"This is The Way"

 

2-28-21 

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.

Six years ago, a group of women pastors, including myself, met for a retreat at a camp in NJ. For a fun craft to do together, I brought small wooden crosses and some crazy glue and suggested that everyone in the group bring – not a dish to pass, but a dish to break.

We all brought with us something that was meaningful for us to smash, so that the broken bits might be transformed into a unique mosaic cross. Some of us brought dinnerware from marriages that ended in broken vows.  Some brought worries about toxic situations at home and in their churches. Some brought personal grief, challenges, and questions.

I thought I was prepared - We went outside, and I brought a tarp and a hammer. But I overlooked one thing…Band-Aids. So, of course, one of us ended up bleeding, and much to my surprise, it wasn’t me! Fortunately, this camp was well stocked in first-aid kits, and all was well. No stitches needed.

But despite the bleeding and the big mess we made - we were able to make beautiful art out of our brokenness. We exchanged broken bits of our own mess and together we created something new.

At the start of every Lent, we receive the cross of ashes on our foreheads, to remind us that God can do something beautiful with us, who are so limited and flawed. Just a little bit ago we saw little George receive the sign of the cross on his forehead too. That cross also reminds us that our lives do not belong to us. We do not belong to ourselves. Like George, we belong to God.

This means our lives are to be spend in the service of the world. We are to care for and carry one another, especially those suffering, rejected, and vulnerable. We are to walk and live the way of the cross, which for me, means that I need to set my mind on the things that are important to God, not get caught up in the things that the world sees are important.

Every day, but especially now, need to ask ourselves, as people of God – What way will we follow? What do we see as most important: Our personal choices or the health of our neighbors? What is more important - Our “right” to bear arms….. or our call to bear one another’s burdens? What is more important, our maintaining the veneer of normalcy ….or addressing and healing our trauma, in whatever messy way that may look like?

During this pandemic winter, we caught up on a lot of shows, including Star Wars’ “The Mandalorian.” More than just “a man in a cool suit,” the Mandalorian, has a story - like his people, he follows a strict code of conduct. It binds their people together, but also sets them apart as different. For every strange choice they make, they respond with the refrain: “This is the Way.” And there is one particular thing that a Mandalorian should NEVER do. While these rules are strict and pose their own challenges, in a way, they do make life simple for their followers.

Life may have seemed simple for the Mandalorian at the center of this show. But then he meets a child, and everything changes. Life is no longer simple. He is thrust into adventures that challenge him and challenges the way of life he is used to. And that one particular thing a Mandalorian should never do? It turns out that he will face a choice – keep to his strict code, or to that one thing – in order  to save the universe, and to save the people that THIS Mandalorian has come to care about, including this unexpected child. It turns out, he will have to forge a new way.

For Mark, and for Jesus, the way of the cross is a way of life - following Jesus will cause us to live our lives in such a way that the powers and empires of the world will try to get rid of us, as they tried to get rid of Jesus. The cross is both the consequence and the symbol of this life, “the way” or path of death and resurrection, the way of transformation. As followers of this way, we witness God transforming an instrument - specifically designed for cruel execution - into a symbol of new and abundant life.

Peter thinks that there is one thing that a Messiah has come to do, a “right way” to be the messiah – ride in “on a white horse” and save the day with power and might. So, when Jesus said, “my way of life and my actions will lead to suffering and rejection by the people in power. They will kill me for this, but I will rise again 3 days later, all for your sake” …. Peter obviously did not take it well. After all, this is the one thing that a true king would allow himself to suffer a humiliating death, right?

Peter hung on to that one thing he thought was important, and so he almost missed the entire “way of Jesus.” Instead of learning from the teacher, Peter tried to do some teaching himself, which got him into some hot water. Like Peter, we all would rather be the leader, or at least have some input in the way Jesus is headed.

But Jesus does not reject Peter outright for his errors. Instead, Jesus tells him to “get behind me.” Not necessarily to kick him out of the group or to get out of Jesus’ sight… but get behind Jesus… because you need to be BEHIIND the person you are following in order to SEE how to follow them. We can’t walk the way that Jesus would have us walk if we are not behind Jesus, following his lead.  

Eventually though, after a LOT of mistakes, Peter does eventually get “back in line.” He is not rejected, even when he rejects Jesus, because he comes back to walking the way, however imperfectly. He puts down his ego and takes us his cross. He let go of that thing that was holding him back, and it got smashed to bits…. but it also turned into something beautiful.

This is the cross I made with those dear friends. It has some of my broken bits, and some of theirs. It’s rough around the edges, and it was a challenge to make. But it’s my favorite cross (and I own a LOT of crosses). Here are pieces of brokenness, death, and loss. But together, they represent the way forward - together. This is the way. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Origin Stories and Superpowers

 Sermon 8-30-2020

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.

Every superhero has origin story. Some of my favorite superheroes and heroines were born with their special powers, like Wonder Woman, Black Panther, and Luke Skywalker. Others - such as Captain Marvel, Spider Man, and Harry Potter - got them in all kinds of unexpected ways. And still others were simply chosen to save the world, like the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

You might be surprised to hear that we are part of a very special league of super heroes, right here in real life. Part of my origin story is growing up in a group of other baptized super hero people, being nurtured and encouraged in my faith by my family and other caring adults, and working at a Bible Camp in Wisconsin. 

Your origin story is probably different. But we were all chosen in the same way: We all had our forehead splashed with water three times, surrounded by others who pledged to help us on our journey. Then we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, and marked with the cross of Christ forever. It is a cross that we all carry with us, present every moment of our lives. That is OUR shared origin story.

As we wrap up our 90 Day Bible Challenge today – congratulation! – I hope that you noticed some of the really cool “origin stories” of our favorite Bible Heroes and heroines. The devotion of Ruth. The perseverance of Esther. The dreams of Joseph. The strange call stories of the prophets. The conversion of Paul. And today… we heard how Moses got going with his mission to free his people, directly from God, via a shrub that was on fire!

You could also say, in our reading from the Gospel of Matthew, that the origin story of the Christian church began here. Jesus is with his disciples in Caesarea Philippi, a Roman town full temples to every deity under the sun. It is here that Jesus asks the hundred-thousand-dollar question – Who do YOU say that I am? The disciples take a stab at it, but only Peter got it right – “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” Good job. Peter!

Though we heard those words a week ago in our time… only days, hours, or even minutes elapsed before Peter … then puts his foot in his mouth. Peter, thinking he’s on a roll, says: “God forbid it, Lord!” “That’s not how it’s going to be when YOU are in charge! Suffering and death? You’ve got to be kidding!”

News flash Peter: Jesus wasn’t kidding. Jesus is NOT here to set up his own kingdom made in the image of the world, with power, glory, and might. But…. Peter is also not alone in his hasty judgement about the kind of Kingdom that Jesus is bringing. We often have trouble understanding God’s kingdom when we encounter it, too

We are surrounded by messages of the Kingdom of Might – M-I-G-H.T…where power comes from influence and affluence. Those who have it, flaunt it. Those who don’t have it, want it. And the easiest way to get it is to hang out with the powerful people – and hope you get some of it by association. This is, by the way, what Peter is trying to do with Jesus, and is also why he freaks out when Jesus reveals this is NOT the kind of kingdom he’s ushering into being. After all, who WANTS to be in the inner circle of THAT kind of King? Who wants suffering as part of their origin story?

These messages have become the water we swim in - so totally ingrained in how we live that we don’t notice. It is even built into the very fabric of this country. We are taught our origin story as a nation is one of a scrappy band of settlers who valiantly wrestled their rights and freedoms out of the clutches of the most powerful empire in the world. But is that the whole story?  

We don’t have a time machine… but we do have a show from 2004 called Colonial House (found on Amazon Prime and YouTube), an entertaining blend of historical documentary and just good, juicy reality TV. Two dozen people committed to living in the back country of coastal Maine for four months, in an approximation of how a settlement would have operated in 1628. That’s right – no electricity, running water, or privacy.

Instead of the pure and simple utopia that many of the contestants expected, these “settlers” quickly came face to face with the harsh realities that shaped our early days as a nation, besides the daily struggle to survive.

From the very start, religious intolerance, strict social classes and power struggles, homophobia, the never-ending focus on productivity and output, land-theft from native people, rigid gender roles, and racial tension were very uncomfortably present in our national identity. The realization that the “Origin Story” of our country is not simple or spotless was an eye-opening moment for many on this show – and those of us who watched to the show, too.

Some of us are waking up to threads of a story we didn’t know had been woven into our fabric since the beginning, while others have been awake this whole time, seeing our past play out again, and again, and again, the cycle of violence against the bodies of our black and brown siblings, which turn into rage, blame, and more violence, most lately in my home state of Wisconsin, which is so much part of my own origin story.

In the middle of all the memes and rhetoric, I wonder if in this moment, Jesus is saying to us: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves, take 7 bullets in the back, and follow me. For those who want to save their life will find it looted, and those who loot their own lives, for my sake, will find life.

The source of Jesus’ power - the power of God – is found in vulnerability. It is strength found in weakness. It is might found in non-violence. It is gaining the whole world by throwing our entire lives away. It is following in the footsteps of Jesus, who was called to die for our sake, so that we may die to ourselves for the sake of others.

This is Jesus’s superpower: Resurrection. And it becomes our superpower too: The broken being made whole. Hate turning into love. Death transformed to new life.  Jesus transforming the cross as an instrument of death into a symbol of hope, the symbol that all of us baptized superheroes carry on our foreheads. Invisible, like a secret superhero identity, but still always present.

Only our secret superhero identities are supposed to be public. We are meant to follow Jesus, to carry our crosses, in a way that others can see. Sometimes, like Moses, we are called to work for the liberation of an entire oppressed people. Sometimes, like Moses, we put our bodies on the line and into harm’s way. Sometimes, like Moses, we are sent to speak truth to power.

Moses’s origin story may have involved a supernatural shrub on fire. But his origin story is similar to our own – God calls us by name. And even in the face of all the questions we have, God reveals to us God’s own name – a God who is Faithful, a god who Liberates, the God who Is and Was and ever will be with us.

In our baptisms, we have died to our old selves, and we rise up as part of a new family in Christ. And so, as God’s superheroes, we are sent into the world as a chip off the old boulder…to follow Jesus’ lead. As the affirmation of baptism (or confirmation) liturgy goes, we are called “to follow the example of Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.” In the face of these big tasks, we as a church respond, “We do and we will, and we ask God to help us.”

In the words of Black Panther: "It is time to show the outside world who we are."

Thanks be to God. Amen.

 

 

The Boy Who Wasn't Alone

Sermon 7- 7-19

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 a game on an improv show called “Whose Line is It Anyway,” that is based on the cast members borrowing two handbags from unsuspecting audience and creating a skit based on what they find in there. Shoes, dental floss, cardigans, earbuds, q-tips, sun hats, empty water bottles, bags and bags of snacks. It’s like one of the usual games you play at a baby or wedding shower – a scavenger hunt all in your purse! The point is to laugh at all the ridiculous things that other people carry around them… but really, are any of us much different?

It’s only fair that I pick on myself for a moment…  Besides the usual car keys, church keys, wallet, and cell phone, in my own bag I carry tissues, hand sanitizer, some pens, lip balm, extra charger, and usually at least on book that I’m reading, of course!  This week I also have with me a VBS CD, so that I can get ready to teach the kids songs about God and going to Mars! So, for the most part, pretty standard stuff. But still. It’s a lot of stuff in there. And sometimes it gets a little heavy. All in the name of “Just in case… “

Being ready and prepared is a good thing, but there comes a point where we can be TOO prepared, which can hinder, rather than help us. Because if we wait until we are absolutely the most prepared we can ever be before we agree to do anything or go anywhere, we would never actually get started, and we would miss out on the adventure that God has in store for us.

The kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is on a mission, and is getting people on board, though as we witnessed last week some would-be followers were more ready than others to get with the program. The upside is that this week, we hear that the harvest is at hand, the people are ready to hear the good news of God’s love and forgiveness, but there is so much work to do to get ready that even Jesus needs help. Jesus has already called his core group of twelve disciples, but he needs all hands-on deck, people. This is getting big, FAST, and Jesus needs even MORE people to help him, seventy more to be exact.

Jesus chooses them, buddies them up two by two, gives then their marching orders, and then recommends a packing list for them too. Only… Jesus’ packing list is very, very short. Too short for our liking, in fact. We also have to remember that in Jesus’ time, there was no Motel 6 or Hilton to sleep at… no Chipotle, McDonald’s, Panera, or Acme to get food along the way, or a local Target in case you forgot to pack your toothbrush.

So, when Jesus told the seventy NOT to pack a bag, NOT to bring an extra change of clothes, or even a pair of shoes, NOT to bring extra snacks or food…. This is a huge leap of faith, and a giant act of trust. Jesus UN-equips them, to make then totally dependent on the hospitality of those who are hearing the good news. Which seems pretty foolish, like he’s setting them up for failure.

Why would Jesus do that?  Because he is sending them to be physical embodiments of what is means to be totally dependent on God. They will be waking the GOD-WALK and TALKING the GOD TALK, so that when amazing things start to happen, the only explanation possible is that it was God’s doing.

And amazingly, it worked. Like that tweet that unexpectedly goes viral, the seventy came back reporting with great joy that even the forces of evil were responding and getting out of the way of the kingdom. The harvest is being gathered, the good news spread, and the kingdom is coming near. All this they accomplished WITHOUT being prepared to the gills with floss, hand sanitizer, or extra snacks. All this they accomplished while bringing absolutely nothing with them. All this they accomplished without any special training. All this they accomplished with the help of God. It’s not about what you bring, but who.

That’s why Jesus send out seventy people do to the work of the kingdom… and he sent them out TWO by TWO. No one was alone in this work. They had a huge support network of others to lean on, and someone else physically with them, so that they could care for each other when things got tough, like when they entered a town where they were not welcome. And they also had someone else along to share in the joys as well.

Because Jesus didn’t promise that the following him would make our lives stress-free and comfortable, or that doing his work would be easy. But Jesus does provide people along the way to help us through when (and not if) times get tough.

Too often though, we get caught up in thinking that we’ll be successful at making it through life depending on how prepared we are, if we have enough, and what we bring along with us. But what we own can often weight us down and hold us back. Even as the culture around us tells us the exact opposite – all the time we are told to had bigger purses, bigger wallets, better cars, nicer houses, more storage units…. all in the name of “just in case.” And as a reward, we are held back and weighted down with car payments, mortgages, credit card bills, and sore muscles.  

Non-physical things that we carry with us can weigh us down, too – Fear, anxiety, worry, depression, despair, impatience, addiction, apathy, anger, sexism, white privilege…  all these things are HEAVY to carry around with us, and take a toll on us on a daily basis. We need each other, as Paul writes, in order to bear one another’s burdens. We don’t need more things or to be more prepared… instead we are to pack light….  and share the load. Even when things are challenging… especially when things seem at their most bleak and hopeless.

Lately I’ve been watching through the Harry Potter movies again, which tells the story, over 8 films, how an unsuspecting 6^th grade boy learns how to be a wizard and grows up to defeat the one of the most powerful and evil villains in all of fiction – the evil wizard Lord Voldemort. In one of their confrontation, Voldemort enters Harry’s mind, and calls him weak for caring about his friends and family, which made Harry vulnerable to attack. Instead, Harry Potters tells him “You're the weak one. And you'll never know love, or friendship. And I feel sorry for you.”

Earlier in the same movie, The Order of the Phoenix, other students are in awe of all of Harry’s adventures and decided to gather together to learn how to defend themselves from the coming evil that Lord Voldemort is sure to bring. To their accolades, Harry responds, “it all sounds *great* when you say it like that. But the truth is…  I didn't know what I was doing half the time, I nearly always had help.”

We might not be a well outfitted or have as many resources as the powers of evil in this world… but we do have something they don’t: Jesus, and one another.

God is calling us on a journey to spread the news that God’s kingdom is here.  When we refuse to pack some of the things that can weight us down: fear of the future, our belief in scarcity, and our longing for security – then we have so much more room for the things that ARE on Jesus’s packing list: things like vulnerability, trust, courage, compassion, kindness, empathy, and love for one another, which always makes us stronger.

This doesn’t necessarily mean for us to get rid of the all stuff in our purses, wallets, cars, or homes. But perhaps we should start asking ourselves if what we HAVE helps us or hinders us along the way.

Because the stuff we bring with us doesn’t give us strength. Nor does always being 100% prepared for whatever might comes next. But we know just was DOES give us strength: Faith in Jesus and in one another. The seventy disciples could do all things set before them, and we can too, because we bring Jesus WITH us along the way. Amen.

You have Entered... The Trinity Zone.

6-16-19

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.

Imagine if you will a world that contains is a dimension of the imagination, beyond which is known to us, a place where light and shadow meet, where faith and truth coexist, where bread and wine and water are not always what they seem. It is a place where time and space go wibbly wobbly, jumping backward into the past and also catapulting us into the future… while at the same time joining people together around the world faster than any other type of travel. In this place, God is both known AND unknowable, all- powerful AND all-approachable, ephemeral AND embodied, both giving us everything and demanding from us everything, whose loves is both free and costly… with a people who belong to this God, both saint and sinner, gathered in and sent out. You have just arrived to special place. You have entered The Trinity Zone.  (Sound Effects from The Twilight Zone)

…The bad news is, Rod Sterling NEVER said the words “imagine if you will” in any of the introductions to the Twilight Zone. But that line has been quoted and used so many times, that I took thought FOR SURE that’s where I heard it before. But I was wrong. The real quote, which I also borrowed heavily from, is both longer, and actually kind of boring.  

But that tends to be the case with these things, right? You go along in your life, thinking and knowing one thing to be true but without any idea from where it really came from or where you got that notion…  and at some random point in your life, you will be flabbergasted to find out the truth. And, if you’re like me, you’ll be a little annoyed.

Captain Kirk never said “Beam me up, Scotty”

The original Sherlock Holms never uttered, “Elementary my dear Watson.”

Neither Marilyn Monroe NOR Eleanor Roosevelt ever originally said, “Well behaved women seldom make history.” These are all misquotes and mis-attributions that, over the years, have been repeated so often they become true and we never are the wiser. We print them on T-shirts posters and never ask where they came from. Well, now you know the truth.

And the truth is, the Bible NEVER uses the word Trinity. Not. Even. Once. Our three part, trinitarian Apostles Creed isn’t even in there, much less the longer Nicene one. Or the one we never get around to, the Athanasian Creed, which is EVEN LONGER than the Nicene one.

So, that leaves us with: we have a day dedicated every year to an idea that is not actually present in the Bible. Or is it?

The Bible may not ever say the word “Trinity.” But if we look hard enough, we might find evidence that something we could call Trinitarian is going on here. On the night of this last supper, when Jesus was eating with his disciples – who, at least the male ones would in just a few hours deny, abandon, and betray him – on that night in John, Jesus, the son of God, talks about his Father, and the arrival of the Holy Spirit, who he calls the Spirit of Truth.

Paul in his letter to the Romans talks about the different actions of Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs speaks from the perspective of a woman named Wisdom, calling to the people of God to forsake their foolish ways, and to remind them of the Lord who created heaven, and earth, and all of them too.

The beginning of Genesis speaks of a God who hovers over the waters of creation as divine spirit, who speaks creation into being with the divine word, and makes space for creation as a divine parent. At Christmas and Easter, we hear from the Bible of God born in flesh to live among us, to preach, teach, heal, die, and rise again. And on Pentecost, last week, we heard the reading from Act 2 which also heralds the arrival God in the form of wind and flame and a diversity of languages.

The idea of the Trinity may not be literally Biblical… but we honor the theologians and writers and preachers and teachers who have gone before us, and who have attempted to make sense of a mysterious God who is beyond our senses by using ideas like the Trinity.

After all, there are many things that are NOT in the Bible that we Lutheran Christians DO affirm to be important and valuable to our faith – infant baptism, many part of our Liturgical Church Year like Advent and Lent, Sunday morning as the time we should have worship, first communion or confirmation, and coffee hour.

But then again, there are lots of things IN the Bible that we DON’T affirm as important to our faith (or are downright antithetical to it) such as: polygamy, slavery, child marriage, genocide, xenophobia, racism… and wearing clothes that are any kind of cotton/poly blend.

As we ate last Lent at Buckingham Pizza talking about the Bible, we learned the Bible is inspired by God and put together by flawed people. For his Confirmation, I have Kyle a newish book by writer and theologian Rob Bell… who in this book wrote: “The Bible was written by real people living in real places at real times… We dive into THEIR story, discovering OUR story in the process.” (78, 80)

Rob Bell recommends that we not read the Bible literally, but instead to read it literarily. “There are lots of right ways to read it,” (81) he says. You read it, then you wrestle with it, you ask questions, and sometimes you dance with it.

Wedding dance circle in action
(Yes, that's me as a bridesmaid!)

One of the ways that I have heard the Trinity “explained” is that it’s a dance. Dynamic, ever-changing, moving, rhythmic, frenetic…a dance between three, but also a dance that includes us too. We are invited. I imagine one of those “dance circles” at wedding receptions, where everyone is grooving in their own way, and sometimes someone goes in the middle and shows off a rad dance move… and always, always, the circle gets bigger for whoever wants to join it. There is always room on the dance floor... There is always a place for you in the Trinity Zone.

I find that it’s a real shame that we are pressured to find the perfect metaphor to explain the Trinity on Trinity Sunday, when really, the idea of the Trinity was created to help us try to understand God. Because the point of the Trinity is not that it’s like an apple or a raindrop or a three-leaf clover. The point of the trinity is that God is never complete, final, or static.

Bible is also not complete, final, or static, either, because the people who were in it and wrote it were still figuring things out. And we are still figuring things out… in fact, we are never done.  Just like our learning and growing is never over, and fixed, and complete, God is not fixed and finished with us ever either.

The Trinity is not static. And neither are we. God is still very much active in the world, and we are too. We’re not done, and God is not done with us. We are always active and growing and learning and being challenged and meeting those challenges. Because there is always something new to learn about God and one another, and the only time we are allowed to stop is when we at last find rest in our Lord and Creator.

Life in the Trinity Zone might begin here in the building, but it doesn’t stay here. Just like God is not a Trinity on one day only, but always. We can’t explain it. But we can, and do LIVE IT. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Lent 4: Invitation to being Un-Lost

3-31-19

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

I wish more people loved Jane Austen as much as I do. True Jane-ites like myself (yes there is a name for us) know that Austen’s reputation for being “sappy chick-lit” is completely unfounded. Austen was actually a revolutionary for her time: a successful published author in a field dominated by men, and a single woman all her life in a society where most women needed to marry for survival. Her works have inspired more films, reboots, adaptations, and spin-offs than almost any other author. There is a REASON we still read her, and trust me, it’s not just that we all want to ride in carriages and marry Mr. Darcy… Though that might be pretty awesome. Austen’s words endure still, because she speaks to us and our human condition today.

Let me give you an example. In her most famed work, Pride and Prejudice, her protagonist Elizabeth sometimes struggles to navigate her relationships to her other sisters. While the older sisters Elizabeth and Jane behave “properly,” their extremely selfish younger sister Lydia – yes, Lydia – is never really punished for her bad behavior. In the end all of her selfish antic lands her a husband BEFORE any of her older sisters. And for the moment, at least, she “wins.”

Now, I think we all have a “Lydia” in our families, right? There is always that sibling or cousin who, no matter how they muck things up, always seems to come up smelling like a rose. While the “Lydias” of the world are continually hungry for more and will do anything to satisfy that hunger, the dutiful “older siblings” feel the sting of unfairness. So, you see, even two hundred years later, Jane Austen has successfully described every family reunion EVER.

Families are always complicated. And the Family of God across the ages has been no different. At EVERY “family of God” reunion, meaning worship and holy communion, there are present “oldest” siblings and “younger” siblings… but, if I had to guess… there are probably far more “older siblings” present here. I don’t mean by physical age in your family of origin, but more like the older brother in the parable that Jesus tells.

To be here at this church, toiling away faithfully despite the “family issues,” rather than leaving to join another church, shows some of the Older Sibling traits of faithfulness, steadfastness, and commitment. Family of God Lutheran church would not be here today without their, and your, dedication.

But beware the shadow side of the Older Sibling. Here in this parable we witness his resentment, anger, and stubbornness, and rigidity. This is what keeps the older brother in this story out of the party, and on the outside of the joy of his father and estranged from his family. That’s what makes the Pharisees and the scribes – the “good, faithful church goers” – grumble and judge Jesus for hanging out with the lost people on the margins and IN the margins.

As a Lydia, paradoxically I am an older sibling, but moreover I am a lifelong Lutheran and a lifelong church-goer, so I “get” the older brother. I don’t have an amazing “lost” story to tell that gets me invited to be featured on The Moth or On Being with Krista Tippet. I don’t have a powerful “conversion” or “born-again” moment. And that’s ok. My story is my story, and the important things is that I see where God has been present in it. But... right now, it feels as a significant number of pastors who are also in their thirties are all publishing books.  Not everyone, but enough to notice. Like, it’s what all the “cool kids” are doing. And sometimes it makes me feel, no one is coming after ME for a book deal.

But I’ve also noticed something about most of these books coming out … they are from perspectives that have traditionally been thrust to the margins, or at least, they are voices from the “outside.” One is about oneAfrican-American pastor who has a deep love for the ELCA, which is the whitest denomination in the Unites States. Another is from a queer pastor and how she learned to love the Bible. Another is a pastor who has written in the past about her addictions and her tattoos.

These three authors and many others have something in common – they have all experienced being on the outside or have felt lost within the church in some way. I wonder if any of them would trade their book deals to have the position of being on the “inside,” to have a story like mine that is boring but advantaged in many ways.

And yet, with Jesus, the church insiders find themselves on the outside, and the outsiders are let in. That is how Jesus operates…. And its so maddening! Or at least, it can feel that way... to us “older siblings.” The truth is, though, that with Jesus, there is no inside OR outside. There cannot be anyone on the outside if all are truly embraced in the family of God. There is enough Jesus to go around. The love and grace of God is not going to run out.

The older son in this story forgot that. He forgot that he is the OLDEST son in the family and is therefore entitled to the lion’s share already. But his father has to remind him – the father is always with the son, and everything that belongs to the father also belongs to the son. It’s his birthright, his inheritance. Which is language that might seem strange to us, and make it hard for us to find ourselves in the story.

To engaged this old story, Debie Thomas, Episcopal family minister, wrote a letter to each of the sons. This is what she wrote to the older son: “the power in this story is … yours. Your brother is inside; he's done breaking hearts for the time being.  Now your father stands in the doorway, waiting for you.  Waiting for you to stop being lost.  Waiting for you to come home.  Waiting for you to take hold at last of the inheritance that has always been yours.”

We belong to God, and our inheritance has always been evident in our baptisms: claimed as beloved children and given abundant life in Jesus’ victory over the grave. But sometimes we have our heads down, eyes to the plow, dedicated to the work - so much so that we completely miss the music and dancing and celebrating happening in God’s house. And God is at the doorstep, holding out a hand and an invitation to the party… into relationship with people that we might have judged wrongly in the past, or looked down on. This invitation summons us to a future that makes us realize that we have we have been unnecessarily expending our energy in the name of duty and devotion, and that is why we have missed out this party all along… and makes our hard work feel like a waste. But hard work is never wasteful as long as we learn something along the way.

After all, the word prodigal just means “extravagantly wasteful” “use resources freely.’ and Jesus did not name his parable “The prodigal son.” That came much later. Perhaps we could also call this parable “The TWO Lost Son.” Or even, “The Prodigal Father” – because of the prodigal, wasteful, and extravagant use of resources on BOTH of his lost sons. The father in the story IS very much like God – God loves us lavishly and extravagantly, throwing us the ultimate victory feast over death, every… single… Sunday… and then, coming outside, to where we are to give us a personal invitation.

So, what are we going to do? We can stay outside the celebration and remain just as lost as the younger brother was. After all, a sibling turning his back on another sibling is not all that different from a son that up and leaving his father with his half of the inheritance.

Our other choice is to take the hand of the prodigal father and go into the party, to take a risk that might make us feel uncomfortable or scary us a little bit. To welcome our siblings face to face, and to realize that you both have been lost, but now are found… you both were dead and now are come back to life, through the same love of Jesus Christ, and joined together in one family of God – older and younger, parent and child, dutiful and prodigal, you and them and me.  Thanks be God. Amen.

Art from the back wall of the sanctuary