On the Beach and on the Couch

 Sermon 2-6-22

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.

Imagine, at that lakeshore, Peter and his fellow fishermen, exhausted, as they ended a long and unproductive night of fishing. Along comes Jesus, who tells them to go into the deep waters and try again. They do, somewhat reluctantly, but then are shocked at the size of their catch – so big, their boat starts to sink from the weight of all that fish!

At this miracle before their very eyes, Peter makes a correct assumption – this man must be from God. When Jesus commands, stuff happens. But this realization terrifies Peter. Peter falls to his knees in awe and blurts out that he is a sinful man. It makes me wonder if that is Peter’s way of expressing his confusion - how is it that this holy person, this man clearly blessed by God, would deign to be among these ordinary people in this ordinary place? More specifically, in an ordinary fishing boat, in the middle of some sweaty men and stinky fish. 

Peter grew up in a religious tradition where there is clear separation between sacred and profane, between holy and ordinary, where God is and where God is not expected to show up. The holy is set apart and protected… and not always necessarily FROM us, but FOR us too. The sacred can be dangerous and unpredictable, and so, for everyone's safety, the boundary between holy and ordinary is crossed only at one’s own risk, as we heard in our Isaiah reading. 

Though we are thousands of miles and thousands of years removed from the worldview of Peter and his people, we still BEHAVE as if this is true. That God can only be found in some places rather than others, and only at certain times, or in certain circumstances. And sometimes this idea gets picked up and amplified by none other than the New York Times.  

Of course I am talking about a recent opinion article shared by the New York Times.  In this article, already limited in its accessibility behind a paywall, a pastor from a small fundamentalist denomination claims to know where God does and does not show up. She writes that with the pandemic being “managed” with masks, distancing, and a milder variant, all churches should cease any and all online options, in order to focus back on physical gatherings and get people “back in the pews.” 

You may have noticed all through the pandemic, social media posts have been passed around the internet with a similar theme: “You can’t REALLY worship from your couch” - as if everyone who has chosen to participate in worship online is by default lazily sipping coffee in their pajamas on their couch, rather than being bothered to get dressed and get in their car to “show up” for worship. 

On this day, however, when we are resuming in-person worship in the hope that the cases of Omicron continue to fall, it’s still important to remember why community is important in ALL the ways that you and your family are able to connect.

Yes, even community from your couch. 

You may not be able to leave your couch if you struggle with a chronic illness… but you can sing and pray while worship is streaming. You CAN experience the power of God’s presence, even if you aren’t able to be with everyone every Sunday … maybe your children are throwing up all over the couch, or your anxiety or depression are keeping you to your couch, or your autistic child is having a hard time and the couch is a safe place for them today. We see you, those of you who are on the other side of the camera, and we value you, and we love you. 

Christians need community, and community comes in many forms. We can contribute cards and share Facebook posts and prayer requests and email encouragement and tithe from literally ANYWHERE now. We can serve, sacrifice, encourage, pray, and do life together both online and in person. And actually, many of us have been doing it for years already. Online options are here to stay, and this is a blessing from God.

We can’t be all things to all people. But our call as communities of faith is to do what Jesus did – meet and love people where they are at, in all the miraculous ways we can be embodied together, however that may look like. 

Isaiah met God in the temple - and God could barely fit  and then God sent him out. 

Jesus met the crowds by the lake on a workday, and not in the synagogue on the sabbath, as he has already done previously. Jesus met Peter and called him to discipleship in the middle of a precarious boat among smelly fish and smellier guys. 

Jesus showed up for the crowds, for Peter, and for us to show us that the holy CAN be found in the ordinary. That God is not ONLY found in the church building - no matter how beautiful the newly redone pews look. The church is not active for only one hour per week. The church is a body of people all the time - it’s on the internet, on your couch, and sometimes even in pajamas, at all hours of the day and night. 

This article that I’ve mentioned is not the only reason that the New York Times currently is making people irate. It also recently acquired the now infamous online word game called “Wordle” - perhaps you’ve heard of it? May I be so bold as to suggest some future answers to the Wordle game.... Words that the New York Times, that pastor who wrote this article, and all of us can benefit from being reminded of, such as: world, agape, boost, links, pivot, and unite.

And maybe you can think of a few words to add as well … but just remember, the word CHURCH - C-H-U-R-C-H - does NOT fit. The Church cannot be contained by those 5 green boxes…  nor can it be contained by the limited imagination of pastors and other church leaders… nor can it be contained within boundaries, temples, boats, expectations, and limitations… nor can it be contained by death itself. Jesus always breaks nets and boxes, and we as the church are called to do the same. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Star Words and Recalculations

 Sermon 1-2-22

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

We all know this voice: “In one thousand feet, take the exit on the right. Continue for three quarters of a mile. In one hundred feet, turn left.  Turn Left…..TURN LEFT. Recalculating route. Make the next legal U-turn. Recalculating route.”

Have you ever felt that life can be like following the directions on your GPS? Everything seems to be going just fine for a while – when suddenly you pass the exit you were supposed to take, or are told to take a turn that doesn’t exist. That’s how this last year - or two - may have felt: like one big recalculation, and you ended 2021 in a part of the map you weren’t expecting. 

Today is the second day of the new year of 2022, but we are also celebrating the Day of Epiphany. While the rest of the world has already finished up the after-Christmas sales and put away the lights and decorations, and already forgotten their New Year's Resolutions, today WE are observing the final element to the Christmas story: Wise men from the East arrive, following a blazing star that told them of the birth of a mighty ruler. 

These wise men or magi from another country made it their business to study the night sky. But do you remember the last time you looked up at the stars? Often we are too busy to look up at the stars anymore, and we no longer need them for navigation and time keeping, thanks to our fancy GPS and digital watches.

But when spending the summer as a camp counselor in rural Wisconsin, you get to see them A LOT.  At this Lutheran camp I worked at, one night during every week, every cabin pitched tents in the woods for a camp out. After dark, 8 teen girls and I would go on a hike on the trails to find a nice dark spot. We would stop and then… I turned the flashlight off. After the initial shock, our eyes adjusted to see a sky FULL of stars. 

To their astonishment, I would tell my campers of the time before cars and GPS or even reliable maps, when people used the stars to find their way, using the North Star here in the northern hemisphere. Now, the North Star is NOT the brightest star nor the easiest to find. However, while all the other stars travel around the sky during the night, the North Star stays fixed in place… making it so very helpful to find north. And this star too has found its place more than once in history: For enslaved people in the southern part of our country over a hundred and fifty years ago, the North Star was both a beacon of hope and a map to show them their way to freedom.

Each of those teenage girls in my cabin lived in a constantly changing world, while figuring out their identity and direction. They were trying to find their way in a world that was often not very kind. But while everything around them swirled and shifted, I would tell them that the love of Jesus will never change, would never shift or falter or dim, like a kind of North Star shining in our night sky.

In many ways that world hasn’t changed, then and now - the world the wise men navigated was just as full of disasters, tragic events, scandals and bad news as today. 

Perhaps the wise men who followed the star wondered if their star GPS was working properly, when they finally arrived in Jerusalem. They expected to find a young prince, amid the trappings of power and wealth. They certainly found a ruler all right, but it was wiley King Herod, appalled to learn there was someone out there who would dare threaten his position. 

For people like Herod, the status quo he benefited from was just fine - and any threat must be found out, either through intimidation and brute force, or cunning and manipulation. 

But the wise men saw through Herod’s sneaky ways, took a detour, and recalculated, following the star instead. The light stayed with them until they arrived at their destination –  the boy Jesus, found in unexpectedly humble circumstances. 

The life of this Jesus when he grew up seemed to take a few detours, too. He did not grow up to be the king that others expected him to be. Instead of wearing fine robes and dining in palaces, he broke bread with poor and homeless people, hung out with fishermen, talked to tax collectors, and healed the sick. Instead of wielding a sword as a warrior, he used his words to teach and to heal and bring peace. 

Instead of being crowned and venerated as king of his people, he was worshipped and given gifts by wise men from another country. And later, he was crowned with a crown of thorns and enthroned on a cross… and throughout Jesus never wavered. The light that he brought into the world blazed on, and could not be snuffed out.  

These days in the season after Epiphany will continue to grow brighter, bit by bit, by precious minutes each day. But while we’re in the midst of it, this increase can be hard to notice. We all need reminders of this - especially right now in the thick of Omircon. 

For the wise men, this reminder was a star. But for us, in these days, it can be something smaller and less interstellar. It can be something physical, perhaps something that you use often or see every day. 

You may have heard of a somewhat recent Epiphany tradition called “Star Words.” Star Words are like the opposite of a new year’s resolution – it’s not a goal you choose for yourself because you feel deficient in some way. Instead, a star word is a gift that you receive, it's a word NOT of your own choosing, which you carry with you for your whole year. It can set the tone for your year. It’s a way to listen to how God can be speaking to you in 2022. 

Originally, we had planned to hand these star words out during communion, but it turns out that 2022 has other plans for us. But never fear! We recalculated. You can still get your word at any time. We’ll still have some here at the church building if you are here to drop off supplies for Hypothermia or for a small group activity. You can also receive one online at a special Star Word generator at www.wordoftheyear.me. That’s what I did. I got….

Take this star, and write down the word, OR you can screen shot the word you got, either print it out, or use it as the background picture on your phone.  Share this word with others, or keep it to yourself: it’s up to you. Post it in the facebook comments today. Hang it somewhere you can see, so that you may be reminded in the coming year that God loves you. 

The Herods of the world don’t want us to remember that Jesus arrived into this world to give life and love to all of us – even the dim bulbs and the broken lights that we may feel like sometimes. Even when we feel lost and our lives are in constant need of U-turns and recalculations and detours. 

May this star word, and the coming light of this Epiphany season, give YOU some illumination this year. May Jesus enlighten your life in 2022, and guide you as a light that never dims, never wavers, and will always brighten whatever in your life seems dim and hopeless. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Emmanuel, God Finding Us

 12-26-21

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

Have you ever noticed that the rest of the world seems to forget about Christmas by about… 6 pm yesterday? How many of your neighbors are taking down their decorations today? How many trees have you already seen at the curb this morning? And depressingly, the Valentine’s day candy AND EASTER candy are already out in the stores! 

It’s December 26th, and we want to put Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the sheep, and even baby Jesus in the manger back in the box to wait for next year. The ironic thing is though, the wise men technically haven’t even arrived yet - THEY don’t show up until Epiphany - NEXT Sunday!

I mean, what IS time right now anyway? Jesus has gone from being a baby to 12 years old in a matter of hours! Not quite a child but not yet grown up – and definitely too young to be wandering off by himself (though definitely old enough to be vaccinated). 

Can you imagine what Mary and Joseph must have been feeling when they realized that they had left their son behind in Jerusalem? Jerusalem is a huge city to get lost in – Mary and Joseph spent three whole days searching for him, probably panicking the whole time. Remember, this is before text messaging, GPS, or the Amber Alert. To them, Jesus was truly lost, maybe even forever. 

When they found him in the temple, imagine the relief that flooded through them as they realized that he was safe. Joy - and some exasperation mixed together filled Mary as she admonished her son – “How dare you do that to us?!? We were so worried!” 

But Jesus’ answer blew them all away. No apology or guilt from him. Instead he asked “Why were you searching for me?” “Didn’t you know that I would be in my Father’s [house]?” Who would have thought that our tween Lord and Savior would sass off to his parents. 

And this is only a foretaste of the feast to come - at 12 he sneaks away from his parents. As an adult, he continues to cause trouble.  He evades being categorized. He talks in circles. He’s hard to pin down. It seems as though we constantly have to “find” him - like when impeccably dressed proselytizers knock on your door and ask you “Have you found Jesus?” as if Jesus is Waldo. 

This begs the question - Can Jesus be trusted when he wanders off, and always seems to be in need of being “found”? Even worse, it seems like when we need Jesus the most, when we desperately need comfort and hope, that’s when he seems the farthest away. Where WAS Jesus during a year like 2020 and 2021, especially when the turn of this year looks pretty dicy, not to mention during all the regular times our hearts get broken? Where IS Jesus when life gets tough? 

Jesus doesn’t alway do what we expect him to do, and stay where we expect him to stay. And that actually can be a good thing. He was born a king on Christmas, but he did not grow up to be the king that others expected him to be. Instead of wearing fine robes and dining in palaces, he broke bread with poor people and hung out with fishermen, tax collectors, and women. Instead of wielding a sword, he used his words to teach and to heal and bring peace. Instead of being venerated as king of his people, he was honored and recognized by wise men from another country. 

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the hope arriving in our lives. He isn’t hiding, like in a game of hide-and-seek, behind the couch with the dust bunnies. He didn’t jump out the tomb that first Easter morning and ride into the sunset, never to be seen again. He WANTS us to find him. That is the exact reason why Jesus clothed himself in love so that we would recognize him, by becoming one of us. 

How better to show us God’s love than to become one of us and to tell us face to face? How better to show us that we are children of God than to FIND US where we are at, in all our smiles and tears, in our joys and sadness, in our hopes and fears. There was no better way to wrap us up in love than to come as a present, wrapped like one of us.  This love has been in front of us the whole time, wrapped in the form of a baby, almost completely unnoticed by everyone except for Mary, Joseph, some angels and some shepherds. 

This gift of love that he has given us, in coming as one of us, surprised humanity so much that we didn’t see it for what it was. God gave to us Jesus before we even knew that we needed him, and Jesus keeps showing up and surprising us, and not just at Christmas either. 

Last year during Vacation Bible School, do you remember that one of the songs was about Christmas? That’s right - in the middle of the heat and the onslaught of the cicadas (remember those?) all the kids were singing about Jesus as a little baby. They sang “It can feel like Christmas in the springtime or the fall. It can feel like Christmas through the hottest months of all…. Emmanuel, God is with us all year long.”  At the time, I though there was no way that these kids would be into this song in June… but I was wrong! They were really into it, and requested that song again and again. 

The second verse of that VBS song starts “I don’t need presents, I don’t even need a tree. Remembering that Jesus came is all it takes for me.” That’s easy to say in the heat of June, but it’s also true in December - While we are searching for hope amid the leftovers and the crumpled wrapping paper and the drying out tree  Jesus finds us and holds us tight. 

We are found, and become all wrapped up in the amazing and all-encompassing love of God, not just during the Christmas season, but on every day of our lives. Emmanuel, God is with us all year long, even on December 26th. Emmanuel, we don’t have to go looking for him. Emmanuel, who finds US when WE are lost. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

"Doing, Not Brooding"

12-12-21 

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.

I just love the “Advent meme season.” It seems that every year, social media jokes about Advent get funnier and more numerous. Like the classic John the Baptist picture from a few years ago that is the perfect ideal visual for today, captioned by: “Happy Advent, you brood of vipers!” How’s that for a festive holiday message? 

In a month where it kind of feels like nothing is festive and everything is on fire, so to speak, it feels like John the Baptist is so fired up that he just wants to let ‘er rip at everyone and everything. And after month like this, between things like another tragic school shooting and the continued onslaught on reproductive health care, rising cases of both Delta and now Omicron, and some parts of the country still refusing to get vaccinated and travel in flux for the upcoming Christmas holiday, I don’t blame John one bit. 

Honestly, at the moment, it feels like we, in the concluding weeks of 2021, might deserve John’s harsh words. Maybe John is right, in a world where not much has changed - and in many ways, we feel as though we are going BACKWARDS even. One example is these texts came up in 2012, the Sunday after the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre. And now, it’s only been a matter of days since the most recent deadly school shooting in Michigan. Maybe we are no better than children of snakes, as John says.

From this passage I imagine John as a gritty, towering man, thunderously pacing and preaching. He is dunking people left and right, admonishing the people in power for their selfish ways. Everything about this guy just seems larger than life, and his challenge to those with power and authority is exciting to the average person, powerless and under the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. 

And so, they wonder - is this the one whom we have been waiting for? Is he the Messiah? Has he finally arrived to kick out their Roman oppressors? But John says to the people – you think what I’M doing is radical and life-changing? Just you wait! I’m only the messenger. Someone EVEN MORE potent is on his way!

John is laying the foundation and churning up the soil to make ready for the coming of Jesus and the beginning of his ministry. John is the warm-up act to Jesus the headliner; John is the trailer to the full-length film of the coming of God. He is the last of a very long line of prophets stretching back through the ages, and their messages were one and the same – the Lord WILL ARRIVE! And that can be both exciting and terrifying.

To us, John’s “good news” may not sound like “good news” … Or does it? At least the people listening to John weren’t completely turned off, because many were emboldened to ask in response “what then should we DO?” Two interesting groups are specifically mentioned to respond: Tax Collectors and Roman soldiers – not exactly the type of people we would expect to show up to John’s fiery preaching. 

The Roman soldiers were like the bouncers of the empire – to keep the oppressed populace in line. And yet, here they are – out there in the desert getting dunked and taking to heart all that John was saying. And similarly, the tax collectors did the Roman Empire’s dirty work, betraying their own people and skimming more than a little off the top for their own profit. Both these groups were moved, and asked “what shall WE do?” The empire should be very nervous at this point, and rightly so – their muscle and their money people are starting to show a change of heart. 

And if we’re doing Advent “right,” if we are asking questions and using this time to reflect and prepare for the arrival of Jesus amid the lure of free two-day shipping and the barrage of buy-one-get-one deals, the empires of power around us should be shaking in their boots, too. 

Because the answer to the question of what we do in response to John is shockingly easy, if we too listen to John. So, what CAN we do, as students, as accountants, as teachers and parents, as retirees, as homeowners, as teachers, CPAs, nurses, cashiers, business owners, real estate agents, siblings – what should WE DO in the face of the arrival of God’s kingdom here on earth?

Oh, nothing major – live within our resources, not to overstep, to minimize our footprint on creation, and not take advantage of the power and privilege that we do have. In fact, give away that power, and use the privilege for others. Don’t impose on the rights of other people, their right to not just to survive, but to thrive, because that is what we deserve too. 

This Advent season I’m going to try to do my small part in dismantling the empires of consumerism, white supremacy, apathy, the mirage of success, the cult of busyness. To help do this, I am going to make sure I reach out to the people I care about and make time to give them my presence over worrying about presents. I’m going to find joy in the small things, to focus on the important things, and remain open to the experiences and stories of others.

I’m going to remember to be kind to the strangers around me. I’m going to try to do small things to work for justice, like shopping fair trade when I can, and supporting small local businesses, or non-profits like ELCA Good Gifts, or other retailers that align with the justice issues I feel passionate about. I can get some coffee from the fair trade fair after worship today, or pick a star off the star tree. I can sign up to take part in serving the local Vienna unhoused community by signing up for Hypothermia week and attending today’s adult forum to get ready, or pay for a month of internet for our Afghan family. 

We do this, not because this is how get into heaven. Instead, this is a response to the gift of our baptisms in Jesus, that we are chosen to be God’s children, baptized into Jesus’ death, and raised up as new people to live in this new way. This is what John means by repent – not simply feeling sorry but showing that we are sorry by showing a different kind of behavior than before.  And what John here is saying, is taking responsibility for our actions and seeking to make it right when we can.

Jesus isn’t asking us for heroics. We don’t have to give up everything and go hang out in a desert on his behalf– John already did that. Jesus arrives to invite us to be more fully who we are – not children of snakes, not children of tradition, not children of the empire, but beloved children of God… children to get to see and participate in the arrival of the Kingdom of Jesus here on earth, in advent, and every single day. Thanks be to God. Amen. 

"Look Up, Look Busy!"

11-28-21

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. 

“It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel fine!” Actually, no, I don’t feel fine! I feel stressed! There are too many cars on the road, too many people shopping at Giant, my packages are all delayed because of “supply chain issues,” covid cases are trending back up even though vaccinations among 5-11-year-olds are rolling out. I would much rather stay home and binge watch “The Great Christmas Bake off” on Hulu. 

Especially since this week even though it’s advent, and everyone around us has gone full-tilt Christmas with carols on the radio and Christmas trees up and decorated… here we are with nary a manger or angel or Mary or shepherd or even a scrap of hay … instead we have crabby Jesus and, “it’s the end of the world as we know it…” and nobody is feeling fine.

Have you ever seen the bumper sticker or memes that reads “Jesus is coming – look busy”? Like how dare Jesus find ou taking a nap or slacking off when he comes back. It reminds me of that Christmas song about Santa that is weirdly creepy… you know the one that goes  Santa “you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout...” you better look busy or Jesus may bring you something worse than coal. 

But I’m not sure how exactly I’m supposed to be “looking busy,” especially when it seems as though Jesus must be ready to come back any minute. Between the unpredictable acts of violence, refugee crisis stretching on, the effects of climate change getting really scary…. So much pain, fear, suffering has happened just the last few weeks.

It might cause us to question whether these are the very signs Jesus was talking about. Should we “look busy”? Or should we duck and cover? Stockpile our basements with Mac and Cheese and toilet paper (again)?

Well, Jesus has an opinion about what we should do to get ready for his impending arrival. Not look busy. Not squirrel away supplies like a doomsday-prepper. But also, not to be weighed down by fear. Jesus tells us to stand up and raise our heads, be alert, full of prayer and hope. Because another kind of future is on our way to us – not our future, but God’s future, where we will live as part of God’s Queendom/ kin-dom/ kingdom.

During another time of great upheaval in human history, the prophet Jeremiah shared similar words of encouragement to an overwhelmed people. The people of Israel were conquered by a foreign nation – one of many during the centuries - and they were forced to become unwelcomed refugees in a strange land, defeated, defenseless, and dejected, they might have given up on God and given up on hope.

We fast forward to the first followers of Jesus hearing these words written by Luke. At this time, Jerusalem had yet again been destroyed, this time by the Roman Empire. Their beloved place of worship was gone, their city devastated, countless people died, and their world had become unrecognizable. Which left the early followers of Jesus wondering, can God still show up, even after all this? Is God’s kingdom still near, will God be able to break into all the doom and gloom of this present moment?

If THIS kind of stuff is what we’re going to be getting during Advent, let’s do as the rest of the world does and skip over Advent completely, right to Christmas carols and peppermint lattes. But I will let you in on a little secret. In Advent, time refuses to behave properly. I dare say, it becomes downright wibbly-wobbly.

During the season of Advent, Jesus comes to us as a baby and as a grown man. He was born, he is here, and he will return…. but we don’t know just when and how until he shows up. His Queendom/kin-dom will come, and at the same time his kingdom IS ALREADY HERE among us. From the past we find hope for the future, and the future becomes the “now.”

From Bethlehem to Vienna, God has given God’s people a head’s up, to lift our heads and look up, that from the dead stump of tragedy, a branch is going to spring up, to show us that despite all the chaos and the fear and the pain, God is still going to SHOW UP. Even when all hell breaks loose. While the rest of the world is telling us to duck and cover, or look busy and hustle for our self-worth, Jesus says to stand up and see where he is showing up. Because otherwise we might miss where Jesus and the Queendom/ kingdom are breaking into our world RIGHT NOW.

And in most unlikely places, even in the full-on advent of the Christmas shopping season, there are still plenty of opportunities to witness Jesus. Today we recognized a historic moment of inclusivity for the Scouts in our first class of young women eagle scouts. Tomorrow night we will be a presence in the Vienna community during the annual church street stroll. We have been stepping up to help support our Afghan family, even though their arrival in our lives was a total surprise. I might even choose to be courteous of that slow car ahead of me, even if they have that bumper sticker that says, “Jesus is coming, look busy!”

Every Sunday when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer “Thy Kingdom Come,” we are looking toward a time where God’s justice and mercy will reign. We look forward to a time when there is no more racism, sexism, classism, ableism of any kind, where fear and war and violence and greed and death no longer rule us. And every time we pray for God’s kingdom/ Queendom/ Kin-dom to arrive, we are allowing ourselves to be open to being part of that arrival. And not just by “looking busy” and being distracted, but instead by being aware, alert, and ready to LOOK for what and who is bringing in God’s kingdom.

Until God’s kingdom comes in its fullness, and Jesus does come back, surfing on a cloud, we wait, and we hope. That is the heart and soul of the season of Advent. We don’t know what the world will bring to us around the next corner or in the next news cycle. But we can keep our heads raised knowing God is going to show up, both in the manger and in the mundane. Thanks be to God, AMEN.

The Queendom of God

 Grace to you and peace from the one who is and was and who is to come, and from Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, by the power of the holy spirit, Amen. 

Today is known as Christ the King Sunday, or alternatively as Reign of Christ Sunday. In the liturgical calendar, today ends the church year, which does feel a little weird being right before Thanksgiving. It also feels strange, because we live in a world where a lot of countries are ruled by presidents and prime ministers… and so to speak of Christ as our king seems a bit out of touch.

In our gospel reading, on this Christ the King Sunday we sort of HAVE time traveled – all the way to Good Friday, where we overhear the conversation between Pilate and Jesus after Jesus’ arrest. As the Roman ruler of Jesus’s occupied homeland, Pilate had probably seen it all - rebellions, uprisings, messiahs, unrest, violence…. 

But even he had to be surprised when confronted by this defenseless man who claimed to be a king. Jesus had no throne, no mansion, no wealth, no political influence, no generals, and no crown. The night before this conversation, on Maundy Thursday, all his “loyal” followers had all fled (or at least all the men had). And today, Jesus is alone, arrested and beaten up and looking the worse for wear… yet calmly having a repartee with Pilate about kingship and kingdoms.

Pilate is clearly flabbergasted… and we should be too. We all recognize, as Pilate did, that traditional power - I should specify as male patriarchal power - looks a particular way. And Jesus DOES NOT fit the bill. He never fought a single battle; he didn’t flaunt wealth or command influence: he wasn’t angry or loud or violent or “macho.”

Jesus refuses to fit into the toxicity masculine ruler narrative - Jesus’s birth was witnessed by lowly shepherds and his first crib was an animal feeding trough full of hay and cow drool. His conquering campaign involved wandering around teaching and feeding, hanging out with homeless and sick people. He was crowned with thorns and his coronation was his torture and death, and his throne is a cross.

THIS is why it IS important that Jesus was a man… NOT because God has imbued cis men with something special that women, transgender, and nonbinary people do not have. It’s because giving up power is EXPECTED by women in the patriarchy… but it is an aberration, even an abomination for men to do the same. Men don’t DO that in a regular kingdom. But apparently, GOD DOES. 

We don’t need another kingdom of violence. We don’t need any more Kingdoms, period. What else should we call God’s reign, then? A “Queendom” perhaps?

This idea comes from a fabulous book I just read called “Thy Queendom Come” by Kyndall Rae Rothaus. She’s a Baptist preacher and author who co-founded an ecumenical preaching conference designed to elevate those on the margins. She called it “Nevertheless, She Preached.” This event was created out of the recognition that most preaching conferences are dominated by white male preachers, and she knew that we, the church, can do better than that. 

In her book, Kyndall Rothaus wonders if Christ’s reign is better understood as a “queendom” rather than as a kingdom. Are our ideas we associate with the word kingdom too tainted by hierarchy and patriarchy to be useful in understanding the true upside-down reality that Christ ushers in? Rothhaus asserts that yes, the word “Kingdom” IS too compromised to be useful. Which is why she uses the word “Queendom” instead. This is not a realm where women dominate instead of men – that still falls into the old hierarchical way of thinking. But instead, in a Queendom, power is shared and decentralized. There is no head of the table in God’s Queendom. God’s table is round.

If the word “Queendom” is still a bit too potent a word for you, some have used the word KIN-dom, K-I-N, to better describe this reign, emphasizing that we are all family. No matter what we call it, Jesus did not organize a coup, storm the castle, and replace himself as the new, though much kinder, king. He instead got to work on leveling the playing field, giving up all the power and privilege that was due to him as the Son of God, in order to model for us, his followers, how we are to live. 

This does feel like a scary reversal if you happen to be in the group that previously enjoyed the byproducts of power and privilege. Centering other voices in this kingdom, queendom,  or KIN-dom - feels like suppression to those who are used to having the floor ALL the time. But that’s not silencing, but instead sharing - it’s what justice looks like in God’s reality.  Liberation is not a pie, where giving out one piece means less for others. It’s more like the number Pi - it never runs ends.

Pilate is clearly confused and uncomfortable coming face to face with this idea… as were Jesus’ own male disciples the night before, on Maundy Thursday. Jesus demonstrated the meaning of sharing power by literally stripping down, making himself vulnerable, taking the lowest social position and doing the most demeaning job imaginable - washing the disciples feet. Jesus still washed all the feet… the feet of those who would later run away, deny him, abandon him, and betray him, as had played out by the time Jesus and Pilate had this conversation about kings, kingdoms, power, and truth. 

As a friend of mine reminded me, “[God] is The very Truth of existence and The Reality Upon Whom all reality stands.” Our reality does not stand upon able-ism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, tribalism, white supremacy, discrimination or structural inequities. 

THOSE realties stand directly against GOD’s reality - justice, mercy, abundance, acceptance, forgiveness, sacrifice, welcome… LOVE. And so, as citizens of God’s Queendom/ Kin-dom, we cannot and do not STAND FOR them when they rear their ugly head in our midst, in our laws, in our courtrooms, in our classrooms, and in our congregations. We call out and we speak out the truth - the ways of Pilate, of intimidation and violence and reliance on weapons and taking another’s life at will is never sanctioned by God. 

Today we may be disheartened that this Queendom feels farther from us than ever, as the Bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod wrote in a statement released yesterday: “God’s vision for our world, one in which love conquers evil and peace triumphs over fear, may seem more distant today, but ... it still has the power to shape and guide us all.” 

At the close of this liturgical year and as Advent is set to begin, we wait for the arrival of this vision; and we act to participate in this arrival by stepping up  - or stepping out of the way - for others as necessary. As Kyndall Rothhaus concludes in her book “They Queendom Come,” she reminds us that “this is [God’s] queendom, where the power and the glory are shared.” (137) Thanks be to God, amen. 

"Be Careful What you Wish For..."

 Sermon 10-17-21

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.

“Be careful what you wish for.” We all know stories that have this as it’s lesson - once wished for, having what we desire seems awesome at the start, but we find out that there tends to be pesky, unforeseen consequences. While most of these stories include a magical element - a creature or item that grants these wishes, occasionally we find that this can still happen to us out in the real world - we finally receive something that we had been coveting for a long time… only to find out that it’s not quite as amazing as we had hoped.

In a way, James and John may have felt as though they had stumbled into something too good to be true. They had been following a man who so far had been doing AMAZING things – healing people from their illnesses, casting out unclean spirits, walking on water, feeding thousands of people with very little, and flouting the authority of those in power to turn the world upside down. And THESE two, James and John – just two sons of a fisherman – got to be a part of the inner circle! This was THEIR ticket to be SOMEBODY when the world told them they were NOBODIES. They finally had ARRIVED!

Well… not quite. Jesus and his disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, where they thought Jesus was going there to be crowned a king. Because that’s what usually happens – a king goes to Jerusalem to be anointed and recognized to rule. But actually, Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die… and actually, he has been pretty upfront about this the whole time. In the verses prior to this, Jesus said, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.” Seems pretty straightforward.

 

But all John and James heard must have been something like “Bla Bla going to Jerusalem … bla bla after 3 days, rise again.

They must have thought “OOOOH yes, king time!” And THIS was their chance to ask for prime spots in the new regime. The left hand and right hand were reserved for only the next most powerful people, like joint chiefs of staff. It wasn’t enough for them, apparently, for the privilege to follow him and hear his most exclusive teachings. They wanted more. They wished to be able to do what Jesus did… and they missed the fact that Jesus was going to suffer and die.

 

But Jesus DOES grant them their wish… sort of. James and John DID get PART of what they wanted… after Jesus’s death and resurrection, they went on to proclaim the coming of his kingdom, and they DID give their lives for it – meaning they drank the same cup and were baptized with the same baptism as Jesus. It wasn’t what they THOUGHT they were going to get… but likely, by the end of their lives, they realized that what they GOT was infinitely better that what they had WISHED for.

If you remember the last time you went to a baptism, you might have heard the pastor talking about how we have died with Christ in his death, and we are raised with Christ in his resurrection. When Jesus refers to his baptism, he is not talking about the day he was baptized in the river with John the Baptist. He’s talking about his upcoming death. In Luther’s Small Catechism, Luther writes that baptism “signifies that the old person with all sins and evil desires is … die daily…. And … that daily a new person is to rise up to live before God…”

 

Likewise, in the garden of Gethsemane, alone in the darkness before his passion began, Jesus prays that the cup might pass from him…  not a cup of fine wine decorated in gold befitting a king, but the cup that Jesus is to drink from is his suffering and death. Jesus DID drink from this cup, handed himself over to the power of death, was tortured and mocked, and finally hung on a cross.  And two people WERE on Jesus’ right and left hands…. But not James and John, but instead criminals condemned to a shameful death, as Jesus was.

In the world’s eye, this Jesus was a failure – he hung out with the people nobody else wanted to be around. No fancy buildings were named after him. He didn't write a best-selliing book. Instead, he was murdered by the state as an enemy… but that was not the end of the story. As Jesus himself said, on the third day, he would rise. And we who follow Jesus, who are baptized into the death AND resurrection of Jesus, ALSO receive this abundant and eternal life.

The last thing the world needs is another kingdom built in the image of James and John, built in the image of the powers of this world. What we need, Jesus proves, is a Kin-dom – of K-I-N, where we are all remember and act like are kin, we are family to one another, instead of lord it over one another as the powers of the world do.

Following Jesus means that we take up our cross. Following Jesus means that whoever will be first must be last. Following Jesus means prioritizing the least likely to reciprocate. Following Jesus means success often looks like failure.

Be careful what you wish for, because with Jesus, you just might get it. And more than you ever expected. More discomfort, but more growth, more love, and more joy, more life. Thanks be to God, Amen.