Your Faith Journey - Finding God Through Words, Song and Praise

Jesus and his disciples have just received news of the brutal murder of John the Baptist.  And, they have just experienced a long day with large and desperate crowds of people.   They are grief stricken, exhausted, and seek to simply get away.  Mourning John’s death, physically and emotionally exhausted, Jesus tries to slip away in a boat, attempting to go to a deserted place, a place where there is nothing and no one present.  But, the crowd follows him anyway.  And, the disciples do what we would likely do, they tell the people to go away.  However, thousands follow and what does Jesus do?  He has compassion and begins healing the sick.  As dinner time approaches, the disciples are very ready to call it quits and send the crowd away.  But, Jesus invites the multitude to eat and, much to the disciples’ dismay, asks them to feed the thousands.  The disciples are shocked.  They are only able to find two fish and five loaves of bread.  So, they operate out of the perspective of scarcity and nothingness.

“We have nothing…” they say, dismissive of what they see as an insufficient offering in comparison to the enormous need.  Then, something happens!  It does not really matter so much how we understand the miracle that follows.  It does not matter whether Jesus miraculously creates more molecules of bread and fish or whether you see the miracle in the possibility that sharing those first loaves and fish prompted others to begin sharing what they had until there was more than enough for all. The “how” isn’t important.  What matters is that God saw a possibility where the disciples saw nothing.  As Nadia Bolz-Weber says, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.  The disciples looked at 5 loaves and 2 fish and saw nothing, but God looked at it and saw a feast!

I think this gospel story is our story in multiple ways.  First, when it comes to money, who hasn’t at one point or another looked at his or her finances and saw what amounted to nothing.  I know I have.  But, quite frankly, for most of us, it’s really a matter of how we see what we have, a matter of rejecting the societal impulse to always want more than we have, rejecting the impulse to continually consume.  Even in the church, we look at what we have and wish we had more of it, forgetting that God has promised to transform all we have.  Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.

This is also our story as we look at our efforts to combat hunger.  When we look at the little bit of food we give to ArrowTree Apartments or to the Caring Committee projects each year, our gifts can seem like 5 loaves and 2 fish when compared to the actual need that exists.  And, yet, God uses it in ways that begin to transform peoples’ lives.  You see, these small things begin to take on a life of their own, making dents in the need that is indeed still great.  God sees our meager offerings, receives them and sets a table for a feast!  Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.

While these connections to our everyday lives are obvious, there is something more to the story.  Before the disciples even identify the loaves and fish, they look out at the crowd of hungry people and see a problem.  They see nothing good coming from a hungry mob.  But, Jesus’ invitation to feed the thousands rather than send them away indicates that he looks at the same crowd and sees the possibility of a celebration.  Thousands of hungry people are not a problem but an opportunity for God to work.  Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.

Far too often we function out of a perspective of nothingness.  We see a world embroiled in multiple conflicts and we see no hope for peace.  Many days it seems like we are staring down a hungry crowd with nothing but 5 loaves and 2 fish.  But somehow, in the depth of this turmoil, we trust God’s promises that God sees fighting people, helpless bystanders, hungry people, and activists who go unheard, and God still sees the possibility of peace and justice.  We see nothing, but God is already planning that great feast where Israelis will be sitting next to Palestinians, Ukrainians will be eating at table with Russians, Syrians from both sides will be sitting next to one another, and North Koreans will be feasting with Americans.  Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.

Yes, far too often we function out of a perspective of nothingness.  How often do we look at people and see nothing, see people we judge as not enough?  It happens most often with people at the margins, those we consider the least of these.  People we see as too young or too old, people we label as disabled.  We forget that infants have something to teach us about God.  That people in nursing home beds who can’t even recognize their own family members have something to teach us about God.  That people in ICU beds who can’t speak because of breathing tubes in their mouths have something to teach us about God.  That people whose abilities are different from our own have something to teach us about God.  That people whose gender identity is different from ours have something to teach us about God.  That people whose skin color, ethnicity and life experience is different from ours have something to teach us about God.  God invites us to see not another problem, but another person who is loved by God and who is invited to join the feast! 

This nothingness perspective and thinking is also an aspect of every congregation in which I have served, either as music director or pastor.  People in churches at one time or another, including pastors, look around and see the equivalent of the disciples’ “nothing.”  Too small, too big, too many programs or not enough.  The people are too old, or too young, or not friendly enough.  Too much this and not enough that.  Have you said this our thought this about our congregation?  If only we had more people…. Or more of a certain kind of people…. Or more energy….. Or more money…. Or more people willing to help…. You get the idea?  The problem is that every church is imperfect.  And, in every church, there’s a way to look at the crowd of people and see not enough.  But, when God looks at it, God says, “Look at these people!  Let’s have a feast!”  Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.

In today’s reading, at the end of the story there are leftovers!  In fact, leftovers abound!  Leftovers are the opposite of nothing!  Sometimes, we even see leftovers as a potential problem.  After a long day and week like the one Jesus and his disciples had experienced, I’d be tempted to leave the leftovers on the ground for the birds, then head home and off to bed.  But, they take the time to gather them as a sign of the abundance of the feast and there were 12 baskets full.  Twelve, the sign and symbol of abundance and completeness.  You see, God’s bounty is more than a single feast can ever contain.  Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.

Today’s gospel reading also foreshadows what is to come.  At the end of Matthew’s gospel, the disciples will again find themselves seeing nothing.  They will look at the crucified Jesus and see nothing but a dead body.  But, three days later, they will stare in awe at the empty tomb, shocked by the sheer abundance of what it represents.  This is a reminder for each of us that all those moments when we see our “nothings” transformed into “somethings,” something beyond belief, we again experience God’s promise to us.  And, when some day we stare into the future and see nothing but death, even there, God is transforming what seems like absolute nothingness into something new.  Yes, “nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with.

When we see nothing, God gives us new eyes, a new heart and a new mind to see “nothing” as something new.  Whatever we don’t see enough of today, God still sees something.  In a few minutes, we will join the hungry crowd as God invites us to partake of this little bit of bread and wine, nothing really.  But, as we eat this bread and drink this wine, God will gift us with the very life of God, richness beyond measure.   And, in that feast, God will transform our nothingness into the broken body of Christ for service in this world.  So, come, to the hungry feast!

I am sure many of you are familiar with the country music song “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.”  The lyrics of this song came to mind as I was studying today’s gospel lesson. The words go like this:

I was lookin' for love in all the wrong places Lookin' for love in too many faces Searchin' their eyes, lookin' for traces Of what I'm dreamin' of Hopin' to find a friend and a lover I'll bless the day I discover, Another heart- lookin' for love.

          Obviously, this song describes a person’s quest as he or she is looking everywhere, looking in too many faces and all the wrong places, trying to find love.   He or she is trying to find someone who will fill his or her deepest desire – looking for that one person who will supposedly be the answer to one’s dreams.

          This song came to mind because I believe these words can describe something else within each of us, something that is not just a quest for a significant other or soul mate.  These words can describe the way we who are human are looking for something to fill a longing deep within each one of us, a longing that sends us seeking.  These words can, in one way, be descriptive of our quest for God’s presence in life, a presence that can only be revealed by a gracious God of love.   We long for the dream of God, for God’s kingdom and presence to become realized in this world and in our lives.  But, we tend to look for God in all the wrong places.  We tend to look for God out there someplace, up in the heavens or someplace far away.        

Today, Jesus continues to describe the kingdom of heaven, the way we talk about God and the way God is at work in this world.  And, his words are rather surprising.  He does not describe a kingdom that is far off in the distance, in some exalted place up there or somewhere out there.  No, he describes the reign of God by using analogies that are literally very down to earth – a mustard seed, some yeast, a thief and a merchant.  In his stories, he uses examples of an annoying seed and a corrupt agent.  He describes qualities that seem hidden, and he uses some rather corrupt characters in the process.   

The parable of the mustard seed is one of the best known of Jesus’ stories.  Mustard seeds are so small they are almost weightless.  They can easily go unnoticed.  They can lie hidden and undetected in a large sack of other seeds.  I can imagine an unsuspecting farmer unwittingly sowing a mustard seed in his field as he is sowing wheat.

Mustard is actually a wild weed.  It is something farmers would try to get out of the field because, once it is sown, it is hard to get rid of.  Jesus uses the example of a bothersome weed that grows from a small, hidden seed but, when germinated, becomes a huge bush that tends to take over the field.  Jesus is describing the way God is at work in this world.  And, he compares it to a miniscule, annoying seed that can hardly be seen, but grows and is transformed into a life-giving tree as it becomes a leafy haven where the birds can make their nests.  In this little parable, unnoticed beginnings of the work in the kingdom of God are contrasted with great, even surprising results.  Have we been looking for God in all the wrong places?

Then, Jesus goes on and uses another example - yeast or leaven. Yeast was an unwanted agent.  It is something that bloats and rots corpses.  It is also something women would attempt to get rid of when cleaning their homes in preparation for Passover.  In Jewish tradition, yeast was a symbol of corruption and impurity.  It was considered evil and unclean.  However, in Jesus’ parable, we find out that yeast becomes the agent of miraculous growth of God’s kingdom and it permeates every part of the dough.  Like a woman who spoils the flour with yeast, God is fermenting the kingdom of heaven within the world, within our communities, and within each one of us.  That kingdom permeates all of creation and it has transforming power in this world.  In light of these stories, do we have eyes to see God’s reign hidden in everyday life?  Are we able to trust God’s transforming presence and love in the midst of everyday life?  Or, are we too often looking for God in all the wrong places? 

In the next little story, Jesus uses the analogy of a deceitful thief.  He tells the story of a man who discovers treasure buried in someone else’s field.  The man then quickly sells all that he has to buy the field from this other guy without telling the owner about the treasure.  Actually, I have to wonder what this crooked man was doing digging around in someone else’s field in the first place.  Yet, in light of Jesus’ story, I ask, is God like that thief who gives up all he has to buy the whole field – the world, the cosmos – simply to possess that treasure and claim it and the entire purchase as God’s own?  Can we picture a God with so much grace?  Have we been looking for God in all the wrong places?

Jesus just continues telling one yarn after another.  His next one is about a pearl merchant.  Now, merchants were not held in highest esteem in ancient culture.  In this little story, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a merchant searching for that one pearl of great value.  When he joyfully finds it, he sells everything he has in order that he may buy that one pearl.  In essence, this merchant puts himself out of business by radically selling all he has to make the ultimate purchase.  In light of this story, I ask, “What is the most radical act through which we see God’s immeasurable love for this broken world?”

As we move through Jesus’ stories, we come to the Parable of the Dragnet.  When the net is cast into the sea it catches all kinds of fish, good and bad.  The fishermen indiscriminately pull in all the fish and wait to sort them out later.  In our world, the good, the shady and the bad do exist together, even within our own selves.  And, in our world, we often spend too much time trying to figure out who is in and who is not.  I have to say, if those fishermen are willing to pull in all sorts of fish and have them sorted later, I think we can let God take care of the sorting in God’s own good time because God is the one who loves us the most.

Jesus uses examples of unscrupulous people and questionable items to describe God at work in this world.  Today, Jesus shares some staggeringly good news.  The reign of God is not far away, but very close at hand.  It is present to us, between us as people of God, and even within us.  And, in the person of Jesus, we find the God of creation, not far off, but incarnate and present to us in human form.  We no longer have to look in all the wrong places to find God, to find the author of love.  We no longer have to look in all the wrong places to discover we are loved.  The truth is, God’s kingdom is closer to us than the air we breathe, and God is at work in each one of us, even in those parts of ourselves we want to hide.  God is even embracing our brokenness and transforming us in the process. 

My friends, “The kingdom of God is still under construction and we are still under construction.  But, that kingdom is growing.  The good news is that God so loves the world that God is continually at work in our lives in the world, in order to draw us, in love, closer and closer to God’s self and to each other.” (Frederick Buechner)

This is a special music performance of Al Shlosha D'Varim by Naplan by the Women's Choir of Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. 

This is a special musical performance by Diane Hill of There is a Balm In Gilead by Hayes at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

This is a special musical performance by Diane Hill of There is a Balm In Gilead by Hayes at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

I have always loved the music of folk musician and activist Pete Seeger.  He was a prolific song writer.  In his music, we gain insight into the many causes he supported, such as international disarmament, civil rights and care of the environment.  There is an authenticity and honesty present in his work.  As he observed culture and life he responded to what was happening in our lives and in the world by infusing his songs with cries for justice.  Voicing his passion for people’s rights through the music he wrote, he actively sought justice for our African American brothers and sisters.  In fact, Seeger was the musician most responsible for popularizing the spiritual We Shall Overcome which became the anthem of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement.  Seeger was also very aware of the fact that good and bad exist in tandem.  As he reflected upon American music, one of his statements is very profound in light of today’s gospel reading.  He said, “The good and bad are all tangled up together.  American popular music is loved around the world because of its African rhythm.  But that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for slavery.”

Now, to be sure, there was and is absolutely nothing that ever validates or justifies slavery in our past history as a nation, or at any other time in the history of the world, including this present time.  And, we need to continue addressing the racism that is still so present in our culture, racism that is rooted in the sin of slavery and has become systemic in this nation.  In fact, Seeger would have been the first person to make that very clear.  But, he was able to see the gift African American people have given the world, contributing to American culture, even though they came to this country through the evils of slavery.  Seeger could keenly see that the good and bad in life are all tangled up together.

This is something Jesus clearly acknowledges in today’s gospel reading.  The good and the bad are all tangled up together.  Today, Jesus is telling yet one more story as he tries to describe the kingdom of heaven.  He compares the kingdom to someone who went out and sowed good seed in his field.  Then, that night, when the hired help were sleeping, an enemy – a word that would be better translated as “hostile human being” – came and sowed weeds among the wheat.  This hostile human being sowed weeds, which are often called tares or bearded darnel.  Truthfully, it is a “devil of a weed.”  In its early stages, it actually looks like wheat.  But, as its roots surround the roots of the good plants, it sucks up not only the precious nutrients in the soil but also the scarce amount of water.  It becomes virtually impossible to get it out without ruining the good plant.  This bearded darnel is not even discernible from wheat until the grain begins to form.  So, it was only after the plants grew up and began to bear fruit that the weeds seemed to appear. 

Like Jesus’ words to us last week, he is again using an example that is familiar to the people as he makes a point about the kingdom of heaven.  As his story continues, when the crop finally started to mature, it became very obvious that the toxic weed had been sown among the wheat.  The servants in the story wanted to pull up these weeds.  But, the wise farmer emphatically said: "No, if you gather up the weeds you will uproot the wheat along with them.  Let them both grow together until harvest time. Then we will separate the tares from the wheat." 

Jesus acknowledges the presence of evil and its malicious nature.  Yet, he calls for restraint because one cannot always be sure about these plants.  What I find so interesting about the statement “let them both grow together,” is the Greek word that has been translated as “let.”  This Greek word is “aphete” and, in the Bible it is most frequently translated as “forgive.”  So, one could say the sentence is “forgive and let the tares grow with the wheat until the harvest.”  Wow!  Again, we have a parable that is all about the grace we find within the reign of God. 

As human beings, we all have weed aspects within us.  As a church, we exist as weed infested communities.  We are tangles of wheat and weeds together, good and bad wrapped up together.  The fact of the matter is that both grow within each one of us.  I like the way theologian, John Petty, describes our weed side and the coming harvest.  He writes:

We all have our “weed side” – that part of us which may look good, but doesn’t produce fruit.  This part will be burned away, leaving only that which is built on Christ.  Don’t worry.  In God’s time of harvest, this will be seen and experienced as a good thing.  After all, the one who judges us – the one who sends the purifying fire – is really the one who loves us the most.  Our propensity to judge others will be burned away.  Our sucking up to hierarchical authority will be burned away.  Our trying to see ourselves as better than others will be burned away.  Our moralistic fervor will be burned away.  Our self-righteous attempt at self-inflation will be burned away.  Praise God!

The blatant truth for each one of us is that we are imperfect people and we live in an imperfect world where evil is inevitably part of life.  And, it is not always easy to distinguish the good from the bad.  There are problems within us and around us that lie beyond our ability and power to prevent, correct or heal.  But, the God who is seen in this parable is one of infinite patience and restraint.  In this parable about a God of patience and grace, we find an intentional ambiguity that is holy as God allows the good to grow up with the bad.  Theologian, Theodore Wardlaw, describes this place of holy ambiguity by saying:

God creates space that frees us to get on with the crucial business of loving, or at least living with each other.  Often, in the space created by such patience, it is not just the others, but we ourselves, who are welcomed into a larger reality.  This is the sense in which we are ‘reborn’ not just once, but over and over and over again. 

Every one of us, every little child and every adult, lives life tangled and ensnared within a plethora of self-justifying impulses.  We face self-love that has run amuck.   We seem to trust in things that are not worthy of our trust.  This is part of our humanity, part of life.  This is what we who are Christians call “sin.”  And, in God’s economy of grace, God’s constant surprise for us is that this God even uses our brokenness to bring forth beauty in God’s kingdom.  God even comes to us through the weeds of our lives, our own brokenness.  God mysteriously and graciously comes to us disguised as our life, and patiently transforms us into new beings.  God’s gracious, patient love for each one of us, let alone the entire cosmos, is so great that God even takes the horror and evil of a cross and transforms that experience to show God’s deep love for our broken world.

While we live in a world where seeds of hatred and violence continue to be sown, Jesus’ words today remind us that God is still in charge.  Yes, the good and the bad are all tangled up together, even within our very selves.  We live as “saint and sinner,” totally forgiven and totally in need of forgiveness.  But, we have been freed from slavery to sin.  We have been freed to be truly human – freed to truly love with a love that comes from God.  We have been named and claimed by this God of patience and grace who will never let us go.  Thanks be to God!

I have always loved the music of folk musician and activist Pete Seeger.  He was a prolific song writer.  In his music, we gain insight into the many causes he supported, such as international disarmament, civil rights and care of the environment.  There is an authenticity and honesty present in his work.  As he observed culture and life he responded to what was happening in our lives and in the world by infusing his songs with cries for justice.  Voicing his passion for people’s rights through the music he wrote, he actively sought justice for our African American brothers and sisters.  In fact, Seeger was the musician most responsible for popularizing the spiritual We Shall Overcome which became the anthem of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement.  Seeger was also very aware of the fact that good and bad exist in tandem.  As he reflected upon American music, one of his statements is very profound in light of today’s gospel reading.  He said, “The good and bad are all tangled up together.  American popular music is loved around the world because of its African rhythm.  But that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for slavery.”

Now, to be sure, there was and is absolutely nothing that ever validates or justifies slavery in our past history as a nation, or at any other time in the history of the world, including this present time.  And, we need to continue addressing the racism that is still so present in our culture, racism that is rooted in the sin of slavery and has become systemic in this nation.  In fact, Seeger would have been the first person to make that very clear.  But, he was able to see the gift African American people have given the world, contributing to American culture, even though they came to this country through the evils of slavery.  Seeger could keenly see that the good and bad in life are all tangled up together.

This is something Jesus clearly acknowledges in today’s gospel reading.  The good and the bad are all tangled up together.  Today, Jesus is telling yet one more story as he tries to describe the kingdom of heaven.  He compares the kingdom to someone who went out and sowed good seed in his field.  Then, that night, when the hired help were sleeping, an enemy – a word that would be better translated as “hostile human being” – came and sowed weeds among the wheat.  This hostile human being sowed weeds, which are often called tares or bearded darnel.  Truthfully, it is a “devil of a weed.”  In its early stages, it actually looks like wheat.  But, as its roots surround the roots of the good plants, it sucks up not only the precious nutrients in the soil but also the scarce amount of water.  It becomes virtually impossible to get it out without ruining the good plant.  This bearded darnel is not even discernible from wheat until the grain begins to form.  So, it was only after the plants grew up and began to bear fruit that the weeds seemed to appear. 

Like Jesus’ words to us last week, he is again using an example that is familiar to the people as he makes a point about the kingdom of heaven.  As his story continues, when the crop finally started to mature, it became very obvious that the toxic weed had been sown among the wheat.  The servants in the story wanted to pull up these weeds.  But, the wise farmer emphatically said: "No, if you gather up the weeds you will uproot the wheat along with them.  Let them both grow together until harvest time. Then we will separate the tares from the wheat." 

Jesus acknowledges the presence of evil and its malicious nature.  Yet, he calls for restraint because one cannot always be sure about these plants.  What I find so interesting about the statement “let them both grow together,” is the Greek word that has been translated as “let.”  This Greek word is “aphete” and, in the Bible it is most frequently translated as “forgive.”  So, one could say the sentence is “forgive and let the tares grow with the wheat until the harvest.”  Wow!  Again, we have a parable that is all about the grace we find within the reign of God. 

As human beings, we all have weed aspects within us.  As a church, we exist as weed infested communities.  We are tangles of wheat and weeds together, good and bad wrapped up together.  The fact of the matter is that both grow within each one of us.  I like the way theologian, John Petty, describes our weed side and the coming harvest.  He writes:

We all have our “weed side” – that part of us which may look good, but doesn’t produce fruit.  This part will be burned away, leaving only that which is built on Christ.  Don’t worry.  In God’s time of harvest, this will be seen and experienced as a good thing.  After all, the one who judges us – the one who sends the purifying fire – is really the one who loves us the most.  Our propensity to judge others will be burned away.  Our sucking up to hierarchical authority will be burned away.  Our trying to see ourselves as better than others will be burned away.  Our moralistic fervor will be burned away.  Our self-righteous attempt at self-inflation will be burned away.  Praise God!

The blatant truth for each one of us is that we are imperfect people and we live in an imperfect world where evil is inevitably part of life.  And, it is not always easy to distinguish the good from the bad.  There are problems within us and around us that lie beyond our ability and power to prevent, correct or heal.  But, the God who is seen in this parable is one of infinite patience and restraint.  In this parable about a God of patience and grace, we find an intentional ambiguity that is holy as God allows the good to grow up with the bad.  Theologian, Theodore Wardlaw, describes this place of holy ambiguity by saying:

God creates space that frees us to get on with the crucial business of loving, or at least living with each other.  Often, in the space created by such patience, it is not just the others, but we ourselves, who are welcomed into a larger reality.  This is the sense in which we are ‘reborn’ not just once, but over and over and over again. 

Every one of us, every little child and every adult, lives life tangled and ensnared within a plethora of self-justifying impulses.  We face self-love that has run amuck.   We seem to trust in things that are not worthy of our trust.  This is part of our humanity, part of life.  This is what we who are Christians call “sin.”  And, in God’s economy of grace, God’s constant surprise for us is that this God even uses our brokenness to bring forth beauty in God’s kingdom.  God even comes to us through the weeds of our lives, our own brokenness.  God mysteriously and graciously comes to us disguised as our life, and patiently transforms us into new beings.  God’s gracious, patient love for each one of us, let alone the entire cosmos, is so great that God even takes the horror and evil of a cross and transforms that experience to show God’s deep love for our broken world.

While we live in a world where seeds of hatred and violence continue to be sown, Jesus’ words today remind us that God is still in charge.  Yes, the good and the bad are all tangled up together, even within our very selves.  We live as “saint and sinner,” totally forgiven and totally in need of forgiveness.  But, we have been freed from slavery to sin.  We have been freed to be truly human – freed to truly love with a love that comes from God.  We have been named and claimed by this God of patience and grace who will never let us go.  Thanks be to God!

This is a special musical performance by Christopher Lewis as he sings God and God Alone by McHugh today at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.