Rise Up Together 2015

443 feet of hair
607 pints of blood
1 million diapers
1425 backpacks with school supplies
3200 vacant lots
319 homes boarded up
1847 murals painted
36 gradens planted
99 picnic tables constructed
26 dumpsters fille
600 neighborhoods impacted



That's Detroit by the numbers.  30,000 youth and adults.  2000 volunteers.

From Luther Memorial?  5 girls 2 boys and 1 pastor who had to work to keep up.

This is God at work through the work of our hands.  Never underestimate the power of Holy Spirit and the resurrection power of the Creator of the Universe.

The city of opportunity

Detroit was the city of opportunity for thousands of Americans, those fleeing failing farms in the south and African Americans seeking a chance up north.  Thousands of immigrants arrived in that city, filling the factory jobs that manufactured our automobiles.  Detroit was the land of opportunity where someone with a high school diploma could earn good money and raise a family well.

That is no longer the story.  The collapse of the American automobile industry - initially from foreign competition and now re-configured for production took a terrible toll on this once proud city.  Foreclosures devastated whole neighborhoods.  Gangs began to gain power.  Poverty began to take its toll.  Then the city declared bankruptcy.  It was a long decline with little light at the end of the tunnel.

Yet, we have watched as they have struggled to pick themselves up.  The automobile industry is finding new profitability and Detroit made cars are back.......just ask Clint Eastwood.  There are many who continue to suffer the impact of poverty and lack of employment, but they are beginning to see signs of spring again.

30,000 youth and plus adults were a  part of this resurrection, by our presence, by our infusion into the economy, by our work within the community.  Together with lical residents we were reminded that God is present and at work among us all.  We were reminded that God has good and important work for all of us to do.

The city and the people of Detroit, unbeknownest to them, were agents of the Spirit transforming us this past week.  I think the Spirit has an opportunity for transformation waiting for you as  well.

30,000 youth and the Cross of Christ

It's a lot of work to get them there.  It looks like a lot of fun to be had.  But it is also intended to be a four day intereaction with the Good News of Jesus as told to us in the Gospel of Mark.  And all Mark wants to talk about is the Cross.

From the very beginning, Mark drives us forward to the cross.  Conspiracy against Jesus begins as early as the 3rd chapter.  By chapter 6, John the Baptist is beheaded, giving us a fairly accurate foreshadowing of the end of Jesus' life.  Mark is on the road, pressing us ever forward in the story towards the Calvery conclusion.  In 16 short chapters, Mark brings us from beginning to resurrection.

The disciples in the gospel of Mark are clueless.  My favorite description of them comes from Dr. Richard Carlson who calls them the duh-ciples.  But who could have understood the radical nature of this Kingdom of God - a kingdom which is built not on power but on love and forgiveness?  Who could imagine that sacrifice was the entry and that all would be invited?  Who could have imagined that Jesus would raise from the dead?

This was the foundation of our time together in Detroit.  Speakers shared their stories and we were reminded of all the places where the kingdom of God is not evident and work needs to be done:  food insecurity, homelessness, poverty, gender identity, the Middle East, violence in our cities.   We had 100 + opportunities to talk and try and learn and tell about Jesus in our lives.  We stepedp out into the community and gave up a little (a lot actually) sweat for the sake of those whom this world often forgets.

Pick up your Bible and read Mark from beginning to end.  Won't take you much more than 40 minutes.  Encounter the story in one sitting and feel the power of Jesus' radically different leadership one more time.  Discover stories you had forgotten and allow yourself to be transformed by this telling of the Good News.

This will frame our conversation about these 4 days in Detroit.  Together we can continue to listen to Jesus' call for justice and learn in a deeper way what the way of the cross means.  It was fun, but it was so much more.

and this one was juuuuuust right!

"I had been feeling out-of-place, and suddenly I was in the Right Place, you know?"

I don't remember where I read this, but it rang so true for me.  There is this scene in the movie Sister Act where a young postulant at the convent confesses to Whoopi Goldberg (lounge singer disguised as a nun) that most times she feels like she is 3 seconds behind everyone else, trying to grasp what they see and understand.  Sister Whoopi assures her, "Honey we are all playing catch up."

I often feel that way.  Just a little out of sync.  Just a little behind.  Just a bit distracted or confused or ignorant.  Just a bit 'out-of-place.'  I will admit that I don't think I'm the only one.  I believe that this a fairly common phenomena as each individual finds her way in a larger group, whether it's friends at school or professional colleagues or a group of neighbors.  We are all trying to work out how to be a part of something larger than ourselves.

Usually this involves adjusting and improving ourselves - a process which is grounded in the thought that we do not have it all together, that there are things wrong with each of us, that others know the right way and we are playing catch up.  It is more than self esteem, it is a feeling that you need to improve in order to...fit it?  be loved?  be accepted?

....which is where the good news of Jesus Christ  comes in.  Under girding all the fancy theology is this simple statement:  You are a beloved child of God.  Not a perfect child of God; not the best child of God.  No, I am a beloved child of God.   The love comes from the Great Lover of the Universe and is not dependent on me:  my height, my intelligence, my atheletic ability, my grades in school, my title at work, the amount of money I have in the bank or even....the most miserable thing I did last.  I am loved because God is the Great Lover.

And suddenly, I am in the Right Place.  I am drawn into a life of love.  I have so much more to offer than I could ever have imagined.  I desire to be a wondrous reflection of that love.  The more I remind myself of this love that claims me, the more I am transformed into a more radiant version of myself.

Isn't this the greatest gift you've ever received?  It is so counter to everything of this world that I have to be reminded again and again.  When I am listening closely to Jesus' words of invitation I want to be transformed into ever greater versions of the person God sees and loves.

Don't you know someone who could use to hear this good news?  Isn't it time to share your story with them?  Isn't it time to invite them to Come and See this wondrous lover of the world?

intersecting with the holy

That's what happens.  You intersect with the holy.  In that bread.  In that wine.  In that water.

It happens other places as well.  There is a story about Mary, a good friend of Jesus, in the gospel of John.  Jesus had just called her brother Lazarus out of the tomb.  Jesus was about to enter the city of Jerusalem where death awaited him.

But for Mary this was a moment to show her love, act out her devotion, express her sorrow before she even knew for what she was grieving.  Having spent an outrageous amount on a costly ointment, she anoints Jesus' feet.  In that tiny house, with lots of folks gathered, with the heat of the day, the fragrance filled the room.  It was the fragrance of love poured out for the Holy One.  It was her gift of anointing before his trial began.

I believe it was a holy moment, a moment we could call 'sacrament.'  Mary knew that this Jesus was deeply connected to the Holy One YHWH.  She knew he was different from all the others who spoke of God.  She reached out and offered a gift of beauty and sacrifice and love.  I wonder if Jesus could still catch the scent of that gift of love while he was hanging on that cross.  The scent of love poured out just as he was being poured out.

We experience these holy moments if we are watchful and sensitive to God's movement among us.  These are moments that transcend time, that transport us to a plane of meaning and life that exceeds all the ordinary.  They cause us to pause, to catch our breath, perhaps to break out in a smile, or even to shed some tears.  We know that we have witnessed, even been invited into, perhaps even tasted the presence of the Holy in our midst.

This is the place we seek.  This is the One we seek.  The Holy One fills us and yet there is always room for more.

So we stand before the judgment of God, we confess our brokenness, we seek forgiveness and then, breathing again the deep joy of life in God's presence we turn to these places where the holy and the ordinary intersect.

Sacrament:  may our lives become sacrament, a place where the holiness of God intersects with the ebb and flow of life.  Amen.

Amazing grace

...How sweet the sound

Which saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now am found
Was blind but now I see."

"According to the Christian tradition, grace is not earned. Grace is not merited. It’s not something we deserve. Rather, grace is the free and benevolent favor of God --  as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. Grace."  These were the words of our President Barack Obama in his eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pickney of Charlotte, SC.  

Grace is forgiveness and kindness.  Grace is compassion and courage.  Grace is justice and fortitude.  It is all these things and more.  It is about good will and the desire for life for others.  It is about what can be rather than past injustice.  It is solace and truth telling simultaneously.

Grace simply is.  It is without merit.  It is without desire.  It is without labor.  It simply is, just as God simply is.

We rarely experience pure grace because grace is so rare.  We catch glimpses.  We receive snippets.  We taste it through acts of forgiveness and live in it when we forgive others.

I think that God's desire for all of creation that we breathe in grace and thus live in grace.  That is what authentic life looks like; that's the life that awaits us with Jesus.

But for now, breathe and give thanks.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2015/06/27/3813877/full-transcript-of-president-obamas.html#storylink=cpy

Forgiveness: like water rushing.......

If you were to tell me what forgiveness tastes like, what would you say?  A perfectly ripe strawberry still warm from the sun?

If I asked what forgiveness felt like, what would you say?  The rushing of cool water over my muscles tired at the end of a hard day's work?

If I asked what forgiveness looked like, what would you say?  A sunset so exquisite that peace descends and the day is put to rest?

Forgiveness is the breath of new life in a place that has, even momentarily, tasted the bitterness of dying.  Forgiveness is the experience of running free across fields in the sunshine after months and months in a hospital room.  Forgiveness is the laughter of joy which pours forth in relief after the crushing weight of responsibility or guilt.

When Nicodemus comes to visit Jesus in the night, he is told that in order to see the kingdom of God he must be born again.....or from above depending on your choice as a translator.  Nicodemus asks the most logical of questions, How can a man who has grown old be born again?  Must he enter agin his mother's womb?

We may laugh at the questions, but Nicodemus hits the nail on the head.  If you are going to be born again, you must go back to the beginning, to the source of your life and start all over.  If you are to see the kingdom of God you will need to go back to the source - to the Creator alone - with a slate wiped clean, that is, with forgiveness written on your forehead and in your heart.

It is the forgiveness that pushes the start button one more time.  It is forgiveness that sends you out into the world for another go round, another opportunity to be about God's mission in the world. It is forgiveness that puts breath in your lungs and strength in your limbs and opens your eyes and ears to the Spirit moving among us.  It is forgiveness that makes the blind see and the lame walk.

So.  Forgiveness is not a throw away line with little consequence.  It is a game changer, a life giver and a commitment by both the one forgiving and the one forgiven to begin again from the beginning.

Forgiveness has no substance, no taste or color without first walking through judgment and confession.  Unless there is the taste of death, we do not recognize the taste of life.

Forgiveness is life and therefore a way of living.  It is not something you put in a drawer or a scrapbook, it is something that changes the way you breathe and move and have your being.

It really, truly is a big deal.

Father, I have sinned.........

If you have watched enough movies, you are familiar with this opening.  "Forgive me Father for I have sinned, and its been ....too long....since my last confession"   It is a good way to start talking about the brokenness of your own life with someone who will help you bring that truth before God.  You and a priest, privately yet face to face.

Lutherans of the modern age have not generally participated in individual confession.  We are a Corporate Confession kind of denomination and many of us know one or two standard forms of confession by heart.

Most merciful Father, we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.  We have sinned against you in thought, word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone..............

Although our Lutheran confession covers all the necessary bases, it is broad and general, and you and I know we sin in the narrow and specific.  We are nasty to that person.  We avoided this person because of her skin color.  We don't like that someone because of their beliefs.  Not just anyone.  Some one.  With a name.  With feelings.  And we acted without love.

There are sometimes when I think we need to be a lot more specific about what we are doing out there in God's world.  I think we need to recognize the ways we have short changed God's gift of love and forgiveness.  I think we need to name it and claim it.  Once you have felt the weight of God's judgment, confession is the place where you and God begin to talk about what is going on.

Why?  because it prepares us to receive, once again, the amazing gift of forgiveness in the person of Jesus Christ, especially as present in Holy Communion.  It defines, once again, our relationship with God and our need for God's love in Jesus.  When we name it and claim it, we are only acknowledging to ourselves the truth that God already knows and it becomes the starting point for true healing and growth.

We enter a worship service dragging along all kinds of baggage.  We bring our wounded places, our burdens, our losses.  We also bring the truth of how we've fallen and failed and, no matter how hard we have tried, just didn't pull it off.  We drag it all in.  Then in confession we begin the process of re-aligning; we prepare ourselves to hear the Good News of God's love for us in Jesus.  We prepare to receive the gift of forgiveness.

But before the forgiveness, the confession.  I am the person who did this.  I am the kind of person who did that.  There is no hiding....not from ourselves, not from God.  Confession is the necessary link between the gift of judgment and the new life found in forgiveness.

Don't shortchange yourself.  Be real with yourself and with God.  Give the Holy Spirit one more chance to work in your life.  Confession is really and truly good for the soul.