Tonight

Tonight we will gather to worship in anticipation of the birth of Jesus.

Tonight is about worship.
It is about a singular moment in history.
Tonight is about hope - that tomorrow does not have to be like today, that the future is held in hands more capable than ours.

Christmas  (the Christ mass)  is about Jesus.  The Word made flesh....and it points us to Dec. 26th and every day after when we are to become the Word made flesh in the world - the hands of Christ in this world for the sake of others. 

Let us rejoice at this divine, cosmic, eternal gift.

Remembering

It wasn't until my husband died that I began to understood the purpose of those memoriam on the obit page in the newspaper.  Memoriams usually have a picture, include the dates of birth and death, and have a message to the deceased.  I always wondered, "Who are these for?  Why do folks pay to have these printed?"

So the remembering will continue.  As long as the lost one is remembered, their life retains value and substance.  As long as some one remembers, the lost one is not lost forever. 

Remembering a loved one lost also keeps us mindful of the frailty of human life, gone sometimes in seconds.  In those moments we are reminded that life is not a contest but a gift.

You honor the fallen by remembering them.  Pray for them by name.  Remember them to the loved ones left behind, then live life full of compassion and generosity and grace. 

"Almighty God, look with pity upon the sorrows of our neighbors for whom we pray.  Remember them Lord, in mercy; nourish them with patience; comfort  them with a sense of your goodness; look upon them with grace; and give them peace."  Amen    (adapted from the Book of Common Prayer)

We weep; we sing

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

This is one verse of the hymn, O Come O Come Emmanuel.  David Lose, professor of preaching at Luther Seminary reflects on his experience when it came time to sing this hymn on the Sunday following the events in Newtown, CT.

“[This is] the verse based on Isaiah’s promise that “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shown.” (9:1), and it’s appointed… for December 21^st, the winter solstice and darkest day of year.

“It was very difficult to sing this past Sunday. But over time I’ve learned… that songs are powerful. Laments express our grief and fear so as to honor these deep and difficult emotions and simultaneously strip them of their power to incapacitate us. Songs of praise and thanksgiving unite us with the One to whom we lift our voices. And canticles of courage and promise not only name our hopes but also contribute to bringing them into being.

“Songs are powerful. But at times also difficult, and the violence of the last days has robbed many of us of our voice. But it will not always be so. We will catch our breath, hold onto each other, remember that we are not alone, and lift our voices once again in lament and praise, promise and defiance.

“Mary sings (Luke 1.46-55) of God’s mercy, promising that God lifts up the lonely, the downtrodden, and the oppressed, not just of her day, but of our own as well. So as we take up her song, we call upon God to remember those families whose children did not come home from school on Friday, those families who already wrapped Christmas presents that will never be opened, those families who will struggle not just this holiday but for many to come. And we beseech God on behalf of all those who mourn, or are lonely, or do not have enough food, or live in places of strife and war, or who struggle with mental illness or care for them, and so many more.”

This is our calling as people of faith; to hold fast those who cannot stand on their own and to bring their cries before God.  As the baby Jesus is born yet again, we look into the cross and give thanks that this world does not have the last word.

David Lose’s column can be found at www.workingpreacher.org

 

Out in left field

That's where the shepherds were.  I feel really familiar with left field since, from my perspective, I wander around a little bit unaware of what is really happening around me.  Can't tell you the number of times I've had to google something or someone because the rest of the world seemed to be on board and I had no idea.

The shepherds didn't have google.  So they got angels.  First the chief angel "the angel of the Lord" and then a whole "multitude of the heavenly hosts."  Angels are understood to be 'heavenly beings' (I have no idea what that means except they clearly aren't us) whose job is to bring a message to humans from God.  We do tend to overlook that a 'heavenly host' means an army from God.  This was a divine invasion of sorts, not a Christmas concert.

Don't know about you, but it might take a whole heavenly host to get me to pay attention to God's particular message because, as I said, I am usually out in left field.

Lord have mercy

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Little more can be said when the unthinkable happens and the unfathomable is spread all over the news.  No explanations will ever suffice. 

When Herod, nervous that a King of the Jews had been born (based on information from the Wise Men) he murdered all boys under the age of two in order to kill the newborn king.  It is known as the Slaughter of the Innocents. (Mt. 2)

We have witnessed a 21st century version.  The depth of our sorrow is our part of walking with grieving parents and a shattered community.  We pray for those for whom the sight of a manger will forever bring deep feelings of loss.

Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy.

Having a manger when it counts

I have written any number of stories around mangers to be a part of my Christmas preaching.  This post is different.

Today, a faithful and faith-filled brother in Christ went on to the glory that God has waiting for him.  He was completely aware that his time on this earth was drawing to a close.  It was of little concern for him because he trusted without doubt that God awaited him in the world to come.  He calmly rested as his body shut down.  The child in a manger was the savior waiting for him on the other side.

That's what I mean by 'having a manger when it counts.'
Rest eternal grant him O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon him.

"My soul magnifies the Lord"

The Magnificat

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and

        my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

That is what these words of Mary are called (it has to do with how it is rendered in Latin).  This is  wonderful poetry for which much beautiful music has been written.  Evening Prayer includes them in the liturgy.

They are also a call to justice.  Mary is not solely concerned with this miraculous pregnancy simply for her own sake.  Oh no, Mary is announcing the long awaited coming of God's justice: where the proud are scattered; the powerful are brought down, the hungry are filled with good things and the rich are sent away empty. (Luke 1.46-56)

If you have any experience with justice in the real world, you know it is never an easy road.  When you are toppling the powerful and lifting up the lowly there is going to be a lot of push back, a few deaths and a great deal of suffering.  Yet, this is Mary's song and Mary's hope: that God's justice will prevail in this world and in her time.

If you just thought she was a pretty little thing on the Christmas cards, well, I guess you'll just have to re-think that one.

Counting down....or anticipating joy?

Even the simplest of Christmas celebrations requires a bit of extra work especially for all those with several young children, yet perhaps if all you are doing is 'counting down' than it is time to re-set the 'Christmas prep' meter.

Maybe if the days of Advent were seen as 24 days to build peace and family strength around the coming Christ child, the fury of it all would die out, and we could work on anticipating the joy of Christ's birth.

What are you doing to make this a season when peace truly comes to all humankind?

Behold! part 2

When we last saw Joseph he was confronted by an angel saying, "Behold."

Behold!  I have good news.  Behold!  Take the pregnant Mary to be your wife.  Behold! Do not be afraid.

Do not be afraid to have your value system turned upside down, to put aside the rules by which you had governed your life, to be told up is down and down is up.

Joseph went along with the request.  Perhaps it was the news that the child of Mary's was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was to have a special name and all that convinced Joseph to go ahead with the wedding.

But I would guess that the decision to act counter to all the societal norms by which he had been formed was the greater challenge for Joseph. In a culture where men prayed prayers of thanksgiving that they were not born a woman, Joseph was being asked to take a back seat, give up his male perogatives and take into his house, include in his lineage, a child who was not his.

I think that Joseph had to overcome a bit of ingrained pride.  He did it; he acted as the angel requested.  There is no indication that the decision haunted him in the night. 

I'm not so sure it would have been the same for me.  We often say 'Pride goes before the fall'.  In Joseph's case, however,  pride must go before the fulfillment.  Would I have been as willing?

Behold! part 1

This is the Behold! of the angel who appears to Joseph.  This is that 'behold.'

This 'behold' is about to ask Joseph to re-define his entire world; to turn everything upside down and inside out.  This is not some casual change (a new smartphone)  or even a mind-bending change (consider what it would be like if today, out of the blue, the government announced that we would all now drive on the left instead of the right!).  This is bigger than that.

This is about meaning and purpose and things eternal.  This angel is asking Joseph to shift everything that he has been taught, and I would imagine, held dear at some level, and set it aside for a new path and a new way of acting.

"Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife."  Joseph thought he was going out on a limb by considering quietly divorcing Mary so to save her from public ridicule.  The rules he had ordered his life by did not really support even this merciful solution. 

Now the angel was telling him to set all this aside and trust in God by taking Mary as his wife, even when the child she was carrying was not his own.  He was to take this child into his family and include him in his family's lineage.

Angels bring messages, but not always messages we want to receive.  Watch for Behold! part 2

Who's calling?

"I need to remind myself every now-and-then that when I am called to help someone they are not calling me......I am being sent by Him (or Her)."

Blessed to be a blessing...........Amen

Jerusalem, Jerusalem

When Jesus approaches the city of Jerusalem in his last days (according to Matthew) he weeps, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!"  Mt.23.37

As we approach the celebration of the Christ child's birth in Bethlehem, we must also keep a picture of Jerusalem in the background, for the import of one is dependent on the events in the other.
In 2012, we are challenged to keep a realistic picture of Jerusalem (in all its political, historic and religious depth) on our mind as well lest we make the incarnation of God in Jesus as sentimental picture of familial warmth. 

That is, if Jesus is in fact at the center of God's plan for all creation, then that ancient city of Jerusalem, still wracked by political agendas and religious extremists, continues to be a part of God's plan for the world.

A good friend has been traveling with an official Lutheran delegation and has had as conversation partners speakers from Israeli and Palestinian perspectives, from the far right to the far left on both sides.  His trip has drawn to a close and here is his final post, a quote fromYossi Klein Halevi, a  journalist in Israel

              "When I become too immersed in the political work of a journalist, I sometimes hear
              the words of Sheykh Ibrahim: 'There are enough politicians in the land of the prophets.
              But where are the prophets in the land of the prophets?' I tell myself that it is precisely
              in times like these that the beautiful teachings of faith become either real or mere
                    sentiment. More than ever, the goal of a spiritual life in the Holy Land is to live with  an open heart at the center of unbearable tension."

We are called to just such a life, lived on the razor's edge of reason and trust, clarity and mystery, and a hope that passes all understanding.  Shalom

Faith as business

Every year every ELCA congregation is asked to complete a parochial report.  It is a report filled with  numbers and percentages that is intended (I think) to adjudicate the health of the ELCA.

How many new members?
How many baptized?  adult?  children?
How many confirmed?
How many died?
What is your average worship attendance?
How is your membership defined by racial/ethnic group?

Along with people numbers, we submit $ numbers as well.  Assets, income, benevolence, expenses.

Every year in every congregation I have served we have submitted our parochial report, and on time as well, so please don't read the following as the complaint of a disgruntled and uncooperative member of the clergy.

Numbers have nothing to do with faith, faithfulness, spiritual growth and ethical living.  Numbers have nothing to do with trusting in God when all indications are that God is not paying attention.  Numbers are easy to count and to report, that's all.  (Still many congregations don't even do that little bit).

Choosing to live in the footsteps of Jesus, serving food at the Samaritan Center, giving to disaster victims in NY area, building a pre-school in Zambia, expanding the opportunity for our young people to attend camp, visiting the sick and shut-in, praying for people we do not know, figuring out how to live and die faithfully.....that is the hard stuff.

And there is no place for that on the form.
Let's keep doing it just the same.

Lincoln again....giving thanks

Lincoln, the movie, is but one of the many ways we as a nation will be reminded of the wrenching violence and bitterness of the Civil War as we remember it on this 150th anniversary.  Lincoln penned many documents which commend themselves to us in the 21st century if not for their content, then for the beauty of his writing.

The Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863 is a perfect example and will surface in this blog several more times I am sure for it has powerful lessons on both a national and a personal level.

Let's consider the national implications.  Lincoln was president when our nation was doing its very best to bring to an end itself by shedding unfathomable quantities of blood.  Far from a confident believer, Lincoln nonetheless considered himself a tool in the hands of God ['...the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy..."]  When power and might were the recommended response to a recalcitrant South, Lincoln reached out in compassion ("with malice toward none ...and charity towards all" from Lincoln's second inaugural address) to brothers who had become the enemy.

In the midst of this blood bath, Lincoln found important things for which to give thanks which he enurmerated in his Proclamation officially setting the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving. 

He sought the nation's care for the '...widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers...' on both sides of the conflict.   Beyond this is the closing

                "I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him...[they]

                fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the

                nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes ...'

In these words Lincoln captures that place which people of faith are asked to inhabit: the place where we are acutely aware of our deep seated shortcomings, willing to look to the Divine Hand to work in its time, and to accept that ultimately God will work for the good of all.  That kind of faith simply takes my breath away.

Holy Space

The Angel of the Lord (seems that is a title which begs to be capitalized) met Zechariah in the sanctuary - an inner portion of the temple that could be entered only by a priest because it was holy.

Holy means "to be set apart for the service of God."  The sanctuary was a holy space, and in this holy space God set in motion the divine plan for the redemption of creation. "Zechariah," the angel said, "Elizabeth will bear a son and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit."  A divine announcement in a holy space.

This child, to be named John (God is gracious) was to grow in the womb of a barren woman.  God creates in Elizabeth a holy space where her prayers were to answered, where a prophet would grow, where the divine plan could literally take form. 

John will become God's holy space among God's people, reminding them of the God who has remembered Israel, and carving out a space - a holy space - for Israel to become a part of the divine plan just now being revealed.

Advent is the perfect time to carve out a holy space in your days, in your prayers, in your family time so you too might prepare yourself for the coming Savior.  Press to the side all the other things which clamor for your attention, clear out the 'musts' and 'shoulds' and open a space for the Word of God to come into your life.  When your thoughts and heart are a holy space for God's work in you, all the other preparations of this season are but window trimming.

A vote for justice

I have not seen Spielberg's movie Lincoln yet, but it is on my holiday schedule.  From the moment years ago when I read Lincoln's second inaugural address, I have been taken with Lincoln's humble understanding of what it means to 'stand before God.'  At a critical moment in our history as a nation founded on democratic principles, Lincoln pressed forward with what he thought was right and just and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. 

Yet he never discounted the political realities of his day.  I quote from Michael Gerson's column of 11/27.  It was necessary for Lincoln to "divide moral sympathies from ...pragmatic judgments."  This was Lincoln's burden, for "while justice is not defined by the majority, it can't be pursued without support from the majority." 

Lincoln is a towering figure in our history and a study of a man who felt called by God to stand in the breech when chaos reigned around him.  It is helpful, however, to remember that the constitutional changes which finally acknowledged what God had known all along, that no person can rightfully be owned by another, took the combined effort of many totally forgotten men who sat in Congress. The "dramatic culmination of the movie is a roll call - a list of forgotten legislators whose hesitant, conflicted choices were as important as the outcome of the battle."  It was these little known and even less remembered individuals who changed the course of our history.

So, my friends, it is good for us to remember that the little things we do for the sake of justice may never bring us fame, but when counted with the other anonymous acts of justice can move nations. 

Which part of 'angel' don't you understand?

It's a pretty cheeky response to a wonderfilled story of Gabriel's visit to Zechariah. (Luke 1.5-23)

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth have been unable to have children.  This would have been a terrible grieving for them and society could have  decided [and most likely did] that Elizabeth's barrenness was due to her 'unrighteousness' before God.

Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the inner portion of the temple to tell him that God has gifted them with a child: a boy - a very special boy.  His name would be John "God is gracious" and would call his people to repentance. 

Zechariah's response was, "What sign will you give me that this will happen?"

 

What?  An angel wasn't enough? 

He couldn't wait to see if Elizabeth gained some weight?

I can't even begin to figure out why the visitation by an angel was not enough for Zechariah.  Perhaps he was babbling, but certainly his request for a 'sign' was not received well; he was struck mute until the day John was born. 

I just wonder if maybe we have been visited by angels and couldn't see them for what they were:  messengers from God, bringing good news, bridging the gap between our reality and divine reality.  I wouldn't be surprised if I have been guilty of wanting a sign, being unwilling to wait, or simply ignoring the messenger. 

Even though I would expect an angel, certainly one as important as Gabriel, to show up with bright lights and possibly wings, perhaps God doesn't work according to my expectations.  [Perhaps??]

Let us be on the look out for angels inviting us to be a part of God's great plan for this world, and just possibly, remember not to ask for a sign!

Listen............

 

Listening is more than hearing.

To listen you need to engage with the individual (or in the case of Zechariah: angel) speaking to you.  You need to make room - in the day, in the hour, in the moment and in your life - for the message to take root.  Listening is an organic process - words fall into the fertile soil that is you (your life, your time, your purposes) and from there the words reach for the light so they might grow and bear fruit.  Listening is the process that takes place after one has heard the facts, the data, the questions.  When we listen, we are making connections between disparate parts of our story, seeking bridges between the message and the messenger and us, discovering a new path for the future or a new meaning for a portion of our past.

Zechariah (father of John the Baptist) and Joseph (guardian of Jesus) and Mary (mother of God) were each called to listen beyond the words to the message of God's continuing care for all whom God has created - what we call the salvation of the world. 

Lord, help us listen during this season of Advent; to listen for your message to each of us so it may grow in our lives and bring light to others.  AMEN

You are worthy

You are worthy.  You do not have to chase after anything.  You do not have to purchase anything or attain some level of success.  You do not have to have a special degree or important title.

You already have the only title you need:  child of God. 

This is Jesus' message to each and every person in the world.  You are worthy. 
Now you are set free to live, to love, to give, to praise and to give thanks.

If this doesn't sound particularly radical to you consider what the world's message is: buy this flat screen TV to prove you are 'up to date.'  Wear these $200 sneakers or the world will think you are 'out of it.'  Sign your children up for every class or team available so they will 'measure up.'  Drive this brand new, over your budget car so everyone thinks you are 'successful.'

God's truth in Jesus is this:  you are loved.  Now. Always. Forever.  AMEN

Left behind

Not so long ago, the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye was very popular in non Lutheran Christian circles.  It was a series of books about the end times, the second coming of Christ, the apocalypse (you can choose the term that is most familiar to you; they all mean about the same).

Using the imagery from Revelation and other apocalyptic literature in the Bible, this fictional series spoke of massive struggles - even wars - between the faithful and the unfaithful until Christ brings about the end time and the chosen ones will be with God and the others will be 'left behind.'

Not only do I believe these were inaccurate interpretations of scripture, they had a tendency to sound like private militia rantings with limited Christian overtones.

I only bring this up because we are approaching that time in the church year when we consider the end times - the time when Jesus comes again and the kingdom of God is manifest on earth.  It is a time in the future which the hope we all hold (to live eternally in the presence of God) and yet about which we know next to nothing specific.

We get a glimpse of God at work in our own times, especially if we are attentive to places of destruction, hopelessness, oppression and sorrow.  It takes faith to see God at work in those places, but our hope is strengthened when we watch and listen for Jesus. 

It's not about the kind of fear that leads you to climb over your neighbor and grasp at final straws.  As Luther would have told us, "remember your baptism" for in it you were joined to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  Now and forever.  Amen

What keeps you up at night?

What worms its way into your head and steals sleep?  Where does fear enter your life?

We all have a list, and probably the same items are on everyone's list, just in a different order: finances, health, relationships, violence, personal well-being.   To sum them all up: we are afraid that this whole world - our whole world - is going to fall apart right before our eyes. 

Jesus tells us we can count on it.  That is one of primary assumptions of the cross: the powers that rule this world are going to lead us only to death.   True, the dramas of our lives are often small compared to the wars and violence in the world, yet as my Grandma would have said, "Your troubles are bad, but my troubles are my troubles."  Our dramas are big to us.

So on some scale we fear that the world is falling apart and it very difficult for us to trust that God is working in the midst of the destruction to bring about new creation.  Life is in the midst of death; life arises out of death.  The ashes around us are a sign of the labor pangs of new life birthed by God.

We are the midwives.  That is our job in this new creation.  To ease the labor, protect mother and child, to assist in the birth of the new.  Jesus insists on standing in the graveyard and speaking of the pangs of birth.  That is what hope looks like.

Lord, save us!

In these and other similar words each of us have probably beseeched (besought????) the Lord.  I remember a nasty skid on an ice covered road sending me in the direction of a very large tree.  "O Lord, not the tree!" was my cry.

We cry out, "Lord, save us" - but, of course, we do not want to allow the Lord to decide on the kind of saving that will occur.  Save us, Lord, but in our way and in our time.

When you are working with God, it doesn't work that way.

Not enough attention

An article in the current Christian Century asserts that poverty did not get near enough attention in the past election.

The article disputes arguments that a good social safety net reduces the incentive to work.  For most of the poor, motivation is not the problem.

The article disputes arguments that private charities should support and provide for the poor of their community.  They mean local food pantries and homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters, which are significantly supported by the middle class instead of a tax which spreads the responsibility around.

What the poor generally get is the leftovers, the seconds, and a lot of nasty characterizations.
That and canned peas; and everyone knows that canned peas are not real food. 

I want to know, when did poverty get enough attention?

Plenty left over for me

That is center of my message for Sunday.

That is the rule by which we too often 'discern' what is right and appropriate when it comes to money.

And even when we have been what we would describe as generous, the truth is, in the end,
there is always

Plenty left over for me.

Lord grant me the courage to look this truth in the face and discern your will and your path and then follow.  AMEN

How do we balance the budget?

On this election day, it seems this is a pertinent, albeit a little late in the game, questions.

How do we balance the budget?  Candidates have presented a myriad of ideas about how to balance the budget.  The plans with the greatest potential for success combine increasing revenue and decreasing expenditures.  The arguments usually revolve around how to increase revenues (increase taxes is an all time unfavorite option) and which expenditures to decrease (not my program, only those other wasteful, needless programs).

My emphasis in this discussion is not on the balance but on the we.  How do we balance the budget?

If this nation is balancing the budget on the backs of the most vulnerable...the poor, elderly, the widows, then we need to say something about it.  We meaning people of faith.  We meaning those who follow Jesus. 

Jesus had already confronted a system that was built on the backs of impoverished and oppressed people.  He didn't like it then; it is unjust even today.

What are we doing about it?

We're talkin' about widows

Throughout the Old Testament we hear again and again God's command to Israel to care for the widows and orphans.  That is because, in the structure of their society, no one else did.  Widows and orphans represented the most vulnerable, those with no power at all, no voice, no resources.

Who would we put in this category today?  In light of Hurricane Sandy we might put those who are now homeless.  Perhaps all homeless folks should be in this category.

In light of Newtown, we might put grieving parents into this category, or perhaps all those who are left behind when violence claims a loved one.

Justice - according to our faith - is the balancing of the scales; that is, lifting up and protecting those who are vulnerable and without a voice. 

Who needs our protection today?  What are we/you doing to care for them?

Left in the cold and dark......

there is something quite frightening about sitting in the dark shivering
something that says, "no one is coming"  or  "no one remembers you"  or "you don't matter"
and at some point, it is so easy to give into despair.

Pray for our neighbors who face another night in the cold and dark.  Pray that the  darkness does not overcome them.  Lift them up with the force of our prayers so despair is conquered.

As your heat kicks on this evening, remember to offer whatever donation you can to help them back on their feet.

Unbind him and set him free......

Today is All Saints Day. 

For many it will be a day of remembering, perhaps with a bit of sadness, those who have died in the past year.....or we could say, those who are now experiencing life after life, life in the glory of God.

Sunday we will hear again the story of the raising of Lazarus, who after 4 days in the tomb, was called back into this life by Jesus.  For the sisters Mary and Martha, I am sure that having their brother back was a great blessing.  But I wonder if Lazarus would have rather gone on to the Father, and avoided having to die again in this lifetime.

Either way, Jesus calls Lazarus back to life and then tells the on-lookers:  Unbind him, and set him free. 

It is a helpful way to think of our loved ones in the same way.  Unbound.  Free.

Comfort and blessings to all.

For all the saints

Rarely does anyone claim the title 'saint' and no amount of theological teaching will change that.  It has something to do with bragging.

Yet when the waters of baptism poured over our heads, we entered an amazing relationship with God, creator, redeemer and sanctifier.  We became saints: those set apart for the service of God and God's work.

Most of us fit into other categories, some benign some uncomfortable.  We are teachers, mechanics, managers, students... and sisters, friends, fathers, aunts...and bullies, whiners, gossips, emotionally detached....and divorced, single, living with someone, sleeping with everyone, widowed....and generous, open minded, peace loving, faithful....and cheap, prejudiced, belligerent, and lost.

Yet we are all saints.  Set apart by virtue of our baptism to the work of this God for the sake of those whom God loves.

This Sunday the saints will gather to remember some of our brothers and sisters who left us and are now coming to know what it means to be counted among the saints by our God.  Let us comfort those who sorrow and rejoice with those who have finally figured it all out.  It is God's love that makes us saints, not we ourselves.

Lord have mercy.....

It is an ancient cry of the Church

Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy

When I look at the video of the devastation of the East Coast
When I consider that some folks will never make it home, and some will never recover what was lost
When I remember the poor, the frail, and the just plain onery
I cannot help but pray this ancient prayer

and give thanks that so many were spared so much.  AMEN

What do you want me to do for you?

Jesus asks that question of the blind man called Bartimaeus in this week's gospel.
It is the same question he asked of James and John before they disasterously voiced their desire to have the two most important places in the room when Jesus became King in his kingdom.

Blind Bartimaeus was crystal clear.  Give me back my sight.  Jesus did, and Bartimaeus became the newest disciple.

What do you want me to do for you?

I think that until we can answer that question, our relationship with God and the God's great gift of love and life is cursory.  It is like watered down milk.  Often we simply walk away from this thing called 'faith' because it truly has no meaning for us.

Once we answer that question honestly, our relationship with God shifts.  Either we get what we want or not.  Faith is challenged; we grow or we do not.

Once we answer that question with "Give me true life", our relationship with God enters a new stratosphere and God's grace is the most valuable gem in our treasury.

What is it you want God to do for you?

Let's talk about God....

The true God, the God who creates and gives life.  The God who loves first, unconditionally, always.  The God who is active in this world, today.

Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem.  In his crucifixion he will be revealing a dimension of God's interaction with this world that is mind boggling even today.  At the cross, we will encounter God.  Not an academic God.  Not a God who is far off.  But God who is one with the suffering of human life, in God's own body......and for the sake of the world.

The time is running out.  The cross is ahead and Jesus knows this.

So it is crucial to Jesus that our conversation shift from what we are doing, what we need to do, what we want to obtain......to what God is doing for us, how God is at work in this world, and the grand invitation God extends through Jesus for us to be a part of this adventure.

This is the focus of the text on divorce (Mark 10.1-15) and the story of the rich man (Mark 10.17-31) and now this request of James and John to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus in his glory (Mark 10.35-45).  Jesus pushes us to engage in a new conversation, a new possibility of who God is and how God is at work in the world. 

It's all about God; once you grasp this you are set free to live generously, graciously, with forgiveness, and joy.  This is the challenge we face these next several weeks: to make it about God and not us.  We are along for the ride and thank God that God has invited us in Jesus.

"Seek good and not evil, that you may live"

This is Amos' advice to the people of the Northern Kingdom (sometimes referred to in the prophets as the house of Joseph, sometimes referred to as Israel).

This is what it has come down to:  seek good and not evil, so you may live.  Because there will be nothing else left after God's judgment prevails.  Amos 5.6-7, 10-15

Amos is one of only two prophets whose primary focus is economic justice.  He speaks of the economic oppression of the poor by their own people.  He speaks of the lack of justice at the city gate, both for those with disputes but also for the needy who sought help.   (Note:  a judge or wise elder would sit at the city gate and any party who had a dispute would take their case to the judge and he would make a ruling.  Amos claims the judges were bribed to rule in favor of the wealthy.)

In other words, the system was rigged.  That is what 'justice' is about in the Bible; establishing an even playing field for all where political or economic power is a tool to be used for the betterment of those in need and to advance the common good.  Not every one ends up 'rich' in a just system; but everyone has equal access and is the concern of every other citizen.

You may have noticed that we are in the heat of the political system.  We have heard claims, counter claims, truths, half truths and outright lies.  The thoughtful among us know that no matter what the candidate says, s/he must contend with the system once in office, and the unforeseen events that shift our choices.

And yet we must decide.  We need to listen closely.  Who will benefit from the position this politician is taking?  Who will lose out?  Am I concerned only with what will happen to me or have I considered the common good?  Are they telling some version of the truth about what is possible to achieve? 

This applies to both domestic and foreign policy.  Most of this is way beyond my pay grade; I don't really understand the intricacies of economic policy nor the complex situations that exist in Libya or the Middle East.  I work to think through, to listen closely to whether what is proposed will, in any way, increase the common good.  Is it just?  To all?

This text from Amos comes at a good time for us.  To quote Jesus, "Let those who have ears, listen."

"Therefore, because you trample on the poor...."

Should you be listening to a prophet, beware of the word "therefore."  It always announces judgment - God's judgment, a judgment that will cut away all that keeps us from following God and living in God's light.  A judgment that is experienced in pain and/or sorrow.

Amos has been sent by God to the power center of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and he has nothing to say that anyone wants to hear. 

A little history here:  the Northern Kingdom functioned separately from the Southern Kingdom and had grown very prosperous in the last decade.  The leadership of the Northern Kingdom, King Jeroboam, was convinced that the peace in the land and the prosperity of the people (some of the people) indicated God's blessing.  They were secure in their position as God's anointed ones.

Amos is there to burst their bubble.  Their prosperity was built on the backs of their own people and the aliens and strangers in their midst.  He points out that the people cannot wait for the Sabbath to be over so they can cheat their neighbors in the marketplace.  He calls the "Housewives of Bashon" cows.  He rejects their sacrifices and rituals because they are nothing but lip service while the wealthy continue to levy taxes upon the poor who cannot pay.

This is what leads to Amos saying, "therefore, because you trample on the poor..." and the judgment is this: you have built fine, fancy houses but you will not live in them.  You have secured land and planted vineyards, but you will never taste their wine.  In other words, this all will be taken away from you.

And so it was.  The Assyrians, who had been busy with other wars, marched through the Northern Kingdom, took possession of the land, and forced EVERYBODY into exile (722-723 BC)  After this invasion, the Northern Kingdom was wiped from the face of the earth.

Amos never said I told you so.  But he could have.

Look for part II on this text.     Amos5.6-7,10-15

Where love and hurt abounds

It is time for us to [attempt] to listen with open hearts to 'the divorce text.'  We are treading on dangerous ground, a veritable mine field of emotions, for marriage and divorce are places where both love and hurt abound.

Genesis sets the tone for us this week.  We look at the Genesis 2 rendering of the creation of man and woman: co-partners in God's work.  Man is ish and Woman is ishshah (in the Hebrew) and the words alone tell us something of the relationship between these two. 

At the first glimpse of Woman, Man cries out,  "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!"  There is rejoicing.  There is fellowship.  There is a partnership forged to care for one another and all of God's creation.

By the time we get to the gospel of Mark, the bloom is off the rose and the Pharisees are trying to back Jesus into a corner.    Focused on a legal system that had developed through the centuries, the Pharisees want Jesus to confirm or deny a man's superior rights and minimal obligations when the wedding of two turns into two households, two individuals.

Jesus is unwilling to play that game.  He goes all the way back to Genesis and points out what God's intent was for creation - no one is to be left powerless, vulnerable.  Every person bears consequences for his/her own actions, and God's kingdom of God has a special line for the nameless ones at the bottom of the heap. 

It will be hard for folks to hear the nuances of these lessons because, as we all know, marriage and its unwelcome relative: divorce, are places where both great love and great hurt abound.  Pray for those who are hurt when they hear this lesson; pray they will hear Jesus' call of love to them.

Just a warning

Unless you pay particular attention to the rhythm of the scripture that 'the powers that be' have selected for each Sunday's reading (known as the Common Lectionary), you might have missed the tendency for the gospel readings in the Fall to get fairly edgy.

All those feel good healing and miracle and simple teaching stories happened during the summer while folks were vacationing or sleeping in or whatever they do when they take a hiatus from Sunday worship.

But that leaves us with the end of the church year lessons, and those are chronologically close to Jesus' arrest and crucifixion.  Of course we don't actually deal with Jesus' death in these months - that is reserved for our Lenten season - but we run right up to the very edge.  Time is coming to a close for Jesus and he engages in his final teachings about the Kingdom of God and his role as God's son.

These are demanding texts.  They demand our attention, our consideration and then ultimately our commitment to the one who stands at the center.  These texts are about taking up your cross, being obedient in righteousness, weathering the coming apocalypse, and then standing face to face with the cross. 

And if you think that facing the cross is difficult, wait until October 7th: we get the text on divorce.  Ain't nobody going to be singing after that one.  So, just a fair warning....we are getting down to the wire and all that we think we believe will be challenged.  God help us all to listen with an open heart.

Who is the greatest?

Jesus is at it again.  He keeps talking about his rejection, suffering and death.  Now the disciples are worried about which one of them is the greatest! 

It sounds like they are positioning themselves for power when Jesus is gone.  But maybe they only want to receive special praise from Jesus if, indeed, Jesus' time is almost gone.  Or maybe, when they heard Jesus rebuke Peter in last weeks lesson by telling him, "Get behind me Satan" they saw their opportunity to take Peter's pre-eminent place among the followers.

We can't really know for sure what they were thinking, but they are certainly caught red-faced when Jesus asked them.  No one would own up to the conversation that had engrossed them all.  Kind of like when we were kids and no one wanted to admit to Dad their guilt over some misdeed.

Jesus knew anyway.  Jesus not only knew what they had been talking about, he also knew how little they understood about God's plan for the salvation of God's beloved people.  Jesus knew they could not and did not understand how his own death could be a good thing - for the disciples or for the people. 

And they hadn't even confronted the cross yet.  In the gospel of Mark, Jesus only speaks of his death, not his manner of death.  The cross is the final horrific, shameful detail in this ghastly sequence of death. 

Jesus knew they didn't know, yet he kept teaching, loving, walking with them because they would need the memories of these last weeks together when the time came. 

And, BTW, it is a child.  Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.  Welcome a child and you welcome me, Jesus teaches them.

They don't understand that either.  We don't either most of the time.

Sunday we are looking at Mark 9.30-37, the second passion prediction.

Oh no, not that!

The cross is coming.

In Sunday's lesson, Jesus issues his first 'passion prediction' which is the technical name for these passages where Jesus speaks of his upcoming rejection, suffering and crucifixion.  There are 3 such predictions in Mark's gospel.

Each time Jesus talks about his eventual death by cross, the disciples respond poorly.  In this first passion prediction there is an enormous swing from Peter's acclamation "You are the Messiah" to Jesus' rebuke of Peter "Get behind me Satan' in the very next paragraph.

It started with the question, "Who do people say that I am?"   Peter's claims Jesus as his Messiah.  The problem is, Peter has no idea what it will take to be the Messiah.  God's plan for the Messiah includes the cross; there is no other way. 

So Peter rebukes Jesus for this terrible predicted death.  Jesus rebukes Peter in turn.  Without the cross Jesus cannot be the Messiah.  The two go together.  If Peter is to accept Jesus as Messiah, he must also accept the cross.

To be the Messiah is to enter into the suffering that all humankind experiences.  To be the Messiah is to walk forward into the deep abyss that we all fear: rejection, suffering and death.  To be the Messiah is to know that it is coming and to continue on the road to Jerusalem regardless.

The tricky part is that to be a disciple is to take up your cross and follow where Jesus leads.  We are called to let go of this life so to grasp the life that Jesus offers. 

The cross might gross us out.  Letting go of this life scares us to death - which is exactly Jesus' point: holding onto this life leads only to death.   Never an easy message nor an easy task.

What the planet needs.....

"The planet does not need more 'successful' people.  But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every shape and form.  It needs people who live well in their places.  It needs people of moral courage willing to joing the fight to make the world habitable and humane.  And these needs have little to do with success as our culture has defined it."

                                                                         David Orr

However, this might well describe the folks that take up the cross of Jesus for the love of the world.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."  Matthew 5.9

What do people want?

What questions are people asking?

As a teacher I learned that until I answer the question that YOU have, you have a difficult time listening to what I am saying.  You get stuck on that question; it becomes a block to further enlightenment.  Once it's answered you can go again.

I remember a cartoon from a long time ago where one character was carrying a sign which said 'Jesus is the answer.'  In the next frame, another character has a sign which reads, 'What was the question?'

So it is important to answer the questions that folks are asking, which has a great deal with what folks truly want.  I made a list:  folks want life to be a little easier, to have their struggles have some meaning or purpose, to have their suffering acknowledged or mourned or at least to have someone walk with them through it all.   People would like good to be rewarded and evil punished.  People want to both be loved and feel loved.  They would like to be blessed (however they might define that). *

All of this is background to Sunday's gospel reading (Mark 8.27-33) which is a pivotal text in Mark's telling of the gospel story.  It begins with Jesus asking, "Who do people say that I am?"

It is important for people to understand what they are looking for when they turn to Jesus and call him Lord, or Son of God, or Savior.  In this text, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that his definition of Messiah, Anointed One, includes more than just healing and teaching and extra bread.  It includes suffering, rejection and a cross. 

If you are looking for daisies and roses, then this Jesus just won't do.  It is best to get that straight right up front, because from this point on, the pressure is on and the cross is on the horizon.


*When I consider folks who seem to embody evil, who do horrific things to one another, I wonder if a list like the one above is too 'pollyanna'. Do these folks want the same things? How do these folks end up consumed by such a destructive force that they are dangerous to themselves and others? Have these folks been so crushed by this world that they can only crush it back?

Who do people say that I am?

          

This is the crux of the issue:  who exactly is this Jesus?   The disciples answered, "John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets."  We are no more agreed on the answer today than the people were of his time. 

Christians have proclaimed this Jesus to be : Christ, the King (Chi Rho),  the Alpha and Omega (God's first and last), and, using the fish symbol Jesus, the Christ, God's son, Savior.   [that is what these symbols for Jesus Christ mean.]

Every believer needs to answer that question for themselves.  Who is this Jesus?  What is Jesus' relationship to the Creator God?  What benefit is there for me in the life, ministry and death of this Jesus?  How is my life changed by this one called Jesus?

Yes, the Church can give you answers, as the symbols above attest.  But, it seems to me, until you wrestle with this question yourself those answers have little traction in your life.  And as Jesus will begin teaching his disciples, without the cross, those answers mean nothing at all.

Bless us in our seeking O Lord.  May we see your presence each day.  AMEN

Who gets to sit at the table?

Thanksgiving at my grandmother's house meant sitting at the kids' table.  There were simply too many of us to fit around the other table.  I always felt slighted.  (I have often been prone to feeling slighted, but that's for another day).

My grandmother did not own a fancy dining room table, used only on Sundays and holidays.  In fact, my grandmother did not own anything fancy.

Hers was a 'farm table' - that enormous kitchen table that dominates a farm's kitchen.  It was the center for all life in my grandmother's house.  It was where bills were paid, arguments were started and resolved, forgiveness handed out.  There local stories were told, tragedies remarked on, children reprimanded, and of course, hardy meals of meat and potatoes accompanied by rhubarb or apple or cherry or quince pie were served.

In my mind, having a seat at the 'big table' meant belonging to this family.  Whether distant relative, cranky neighbor or complete stranger, being invited to a seat at the big table meant being a part of the family for this meal.

That is what it means in Jesus' mind as well.  It took a foreigner and sometimes enemy, a woman who would not take 'No' for answer, to bring this to Jesus' attention.   She knew that what Jesus was offering at his table could bring new life - and that's what her daughter needed right at this moment.  All she wanted was a few crumbs - because crumbs from this table were enough - and in her asking, Jesus begins to understand that the new life that will come through him is open to all.

All are welcome at the table.  Strangers, foreigners, children, cranky neighbors......sinners.  Come and eat and be whole again.

What truly gives us life?

This Sunday's gospel lesson led me to this quote from the prophet Isaiah

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?"    Isaiah55.2

And, frankly, that is the big question, isn't it? 

Why would we expend any amount of energy, resources, or time on pursuing things which do not feed us or satisfy us?   Probably because it takes us a while to come to the realization that we are chasing after ephemeral things:  (love that word: ephemeral) - things that are all smoke and mirrors; things that once obtained reveal themselves to be of no value or use.

For some of us, it is not until our last moments, our final months of life that this wisdom becomes a reality for us.  For many, a tragedy will bring this into focus.  For the few, that which is cosmically valuable is clear from an early age. 

Sunday we are invited to our Lord Jesus' table, to eat again the bread and wine, to be made one with the Son of God and become the body of Christ.  Most days we don't really understand exactly what that all means (even we who can explain it with $5 words) - but we are sure that in this meal, at this table, we are connecting with something/someone whose value extends beyond all time.

The Syro-Phoenician woman [Mark7.24-30] was willing to accept crumbs from our Lord's table; she was convinced that Jesus' crumbs would be sufficient.  For me, crumbs are generally all that I am able to handle.  Grace can be overwhelming to we mere mortals.

Washing the disciples' feet

It is winter in Zambia - the dry season.  This means dust everywhere.  Just sitting still, or riding in a car with the windows closed, the dust sifts in and settles in an innocuous but definite way. 

It is also the perfect climate for flip-flops.  I wear them; almost everyone who isn't working indoors wears them.  By the end of the day you experience a fine grit - well just about everywhere.  Feet are brown, clothese are dusty, your face feels gritty and your hair is just holding its own.

Just before dinner Tuesday evening, I could stand it no longer.  There wasn't time for a bath, so I climbed into the tub inside the bath tub, ran the water and washed my feet.  When I got to the dinner table, my feet were the cleanest part of me (with exception to my hands of course), and I can't tell you how wonderful that felt.

I felt prepared to receive the gift of food.  I felt refreshed and more able to converse with my companions.  I felt renewed.  It made me think of the gift of foot washing that Jesus gave to the disciples - cleansing, renewing, refreshing.  For the sake of the kingdom of God.  A moment that caused me to pause and think.

5 loaves, 2 fish

Even if both the loaves and the fish were small, this would be a good meal in many parts of rural Zambia where fish or meat is often only a monthly occurence.

These folks were the original vegetarians, although some of the indigenous dishes were impossible for me to swallow, they use all kinds of leaves, roots, fruits to make a wide variety of vegetable dishes which are served with rice or nshima, a corn meal porridge.  Pr. Chana once remarked, "When there's nshima on the table, there is a meal."  This tells you how important this starch is to the people's diet.

Pr. Chana was reflecting on the story of the 5 loaves and 2 fish with the Zambezi congregation the other day and his primary interpretation was,  "Jesus is concerned for people's physical needs".  It is such a straightforward reading of the story that I certainly am prone to jump right over it to deeper meanings.

But when a few vegetables and a scoop of porridge constitutes a good meal, perhaps there is no deeper meaning than Jesus' compassion and concern for the physical needs of his people.

What is justice?

Justice is a word that is used differently inside and outside the Christian church.  For the person on the street, justice is about the (right) punishment of criminals.  For believers, justice is much more about leveling the playing field, opening up possibilities and opportunities for a more equitable distribution of resources. 

Paying your workers so little that they cannot eat properly so to maximize your profits and maintain your profits is an unjust system, and for believers, cries out for greater equity.  Justice will not eliminate the gap between rich and poor, but it will stand with the oppressed and ask for change.

Yesterday 35 miners were shot by police in South Africa.  This disagreement has been boiling up for some time and it has much to do with wages, but also deals with unions trying to expand their membership (often at the expense of the miners themselves).

The mean income in South Africa is $11,000.  Miners are paid between $3500 and $6000 annually(according to CNN news).  They live in shacks (there is simply no other word to describe them) with educational opportunities for their children few and far between.  They want more; they want some kind of equity. They want a wage that reflects the dangers of the work they do and offers some kind of opportunity for their children.

Yesterday it all fell apart.  Video shows a nervous and poorly commanded police force using automatic weapons encountering a crowd of miners who were armed with machetes and possibly hand guns.  An open area divided them.  Then shots rang out and 35 were dead.

Are we humans so greedy that this outcome is acceptable to anyone?

Let justice roll down like water ........AMEN

What do you want me to do for you?

This is the question that Jesus asks the blind Bartemaeus.

This man had cried out,'Lord have mercy.'

Jesus asks, 'What do you want me to do for you?'

'Let me see again.'  the blind man replies.

So it would be.  Bartemaeus would  receive his sight and in his thanksgiving he follows Jesus into Jerusalem.  There he comes face to face with the cross that brings God’s mercy to all humanity. 

Jesus asks each of us that same question.  I wonder what we would answer.  Would the mercy of Jesus be enough for us?

The creativity of God, part II

Every Lutheran pastor has a copy of our Lutheran confessionals documents known as The Book of Concord.  It costs about $40 in the states, is the core of our Lutheran Confessions course at seminary and for many, has no use after they graduate.

This is considered a luxury for the pastors of the ELCZa.  Where could they get $40 + shipping?  Even if travelers from the US brought copies with them, how many could any one person carry at a time?   And once they were in Zambia, how could the copies get out to the pastors who are scattered across a country the size of Texas?  Mail?  They would never arrive after you had paid outrageous fees to send them.

Technology to the rescue!  Today, as a result of a creative and generous gift of some donors in the US, all 15 pastors of the ELCZa received their own Kindle, loaded with reference books, biblical books, children's books, and two portions of The Book of Concord.  (only two sections are available without charge at this time).

They were entranced with this e-reader that put at their fingertips books they would never have access to.  They worked to learn how to use all the features.  They checked out the different offerings.  And they were thankful.

For a creative God and similarly faithful and creative servants, we all give thanks.  AMEN

The creativity of God

Today a young girl spoke about her amazing adventure as a Lutheran representative to the World Conference on AIDS recently held in Washington, DC.  She is a member of the Matera Lutheran Parish.

This trip represented many 'firsts' for her.  It was the first time she'd been out of the country.  It was the first time she had flown in an airplane. 

And it was the first time she felt safe enough to admit out loud that she is HIV positive.

There in the company of people whose work is the care of those infected with HIV/AIDS and the eradication of new cases, she finally could say what she felt unable to say in her own country. 

For the first time in her life, she told us, "I felt I had been set free."

Salvation comes in many forms, although we cynics rarely expect it to arrive in Washington, DC.

May God continue to be at work in her life so she might be just such a blessing to others.  AMEN

One bread, one body

One bread, one body.
One baptism in Jesus Christ our Lord.
One faith.

The apostle Paul used this language to help us understand the radical difference between our lives before Jesus and our lives after Jesus.  Before we were but one person.  Now each of us is a part of a greater whole, the body of Christ.  We are not we alone.  We are we together. 

This happens through the waters of baptism where God's promises shower down upon us.
This happens in the meal of bread and wine where we eat and drink the gift of Jesus, and in so doing, become Christ's body in the world.

Christ invites us into new life - and that new life looks like the life of Christ. 

This is the one faith.
A gift of grace; a gift of life.  AMEN

How many tomatoes = daily bread

How many tomatoes does it take to support a family?

Many of the marginal folks in Zambia have developed a way to purchase a commodity here for 10 cents each and sell it there for 11 cents each (obviously this is just an example using US currency).  For the smallest of profit margins these folks will re-locate a needed item from far away (important if you do not have any kind of transport) to nearby which allows them to charge just a little more and make a living.

Many women do this with tomatoes.

You will see them on the side of the road.  Perhaps they have a little table with a large display of tomatoes on it; sometimes these women only have a large basket of tomatoes.  Their neighbors, who don't have enough money to pay a lot more for the convenience of having these tomatoes close by, will pay just a little bit more to purchase what they need.

These entrepreneurs have no overhead since they simply set up on the side of the road.  They pay no taxes since they are not officially a business.  And they pay no workers because it is a one woman operation.

From these tomatoes a family is supported; often more than one family since the woman often has to pay someone to watch her children at home.

Perhaps at the end of a day this woman will have the equivalent of $1.  At a penny a tomato she must sell 100 tomatoes a day to earn her dollar.  At the end of the week she may pay her help $1. 

This is what 'marginalized' looks like in tomatoes.

Give us this day our daily bread, we pray.  Lord, please help me sell 100 tomatoes today.  AMEN

So to remember

Today in chapel a small cairn was built - a tower of stones - a small example of the stone pillars built by the people of the Bible.  Of course, stone towers are a part of many cultures including Native American.  They are built to mark a spot and to remember an event or a person.

"Remembering" is one element in the richness of faith.  It is an activity which calls to mind so richly as to make that event or person present again.  So when you 'remember' your friend's phone number, you also bring into your presence the fullness of who your friend is, and what that friend means to you.  We remember God's covenants.  God remembers God's people.  We remember Jesus' gift of wine and bread; God remembers the promises of forgiveness made by Jesus.

The gift of the act of remembering is this:  we do not fly through the minutes and hours of this day, but in each act of remembering we are connected to our past, our friends, our hopes, our sorrows, our dreams.  This moment then becomes a thread in a larger living.  Our lives are richer through these connections which help us avoid losing our way.

Take a moment and remember....and be blessed.   AMEN

Could you bless me?

In this morning's worship service here at Hartwick, we heard a story about a pastor (wearing her clerical collar) who was trying to successfully cross a big and very busy intersection in downtown Chicago with her little pull along luggage.  As she approached the intersection, waiting for the light to change, her eyes met the eyes of a man who was standing on the opposite corner selling newspapers.  He looked a little sketchy.

The light changes; she hurries into the intersection and is met halfway by the man from the opposite corner. He kneels before her right in the street and asks, "Could you bless me?"

Well, OK.  She let's go of her luggage and places her right hand on the man's head and pronounces a blessing. 

There were no horns honking.  No cars pressing them to get going.  It was as if time stood still.  When he stood, she grabbed her luggage, proceeded to the other corner and life resumed as it was......

Or did it?  Who knows why he needed or wanted a blessing.  But for the rest of the day, he was blessed and he knew it.

Be ye always ready to bless someone else, in Christ's name, for their sake.  You can do it; you can do it exactly right because you know what it means to be blessed.  Pass it on.

Bless us and keep us O Lord.  AMEN

The bread of life

These next 4 weeks the gospel text comes from the 6th chapter of John and is known as the Bread of Life series.  As is usual with John, each time Jesus repeats this image his meaning has shifted just a bit to give us a different perspective.  The folks at LM will have 4 different preachers yielding, I expect, a bread basket of images and meanings.  Our practice of weekly communion is a ritual acting out the words of this series of texts.  May you eat and be filled, again and again.

Hunger

This is a heads up.  Eat a good breakfast Sunday because the sermon is going to be about hunger, and if you are like me, all it takes is someone talking about hunger to get my stomach rumbling...or is that grumbling?

Our lessons are the story of David and Bathsheba (see two previous posts) and Jesus feeding the 5000.  Now I know why I chose the 2 Samuel story of David for the Old Testament text.....it is just too good a story to miss.  But it wasn't clear how that story connected in any way to Jesus' feeding the 5000.  (And to tell the truth, the lectionary folks didn't intend it to.  2 Samuel is the alternate OT text).

But then the word struck:  HUNGER.  What we want, what we need, and where it all leads us.  For some it leads to Jesus and God.  For others, it becomes a great abyss into which we fall. 

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus tells us "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled."  Mt5.6

The writer of 2 Samuel tells us "But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD and the LORD sent Nathan to David."  2 Sam12.1    When the prophet comes a-callin' at your door, be prepared to repent.

That's what we are talking about Sunday, but it certainly is a good topic for conversation all week.

Sex and the Sinner, part 2

Penn State removed the statue of Joe Paterno from the entrance to their football stadium.  They pried the brass plaques off the wall which listed his winning seasons. 

The one often referred to as "Joe Pa" proved to be a flawed individual who was anything but a responsible Pa to the young men being abused in the Penn State locker room.

His was a sin of omission; a failure to do what needed to be done.  It was a failure to protect the powerless, and for a person of faith, a failure to live an ethical life.

Both the university and the NCAA took away from Joe Paterno, now deceased, that which he apparently valued more than the lives of those young men: his record as a football coach, and with it his place in history and his reputation.  Of course his family is devastated; they will be carrying the shame he has avoided. 

In the story of David and Bathsheba, the child born of David's power grab of Uriah's wife, was struck ill and died.  At least that young man was spared the humiliation of forever being known as 'the one' - the living example of David's sinfulness.  His life was cut short but he was spared the shame that would have been his. 

David repents wholeheartedly, apparently.  But the damage was done.  A life was taken.

The irony of having the David and Bathsheba story on the week when Penn State begins to bear the consequences of its shameful behavior is not lost on me.

Neither is the fact that lives were taken - and all for the sake of football.  Sex and the Sinner, a modern saga.

Sex and the Sinner

I have chosen the alternate Old Testament text for Sunday:  2 Samuel 11.1-15, the story of David and Bathsheba.

For those who aren't familiar with this lurid tale (one of several equally lurid tales in the Old Testament), King David catches a glimpse of his neighbor's wife bathing in the courtyard of her house, sends for her, lays with her, causes her to get pregnant, and eventually has her husband killed in order to hide his infamy.

See?  You don't have to buy the National Enquirer to get this stuff.  It's right here, and it's a story about the most honored of Israel's kings.  In fact, YHWH promises that an offspring of David will always sit on the throne.  [You can see where the title Son of David is important when applied to Jesus.]  Throughout the Bible, we watch God using flawed, sinful individuals to bring about God's will.

In this story, we have the perfect storm of lust and power; not unusal then nor is it unusual now.  Wrong then; wrong now.  It is ironic, however, that this lesson coincides with the announcement of the NCAA penalties against Penn State and the removal of the Joe Paterno statue from the front of the college stadium. 

There are many ways to talk about this story.  Here is the first.  Sin lies deep within the heart of every single one of us (and some of us, it is not so deeply seated).  Power / prestige often functions as the accelerator to sinful behavior.  I am speculating when I say that King David was so full of himself he had little space to consider the other.  He chose to respond to the announcement of an imminent birth of a child with the order for the imminent death of the husband. 

Never found yourself in that position?  Really?  Never thought you were in the right and you had the power to make the other person agree with you?  Your child?  Your spouse?  At work?  At the check-out?  Desire and power, a volatile combination.

Led astray

Ever been led astray....by clever advertising or outright lies?  By pie in the sky promises or fast talking con men/women (which includes fast talking teenagers!)?

Ever been led astray because of your own desires, insecurities, dreams, hopes?

Ever been led astray by professional religious types who seem to be promising to have all the answers....if you'll only do this.....and you find they have no answers at all?  You discover that people you love still die, tragedies still happen, evil does strike out, and prayers are occasionally answered with a 'no.'

Living a life of faith is not the same as walking along a garden path.  Faith is trust, not answers.  Faith is hope, not control.  And ultimately, our faith is in Jesus, who himself went to the cross.  Anything or anyone who dilutes the power of that message with the suggestion that we are in control and must add our own little part to Christ's eternal gift..............is leading you astray.

Jeremiah has a word to those people.  Jesus does as well.  It's not pretty.
You can't go wrong trusting in the one who gave it all for the sake of others: Jesus.  AMEN

Prophet's work: speaking truth to power

A prophet's job is to speak the truth to those who are in power.  All is well when the truth you are speaking coincides with the interests of those in power.  When the truth you hold confronts the practices and attitudes of those in power, then you better duck.

No one wants to hear that their behavior is inappropriate, arrogant, greedy, nasty, oppressive.  No one.  You didn't like it when your mother told you to 'straighten up' nor when a teacher called you on some behavior.  Consider our tendency as teens to 'mouth off' (however you might define that) and the sting of being called on our disrespect.

So we are all familiar with the emotional experience of being called out by another.  Therefore when we look at a story where a prophet challenges a king because the king is acting poorly, we can understand how the king might feel.

But few of us have ever had the power to silence the speaker - destroying both message and messenger.  For most of us the closest we come to that experience of power is in our relationships with our children.  With only a little imagination we can take the role of the mis-behaving king while our children speak the uncomfortable truth to us.  Not all of us have reacted kindly.

That is what makes the prophet's calling so dangerous.  A prophet (that is, one who speaks the mind of God) is only called in when there is bad news to report - bad news that will leave folks feeling shamed, angry, embarrassed.  And who knows what the king will do next?

This Sunday we have the prophet Amos going head to head with King Jeroboam and his chief counsel, Amaziah, and John the Baptist at the mercy of King Herod.  Only Amos gets out of these encounters with his head still in tack. 

BTW, we who follow Jesus are called to speak God's truth as well - especially for the sake of the oppressed, specifically to those in power.  For Jesus, this led to a cross.  Where will it lead us?