What the heck do you do with Luke on an Anniversary Sunday?

Today during the children’s message we talked about what an anniversary was. There were lots of guesses. An anniversary was a day when the guy surprises the girl and the girl surprises the guy. It means cake, and it’s about something people did. It’s something people who are married do. Then we talked about how anniversaries are about a big event- it could be getting married. Or for our church it’s kind of like a birthday. But anniversaries are about doing something together. I had the kids hold hands and asked what would happen if the person at each end decided to run toward the wall closest to them. Well, there would be fighting or the chain would break. And we learned that to stay together takes work. And then I asked them to turn around. And at first one person in the middle just twisted around and everyone else got jumbled. I encouraged the person on the end to lead them to turn the whole chain around. And we learned about working together. And then we looked at the cross. Because the big event that brings us together is about Jesus. Jesus’ love is why we are here, and it’s what helps us work together. And Jesus is why we get to celebrate.

Here at Holy Spirit, a long time ago, people gathered responding to a need for a Sunday School chapel in this part of the city. But they quickly realized they really wanted a church. It was kind of radical asking to be freed from the church that started us. But it seemed critical. In critical moments we get clarity. 102 years ago, there was that clarity. At other times however, we can deceive ourselves into thinking things happening elsewhere don’t matter or have nothing to do with us. This congregation had a long tradition of strong dynamic leaders who grew an off shoot Sunday School chapel into a vibrant congregation in this city. It took a lot of labor and saving and having some of the right people at the right time. But basically like all of the other congregations of the city, we kind of functioned unto ourselves. One way I know this is that none of our fellow churches knew a lot about us really. When I first came and would ask beyond these doors about Holy Spirit, most people here in the city would say they really didn’t know. Not bad, just unknown. Collectively we were complacent as churches. Today we hear about a manager who has gotten complacent. Used to doing things his way.  

In the parable, it’s only when the kind of complacency the manager had fallen into is disturbed that he gets an eye opener. Until now he’s probably been really focused on his own needs to the exclusion of the needs of his neighbors. But then he realizes he actually really needs other people. And even then he still comes off as a little suspicious. I suspect changes of heart often come across that way. He spends a phenomenal amount of energy in a new direction. But others aren’t really totally sure what to make of it. Yet while his motives may be mixed, there is blessing in what he does. People who owe a lot of money are given breathing room, and the boss who was feeling a money crunch gets some relief and people are connected in ways they had not really been relating before.

What does that have to do with our anniversary?  Anniversaries are about a past, and a present and hope for the future.

As we’ve gotten to know each other, and I’ve heard your rich history, I’ve learned of the quilts that were sent, and the pretzels for the military, and caring for neighborhood orphans. When I asked you to replenish the benevolence fund recently, there was $1800 in two weeks! All ways of caring, past and present.

At the same time, there were wise people who wanted to make sure that this parish was always cared for-always had a pastor. And a seminary education fund was born, and funded. A fund whose original intent I suspect was somewhat self serving- wanting to guarantee this place always had a pastor, we prepared to fund his education. And later wanting to know our own were cared for if they went to seminary. We took care of our own. An amazing amount of forethought, and may I dare say, at the same time, a fund that was really about serving ourselves. Holy Spirit has been blessed to not only have pastors but to fund education for two Lutheran pastors.

But I said we get clarity when there is a critical moment. What is the critical moment?

Well, last year our bishop brought to all of us the fact not enough is being given to  fund the ministry we’ve been called to share- asking us to see more than our own congregations, and to stop doing things complacently. And it would be easy to say that’s not about us. But our leaders gathered to think about how to do more. Out of that conversation and looking at all of our assets closely, we began talking about the seminary education fund. Sitting there with $90,000 in it. And truth be told the first thing people wanted to know was whether we really needed to keep it for its intended purpose. Couldn’t we use it for our other needs? Because here we are and there it sits. Just growing and being unused. How should it be managed?

But, there’s another critical moment. The fact that in the next 10 years 50% of the ELCA pastors will retire. Half. Take the number of leaders and make it half. And unlike being forgiven half a debt, creating a deficit by 50%- only half the number of churches with pastors is a loss. And dare I say it, God could ask what the heck we’ve all been doing. Going around without ever thinking about the future and even what it takes to be a pastor. Used to be congregations and synods paid for the dormitory and tuition, and future pastors would pay a few hundred dollars a semester to live in a dorm, have their meals and laundry taken care of and be sent out to churches to learn. Somehow we never saw that that changed. Except here where we did our part for our own. And one could say let those other parishes pay for their own. It’s not our debt. But that’s not really the truth. We are church together.

Today it costs no less than $100,000 to cover books, tuition, fees, meals, transportation and supplies. And at the Philadelphia Seminary you can’t even get a meal on campus anymore. How do future pastors, young or old, pay for all of that? If you go full time you can’t work. Students with families end up with kids on food stamps. Seminaries have branches of the local food bank feeding future pastors. I think God wonders what the heck is going on.

So here we are. We realized that if we had a fund that could pay for educating pastors, it could pay for educating other pastors studying who were from this synod- about 18 right now. Maybe even cut their debt in half. We had a transformation and did an unexpected thing. $25,000 to endow a fund in our synod. And suddenly a whole bunch of people knew who we were. At synod assembly this year we offered another $25,000 as a matching grant.

 And the money keeps coming, and with it, those relationships. The ones we weren’t tending.

This is the kind of shrewd Jesus is talking about. Being shrewd with what you’ve been given in a way that furthers the relationships and care of the kingdom. Clarity and new direction. Deeper relationships and a future.

It started with us wanting to know if we could use that money for ourselves. But being transformed by God. And inviting others to share in a new totally radical thing.  That is worth celebrating!

But I want to invite you one step farther- God wants you in this story. Today. You see, it’s one thing to be gracious with money of another day. It is something else to let God speak about our money today. Between now and the end of November, I want each of you- yes, each of you, to join this work. In addition to whatever else you give, give something. Yes, something more. Sacrificial giving. Put it in an envelope and mark it Seminary. Think of all the saints and leaders who have gone before here, and let’s surprise ourselves by celebrating and honoring God’s work past and present in all of us and giving for God’s future.   

And may God the giver of all good things continue to bless the world in and through us as we journey into the future together. AMEN

That's How Much I Love You

This Sunday two years ago I stood in this pulpit the first time to preach my call sermon and I am really glad it was not three years ago because these would have been the lessons. They are full of challenge, but also good news. To get at that I’d like to start by telling you about our 21 year old. When Catherine was little she watched a lot of a show called Barney where a large purple dinosaur sang a syrupy song- “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, Won’t you say you love me too?” I think that perhaps that’s what we really want to hear on Sundays.  Not today’s lessons.

Catherine could sing with Barney over and over. But she’d fall victim to what I call the “Barney Effect” which was whenever she needed to grow as a person- taking on a new chore or deepening responsibility, she’d whine and complain that we didn’t “love” her. We could see it was time for new growth but she just wanted to have everything stay peacefully, comfortably the same. Oddly enough, usually the much maligned new thing was actually something that would open up new life. I can remember it going all the way back to when she was learning to crawl and walk. That late great saint, her grandfather tried everything to get her to move, buying different toys, getting down on his hands and knees. He got to see her crawl but not walk before he died. But he persevered because he knew it was good for her even though she wasn’t buying it.

Today in lots of people I meet I hear the adult variation of that complaint “Can’t you just love me the way I am?” or “meet me where I am?” If the answer is no, what follows is what one person I know calls “catastrophizing.” Everything is blown out of proportion. Our desire for pleasant news and our fear of what we are sure is unpleasant are exaggerated. There are catastrophes for some, like we hear of in Hebrews, especially for people like our Christian brothers and sisters in Egypt this week. I watched with heartache and horror the images and stories of Christians attacked for their faith.  Most of us only face catastrophes of our own emotions. We assume the worst, allow the race to seem too big, or the time to not seem right or act like no one is with us or has ever faced such times as a way to not act.

If Jesus spoke today, he’d probably compare our incessant focus upon the catastrophizing of the Weather Channel or even reality TV while avoiding the real world around us seeing it for what it is. Our gospel seems scary, even catastrophic. But Delmer Chilton says that when we read it, we usually assume that all the talk about fire and rain is Jesus’ referring to a dark omen of evil times. But that’s not necessarily the case.  After all, many times rain is good news, and fire is the process the molds or shapes something beautiful and new.

Jesus says nothing about looking out for evil times; he merely suggests we should pay more attention to what God is up to than the clouds. And frankly, I’m not so sure we’re afraid God is coming to unleash some huge punishment. I think it’s that “good news” that makes us uncomfortable.

Jesus is not always “pleasant news.” And it’s often the duty of the church of “the good news” to speak about things that are neither gentle nor welcome. For us or others. It disturbs our priorities and comfort. That’s what all that family division stuff is getting at.

What Catherine meant when she said “you don’t love me” in those change moments was- if you loved me I wouldn’t have to change. In the midst of the uncertainty or even misery we want to be told that God is love and forgives us and nothing needs to change. But God’s love moves, and God means that all those things God says about widows, aliens, prisoners and marginalized people. And relationships that honor these things matter. Jesus’ message and mission are love, but that kind of love that can be jarring. While God loves us as we are, God also loves us too much to let us stay that way. And that’s disruptive.

Yet, the opposite of love isn’t hate, or anger. The opposite of love is not caring. Keeping things peaceful but distant. God’s love is noisy and nosy and involved. It won’t let us slip away unchallenged into failure. This message disturbed because it called upon people to get beyond roles and to get into relationships; real, messy, involved relationships; that kind of love is disruptive, breaking what isn’t working in order to create a new family, a new community of truth and love. God loves us enough to continue to refine and reshape and reform us to become more and more who God created us to be. People who more and more live out in flesh God’s love for the whole world. God will always seek to change and transform us  from sinners into saints, out of love. For God’s sake and ours. And in this process sometimes we have to let go or move on. We do not wish to be told this but it’s true. And that’s what is scary. But at the same time it is joyful and life giving.

Perhaps this was most evident as our denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gathered this past week at our national assembly. Lutherans from all across the country gathered, and were visited by religious leaders from around God’s world under the theme “Always Being Made New.” And some important things happened. Our church elected a new bishop. The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod, is our first female presiding bishop. I am delighted that as someone who was once told that women do not do this, to see such a day, but that is not the most important thing. In the 1970's, the church approved women to become ordained pastors. For some it was joyful good news; for others they were perhaps sure it was a catastrophe in the making. But God’s reshaping over the last 40 years has now led something new but I believe life-giving that is more important. And Bishop Eaton is more importantly a strong evangelist, even inviting someone who interviewed her for the Huffington Post to church, and saying we should “welcome the gifts of those who come from different places-that is a conversation we need to have as a church.”  Amen!

Our church also adopted a written statement about the Criminal Justice system in this country out of concern for the “massive levels of incarceration in the United States.” Pastor Fred Opalinski has been a part of this project that affirms positive aspects of the system, but speaks dissatisfaction with what is urgently in need of reform as building and running prisons has become corporate big business and we rank in the top 3 countries in the world in percentage of people under control of a criminal justice system -- one out of 31 adults and, for people of color, as high as one out of 11. Fundamental principles such as due process of law and the presumption of legal innocence are sound. Overly harsh sentencing and persistent inequalities based on race and class need to change. God is calling us to ministry and compassion- to hear the cries of those affected, and walk with all-victims, prisoners, parolees, law enforcement, and their families, welcoming and advocating and putting new lives together. It is challenging but God is calling us to something new.

We also voted to advocate adoption of comprehensive immigration reform legislation supporting an earned pathway to lawful permanent residency and eventual citizenship; to ensure humane and just enforcement of immigration laws; protect families from separation; provide resources and protections to refugees, U.S. citizens and migrant workers. To welcome and pray and educate about immigration. We must hold Scripture and the times together even when they challenge our views. God is calling.

We voted to undertake a five-year campaign, to increase this church’s capacity to renew and start new congregations, educate and develop leaders, bolster global mission efforts and expand the impact of relief and development work. Stepping forward boldly to reach more communities with the good news of Jesus Christ, training missionaries, pastors and lay leaders. Working to alleviate hunger and poverty. More money? More money? These are tough times. Life is already difficult. We cannot do more. Yes, we can.

If we say that the Word is a word for our lives, in faith we are called upon to trust Jesus to lead us in the midst of the unknown in all these times. And when in doubt to remember we are not the first or last to wonder about the future or even predict catastrophe but to persevere. Our new bishop said something else I think is helpful as we ponder how on earth we can be the church that lives into the places God is calling. She said that many people look for THE thing that is the FUTURE of the church. Many think the answer is youth.

Interestingly 1 in 8 voting delegates at the Assembly were under 25. Even more under 40. Good news! And initiatives we feel stretch us come in part from God’s voice in them. But Bishop Eaton said that while many believe youth are the future of the church they are not.

“Jesus Christ is the future of the church.” That's how much God loves us. Yes, this is the disrupting and beautiful and loving truth for us all. God in Christ loves us yet is leading and perfecting. May God continue to enable us to see our world and meaningfully respond. May we look to Jesus on the way to the cross, becoming ever more the people God intends as we reach farther into God’s future. May it be so!


note- Delmer Chilton had some fine words at Two Bubbas and a Bible, aka Lectionary Lab