Simply Grace

Rev. Wesley Menke

13 February 2022

6th Sunday after Epiphany

Jesus, especially as they are represented in the Gospel of Luke unrelentingly turns the world and conventional wisdom upside down. This may not be any clearer than in the Beatitudes. I have found that in order to understand Jesus, sometimes it helps to start at the end, and work backwards. So let us begin with the “Woes” section of the beautitudes. 

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” Luke 6:24

Notice what this is not. It is not a wholesale condemnation, but it is a warning. The temptation rich people struggle with is nohting less than works-righteousness. If you are rich, then you will be tempted to think that you earned your wealth and are a successful hard working person. This quickly slips into believing that God has blessed you for being a good person, and so God will also reward your goodness with eternal life and salvation. Rather, one day all will lose their physical comforts and stand before God’s judgment in eternity.

“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.” 6:25a

I’ll never forget when I went to Haiti as a seminarian. One day we had lunch in a trendy beach town called Jacmel. We were all very hungry after a long day of traveling, and the restaurant we went to was delicious! It was strange to me that our tour guide only ate half his sandwich for lunch. He had told us how hungry he was too! He took the other half with him. Then, we visited a Lutheran church that was being established on a hill outside of Jacmel. We went there. It was literally a little clearing serrounded by trees and shacks were people lived. They had lots of people who would gather at this church, but no building. After our time with the pastor, the tourguide gave him the other half of the sandwich. The pastor’s eyes grew large and he clutched the sandwich to his chest and uttered a heartfelt, “Thank you!” The shared a smile and hug that was full of love. I remember having a full stomach and feeling kind of empty inside. 

Again, there is no condemnation here against eating a delicious meal, but there is a warning to not forget that the physical comfort from eating is temporary; and the deepest hunger and longing of your heart and sould cannot be satisfied with mere food and drink. 

“Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.”

Elie Wiesel said the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference. The worst atrocities of history, the genocides and systematic tormenting of people are able to occur in plain sight because of a numbness and a paralysis of emotional and moral response. There is no shortage of entertainment in the world today, popping out at us from screens everywhere we look. The consequence of so much clever and pretty entertainment is a distraction, but only a temporary distraction from the painful realities of injustice we experience personally and collectively.  

“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.”

Because, if, as a pastor, as you all will remember I think of you as pastors too, if you focus your ministry on making everybdy happy, and everybody to like you, then you will probably have to lie, regularly compromise your values, and not preach the gospel. You cannot make it your aim to get everyone to like you. It’s impossible and dangerous. But why?

Jeremiah 17:5-10 tells us why. It says that the human heart is a total travesty full of deceit and evil. We call this total depravity in evangelical theology.  There is a warning here to not put your trust in people. People are frail and will disappoint. Instead, put your trust in God who is dependable. 

If you are just waiting around f

Sermon 2022.02.06

Rev. Wesley Menke

5th Sun After Epiphany

Why do we work? Well, one reason is to make money to buy the things that are needed to live and survive. But that’s not the only reason. We also work because it can be therapeutic. Work can be a welcome distraction from the worries of life. When you work you can get into “the zone,” or feel a sense of flow where time slips by quickly, and there can be an immense sense of satisfaction having seen the results of your work. What if God’s intention for work in your life is not to burden you, but to give you something to do that engages your interest and passion? What if work isn’t something you have to do, but something you get to do? As Lutheran Christians you believe that you are saved by Grace through Faith, and not by Works. Your eternal life, salvation, and forgiveness are all gifts from God that you have not and cannot earn. If you believe this, that you are saved by Grace, then you know that you don’t have to work for your salvation. Your salvation doesn’t depend on you, it depends on God. 

Consider Simon. Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee, teaching the people. The crowd was eager to learn and be close to Jesus, and unfortunately as they crowded close to Jesus he was getting pushed into the water. So he asked Peter to take him in his boat a little ways into the water. This made a buffer zone. Jesus sat down in the boat and taught the people. When Jesus was done speaking, but he wasn’t done teaching, he asked Simon to take him out to the deep water. Simon questions this a little bit. He tells Jesus that they have already been working all night, and have caught no fish. Yet Peter obeys Jesus, and goes out. Why? Well this is not the first time that they have met. Recently Jesus had healed Simon’s mother in law. So what Jesus lacked in fishing credibility, he made up for in some kind of miraculous power and teaching authority. Do you know what happens next? Simon’s nets catch so many fish that the nets would have broken, if James and John weren’t ready to help out. Evenso there were so many fish that two boats almost capsized due to the weight of the catch. 

What’s the point of the story? What is the lesson that Jesus was trying to get across to the crowds, to Simon, his colleagues, and to us? Well it is nothing less than the gospel itself. You are saved by grace through faith, and not by works. Simon had made the classic mortal mistake of putting faith in himself. He had already worked all night and caught no fish. He hesitated to fish anymore because he had already done so much work. In his mind he believed that if you work hard, and put your mind to it, you could be a successful fisherman. If you worked hard enough perhaps you could even lift yourself up by the bootstraps and get yourself and your family out of generations of grinding poverty and subsistence living. We know from history that the recent expansion of the Roman Empire opened up new avenues of trade for Galileeans so that an industrious fisherman could tap into the growing market of fish connoisseurs not just in Capernaum, but the whole Roman Empire. A new city was being built for this express purpose: Tiberius, named after Caesar, on the Lake of Gennesaret also known as the Sea of Galilee. The sea of Galilee wasn’t a sea at all. It was this same freshwater lake. It was an exciting and heady time for the old fishing families near the Sea of Galilee like Simon. This was their chance to be something bigger. And yet, like many ambitious dreams, things weren’t materializing like many people had hoped. There were scads of new fishing operations on the lake, and that meant more competition. The preponderance of fishers also meant the price of fish stayed low. You put all of this together and you can empathize with Peter for how discouraging and disheartening the whole situation was.&nbs

Thank you for preaching pastor Dave Berg!

Lutheran understand the Bible and the Word of God as Law and Gospel. Gospel gives comfort and hope. The law confronts injustice and points toward a better world. You can imagine Nehemiah reading the law and the people crying as they confront injustice in their lives.

Paul’s instruction in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a points to a shared concept of living together in unity like parts of a body.

Jesus’ mission directed him to foreign settlements because we are all interconnected.

All baptized persons are called to share the word of God, like pastors. Be prepared to share both Law and Gospel.

The story of the wedding at Cana is very interesting. It comes to us from the Gospel of John, and in John’s Gospel there are few to no parables. Parables are the stories Jesus would tell to make a point. Oftentimes parables begin with, “The Kingdom of God is like…” It’s peculiar that Jesus taught so frequently with parables according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but almost never in John. This has led some to wonder if John’s Gospel creatively embedded parables or wove them into memories of Jesus’ own life and teaching. The Wedding of Cana is one such example.

Consider the cast of characters in this story. Since it is a wedding there is a groom, but no mention of a bridegroom. There is a “chief steward” like some kind of ruler of the party, then there’s the servants, and finally sitting in on this celebration is Mary, the one who was invited and Jesus and his disciples sound as if they didn’t quite crash the wedding, but were allowed to come by the extension of Mary’s invitation. 

There’s a problem. The wine has run out. This is a problem for a lot of reasons. First of all we know that people like to drink and have a good time at a wedding. Secondly, running out of provisions at a party in which you invited people would appear to be the height of ignominy, shame, and disgrace. Thirdly, and this is a historical point, wine was perhaps the only safe thing to drink. Wine in those days was much less potent than it is now. It had alcohol, but not as much. Wine was safe to drink because the fermentation process ridded the liquid from many deadly pathogens. Regular drinking water was not as safe to drink. You put all this together and you have a situation where the very first moments of this new couple’s life together is potentially cast under a very dark and disturbing omen. 

Mary steps into the picture. Saint Mary. Hail Mary full of grace, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. That’s how Elizabeth greeted Mary, by the way. Mary nudges Jesus. She tells him that they are out of wine. In true motherly fashion she doesn’t exactly tell Jesus what to do, but she presents the problem to him. He balks. “Mom, I’m not ready.” No, that’s not right. “Woman! I’m not ready!” That’s what he says to his mother Mary. What kind of a response is that? I’d say it’s a combination of exasperation and respect. It’s fascinating that at the very end of this self same Gospel of John, Jesus after he resurrected will say to Mary Magdalene. “Woman! Why are you weeping?” It’s fascinating to me that Jesus would use the exact same word at the beginning and at the end of his earthly ministry, the first time with his mother and the second time with his most faithful disciple. 

Mary is undeterred and unbowed. She says to a servant standing by: “Do whatever he tells you.” That’s a lot like what God the Father says at the transfiguration: “This is my Son the beloved, listen to him.” So Jesus’ aware that he has no choice but to obey his mother. Jesus instructs the servant to fill the ritual purification jars with water. What is a ritual purification jar? It’s an ancient sink for washing your hands before there was widespread use of plumbing. You fill up this very large ceramic vat and people go to town washing their hands. One right after the other. The trick of course, if you ever find yourself at an ancient wedding, is try to get in the front of the line, because the further back you are the less clean the water will be. Keep in mind that the party was already underway so all of the people had  already washed their hands. So at this ancient handwashing station that was already full of dirty water Jesus says to the servants to fill them up the rest of the way, then fill up a cup, and take it to the chief steward, the ruler of the party. What you should be thinking right now is: disgusting! Outrage! To knowingly give someone to d

Pastores María Santa Cruz, Ramon Zarate, Wesley Menke y Sra. Josefina Ramirez discuten la Transfiguración de Jesús según San Lucas 9. Jesús invita a sus discípulos hacer la gran tarea de hacer buenas obras y milagros como él, de tener una vista larga y no sólo vivir en el momento, de tener paz en trabajar como equipo, y entender que bajar nuestra seguridad para convivir con mas gozo uno con otro.

https://youtu.be/8xcB17LcFMQ

Bienvenidos al Obispo Andy Taylor, Pastores Maria, Nathan, Wesley, y Sra. Josefina!

Estudiamos la ensañanza de Jesús en el plano después de bajar la montaña: “The Beatitudes.”

Pastores María, Ramon, y Wesley discuten Jesús enseñando en la sinagoga de su juventud

Estudio bíblico con pastores de la Iglesia Evangelica Luterana de América

Pastores Marí Santa-Cruz y Wesley Menke discuten la boda en Caná, María la Madre de Jesús y el primer milagro de Jesús. ¡Provecho!

Wesley Menke

26 December 2021

Some seasons of life are more difficult than others. Take adolescence. That can be a very challenging time of a person’s life; not just for the adolescent but also for their family. It is a time of life marked with transition. One is somewhere between childhood and adulthood not really being either one. It’s typical for there to be added stress and tension within the family structure. The same thing was even true of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. 

When Jesus was 12 years old entering adolescence, a tween-ager, there is a profound miscommunication and he is left alone in Jerusalem while his entire family travels back to Nazareth, maybe with a stop in Bethlehem. How did this happen? It wouldn’t be fair to say that Mary and Joseph were negligent. Nor would it be fair to say that Jesus was rebellious. But at the same time they all have to bear some of the blame. Jesus very well wandered off away from his family and got wrapped up in a deep discussion either not noticing or not caring that his family had left him. Mary and Joseph were busy helping with nieces and nephews, and worried about the responsibilities that faced them when they got home. All of these little factors add up to Jesus being a 12 year old child being left alone for three days. What did he do during that time? Where did he sleep? How did he eat? Maybe Simeon and Anna took him in and cared for him, remembering when he had been presented in the Temple. 

There’s just something about being an adolescent that is different from the rest of life. It’s not the only time either. Two year olds are known to have strong personalities and are prone to test the limits of safety. Sometimes at the very end of life a person can also require extra attention and care. That’s just how it goes. Some seasons of life are more challenging than others. But no matter how old or young a person is, now matter what chapter or season of life they are in, they are still made with an indelible image of God. Whether you are middle aged, a toddler, a senior, or a teenager, you are always made in the image of God. There is no age in which you are not one of God’s precious children. 

Why is this so? Because you are saved by Grace through faith, and not by your works. Rebellious teenagers, and terrific two year olds are just as saved by Grace as are perfectly behaved fourth graders and mild mannered octogenarians. Your behavior doesn’t earn God’s favor or salvation. God loves you unconditionally no matter your age or how well behaved you are. Jesus was a teenager. Jesus was a two year old. Jesus was an adult, and though his life was cut short, and because his life was cut short he knows the full arc of human life, the suffering he endured on the cross was not unlike the suffering some people experience from chronic illness. So if Jesus who was the sacred Son of God knew every age and stage of life, then every age and stage of life is known by God, and is sacred. This has profound ethical implications.

As people of faith we must treat human beings with utmost respect no matter their age. We must look critically at how our world treats people during the difficult seasons of life. How do care for the elderly, for those who live alone, for those who need medical assistance? How do we care and support teenagers and children? 

When I was in my last year of seminary before internship I received some pastoral care from famed Clinical Pastoral Education supervisor Pastor Rod Seeger. Pastor Rod is a legend in the west coast Lutheran church as one who has mentored many a pastor and chaplain with brutally honest guidance. At the time I had a lot of anxiety about being a good parent, and raising my children up the right way. Pastor Rod asked me if I knew the three rules of parenting. I said that no I didn’t. So he told me.

Rule #1 of parenting: T