Xmas 2020: "When Love is Found"

 

Christmas Eve 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.

I have some very good friends who, during Advent, watch every single version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. That’s right, its’s Scrooge, Scrooge, Scrooge, all December long. However, there is only one version of “A Christmas Carol” that is in my person Christmas movie repertoire - “Jim Henson’s the Muppet Christmas Carol.”

Most of you probably know the basic details of the original story – three Christmas Ghosts visit greedy and selfish Ebenezer Scrooge and teach him how to find the love he has lost. In this version, Michael Kane plays human Ebenezer Scrooge, surrounded the rest of the Muppets perfectly filling the roles, with Kermit as Bob Cratchet, the Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens narrating the tale, helped by his sidekick, Rizzo the Rat, as Himself. 

As kids, my siblings and I practically wore out our VHS copy of this movie. Fast forward in both years and technology, and thanks to the magic of streaming services, new generations can enjoy what gave me so much happiness as a kid. With one caveat.

The first time I streamed this movie as an adult, something was missing. About halfway through the movie, the Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge the Christmas party where he met Belle, and it was love at first sight. Dissolve to a snowy landscape, a few years later, with the young couple discussing Scrooge’s desire to delay their wedding for yet another year.

In the streaming version, the movie cuts to Belle walking away when she realizes that Scrooge no longer loves her as much as he loves the idea of running a successful business. But I pause the movie and play the missing song that I remember from my childhood, a song that later movie editors decided was “too adult” and “too boring” for kids. This is Belle’s song, “When Love is Gone.”

The movie still makes sense without it…. But when “When Love is Gone” is GONE, we miss the actual transformation from Ebenezer Scrooge - the man - to THE Ebenezer Scrooge. Belle turns to him, tears streaming down her face, to say, “be careful or you may regret the choice you make someday.” And in that moment, he DOES have a choice – he can acknowledge the weight of his mistakes and try to make amends… or he can let his heart shrivel up, so he doesn’t have to feel the pain anymore. We all know what Ebenezer chooses.

I know lots of kids used this song it as a snack break or bathroom break, or pressed the Fast Forward button - and was it my favorite song THEN when I was a kid? No way. But now that I am an adult, I know that this song was simply waiting for me, to be there I needed it. It was like it was waiting to be found. It’s the song for when you’re watching nostalgic movies in your apartment by yourself, that first Christmas alone – post break up, post-divorce, post death of a loved one, post coming out or post transitioning. This year too, it is the song we didn’t know we might need for 2020 – watching Belle break up with Ebenezer, and sing about how her dreams of their future life being dashed – on Christmas eve no less – we’re right there with you!

Tonight we recall how, all those many centuries ago, another young couple had their wedding plans up-ended – not by slow business growth, but instead by angels, and a surprise pregnancy, by compulsory travel, a census, and taxes, and by the lack of room at the inn. Not at all the circumstances in which any parent wants their first-born child to arrive. Their feet ached, they were dusty and tired, frustrated that no one would make way for a woman in in active labor, uncomfortable with straw poking Mary as she pushed, and despairing that they only had rags and a cow feeding trough to put baby Jesus in.

When Martin Luther preached about Christmas, he relished describing the real and gritty details to his shocked parishioners: to a crowd picturing a sanitized version of the Nativity story (even in the 1500s) Luther would say “Who showed the poor girl what to do? She had never had a baby before…. It must have gone straight to her heart that she was so abandoned. She was flesh and blood, and must have felt miserable – and Joseph too – that she was left in this way, all alone, with no one to help… her eyes were moist even though she was happy.” *(Martin Luther's Christmas Book p. 32)

Every year, Christmas arrives with the lights and food and the songs and the gifts… But Christmas also comes with labor pains, loneliness, and in tears – both joyful and sad. Everyone remembers that one year they had “that Christmas” – the Christmas where everything went wrong. Grandma in the hospital, the kids got the bad stomach bug, travel plans were cancelled because of a big snowstorm.

It’s just that for 2020, we are ALL having THAT year….at the same time! And Christmas is right in the middle of the worst of it. Like Mary and Joseph on the night that Jesus was born - We too are tired, and worried, and making do with a bad situation.

In the year 2020, few good things DID happen, including one Christmas miracle. The original the lost song “When Love is Gone” WAS FOUND! When the song was cut, the original film was lost, and now, in my opinion at least, this movie gets another chance be whole again, not unlike our Ebenezer Scrooge.

When Scrooge wakes up in his own bed on Christmas morning, having been visited by those three spirits, he gets another chance to be whole again, as well. The ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future have been successful in their quest – Ebenezer has transformed back, from Scrooge to man, full of repentance and compassion and love.

For unknown reasons, he is no longer able to reconcile with Belle. But he wastes no time seeking forgiveness and reconciliation with other people in his life, – his cheery nephew Fred, and his dedicated employee, Bob Cratchit, who  he had spent so much time pushing away He gives Bob a raise, pledges a generous donation to a homeless charity, and hosts a grand Christmas dinner, involving a huge turkey bigger than Tiny Tim.

Scrooge celebrates because is no longer lost; he was found. Among the food and his friends, Scrooge begins to sing with the melody of “When Love is Gone,” but instead with new words, and is joined by a chorus of new-found family - “the Love we FOUND, the love we FOUND, we carry with us, so we’re never quite alone.”

We’re not alone in being alone right now, we’re not alone in feeling lost and numb and trying to survive until the new year arrives. Though we may feel quite lost at the moment, we haven’t lost love, or lost Jesus, or lost Christmas this year. Christmas is not gone just because we cannot gather together as we used to, and light candles and sing in a dark sanctuary or gather and eat with all of our loved ones, or even if your gifts have not even arrived, or have gotten lost in the mail.

Jesus was born into just such a moment. Jesus – Son of God, Prince of Peace - arrives to unprepared and scared parents, and by visited first by rag-tag shepherds to be found in a manger, and later, out-of-town foreign dignitaries. He grew up, and found himself to be Public Enemy Number one, because he dared to show the love of God to those who the rest of the world considered lost. And at another time when Evil seemed to reign, when death seem to win, and all seemed lost… three days later, love was found again in the darkness of an empty tomb, having defeated the power of death itself. THOSE angels on THAT day said the women at the empty tomb – “why do you search for the living among the dead? You won’t find him HERE.”

Christmas looks different this year. But it isn’t lost. It isn’t dead. We can find it in the very places it always already always lived. In you. In your heart. In your home. In your actions and words. In generosity and selflessness. In welcoming the stranger. In caring for the sick and reaching out to the lonely. In upending the expectations of the world.

Do not search for Christmas here… because you’ve already found it. It was never lost. It was never gone. Because Love has been with you the whole time. Thanks be to God. Amen.

 

 

 

"Like the Bold Women: Do the Next Right Thing"

Sermon 8-23-20

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.

One of the curious side effects of being under lockdown this spring is having a little extra time to try new things….. in my case, I downloaded TikTok. I was surprised and pleased to find a substantial subset of TikTok dedicated to … retelling stories in the Old Testament in 90 second snippets. Just grab a bathrobe and put a towel over your head, and boom – you too can be a TikTok star while playing Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David, and others! Who knew so many of the Gen Z generation was so biblical literate and creative!

(This TikTok by fellow ELCA pastor is probably the best one for today!)

We can’t help ourselves – no matter what the new technology came along, be it written word, the codex, the printing press, radio, television, the internet, email, youtube, facebook, TikTok…. We retell these ancient stories in these new mediums, because if we don’t know our stories, then we don’t know who we are.

If you, like me, are making your way through the 90 Day Bible Challenge, you notice that most of the Old Testament – yes, even most of the New Testament too – is a remix or retelling of a few important moments in the history of God’s people. Arguably, the most important one is the Exodus – the liberation of God’s people from slavery to freedom. Moses – later the hero and liberator of God’s people – when he first shows up here, he is nothing more than a tiny, helpless baby in need of the actions of some strong, bold, defiant women.

This story almost begins like our familiar and favorite fairy tales –Once Upon a Time, in the faraway Kingdom of Egypt, King Evil McBad-Guy came to power. He oppressed and enslaved God’s favored people in an almost Cinderella-like way. They were forced into slavery, making bricks and building monuments to honor the power of the evil king, for hundreds of year, with no end in sight. Who will come to save them? A super human super hero? As it turns out, it was the women who got salvation and liberation started.

These brave and bold women didn’t leave to go on an epic quest, fight a dragon, or win a great battle against a powerful army. These women did small things – small acts of great defiance. And by these small acts, they began the work of interrupting great power run amok and toppling an oppressive regime in order to pave the way of the salvation and liberation of their people.

The work of deliverance began… with two women who delivered babies. Shiphrah and Puah may not be considered with in “the same league” as other “Disney Princess / Bible Heroines” like Sarah, Rebekah, Mary, but I think they should be. The same goes for Moses’ mom. And Moses’s sister. And for Pharaoh’s daughter, even though only some of these women are given names in the story.

Individually, their act might not have added up to much, at a moment in history that must have felt like there was no way forward. But, in the face of these difficult times, Shiphrah and Puah let the baby boys live, and used Pharaoh’s already racist believe against him to get away with it. They refused to do the dirty work of this evil king.

Next, a woman got married, had a baby boy, and hid him. Not a huge deal, right – what’s one kid saved out of the rest of the boy children of her fellow moms? And when she couldn’t hide him any longer, this fierce mamma didn’t give up fighting to give her son his best chance, even when everything seemed hopeless.

When Pharaoh’s daughter – an actual princess - found the basket floating in the river, her heart had compassion for this one tiny baby born of slaves, and used what little power she had at her disposal to save this one slave child.

In a brilliant twist, the baby’s sister saw her chance, and spoke up at just the right moment. She had been watching everything, and she was ready. And so, her mother was given back her son for a brief time, assured that he would survive and thrive. Together, each woman took her part to do the next thing necessary. Through all these tiny actions, these women midwifed the birth of the deliverance of God’s people.

We know the end of THIS story – Moses grows up, leads God’s people out of slavery, parts the Red Sea, delivers the 10 Commandments, and ushers the people into the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness. 

But, we don’t know the end of our own stories, and we know that life is not a fairy tale, especially now, when we are facing some dark times, and anticipating things to get harder before they get better. But sometimes we forget that there are plenty of moments in fairy tales themselves when the way forward seems impossible.

Early during the first Coronavirus lockdown, Disney Plus released the movie Frozen 2 to be available for streaming earlier than anticipated. So we watched it one night, and some parts definitely exceeded our expectations. In a particularly dark and frightening moment, Princess Anna of Arendelle literally finds herself at rock bottom – laying on the floor of a cave, having just experienced  heartbreaking loss. “I've seen dark before, But not like this,” she sings as she slowly picks herself up off the ground, puts her bag over her shoulder, and makes her way out of the cave, continuing to sing: “This grief has a gravity, it pulls me down. But a tiny voice whispers in my mind: "You are lost, hope is gone, but you must go on. And do the next right thing"

Remember, this is “just a children’s movie,” populated with magical characters including a talking snowman and a fire gecko. But it’s also more than that. I would hope that our children – and their parents - who watch this movie might realize that life can be tough even for a Disney Princess… but this Disney princess can also show us the way through – that to be strong is accepting and working through our grief. We too can take the next step and the next breath even though we don’t yet know where it is leading us, and to take a stand where it is necessary, even when you feel powerless. To do the Next Right thing. And then do the NEXT right thing. And the next.

Sometimes we will get it Really Right – as Simon Peter did – for once! - When Jesus asked the twelve disciples “Who do you say the Son of Man is?” Simon Peter even gets a new name – Peter, Petros, literally meaning Rock. He got the answer right this time, even though he often – along with the other male disciples – tend to bumble around pretty cluelessly. Which is more like how I feel most days, especially right now.

We are in good company as we figure this out. We are not alone in trying to live in the tough stuff. We have Shiphrah and Puah to be our models, we have Moses’ mom and sister, we have Pharaoh’s daughter.

If you have been reading along as we wrap up our 90 Day Bible Challenge, I hope that you have found LOTS of people to be models on our way along the journey – Abraham and Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael, Rebekah, Tamar, Abigail, Rahab, Elijah, Peter, Paul, Mary Magdalene, and many, many more. No one was perfect. But they all did their part, in taking the next step, in doing their part in the “next right thing,” in continuing God’s Great Story.

We aren’t perfect either, and we can’t guarantee every step we take will be perfect. But we take our cue especially from these bold women, and take our place next to them as fellow midwives, witnessing the contractions of our liberation in the process of being born, as we speak. We do what we can, as we wait to take the next step, to write the next chapter, to do the Next Right Thing for our neighbors…. In continuing God’s Great Story.

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.

Oy and Joy

5-6-18

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

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Joy”? Perhaps you think of the character from the Pixar movie a few years ago called “Inside Out.” Joy, along with Disgust, Sadness, Fear, and Anger, are personified emotions inside the head of an eleven-year-old girl named Riley. According to the movie, Joy is a blue-haired, green dress wearing person of unlimited optimism and the voice of Amy Poehler. And honestly sometimes she just seems kind of annoyingly upbeat.

But is that what being joyful really looks like?  How would you describe what Joy is to you? Would you say something like this….?

Joy is… spending time with the people you love, like having dinner with the whole family around the table.

Joy is… working at a job that pays the bills AND provides a sense of meaning… or getting accepted into your dream school or program.

Joy is… hearing a child call your name for the first time.

Joy is… a cat on your lap with a good book and a cup of tea or coffee on a rainy day (like today!).

Sometimes joy is… just getting the laundry finished, or getting a good nights sleep!

Joy is… also my sister’s middle name. We used to tease her about it sometimes when we were kids, and some days say that she should have been named “Katie Not-A-Joy” instead. I hope she might have forgiven us by now. Perhaps if we had grown up on the East Coast, surrounded by so many of our Jewish brothers and sisters, we could have teased her by calling her “Katie Oy.”

The world around us, especially lately, seems to contain so much more “Oy” than “Joy.” Just yesterday, Hawaii experienced historic earthquakes and volcanic activity, and in the last few weeks other things have happened like increased violence and unrest in Syria, superstorms in India, local train derailments, and the sudden bombardment of political candidate leaflets in our mailboxes telling us what is bad about the other candidates running.

This is not to mention the personal tragedies and struggles we each experience every day – depression, fear, betrayal, worry, pain, abandonment, and illness, just to name a few. Exhaustion rules, event-crammed calendars reign, and energy recedes ever faster. Just what IS joy in a life full of all these troubles?

“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus told his disciples. He said this back in John chapter 14, at the start of his goodbye speech, his “last lecture” if you will, on the night that he was betrayed.  He had a lot to say about joy and love, and the disciples desperately needed to hear it - since this would be just hours before they would scatter in fear, abandoning Jesus to be arrested, falsely tried, and sentenced to die by crucifixion. On such a night, talking about love and joy seem terribly out of place.

Love and joy seem terrible out of place when your rabbi and teacher says things like he’s leaving you, and that the world will hate you in his name. Love and joy seem nowhere to be found when Jesus tells you that the greatest love, which he commands you to emulate, possibly might mean laying down your life.

Is Joy just a “churchy” word that we use to decorate Christmas ornaments and hear in grand Easter hymns? Or is there a possibility that Jesus might be on to something, that joy can also be found in the everyday, mixed up together in the pain and troubles of the world?

In the movie Inside Out, as I mentioned a moment ago, Sadness and Joy find themselves on an adventure inside of the brain of a girl named Riley to save some of her most beloved memories. You could not have had a worse pairing of heroes, really. Sort of like those mismatched roommate comedies! At every turn, Joy is frustrated by Sadness’s… Well, sadness. Joy refuses to believe that Sadness can teach her something about experiencing joy … that is, until… Joy finds herself trapped in a dark place called The Memory Dump. There, Joy discovers that our most joyful memories only got that way because sadness was part of them too. She learned that even in a dark and sad place, she can find joy, that joy can come from even the saddest nights.

This is the joy that Jesus has given to us, the kind of joy the world cannot give. Joy is… that on the darkest night that Jesus ever had, the savior of the world chooses to break bread with US - rich AND poor, the power-full AND the power-less, with the healthy AND the sick, with insiders AND with outsiders, with men AND women, old AND young children.

Joy is…that Jesus chose to be his disciples a rag-tag band of perfectly flawed human beings, though they be betrayers, deniers, and abandoners.

Joy is…that Jesus chooses US to be his disciples too, also flawed and imperfect human beings.

Joy is… being chosen as children of God, and through us our faith is conquering the world in a revolution of peace and love and understanding.

Joy is… having your sermon interrupted by the Holy Spirit and with a crazy, loud, spontaneous baptism of a whole bunch of people, as we heard that Peter experienced in our first reading. Or, as what happened last week right here, joy is also getting your sermon interrupted by our littlest disciples showing off their artwork in the new word they learned, “abide.”

Joy is… the fact that our synod, the South Eastern Pennsylvania Synod is one of the most diverse synods of the ELCA.  Joy is that our synod assembly, which happened this last weekend, contained 17% voting delegates who are people of color, and that together we made history by electing the first ever African American female bishop in the entire ELCA. 

Joy is … seeing the beautiful image of God in the faces of people of all faiths, races, cultures, languages, and sexual orientations.

Joy is… just when you thought that death had won, joy is that NEW LIFE HAPPENS.

Our joy… is not complete without Jesus.

It may have appeared a little odd to still be back to the night that Jesus was betrayed during the celebratory season of Easter. But we know that you cannot have one without experiencing the other. New life cannot happen apart from death. Resurrection cannot happen without crucifixion. Easter cannot happen without Good Friday. Joy cannot exist apart from being open to the possibility of pain. Love cannot endure without anything less than everything you have.

The reason that we have no need for troubled hearts in this troubled world and in our troubled lives is not because Jesus makes the lives of his followers into cupcakes and lattes. Just look at the lives of Peter, Mary Magdalene, Paul, and the rest. Their preaching of the joy of Jesus brought them prison, ridicule, and persecution. Nor does Jesus call us to willfully ignore the troubling realities of the world around us, or when tragedy strikes in our lives.

Instead, we know and trust that, as the psalmist says, “Weeping may linger for a night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) Or put another way, by the musical Les Mis, “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” 

Welcome to a new dawn and a new day. Thanks be to God. Amen.

"I'm Not Jesus"

Sermon 5-21-17

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our risen Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

Dirk Lange

Because I was not an official voting delegate at the Lutheran World Federation Assembly in Namibia this last week, I did not always have to be in the plenary sessions the entire time. For a little while I was able to help my friend Dirk Lange with his worship committee of awesome people. Dirk Lange was one of my worship professors at Luther Seminary in Minneapolis, and he was also the worship planner for the Joint Commemoration service with both Catholics and Lutherans last year in Lund Sweden for the 499^th anniversary of the reformation. That service was led by both Pope Francis and the previous president of the Lutheran World Federation Bishop Munib Younan, who I also met last week.

Bishop Younan

Dirk asked me to help with worship last week as I was available, in addition to preaching Tuesday night. Another night I was asked to help distribute communion, which was no small task for a congregation of about 1000 people who spoke or understood English as a second or third language. It was a beautiful and holy chaotic mess, with much patience and graciousness required.

At one point, I tried to flag down one of the hard-working volunteers who was running around with extra bread. Unfortunately, I ran out before he could get to me, and I had to say to the next person in line – Sorry, I’m not Jesus! I hope they understood that I did NOT have the power to multiply the loaves as Jesus did, and in any case, they laughed. And thankfully in a moment, we had more bread.

I am not Jesus, obviously. But that night, giving the body of Christ, Jesus was IN me and WITH me. In the bread and in the wine, Jesus was present IN us and WITH us that evening in the worship tent in Windhoek, Namibia, with a thousand Lutherans gathered together from all over the world. Even when we ran out of bread and had to wait for more, or were confused about which line to be in, or perhaps a little hungry or tired from late dinners and long days, after traveling across continents through far too many international airports to get there.

This is exactly what Jesus is trying to get across to his disciples during the last night they are together, the night of the Last Supper – though the disciples don’t know yet that this is what it will be called. Judas Iscariot had just left the group to go get the chief priests, scribes, and the detachment of soldiers that will arrest Jesus in only a few chapters. Night had just fallen, and the darkness of evil and death were drawing closer to cease their chance to pounce.

Jesus knows what is about to happen. We know what is about to happen. But the other disciples don’t know. For them, the arrest, torture, humiliation, and death of Jesus is still in the future. The disciples will very soon abandon Jesus, but they will also feel abandoned BY Jesus. Jesus here is trying to get them ready for this future that looks as though darkness will win the final victory.

This is a passage that speaks to us as well, right here and now, though we of course know the story ends with resurrection. But even so, we don’t get to see the risen Jesus walking around in our midst. He’s not wandering the globe in his sandals in a world-wide game of “where’s Waldo?”. So how can Jesus be present with us when he seems more absent, especially in the world we live in that is hurting and divided by the powers of darkness and death?

In many cultures around the world, especially in Africa and the Caribbean, come from traditions holding that loved ones who have died have gained higher knowledge and wisdom, and therefore become present to us and guide us. To theologians who come from these parts of the world, Jesus returns to his disciples through the presence and guidance Holy Spirit. And to a science fiction nerd like me, this very much sounds like the brilliant and moving story-arcs from the Star Wars movies saga.

Because I had a lot of time on my hands as I flew across the world to get to Namibia, I watched through ALL the Star Wars movies, including the 2 recent ones. The original trilogy will always be a favorite, you know, the one with Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Yoda, and Princess Leia. There is just something about hearing a good story from a galaxy far, far away to make something about your own story even more clear.

As young Jedi-in-training Luke Skywalker is put through his paces by the small green Yoda, Yoda teaches Luke the nuances of the Force. When Luke yet again doubts the Force, Yoda takes him to task. “Judge me by my size, do you?” Yoda asks. “As well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is…  Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere.”

In this universe far, far away, this all-embracing Force gives Jedi masters the ability to commune with the living after they have died. So, again and again, whenever Luke is in dire need of guidance, Luke’s other mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi return to guide him. Sometimes Obi-Wan leads Luke where he needs to go, as when he tells Luke how to find Yoda to receive training. Other times it is to teach Luke hard truths about his past and his identity. But no matter what, neither Obi-Wan Kenobi, nor the Force, abandons Luke. Not even as Luke comes face-to-face in a battle against the galaxy’s darkest evil… in which he finds the true evil he must combat is not the galactic empire, but within himself.

In universe of the Force, we are luminous beings, and not this crude stuff of flesh and blood. But in OUR universe, we believe that we are BOTH luminous beings and flesh and blood, created as all of this, by a loving God. This loving God sent his son to us, who was both the word of God and the light of the world, so that he would become flesh and live among us – crude matter and all.

Jesus came to live WITH us and AS us to show us that GOD LIVES in us too. Jesus came to live with us, to die as one of us, so that when he lives, we will also live. Jesus came to show us that we are also part of one another, that we are all part of God’s Family, and that God does not abandon God’s children.

Jesus had to come to remind us, because the littlest thing makes us forget. Even Lutherans from around the world need help remembering. This is why the overall theme of the Lutheran World Federation Assembly was “Liberated by God’s Grace.” And the three sub-themes reminded us of what we too often forget – Salvation, Creation, and Human beings are Not For Sale.

These were the themes for the assembly because all-too-often we forget – we forget that ALL people have been created for freedom and dignity, from the girl who are trafficked to the untouchables from India to African Americans whose ancestors were slaves less than dozen generations ago. We forget that Creation is not a magical never-ending resource, especially if we don’t in our own country don’t directly see the high cost of our throw-away culture. We forget that it is not Wealth and Money are not our gods, but the God of Love gives us our salvation freely and abundantly.

We forget that our command is to love one another. We forget that we are to love the Lord our God by loving our neighbor. Our Republican neighbor and our Democratic neighbor. Our gay neighbor and our straight neighbor. Our neighbors who are women and men and transgender, our neighbors who are black and white and Muslim and Jewish and not-religious.

If we as global Lutherans – Namibians with Indonesians, Canadians with Bolivians – can find common ground and break bread with one another for an entire week, can’t we do the same with the people who are right here, around us?

So if Jesus seems to repeat himself and seems a little wordy, especially in the Gospel of John, it is because we don’t seem to be listening the first or the fortieth time.  And we don’t have to go half way across the world to keeps these commandments of love. The Holy Spirit is always at work, looking out for us over our shoulder, pointing us down the right way, and sometimes telling us the hard truths.

But the Holy Spirit is also the one who says, You are a child of God, and I am a child of God, and together, we are all part of one family of God. We breathe the same air that God has created. We are part of one another, just as Jesus will always be part of us.

“Sorry, I’m not Jesus,” – but Jesus does live us me, and will use our hands and feet. And together as one family we are called to walk into God’s unknown but exciting future. We live, because Jesus lives. Amen.

You are Salt and Light!

2-5-17

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ, amen.

As I was putting my call sermon from December 4^th and my sermon from last week on my online blog, I realized that though these sermons were almost two months apart, I talked about Dietrich Bonhoeffer both times. And, at the risk sounding like I am totally uncreative, I thought it would be a good idea to mention him AGAIN, in order to share with you who he was and why I have quoted him so much in the past and probably will in the future.  

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor in the 1930s who preached, wrote, and was a leader against the Third Reich, and the Nazis did all they could to prevent him from speaking out. At one point Bonhoeffer escaped to the United States, and could have lived here permanently, out of harm’s way. But he could not stay away from his people. So he bravely came back to Germany, and not long after was arrested and imprisoned by the Nazis. He was executed just days before his prison camp was liberated by Allied forces.

About a year ago a Catholic acquaintance heard me preach on Bonhoeffer and he was shocked: “What? He’s Lutheran?” he said, “I assumed he was Catholic.” Nope. The Catholics get plenty of cool people… like Mother Teresa and Stephen Colbert. But WE get Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer is OURS!

Lutherans don’t have saints the same way Catholics do, but we still lift up models and heroes of the faith that show us how to live as disciples of Jesus during challenging times.

There is still plenty to learn about being a disciple. The Sermon on the Mount keeps going and Jesus is still preaching. In fact, his sermon goes on for about two more chapters, and we’re going to get a pretty solid chunk of it in the next few weeks before Lent starts.

“Previously in The Sermon on the Mount”: Jesus flipped the expectations of the world upside down by telling us who is really blessed in God’s kingdom – the poor in spirit, the outcast, the mourning, those hungry for righteousness, those who work for justice and peace. 

Bonhoeffer knew what it was like to be blessed by Jesus as he was hungry and thirsty for righteousness, as he mourned for the state of his nation, as he was reviled and persecuted by those who sought to silence the message of the Gospel. Bonhoeffer also how to live as salt and light, and how hard that would be in a world that would rather make that light stay hidden.  

Speaking of things that are hidden, February is not just “Valentine’s Day Awareness month,” or “Super Bowl Month.” February is also Black History Month, a fact that seems to get buried underneath all the red hearts and guacamole.

If you haven’t already seen the movie Hidden Figures, after fellowship time, drive over to the Regal Cinema or the theater of your choice and catch the next matinee, you’ll probably make the 12:25 showing. Hidden Figures is based on a book that tells the story of three African American women who worked for NASA in the 1960s. I’m going to let that fact sink in for a moment. Black women, working in math and science, in the 1960s.

When a fellow colleague asked Mary Johnson, one of these amazing women, “If you were a white man, would you wish to be an engineer?” Mary answered, “I wouldn’t have to. I’d already be one.”

I don’t think it’s spoiling the movie to reveal that these women were the true “hidden figures.” At every turn, they were minimized, ignored, feared, misunderstood, and excluded. But at every challenge, the minds of these women shone out as they did their patriotic duty to safely launch John Glenn into orbit. They could not help but shine as the brilliant women that they ARE, pioneers and heroes in their own right. It’s pretty awesome that we can learn about the amazing stories of these hidden figures by watching points of light projected on a giant screen.

It is a property of light to shine. Light can’t NOT be itself. It can’t NOT shine. Light doesn’t have to TRY to be light. Salt doesn’t have to WORK AT being salt. They just are. Light doesn’t second-guess itself or worry about what the other photons will think if they shine. Salt doesn’t strive for the perfect work-life balance before deciding that it has the time to be salty. Salt flavors, light shines. It’s what they do.

Jesus said, “You are salt and light.” The end, end of story. We just are.

But that also means, if we are the light, we can no longer remain hidden, even if we wanted too. Light shines - the Body of Christ is seen in the world. It’s who we are. If we follow Jesus, we won’t be able to help ourselves. It’s going to get us noticed by people whose notice we may not want.  But this light is also going to make us see things that we might rather not see.

If you look into bright light for long enough, a shadowy image of that light will stay in your retinas for a few minutes. And on the flip side, if we look into darkness for too long, our eyes can adjust to the lower levels of light, if the sun sets slowly enough or we wait long enough in the dark.

The world seems like a pretty dark place right now for many of us. But after a while we can convince ourselves that it really isn’t all THAT dark after all, especially when certain aspects of the darkness don’t affect us ALL that much.

But many of our brothers and sisters have been plunged into darkness and despair. Those who are misunderstood, feared, vilified because of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality are suffering in the darkness. Their struggles are unseen, unnoticed, or deemed as unimportant. And there are many in the world who would like the darkness, and want to keep it that way. The darkness may be scary, but perhaps even scarier is how comfortable the darkness can become to us.

The beginning of the Gospel of John states that “A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5) That light is the arrival of Jesus, who came to defeat darkness and the power of evil, and to the world who God is.

With Jesus, the mask comes off, and we get to see the love of God in action. Like Clarke Kent taking off those fake glasses that were never really fooling anyone anyway, revealing a real flesh and blood superhero who came to save the world. But not by flying and jumping higher or running faster than anybody else. Instead, he saved the world by becoming a normal, regular, everyday human being. A human being who could experience pain and sadness and grief and even death. A human being who was also God’s son, who died and rose again so that we might live, too.

So when Jesus says we are blessed, we’d better pay attention.

So when Jesus says we are salt and light, we’d better listen up.

So when Jesus says it’s time to assemble the super heroes and super heroines, we’d better be ready to saddle up.

We belong to a real-life league of heroes, one who don’t wear capes or have secret identities. WE, actually, wear our identities on our sleeves, in plain sight, for all to seen.

Admission to this league of heroes isn’t reserved for the fast, strong, or superior. We belong to this league because we are God’s beloved children. We don’t consider Dietrich Bonhoeffer a hero of the faith because he was perfect, supernaturally brave, or above making mistakes. He’s a hero because Jesus trusted him to be who he was called to be – salt and light until the day he died.

We are light and salt for the world. The darkness will only get darker until we decide that we are going to BE who we ARE. Like beacons of light, we reveal the injustice of the world, which would rather work undisturbed hidden in a cloak of darkness. We shine to say to our brothers and sisters, “I see you, I see what’s happening to you, and I’m NOT ok with it.” 

Like salt, we are the spice of the world that brings out the flavor of love and kindness that already exists out there, which the world has chosen to forget or is too afraid to show.

The world is watching, and people are going to notice. The world is going to try and prevent us from being who we are.

A little salt and a little light go a long way. Just a little light in the darkness, shining wherever you are, can make a big difference. You don’t have to be the next Dietrich Bonhoeffer. You just have to be the next YOU. Child of God, salt of the earth, light of the world. Amen.

"What's in YOUR wallet?"

Sermon 7-3-16

Grace to you and peace from God our father and from our Lord and savior Jesus the Christ, amen.

When I worked for three summers as a camp counselor at a Lutheran Bible camp in central Wisconsin, we were strongly recommended to pack for the summer what we could bear to carry in one trip. We would be moving from one cabin to another, living in a different cabin every week, and so hauling and setting up our stuff was a weekly chore. Some of us held to this recommendation … while others… not so much. And sometimes, it felt like our campers, who were only with us for 5 days, had packed more for that week than WE had for the entire summer.

Now, just two weeks ago, as I prepared for a synod event – which happened to be hosted by Cross Roads Camp in northwest Jersey –I realized that I had put three books in my bag. For an event that was for 24 hours. But did I take them OUT of my bag when I realized how silly this was?  Nope, I left them in there! I felt like I needed to bring them… you know. JUST IN CASE.

Yes, I used my actual purse

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 the audience and creating a skit based on what they find in there. And the stuff they pull out… Shoes, dental floss, cardigans, earbuds, q-tips, sun hats, empty water bottles, bags and bags of snacks. And wee laugh at how ridiculous it is… but really, are the rest of us any different? Like that one credit card commercial that asks “What’s in your wallet?”… What’s do you have in your purse, wallet, backpack, or car?

It’s only fair that I pick on myself for a moment…  Besides the usual car keys, church keys, wallet, and cell phone, I have tissues, hand sanitizer, some pens, lip balm, an extra collar insert, my tablet with my calendar and a Bible app, and usually at least on book that I’m reading, of course! This week I also have with me a VBS CD, since we just had ours this past week. So, for the most part, pretty standard stuff. But still. It’s a lot of stuff in there. Just in case… (During the first service when I took out my purse to show this stuff, my sermon flew off when I set it on the pulpit! Too much stuff in there!)

Unless you have one of these.

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 what 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, and there is so much work to do to get ready that Jesus needs help. Jesus has already called his core group of twelve disciples, but he needs all hands on deck for the harvest, people. This is getting so big so fast, that 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, McDonald’s, Panera, or Shoprite 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, and no changing houses if the owner snores. Jesus UN-equips them, to make then totally dependent on the hospitality of those who are hearing the good news and being healed. Which seems pretty foolish. Why would Jesus do that?  Because he is sending them to be physical embodiments of what is means to be totally dependent on God.

And amazingly, it worked. 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 received, 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 for Jesus to show us that it’s not WHAT we bring with us that matters. Instead, it’s WHO we bring that matters, isn’t it?

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, wallets, cars, houses, storage units, all in the name of “just in case.”  

And there are also non-physical things that we carry with us that weigh us down, too – Fear, anxiety, worry, depression, despair, impatience, addiction, apathy, anger, hostility… all this things are HEAVY to carry around with us, aren’t they? Really, too heavy for us to bear all by ourselves on a daily basis.

At the end of his letter to the Galatians, we heard Paul encourage his divided congregation to bear one another’s burdens. I recently saw this illustrated perfectly in a movie I watched called “Inside Out.” This may be an animated movie, but it is not JUST for kids! Most of the movie happens inside the head of an eleven year old girl named Riley, where we meet her five emotions: Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. Sadness and Joy find themselves lost deep in Riley’s brain while on a mission to get back some of her formative memories. On their quest, they come across Riley’s imaginary friend Bing Bong, who leads them to something called the Train of Thought which will get them back to where they’re supposed to be. Along the way to the train, the three watch in horror as Bing Bong’s beloved rocket wagon gets plunged into the Memory Dump, to be forgotten by Riley forever. Bing Bong, overwhelmed with grief that Riley might have outgrown him, sits down and is unable to go on. Joy is very impatient to get back, so she tries to distract him from his feelings, by tickling him and making funny faces. Which didn't work.

Sadness, however, stops. She sits down next to him. She says to him, “I’m sorry they took your rocket. They took something that you loved. And it’s gone. Forever…” Then, she listened to him. Then, she held him as he cried his candy tears on her shoulder. Then, because Sadness was bearing his burdens with him, he had the strength to continue on their adventure together.

Sadness had remembered to bring with her something that Joy did not: kindness, empathy, and compassion, things that made their tough journey together a little easier to get through.

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.

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.

In Paul’s letter to the Philippians which we read through during the weeks of Lent this last year, Paul also wrote – "I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (4:12-13)

That’s the secret: The stuff we bring with us doesn’t give us strength. Jesus does. The seventy disciples could do all things set before them, and we can too, because we bring Jesus WITH us along the way. Amen.