Saint and Sinner, Ash and Starlight

10 -27 – 19 – Reformation Sunday 

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by the Power of the Holy spirit, amen.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that it feels like nearly everyone I know is writing a book… It turns out that the upside is invitations to participate in a LOT of book launch teams – which usually means getting to read advance e-book copies! One such book was the launched “Holy Disunity” by Presbyterian Pastor Layton Williams, which I highly recommend, partly because I’m convinced that she’s a Lutheran in secret.

In her book, Pastor Williams shares a Jewish teaching called “the two pockets.” Imagine you have 2 pockets, each with a slip of paper in it. One paper says, “I am but dust and ashes.” The other one says, “for my sake, the universe was created.” Williams reflects, we “live somewhere in the midst of being both dust and ash, and once for whom the universe was created,” (56)  This reminded me very much of Luther’s theology of “Simul Eustice Et Peccator” – I am simultaneously saint and sinner… both at the same time. I am both a beloved child of God and a broken imperfect person in need of being forgiven.

In each chapter of Williams’ book, she explores this “Simul” of how such unlikely gifts as Difference, Tension, Doubt, and Uncertainty separate us, how these gifts show up in the Bible, and finally how each of these gifts can ultimately save us and lead us to a more true unity.

This Reformation, we are going to take a page out of the book of this Presbyterian, and add our own chapter, which we will call: “The Gift of Reformation” – How reformations separates us, where reforming shows up in the Bible, specifically in the readings we hear every Reformation Sunday, and how reformation can save – or free us – for unity in Jesus’ name.

How can something that we as Lutherans hold so dear – The protestant Reformation – also be something that separates us? The truth is, the legacy of Martin Luther and the Reformation is complicated. The same can be true of our Lutheran heritage – something that we can cling to and frees us, but also is filled with evil acts we would rather forget about.

 When Martin Luther set out to nail his 95 theses to that church door in Wittenberg five hundred and two years ago, “The protestant reformation” was not his end goal. He did not want to separate from the Catholic Church, but instead reform from within. But nothing ever really goes according to our plans … especially if other people are involved… and especially when the plans involve change and giving up power. The long-term fallout on Luther’s actions (and some of his more controversial writings against Jewish people and minorities) caused centuries-long religious wars, and it has been argued, the rise of Hitler and the Nazi regime. 

And spoiler alert – church splits didn’t start OR stop with the Reformation. Five hundred years BEFORE Martin Luther, the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox church split. And after Luther, we split separated further into the denominations we are more familiar with today – Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Baptists, etc. And even Lutherans separate all the time – even AFTER the merger of the ELCA happened, other groups have split of and become their own entities for one reason or another. And the ELCA itself is far from unified.

He may not have known what was to come, but Martin Luther felt he was following in a very long tradition of reforming our faith that comes from the Bible itself… all the way back to the Old Testament. The audience that heard the words of the Prophet Jeremiah were in desperate need of a word of renewal, hope, and reformation. The people of Israel at that time were in exile, scattered, and had suffered so much loss and were facing so much uncertainty. The royal line of King David was broken, their temple in Jerusalem was broken, and their covenant with God had been broken. Just as they wondered if God would abandon them, comes the word from Jeremiah – a new covenant was coming, one written not on dead stones that can be broken, but on their hearts – dynamic and beating with life.

As Lutheran Christians, we see the embodiment of this new covenant in Jesus, and in this particular instance, remember that Jesus is talking to Jewish people who already believed in him! They were not conveniently forgetting the centuries of suffering under the rule of foreign powers. Every year at the Passover they retold and remembered the story of going from slavery in Egypt to freedom. Their declaration to Jesus is an act of defiance that says, even though we have been under the yoke of others, we are only beholden to God. Then Jesus challenges them to take that same defiance and apply it to their own lives – to the sin and brokenness of the human condition that challenges all of us. Jesus teaches that we are beloved children of God, but broken people of dust and ash, ruled by our fearful and sinful natures… and there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s love…. A daring, reforming idea that got him into a lot of trouble, and led to his crucifixion.

In Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul is seeking to clarify and interpret the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and what they mean for us – in reforming previous ideas about what “makes us right with God.” Paul reminds us that it’s not about what we do. It’s about what JESUS did.  Jesus died for the sake of the world, to stand in defiance of those who would hoard God’s love for themselves, to redeem his beloved children of ash and starlight… so that sin and death do not have the last word – resurrection does. New life DOES. Jesus DOES.

And thousands of years after, Martin Luther took these ideas and ran with them. Luther loved the book of Romans, and this passage specifically helped to change the course of his life. From the life and writings of one person in Germany, to us here today, in twenty-first century Pennsylvania. And it’s not just us, bearing Luther’s legacy in a Lutheran church in North America… this reforming work of the church in ongoing and spreading – as I saw so well when I went to Namibia and met Lutherans from all over the world – Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Canada, and Guyana…. sometimes even gathered as one over coffee, the third Lutheran Sacraments.

The road that has gotten us there is fraught, but and we are still far from unified in being “of one mind in Christ Jesus” as Paul wrote in another letter. But we are getting there. If one amazing Presbyterian pastor weren’t enough… In the words of another Presbyterian, who wrote a beautiful book of prayers called “Ash and Starlight,” she writes “… freedom sometimes comes in one, glorious breakthrough … More often, freedom comes through a muddy trail run …weaving and winding, not always moving forward….” . Just as we go in search of this freedom, [Jesus says]“You are already free. Now live into that truth.” (49-50).

The gift of the reformation is that it’s not over. Jesus is still freeing us from sin, death, and brokenness of life that holds us captive. Jesus is still sending us out into the world to serve our neighbor who are in need … especially those who are different or with whom we disagree. Jesus is still setting us free from our fear. Jesus is still leading us to constantly be re-making ourselves … even if that means sometimes separating for a time. Sometimes Jesus is still peaking, even if it’s through someone who is not Lutheran. The church is still reforming, and we are still figuring out what this freedom means for us. And sometimes Jesus is every using us saints and sinners to do God’s freeing work.

We have already been made free by Jesus, and there is nothing we can do to earn it – that is the revelation that Martin Luther had all those hundreds of years ago. And that nothing will stand in the way to access the love of God. Just as Jesus was a living person, with a body made of ash and starlight, just like ours, arriving as a baby in a manger show us God’s love in the flesh … our faith is alive, still being made new in every moment, as we are made new people every single day, without fail.

Not death, not sin, not powers or principalities of this world, not our own fear and limitations, can stand it the way. Not even WE can stand in the way of this reforming work begun in Jesus… Which we do all the time. It’s that whole “same time sinner and saint” thing. Despite our urge to fight and divide, Jesus is still forging the way to freedom…. For all. And we’re invited along for the ride. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Everyone Got Confirmed Today

6-9-19 Pentecost/ Confirmation

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.

A few years ago, one of my cousins told me that her daughter, Dana (named changed to protect the innocent), would be starting Confirmation class that fall. I of course shared with Dana herself how excited I was for her… to which Dana kind of looked confused and said, “what is the big deal about Confirmation, anyway?”

Well… boy was she ever talking to the right person to answer that question! She obviously completely forgotten that I was a pastor and was likely not prepared for the rather in-depth answer that I ended up giving her. Poor girl. She give over it though, tolerably well.

So, what IS the big deal about confirmation? And why is it happening today, on Pentecost? Well, almost 10 months ago, we embarked on this experiential and experiential fast-track confirmation adventure, and so here we are, at the culmination – not graduation- of this journey together.

We celebrate Pentecost because it ushers in a new phase and a new direction in the Jesus movement. Much like the rites of baptism and confirmation also signal new beginnings. At Pentecost, the followers of Jesus were given the gift of the Holy Spirit, a constant presence that both comforts and challenges us in our life in Christ. When a person is baptized, that person is forever marked by God’s claim on them as beloved children. At Confirmation, or more correctly known as “Affirmation of Baptism,” the baptized person claims and affirms this faith as their own, like a page break between sections of a book– ending one chapter and beginning another, like any good coming of age story.

I once did a baptism and a confirmation in one worship service, and it was quite an experience… because we were able to see within the span of the same hour, both of these markers of faith, of where our faith live begins, and where our faith can really take off and become our own. It also made the service a little on the long side, but it was totally worth it.

We didn’t get quite the same kind of turn around, but just a few weeks ago we got to participate in the baptism of Stephen and Dawn, and now we are here to witness and support Kyle Campbell’s confirmation. In both of these blessed occasions, it has truly been a group effort on our parts, especially and visibly so for Kyle – we have all participated in his confirmation year, whether it was attending the Eat Pray Learn dinners to explore the Bible, writing your own faith statement to go along with his in the bulletin, taking the Big Conformation Test, or writing your own sermon notes.

As we all know VERY WELL, it’s not just parents who make promises at baptism. We all make promises to every child that is baptized in our font. Remember that part where the pastor says, “Do you promise to support this child and pray for them in their new life in Christ?” we all say, “We do, and we ask God to help us”?

And we make that promise to every child that enters our doors on Sunday morning, regardless of where they have been baptized. It’s been said by some that our youth are “the future of the church.” In reality, they are the church NOW, part of the body of Christ NOW and participating in the mission that we all share NOW. And sometimes we will spectacularly fail in how we try to support and engage our young people, but the important things is that we keep trying and don’t give up. And occasionally, it turns out really, really well.  And I think that this is one of those times.

There are no grades in Confirmation, but if there were, I would give all of you a big A!! WELL DONE, everyone! I kind of feel like we should ALL get confirmed today. But we would run out of robes and corsages, probably.

Fortunately for those of us who are not Kyle, we all can affirm our baptisms every moment of our lives. Just as we can remember our own baptisms every day, we can choose to affirm our baptisms whenever we are able. Not necessarily with confirmation robe and cake, but in our daily interactions and the ordinary tasks we do. And by telling the story of why we continue to drag ourselves out the door every week for worship, long after we’ve been confirmed ourselves.

When we were baptized, we were welcomed into a community of believers who seek to follow the “follow the example of Jesus.” A community that was fully born, commissioned, and sent out when the Holy Spirit alighted on that small group in that shut away room in Acts 2. A community that continued to this day, in this time and in this place. The Holy Spirit showed up that day and has not stopped moving since.

After all, Pentecost is probably the most underrated of Christian Holy Days. Sure, Jesus would not have arrived on the scene if not for Christmas, and Christmas it totally pointless without Easter…. But without Pentecost, Christianity would have remained a very minor Jewish group. But after Jesus ascended to the Father, along came the Holy Spirit, and got the disciples out of the room, out the door, and into the world.

You might have imagined, based on this response alone, that instead of lighting a fire on their HEADS, instead the Holy Spirit lit a fire under their behinds!! At least, by the way they were acting – so excited and animated at such an early hour, that the rest of the population of Jerusalem thought they must have been drunk. As one friend told me she was going to title her sermon today, “It’s 9 O’Clock Somewhere!”

We don’t always seem to be this animated when we are out in the world, affirming our baptisms. At least, it’s not quite to this extent, here, at somewhere around 10 in the morning, Eastern Standard Time. So, in the words of my cousin’s kid, “just what is the big deal, anyway?”  

As we learned in our series on Baptism this last winter, it’s a big deal because in our baptism we are Born anew, Affirmed, Empowered to Trust in God, who Inspires us to Serve our Neighbor and Multiply this Love. That’s kind of a big deal. That is the kind of life we are called to affirm, celebrate, and embody. Which is a pretty tall order.

As I shared in my sermon in Namibia, the response “I will and I asked God to help me,” we say when we affirm our baptisms, should be instead “I won’t, and I ask God to help me.” We won’t always be able, or willing, to do it, nor will we we always do it successfully, but that’s where the Holy Spirit comes in. With the help of God. With flames on our heads…. Or sometimes flames under our butts. And THAT is something that we can affirm. Thanks be to God, Amen.

Photobombing for Jesus

Sermon 12-17-17

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.

How many of you have taken a selfie? Haha, a few of us. Selfies can be fun -  a way to share with the world when we’re with people we care about or having a good time. But they can have a downside too… when we only share with the world our very best “SELF-ie” self. Our “best hair day” self. Our “marriage is great all the time,” self. Our “handling the diagnosis well” self. Our “I’m just fine” self. Our “I don’t need help, thank-you-very-much” self.

It’s like that perfect photo Christmas card you always get from that one family…. You all know one. Or maybe you are the ones trying to BE “that family.” In your ideal picture, your children smiling, your pets behaved, house clean, tree perfect, everyone dressed in their best and on their best behavior. What usually isn’t included on these cards are the before and after. How the kids were fighting, the cookies came out of the oven burnt, the house is a disaster, the cat had knocked over the tree. THAT doesn’t make for a very good Christmas card.

We have become very good at editing our lives to look perfect inside that Christmas card frame. It takes a lot of energy. What’s inside our perfect frame becomes our world, and we ignore or try to hide everything else. But often, something surprising can sneak into the frame.

A few years ago, I remember an interesting Christmas publicity ad sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. It’s an image of a young woman taking a selfie, but on the screen of her phone you see someone else in the picture behind her… it’s fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be Jesus, with the tagline being “It’s never just a selfie – join us this Christmas.”

Also, this is not really how selfies work!

Ok, Creepy Jesus aside… but I think this ad is TRYING to say… that Jesus is present in with you and will show up when you least expect it, even when – or ESPECIALLY when – we are still stuck focusing on ourselves. Like when we are orchestrating our lives to be a Hallmark Christmas card.

Basically, God is photobombing us. Are you familiar with that term? It’s happened to most of us - you’re on vacation, taking a picture of your family in front of a beautiful vista, and later see that the view is spoiled because in the background is some random kid making a funny face. Or when you’ve set up a nice portrait, put the camera on a timer, and your cat sticks her face right in front at the last minute.

…. Or, apparently, when Jesus unexpectedly shows up in your selfie. Or when he shows up unexpectedly in your life. Or when Jesus’ forerunner sent from God shows up unexpectedly to tell the people that God is about to do something big. That the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world… spoiling the illusion of our “perfect selfie.”

John the Baptist seems to be the kind of guy who would never take a selfie. We really don’t know much of anything about him, at least if we were to base our facts in the Gospel of John. Here there is no indication of his wardrobe choices, hair style, or eating preferences, like we heard from Mark last week. Even the Pharisees knew next to nothing about him – so they sent their people to get the scoop on this guy: Who was he? Was he the messiah? Was he the prophet? Was he Elijah? Why was he baptizing? What did he have to say for himself?

They tried to get a read on him, tried to get him to write his biography, invited him to be interviewed on Oprah, tried to get him to write a bestseller, “Your Best Baptism Now.” 

After all, he was a smash hit, and people showed up to hear him preach and be baptized in droves. Had there been a Time Magazine, they might have even put his face on the covers as “Person of the Year.”

But nothing deterred him. He stayed on message. John knew who he was – not the promised Messiah, but the voice crying out in the wilderness getting the world ready for his coming.

John came as a witness to testify to the light, to prepare the way of the Lord and make the paths straight, to make the world ready for the one coming after him. In a great devotion from an advent devotional book shared in our council meeting the other night, it was said that John “likes to use his finger”… No not that finger! haha, his pointer-finger. In most of the paintings John throughout the ages, John is pictured pointing…. away from himself, up and out beyond the frame, toward the light. And just a little later in the Gospel of John (not the same John), as the light manifests in Jesus, John the Baptist points and cries out “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”

Yes, behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Yes, behold the light that is coming into the darkness of the world, the word who became flesh and lives among us. Behold, a little baby born to an unmarried teen mom far from home and placed in a manger. Behold, one who fed the hungry and healed the sick and cared for sinners. Behold the good shepherd, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Behold, the son of God lifted up on a cross, drawing all people to himself. Behold, the empty tomb and stone rolled away. 

Behold, the Lamb of God photobombing our selfies and interrupting our lives with bright beam shining out in the hopelessness and evil of the world.

John was not the light, and we are not the light either…. but we, like John, are sent from God to be witnesses to the light, to see it, and then tell others what we see. We are created in the IMAGE of God, revealing who God is and pointing to where God IS showing up in the world. And so, we show up too, to the places where cruelty and power holds sway. We are created to be photobombers, too.  

Our lives and are actions are to be like that of Jesus – spoiling the perfect picture that the world would like you to believe, that everything is fine, we’re fine, and nothing needs to change. But God is breaking into the world, and we are called to be like John and to break the silence of oppression and injustice.

What I wore in Namibia for
"Thursdays in Black"

Sometimes this work can even take the form of actually taking selfies. From the Lutheran World Federation staff I met while I was in Namibia, I learned about “Thursdaysin Black.” It’s a global movement started in the 70s to call attention to people who live in fear of being harassed, discriminated against, assaulted, raped, or other violence. It began before selfies were a thing, with women in Argentina protesting while wearing black on Thursdays….  but now has progressed to be a worldwide social media movement with people posted selfies every Thursday, myself included, using the hashtag “Thursdays in black.”

Apparently, the entire staff of the Lutheran World Federation headquarters in Geneva participates. And while we were all together in Namibia we were encouraged to pack black clothes to wear the Thursday we were all there. And many of us did just that.

When I choose to wear black on Thursdays, and to share picture on social media, I do it to speak up. Not just for women around the world who are facing threats of sex trafficking, rape as a weapon of war, and honor killings. I do it also to speak up for women closer to home, like my friend who was sexually harassed in seminary and was never believed. I do it for my female pastor colleagues who are the recipient of inappropriate comments or contact… or worse. I do it because women still aren’t believed or taken seriously. I never imagined that women like Taylor Swift and Ashley Judd would be like modern-day versions of John the Baptist, speaking out and facing push back from people in power. And just like back then, people are taking notice.

We don’t speak out and break the silence of the status quo because it’s easy or fun. We do it because it’s what we are called to speak out like John the Baptist, and be photobombers for Jesus. And there will be resistance. People aren’t always going to be on board. John too was questioned and not believed.

But he kept at it. He knew that the light is going to shine. The darkness will be overcome. Jesus is coming, and will break into the world, to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and release to those who are imprisoned. And that good news it that they are SEEN. God sees them, and we see them too, and we stand with them, pointing with John the Baptist…

Pointing to a world where all people are seen.

Pointing to a world where we don’t have to wear black on Thursdays anymore.

Pointing to where Jesus is photobombing our world - and in our lives - and showing up.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Walking in the Light of God for the Next 500 Years

Reformation 10-29-17

(Video of my sermon here, sorry for the terrible angle)

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

Did you all know that the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation is this year? Haha, of course you did. And actually, this is exactly what we are celebrating today – that five hundred years ago on October 31^st, 1517, a monk and professor at Wittenberg University nailed a sheet of paper to the church door and the world would never be the same. What was on the piece of paper, you ask, that was so radical that we still are feeling the ripples down through the ages to this day? It was 95 thoughts on the practice of the time of selling something called Indulgences. Hmm… sounds pretty boring and irrelevant to our lives right now, 500 years later… or it is?

Now, bear with me for just a little bit before our eyes roll back into our heads from Church History Bored. The church at the time of Luther created an elaborate system of forgiveness. You sinned, you went to confession, then you could take communion and be forgiven. But Luther noticed a big shift when indulgences came along. Fewer and fewer people were interested in confession and seeking ACTUAL repentance. Instead, they bought indulgences, a piece of paper that forgave you. Imagine, or just a few coins, you had a “permission slip for any sin” - past, present, future… for yourself or any of your loved one.

If the 1500s had commercials, Luther might have seen one like this – Having problems shopping for a perfect Christmas gift for “hard to shop for family members”? Look no further! Introducing “Indulgences!” Forgiveness of any sin, any time! No expiration dates! No strings attached! Transferable AND portable! The perfect medieval stocking stuffer – yours for only a few of your hard-earned coins!

This sounds completely ridiculous, because it is. Ridiculous, and exploitative, since it not only played on people’s fears about hell, but the money was also for an extravagant papal building project in faraway Rome. Indulgences gave people permission to trust in a piece of paper rather than on the grace of God.

Enter Luther, a hammer, 95 theses, and a church door.

Martin Luther had to remind us that there NO WAY we can buy our way into God’s good graces. We are in bondage to sin, and cannot free ourselves. But this grace has already been given to us, free of charge. Grace is not for sale, at any price.

The repercussions of Luther’s ideas have reverberating throughout the centuries, and throughout the world. At the Lutheran World Federation 12^th Assembly I attended and preached at in May, every one of the sub themes related to something being “not for sale.” “Creation, not for sale…” “Human beings, not for sale….” And “Salvation, not for sale.”

Dr. Monica Melanchton

On the day of “Salvation, not for sale,” presenter Dr. Monica Melanchton from India shared that the 95 theses affirmed human dignity. She told us that “the selling of indulgences reduces the believer to a mere consumer of religious goods.” Dr. Melanchton reminded us that salvation is not an abstract theological concept, or a commodity to be bought and sold, or even hoarded and then given away by Westerners to 3^rd world countries.

Dr. Melanchton shared a poem I won’t soon forget, told from the perspective of a woman in India who survives starvation and experiences the love of God as food in a famine-stricken area. The poem goes, “I can hope to live one day more, for you made God come to me as 200 grams of gruel… Now I know what you are speaking about, for God so loved the world … every noon through you.”

In the poem, no one bought the starving woman an indulgence. No one told her “our thoughts are prayers are with you” and then stood by to watch her starve. God became incarnate to her through 200 grams of gruel, and the hands that provided her that food every day at noon. God becomes incarnate through these works of mercy. God becomes incarnate as we gather together in the breaking of the bread, then going out into the world to share that bread with others in need.

We are saved by grace through faith given to us by a generous God. But we cannot make Grace into a new kind of indulgence, giving us permission NOT to follow God’s call into the world to do acts of mercy. Not so that we may earn our way into heaven – which we can never do – but because “God loves the world…. THROUGH US.”

Martin Luther’s Thesis #42 reads, “Christian are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy.” Followed by #43: “Christians are to be taught that the one who gives to a poor person or lends to the needy does a better deed than if a person acquires indulgences.” Still think that the 95 theses are dusty old relics?

The ELCA has a tagline that goes “God’s work, our hands.” God used our hands this weekend when we packed meals for Feed My Starving Children – which, by the way, I think Martin Luther would have loved the fact that we celebrated the Reformation through acts of mercy rather than yet another brat fry or German fest (not that there is anything wrong with them). But perhaps a better use of our celebration would be to let God use our hands, and also to acknowledge that the work of the Reformation that continues around the world.

Turning over our check to FMSC (Second in amount to Merck Insurance!)

FMSC Meal Packing Event

The Lutheran World Federation was clear last May in it’s world-wide commitments in working for justice for the environment and for women, and to reform the church in a way that is “Global, Ecumenical, and Ongoing.  So, for the LWF to have gathered for the 12^th assembly in Namibia - a place that has seen its fair share of hardship, colonialism, and apartheid - was a pretty big deal.

During the Global Commemoration service during the assembly, Bishop Zephania Kameeta preached to the ten thousand Lutherans  from all over the world on this very text. Here in today’s reading, the Jewish people aren’t the “bad guys” – they are simply voicing a question that we all would have asked Jesus – “what do you mean, that we are not free?”

As Americans, WE have never been under the heavy yoke of colonialism or apartheid as places like Namibia have experienced….oh wait… Except that we HAVE. But having thrown off OUR English overlords, we have become a colonial power, imposing our way of life wherever we go. And we have created our own version of apartheid in the form of racism - more subtle, but no less evil in nature.

As Bishop Kameeta preached: “All this can be true that we are not slaves of anyone, but we certainly can be slaves of ourselves.”

Even in our celebration of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation, we can easily become enslaved to the rosy picture of our past. We have become enslaved to our privilege as Americans, we have become enslaved to our whiteness, we have become enslaved to our heritage and the temptation to drive into the future while looking into the rearview mirror.

I’ll be honest, one of the things I was most looking forward to about the Global Commemoration service in Namibia was to sing “A Mighty Fortress” AKA the “Lutheran Theme Song” with ten thousand Lutherans from around the world. I was totally anticipating all the goosebumps, and feeling absolutely swept away in wonder…. And I was absolutely disappointed. Somehow my section in the stadium got completely lost and we ended up singing the last verse twice. So much for a transcendent experience.

… Except, I DID have EXACTLY the experience I was EXPECTING… at the END of the Global Commemoration service… when ten thousand Lutherans from all the world sang the South African hymn “We are Marching in the Light of God.” It was like an out of body experience. It was a moment beyond time, beyond sight, beyond language or thought. In that moment, together, we were Africans, Europeans, Asians, Middle Easterners, North and South Americans – TOGETHER, the body of Christ, one family of God.  In that moment, I got to see what the kingdom of God looked like, felt light, SOUNDED like. 

It looked like diversity, sounded like harmony, and felt like unity.

As one, with our beautiful harmonies ringing to heaven, we proclaimed to one another that the Reformation will live on in us… that we will march together, sing together, pray together, proclaim freedom together, all while being sustained by the light and love of God.

When we continue to walk in the light of God, as Bishop Kameeta said, “the amazing Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the over the top love of God, and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit will be with all of us.”

May this be our prayer for the next 500 years. Thanks be to God. Amen.

LWF Assembly Sermon

Coffee: International Third Lutheran Sacrament

I wrote this for our quarterly e-newsletter, summer 2017 edition: There is a joke among Lutherans that coffee is the Third Lutheran Sacrament (after Baptism and Holy Communion). Though I was a life-long Lutheran, I did not begin to drink coffee until I had an 8 AM Hebrew class in Seminary five days a week. After that, I was hooked! So one of my concerns in traveling to the 12th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Namibia was of course - what will the coffee situation would be? I needn't have worried. At least four times a day the assembly had a coffee and tea break, with hospitable hotel staff setting out hundreds of coffee cups and saucers for jet-lagged participants such as myself. We conversed over our coffee. That is how I met bishops and pastors from Canada, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Hong Kong, and Guyana. Every day in the Omatala "Gathering" tent, women from Ethiopia shared a special coffee ceremony in the "Katie Luther Corner" every day at 2 PM. Extra-strong coffee was served to us in special cups with a generous helping of sugar by Haregewyn Moges Kidanewold, director of Gudina Fumsa Training Centre in the Evangelical Ethiopian Church. She made us feel connected to this special part of the Ethiopian culture. Because we are ALL part of the body of Christ together, Lutherans and Christians from all parts of the world.   The next time you partake in the Third Lutheran Sacrament, whether coffee or tea, I encourage  you to think about our connections to one another. Do I know where in the world my coffee came from? Who harvested it, and were they fairly paid? Did I grab my coffee while on the go, or am I able to use my coffee break time to make connections with friends, co-workers, or even strangers? Especially over the summer as we disperse in all directions, we can still remember that we are all connected to this same family of God, no matter where we may find ourselves - working, at the beach, with family, traveling, or drinking coffee. Safe travels this summer and enjoy your coffee!               Yours in Christ, Reverend Lydia Posselt

In the International Fishbowl

As I went through security at the airport in Namibia to come home, one of the security people checking our bags through the X-ray machine quipped "Say hi to Trump for me!" I tried not to betray how mortified I felt. "I'd rather not!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. He looked aghast. Was that rude of me to say? (Probably true.) Or was he surprised that he had found a non-Trump supporting American? (Definitely true.)

It's easy to forget that our own fraught political situation is not just something we have to put up with every day. This is a new age of instant news, and people from all over the world get to watch us and judge us for what goes on in our country.

 At the 12th Assembly, I suddenly found myself in the midst of conversions - very uncomfortable conversations - about what was going on in the United States. And just about all of them mentioned Trump by name. I was not expecting to be called on the carpet for some of the actions of my country.

I realized very quickly that by participating in this event, I got to experience something that is very rare for people in my country. I was often in a room, sitting at a table, or in a small group conversation with people from all over the world, in which I was the only person present from my own country.

On the one hand, in the US it is far to easy to only see what effects us immediately, when there is literally a whole world out there with different problems and issues. At the same time, people NOTICE what is currently happening in the United States. And I found it to be very uncomfortable sometimes in conversation. One night, at the welcome reception hosted by the President of Namibia, I talked for a while with a pastor from Sweden who knew very well what was going on in the Unites States. But this conversation, which happened on my first night in Namibia, was only the beginning.

During one of the presentations on the day with the theme "Creation Not For Sale," Pastor Monica Villareal, of Flint Mich, shared about the Flint water crisis. For many of us, this is not "new" news, though it is of course unforgivable that this crisis is still going on. But for the international community, this was NEWS. People sat up and took notice. What? Something like this was happening in the UNITED STATES of all places?

But that wasn't the last of the discomfort for that morning. During the plenary, the presenter shared this slide:

I felt my face get really hot, and the rest of my body went ice cold. Though cleverly generalized, we all knew EXACTLY what this slide was about. I wanted my chair to swallow me. THIS is what intellectual people and world-famouspresenters from other countries think of us, folks. And they are not wrong. 

Pastor Monica Villareal, when asked a question that named the elephant in the room (at least for me), gave a very articulate and diplomatic response, and made it clear that not all Lutherans in the United States voted for or supports the present regime. A few minutes later, it a small group I was part of, with people from Zimbabwe, Russia, and parts of Germany and Norway, one of the German participants pointedly asked me to go further into the situation of Lutherans and current United States politics. I attempted to explain that our churches are deeply divided and contain people on all sides, though many pastors find themselves leaning toward social justice concerns, and thus tend to be more left-leaning. She seemed visibly relieved by my answer. 

The world is watching us. They see what's going on, how we treat our own. 

In the international politics that go on (Yes, even Lutherans have politics, even at the international leve1), I learned that there was discussion of combining the North American region (which just has the ELCA and the ELCIC) with the South American region. But if that came to pass, we (the US) could never host a regional gathering. 

Think about that. There is no way everyone could get visas to come, given our current political climate. And there is also no way that the United States could EVER host a Lutheran World Federation Assembly. Most of the attendees would not be allowed entrance into the country. 

For me, that was a sobering thought. For as "forward" we (the ELCA) are on some things like women's ordination, racism, gender justice, GLBTQI support (or at least trying to be) we have a lot of work ahead of us. 

God's Name on Us

5-28-17

Grace to you and peace from God our father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, Amen.                                                                                                                                           

I apologize in advance for the next few months or so, if many of my sermon illustrations come from the Lutheran World Federation Assembly in Namibia. It’s kind of amazing how much can happen in just a week and a half. Anyway, last week I talked about helping during one of the evening communion services. After communion was distributed, I came back to my seat, where I had left my bag and my worship book, only to find my bag had been moved and my book was gone.

I wasn’t as annoyed about losing my seat as I was losing my worship book. They had only printed so many books in each language to save on paper and costs. English materials were snatched up quickly and hard to come by, which would be a problem for me, being mono-lingual. I tried not to let myself spend most of the rest of the service feeling irritated and sad that my book had been taken, at a Christian conference, no less. Something of MINE had been taken from me. It was very hard to focus on the rest of the service, I’m sad to say. And when I did get another worship book – I scrawled my name on the back in huge letters like a kindergartner as a deterrent. This book is MINE, and no one was going to be tempted to take it from me. That is perhaps not a very Christian attitude to have, either.

 

Like the “men of Galilee,” focusing on staring up at the sky where Jesus had just ascended into heaven – when all the women present had probably already left to get to work being these witnesses – I was missing the point. I had forgotten that earlier in the service together we had spoken these words together during the opening liturgy, words like: Reconciliation, the gift from God. Wholeness, the gift from God. You don’t need a worship book when you have these words on your heart and a neighbor to share their book with you.

On our last Sunday in the season of Easter, as we wait to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost next week, we again find ourselves in the Gospel of John.  Jesus is still with the disciples on the night of the last supper, the night he was betrayed, looking forward to his suffering and death. During this last meal with his closest friends, where Jesus tries to both explain his upcoming absence and prepare his disciples for it, Jesus prays for them, and lets them overhear.

He doesn’t say - hold that thought, I’ll be right back, and then go off on his own. He doesn’t close his eyes and pray silently. He prays – out loud – in the middle of their conversation – so that they are able to hear him as he prays. This prayer is not private. Jesus WANTS us to overhear.

And during his prayer, he reminds those of us who are listening of two things – the first, which he mentions last, in typical Johnish “Yoda-like” fashion, is that those of us who follow Jesus belong to God, and God calls us his. The second thing, which Jesus mentions first, is the reminder that eternal life is not just about what happens to us when we die. It’s about knowing who we belong to (which is God) and knowing the one whom God sent (which is Jesus). Eternal life is about living into the fact that God calls you “mine.”

Two different Pixar movies come to mind – one that shows us what being claimed by God IS, and one that shows us what it is NOT. God calling us God’s own is NOT like those really annoying seagulls in Finding Nemo - you know, the ones who say to everything in their line of sight MINE. MINE. MINE.  Which is a familiar refrain for many nieces, nephews, and grandkids we all know and love. Only, we never seem to grow out of this phase. As we grow up, we continue claiming and hoarding what we see as MINE. MINE. MINE. The earth – mine. Stuff – mine. Other people -  mine too, to treat as I see fit.

But God does not see US that way. Instead, God’s claim on us is more like in the movie Toy Story, where the boy Andy loves his toys so much that he writes his name on the bottom of their feet. That way, if they are ever lost, everyone knows who they belong to. Andy, however, did NOT know that his toys were alive and sometimes looked at the bottom of their feet for encouragement when they experienced their own toy version of “dark night of the soul.”

I showed a clip from Toy Story at a youth event once, and shared that Andy’s care for his toys is like the love God has for US, and the promise that WE belong to God. The theme for the event, ironically enough was “MINE,” which was written in big letters on the event T-shirt. Later I found out that some of the girls from another church had taken a sharpie and written “God” on the bottom of their feet. As silly as that sounds, I realized they GOT IT. They GOT that God calls them his own and has claimed them and has promised to be with them. They wanted to remember this in a way that made sense to them in that moment. Even if their parents might have been less than thrilled.

So what if WE all lived as if “God” was written with a sharpie on the bottoms of our feet? What might our lives look like? Would they look any different?

This promise – that God has written “MINE” on us – is both a gift and a charge. God is going to be with us no matter what. But it also means that God might ask us to go places that we wouldn’t normally go, places that might frighten or surprise us. We are not just HIS. We are to be HIS witnesses.

On the night before his death, we hear how Jesus prays for the protection of all who belong to him, knowing that they will be called to some pretty scary and surprising places. And again, in the days before the Holy Spirit arrives on Pentecost, Jesus tells his disciples that they will be his witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, and Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth.” For us, that might mean to be his witnesses in Buckingham, Bucks County, and the greater Philadelphia area, and even beyond, in places that feel foreign or outside of our comfort zone.

A witness tells others what he or she has seen. We, as Jesus’ followers, are his witnesses in all that we say and do. And this is definitely a daunting task. And I can at least say for myself that many times I am not a very good witness. At the worship service that day I felt more outraged over my missing worship book than the fact that other countries that are devastated by our global addiction to fossil fuels, or the women and children around the world who go missing each day to be trafficked. I have not been a very good witness lately.

In fact, sometimes I feel that I am what they call on Law and Order a “hostile” witness. When a witness is not cooperating in the way the lawyers expect, they often ask the judge in a very serious tone: “your honor, permission to treat the witness as hostile.”

Fortunately for us, Jesus will never treat us as hostile witnesses, even though we often DO let him down in our witnessing. Too often we forget that belonging to God is a life-long calling. Too often we forget that the mark of the cross on our foreheads given to us in baptism is always there. When the pastor said the words “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” God was writing on you a big ol’ M-I-N-E.

Today is the seventh Sunday of Easter.  It’s also Memorial Day Weekend, and all too soon summer will be upon us, with all the many directions that summer takes us – sports camps, vacations at the shore, trips, family reunions and obligations – and it’s gonna feel like these things OWN you. It’s gonna feel like you are at their mercy, that you belong to the busy-ness of your schedule, and there is nothing you can do about it. Or is there?

God doesn’t take a summer vacation from claiming you as a beloved child. We NEVER stop belonging to God, and we don’t stop being his witnesses, even if we many find ourselves in some pretty scattered places in the next few weeks. Because you can bet that if Jesus says you will be his witnesses to the ends of the earth, Jesus is going to be with you, opening our hearts and minds, no matter our destination - whether it is the next continent, just the next county, or even just next door. AMEN.

English as a First Language

Or: An Uncomfortable Portrait of White American Privilege.

I knew going on the plane  in Philadelphia to attend the Lutheran Word Federation assembly in Namibia that I had what would be a really tight connection in the States, so I wondered if I would make it. I told myself that the airport is not O'Hare by any means, so it might be fine, right? My luggage probably won't make it, but there is a chance that I might. Right?

Not so much.

As we took off from Philly, we were already 30 minutes late, and we never made up the time as we few over the stark deserts of the Middle East, which I was seeing for the first time. As we landed, I still believed that I would not actually step on the Middle Eastern continent before heading to Africa. Until, that is, we were told to exit the plane to board waiting buses... and we were parked on the tarmac, and not directly at the airport. And, of course, being at the back of the plane, I waited with about 20 other people for more buses to arrive (in the 90 degree heat at 7 AM local). After the 10 minute bus ride and speed walking across the airport, my rush to make it by the last boarding was in vain.

I was by myself in another continent, watching the very nice Air Qatar people working on finding new flights for me, and I wondered how this was going to work out, especially when they offered to put me up in a complimentary hotel for part of the 18 hours it would be until my next flight, directly to Windhoek Namibia.

I found myself kind of bumbling from one person to another with my reservation clutched in my hand, looking for this hotel (which I thought was within the airport). I was told to follow the signs (there were none) then found myself being told to go through customs (which took a solid hour), then wandered into the hotel shuttle shepherding person, onto a bus, driving into the city of Doha, and praying all the while that someone knew what they were doing and that I would end up in the right spot. Everyone spoke English to me and I asked them English questions, and they all somehow took care of this one lost American.

A lady from India waited in line behind me through customs, and she asked me in broken English if this was the right thing to do to get out of the airport. I told her I thought so. And I began to realize that every person I talked to and would talk to for the next 12 hours spoke my language, and that I had no clue how to even say "thank you" in Arabic. I consider myself to be a pretty competent traveler, but I would have been totally lost if it had not be for these kind, bi- or tri- lingual airport staff.

This was only the beginning of directly experiencing something that I had knew intellectually - I am privileged that the world speaks my native language.

On Air Qatar, all the announcements were in Arabic and in English.

Though the Lutheran World Federation operates in 4 languages (also French, German, and Spanish), most of the speakers presented in English, and most of the discussion occurred in English (though instant translation was offered, I rarely had to use it).

On the last night a group of German graciously invited me to join them for dinner, and spoke to me in perfect English, and I was very aware that my one semester of German in college was woefully inadequate to converse with them in their native tongue. I imagine that it would have been much more comfortable for them to speak in German with one another, after speaking English all week.

Pastors from Ethiopia and other parts of Africa and Asia discussed complex theological concepts in a language not their first, or maybe even their second. I certainly can't do that. These African pastors are so much smarter than I am.

When the world speaks your language, you are not motivated by necessity to learn another. So it is so easy to feel entitled to your own language.

I was told, thought, that American English is a fairly easy version of English to understand. I hope that during my sermon on Tuesday night, I spoke slowly and clearly enough to be understood by those who spoke English, even though copies of my sermon were distributed in all four languages. That's why I thought it was important that for the moment I went "off script" I said "one moment please" in all the languages (and I asked native speakers how I would go about saying it, so I hope I got it right!).

For my fellow English as a First Language Speakers, we do not get that many chances to experience lingual diversity. It feels uncomfortable to us when someone speaks a language we are not fluent it. But it's a good discomfort. It means that we are not the rulers of the world. It reminds us that we don't know everything, and don't deserve everything. It reminds us that we have a place in this world, and that the world is not required to make a place for us. Being a global citizen begins at home with our attitudes with those who are different than us. Embrace the discomfort - for it means we still have much to learn and discover about one another. And then go download a language-learning app and at least become fluent in "Thank You."

Thank you to all those who showed kindness to this mono-lingual, wide-eyed white American thrown  into the (Lutheran) world spotlight. I so grateful to have received such grace. I certainly didn't deserve it.

View of Doha from the shuttle bus. It was 100 degrees outside!

This sorry-looking American is TIRED!!

View from the hotel. I didn't get to explore the city - someday!