With Good Courage

 11-15-20 

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

There is probably only one thing as challenging as having a tough text to preach on as your first sermon – having a tough text to preach on for the last one.

Way back at the beginning of Matthew, Jesus gives his inaugural address, which we also call “The sermon on the mount.” I don’t know if you all remember, when I started here at Family of God, we had just entered into the year of Matthew, with all those “fun” – meaning hard – texts from this Sermon on the Mount, about being salt and light, about murder and divorce, and turning the other cheek – getting into the deep end of our faith which is hard enough when you are jumping into a brand new pool.

Fast forward to the end of Jesus’ ministry – this parable comes days before the Last Supper and the crucifixion - and Jesus’s tone has changed a bit.  He might sound a little on edge here because Jesus knows where he’s headed – in just a few more chapters, Jesus will be leaving them. Jesus felt a strong sense of urgency, knowing he was running out of time.

This story we just heard comes directly on the heels of last week’s tale of the kingdom of heaven being like 10 bridesmaids waiting in the dark for the groom to arrive for the wedding reception with oil lamps. This too is another story that both makes us uncomfortable, but perhaps also confuses us by referencing things we don’t encounter in our everyday lives –  things like slaves and slave owners, and gigantic coins called Talents that were worth about 15-20 years’ salary at minimum wage – so… a good chunk of money.  

But there are plenty of things about this parable that ARE familiar – absentee landlords or managers, the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, unfair division of resources, the fear of being at the whims of those in power, and the misery of being alone in the outer darkness.

In a year where many of us feel like we have nothing left to give, and even what little security we do have feels on the brink of being taken away, I believe that God is less like the absentee master than thousands of years of theologians may want us to think. THIS year… THIS parable makes me wonder… perhaps God is actually present with slave in the outer darkness. After all, not long after Jesus told this parable, he was cast out, rejected by those who held power, had everything taken away from him, nailed to a cross, and mourned by the faithful women who never left his side. The third slave made an impossible and controversial choice, a choice that we still don’t fully understand. This year espe3cially it feels as though there is no right choices, and at any moment we may face the “outer darkness,” if we are not already there.

We do know one thing - Jesus had the courage to make the hard choices, trusting that God is in control of the outcome. Therefore, as we navigate the challenging future we have before us, we know that we are doing the best we can, and God is with us no matter what.

A favorite prayer I have prayed often, which is found in our hymnal, is known as “The Servant’s Prayer." It goes: “O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Hopefully we do travel the journey of this life “with good courage” knowing that the hand of God is leading the way, and the love of God keeps us going, like an ever present companion. The path twists and turns, it goes through scary and beautiful places. But no matter where it may take us, we are going to be ok.

I have been taking down the wall art I’d hung up to get ready for moving to the next venture that God has called me to. One is a picture that hung in my office, a gift from another goodbye, of baby Moses in his basket of reeds, rescued by the princess of Egypt. Another is a cross made out of broken ceramics put together with wise women, as we embraced our brokenness together and made something new and beautiful out of the broken pieces.

Another is a quote from C. S. Lewis, painted on wood reclaimed from the scrap pile, which says, “Courage, dear heart.” It’s a quote from one of the Narnia books, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The crew of the ship “The Dawn Treader” are lost in a magical cloud of darkness, and all despair of ever finding the way out. Then a white albatross flies overhead, whispers a message of hope – “Courage dear heart, and then flies away, leads the way out.

Take courage, dear heart, on all the paths the God takes you. Courage, dear heart, when you are tempted to bury your wonderful gifts of generosity and kindness. Courage, dear heart, as we all go forth into these ventures with unknown endings, knowing that God holds us. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Lit for Jesus

 11-8-20

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and our lord and savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, amen.

No one likes waiting. But we certainly did a lot of it this week – waiting in lines, waiting for news, waiting for colors on a map. Emotions were – and are – high. Some of us spent this week stress-eating or binging on Netflix shows. While I waited with everyone else, I read book called “Embodied: Clergy Women and the Solidarity of a Mothering God” written by an ELCA clergy mom. She had no idea that anyone would be reading her book during such a waiting moment when I read some of her wise advice: “Conventional wisdom invites us to count silently to ten before responding in emotionally fraught scenarios.” Perhaps waiting can be an opportunity for growth and self-examination, no matter how uncomfortable is feels.

Both wise and foolish bridesmaids were waiting ….waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom and the coming wedding celebration. Both wise and foolish bridesmaids fell asleep, since the bridegroom was taking SO LONG.

I wonder if the “wise” bridesmaids had been in this position before. Perhaps this was familiar to them, and they knew what to expect. They might have known that the night might be long, they might have known what it’s like to run out of oil. Perhaps they had been foolish bridesmaids in the past, and this time were ready for the long dark night ahead.

But shouldn’t this elicit some compassion toward the foolish bridesmaids on the part of the wise? Maybe not, given that the foolish bridesmaids demanded – “GIVE US some of your oil!”

The foolish bridesmaids are foolish not just because they didn’t come ready for a long night, but also because they DEMANDED that their more prepared sisters cough up some of their hard-earned and hard -won wisdom, I mean, oil. The foolish wanted a quick fix, and easy solution, with no work or suffering or accountability on their part.

The foolish bridesmaids were foolish because they didn’t stay in the dark. They didn’t trust the light of the other bridesmaids to carry them all through the night. They didn’t acknowledge their lack and ask for grace, but instead gave up, seeking a fast cure rather than trust in the other’s light, and in the love of the approaching bridegroom.

It’s been a tough week as well, tougher than most… and that’s saying something for 2020, after more than eight months of a pandemic. Today you might feel like ready and prepared to face whatever is next. Or you might feel foolish and unprepared, like your lamp is flickering and about to go out, and you too are panicking and wondering, why won’t Jesus just come and rescue us already????

We’re in the “in-between time,” waiting in a twilight world between two dawns. The world as we knew it is over, but we don’t quite know what the new world will be like.

Listen to the wise bridesmaids. We are not giving up. We won’t be distracted. We are not searching for a quick fix. We are in this for the long haul, folks, and we are in this TOGETHER. The going might be tough. The way might be hard to see. Our lamps might threaten to go out on us. And Jesus might take his sweet time showing up.

However. It seems that the kingdom of God is not a group project. If another “so called” member of the body of Christ demands your oil just because they couldn’t be bothered to do the work themselves… do not share. You have these words from Jesus himself – never ever bring half of your blazing, amazing self to the party.

Likewise, if you have not done the work… if you are not actually ready to show up for our siblings in Christ who are on fire doing God’s work of justice right now… DO NOT DEMAND FOR THEIR OIL. Do not challenge or argue the basic, human, God-given rights of others, when your rights have never been challenged, argued, or called into question. When we demand that are siblings show up as half of themselves for our comfort, we are no better than the foolish bridesmaids, shut out of the party.

To make it through this waiting time in one piece, together, as the body of Christ, we’re going to need all-hands-on-deck, and honor every single gift that God has given us. And that might mean, rather than diminishing others for our own needs and desires, to instead embrace basking in the blazing, beautiful light of others as they lead the way into God’s amazing party for all.

We’re still sitting in the night, but we can see and trust that the dawn is coming. Our siblings in Christ are lighting the way – Our black, native, latine, trans, immigrant, queer, women, no-binary members of our family. They are lit with the flames of justice, and our job is to let them show us the way to the fulfillment of God’s kingdom here on earth. A party where we are ALL invited. Thanks be to God, amen.

Sinners and Saints of God's Redeeming

 All Saints Sermon 11-1-20

Grace to you and peace from God the creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

How many of you remember when you were baptized? If you were a baby, and DON’T remember, let me remind you what happened that day. In the service of baptism, we are publicly acknowledging the fact God loves you and has chosen you to be his beloved child. If you were a baby, your parents promised to raise you so that you could live into this reality, both with their help and with God’s help. You would be welcomed into the company of God’s saints.

The truth is, we’re still going to mess up. Being a saint, a beloved child of God, does not mean that we are going to be perfect and nice all the time. That is not the Lutheran understanding of a saint – we don’t believe you have to be extra holy or perform miracles to qualify. We ALL are saints.

But… We’re still going to get frustrated at our kids or grandkids. we’re still going to want yell at people in traffic or for not wearing a mask. We’re still going to screw up our relationships and spend our money on things we don’t need and make judgments about people who are different from us.

But this is why Jesus didn’t just skip ahead to the cross to get to the “dying and rising for us part,” though that part is SUPER important, of course. Jesus knows that we need help, he knew we can’t do it alone. That’s why he walked around for three years saying stuff like “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Stuff that really is pretty obvious, but is actually really hard to do.

Martin Luther was on to something when he described our both-at-the-same-time realities like this – we are both 100% sinner and 100% saint, at the very same time. A few years ago at a conference in Philly I attended, one of the presenters greeted us this way… “Good morning saints…” (meager response) “Good morning sinners.” (robust response). Yes, and it went EXACTLY like that!!

THESE are the saints –those who don’t have it all together, those who carry heavy burdens with no one to help them, those who do good deeds behind the scenes with no notice, those who are lonely and ignored, those who humble themselves and serve others. Jesus calls THESE people saints. And I am sure that we can all find ourselves somewhere on this list.

God loves you. And God chose you as a beloved child of God. A sinner yes. But also, a saint.

At the end of every funeral service, we hear these words: “Into your hands, merciful God, we commend your servant. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive them into the arms of your mercy…. And into the glorious company of the saints in light.”

We lost many of our beloved saints this year, members of our community who we loved and valued. Where each and every one of them prefect in every single way? Certainly not. Were they still God’s saints? Absolutely yet. And Someday, we will too will join the saints who have gone before us, and rest in the arms of God’s mercy as we are laid to rest in the presence of our loved once. Today we remember them, and today we remember that promise. We are sinners redeemed by God, and saints of God’s own flock. Thanks be to God, amen.