,
longing for meaning, healing, food,
 
most of them are living day to day
 under the oppression of the Roman Empire
 and now they are all traveling to Jerusalem,
 the holy city with the temple where God lives,
 
  to celebrate the Passover,
the remembrance and celebration
 of when God freed the people of Israel
 from slavery in Egypt.
 
I’m sure they can’t help but notice
the juxtaposition, the celebration of freedom
 in a city that isn’t free.
 
The Romans have noticed it,
 that’s why Pilate and more soldiers than normal are in residence,
in case these Judeans take the idea of freedom to heart,
they are on the watch for any disturbance that might break the peace.
 
This is the city Jesus enters into with the crowds
and he doesn’t keep a low profile,
he enters in the ancient equivalent of the ticker tape parade,
 fulfilling the scripture by riding on a donkey
 that his disciples have “borrowed” for him,
 
 a humble steed in comparison to the war horses
 the Romans ride into the city on.
And the people praise Jesus,
 they cry out Hosanna!
 
Now Hosanna is a cry of praise,
but it literally means “Save us”
 
The crowds are crying ‘save us’,
 not to the power of Rome,
 but to an itinerant preacher riding a donkey.
 
 And what’s more they name him Son of David,
 the one who comes in the name of the Lord,
 the long awaited messiah,
the one who will once again free the people.
 
Save us,
 Hosanna in the highest heaven.
 
Sometimes our song of praise
 Is also a cry for help,
the two mingling interchangeably together.
 
We will do well to remember that this week,
especially as we look to Easter
and the celebration that it’s supposed to be
when all we want to do is cry ‘save us Lord’
 
these two impulses are not as contradictory
as they might initially appear.
 
So Jesus enters Jerusalem,
on a donkey, surrounded by crowds shouting Hosanna to the Son of David,
and Matthew tells us that
“when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil”
 
The whole city was in turmoil,
the Greek word used for turmoil
 is a cognate of earthquake,
 the city is shaken,
what once seemed solid has moved
and people are unsure of how to proceed.
 
We’re intimately familiar with turmoil,
the country is in turmoil,
 the world is in turmoil,
 what once seemed solid has moved beneath our feet
 and we are unsure of how to proceed,
 in fact, the one thing we know for sure
 is that we don’t really know what is coming.
 
Jesus enters the city,
 the city is in turmoil,
the people are asking, ‘who is this?’” 
 
Who is this
that is powerful enough to create such a disturbance?
and the answer they receive
 uncovers a truth that not all are comfortable with,
 This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth.
 The people believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
 
 But what does it mean for the Messiah to come?
 There are as many different expectations
 as there are people,
for some the Messiah is supposed to be a military figure
who will drive out the Romans,
for others a King in the tradition of David.
 
For some it doesn’t matter who Jesus is,
 he’s causing a scene,
 the religious leaders who are also the political leaders,
the ones the Romans look to to control the masses
see Jesus as a threat, to their own power
and to the safety of the people
 because they know that the Romans impose peace at the tip of a sword,
 the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome
is less peace than a suppression of violence
by the threat of greater violence.
 
Jesus entering the city causes turmoil
 because it reveals truths,
 truths about who people are,
 what they expect,
their real priorities.
 
The leaders of Israel will defer to Rome,
the crowds will disappointedly move on to the next glimmer of hope,
the disciples will stick around longer than most
but eventually flee,
 Peter the most ardent of disciples
will in one moment promise to die for Jesus
and in the next breath deny him.
 
 These truths once known
can never be unknown
 the question then becomes now what?
What will be done with the truth?
Some are excited for the change these revelations can bring,
others will work to prevent it
 in their longing for things to return to normal.
 
The world, our country is in turmoil
and truths are being revealed.
Truths about how much we expect of our schools,
the truth of how crucial those who work in grocery stores are,
 truths about the priorities of leaders.
 
 These truths once known
can never be unknown
the question then becomes now what?
What will be done with the truth?
 
Some are excited for the change these revelations can bring,
 others will work to prevent it
in their longing for things to return to normal.
 These are questions that we will have to ask ourselves in the coming months and years.
 
The whole city was in turmoil.
 And what is Jesus doing?
 Jesus is being the messiah as God defines it,
 living as a humble servant,
bringing about the kingdom of God,
 a kingdom marked by compassion and self-giving acts of generosity,
 
 all that create peace,
 true peace
which rather than an absence of violence
 is marked by the healing of relationships,
 the healing of the world. 
 
And nothing that anyone did,
the crowds, the leaders, the disciples, the Romans,
none of their actions could stop Jesus from doing the work of God.
 
Arrested, tried, denied, abandoned, crucified,
none of these human actions prevented
Jesus from doing what he came to do.
 Save the world.
 
God’s saving action is just that.
 God’s.
 
Whether we cry hosanna, save us,
Or are silent
Whatever choices we make in the face of revealed truths,
whatever we do to face the uncertainty of the future,
whatever expectations we have,
whatever mistakes we make
 
 God will continue to work for good,
God will save us.
In the midst of the turmoil of the world,
God comes to us,
 
 we cry out Hosanna,
 and our cry of praise
 also a petition.
 Save us Lord. Amen

First Sunday in Lent
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
​Matthew 4:1-11

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
 grace and peace to you from the great story teller. Amen
 
This Lent
our theme is Stories of Faith,
 we’re exploring how the stories we tell
 affect our faith,
 
 we’re listening to a variety of faith stories
from congregation members during our Wednesday services
 (if you can make it I really encourage you to come, Ramona Witte is sharing this week)
 and on Sundays our lectionary this season
is giving us at least two stories a week,
stories of faith and doubt.
 
This week our stories show us how what story we listen to
 shapes our understanding of our identity. 
we have two stories where identity is both declared and questioned,
but the outcome is very different
based on what story is listened to.
 
First we have Adam and Eve,
God finishes up creation by making these two earth creatures
and gives them responsibility for the other creatures in the garden,
‘this is who you are’ God tells them
‘you are the care takers of the garden,
 you are to till it and keep it and eat the fruit from any of the trees,
with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
 if you eat that fruit you will die.’
 
 These seem like pretty clear instructions
 a clear story and picture of who the humans are
and what they are to do. 
 
And things are going well,
until the serpent comes along
and questions that story,
provides an alternate narrative
 and it’s amazing how simple it is
 for the serpent to get the humans off track.
 
 All he does is ask a clarifying question,
“Did God say ‘you shall not eat from any three in the garden?’”
 
and the woman responds with the original narrative from God,
 ‘no God said we can eat of any tree,
 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
 if we eat from that tree we will die.’ 
 She’s got the story from God down,
 
but in asking the question
 the serpent has put it into her mind
 that she might have heard the story wrong,
and into that questioning space
the serpent places another option, a different story,
saying “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
 
And that’s the story the humans end up listening to,
they eat the fruit,
their eyes are opened,
and the mark that something has changed
 is that they are suddenly ashamed of their bodies
and take measures to cover up,
 
despite the fact that God made them,
 called them good
 and gave them everything they needed,
presumably they didn’t need clothes,
 
 but now that they have listen to a story other than God’s
they are calling bad what God has called good.
 And though that’s where our lesson ends
 the story goes on with the humans hiding from God,
 trying to place the blame for their predicament
on anyone but themselves
and being cast out from the garden.
 
Now this story has been interpreted in many ways,
and we could spend a lot of time sifting through all those interpretations
but for our purposes today here is what I want you to notice:
 
The humans are presented the story of their identity from God
and provided with everything they need,
and when the serpent comes in,
 questions that identity and offers them a slightly different story,
one where they have more power,
 they listen to that story and turn from God
and it changes how they see themselves for the worse.
 
And we’ve been doing that even since,
 but it doesn’t have to be that way
 
That’s where our other story comes in,
it parallels our first story but with very different results.
 
Right before the gospel lesson starts
Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan river
 and as he comes up out of the water
the heavens open, the holy spirit descends in the form of a dove
 and God’s voice is heard from heaven
“This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
 
This is God’s story of Jesus’ identity,
definitively declared from heaven.
 
And then the spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
 
This may seem odd
 but it is true that hardships help to define our identity,
 we often don’t know how strong we can be
 until we are tested,
 
so Jesus goes and fasts for a long time,
 he is weak,
 and that’s when the tempter comes to him
and questions his identity,
 provides an alternate story.
 
The tempter says “If you are the son of God”
the challenge under these words says ‘prove to me that you are’
“If you are the son of god, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’
 
the devil starts by playing off our human need
to prove to others that we are who we say we are,
 
it’s not enough to believe it ourselves,
others have to believe it as well,
 
 ‘prove it’ the devil says.
 And Jesus doesn’t fall for it.
 He quotes scripture back saying
“it is written one does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
 
And then the devil tries again,
 adjusting his tactics,
Jesus used scripture to refute that temptation
so the devil decides to use scripture to tempt Jesus.
 
 Again he questions Jesus’ identity,
challenging him to prove it
according to what the scriptures say:
 “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down for it is written ‘ he will command his angels concerning you,’  and ‘on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”
 
and again Jesus resists,
refusing to question, to test,
 the story God has told him.
 
Questioning identity hasn’t worked
 so the devil tries one last play,
appealing to the human desire for power,
for a price of course,
 
and of course Jesus doesn’t fall for that either
 and the devil finally leaves him.
 
 
Jesus was able to resist temptation
because he held onto the story of his identity
 that came from God,
even in the face of other plausible stories.
 
We too have a story from God,
God created us and called us good
 and since we tend to doubt that
 God gave us a sign for us to point to, baptism,
when we are washed in the waters of baptism
 God definitively declares our identity,
God claims us as children of God
 and promises that this will never change,
 that this is an identity that cannot be taken from us
even when the world tells us otherwise,
 
and the world has all sorts of other stories
about who we are
the dangerous thing is that they all sound plausible,
 
 the story that says you are defined by where you were born,
what language you speak
 or even the color of your skin or shape of your body,
 
the stories that whisper that you are not enough
 but that you can become enough
by treating people in a certain way,
by only looking out for yourself,
that you are better or worse than others,
 
sooner or later one of the stories grabs our attention
and we listen to it rather than the story God is telling,
when we do our eyes are opened
and we become ashamed of what God has called good and beloved
and we try to hide,
from ourselves and from God.
 
But God doesn’t give up that easily,
 God made a promise,
so God sent Jesus,
who firm in his own identity and story
reached out to those who had been hiding from God for so long
that they had begun to believe that they would never be part of God’s story,
 
 and Jesus offered them another story to hold on to,
 to the sick he told the story of health
 and then he healed them,
 
to the outcast he told the story of inclusion
 and then he welcomed them,
 
 
 to the hungry he told the story of being full
and then he fed them,
 
to the sinners he told the story of forgiveness
 and then he forgave them
 
that’s what Jesus does for us too,
he gives us other stories to hold on to,
to tell again and again and again,
 stories that define us as God’s beloved children
washed with water,
 
stories of meals where Jesus comes to us in bread and wine body and blood
 offering forgiveness and new life,
 stories of death and resurrection.
 
These are the stories that define us,
and when the other stories start sounding plausible,
Jesus brings us back to the font and table,
 the places where the true stories are told,
 
and washed, fed and forgiven,
we are reminded of the only story that matters,
 the story where we are beloved children of God
 
 and then
we are sent out to tell others this story
 in the same way Jesus told it
by living it out
offering healing, welcome, food and forgiveness
 treating all we encounter as the beloved children of God that they are,
because that’s who we are.
God told us so. Amen
 

Ash Wednesday
Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 51:1-17
2 Corinthians 5:20=6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

​Ash Wednesday
2/26/20
 
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
 
It’s a story in 12 words,
12 words within which
lie the whole scope of the human life,
 that we start as dust and end as dust
and that we do well to remember that while we are living in between.
 
As humans we tell stories to make sense of our lives,
 now if this 12 word story were the only one we told,
 it would be horribly depressing,
 
 but it’s not,
it’s one story among many that we tell about life,
 and it has a place among all those stories
 as they all come together to reveal the truth about life. 
 
This Lent we will be focusing on telling stories of faith,
and thinking about story telling and meaning making,
 I was reminded of a Ted Talk by Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie from 2009
Titled “The Danger of a Single Story”,
 you can still find it online and watch it for yourself.
 
 And in this Ted Talk
 Chimamanda talks about the power that the stories we tell
 have to shape our reality and understanding
both of ourselves and others,
 
 she shares about how as a child
the books she had access to were British or American in origin
 and so when she as a child
 started writing her own stories
 all of her characters were blond haired and blue eyed
 and ate strange things that she had never tasted before
 
 and it wasn’t until she found books by Africans
 that she realized that people that looked like her
could be in stories too
and do things that she was familiar with,
 
that was the danger of a single perspective,
the danger of a single story
that people, even ourselves, get left out of the picture.
 
 She also talks about a boy that worked for her family growing up,
and all her mother told her about the boy
was that he and his family were poor.
 
 So she was surprised when they went and visited his home
 and saw a beautiful basket made by the boys’ brother,
the single story of poverty that she had
didn’t include hard work.
 
Having only one story is dangerous
because we come to believe that it’s the only way to think about something,
this holds true for the stories we tell about others and ourselves,
 but also for the stories we tell of God and faith in God
 
 And of course not all stories
are ones we wish to think about or tell all the time,
but these uncomfortable stories,
the ones that remind us of our mortality
 and the ways in which we fail to love God and neighbor
 must be told as well
 because they are a part of life
 
that’s what Lent is for,
 it is a time set aside to tell stories
that we might otherwise shy away from
 but which reveal important truths,
 namely that ultimate power rests with God
 
Which is why we start with the story of Ash Wednesday,
remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return,
we rarely tell the story of life this way
 but it holds out to us a truth
that we need to understand,
a truth that we tend to forget
or even intentionally ignore,
 
the truth that our time is finite
 and whatever we do,
we all end up the same,
as dust.
 
We like to tell other stories about life,
most often we are the main characters,
the ones in control of our own actions and destinies,
 we are the heroes and others are the villains 
 
And yet the story of Ash Wednesday
 takes us and points us to the one who originally took that dust
formed it into a shape
and breathed life into it,
 
 God, creator of heaven and earth,
 the only one with the power to make dust more than dust.
 
This story re-centers us,
 prepares us for the stories to come,
the stories of life where God is the hero,
 and God has the power to shape the future of all people
 these stories return us to God.
 
In a moment we will confess our sins,
 Luther defined sin as being curved in on one’s self,
 navel gazing as it were.
 
 In our readings for tonight
 we are warned against this inward turn.
In our first reading God calls out to the people,
who even in their repentance
are focusing more on themselves
than the reason for their need to repent. 
 
“Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers...such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.” God tells the people through the prophet,
 
Instead, God says “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually…”
 
 
 
The story the people had been telling themselves
was that whatever ill they were experiencing
was the fault of God
 
 and God turns it around on them,
 shows them that their own actions
are at least causing some of the harm
and the solution is focus less on themselves
and more on their neighbors,
 to change the story being told about what God wants. 
 
Likewise
Jesus in our gospel reading
points out the hypocrites,
their actions are driven by the kind of story they want others to tell about them,
that they are religious,
not that they actually wish to become closer to God.
 
 If you wish to become closer to God, Jesus says,
the only one who needs to know what you’re doing
 is God,
 
it doesn’t matter what story others tell of you
 but what story God tells of you.
Those human stories will fade,
God’s story lasts forever.
 
Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return
 
The season and stories of Lent
 call us back to focus on God
and the stories God has to tell,
 
 stories where God works through the people that go unnoticed,
who are left out of the stories of the world,
 
stories where God is gracious and merciful,
 slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love,
 
 stories where dust filled with life is treasured by God.
 
Tonight we hear a short story,
and are invited into a time
where we reflect on all the stories
between the dusty beginning and endings.
 
 So as you go out this evening
 marked with the Ashy cross on your forehead,
consider the stories you tell.
Of yourself, of others, of God,
 
and wonder
What stories will you seek out this Lent?
Your old favorites or something new?
Stories where you are the hero?
 or where God is at the center?
And as you go
remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Amen

Transfiguration of Our Lord
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you from the one who 
gives us what we need, Amen
 
I’ve got to admit,
 I have a soft spot in my heart
for the festival of the Transfiguration,
 perhaps because this moment,
 told as a brief story
encapsulates the entire experience of a life of faith,
 
 no matter where you are on your journey of faith
 there is something for you
in the story of the transfiguration
which we experience through the disciple Peter.
 
Peter is the disciple
 whose relationship with Jesus
 is laid bare for us to see all throughout the gospel,
 
and it’s not always a pretty sight,
 but at each turn,
Jesus gives Peter what he needs,
 
and at this moment
 Peter needs to be reaffirmed in his relationship with Jesus,
 and Jesus knows,
 he will need this experience in the days to come
when there are more questions than answers
 about who Jesus is.
 
the conversation about the identity of Jesus
 is what that started all of this,
six days earlier Jesus, taking a break from the crowds
drew his disciples aside and asked them “Who do people say that I am?”
 
the disciples responded, Moses, Elijah, a prophet
and hearing these wrong answers
 Jesus asked them,
the ones closest to him
 “but who do you say that I am?”
 
and Peter in a moment of clarity
 that Jesus later attributes to the Father
says “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”
 
 he gets the right answer,
 Peter is the first to confess the truth about Jesus,
and Jesus praises him for it
 and tells him that he is the rock
 on which he will build his church.
 
That’s quite a moment,
 Peter is riding high,
 he got the answer right,
Jesus has given him a special commission,
 Peter knows what’s going on
(or at least he thinks he does)
 
 so when Jesus starts to show the disciples
 that what it means to be the messiah
 is to travel to Jerusalem,
suffer, be killed and on the third day raised again,
 Peter doesn’t hesitate to jump in,
he takes Jesus aside and tells him
“God forbid it Lord! This must never happen to you.”
 
And Jesus’ response is not what Peter is expecting,
 at Peter’s rebuke Jesus turns and says to him
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
 
In a moment the corner stone
 has become a stumbling block,
 can you imagine how devastated Peter felt?
 
 He has gone from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows
and I imagine that at that moment
 he is questioning everything
 even his role as a disciple,
 thinking that he’s blown it with Jesus.
  
 I think most of us have had moments like that,
 where we’ve disappointed someone important to us,
 or we’re afraid that we have irreparably broken an important relationship
and it is a bad feeling.
 
But Jesus hasn’t given up on Peter,
he lets him be for awhile
and then six days after those extreme highs and lows
 takes him and James and John
literally out of the valley and up a mountain
where he is transfigured before them,
 
his face shines like the sun
 and his clothes turn white.
The fullness of who Jesus is,
is revealed on that mountain,
 in that moment before Peter.
 
 It’s one thing to stumble on the right answer,
it’s quite another thing to witness Jesus surrounded by the glory of the Lord
 and speaking with Moses and Elijah
 and Peter never wants this moment to end,
 
‘this is a good place’ he tells Jesus,
‘if you want I’ll build the three of you places to stay and you’ll never have to leave’
he is caught up in the glory of the moment,
 
but I bet at the back of his mind
is Jesus’ passion prediction,
 even after Jesus’ strong rebuke,
Peter is still trying to find a way out of what Jesus has told them must happen,
this might be the answer.
 
But as Peter is speaking
they are all overshadowed by a bright cloud
and from the cloud comes the voice of God saying
 “This is my Son the Beloved, with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
 
and the terrified
disciples fall to the ground
 overcome by fear,
because that is what you do when you hear the voice of God,
you are terrified
 and Jesus comes over,
 picks them up, and says “do not be afraid”
and when they look up,
they are alone with Jesus
 and he leads them back down the mountain.
 
Because the truth of mountain top experiences,
whether literal or figurative,
is that as important as they are,
they cannot last forever,
 
at some point you have to come down off the mountain
 back into the valley,
 because that’s where faith is lived out,
in the valleys of everyday life,
 
but we are able to live it out
 because of what we have experienced on the mountain top.
 
Peter and James and John will go with Jesus to Jerusalem,
and things will go as Jesus has told them
there will be moments of great faith
 and moments of doubt and despair
 
but even in the depths of fear and doubt
they have the experience of the transfiguration,
 the voice of God,
the reassuring touch of Jesus,
the view from the mountain top.
 
The life of faith is never straight forward,
there will be times when like Peter,
 for a moment we get it right,
 and in the next instant we will get it so very wrong,
 
 there are the times when we are enthusiastic and energized,
and times when we are disheartened and tired,
and then there are the times when we are just plain terrified,
 
And in all these moments
Jesus gives us what we need,
 
  sometimes we need a rebuke,
 and sometimes we need to be led up a mountain
and shown the glory of the Lord,
 or a calming touch
 
and then Jesus leads us back down the mountain,
 to see life in the valley through new eyes,
 eyes that have seen the glory of the Lord. 
 
There’s one final detail to this story,
 as Jesus leads the three disciples back down the mountain,
 he tells them not to tell anyone about their experience
 until after he has risen from the dead.
 
 It may seem like an odd request
 given how amazing the experience was,
 but I think it speaks to the truth
that we often only understand moments where the glory of the Lord is revealed,
 long after the experience.
 
 We don’t forget about them
 but as we live our lives
we see more clearly than in that initial moment
 the impact of that time on our journey of faith,
 
and only then
 it is time for us to share the story with others,
 and perhaps our story telling will be Jesus,
 giving someone else what they need at that moment
on their journey of faith.
 
This Wednesday marks the beginning of a season of journeys and stories.
 We start by being reminded of the most simple story of humanity
 that we begin as dust and we return to dust.
 
 Then we join with Jesus
as he journeys to Jerusalem and the cross,
this is a story we tell every year,
we are still unpacking it’s meaning, 2,000 plus years later
 
and as we go with Jesus,
we reflect on our own journeys
 
 and tell our own stories
whether they take place on mountain tops or in valleys.
 
But before all this starts,
we take a moment to rest in the glory of the Lord,
 we look around and say,
it’s good to be here,
 
 and even though we know we can’t stay
we will carry this moment with us
 on the rest of our journey. Amen
 


​

Baptism of Our Lord
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
 grace and peace to you
 from the one who is continually doing a new thing with us. Amen
 
So in the story of Jesus
 we’ve jumped thirty some years
 between last week and this week.
 
Mostly because the Bible doesn’t really tell us anything
 in between Jesus’ birth
 and his appearance in the wilderness
by the Jordan river to be baptized by John,
 the event that starts off his public ministry.
 
Jesus is starting something new,
 and God calls him to begin with baptism,
so Jesus goes from Galilee
out into the desert to the Jordan river
 where John the Baptist
 is preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins,
calling people to turn their lives around,
 to start new,
and is baptizing people as a sign of that repentance,
 that commitment to new life,
 
John is preparing the people for Jesus
and he’s doing quite well
gathering big crowds
 and now Jesus goes up to John and says,
 ‘I’m ready to take over, baptize me.’
 
 And John says,
 ‘wait a minute, that’s not how this is supposed to happen,
you’re supposed to baptize me.’
 
And Matthew tells us
that “John would have prevented him”
and Jesus has to convince John
 that this is what God wants,
finally John consents to baptize Jesus
 and when Jesus comes up out of the water
the spirit descends and the voice of God is heard
and it’s all amazing,
but it might not have happened
if Jesus hadn’t been able to convince John
 that this was the way God was working. 
 
I don’t know about you,
but this sounds like kind of a rough start to Jesus’ ministry.
After all if John,
 whose whole purpose in life
 was to prepare the way for Jesus
 had to be convinced,
how much more convincing is the next person going to take?
 
Now to be fair to John,
it wasn’t what Jesus was planning on doing that threw him
but how he wanted to start going about doing it,
 Jesus just wasn’t what he expected,
 but he was open enough to be convinced
and the ministry went forward.
 
We see this pattern replicated over and over again,
 God doing something new
and since God works in the world with people,
we see God partnering with someone
who while open to the new thing
must be convinced of the how
 
 and when they consent,
even a little bit,
the holy spirit swoops in to make the new life possible.
 
 We see this in our story from Acts,
 we only read a part of it
but it is the story of the first Gentile converts
to the way of Jesus.
 
Jesus has died and risen and appeared to the disciples
and before he ascends back up into heaven
 he commands them to spread the news of the new thing God is doing,
 and to baptize those who desire it
 and with baptism will come the gift of the holy spirit
 
so that’s what the apostles are doing,
they’re creating a new community,
people are hearing their preaching
 and believing and are being baptized
and things are going great,
 
until Peter has a vision from God.
 God wants to do a new thing
 within this new thing!
 God wants to expand the ministry to the Gentiles
 which is really just short hand
 for everyone else,
 
literally it means “the nations”,
 there’s the chosen people
 and there’s everyone else
 
and up until this point
the Jesus movement has been a strictly Jewish thing
 and one very strong characteristic of being part of the chosen people
 is to remain separate from everyone else,
 so much so that it is unlawful for a Jew to associate or to visit a Gentile
 
 and yet that’s what God is calling Peter to do,
and Peter resists,
 he protests that he’s followed the law his whole life,
why break it now?
 
 But God is insistent
and Peter is just open enough to the idea
 that when the spirit nudges Peter to go to the house of Cornelius
who is a Roman soldier but worships the God of Israel,
 Peter goes.
 
 Cornelius has had his own vision from God
And as a result sends for Peter
 and after he explains his vision
Peter begins to speak,
 and this is the part of the story we had for our second reading
 
he starts off “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
 
and then Peter who is opening up to this new thing of God
preaches the good news of Jesus Christ to those assembled,
Cornelius and his household
and a remarkable thing happens:
 
“While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, ‘Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days.”
 
God is doing something new,
Peter protests
 but is convinced enough
 to make enough room for the Holy Spirit to sweep in
making new life possible in ways that even Peter can’t argue with,
 
 the spirit is supposed to be a result of baptism
but the spirit descends on the gentiles
while Peter is speaking
making it hard for anyone to argue against baptism,
 seeing as they’ve already received the holy spirit
 
 God is making God’s will known
and Peter gives up his protests,
 baptizes the household,
and then stays with them
breaking many of the laws he’d spent his whole life keeping
 but which don’t matter anymore
because of God’s new thing.
 
And things are great,
until Peter goes home
and the other Apostles give Peter a hard time
 for staying with gentiles
 
and he has to go through the whole story
 before they accept
that God has given even to the Gentiles
the repentance that leads to life.
 
 But this leads to the first major conflict in the church,
 the conflict over whether the gentile converts
must be circumcised to be an official part of the community.
 Even having accepted that God is doing a new thing,
 there are those who disagree with the how,
and the cycle starts to repeat, again and again and again.
 
And honestly,
the resistance that comes from God doing a new thing
 is rarely about God opening the community even wider,
we all theoretically get on board with that pretty quickly
 the idea that God loves everyone,
that’s kind of hard to argue with
 
the resistance comes from the how,
how this new broader circle
 changes the community,
 changes our lives
and more importantly to us humans,
how we know who is in and who is out.
 
And that takes us back to that pesky original sin,
 the desire to be God,
We want to be the ones that determine the boundaries of the community
 when that is God’s job.
It’s all a bit of a mess isn’t it?
 
And yet,
God still comes to us,
God claims us at our baptisms,
making sure that we know that we have been chosen by God,
 and then God calls us to share the gift we’ve been given with others,
 to expand the community,
 
 and when we get caught up in the how,
God calls to us again,
to repent,
to see the new thing God is doing,
 and God works to convince us with the holy spirit,
even as God forgives us our resistance,
our desire to hold fast to the way things have been
when God is clearly doing something new.
 
 And for this I give thanks to God,
 for the grace and mercy shown to us each and every day,
for the water that reminds us of God’s claim on us
and the spirit’s movement among us. 
 
But it also makes me wonder,
 what new thing of God are we resisting?
 
 

4th Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
grace and peace to you
from the one who comes to us in unexpected ways. Amen
 
Have you ever wondered about Joseph’s role in the Christmas story?
 I mean it seems peripheral at most.
 
Given that the Holy Spirit is so active,
 is Joseph even necessary?
Today Matthew answers that question with an emphatic yes! 
 
As Matthew tells it
 the story of Jesus
is all about God fulfilling God’s own promises
 but in radically different ways than people expect
 
especially since along the way
 ordinary people of faith
are called to take part in the fulfillment of promises,
 people like Mary and Joseph.
 
Luke is the one who tells us
 more about Mary’s faithful response to God’s call
but Matthew is where Joseph shines.
 
Mary and Joseph are engaged
 which back then was a more solid legal agreement than today
but before they actually get married
Mary is found to be with child from the Holy Spirit
 
and this presents a dilemma for Joseph
who we are told is righteous,
meaning that he is a follower of the law
 
 and the law says in instances like this
 that it is legal for the man to dismiss or divorce the woman
with varying degrees of potential punishment,
 
Deuteronomy allows for a public stoning,
not that stonings were common in the day of Mary and Joseph
but a very public dismissal
would have brought great shame on Mary and her reputation.
 
 But even as Joseph wants to follow the law
we are told he is unwilling to expose Mary to public disgrace,
he tries to find a way to be kind and follow the law.
 
 So he plans to dismiss her quietly,
 meaning he wouldn’t expose her supposed infidelity
and thereby take the brunt of the shame on himself
 since it would look like he’d gotten a young woman pregnant
then decided to divorce her for no apparent reason.
Which is quite a remarkable decision when you think about it.
 
“But just when he had resolved to do this” Matthew tells us,
an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream
 and tells him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife,
 that the child is from the Holy Spirit
 
and this is how it’s going to play out the angel says:
“She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet.” and the angel quotes Isaiah. 
 
This is classic Matthew,
remember Matthew is intensely interested
in showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s past promises
 and the angel’s announcement
shows that Jesus fulfills two,
 
 the promise in Isaiah of a child born to a young woman,
 and the promise that the messiah will be a descendant of King David,
 
 and this second part is where Joseph becomes crucial,
Joseph is a descendant of King David
as Matthew has established with the genealogy of Jesus
 at the very beginning of his gospel.
 
 By naming Jesus,
 as the angel instructs,
Joseph acknowledges Jesus as his son
and as his son Jesus too is a descendant of King David.
 
But Joseph is more than the connection to the family of David,
he is a faithful person,
who encountering the unexpectedness of God
 remains faithful
 even as what is required of him
 goes against the prevailing teaching of the day.
 
When faced with a choice between following the law
 and acting faithfully
Joseph choses faith
and his faith cares for and nurtures Jesus
 as he comes into the world and grows up.
 
Joseph shows from the very beginning
 the truth that “the faithful thing to do and the faithful way to be are sometimes at odds with social convention” (Feasting on the Word Year A volume 1 pge 94)
even in our religious communities.
 
We look to our systems of religion,
 the rules and rituals,
to guide us through life
 and they are generally helpful
until we pay more attention to them than to God,
 
 because God continually does new things,
calling us outside of the comfortably established rules and rituals.
 
Joseph shows us that it is possible to remain faithful to God
even as God’s work falls outside the established definition of acting faithfully,
and actually, while it may seem wildly different to us
God’s actions are always consistent with God’s priorities.
 
Later in the gospel in the sermon on the Mount,
Jesus will say “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17
 and then he goes on to interpret the law
 to protect those without power under the law,
‘yes murder is against the law’ Jesus says
 ‘but I say that even anger should be judged
because it is anger that precedes murder’
 
later he continues (Matthew 5:43-47) 
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”
 
Jesus’ fulfillment of the law is based on the love of God
 the love that led to creation,
the love of God for that creation
 made manifest in Jesus himself,
the love Jesus showed to the poor, needy and outcast he encountered,
love that took him all the way to the cross,
love that burst out again three days later. 
 
All of this love flew in the face of social convention,
God was not supposed to be human,
 the poor, needy and outcast were not supposed to be noticed,
 the messiah was not supposed to be crucified,
people who are dead are not supposed to rise again.
 
 And yet that’s how God chose to work to save the world,
doing the unexpected through ordinary people
who when faced with the dilemma of following social convention
 or following the call of God,
chose to follow God.
 
That’s what Joseph did,
 and Mary and the disciples,
 and that is what we are called to do,
 
 to listen for God’s call in the unexpected
and when faced with a choice between doing what is expected
 or unconventionally acting out of love,
we are to choose love,
 and we do so trusting that God will be with us
because we are following Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. Amen