God's Vineyard is Not the Marketplace

Playing a little catchup at this end of the Church year. Being the new Pastor, showing up on the eve of the stewardship time was a challenge. Rather than just talk about Money, which I think limits our view anyway, I talked about stewardship of relationships, of worship and how our discipleship journey informs the decisions we make on many levels.
here is the sermon from September 16, 2011 with the Workers in the Vineyard on the Sunday of the week that Reading was named the "Poorest City in the US."

Trinity Church on Wall Street, New York City hosts an annual conference “Trinity Institute,” where they bring together religious and economic leaders to talk about how the church and the world intersect. A recent topic was entitled,” Building an Ethical Economy.” Just hearing ethics and economics together is probably challenging, especially as we experience jobs going offshore, and those who have jobs being stretched farther and farther, and financial wrongdoing. One of the Institute speakers was Dr. Kathryn Tanner who talked about our behaviors in the marketplace- we want to get our fair share of money and resources. We carve out our turf quickly because there’s not enough to go around, and some of us deserve it more than others. She asked what would happen if we saw the money and resources of our marketplace the way we see grace. I can have God’s grace and so can you and you and you. And there’s still enough to go around the world and across time. We can relax, quit competing so hard and trust in God’s arrangement of grace and providing. When I first heard her, I thought “Wow, what a radical idea!” Yet there’s this problem. I’m not so sure we see God’s grace that way. In fact I think sometimes we drag our marketplace perspective into our churches. We start deciding who should have a share, or a say. Who’s been here longer, or worked harder. Who’s earned it. We decide how God should be generous. It’s hard to embrace new faces or ideas because we already know how we do things, who does things and who ought to be included like it’s a payroll.


I’d like to ask us to look at our parable today as the Parable of The Unchosen and contemplate those left behind workers in the marketplace as people not numbers. And see God’s actions from their perspective. Anyone who’s ever lost a job or wondered if they will find one knows this feeling. We stand and look around at others and find ourselves saying it’s just NOT FAIR that we’re left out or passed over. The marketplace is a place that decides who’s worth it and what they’re worth. It uses terms like “planned obsolescence,” “depreciation,” “Past their prime” and “downsizing.” All ways of saying things and people become un-chosen. We might hear the parable as workers left out who were just lazy, our own lives tell us otherwise. Especially here in Reading-many who were chosen are feeling unchosen- when they’re too old, when the company moves because other workers are cheaper. And we live with the label –DISTRESSED CITY. Perhaps sadly we know the sinking feeling that we don’t feel like the chosen ones. You’d think we’d be able to keep the marketplace mentality out of our churches. But at times we rely on our history, and past performance. We know who’re the deserving ones. Here are a couple examples of what this might look like:
A young woman joined a church and she wanted to be involved. She saw they needed teachers for Sunday School so she signed up to help. But no one called. Those in charge continued to ask for help so she called the person in charge and offered again. She was brushed off. “Thanks, we have people who handle this and we’ll let you know.” But they didn’t. The young woman persisted- “You need help and I am willing.” “Well, dear you don’t seem like the teacher type.” It’s not fair. Sometimes we don’t want to share with the newcomer. But for that woman it meant she was the UNCHOSEN, standing in the marketplace with those left behind workers. Idle and wondering -Will anyone pick me? Or will they pass me by?

A group of older adults had met for fifty years for mid-day worship, Bible study and lunch. They used to number over 150. Now there were 18. Some people thought that if only 18 were left, maybe the time had come to say it wasn’t worth it. Their time had passed. And people were ready to cast them back into that marketplace with the un-chosen. For some it’s unfair to dedicate resources to such an insignificant group. But the Bible study group felt the sting of being seen as UNCHOSEN and outdated. It’s unfair and it’s a shame. When we turn God’s grace into a commodity that some can have and others cannot, it causes pain.

Can we identify with these struggles? Of being ones who haven’t been picked, or passed by? In our neighborhood and here at Holy Spirit, I hear some wondering about the future-and on a bad day perhaps asking if we still have a purpose, or value, or whether it’s too late. To those who wonder-God has three things to share this day- we can’t tell God how to be generous, we don’t know what time it is in God’s plan, and none of us decides who God chooses.

Here at Holy Spirit, we’ve been chosen in this part of God’s vineyard. The vineyard is not and SHOULD not be the marketplace. The vineyard’s a place where there’s a different vision of work, and worth and where there is something to be shared. Jesus says it’s never too late and keeps seeking out our co-workers and there is enough for all. God’s not done with this place or with us. While at times this will challenge us to see that other ideas or new faces are a part of God’s workforce, they will also be ways God will bring life and generosity to all of us. We don’t have to compete to be chosen. Because no one has to be the UNCHOSEN. We don’t have to live in that mentality. God’s grace is abundant and surprising.

My ordination here yesterday is God’s bold proclamation that it’s not too late in the day, and no matter whether you are young or old, a life longer or a newcomer, God has need of each of us. God has room for each of us. And each of us is worth it to God. This is good news! So come! It will take all of our hands, and those of our neighbors, but God’s got work for all of us and the harvest will amaze us. Let’s join together in trust and by the grace of God, let’s show the world that God and not the marketplace has the last word. We are rich indeed! AMEN

From Stranger to Family

"When you're here you're family" It’s ironic to me that this is what the Olive Garden restaurant advertizes on TV.Amazing food and happy people. Come! They encourage us to come because when you’re here, “you’re family.” But then if you go, you know the drill- give us one name, take a pager and they tell you a number- how long you have to wait to be “family.”  If you’re like me you‘re known by a lot of numbers. Customer number, Social Security number, drivers license number, insurance number.  Our news is about numbers too - the number of unemployed, uninsured, incarcerated, below the poverty line, over 65. Now some Super Committee is supposed to find the magic numbers that will save us.

Even in our ministry we talk in numbers- how many people who came, how many bags of food, how many tortilla chips to make a serving for one person. It’s disheartening to be seen as a number. Categorized, prioritized and sorted. This is how we read today’s words- it’s about sorting and labels and ultimate fate. How many will we be with Jesus? The saddest thing is that while we long for caring and connection, all our behaviors and numbers reinforce keeping each other strangers. So even when we approach Jesus’ commandments of love, fear of risk leads us to domesticate hospitality and caring to safe numbers. People we identify with we will care for. Blind to everyone else who’s still just a number or a label.  We think all these numbers are a part of life, but their rule of over us brings the opposite. Suddenly we’re all strangers to someone. Good thing Jesus doesn’t tell us what we tell kids- “don’t’ talk to strangers.”

Our Ruler and Shepherd has a different vision. And it’s personal.  Good news for all feeling swallowed up in the crowd. God took on flesh and challenged all our assumptions, seeking out lost, helpless, scattered and neglected. Through Christ, sheep were sought and restored. God is still seeking us out, bringing us back from scattered places, giving us the food and strength, healing and hope we really need. Drawing us into God’s family and into true life. Christ alone has the power to do this. Christ alone has the heart to shepherd us to this new place beyond numbers and strangers. This is what we celebrate again this day.  Our worship and sacraments remind us of God’s power and love. They start with something different. We’re not sinner number 5437. We’re Jane, Michael, Nancy and Zach. The world wants to treat us as statistics, God speaks our name. Others say we’re ineligible or unqualified. God claims us. And makes us new family. Teaching a new way of being that worships Jesus and not our numbers brings salvation. And we’re called to praise and live Christ’s power and love in ways that are personal and continue challenge our assumptions.  To go beyond statements about others that start with “I didn’t realize.”

To tell others beyond here, they’re family too.

This is what happened to a woman in Seattle. Her church decided to help host a homeless tent city. Seattle lacked enough shelter housing but required the homeless to move every few weeks. Churches took on the project of offering space. They signed up for doing their Christian duty.
 

But many worried and calculated the cost of water, trash, risk, inconvenience.  They felt obligated to help “the least,” but their identity and the cost were uncomfortable. Numbers and labels.  This is how the woman felt too, but after awhile, she decided to bake bread and take it out to them. She liked to bake. Her warm bread began conversations. She found she enjoyed talking to some of “them.” They liked her bread. She felt good. Then one day it happened- she recognized a familiar face- and realized this “homeless man” was a long lost cousin. His “issues” had scattered him away from family. Everything changed. He wasn’t some “needy poor soul”- he was family. It re-shaped her whole understanding.  Her needs and his were healed. Transformed, she pursued offering worship, then Communion and real hospitality, then advocating for things she saw with new eyes.

Maybe that’s what the disciples mean when they say- when did we do what you asked Jesus? When she went out she knew she was trying to live faithfully, but she didn’t fully realize she was bearing Christ or that she would meet Christ. But it happened. Real love and hospitality happened in an unexpected, untamed way. Bringing restoration and community and life to many.  A small gesture grew into an encounter with Christ’s embodiment of true hospitality. Beyond social obligation, needs, labels and numbers, seeing people with names and stories, all needing to hear and see again Christ’s life-changing power and love. When we embody this vision in our living and being, God brings an end to effects of “nameless and faceless.” It starts with feeding and clothing, visiting the sick and imprisoned, but they’re more than a list or a social obligation. They are brothers and sisters.

When we meet them, we can expect that in Christ and by Christ we and they will be shaped and transformed. Becoming more than a babysitting service or a meal plan, or a polite smile. More than just a social service agency handling our share of the numbers. Because while it starts with everyday things, what we proclaim with these things is the power and hope of Christ. We proclaim that through Christ we will all be transformed. Bags of food, Kleenex, note cards, microwave popcorn, Advil, budgets for spending and rooms in this building- reflect the power and hope we seek and find in Christ.  Our living and being are the out-flowing of who we become in Christ. Bearers of the love of Christ who are taken to the places of others’ deepest needs where we’re reminded by Christ of our own needs.  Then we realize others aren’t so strange after all. They are us. We’re family: Weak and vulnerable, with wants and fears as our common story. YET met by the true source of grace and power-Christ.  Christ continues to shepherd us to cross that distance from “stranger” to kin, from death to life, reminding us that through Him we all hear- “Come, God has prepared this for you. You’re not a stranger. You’re family.” AMEN 

Playing it Safe Isn't the Answer

There are so many things going on in the life of the parish and in our world. It is our Harvest Home Sunday. People will bring and have been bringing pantry items. I am delighted they share. I am fascinated that most of what is offered is generic not branded items yet I know that in our homes we buy something better for ourselves. Yet how do we make ends meet?
I will also have my first baptism as a pastor :)
And certainly both the global economic news and the local news about what happens when people play it safe rather than risk their world is on minds with the events at Penn State and the Second Mile program which has had an event in Reading. So, quite a stew pot of items this week.

My grandmother lived through The Great Depression. So she saved everything and hid money in places like the freezer, and the underwear drawer. She was playing it safe. We think we found it all after she died, but if it was in the garden, it’s probably still there. I used to think it was ridiculous to squirrel away money like that, but as economies around the world teeter on the brink, it’s tempting. Actually, in Jesus’ day, digging a hole in the ground and hiding money was the safe and virtuous thing to do. It was the one way you could protect money entrusted to you. Bury it for another day because banks were unreliable. Conventional wisdom said “Play It Safe.” The man given one talent was doing just that. After all, he’d been given money worth fifteen years of a working man’s wages. A modern equivalent of $450,000-$500,000. Lots of money. But the servant given 5 talents was given more than a lifetime. He got a legacy. To risk such a thing was all but insane. What could be so sure that you’d risk like that? “Play it safe.” Conventional wisdom offered a pretty good survival strategy. The one-talent servant’s description of his master was also conventional wisdom.  Rich landowners of Galilee were generally corrupt. They took what wasn’t theirs and took advantage of the market. Everybody in Jesus' audiences would have gotten that this. What if how the other servants acted isn’t the point? What if WHY they acted matters? They acted like the Master. They were sure they could fly in the face of conventional wisdom because of what they believed about the Master. Then the expectation of the guy who played it safe wasn’t justified. It was about more than just holding on to it all. You’d have to really be sure to risk. But they trusted their Master more than other voices.

And here we are. In a shaky economy, wondering how long we can hold on unless we hold on tight. We want to give and share but our world jostles us back and forth between “invest in the market” and calls to live cautiously in the safety of established patterns. Both ways feel unfulfilling. We haven’t found a formula for success, and we hope at least for a formula for avoiding failure. This is a pretty dim view about money and our world. So we think we need to play it safe and protect the legacy for another day in case. What do WE make of the shocking reversal in the story where the master enacts that dim view and casts the poor guy into the outer darkness? Is this level of anger and animosity what playing it safe deserves? Is this what will happen to us? Rather than making it literal , let’s see this lesson as a teaching tool designed to shock. So we grasp that in the kingdom of God, God doesn’t play by the world’s rule book.  

This is a story to reveal God and to challenge how we see God. This imagery is used first to show the feeling God has when we view God like we view the men and women of our world. Remember that in the story the servant tells the master how he thinks the master acts. The response from the master is- you REALLY think that’s me? WHY the servant acted matters. It’s a question of attitude. Do we really think that God will be that way?  What IF God lived up to our expectations? It’s easy to forget- the nature of God is different. Yet when we play it safe, we turn in on ourselves and away from God and others. And people suffer. This is not the joy and the life God intends. When security becomes the overwhelming consideration, this is living death. (Randy Read).

Focusing on playing it safe actually creates a world of utmost insecurity. (Dag Hammerskjold). We don’t find growth or joy.  Instead we create what we hope to avoid. Lack of trust in God and failing to invest in this relationship and God’s gifts, can lead to loss. All we need to do is read the news to see. Those who cling to only their own devices, or who try hide and protect their world, find that they create a world where even what they have will be taken away. The real place of outer darkness is being buried in loneliness, isolation, and regret. This is true not only with money but with the ways we choose to act on behalf of others- the poor, the immigrant, the victims, the outcast.

The goal is not be found holding onto what is given but risking it for the sake of the Kingdom.  The challenge for us day in and day out is to avoid becoming cynical, expecting nothing more from God than we do the chairman of Bank of America or anyone else in power who fails us. We struggle to be confident about God and all that life and abundance. But we shouldn’t let our attitudes about our world color our understanding of God. Instead we are encouraged to respond to God’s kingdom by trusting God is ushering in something different. Because we believe our Master is different. While we wait for the full story, it’s hard to hold onto that in the face of the world where news of scarcity and fear is abundant. Let US again this day be taught:

We receive a lifetime of wealth that starts in our baptism, and the gifting of the Spirit. It’s a moment we celebrate this day. God invites us to enter into the life, light and joy. We receive the blessing of spiritual gifts- love, forgiveness, faith, hope, trust, and compassion. We’re reminded that our fortunes are reversed. So we can risk the ultimate reversal of behavior-throwing it all in- what the other two servants do. “Throw it all in” is God’s call to us to live out our identity. God wants to call all God’s children to life and light and joy. To abandon conventional wisdom in response to God’s faithful providing. To open ourselves to embracing a lifetime of loving God and God’s world with abandon. Daring to share. Believing we will be even more abundantly and unexpectedly blessed. Placing our faith in something and someone more than ourselves. Risking it all, because of who we trust that God is: The One who has faithfully provided a legacy and continues to provide.  Come and enter the kingdom, invest it all for this vision. Jesus calls: Come and enter God’s joy!

It's about more than an Aisle

A couple weeks ago, here at the church the phone rang and a young woman began a tale of being baptized in our church, how her brother had been married here and her family had gone here. HAD.

And how important it was to reconnect with this church. Oh, and she is engaged.

After listening politely I asked if either she or her beloved currently were a part of the congregation. They are not. I thoughtfully explained the wish of the congregation that one of them be a part of the congregation. (Lovely church that we are we don't just offer the loveliness for hire). I asked if she and her beloved were thinking of becoming a part of our church. "We could" she said. Not a ringing endorsement, but I offered to meet with the two of them face to face to talk about it all. Told her of the times for worship and encouraged her/them to come and be a part of worship here.

And that was all that transpired til today. They arrived and we all settled in. I asked again about their situation and learned the woman's Mom lives a few blocks away. "Have I met her?" I wondered. No, I was told, because she doesn't get out much and doesn't come here anymore. I renewed exploration of whether the couple was intending to be connected with this church. Well, there was the issue that they live about 25 minutes away. And he has mandatory Sundays at work. When I asked about her schedule, he offered she did not work Sundays. And she quickly corrected him that she could have to and sometimes she did. Hmmm.

While recognizing the sentimental connection to this church I wondered aloud if maybe another church closer to them might offer them a faith community they could connect with.
Silence. If it had been night time I might have heard crickets.

Well, then, can you tell me why having a wedding in a church is important? After all, marriages can happen anywhere and lots of people can officiate. And she blurted out:

WELL HOW ELSE CAN I GIVE MY DAD THAT CHANCE TO WALK ME DOWN THIS AISLE?

Well, there you have it.

I offered that there are many places which offer the chance to walk down an aisle. That the reason to be married in the church is that you believe that God is central to your life. That a religious ceremony offers- this is where the man chimes in- " God's blessing in your marriage." Exactly.

We really do offer more than an aisle or great pictures or a sentimental moment. We offer community. It starts when we meet for a few times and talk about the strengths of your relationship and the challenges you might face. And we offer people who will walk with you. And we offer help growing in what it means to be a follower of Christ and how that shapes our doing and being. It's not about being legalistic. It's about being centered in something and someone greater.

I can't make that be important to you. But I can tell you we believe it is important. So if you want to think about what's been said and discuss it, know that I am open to continuing to talk and explore all of these things but that takes getting together face to face because relationships deserve that.

SO she looks at him and says- "I don't know what do you think?" He defers and says that this is really her decision. "Oh fine, put it on me! That way when you don't like it, it was my idea!" OK. I encouraged them to take time and talk, when they can do it without me sitting there. Let me know. I am here.

I don't think we'll see each other again, but based upon my twenty minutes today, I really do hope they take their time. Because while I regret to inform them that we are about more than an aisle. So is marriage.

Can You Believe That You Are Blessed?

Here in America's poorest city the flock and I are continuing to get settled in. As I visit our oldest living saints in the parish they share with me the stories of the departed, the history of their time in the parish and wonderful photos of big days and events for them and their loved ones. In a parish that recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, I know that my 94 year old homebound member who grew up here really is a living history of the life of the parish. And they tell me of the day when on Sunday morning the sidewalks were full of people walking to church, of the great confirmation class with 100 confirmands. And there was a building designed to handle it all with German precision.

Of course, time has changed and in the shadow of that experience, other things pale in comparison, and it's easy to become dis-spirited. This is the sense of being "poor in spirit" that Jesus speaks of. To mourn not only loved ones but a way of life.

In my first three months, we will have added six new members, a confirmand and baptized a baby. I count the "yes" not the "no." And we have had a lot of celebrating for these events and our anniversary. We have had opportunities to have breakfast together and lunches together, some of which are the crazy new pastor's idea- let's have a potluck after late service and invite people to come. Because we're all going to eat lunch anyway, because it's budget friendly and it's an easy open thing.

These potlucks look a little out of kilter from structured worship as a couple people off of the street come, or the neighbors whose lifestyle might bother some, join us. Or as an adult child caregiver sits down grateful to feed Mom lunch here. Or the widow knows she doesn't have to eat alone. It's not all precision and polished. We don't need tablecloths or fancy stuff. Or designated servers. Just ourselves, a munchie if we can share one and an appetite. It's OK that everyone doesn't come. It's fine that there is no signup sheet. We don't have to have enormous leftovers to complain about distributing. We just have to have enough. And maybe it means the early ones to eat need to not heap their plate. Or we end up sitting with someone we had no intention of being with. But they are lively get togethers. A moment of chaotic blessing. They look fun.

But recently one of the members told me that maybe we were having too many celebrations. TOO MANY CELEBRATIONS. We should celebrate -less? When I arrived the concern was that maybe they will not make it as a congregation- they fear they will die off. I think it is hard to celebrate an anniversary when you wonder if you really can live up to honoring the legacy of those departed saints.
We need to figure out how to live. But then again, maybe it involves being open-to allow God to bless us even if it looks different. So while this Sunday I will chant the Litany of the Saints and the 20 names for the past year, this sermon is about exploring our faith statement about God and the saints and being blessed not only in the "Great Beyond" but here and now.

As you all know we’ve had a lot of celebrations here since August. Anniversary, new members, confirmation, and on the horizon, baptism and more new members. Lots to be excited by- God’s work in our midst. But someone recently said perhaps we’ve had too many celebrations. Maybe we’re trained to wait for the other shoe to drop. We shouldn’t think too much of ourselves. “Pride comes before the fall.” And we all know that pride is not a saintly quality. We who feel charged with the responsibility of carrying on in the faith are told to seek to live the godly life. To look to the saints. Some of them martyrs or apostles, but also those ordinary beloved we know. They too in death join the saints. Today we remember and celebrate the lives of all those who have lived and died in the faith. I wonder if we don’t sometimes in memory make them more saintly and less human. Forgetting that Saint Peter was quick to put his foot in his mouth and Saint Paul had a wicked temper. That our aunts, uncles, parents, and other loved ones were not cleaned up angelic models, but were saint and sinner all rolled into one when we knew them. Some of the best memories involve the times they were less saintly, in their shortcomings and flaws. The things that make us chuckle or shake our heads- the stories that start with- “remember the time when…?” Yet we this day proclaim in faith that God has blessed them anyway. The same thing happens in our churches- we look upon the saints of days gone by and gloss over the very real struggles and mis-steps. They seemed to get it right, we tell ourselves. And maybe even find ourselves saying- “if only they were here, it would be different.” And we aren’t so sure we can still be blessed.

And then we hear the Beautitudes- our lesson from Matthew. We’ve heard more than our share about these sayings-what could be new? Yet In our longings and doubts, I wonder if we fall into the trap of seeing these sayings like a contract with God-believing that Jesus is setting up the conditions of blessing, rather than actually blessing his hearers. As one writer put it- “ when I hear "Blessed are the pure in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," I tend to think, "Am I pure enough in spirit?" or "I should try to be more pure in spirit." Or, when I hear "blessed are the peacemakers...," I think, "Yes, I really should be more committed to making peace." At least with "blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted," I have the assurance of knowing that on those occasions when I am mourning I will be comforted. But, that's relatively small comfort because the truth is I don't want to have additional mourning to get added blessing.”  Honestly, if this was the case, no matter how much we love our loved ones, who among us can stand up to the “blessed” test?

Fortunately Jesus doesn’t say, “If you do this- THEN the kingdom will be yours.” Instead, Jesus is acknowledging the reality of the earliest listeners and our world today. We find ourselves DIS-SPIRITED- poor in spirit with nothing left to give. Harboring other feelings in our hearts. Feeling under attack; days we have no peace; facing losses that seem too large. Afraid to celebrate.

To all of these places in our lives, Jesus does not say- “wait for the afterlife, and it’ll be better.” Jesus doesn’t tell us it would be better if we had more faith, if we were more saintly. Jesus doesn’t say- “someday but not today, the kingdom will be.” Jesus says “THE KINGDOM IS. AND BLESSED ARE YOU. THE KINGDOM IS UNDERWAY. LIVE AS THE BLESSED.” God wants to bless us not just as saints in eternity but right now.

Are we as eager to be blessed as God is to bless us? Can we believe God wants to bless us or are we still hanging on to our childhood image of Old Testament God-as a stern, demanding law-giver?

Can we imagine God really intends to give the grace we claim in our statements of faith? We all have faults and limitations, insecurities and failings. Would God REALLY unconditionally bless this congregation- knowing who we really are today, knowing that we can’t perfectly hold onto the vision of our ancestors the way we thought?

Is it blessing if we didn’t plan it? Can it really be that God will bless us apart from anything we have done, earned, or deserve?

Can we still really expect celebrations?

David Lose says, “Jesus isn't setting up conditions but rather is just plain blessing people. All kinds of people. All kinds of down-and-out, extremely vulnerable, and at the bottom of the ladder people. Why? To proclaim that God regularly shows up in mercy and blessing just where you least expect God to be – with the poor not the rich, those who are sad not celebrating, the meek and the peacemakers rather than the strong and victorious. This isn’t how the world says it should be.

 But because God shows up blessing the weak and the vulnerable, then God will be everywhere. Showering all creation and its inhabitants with blessing. Unexpected, unsettling, nearly inconceivable, BLESSING.”

This good news means all of those who have gone before, just as imperfect, really ARE saints because in the cross, God loves and adores. This is good news for you and I, fellow saints, because God is STILL blessing as the kingdom continues to unfold. God wants the best and calls us worthy of blessing.  Even when we have a hard time believing it.

Today we’ll name each of those saints who departed their earthly life and proclaim them saints.

 But now I’d like you to look at the people closest to you and tell them now- “You are a blessed saint of God.”

YOU are blessed by God. Let’s open our ears and hearts to hear it, let it sink in. To be transformed for ourselves and our world. To be open to receiving God’s surprising blessings, and to be God’s blessing.

This is how the kingdom unfolds. Then mercy is shown, the downtrodden are uplifted, and peace breaks forth. Because the blessed begin to believe they really are.

 This is the story of God’s will and work in all of the saints across time.  This is where we can place our faith. Let us rejoice and be glad that God is a God who delights to create, bless, and redeem.

 “Come you that are blessed by God, let’s dare to really live in the kingdom that IS.”

 AMEN.

+ note: the picture is from my trip to Greece last year-I pray for all that that country is now facing. I found the work of Brian Stoffregen and David Lose to be great resources!

Living the Faith

Today we lived in faith after a night of horrific weather. We held worship, where some had power and some not. Where some walked icy places to get there. And we had a confirmand who had brought her family from lots of places and called people who used to come to the church to COME! Come and celebrate this part of her journey. And they did. And we did. With moving worship, with youth helping at every point and with a potluck afterwards where we can sit and share and grow in our connections. I used the Reformation Day texts. Here is my sermon and my stole which was an illustration as we considered the texts and the day.

When I was baptized it didn’t happen in church. It took place in a gym because the church wasn’t built yet.  And my godmother who flew in for it almost lost her job because right after the baptism the blizzard started and she got snowed in for two weeks. No one remembers other details but they all remember that story of how it started for me. We all have a story to tell that starts as God’s work in our baptism and continues in each of our lives as we follow Jesus. It starts with ordinary water and some words, but through them God does amazing things. The stole I’m wearing tells this story of God and me. Made of bits of neckties and scarves given to me by people connected to my journey of faith. A story told by bits of ordinary stuff drawn together by a few threads and the work of the Spirit.  God used those little bits and those people to speak of what God has been up to and is still doing. It reminds me of God’s work in me, and of all the people whose faith has shaped mine. At the bottom are the blue parts- reminding me of baptism, when I was claimed as God’s child. The black parts remind me of times I was really scared or unsure. The bright ones remind me of love, laughter and joy. The dove reminds me that through the Holy Spirit God lives in me, giving me this faith and the gifts and strength to be who God created me to be. As it travels from one end to the other- I come back to baptism. In all of those times, I’ve learned more about what it means to say “I believe.” This is the story of each day and our whole lives. As we’re still learning on journeys made up of ordinary stuff that doesn’t seem like much but when you stand back and look, you see its become beautiful. Drawn together by a few threads and the work of the Spirit.  

The threads are lessons in the faith like those we hear told today and the ones lived in the stories of people we meet who make it real.  Like the person who said even though I’d made a really big mistake, I was forgiven by God. Or the person who said whenever he wasn’t sure what to do, he found the answer by coming to church, where God is our refuge and strength. I got picked up, dusted off and reminded not to get too caught up in what I do, not to be defined by my stuff and not to think I can have all the answers. Because we’re justified by God’s grace not our score sheet.  People believed in God’s work in me when I had doubts. People prayed with me and studied with me, helping me really live in God’s word. They shared what it means to live faith. So I share too because this is what it means to affirm our faith. It happens on lots of other days besides “Confirmation Day.” Telling the stories makes the Word real. While each of you isn’t wearing a stole today, each of you is wearing the story of God’s work in your lives as the baptized, drawn together by a few threads and work of the Spirit. Stories that proclaim that only God’s grace, only God’s word and only the faith God gives provide us salvation and life. We have God’s promise that they do.  This is true on big days and ordinary ones.

Today is a BIG day in the life of the Lutheran church. We Lutherans are sentimentally connected to this day when Martin Luther took a big step that brought about major change in the church. Today is also a big sentimental day for Courtney. She was baptized on this date and now today on her baptismal anniversary she’ll affirm the faith God began in her baptism. Big events. Times it is easy to proclaim our faith. But we know there are lots of other days, with ups and downs. Times we think now is not as good because it looks different or feels smaller. Times we feel overwhelmed. Times we see chaos in nature and in our world events and wonder if there really will be a brighter day.  We question our church, our relationships and what we hold true. In these other times we can feel  like someone came along and cut the threads. We feel dis-connected from God and each other.

This is when proclaiming faith to each other really matters. When it reminds us what we need to hear. As we continue to live in God’s word, we should return again and again to remember what it means to follow Jesus. To hear, learn, grow, practice and use what we learn so it becomes a habit. So we get used to responding to the events in our lives and the world around us in a certain way.  In faith. In our baptism we share in what really matters-Christ claiming us, forgiving us and overcoming all in the work of the cross. This is what we can count on, the place we can see refuge and strength, our anchor in the storm. Each day we’re learning , because everyone we meet and everything we face means having to think about its relationship to what we have learned and are still learning about God and the work of Christ.  We need to practice this life of faith. In telling again and again what it means, and in continually reaching out, to reconnect each other, to pull on the threads that draw us back. To reveal God who meets us in these places, honest and real, and who reminds us of our relationships, grace and good news.  Living and remembering our stories together is how God gives us a different way of responding to threats in our lives so we can stop focusing on our worries and to-do lists, where we end up exhausted and tapped out. Living in faith is remembering God’s love for us, and receiving the power to live and to trust God. Reminding each other- Yes! This is what God has done, this is what I believe and this is what I proclaim!

We proclaim it this day as we add another part to Courtney’s story, ours and God’s.  Today as we again speak our faith, may we give thanks to God for the ways we have in all times and places journeyed with God, held together by the threads of our faith and the work of the Spirit.  And may we trust and follow Christ in all our journeys yet to be discovered.  This is us living the faith. AMEN.

Love is the Whole Point

When the kids were little, I’d tell them to do something, “Go brush your teeth.”  And then I’d tell them again…and again. In between reminders, they’d come and keep asking things- “Mom, Mom…” followed by a question- “do I have to put water on the brush first, what if I don’t rinse? You said 2 minutes but I have homework..” Sorting out how much I REALLY meant what I asked. Trying to distract me from expecting it. Question after question. Sometimes they must’ve seen me cringe or hear my exasperation as I heard, “Mom, Mom…” and I said NOW WHAT? They’d reply, “I love you” and run off. So much energy used up avoiding what I asked. All I really wanted them to do was something that was good for them, because I loved them. Today we pick up the gospel when Jesus has already encountered the Pharisees, the Herodians, and the Sadducees all attempting to derail and discredit his teaching about what God means in the laws given to the people. Now they send in the EXPERT. He’s the guy who knows all 631 laws and everything the rabbis have said about them. Because somewhere between Mount Sinai and that day, all the questions led to new laws beyond the first Ten. Following every little detail would be impossible SO with 631 laws, “tell me which ones are the important ones, Teacher.” The EXPERT hoped to win on a technicality. But Jesus reorients it all. He says it’s all important, because it comes down to orienting our lives to God and each other in love. Way back when God liberated the people of Israel, God reminded them why, and then gave the commandments with these words- “Because I am holy, YOU are to be holy.” The law was a gift to guide us to live as we’re made. To be holy- to reflect God’s love. Because God desires that all people flourish and have abundant life because God loves us- it’s all about love. And we need to know how to love.

 We question and we try going through the motions. Like a man who knew how much his beloved loved roses. When they’d dated, he bought her a dozen roses- a splurge, but she delighted in them and their love grew. So he kept it up week after week. Then he found a florist who had a deal- a dozen roses for three dollars- how could you go wrong? The roses were confiscated in drug raids. Distributors from Colombia would hide packets of cocaine in them. After the big drug bust, law enforcement could care less where the flowers ended up. Week after week, roses. She had no idea. When money got tight she told him that she adored the roses, but they were an extravagance she could forgo to meet their needs- hers and his. He made the mistake of blurting out-“BUT THEY ONLY COST THREE DOLLARS!”   Oops. Now from her perspective they were no longer a loving gesture- but a throwaway. He wondered why she didn’t appreciate his effort however flawed. After all, hadn’t he mastered the “give your wife nice things” law?  It’s easy to get love wrong.

We struggle with just how far God expects us to go and what’s good enough.  Being holy is being distinct from our world, yet it’s hard to maintain this attitude when our culture tells us that there are people and things we can cross of the list. There have to be limits-ways we try to make God’s law fit ours. Times when saying “I love you” from a distance without offering more ought to count. It shows up in our questions: Should we really invest in a program if we don’t get anything back- if it doesn’t add to our membership rolls? Should we bother if people aren’t responsible enough, or don’t love us back in the way we want? When we’re asked to do more for ALL of our neighbors-How far do we really have to go, God?  ALL feels too hard and we don’t wanna. We wrestle with questions and yet sometimes realize we’ve pushed the limit with the Holy One and hope saying “I love you” is enough. God is holy and we are different. This is our history.

It’s a good thing God is different. God’s role in the relationship shows God liberates Israel even while knowing there’s a golden calf just on the other side of that mountain. God redeems people who find any reason to try to turn off the voice of the prophets and Jesus himself. God forgives even when we walk away from the truth we find so different from us that calls us to eat less so others can eat, even “the lazy ones.” To care for people who are sick and disabled even when their condition is self-created. To reach out and love people who won’t show us the love, gratitude or affirmation of our actions we desire. To keep loving even when the world will despise or ridicule us for doing so. This is God’s love. That same love that tells us-You may think others are too different from you and unworthy. They may be different from you, but you are all the same kind of different from me. Yet I love you all.” The whole point of God’s framework for our lives is rooted in this love.

We can’t just memorize it or go through the motions of what looks good. That’s like a throwaway “I love you” or castaway roses- we know how we’d feel. And we can’t require an emotional connection in order to offer love.  God’s love is cycle of being that says that “loving all of our neighbors is loving God” AND “loving God means ordering our lives in God’s arrangement so all of our neighbors are loved.” No matter what. This is Jesus’example. He endured the tedious questions and rejection of His message, and walked with the failed attempts of those wanting to follow who find they can’t. And in the midst of it all, embodies the real HOPE of the gospel- God’s love for us all is SO BIG  it goes to the cross to promise forgiveness again and again. Forgiveness for those we think have fallen short, for us when we fail to see our limits, and for the times we suddenly grasp just how far off base we really are. Forgiveness: Christ’s body and blood- FOR ALL. That’s a whole lotta love. May we again see signs of God’s love, and stand in awe. Then be empowered to go forth and live God’s message in the world that LOVE really IS the whole point.

art by Liz Hicks http://blogerisms.blogspot.com/2010/10/love-is-whole-point.html