dry bones walkin'

Sermon - Advent 2B 2011

2011-12-08T13:54:00.001-07:00

Mark 1:1-8

1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,' " 4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

Sermon:

In the beginning...

Back to the basics...

What's really important here...

Hmmm... where to begin...

---

Beginnings are hard...

Once things are rolling... you find a groove... you figure out how things work... you stick with it.

In fact, today is the Budget setting meeting of Council that always happens in December. Then we have our AGM - annual general meeting in January. And to be honest... I don’t think anyone celebrates AGM’s for any organization.

But this year will be different I hope. I hope that this year as we look at a budget that we can actually meet... as we gather we will focus not on weakness, but celebrate what we have done.

But this will be hard... our rut tells us that there is a way things are done and really enjoying AGM’s... or any talks about church structure... is boring and hard.

Experience being the teacher that it is... it’s hard to trust that new possibilities are even possible... it’s easier to stay in the familiar ruts of life... even when we see where the ruts are going...

Which is why I really like how Mark starts off his Gospel. "The Beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

Such a wonderful place to begin... at the beginning...

Only it's not really a whole new beginning... Mark is clear that what is happening in Jesus is part of the whole plan... part of one great narrative that has been going on since the beginning.

Only... it is a new beginning... God is doing something new... it's Good News... The beginning of the Good news.

Notice... it's not just the news... it's not just the story... it's the "Good News"... ...

And the symbols are all so clear... The story is as old as Babylon...

First is the reference to the work of Isaiah:

Remember that time when we were slaves? And God acted in a mighty way and we were once again made free? Remember how we couldn't possible imagine how life would ever be better and yet God acted in a mighty way... like building a super 4 lane highway right through the desert of our discontent and desolation... God was mighty in the past, is mighty now and trust me... he will be mighty for all time. It all smacks of promise! "Every valley shall be lifted up and every hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain."

Second: Trips to the wilderness.

Note that John is Baptizing in the Jordon...

It was repentance; which simply means to turn around...

it was forgiveness of sins; which simply means the restoration of relationship.

Or... to use the baptismal imagery... it was to die and drown in the waters of discontent and desolation... that is killed and gone...

The familier ruts paved over...

And new life is to be raised up to a lung full air... to a new life with a new relationship and... leaving the Jordon and returning to regular life meant to re-enter the promise land... it was a new beginning into all that already is.

Thirdly: John the Baptizer himself. Each article of clothing having layers of meaning linking him to the whole story. Camels hair like Elijah, wild honey and locusts having to do with God providing in the wilderness... lots of layers of the old weaving with something new...

And it all comes to this...

Mark begins his Gospel - that is - Mark begins his story of God revealed in Christ by calling it Good News.

A new beginning... and good news.

---

A story:

When Matt first started attending the morning prayer services at his church he was sure it wasn't going to last... Mark is not a morning person. He has a hard time getting up for his job... and the extra 20 mins he'd have to spend showing up, going through the Matins Morning prayer service with the group, and then dragging himself off to work was not something he wanted to do. But Mark was accepting a personal challenge... do this just until Christmas he was told... it's just 10 weeks.

So like everything that is good for you... Mark forced himself to do it.

Thousands of years of spiritual practice... there must be something to it... God must be present in a special way.

Mark kept his promise for exactly one week.

The second week there was a problem with his alarm... he shut it off.

The third week there was an ice storm and by the time he got the ice off the car it was too late... he would have missed it.

The fourth week he just didn't feel like it and spent 20 mins updating facebook instead of making it.

The fifth week he did make it... all the way to the locked door of the church... he'd missed the memo that it was cancelled that week.

With Christmas just 5 weeks away Mark doubled down. He got a copy of the morning service and started reading it every night before bed. There was something odd about praying "Satisfy us in the morning with you steadfast love, O God..." especially at 11:45pm lying in bed... but Mark didn't mind... he was going to stick to it.

He even made it to 2 out of the last 5 services... Finally Christmas came and he put the habit the down... Whatever spiritual practice he was going to get would have to come in a different form. He rationalized that he wasn't getting much out of it... maybe something else would speak to him more.

On January third, disaster struck. Marks mom had a car accident and she was in the operating room and nobody knew if she was going to make it. It was late in the evening when Mark finally rushed into that awkward space where the family gathered sipping bad coffee and feeling useless as they waited for news.

Hugs were given as family and friends waited.

They were finally allowed into the recovery room it was. It was crowded and they all gathered around hoping for a recovery. Mark's cousin said "someone should pray or something." And all eyes looked around at one another... and finally rested on Mark...

Mark immediately regretted telling his family about the morning prayers he had been trying... Mark couldn’t remember a time he had ever prayed out loud with people listening... Mark did not think that his faith was ever going to force him into a situation like this...

His brain was blank... and then he said "Satisfy us in the morning Oh God..." and there was a silence. No words came this his brain... but on the next breath he started speaking again;

"O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that you hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN"

There was a silence... and then from the bed in a weak voice came "Mark, that was beautiful... you should keep doing those morning prayers... Maybe pray for healing too next time.”

---

Our part in this "Good News" of Jesus is to live lives somewhere between Acts of the Apostles and Revelation. We live between the First coming of Christ which we celebrate at Christmas, and the Second coming of Christ which we look forward to - and also celebrate and hope for at Christmas.

As our Gospel writer Mark says "The beginning of the good news", we hear this to mean an ongoing beginning.

Jesus is a new beginning, God's new beginning. In Jesus the Christ, God creates anew and again, pouring out God's love in the cross, a love that is stronger than anything this world can dish out, including death. And so in Christ's life and ministry and through his cross and resurrection we see God announcing that it is never too late, that this world and reality we know so well do not have the final word, that God the creator and author of all things is not yet finished and has promised to renew, restore, and recreate all things. (Lohse)

And the Good news is that it's never to late to be part of this ongoing re-creation. I firmly declare to you that we are living in the time of new beginnings... new beginnings with each birth, new beginnings with each baptism, new beginnings with each repentance and Holy Meal shared, new beginnings with each death... God isn't finished... and there is Good news.

I want to send you off with a challenge.

In my story, Mark found something new... he found himself speaking faith and good news amongst tragedy through a simple practice of prayer. His eyes were opened to newness. He spoke in a way he didn’t think he could.

As the sanctuary is transformed for Advent... as colours changes in here... as lights go up out there... hold close these words this week:

For you, the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The bible tells us about it.

I have declared it to be true.

I have told a story where someone found it.

Now it's your turn... go and find it.

The new Beginning... the Good News... the God who never quits... who keeps coming... who is revealed in breaking of bread and sharing of hurts and pain... in community... in repentance... in forgiveness.

This week... the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Lives transformed... old ruts paved over, New paths to places we thought impossible... sins forgiven... let us boldly pray:

2011-11-05T17:12:00.002-06:00

Matthew 5:1-12

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Sermon

ALL SAINTS DAY - HOPE AND LONGING

We all long to hear a good word: a word that brings good news, a word that can sustain us, a word that can give us the vision and courage to make it through another day, a word that tells us God is with us.

All Saints Day.

We are reminded today that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. A great multitude of people whom God has worked through to bring all creation and this church to this day.

---

When I think of a Saint the first name to jump to my mind is Mother Teresa. But I think that Sainthood was not what she was going for... she was aways so humble about the whole thing. And as Jesus sees to have an affinity for the disenfranchised, she was right in the perfect spot to have all the stereotypical marks of a Saint.

(((http://www.americancatholic.org/features/teresa/sainthood.asp)))
In a 1981 interview, Mother Teresa spoke about another champion of the poor: St. Francis of Assisi. In a famous story of a turning point in Francis’ life, he encounters a leper by the side of the road and passes him by. Then he realizes that if he is going to devote his life to the poor he must embrace the leper—he must welcome him into his life as a brother.

Francis then runs to the leper’s aid.

Mother Teresa commented, "The encounter with the leper made St. Francis." So, too, it is Mother Teresa’s selfless encounter with the dying that made Mother Teresa.
It is the calling of Christians to serve the poor, to make room at the table for everyone. Francis came to see that. He reveled in the foolishness of God who has special love for those whom most of us would rather avoid. Teresa learned that, too, during mid-life. She will be named a saint because she cleared away life’s clutter and allowed God to work through her in a powerful way. We should imitate her.

Wow... that is a statement that heaps judgement on me... Clear away life’s clutter and allow God to work. My mind spins with what I could de-clutter and get working.

That is a lot of clutter... There are a lot of things that I see as ‘blessings’ that would need to be cleared away to come into alignment with this.

This is really going to cut into my time... it’s really going to call into question much of what makes me busy... much of what I chase after in terms of the accumulation of things... and even how busy my life is. In fact... most days I wouldn’t have time to turn around to return to the leper... I’m too busy for that...

This is where I feel the judgement.

But then... maybe that’s just my brain confusing blessedness with the clutter of things... blessedness with the absence of pain... blessedness with wealth and the ability to buy a good coffee or take a deep breath of fresh air... blessedness as a healthy and stable family...

Jesus seems to have a different take on blessedness. Blessed are the poor in Spirit? Those who mourn? The meek? The hungry? The persecuted?

This is something new... this is a new way to think of suffering and death and pain... and blessedness....

Blessed... Happy... fortunate... not because of any state of being... but because of what will happen... they will recieve God and find that God is in all things... even in the suffering... even in the clutter... even in the crazy business of life... even in the feelings of despair and... even in the grave...

Looking closely, we see that this is in fact what makes a Saint. And in fact... it’s the exact same thing that makes a Christian.

And what makes a Christian is God breaking into your life and working through you, and with you... choosing you... God calling you... God sanctifying you... God renewing you each day... God is in fact in all things... the great moments but more importantly the moments of suffering, the moments of failure, the moments of loneliness where we would be tempted to pray for a new reality... to reject reality and in so rejecting reality we would have to reject God.

to reject reality and in so rejecting reality we would have to reject God.

And you know what... as I wrote that line... someone walked up to me in the coffee shop and asked me “What if you can’t”.

He was referring to the sign on the back of my laptop that quotes Micah
“Act Justly
Love Mercy
Walk Humbly”

And he asked “What if you can’t? I can’t...”

And in a short conversation we agreed that in fact we can try... but ultimately we can’t do these things... but God does and is glorified and we are saved not in our obtaining our own “Sainthood”... but in what God does to us through and with. Through With and Under us.

God is honored in this man who knows he can’t... but God does.

This is reality... this is the reality which God acts in and calls this church to be the Body of Christ in...

We do not reject reality... we take it all... because in all of it is God... And God is a blessing in all of it because nothing is lost to God.

---

Author —James Baldwin who was an African American writer and civil rights activist wrote, in his book Go Tell it on the Mountain powerful words that paint us a picture of what God’s promise of New life will look like:
This is how he see All Saints Sunday:

Then John saw the river, and the multitude was there. And a sweetness filled John as he heard the sound of singing: the singing was for him. . . . No power could hold this army back, no water disperse them, no fire consume them. They wandered in the valley forever; and they smote the rock, forever; and the waters sprang, perpetually, in the perpetual desert. They cried unto the Lord forever, they were cast down forever, and lifted up their eyes forever.

No, the fire could not hurt them, and yes, the lions' jaws were stopped; the serpent was not their master, the grave was not their resting-place, the earth was not their home.

Job bore them witness, and Abraham was their father, Moses had elected to suffer with them rather than glory in sin for a season. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had gone before them into the fire, their grief had been sung by David, and Jeremiah had wept for them. Ezekiel had prophesied upon them, these scattered bones, these slain, and, in the fullness to time, the prophet, John, had come out of the wilderness, crying that the promise was for them.

They were encompassed with a very cloud of witnesses: Judas, who had betrayed the Lord; Thomas, who had doubted Him; Peter, who had trembled at the crowing of a cock; Stephen, who had been stoned; Paul, who had been bound; the blind man crying in the dusty road, the dead man rising from the grave. And they looked unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of their faith, running with patience the race He had set before them; they endured the cross, and they despised the shame, and waited to join Him, one day, in glory, at the right hand of the Father.

Look around at the names of the Saints...
Look around at the breathing Saints in these pews...
Look at your hands... the hands of a Saint.

And now add your story to the mix... set free from obligation to obtain Sainthood... but filled with God and the Holy Spirit... following after Jesus... claiming your blessedness not in just the parts of life that are joyous but in all life... Acting Justly, loving mercy, walking humbly... take a moment and insert your name...

NAME ______ Saint of God... who God worked (Your story) and you are beloved of God.

You look unto Jesus the author and finisher of your faith, running with patience the race He had set before you; you endure the cross, and you despise the shame, and wait to join Him, one day, in glory, at the right hand of the Father.

All Glory and honour and praise be to God who works through the lives of the Saints.

AMEN

2011-10-16T16:51:00.004-06:00

Matthew 22:15-2215 Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. 16 So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?"18 But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. 20 Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" 21They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." 22 When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-101 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. 9 For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming.

Sermon

Today is Week 1 of a 4 part movement towards All Saints Day - November 6th this year. I will be following our Second lesson to explore the book of Thessolonians, as this walks us nicely into All Saints Day.

If you miss a sermon don’t worry, they are on the church blog or ask me for a copy... but... each sermon should stand along just fine.

And so the next 4 weeks will follow this way:

Receiving the Word.

Bearing the Word.

Looking at the Word more closely - a Reformation moment.

And finally, on all Saints Day, a look at Hope in the Word.

---

So today we talk about receiving the Word...

There are three words that are the most powerful words in the English language.

I can’t actually measure the power of these three little words... and so it is speculation that these are the most powerful words but here they are:

I don’t know.

Wow... powerful words. I don’t know.

When we speak these three little words we open ourselves up for ridicule:

“Really... you don’t know? Why do you have all those certificates on the wall? How do you do your job and not know?”

However... by using these words two other things happen.

Saying “I don’t know” would have saved countless Americans from being mocked by Rick Mercer when he travels the States looking for people to highlight in his show “Talking to Americans.” If they had only had the courage to say “I don’t know” then they would not be on camera saying things like “Congratulations Canada on building the Peter Mansbridge” or “I don’t think that Canadian Mining companies should drill into Mt. Rushmore.”

But most importantly... and why I bring this up... is that I want you all to use these words this week (((“I don’t know”))) … use these words in combination with 4 other words:

“What do you think?”

Let’s peal these words back a bit, “I don’t know, what do you think?”

This is a combination of open ended possibility...

Saying “I don’t know” says that you are open to listening to the thoughts of the other. “What do you think” allows for a moment of communication. To share the thoughts you have received with the other.

If one simply answers any question with their best guess at the moment, the conversation ends and nobody grows... no deeper discussion can happen.

And this is how it applies to us... finding ways to share our thoughts and experiences of God with each other is something that we as the body of Christ here in this place do to the great benefit and enlightenment of each other - and to the community around us.

Where we fail to invite each other to share our thoughts and opinions and experiences, we fail to share and receive what has first been given to us. This is the task that every Christian community since the beginning has had to wrestle with.

In every age there are new thoughts and ways of being because there is a new reality around us. The earth goes around the sun, State and religion have tried to separate themselves.

New government structures surround us, new ways of worshipping God are encountered. New thoughts on morality are in play.

In our age we are exposed to more advertising and more information and more ideas than any other age before us.

As the body of Christ... which is what this is here today... you have received something from God in your calling to be in this church body - either as a long time member, or as someone joining us for one day.

You have received directly and from others the experiences and all the reasons why you might have bothered to wake up and come here today.

Through a strong Lutheran Heritage and sometimes through correctives offered by different traditions, we are worshipping the way we are... we tell stories about God the way we do - we believe that this is Christ’s body gathered and formed around God’s gifts of bread and wine. This is right now.

Each of us here for a different reason. Each valuable for your story of coming today... each being formed by your experience today.

---

Sometimes it was as simple as marriage that presented you with a context that demanded a new choice be made on what you do with Sunday morning and consequently how you live the rest of your life is also challenged. Athiests, Agnostics, Christisans, Buddists etc... when we marry we have to figure out what to do... this is a simple reason. This is a simple reason of why one might be coming.

Sometimes it’s more complex... it was an experience that demanded you come and hear more about God... or come to a place to tell your story. Or... maybe to at least be surrounded by people who think you aren’t crazy...

And so we are called and so we gather today... our thoughts and stories are shared... , listening and receiving what has been given directly from God and indirectly through the community... this is our vital task.

And so we gather to speak and listen.

Hymns and liturgies telling us what God has done. Sermons... like this one... are incarnations of God among us... words that pull out meaning and Good news from the text so that we can all add to our collective story telling and decision making for the purpose of hearing who we are.

Church is about telling us who we are.

Church is about forming us into who we will be.

So together we have to figure out what to do with thisrevelation. How do we respond to this God who comes to us before we even imagine coming to God?

Thus the power of the words...

I don’t know... what do you think?

---

1 Thessalonians, Chapter 1 - Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy write to the people who they have spent some time with. People they grew to love. People who received the message that they were carrying. And it has caused all sorts of problems not inside the Christian community, but in determining how to live within the greater Thessalonian community.

First, Thesselonika is a Greek city... about 50,000 people. It’s very diverse in people and practice and belief. This letter is written to what was likely a community of 25-30 Christians. People following this new way of life... meeting in shops after work or on Sundays for a communal feast. It’s a new way of being before God and their community.

They have questions of how to live just like we do. The status quo will not do... they have a new message and belief that they did not have before.

They are monotheists... no longer polytheists.

They respect men AND women AND children as created beings that are made in the image of God... and thus respected...

---

Every family has had this experience... a niece or nephew or reletive gets into some new product that is supposed to change your life forever and before you know it you are all sitting through a 2 hour presentation on the miracles of the fruit juice or vacuum system. Perhaps you have had that conversation with the zealous young man or woman who has discovered God or a new way to be in life. Food, vacuums, religion, exercise programs... All these things cause a disruption in the family system. Listening and understanding need be applied for the system to adapt or reject the new thought, idea, way of being.

An example from Paul’s time would be this. For 40 years your neighbor has always provided the pig that is ritually slaughtered and offered up to the God Baal before the annual chariot races can begin. But now your neighbor is a Christian and doesn’t want to give the pig any more because this is false worship. So the community must make adjustments because of what way to be has been received.

A contemporary example is the acknowledgement of God in youth organizations of our day. The cub scouts have as a core their duty to God and the Queen. The Queen is simply the laws of the land and doing one’s best... but I asked what this meant by duty to God and was told that it means “You need to have a higher power that you abide by the principles of”... this is a generic god of one’s own choosing. I was told it could quote “Even be a tree...”.

Now... I imagine if we went back to the United Kingdom and interviewed the Scouting founder Lt. Gen. Robert Baden-Powell, he had a much more specific idea of what duty to God meant. In fact... the whole culture in England at that time would have had a very specific idea of what duty to God meant but now... 100 and some years later... there has been a movement culturally to detach scouting and Girl Scouts away from these roots to be more accessible by all. Some applaud, some are appalled.

So the Christians in Thessolonika gather around what has been revealed to them. They tell the stories of Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy. They tell the stories of Jesus and Moses and all those people who make up the story of faith.

They have received a new way of being by hearing what God has done, and seeing it enacted among them. The Holy Spirit has moved in the Word of God proclaimed among them.

This is the great promise of the Christian church... that God the Holy Spirit is calling and enlightening and making us new. More than a new philosophy, more than just stories of how to be, the church is a community that is gathered around the hope and promise of the work of God, the work of the Holy Spirit is being accomplished inside, outside, with and inspite of all human allegiance. Sins forgiven, lives transformed.

The letter to the Thesselonians thanks them for what they have done and how they are being heard throughout the region. The Word of God was never sent to them for them to keep and hold as some sort of precious personal mystery. But it was in fact sent and received so that it could be shared with their community and the whole world.

This community receives from God the Holy Spirit, and from the stories it tells itself about what has happend. What is really real.

This community gathers and listens.

---

We only know what we have received.

We have received thoughts and opinions from family and friends. Our way of being human... in relations to one another... does not exist on it’s own... nothing is happening in a vacuum.

We have received from God this church - Grace Lutheran Edson. I’m speaking of the church as people now, not the building... the church is the people.

This church has been and is a vessel that embodies Christ and His teachings through sermons and hymns and words of who God is and what God is doing.

This is a place that proclaims an open table of forgiveness for all who come. Confession and forgiveness and acceptance... Grace... to live life and trust that God is bigger than all sins and even death itself.

That is the great revelation of Jesus that our Lutheran heritage forces us to hold central. You are the body of Christ... the image of God... the gathered ones... right now.

This is place where God’s promise of acceptance through Baptism and Water and Word is embraced and how to live into that is discussed.

This is place where each of us come to discover that the bible really meant it when it said we were made in the image of God. And God does not turn away God’s image. God names you beloved... claims you as a child... and longs for you to know it.

---

This all happens because we receive... and we share with each other what we have received. And we go out of this place to live lives and tell stories and do jobs that let the whole world know what we have received.

The Holy Spirit works here... as we tell stories and sing songs, we break bread and pour water, and we talk and share how the Holy Spirit is also working everywhere.

This is what it is to live as one who has received the Word of the Lord from others and from the Holy Spirit. This is what and who we are.

The Word tells us the church who we are.

---

What does this look like?
What does this feel like?
What does this do? How shall we live?

I have a strong guess....

But... here is my hope that you will share.

I don’t know... what do you think?

Amen.

Sermon - Matthew 22:1-14

2011-10-13T10:53:00.002-06:00

Matthew 22:1-14
1 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: 2 "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. 4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, "Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.' 5 But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, "The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.' 10 Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, 12 and he said to him, "Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?' And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, "Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

Today is all about dress code...

Let me know if you know this one:
Blame it all on my roots,
I showed up in boots,
And ruined your black tie affair.

The last one to know,
The last one to show,
I was the last one you thought you'd see there.

And I saw a surprise,
And the fear in his eyes,
When I took his glass of champange,

I toasted you,
Said honey we may be through,
But you'll never hear me complain,

(Chorus)
'Cause I got friends in low places,
Where the Whiskey drowns,
And the Beer chases my blues away,
But I'll be okay,
Now I'm not big on social graces,
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis,
Oh I got friends,
In low places.

God bless Garth Brooks he wrote a country song about the Kingdom of God.

And it’s all about dress code.
Of course there probably was no real party... no real glass of champagne... but Garth uses this story to connect to that part of his audience that doesn’t feel so high class... he speaks of a place where everybody is welcome...

Well... everybody that is willing to not be pretentious... Garth brooks is inviting everybody to a wonderful party... it’s a free invitation to good times with great friends.... The only way out of this party is to self exclude. You could probably even show up in a tux and as long as you were willing to talk about it, they would make room for it. But if you think your tux is making you better than everybody else in the room you are grossly mislead.

I saw Garth in a live performance music award ceremony of this song where everybody starts the song in very formal attire for the first verse and Garth is there with hat and cowboy shirt, but by the end of the song all the people of shed their formal clothes and underneath they are all wearing festive colours and cowboy hats appear and the real festival is found at the end of the song. By the end they all have the right clothes on (According to Garth that is.)

So today is all about dress code... Dress code Sunday we’ll call it.

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Many are called but few are chosen.
Sounds like a coffee bean commercial.
Many are picked but few are chosen. Nabob.

Of course... it’s not about the beans not being good enough...

Truly I tell you this... this story is all about the beans inability to accept that it has been accepted as is.

(Not a great way to run a coffee company... but this is how Jesus says the Kingdom is arranged.)

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The story Jesus tells smacks of judgement... and it’s a much needed judgement. Judgement is not a bad thing. We do have to make judgements in life to survive.

We long for judgement and justice when oil spills destroy livlihoods, or flooding is routed to wipe our Manitoba farms, or someone is found to be knocking over street signs in Edson we demand judgement. Law and Gospel. Judgement and Grace. We like all these things... and they live in paradox with each other.

But the judgement of this text is not against people who have done something wrong... it is against the ones who will not receive an invitation... it is against the man who came to the party and refused to wear the garments provided.

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Our text speaks of the place of weeping and Gnashing of teeth which is an emotional place of sadness and deep anger and isolation.

But it is visited upon not those who are unworthy... The King rounded up everybody and they all came to the feast and enjoy the Kings hospitality. Judgment falls upon the man who refuses to accept the his acceptedness.

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What is the dress code of the festival that God is inviting us to?

Well... not a literal dress code... if we were into literal dress codes you would all be dressed like me (((and Sylvie...))) We are both wearing albs! We both wear the garment and symbol of baptism... the pure white garment that speaks of being washed clean and clothed and covered in God’s righteousness. This is God’s invitation to all.

This is the white wedding dress that the bride of Christ, the church, is wearing.

Metaphorically, we are all wearing albs.

I wear it as a symbol for the whole community... Sylvie wears it as a sign of her baptism... convention prevents us from all dressing this way... but what a powerful symbol that would be...

and how weird...

if we all wore albs every Sunday to remind ourselves of the baptism that we have received it might not fit into modern convention.

Perhaps if you had to choose between dipping a finger in the font and tracing a cross on our forehead to remind yourself that even in your sinfulness, God has called an accepted you as promised in the sacrament of baptism, or wear an alb... we’d have lineup at the font every Sunday to remember our baptism. To remember what God has done.

Luther’s catechism says in the third article of the creed “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me though the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as he calls, gathers, enlightens and makes holy the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one common, true faith.

I cannot go up... God comes down...
So it’s not literally about dress code... it’s a metaphor.

(((This))) isn’t literally the garment of righteousness... it is a symbol.

And this is of course... what Jesus is doing in the story... he is using an allegory to make a point.

There is no real “King”... or “Banquet”... these are illustrations.
We can’t get bogged down in the details of the illustration. Jesus like any good preacher is using a story to get attention to the greater reality.

We don’t need to worry about how the King manages to set a banquet, invite the guests, get angry, destroy some cities, invite EVERYONE else to some magic banquet hall that can hold this all inclusive party, and then somehow the food is warm and places are properly set and the feast continues...

In fact... the King isn’t even literally God - but in the Kings actions we see something of God.

There isn’t literally a man who has failed to dress properly and who is bound and thrown out... again... it’s an allegory.

Jesus is proving a point. Jesus used this story to unseat the people who were misusing power in God’s name - Jesus is undermining the conventional wisdom that some are bad and to be excluded and somehow others are good and to be included.

God is the Judge of these things... and God invited everyone...

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If you are like me, you will unfortunately be thinking of heaven and hell, in and out right now. To be one cast out of the party is not exciting to think about.

If you are like me you will unfortunately wonder whether you have the garment of salvation at all. Have I earned it? Do I deserve to wear this?

And in fact... asking the question is a good first start. But it goes the wrong way...

My legalistic brain works hard to make this about me. I read the first part where those who think they are worthy of coming don’t even bother to come. Well, that’s not me... I showed up.

I read the second part and balk at the idea that I would be rounded up in the ‘everybody’ who is invited to come in the second round... surely I earned it a little right? I’m not really inclueded with the second round draft picks... Surely there is something special about me that makes my invitation to be something about me...

Which lands me squarely with the man who is not wearing the wedding garment.

We have to assume that of all the rounded up to attend this feast that the King wants to celebrate are not exactly the right kind of people. In fact, Jesus makes it clear that all are rounded up, the good and the bad have come to fill the banquet hall.

And now the only one getting into trouble is perhaps the one who thinks that he deserves to be there. All the guests are rounded up and seated and given the proper attire... but this one man refuses the attire. He refuses further to even speak to the King. He will not have anything to do with the Kings generosity.

The king wants to celebrate but this one man won’t accept that he is accepted like the others...

He’s like a man given a free car that won’t take it unless he can pay for it... or add something to it... he can’t accept the free car if his neighbor whom he knows to be worse than he will get a better free car.

He is thrown out of the party because he can’t accept his acceptedness.

And many are called... you are called... can you accept this?

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Let today’s worship be your grace.
Let the song of confession and forgiveness we sang at the beginning define you as the notes and words play in your ears and remind you that where we are at our best, we are still fully in need of God’s grace and forgiveness.

In a few moments, watch as the waters of baptism cleanse and make Righteous Nate and Sylvie - the promises of God poured out upon them - Everybody makes promises to attempt to live in the baptismal covenant... but centrally we will give thanks to God who constantly renews the covenant. Let the metaphor of garments of salvation transform your mind.

Come to the meal and experience a foretaste of the feast that all are invited to. Swallow the truth of God’s grace and forgiveness that comes to you in the promise of bread and wine... the meal where Christ accepts you. It is all done for you.

Remember your garment of salvation.
Metaphorically... it’s all about dress code - the God who accepts and clothes you in righteousness.

Live as if, like Sylvie and I in our garments of salvation... live as if you are always wearing an alb. Thanks be to God!

Amen.

11-08-28 Sermon Pentecost 11A Matthew 16 21-28

2011-09-02T13:22:00.003-06:00

(Note: This sermon has some collaborative edits by Phil Penrod, there wasn't a baptism at Grace this week :)

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Matthew 16:21-28
21 From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." 23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? 27 "For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

Sermon:
Take up your cross and follow me...

More accurately, “IF” any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

I read recently that pastors tend to hear the words of scripture and then start ‘thinking’ about them. We start to think “how will I preach this” and “What did this originally mean and how can I tell my congregation about it.”

As opposed to pastors, many other people hear scripture and they feel it... or they experience it... or if it doesn’t connect right away, they simply move on.

This explains why many pastors tend to spend hours joyfully discovering slight variations in the greek, or reading historical books about the life and times of the text... many pastors love combing through the scriptures and looking for tiny nuggets of meaning and nuance.

So how do you hear this Gospel text? “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

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I imagine you are here today because you have at the very least a passing interest in Jesus... I imagine you have come to warm these pews during these waning days of summer because you in fact want to follow this Jesus of Nazareth... there is something in his witness, and the witness of the church that appeals to your own sense of humanity... something in this place and space gives you faith to live your life confident in grace and forgiveness... but I also imagine you live your life with a special emphasis that you have taken on based on being a follower of Christ.

In fact... like Peter did just last week... 7 versus ago in our Gospel, I imagine you will quickly be able to answer the question of who Jesus is. Peter says it this way “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

10 points for PETER! His words have accurately reflected the truth... he finally got one right! Happy times... but now... just 7 versus later we hear Jesus say “Get behind me Satan, you are a stumbling block to me”

This is an emotional gut punch...
Peter who was so on the ball just moments ago has now been accused of being a stumbling block to God... and Jesus turns away.

… … ….

I endeavored to experience this text emotionally this week. I tried to imagine what it would feel like to have Jesus speak those words to me... It’s one of the hardest moments in life... the most painful place to be where you feel you have done your best, tried your best, acted with you passion and mind and... now find yourself being told you were wrong... or that your hopes and dreams will not be happening.

---

I like Peter in the Gospel narrative because of how real he is in his passion and concern. I can get Peter... I can understand his thoughts and hopes and dreams.

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Peter has experienced God... Peter has named God in Christ... but now Peter can’t believe what he is hearing... Faith and life are not turning out how he thought and hoped... God revealed in Christ is doing and leading to places where Peter had hoped to avoid.

Like us... Peter is following Jesus because something has attracted him... the call is unmistakable.

Like us... Peter knows how to speak the words that declare Jesus to be the Son of the living God, the Messiah who has come. But like us... Peter has immediately started to impose reasonable limitations and controls on Jesus.

He and We assume that God’s political views are like our own.
He and We assume that God is above all pain and suffering.
He and We assume that Jesus will at the very least, be open to our own rational world view and advice.

So when Jesus speaks of the reality of death and suffering that is going to be a part of HIS future, Peter will have none of it... he takes Jesus aside and rebukes him the best that Peter can.

Peter pulls him aside from the others and says “God forbid it, Lord!”. Do you see the conflict here? Peter declares Jesus as God, but now invokes God to forbid what God what God says must be.

“God forbid God... yourself... from saying and doing this.” “This must never happen to you!”

It doesn’t add up in Peters head and really... without knowing the resurrection part of the story... that is... without knowing God’s surprise ending to death is new life...

And Without knowing that the cross will no longer be considered an instrument of death... but in God’s surprise it is now a way through death... you can understand Peter’s objection.

You can hear the panic in Peter’s voice as the one he has named God is now talking about suffering.

Does God suffer? Does God have unpleasant things happen to God?

If God came and said that something unpleasant was going to happen to him... I think we could see ourselves becoming like Peter... encouraging... no, demanding that God not suffer... demanding that God not be allowed to experience the death that all of us have waiting.

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And now Jesus delivers the famous “Get behind me, Satan!” line.

Jesus is pulled aside, and now “he turns and says to Peter ‘Get behind me Satan’” Which of course is where Peter is now standing. Jesus lays on Petros the heavy sentence of “stumbling stone” … which brings to mind condemnation for those who get in the way of God.

Jesus accuses Peter of not letting go of his beliefs in the face of God...
Jesus accuses Peter of willfully and stubbornly getting in the way of what God is doing in life, death, and resurrection...
Jesus accuses Peter of thinking on earthly matters and willfully rejecting what is being spoken by the Messiah.

And then Jesus speaks to the crowd of disciples in front of him. Peter is now standing behind Jesus as Jesus addresses the crowd. The painful reality of being excluded is now mitigated by the invitation to follow. Peter is invited to join the group and the Gospel teaching of Jesus by following Jesus.

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And the promise of the Gospel is not explicitly spoken. But it is found in Jesus response about followers denying themselves and taking up crosses and following him. Just like Peter is invited to do.

Peter is looking for a different promise than Jesus is giving. Peter was hoping that God would be found in an imaginary place that is protected from all harm and danger. But this place does not exist in this life time... depression, multiple sclerosis, separation/divorce... all sorts of physical and emotional and spiritual violence is a part of what it is to be alive here and now.

And so Jesus promise makes perfect sense. Jesus states that he will be found on the road to the place where crosses and suffering are handed out freely. No need to go looking for crosses... follow Jesus and one will be given to you... Jesus walks in the messy reality of life and death, poverty and despair.

Jesus way is one that calls us out of ourselves. To be at least as interested in our neighbors well being then our own if not more so. This is where Jesus is living and working, this where Jesus is given his cross.

Jesus call on our lives comes from the places of hurt that are all around us. We are called out of ourselves... and into these places where we, as Christ’s body, the church, can be instruments of God. The hands and feet of the one who comes to bring healing and wholeness to a world full of selfishness and disruption.

This is a difficult teaching.
This is a promise that we receive in faith. A promise that as we carry our crosses...

as we deny Christ and beg for a different reality...

as we live and die in lives that are being transformed and outward looking...

as we follow Christ in our actual reality... Christ is with us in all that we experience.

Christ opened up death and defeated death on a road that was full of suffering... And to this Grace... to this life we are invited to follow. It is a road marked clearly by a painful cross.

And today this is the road we are on. Today this is the road that little ________ and __________ (Baptism) have been set upon. It is a road travelled by Christ, and with Christ. A road established by Christ. A life of service and Joy and healing and pain. A life that travels through life... into death... and to resurrection, and new life eternal.

May you have faith to walk this road. And may you have the confidence to know that as you follow Christ, he is supporting and walking with you. May you know that you will never be left behind.
May you hear and cling to the great hope and joy of the promise that closes our Gospel reading for today:
28 (Jesus says) Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

The kingdom of God is everywhere that God is. Look around you! Could it be that Jesus Christ walks among this sickly and imperfect band of sinners, transforming us into saints by his radiant presence?

Very truly I tell you, Yes! It is so.

Amen.

Sermon -Pentecost 6 - The Mustard Weed

2011-07-23T16:33:00.001-06:00

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
31 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 "Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." 52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

Parables are absurd...

Parables are simple... but they contain complex messages. In each parable, something normal is happening... but then something unexpected is drawn out.

The bad is called good. The natural next action is not taken.

There is a warning in the commentary this week... don’t try to explain each of these parables... it will take too long... pick one and explore it.

So which one? They are all pretty out there... and they all explore a different aspect of how God is at work... how the Kingdom breaks in... they are less about you and me... and more about how God works.

The one where the woman takes yeast (or moldy bread... no fancy little packages in those days) and adds it to enough flour to make 100 loaves of bread is good. Leaven is a normally a bad thing in the scriptures... and now a woman is adding it to 100’s of loaves of flour? Is the kingdom like moldy bread that makes other loaves rise for a huge feast?

Maybe the one where the guy sells all that he has to buy one pearl... something so valuable he just has to go for it... Does this bad investment strategy speak the the value of the Kingdom?

Then there was the hardest one... seems that there are a bunch of fish fish and God’s messengers pick out the good in baskets... and the bad are thrown out... This is good news for those who see themselves in the Kingdom... and as Jesus seems to constantly be picking up the least, the last and the lost... since Jesus is eating with the outcasts... and since Jesus is always hard on the authority and the powerful... this is good news for his audience... but I myself feel that this is a parable of Judgement against me... my anxiety picks up on the worry of being thrown out.

And yet... that’s just the stress talking... the promises Jesus makes is to sweep us up. The sorting that happens only happens in the grace that God first tells for all who are lost and turn to him...

Kingdom, Grace, and Judgement... God’s new upside down Kingdom promises the last come in first... and this parable points not to me being excluded... but to the redeeming justice of God... to the power and sovereignty of God to do what God promises... bring in this new Kingdom...

This Kingdom jesus speaks of is exposed... and this kingdom exposes areas of massive Judgement and condemnation in how we live... how we perform... how we give what was first given to us... and how we relate to neighbor and God.

But infused in all of these ridiculous plot twists... is this ridiculous grace.

A grace almost as ridiculous as the examples that Jesus gives.
Nobody mixes mold in good flour.
Nobody sells all things for one pearl.

And then my favorite... the Mustard Seed.

Perhaps better said... the Mustard Weed.

Hear the parable aknew.

"The new Reality... the reality I am bringing to you is like a dandelion seed that someone took and sowed in his field;and when full grown, these Dandelions will shelter birds”

What? Dandelions are a useless invasive species that is impossible to get rid of. They are NOT the Kingdom!

That is what Jesus listeners hear in the mustard seed.

Oh sure... you can make a dandelion salad
Oh sure... you can transplant a Mustard tree... but why would you? They grow everywhere... they are hearty... and almost impossible to get out once they are in. Nobody needs that much mustard.

In fact, today... Canada produces 90% of the worlds mustard seeds. And 50% of the worlds mustard comes from Saskatchwan alone. And we are the bread basket of the world... not the mustard basket.

To the ears of those who heard this parable, they knew that you do not plant mustard in your field any more than you plant dandelions, but this is what the Kingdom of God is like... impossible to destroy little seeds that grow into 9 foot shrubs...

And yes... it’s a 9 foot shrub... hardly the towering ceder of Lebenon, or the great oak trees we have all seen.

I want my Kingdom to be a great towering Red Wood... a nine foot shrub is laughable.

And yet... hear the word of the Lord...

The Kingdom of God is a Dandelion planted in your garden.

The Dandelion is an imperfect analogy... but pick any invasive species you wouldn’t plant and you get the gist of this.

And more annoying than Dandelions... Mustard weeds spread quickly AND get 9 feet high.
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I am at once both disturbed and comforted by this.

It is disturbing that the Kingdom is going to spread and go where I don’t want it. It’s disturbing that the seeds of this weedy kingdom will defy all attempts to control it... it will take us where we do not want to go. It will show us thing we don’t want to look at. It will ask us to do things we do not want to do.

God is alive and active in the world. And God works like a Dandelion works your lawn. Pluck, spray, burn, dig... you can at best hold it at bay for a season.

On the other hand... it’s a great comfort.
The Kingdom will not be stopped. It will keep coming.
The reality of God’s mission to redeem the whole world through:
The feeding of the poor.
The washing of sinful.
The forgiveness of sins.
The sending of this church to serve and love the whole creation...

All these things will continue not because we are great planters of fields... but because like a weed God will continue to break into our world... showing a new reality that all things will one day be made new.

This is good news for us who live in a world of uncertainty...

As certain as the Dandelions will come... so too does God’s forgiveness, grace, and Kingdom.

Amen.

Sermon - Pentecost Sunday

2011-06-16T02:20:00.002-06:00

John 20:19-23

19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

For each of us... the number of times that Pentecost Sunday has come and gone is equal to our age. Some of us are even over the age of 35... imagine that... 35 Pentecost Sundays.

Today the church faithfully retells the story of it’s birth... the flaming tounges... the conversion of 1000’s of people as the Spirit begins a mighty work.

The very first sermon is spoke by Peter... and the work of the Spirit now spreads the message through martyrs and missionaries, through government officials and tradesmen.

The message goes to the ends of the Roman Empire... a few hundred years later and this church is adopted by the empire to create what was known as Christendom... and this same Spirit has moved to the 4 corners of the earth and even now to this spot...to this day... where about 2000 years later we continue to tell the story of the Spirits mighty works - God’s action through with and under the church to redeem the whole creation.

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And you know... I have to say... the church has done some pretty ridiculous things over these last 2000 years.

By this I mean... the church has picked up so much cultural baggage... and historical injustices... that it is ofter hard to tell what is culture, and what is church...

Unfortunately, abuse within and without the church has also damaged so many people that sometimes it seems that the church is sputtering along rather than revving it’s engine nowadays .

But let’s rethink the church today. Let’s rethink Pentecost and the Spirit through the eyes of the writer of the Gospel of John.
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When I think of the church, I’m reminded of some of the old farm equipment I used to work on and work with. Powerful noisy equipment... great to get lots of farming done... but this old equipment came with almost as much repair time and down time as it did operating time.

The old Open Cab swather was always a joy to drive... Big hat... ear plugs... leaky hydraulic steering... just you and the field and a sore back and numb body from all the vibration.

But I loved swathing... you could watch all that wheat being cut down... you could clearly see where you had been - there is a real sense of accomplishment.

I’m reminded of the time I puttered back into the yard on this old swather that was barely running... coughing and sputtering along. My dad met me in the middle of the yard... and in that mysterious way of mechanical genius that farmers seem to posses, he immediately diagnosed the problem...

I am not a farmer and never got this gift... like many men without the mechanical gift I can open up the engine and look... but if it’s not currently on fire or if there isn’t say... a large squid pulling hoses off the engine... I really won’t know what I’m looking at...

I might say something helpful like... “I think there is something wrong.”

Well... after a few seconds, a few panels coming off... the engine was exposed, and I think it was the air filter that my dad took off... it came off and dust poured out...

The engine literally couldn’t breathe... and as such... couldn’t do what it needed to do. it was choked off from the thing that really gave it life.

It’s whole purpose was to be this amazing swathing machine, cutting down whole fields in a day... preparing for the harvest.

But with the dust and dirt of the very work it was meant to do... it became bogged down and stopped being able to do it.

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This is what it is like with us and the Spirit.

Jesus breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

This is the great “OH NO! God what are you doing!” moment.
We finish today’s Gospel with a huge dilemma, and a question placed in our hearts.

It goes like this:

Jesus bestows peace upon his worried followers.Great!
Jesus fills them with the Holy Spirit. Great!
Jesus tells them they can forgive or retain other people's sins. AAAH?

But it’s not bad... it just sounds that way on the first pass... it’s full of cultural dirt and baggage and language translations... and we just need to clean it out a bit.

The Holy Spirit... the breath of God... the same spirit that brooded over the waters of creation, that blows through all history is now blown onto the disciples - God is doing a new thing. God is making a church out of people - a church that will go out to set people free through the knowledge of their sins.

Set people free... knowledge of sins

This is what it means to have sins forgiven... to forgive the sins of others... it is to be set free.

Our translation fails us a little here - raises our anxiety and points us away from the meaning that is so clear throughout the rest of John’s gospel.

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It almost sounds as if a few people are now given the authority to forgive and retain sins.

In fact... some churches give this power to their pastors... retaining and forgiving sins. Allowing some some people to be included... and others to be excluded.

This very verse was read at my ordination 2 years ago... but taken to mean that I now have authority over you... to retain and forgive your sins... is not what is meant.

This is a commissioning moment... a creation of the church moment... it is an invitation to be part of what God is doing.

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The very idea that the church should take on the roll of moral authority is part of the baggage that the church has picked up over the last 2000 years... it’s part of dust that clogs our filter and prevents us from getting to the work of really setting people free.

When we become consumed with our need to judge ourselves and judge others... we can’t rev the engine... it just sputters.

If we are consumed by what we are doing we are only looking at ourselves... we aren’t receiving what God is trying to give. We’re just sputtering along on our own.

Morals and ethics are a cousin to theology... but moral and ethics are about us... and more often then not they take away our attention from what God is doing. And of course... morals and ethics don’t set you free... God sets you free.

---

As John is writing this Gospel... John consistently refers to sin as unbelief. At it’s root... according to John... sin is simply not believing it’s true. Sin is believing that your sins are somehow unforgivable... that for some reason you need to carry them. This is sin... to refuse the freeing work of the Spirit.
---

And so Jesus says, “Peace be with you... as the father has sent me, so I send you.”

And he blows on them the Holy Spirit. He blows on ALL of them... the 11 disciples, the other unnamed disciples, the woman that gathered their with them and by extention... all of the disciples from then until now.

All are told to receive the Holy Spirit. The one that Teaches, Advocates, comforts, challenges...

And this new church... this body of believers... is to be about the work of setting people free from sin. That is... it’s about showing and telling people where they are trapped... where their own ethics and feelings leave them trapped.

That is... to retain the sins of others is to not tell them about how they can be set free.

If you set them free... they are free. If you do not... then there unbelief... there sin... is retained... they are not set free and this seems to be what God in Christ Jesus is all about.

---

God creates a church with a mission in the world.

Today on Pentecost Sunday, we remember that shiny new church. Clean air filters... simple mission. Set people free.

And in the book of Acts... Peter speaks the very first sermon.
He says...
“Look... we’re not drunk.”
“God has poured out the Spirit upon flesh.”
“Sons and daughters prophesy.”
“Young men dream dreams”
All who call upon the Lord are made complete... they are set free from their baggage... their filters are unplugged, their engines are revved. They are swept up in God’s plan to redeem the whole creation.

---

Grace Lutheran church... I declare to you this day... in this gathering around this Word of Grace and this meal of forgiveness and faith... that God is opening up our side panels... our air filters blown out... all the dust and baggage of this weary world is removed and we can breathe.
We are free to receive the breath of the Spirit that sets you free. The joy of a revved engine... the joy of life free of sin. Confidently free from sin. Unashamedly free from the past and future and all things that hold your hearts and minds captive.

Of course... this doesn’t change your reality. Your filters will be clogged by the work you do... some of us will throw the same old dust back into the filter as soon as we leave this building... and don’t believe for a second that you’ll live free of sin... doubt and faith go hand in hand.

And as you sputter and struggle... know that with this table... this Word... this church... God is always ready and waiting to clean your filter again... to set you free to live into the mission of setting you... me... the whole creation free.

Amen.

Sermon - Easter 7A

2011-06-06T10:48:00.001-06:00

Acts 1:6-14

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Wait wait wait...

Our Acts reading tells us the disciples gathered in the upper room and waited for God’s next move...

Wait wait wait...

---

What is the quality of this waiting...

Is it a sitting around hoping something will happen kind of waiting? Is it a hopeless waiting? It is a hopeful waiting?

Well... likely it all these things... but in every way... we’re told it was an active waiting...

For the disciples of Jesus...

it is waiting, watching and praying...
waiting, watching and reading the scriptures - checking your notes as it were - trading stories...
waiting and watching to see what is going to happen next... but being prepared for anything.

I think this is the kind of waiting that the fire department does... polish those trucks, fold those hoses, practice putting out those controlled fires, work out your muscles, read the manuals, do the drills. Waiting and watching and being prepared as much as possible for when the call comes. There is seemless grace to the organized chaos of a fire hall as people hurry from job to job, and truck after truck rolls out to do what it has been called to do.

Active waiting...

Perhaps a better example would be slow pitch... just a few weeks ago I was invited to play slow pitch with Hosanna Lutheran Church in Edmonton. And as it turns out... they needed me to be the pitcher. The other woman on the team who can pitch now refuses to do so because the last of many dental surgeries is about to be complete this summer to repair the damage from the ball that hit her in the face last year.

So in slow pitch... I experience the kind of waiting that the disciples are doing... that anticipatory waiting of something about to happen.

When I pitch softball I have to follow a pattern if I’m going to get the ball anywhere close the strike zone... I look down at the pitcher bar at a specific point each time... and I envision the whole action of pitching... then I look up and toss the ball.

As soon as the ball leaves my hand, I bend my legs and assume a ready position.

Well... in this particular softball game, it turned out that twice my active waiting payed off... the first time was a topped ball that bounced once and I was able to jump to the side and grab it for an easy out at first.

The second time was a line drive that I caught right on the palm of my hand 2 inches in front of my sternum as I reflexively brought my glove across by chest. Those are the moments that you know that you are alive! Adrenaline coursing through your veins as you aren’t actually dead yet, and pain shooting up front your … you really know you are still alive.

This is Active Waiting.

You can see results with active waiting. You know when you are ready to move... and when you are not. You know if you stretched before the game... you know when you studied for the test... you know when you are ready for what is coming.

I saw this on Friday at the 4H beef club show and sale. Youth after youth leading 1000’s of pounds of bovine excellence around the arena. The results of hours and hours of waiting on and watching these cows. Actively waiting for the day when they would march into the arena.

The promised day of the show and sale is coming... and you must prepare.

And on that day... all you will have is a show stick, and a small halter... and somehow you have to lead this giant creature who has been cleaned and combed into the arena to strike and pose and follow your lead.

And everyone seems to make it through the day alright... but the ones that really excel are the ones that put in the time and effort. It’s a long wait for the big day... but on the day when you confidently enter the arena with an animal that knows and trusts you... you can feel the difference that active waiting has made.

This is the type of waiting that the disciples are called to do in the upper room today... it is the same kind of waiting, that we are called to be doing everyday.

---

Our Acts reading concludes with: “All these (disciples) were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.”

And so they gather... Actively waiting for God’s next move.

---

The Book of Acts starts where the Gospel of Luke leaves off... and Luke really ends with lots of unmet expectations and unanswered questions.

Where the story might have ended with all of creation grinding to a halt - an end of time as it were with Jesus lying dead in a tomb... or it might have ended with Jesus rising and finally becoming the Messiah that everyone expected... a messiah made in the image of a warrior king to rise and take the world through power by force.... the kind of Messiah that people seem to still expect...

But the story actually doesn’t end.... rather... it launches into a new beginning of a new chapter. And it’s full of new expectations.

We expected the powerful miracle worker Jesus to rise and fight and defeat all who oppose him... instead he died.
We expected Jesus to stay dead... but instead he rose ...
We expected that Jesus might finally be conformed to our warrior King hopes... that the time where God will restore all creation to perfection... a new heaven and new earth... but instead he ascended... left us staring at the sky.

Staring at the sky and waiting... wondering what will happen next.

---

Let us allow the Disciples one moment of Awe and wonder...
One moment to look heaven ward with questions flowing through their minds of what this all means.
One moment to search the clouds in hope of getting one more glimpse of Jesus.
One moment to let the words of Jesus sink into our heads, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”

----

Jesus said that it is not for us to know when that great moment of all things set right in the end will come. Something that perhaps the doomsayers of our day who like to make their predictions of end times should probably take note of... it’s not for us to know.

It is simply not for us to know the answers to all that is the mind of God.

But what then do we know?

---

Well... Jesus tells his disciples that “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, (Yes even Samaria) and to the ends of the earth."

So... the disciples are told simply what will be. They are told what is.

The Holy Spirit comes where it wants too...
and the Holy Spirit is now on a mission to tell the whole world (even the people we hate or look down on...) … telling the whole world all the things that Jesus has said and taught. The Holy Spirit will take the disciples all over Jerusalem and Judea... and more shockingly... up into Samaria, and to the ends of the earth - even to Edson Alberta.

The Holy Spirit continues the work that Jesus has begun... the work of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into full view. The work of redeeming all of creation.

So let the Disciples of Jesus take a moment to ponder these things....
Let all disciples of Jesus take a moment to ponder the character of their own waiting and watching.

---

---

And now... I join the two men in white in asking you now: why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

This of course sends many people to studying the skies looking for Jesus in the clouds...

But Last week we talked extensively about how we have in fact seen the Holy Spirit in all acts of kindness, generosity, and Advocacy. How the Kingdom of God is breaking into our everyday lives... how through Water and Word, Bread and Wine... and all the ways that we are pulled beyond ourselves into service to our neighbors, the Holy Spirit is at work.

God is with us... Jesus is with us... The Holy Spirit is with us. We have to be careful not to undo the Trinity. And a little Geography helps with this.

Where is heaven? Some distant planet with some Court Room and Throne where God sits with Jesus on his right? Well no... that would be the Norse God Oden with his son Thor.

Where is heaven? Where is the Kingdom of Heaven? Where did Jesus say it would be?

And in fact... here is the good news of the Kingdom with us. Already here... not fully realized.

Whether we are ready or not, whether we have devoted ourselves in prayer and scripture reading or not... the Spirit comes. It comes... it acts... it is God on a mission to love and restore all of creation. It is a love story that we are called to wait and watch for. To be a part of it when we see it happening and are called to do our part.

So be active in waiting and watching.... be ready...

We are the ones who have received this story.
We are the ones who have witnessed the Spirit... or God... or Jesus at work.
We are the ones left behind in this world to point to where God is breaking into this world in new and unexpected ways.
We are the ones called to pray and watch and react to the Spirit at work in our midst. The Kingdom of God, the teaching of the Spirit loving and love of the son redeeming all things and all people.

And now:
Spoiler alert: Next week we celebrate Pentecost Sunday... where we remember the story of the Holy Spirit coming in power, and launching God’s church to be Christ’s body for the sake of the whole world.

but for this week...

May we know and see that the Holy Spirit has come among us.
May we know the comfort of Jesus forgiveness and calling on our lives.
May we see what God is doing... in water and word... bread and wine... and Christ’s love lived through us for the redemption of all creation.

Sermon - Easter 4A - John 10:1-10

2011-05-15T21:23:00.000-06:00

There comes a time in a preachers week where you realize you have gone down the wrong road. I wanted to take this text and speak about anxiety and abundance. To try to make sense of the anxiety we all live with and the abundance that the good shepherd promises. Unfortunately, that sermon ended up sounding like a self help book on abundance vs. anxiety. And... as I was recusitating that one, Erik shared his sermon with me and sometimes something is just working so well you just go with it. I do feel that I contributed to Erik's sermon about maybe 5% as we talked a lot about the text on Friday. But... enough of this and would have could have should have... here is Erik's sermon, which I preached because it works so well:

John 10:1-10
Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

Sermon
The horn blew. The gate opened. And out danced the 2000 pound bull into the arena. The rider on top held on for dear life, free arm flailing, feet whipping back and forth Right at the 8 second mark, the bell rang and the rider fell off, landing hard on the ground. He scrambled away, while the big angry bull kept bucking around the arena. The wranglers closed in quickly, one set to rope the bull around the neck, the other set to unhook the flank rope.

But before the bull could be caught, it bucked right into one of the gates along the wall. The wranglers arrived, settled the bull and lead it back to the chute. As the bull left the area, the crowd began to roar with laughter. Out from their pen and into the arena, streamed dozens of white sheep. The bull had broken their gate and set them free.
(Pause)
Even, far away from the fields and pastures of first century palestine, far away from the shepherds and sheep that Jesus spoke of, the image resonates with us still. The promise of a shepherd who is with in the valley of the shadow of death, the shepherd who searches for the lost one in the 99, the shepherd who guards the gate. Somehow we know what it is to be gathered and care for, protected and loved. Or at least we like the idea...
Shepherding hasn’t changed much in 2000 years. Then, and in many parts of the world now, tending to flocks is done in the same way. When Shepherds come to town for supplies, they put their sheep in pens, guarded by a gatekeeper. After they purchase supplies, they return to the pen and call their sheep. The sheep know their shepherd and follow him or her out to pasture again.
Out in the wild, Shepherds will gather bushes and rocks to build temporary pens at night. In the opening, the shepherds will sleep, using their own body as gate. This way the predators must pass over them to get to the sheep.
For the disciples, shepherds should have been common place, and the image of God as Shepherd was familiar. The psalms would have been well known by most people in Jesus day.
And somehow, despite the fact that they know the psalms and shepherds, they do not know what on earth Jesus is talking about.
The part that the disciples don’t understand isn’t the shepherds, or the sheep gate or the sheep pen. The problem is the sheep. The problem is that Jesus doesn’t tell the disciples how to be good sheep.
(Pause)
As the sheep scattered around the rodeo arena, the wranglers and other cowboys quickly jumped to the task of gathering the sheep back up. Some on foot, some on horses, some with ropes. The scene quickly became chaotic.

As hard as the cowboys tried they just couldn’t coral the sheep. As the horses approached, the sheep would run off in all directions. As cowboys threw lassoes at the sheep, they couldn’t get the loops to stay around their necks. As some daring bull riders tried to grab sheep with their arms, they would just squirt free.

The crowd loved the action, laughing at each failed attempt to get the sheep back where they were supposed to be
(Pause)
For nearly 2000 years, Christians have called God the Shepherd, have called the church the sheepfold and have called ourselves the sheep.Yet, we don’t have to look much past ourselves to know why the disciples couldn’t understand Jesus. We like the idea of a Shepherd that lovingly chases after us and cares for us. But we want to go into the pen on our terms. We want to be free to be sheep in our way.
Like the disciples, we have resisted, or even been unable to see Jesus calling out to us. The Blind Man whom Jesus heals in the pool of Siloam does not recognize Jesus once he meets him later on. The disciples cannot imagine how 5 loves and 2 fish will feed a great crowd. Mary Magdalene cannot recognize Jesus near the empty tomb on Easter morning until Jesus calls her by name. Thomas will not believe, unless it is on his terms.
All of these actions, washing the blind man, feeding the 5000, naming Mary, giving Thomas faith. These are the same actions that God does in the Church. This is how the Shepherd cares for the sheep in the pen. And this is what we resist. We do not want to arrive here empty, we do not want to be washed, and fed and loved. We come here, to the church, to the pen, hoping to earn our love. We want God to reward us. We want to be here on our terms. The Shepherd can stay here in the pen, and when we are ready, we will show up with our best face on... but most of the time we are out there in world and not really wanting a shepherd. We don’t want God to be a hassle in our lives.
That is what the disciples don’t understand. That is what we don’t understand. Jesus gives us this image of the Shepherd and what the shepherd does, but there is no mention of how to be good sheep.
And in the end, that isn’t the point. Good Shepherd Sunday is not about how to be good sheep. Today, is a reminder of who God is. Jesus is our Shepherd who calls us, who cares for us and washes us, who feeds us, and names us.
Washes us in Baptism, and brings us to new life.
Feeds us in the Lord’s supper, at the Lord’s table, with his own body and blood.
Names us as his sheep who belongs to the Shepherd.
Gathers in faith, gathers into this community, this family, this flock.
These are the actions of God in Christ.
Here in this place, it is the shepherd who is good, not the sheep. It is the shepherd whose actions matter, not those of the sheep. Here in the church, here in this congregation, Jesus calls us home. Yes, we are sent out each week into the world. We go out to pasture to a world fraught with the danger, a world that tells us it is all about the sheep, and what sheep do.
But in God’s church, in God’s sheepfold, Jesus reminds us again and again, that in washing, feeding, naming and calling that Jesus brings us to himself.
Jesus’s sheep pen, Christ’s church, is not a place were we need to earn our way. It is not a place where we give of ourselves or where we offer something to God, to the Shepherd. It is a place where God gives to us. It is a place where we receive. It is place where we come to know the Shepherd by his voice. “I baptize you. I give my body for you. I forgive you. You are mine”.
Wherever we have been scattered, or lost, whatever we cannot understand or are confused about, the voice of the Shepherd gathers us to him, brings us back into his flock.
(Pause)

Finally, after the rodeo had been delayed long enough with the antics of cowboys trying to catch sheep, someone went to find the shepherd. When he arrived at the arena, he stood at the broken gate of the sheep pen.

[Whislte] “Here sheep!” and by his call the sheep came running to the shepherd. They would not be herded, or captured or restrained. Instead, they need to be called. Called by familiar voice. As the sheep piled in, the shepherd sat down in place of the broken gate, making his body the new gate.

So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Amen.

Easter Sunday 2011

2011-04-24T23:10:00.002-06:00

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

Donald Juels writes "[N]one of the Gospels can really end the story of Jesus. The whole point is that it continues--and that its significance continues."

Donald is onto something...

There is an absolutely shocking brevity to the end of this story.

Lent has long readings and detailed stories of who Jesus was and what he was up too. Stories that impact our lives.

Good Friday just 2 days ago had the long passion narrative... the story of Jesus betrayed, arrested, beaten, tried, crucified, buried.

And today Matthew brings the narrative to an end... and we get just a few short versus.

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It happens to me all the time when I’m reading a book. I want to know what keeps happening after the end of the story... rare is it that an author will resolve the story to the point that I don’t want to know more. I want the relationship to the characters to continue.

So for me... from a literary stand point... the Gospel of Matthew has has a very annoying ending.

Matthew is going along in great detail… for 28 chapters Matthew tells the story of Christ’s ministry… it starts with long geneologies placing this story in time. It has a virgin birth, wisemen, a desperate flight to Egypt. Baptisms, demons, controversy... it’s a roller coaster ride for 28 chapters.

The way that Matthew tells the story… Jesus finally enters Jerusalem in Chapter 21. He’s in fact been headed this way for a long time. But it took 21 our of 28 chapters to get here.

Jesus then makes long speeches with lots of parables that both enlighten and confuse. He drives the money changers out of the temple with the whip, and basically makes the religious elite really upset which makes the oppressive Roman oversears upset. The tension builds.

Things really start moving because in Chapter 26 as the plot to kill him is hatched, he has his last supper with his disciples, goes to the Garden of Gethsemne and is betrayed by a long time disciple... and by Chapter 27 he is in front Pilate. Quickly he is tried, crucified, laid in the tomb and is dead... the body is under guard..

Our reading ended on verse 10 of chapter 28… the Gospel of Matthew…

And there is only one page turn left... and so many unanswered questions.

Just two small paragraphs to bring the story to a close. Just 10 versus left… and Matthew takes 5 of them to tell the story of how the guards were bribed to say Jesus didn’t really rise from the dead. Now there are just 5 versus left... and they are all commissioning…

Matthew writes: “ Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Credits...

The Credits roll... the lights come up... the movie has ended... but story is still going.

Go and tell... He is Risen... Go to all nations... He is risen...

There is no discussion about what this means or how we should use this information… it doesn’t break it down into theological terms so that we can build doctrines and dogmas easily off of it…

It’s a shocking brevity… and the story can’t end… it’s just launching into so many new things.

All along Jesus predicted this death and spoke of resurrection but… it is clear that nobody really believed him.

The disciples were scattered… and the women were coming to take care of the body… they were doing what was necessary… they came to offer a little mercy to the remains of their dead friend...

And in no way did the expect anything other than death… and the stench of death… to be in that tomb. Jesus was killed... and everything was going to be as it had always been...

Nothing in their experience prepared them for what happened next.

---

The young Rev. Hank Johnson had not been a pastor long when the call to serve as the director of international aid for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Madagascar came. A missionary in the family was something Hank’s Grandmother had always dreamed of and frankly, the opportunity to spend time in a tropical country was a nice bonus. Having grown up in Tisdale Saskatchewan, any change of wintry climate would be nice.

Hank Johnson completed the language school and learned about the culture of Madagascar and all to quickly he found himself standing inside a hot concrete church… 98% humidity and 32 degrees in the shade… and it was January… and he loved it….

The familiar cadence of the Lutheran Liturgy was comforting even though he had not mastered the Malagasy language… he still knew where he was in the service… it’s one of the joys of a tradition so deeply rooted that even without the language skills, Hank was still in familiar territory.

Then it came time to preach… Hank launched his Easter sermon about how God had overcome death. It was strange at first… he would speak and sentence in English… and the translator would make sure everyone understood. Hank talked about how Jesus love was big enough to forgive even his friends who betrayed him… Jesus even forgave the people who were killing him…

Then… to drive home the of God’s mercy... Hank said “God’s love isn’t like baseball… there isn’t a three strikes and you are out policy”

Silently the people looked at Hank… and then to the translator… and then back to Hank… the translator slowly started to speak… for 2 minutes the translator spoke and Hank was getting worried… he wondered if he had said the wrong thing or what was happening. Was this one of those cultural mistakes he had heard of...

Finally the translator stopped and turned to Hank. He said “Keep going… you’re doing great… I just had to explain what baseball was before I could say the part about how it’s not like baseball at all.

—

Everything we know builds on the knowledge that we already have. All new information is processed agains what we have experienced.

We start life as little baby humans that are predisposed to all sorts of things. And then over time we are exposed to life… and family bias, cultural bias, our experiences come together to make who we are. We learn to expect certain things from people… and from life. The hope for newness fades as this old world starts to act in pretty predictable ways. And it takes a word from outside to upset the status quo.

Just like those confused Malagasy Lutherans hearing about Baseball for the first time… trying to make sense of the different words and analogies that was given to them. In that short 45 minute sermon… which in fact is a short sermon in Madagascar… Hank tried to pass on the message that had been given to him. The same message that the woman at the tomb were sent to carry to the disciples and the whole world.

Christ is risen… change is possible… life gets the final word… God is active in forming community… death does not get the final word... Christ is making us whole… inviting us into life abundant free from shame and sin... right now with the risen Christ.

And each of us sitting here today has been moved by the Holy Spirit in different ways to come to this church today.

Some of us come through scholarly attraction to the rich history and tradition and foundation the church offers. A foundation on which new life and possibility blooms.

Some come through the need to draw close to God and... in this community and this place there is a sense that somehow God is closer... there is a thin space where the divine seems not so far away... exploring little bits of the mystery of just what “He is Risen” means for us today.

Still others are here because they don’t understand God but know that there is something in the conversation that is held here... in the community that meets here... in the way that God approaches us in this Gospel story... in how this congregation lives that speaks into the mystery of what it is to be fully human... what it is to be in relationship with God.

And as short as Matthew’s ending to the story is... we can make it even shorter. We can boil it down to three words.

“He is Risen”

Donald Juel writes this:
“Jesus is full of surprises. Old skins cannot contain the new wine. The world's uneasiness in the presence of Jesus is fully justified. He will not be bound by tradition that defines human life; even death has no final power over him. The end only marks a new beginning--a beginning of the good news that Jesus, the one who is the ultimate threat to our autonomy, now becomes our source of life.

It is only fitting that just as the tomb will not contain Jesus, neither can [Matthew’s] story. Jesus is not bound by its ending; he continues into the future that God has in store for the [whole] creation. In the meantime there is only the Word, the bread, and the wine, and the promise that "you will see him." We walk by faith and not by sight. We can only trust that God will one day finish the story, as God has promised.”

---

And so... today is not an end point all neatly tied up in the narrative of Jesus... it is in fact a new beginning. This story ends with “To be continued...”

And the story is continued in you... in me... in every life that is touched by the good news that has been passed onto us... we failed in our attempt to kill God… there is hope for love and life and forgiveness and restoration… life forever is the final word on death.

May you dwell in the the reality that “He is Risen.”
May you find new life in the words “He is Risen”
May you come today to the table of wine and bread... the Holy communion... where forgiveness is proclaimed and new life made possible through the promise of Christ... the one we rejected... the one we killed... the one who rose from the grave and sent out his disciples to proclaim to us this good news.

Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Amen

Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
(x3)

These words are an ancient proclamation. They are words right from scripture and repeated often by Christians for nearly 2000 years. They are peculiar in the story they tell. Christ is Risen. Did he wake up from a nap? Did he fall down and stand up again? Has he climbed some stairs or taken the elevator to the top of a building?

These words tell a story... but we need to know where that story begins.

This morning we hear the story of two women gathering at the tomb on the first day of week, on Sunday morning. But a week before this moment, Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on donkey as a saviour. The people shouted from the streets, they laid their clothes down with palm branches on the road in order to show their respect for a king entering Jerusalem. They were hoping for a warlord, someone to get rid of their oppressors, the Roman Empire. They shouted Hosanna, Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna, which means Save Now. Hossana for a man named Jesus, which means God saves. But that was last Sunday.

Between that excitement for a saviour and now, the mood in the city changed. Hope for a messiah of action and power, turned into resentment and anger for a messiah of inaction and passivity. By Thursday night the people who were shouting Hosanna were shouting Crucify. Save Now became Kill Now.

And on Good Friday, the people did just that. The mobs, the religious authorities, the Roman governors and soldiers nailed this man named God Saves, named Jesus, to a cross. Humanity nailed God in flesh, come to dwell among us to a cross. But that was Friday.

This is Sunday. And this morning the two Marys come to the tomb... hoping to prepare the body of Jesus’ for burial. They are hoping to wrap all the other details up. They are hoping to finish the Jesus story, to end it in their own way.

They don’t like the ending that Pilate, the temple authorities and the mobs tried to write. They don’t want the cross to be all there is. They are trying to add a little mercy, and little respect. To prepare the body of Jesus for eternity. But they don’t get to write their ending either.

Instead, they hear a new story. A short, simple story that we have gathered to tell today.

Christ is Risen
He Is Risen Indeed - Alleluia!

Sermon - Good Friday 2011

2011-04-23T23:18:00.000-06:00

(Inspired and adapted and collaborated from a sermon by Rev. Erik Parker. See his final version here)

It is GOOD Friday.

Today we live in Darkness and worship and sit in the shadow of the cross.
We have heard Christ’s story of passion.
We have heard of humanities betrayal.
We have heard of his suffering and death.

But we are not here to kill Christ again.
We have not come to grieve and mourn his death again.
We have not come to relive the crucifixion again,
We have not come to nail Jesus to cross again.

Today we are here to immerse ourselves in the human story.
We remember our part in the story. Shame and Pride and Violence.
We remember that when faced with God in flesh, when faced with God with us,
we put God to death.
We remember that humanity at its best, humanity’s finest minds, finest scholars, finest religious authorities, finest soldiers.... our best and finest understanding of the divine, led us to kill Jesus.

This is GOOD Friday.
It tells us who we are.
It tells us who we try to be.
It tells us what happens when we try to be God in God’s place.

We are threatened by all that this day takes away...
our control
our power
our strength.

Good Friday tells us about us:
We couldn’t stand the idea of being able to see God face to face.
We couldn’t stand the idea of God telling us that we were wrong about life and love.
We couldn’t stand the idea that we didn’t know exactly what God wanted and said and did and thinks...

How could we not know these things about God?
We think we ARE God...
we know what WE want,
we know what WE say and do
we know what WE think

Then God met us face to face,
and Jesus heals, preaches, teaches,
and Jesus feeds, casts our demons and raises the dead...
And Jesus shows us we are not God.

We plot and plan
We scheme
We betray.

When God met us face to face,
We said no.
We used our greatest tool.
We used our godlike power
We used Death

When God met us face to face,
God said yes.
God took our greatest tool,
God took our godlike power,
God took our Death

And then God did what God does.
And then God said what God always says
And then God gave us God’s greatest tool,

God entered our deepest fears and murderous impulse.
God spoke new life and defeated death.
God gives us a new understanding of who we are.

The cross which stands so tall, no longer stands for death.
The cross which stands so tall, now only stands for life.
The cross which stands so tall, our tool of death becomes God’s greatest tool of life.

We tried to make the cross say no - But God has made it say yes.
We have tried to control God with death - But God will not be controlled
We have tried to be like God - But God becomes one of us.

Love will not be controlled
Forgiveness and Grace will not be controlled
God will not be controlled.

God has come to be love for us
God has come to forgive us with unending and undeserved grace
God has come to give us life.

Despite our best efforts... Christ is glorified on the cross.
God’s surprising yes... God’s gift of new life.
This is Good Friday ... This is Good Friday ... This is Good Friday

11 - 04 - 17 Sermon Palm Sunday

2011-04-17T16:59:00.002-06:00

11-05-17 Sermon Palm Sunday

Before we begin… I would invite you to take that pen and paper you have… or a journal if you have one… or if you like to text things in your phone you can write in there…

And now… I want you to write on that paper what really makes you mad… what gets under your skin… what do you really wish could be different.
Or... if there isn’t anger at this moment... where is you greatest sense of injustice? What is your longing.

You won’t need to share anything you write down… and I have a shredder for after if you want to borrow it…

But write your deepest concern down… and hold it… hold these things you write... or are too scared to write in your mind…

And as you write these things… I’m going to re-read the gospel verse for this Palm Sunday… Start writing... the gospel verse isn’t in our bulletin this week... We’re going to focus on Palm Sunday today.

We’re focusing on the crowds crying out Hosanna.

So... as you write... I’m going to read to you a different translation from “The Message” Bible.

When he got near Bethphage and Bethany at the mountain called Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: “Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tethered, one that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says anything, asks, ‘What are you doing?’ say, ‘His Master needs him.’ ”

32–33 The two left and found it just as he said. As they were untying the colt, its owners said, “What are you doing untying the colt?”

34 They said, “His Master needs him.”

35–36 They brought the colt to Jesus. Then, throwing their coats on its back, they helped Jesus get on. As he rode, the people gave him a grand welcome, throwing their coats on the street.

37–38 Right at the crest, where Mount Olives begins its descent, the whole crowd of disciples burst into enthusiastic praise over all the mighty works they had witnessed:

Blessed is he who comes,

the king in God’s name!

All’s well in heaven!

Glory in the high places!

39 Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, get your disciples under control!”

40 But he said, “If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise.”

If you need to keep writing... please do so... write those thoughts...

Palm Sunday is a highlight in our church year. Today we join in the cheering action of those who for the first time welcomed Jesus as King into Jerusalem… and as they shouted “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna!” We too join in that cry. The party that welcomes the new King.

And why not! This is what crowds do when they are getting what they want.

This is what crowds do when they get excited and things are happening!

There are many types of chants… many types of excitement.

I think it is Eskimos fans that get swept up in the moment and will chant anything.
If you have ever been to an Eskimos football game and watched them score a touchdown against Saskachewan and joined in the chant of “Calgary Sucks!” you know what it is to be swept up in a moment… to be chanting something that makes no sense.

If you have ever watched the athletes from Chile in any sporting event you know that there will be a group of fans chanting “Ole ole ole ole, Chile… Chile…” It’s almost like a second national anthem. You could win a game of marbles and your friends in Santiago will cheer this for you!

This is a chant of support and pride no matter what the outcome of the game.

And then there are the chants of hope… I believe it is basketball that coined the “(clapx2) Defence!”

These are chants that are hoping for a certain future to play.

These basketball fans are like crowds that call for “Peace” and “Democracy.” in war torn nations.

Salvation of the basketball game comes through stopping the other team.

Peace and Democracy come through people rallying in the streets around the world. It comes when new leadership is put in place... and the new leadership is for the people... not against them.

These chants… these cheers… they are expressions of hope and excitement. They are expressions of pleasure. They are cries of deep longing!

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It’s exciting to join in this today… when else do you get to wave palm branches and dance around? When else will you get to shout out ancient Hebrew words?

You can imagine what it was to be that first crowd standing there and shouting Hosanna. You can imagine being woken up... or dropping your tools at the work site to rush down to the gate where Jesus is coming in... you can imagine the out of breath messengers that sprint through the streets as news spreads that “Jesus… the new King is coming.”

And not just any King… not just a new tyrant… but a good and just and noble King. Things were going to change. Israel will be restored... And all for the better! This is the expectation of the people.

All of Israel was tired of being the whipping boy for the Roman Empire.

Israel was tired of high taxes and not being able to make their own political decisions.
Israel was tired of watching their natural resources taken granted and shipped off to foriegn lands.
Israel was tired of their people being made examples of… tired of the executions and trials… tired of watching their sons and daughters have no work or worse… being carted off into slavery.

And now… Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna!

It doesn’t matter that he is riding on a donkey instead of a proper war horse like a normal King.
It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t made a political move yet and that there is no army as yet marching behind him. Hosanna!

It is an exciting time! Jesus enters the city.
Stories of how he weeps for the condition of Jerusalem will start to circulate.
Stories of how he cleaned all those money changers out of the temple are going to be told and retold.

It is a good time to be in Jerusalem because much needed change is in the air!

And we’re going to try to live in this moment for a bit... it’s tempting to rush ahead to all the events of Holy Week... but I want to really dwell in the midst of the crowd calling Hosanna for just a moment.

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So my question is… what does Hosanna mean anyway? And why are the people shouting it?

I made the mistake of asking someone who has studied a lot of Hebrew about the word Hosanna and I got a very loooong answer starting with etymology and word origins and how words change meaning over time... and we ended with how Christians have turned Hosanna into a random word of praise when the meaning is so much deeper.

I’ll save you the lecture and simply translate it this way “Save now!”
SAVE NOW! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! SAVE NOW!

It is an appeal for deliverance.

There is an edge of desperation here. There is a glimmer of hope.

As all eyes fall on Jesus… the crowd demands… The crowd expects… The crowd cheers because surely this Messiah… Surely this Rabbi on a Donkey… Surely this person with all his claims is going to deliver them. Hosanna! Save us now! From the pit of their deepest longings and greatest hurts… Hosanna! Save now!

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And so… we have joined in the cry of Hosanna today. We of course do not live under Roman oppression… we have different concerns than those who stood and watched Jesus enter into Jerusalem on a Donkey.

And Jesus rode into town on a donkey for all of those people...

Not just his disciples, not just those who disagreed with him, not just those who would kill him. But Jesus rode in for all of them… and as they cried out “Hosanna, Save now!” Jesus comes for the people. He saves them in a bigger way than they could have imagined.

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Turn your thoughts to the things you wrote on those papers. We did the group journaling exercise at the beginning… to spend just a few moments here and now, doing the work Holy Week together.

Writing down your areas of deepest anger and longing probably didn’t feel like Holy Work at all… It doesn’t feel Holy to name those things that really hurt...

But this is the most Holy Work we can do... as we join the cries of Hosanna… Writing down our areas of brokeness and disappointment… naming our hopes and our angers… this is laying the ground work of where we cry Hosanna.

The story that unfolds this Holy week is not just about as historic event lost in the past.

The emotions that we engage this Holy week are not pretend emotions as if we are pretending that Jesus is being killed again… No… this isn’t advanced street theatre.

Everything we do this week is about God responding to the world as each of us cries Hosanna in our own way in our own time.

We are crying for AND giving thanks for Jesus saving work that is active even today.

Those issues that burn inside you… those issues of injustice… those places of anger that dwell just under the surface… any of those things you wrote on that paper and all the things that you hold in you heart right now are the rocky soil from which we cry Hosanna.

The Rocky soil that should we not cry out... will cry out for us.

This is Palm Sunday.

We cry Hosanna to the one who comes... and continues to be with us for.

The cries of Jerusalem then... and our cries now are what Jesus has ridden into Jerusalem to overcome... to answer... to address.

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And so… on this Palm Sunday… we stop where Jesus says “if the people are silent, the very stones of the earth would cry out. The deep groaning of all creation is what Jesus has come to address and will does address in our Holy Week celebrations.

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And...
If you can’t make it to any of the group events or services that are happening this week, then I have a take home devotion for you to get you through to Holy Week so that you don’t end up at Easter crying Hosanna - Save me… Palm Sunday is the cry of Hosanna.

On Easter we will cry out Alleluia.

Working through our lives as they are now… working through the story of Holy week… we will arrive at Easter crying out Alleluia - praise God who not only works on the mountaintops and in the good times… but also walks with me to the heart of my hurts and challenges - straight into all the things that I wrote down on that paper.

God knows pain and betrayal and hurt and death.
God gives redemption and ascension and promise of new life and possibility.

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So...
Praise God for the new covenant in Bread and Wine
Praise God for coming down to serve and wash feet.
Praise God for entering Dark Gethsemane.
Praise God who redeems friends who betray 3 times and more.
Praise God for forgiving those who do not know what they do.
Praise God for repentant thieves.
Praise God for empty tombs and resurrections.

And if any of these events I just praised God for now are unfamiliar to you… then Praise God for the Church and the story of salvation: God’s love story for all of creation - the story of hearing the cries of the people and answering us with the Christ.

Hosanna... Alleluia.

Amen.