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

Year C – 6th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 16 – July 20, 2025

Pastor Megan Floyd

Luke 10:38-42

Colossians 1:15-28

Grace and peace to you from our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is our center and our focus. Amen.

***

Martha… Martha… Martha…

Poor Martha gets a bad rap from this story… but I understand her, and I bet you do too… especially if you're an older sister or sibling.

The text doesn't explicitly say who is the older sister… but I think anyone who knows sisters knows… that she's the older one.

She has welcomed the traveling Jesus into her home and is bustling away at all the many tasks of hosting, while her sister sits at his feet, not lifting a finger… just listening… ugh!!

Oh Martha…

You know the stories that make us cringe… this is one of them for me… which tells me there is something in here that I need to pay attention to.

Before we get into it, though, there are some interesting things I'd like to point out…

The first is that we tend to harmonize our four gospels… and what I mean… is that in our remembering, we tend to blend the information between them, rather than remember the specifics between each of the gospel authors.

There's nothing wrong with that… after all, that's how we tell the full story of Jesus' birth!

But it also means that when we hear a story about Martha and Mary, we might immediately remember that Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, had two sisters… Martha and Mary… and they lived in Bethany.

Except that Luke never mentions Lazarus… nor does Luke write that Jesus is passing through Bethany. What he writes is…

"Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.

If they were sisters to Lazarus, or any other male, it would have been his home… but no… this is Martha's house.

And that right there is something to notice… Jesus could have chosen nearly any other home in this certain village, where the host of the home would have been a man.

That would have been expected and proper… but Jesus chooses to honor the home of two single women.

And then… we hear that sister Mary is sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to what he was saying and learning from him. She is wholly focused on Jesus.

But women weren't usually given this preferred place of discipleship… and yet, Jesus chose her… he teaches her.

And Martha… poor Martha… Martha was doing what anyone at that time would have expected of her… she was busy in the kitchen and distracted by all the tasks of entertaining company.

We've talked about hospitality in the ancient world before… Martha was offering hospitality to these travelers who had come to her home.

So even with these seemingly small details, we can take note… Jesus is, once again, turning things upside down and breaking down barriers.

So given the entirety of this situation… when I read his rebuke of Martha… I hear him speaking to her in a loving and warm tone.

He may be telling her that Mary has made the better choice, but I hear him speaking in a loving way… inviting her to consider that he's not your typical guest.

He tells her… she is worried and distracted by many things, but right in that moment… with Jesus in her home… there is need of only one thing… Him.

I so… resonate with this story. I find it so easy to get caught up in details and plans that I can forget what the goal was at the start.

And I know faith communities are not immune to this… we gather here in the name of Christ, but how often do congregations get wrapped up in unnecessary details?

We've only just begun our time together… you and me… but I know at some point, this will come up because it's a completely human thing to have happen…

We'll get sidetracked and distracted by details, and we will need to remember that Jesus is why we gather for worship and study, Jesus is why we give of our time and our treasure, and Jesus is why we serve.

The focus of our mission here… is simple… it's Jesus.

So… as you all know, we just concluded a very fun week of VBS. We had a small group of kids… and a wonderfully large group of older youth and adults who showed up to volunteer.

They busied themselves in the kitchen, preparing our dinner and cleaning up afterward, and they planned bible lessons, crafts, and games.

All so that our small group of little kids would feel surrounded by love and support as they learned about Jesus! …Jesus was our mission.

By those counts, it was a very successful week!

These folks all showed up ready to serve… just like Martha served… except their focus was on Jesus… just like Mary.

You see… I don't think Jesus was telling Martha that her tasks were bad… I think he was telling her that her focus was off.

She was focused on her tasks instead of being focused on him.

Jesus doesn't say that serving others is bad… keep in mind that immediately before he comes to Martha and Mary's home, he has just told a lawyer that serving your neighbor in love is how we serve and honor God.

Serving is good… and learning is good…

So it's not what you are doing… It's why you are doing it.

Why do you serve… study… sing… worship? What is your motivation?

I do these things… and I think you do too… because we follow Jesus, and we know that giving time and space in our lives for Jesus changes the way we interact with the world.

Love… changes how we interact.

When we remember that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and through him, all things on heaven and earth were created… and that in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and that through him, God was pleased to reconcile all things back to God.

When we remember all this… and that the great mystery of it all… is that Jesus Christ dwells in each of us… because of love… we are changed… transformed!

Jesus is calling us to himself, and Jesus is the better part of anything we can do… because Jesus knows that if we allow the love of Christ to be central in our lives… then the world will never be the same.

And so, we rejoice! We rejoice with Martha and Mary… with Peter, James, and John… With Pheobe and Lydia… with Paul and Barnabas…

We rejoice with all those who have come before us in the faith, and all who will come to Christ after…

We rejoice that Jesus Christ is our focus… no matter the shape of our ministry in this world… be it cooking, nursing, driving, feeding, cleaning, studying, praying, singing silly songs with kids… or any number of other ways we can show love in this world…

We rejoice that Christ is at the center of it all… the truest source of love, and our reason for being.

Amen.

Today, we had a special musical performance of Confidence with a solo by Christopher Lewis at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

If I were a betting person....I would wager a large amount of money that the sermons considered at the end of this past week, are not the sermons considered at the beginning of this past week. Nine preachers out of ten, I'd wager, would have preached this week's parable of the Good Samaritan as a morality tale. And, frankly, I think that's just fine. It does, after all, reflect a profound example of how we are to treat each other, regarding a "neighbor" not merely as someone who is close to us or looks like us or believes like us, but rather anyone who is in need. Given the political and cultural tone of society, and human inclination to perceive anyone different as something of a threat, even at the beginning of the week, it would have been a good message to preach and to hear...

But this is not the sermon I was working on earlier in the week...because I am called to preach the good news of Jesus Christ...and speak truth to the reality of the world in which we live… which frankly, the best, most generous description I can come up with for the world these days is troubled. This sermon may be uncomfortable to hear...it's uncomfortable to preach...but Jesus did not die so that we might be comfortable...Jesus died so that we might have abundant life, that we might learn to love the Lord our God and our neighbor, that we might know what it truly means to show mercy to another child of God...that we might be willing to get down and dirty in the ditch, like the Samaritan, and share that abundant life...

The end of the gospel reading is key... 'Go and do likewise' the good Samaritan sees the person in the ditch, draws near to him and has compassion for that person... We could all stand to do the same... and a note here....when I say we, I am not meaning only the people right here in this room, but society in general...so please know that I am not trying to single anyone out, and I am also trying to convict myself as much as anyone else.

We need to see our neighbors much more clearly than ever before...and by neighbor, I mean every single person on this planet...We don't get to pick and chose who our neighbors are, because everyone is... and especially the people you, I, we, are leery of or question if they deserve to be noticed, or the ones you know will cause you a headache if you take the time to acknowledge their presence...

Too many men and women in the ditch have died... too many people we have ignored have had their lives tragically cut short...too many people have to worry about what will happen to them because of the color of their skin, or the gender of the people they love...too many police officers, and other emergency personnel have to wonder if they are going to make it home because of their job.

As much as I would like to imagine myself as the good Samaritan or a few times I feel like even the person in the ditch, far, far, far too easily I comfortably take on the roll of the priest or the Levite. I wonder how many times I have looked into that ditch, saw a person lying there, and chose to keep right on going...far too many times to count if I am honest...and I would wager the same for all of you.

For you see, that is part of our privilege...we can ignore whatever is lying in the ditch because like the priest and the Levite, if we help, we will not be able to do what we planned...or we will be late for our job, or we don't have the skills to help or we think someone else will be along soon to help...or it's simply not our problem, and we shouldn't get involved. All of that may be true, but it is my supposition that when we ignore that person in the ditch, we are ignoring our brother or sister...when we ignore that person in the ditch, we are saying whatever happened to them is tragic, and perhaps even wrong, but there is nothing we can do about it.

When we ignore that person in the ditch we avoid being vulnerable to being hurt ourselves...because often times that pain and anguish is simply overwhelming...and perhaps that's the key...the priest and the Levite, ignored the man in the ditch because ultimately, they didn't want to deal with the turmoil of emotions and life going on within themselves... and look where that has gotten us...It seems more and more the news is filled with tragic, horrific events...Ones that make me heartsick...and ones that will all too soon be forgotten by most of us, until the next tragic event.... How many people do we have to see, and ignore, and keep walking by until we are stuck by so much mercy and justice and compassion that we truly fill the role we have imagined ourselves in all this time... How much longer will we spend trying to point fingers, trying to blame others, until we catch a glimpse in the water in the ditch and see ourselves reflected in the tears and pain of our neighbor, and decide enough is enough.

If this perpetual cycle of violence, racism and hatred is to ever end, we must begin to be the ones who show mercy, who show love, who live in to the title of Christian we all claim...it's time to roll up our sleeves and get in the ditch. It's time to go and go likewise...

I know it's overwhelming....I know it's painful...I know we all think that someone else will do a better job...I know none of us want to put ourselves out there in a way that opens us up to being hurt...but what is happening in this country and this world simply can't continue... Jesus chose an outcast in society, a Samaritan, to make his point and teach the lawyer... Surely Jesus can do something good Samaritan like through you and me....

and so if you have made it this far, and are still trying to listen with an open heart, perhaps you are thinking What Now? How do I make a difference? Where do even begin?

It can begin with trying to see things a different way...since part of this story is all about race…a Samaritan, a Levite, and a priest, all of whom did not mix for fear of many things…perhaps acknowledging BlackLivesMatter has a point... Yes, I know, ALL lives matter...and we ALL are children of Gods..., but our black/brown siblings have had and continue to have a much rougher path in a whole host of ways than our white siblings... and racism and privilege are still very much alive and well today, as much as we wish they weren't. We are not that many generations removed from a whole host of brothers and sisters being considered 3/5 of a person...The Klan is still operating under the guise of being a Christian organization...because of my white skin, my parents never had to have a conversation with me about the extra specifics of how I should act if I am pulled over by police. These ditches need to be acknowledged, to be talked about, and not ignored.

and on the flip side of the same hand, we need to acknowledge that the vast majority of police officers go to work each day solely to serve and protect the communities in which they are assigned. They want to help people, bring justice to the oppressed, protect the vulnerable, promote peace, keep us all safe and generally make life more livable. Police are not out to get us or anyone, and simply want to return to their families safe and sound after their shift.

Beyond seeing things a different way, it's the simple interactions we have with people that make all the difference. Say thank you to the police, even if they are writing you a ticket for something. Treat them with respect, notice and acknowledge they are children of god, our brothers and sisters. When I went on a ride along with the Detroit Police Department while in seminary....an officer had been shot the night before in same area I had the ride along...beyond several high speed chases and one arrest, the most memorable part of that night was the number of people that flagged down the car and inquired about the officer, offering thoughts and prayers and reminding the officers I was with to be safe as well...

God often shows up where we least expect God to be. No one would have ever predicted God's glory to be shown in a man on a cross or an outcast walking down a road. No one imagines the power of God being revealed through vulnerability, and craziness... But that is exactly what happened... And so God through Jesus is revealed in the actions of a Samaritan in a ditch with a person others saw and walked by.

And so too, God, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, can be revealed in the actions of ordinary, overwhelmed, tired of the world, you and me... We simply have to take a step toward that ditch, to show a glimpse of love, kindness and mercy towards our brothers and sisters in the midst of hate, destruction and fear... It is risky, and scary, and a lot of hard work, no doubt, but God is right here with us, practically begging us to not only notice, but not ignore our neighbor...

This was the case 2000 years ago with a lawyer and a story about a man in a ditch, a priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan. Seems to me it is the case today as well...with you and me...God can and will do great things with our inadequate words and actions...with our acknowledgement of broken systems, with our unwillingness to let violence be our legacy and with each and every step, no matter how small, we take toward the ditch of our broken neighbors. Do this and we will live. Sin, brokenness, and hatred will not have the final word. God's love, mercy and justice will prevail. Amen

Today, we had a special musical performance of Seek Ye First with Megan Nyquist and Addie Thompson, on handbells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Year C – 4th Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 14 – July 6, 2025

Pastor Megan Floyd

Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

Galatians 6:1-16

Grace and peace to you from our Lord, Jesus Christ, who includes us in the mission of bringing forth the kingdom of God. Amen.

***

Hospitality is a big deal.

My mother took hospitality very seriously and impressed the importance of it upon me from an early age.

I can remember going over to other people's homes and being instructed ahead of time to be polite, say please and thank you… and, no matter what, do not complain about what is served for dinner.

You eat it… and you say thank you.

If we wandered out of line, all it took was a look… you know… the look…

I came to understand that both extending and receiving hospitality are how we honor each other. Even if we don't typically use that language for it, it remains an unspoken truth in our culture.

Hospitality is still a big deal today, but in ancient times… hospitality was a matter of life and death.

There weren't many places we would equate to a modern hotel or restaurant, so travelers had to rely on the hospitality of extended family… or even strangers for food, shelter, and protection.

And those travelers who had no money or bag, no extra food, no clothing, or shoes… well, they were especially vulnerable… especially in need.

And yet, this is exactly how Jesus sends out his messengers. Vulnerable and in need… Like lambs into the midst of wolves… go, he says,… and take nothing except the good news that the kingdom of God is near.

Go into a place, and extend your peace… if it is received, you will know that the soil of their hearts is good soil, ready to receive the good news of Jesus…

If you show up with nothing but your need and your hunger, and you are still welcomed… then they are ready to be transformed by the inbreaking of God's kingdom.

…and if not… if you are rejected… then just move on. You've lost nothing, so shake off the dust and continue on your journey. God will deal with them later, but you, o messenger of Jesus… you keep going.

Jesus sends them out like lambs among wolves… to go into a strange land and show up on a stranger's doorstep with nothing but their thirst and their hunger… with nothing but their need for care.

Jesus is tilling the soil for the seed of his message… but it's also a test of hospitality.

Will they be received, or will they be turned away?

Will these strangers who show up in need be welcomed and offered food, or will they be detained in cages and subjected to threats and abuse?

The lectionary skips some verses in today's passage… some pretty harsh verses… skipping them makes it more palatable, especially for the preacher. But I think we need to go there…

Verse 12 says… "I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town."

The story of Sodom has become twisted around bias and prejudice, so let me remind you of the basics of that story…

The story of Sodom is a story of angels who show up at night as strangers in a strange place, planning to spend the night in the town square. Lot meets them at the city gate, and urges them to stay in his home, under his protection.

Later, the men of the town surround the house… with a plan for gang violence and the worst kinds of abuse.

The inhospitality of Sodom when strangers come into town… layered with cruelty and violence… the utter dehumanization of these strangers… this… this is what brings forth God's wrath.

And this… this is the potential danger the disciples might face, and the seriousness of their mission… but the message must go out.

The kingdom of God is near! …and the world will never be the same.

Jesus sends his disciples out, intentionally vulnerable… intentionally in need… intentionally relying on the hospitality of strangers… He sends them out to find the good soil… to find those who are ready to be transformed by Jesus.

But for those who reject them… for those who cannot see past the disciples' need… their hunger… for those who see these strangers as a burden too great for their communities to bear…

It will be more tolerable for Sodom than for them.

Hospitality is a big deal, and no one takes it more seriously than God.

But my friends… despair is not an option.

We are to shake off the dust, and continue in the mission of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ…

We are to continue in the mission of participating in the inbreaking of God's kingdom, for the kingdom of God IS NEAR!

Despair is not an option, because the kingdom of God is near and it is beautiful and full of love… and because I know your hearts are indeed the kind of good soil that welcomes strangers… I know you are helping to bring that beautiful kingdom closer.

This community is very clearly the kind of community that welcomes strangers… the poor, the hungry, the immigrant… you welcome them as siblings in Christ… and you honor them by extending hospitality…

And in this way, you further Jesus' mission on earth, and share God's love here… as it is in heaven.

But there's more to the mission… Jesus urges us to continue in this way… but he also urges us to tell our story of how sharing God's love through radical welcome and hospitality has transformed our lives.

The disciples were sent as lambs among wolves… but then and now, we know not everyone is ready to receive God's word. They will reject it… and that rejection may come with threats or even violence.

The message of Jesus has the power to change the world… the power to turn everything upside down… and well… most people don't typically like change… especially those in power.

We can reasonably expect a swell of resistance against Jesus's message, particularly because following in the way of Christ disrupts power and privilege.

But we must keep going… keep sharing the good news… keep following in the way of Christ.

Paul writes in the letter to the Galatians, verse 2, we are to "bear one another's burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ." …and verse 10, "whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all…" not of some… but of all.

I rejoice… that this community knows that bearing one another's burdens doesn't mean we reject the stranger, and only bear the burdens of those who look and think like us…

And I rejoice… that this community knows that working for the good of all people does not mean working for the good of only the wealthy and powerful, but in fact, means emphasizing those whose needs are greater so that in the end, all will be cared for.

Our country seems to be pushing back against this way of Christ… it has become unpopular to care for the poor, the sick, the stranger, and the immigrant… and so, those of us who cling to Jesus' mission must hold fast.

Despair is not an option… instead, I invite you to rejoice with me in the good news of Jesus, and let your joy in Christ be an act of defiance against the cruelty of this world.

Rejoice that we are invited into the mission of following the will of Christ and bringing close the kingdom of God, here on earth as it is in heaven.

Rejoice in the love for our neighbor that is shared when we extend and receive hospitality with strangers.

Rejoice in the furthering of Jesus' message when we either hear or tell stories of transformation through Christ.

Rejoice when we care for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the prisoner, or anyone in need… and rejoice if we find we were the ones in need and received that same care and provision from others.

My friends, the kingdom of God is near… because Jesus Christ is near.

And Jesus is both calling us in… and sending us forth… to tell the good news of what God has done for us… to tell our story of how God's love has transformed our lives.

We are called to extend love, care, and hospitality to strangers, and to participate in the bringing close of God's kingdom.

It might be a bumpy road, but do not despair, for the kingdom of God is near, and in that we can rejoice. Amen.

Third Sunday after Pentecost

June 29, 2025

Faith, Okemos

I Kings 19:15-16, 19-21. Psalm 16, Galatians 5:1, 13-25[26], Luke 9:52-62

The apostle Paul wrote, I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me…

[And these words from Paul's letter to the church in Rome:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death. So that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life…So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:3-4, 11]

As I was preparing this week for a small group study of the life and writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I thought a lot about his vocation as a pastor in Germany in the 1930's and 40's, about his participation in the escalating resistance to Hitler's Nazi regime. Dietrich came to believe that Christ truly lived in him and that Christ Jesus living in him did battle with the forces of darkness within his own soul and within the soul of the nation he deeply loved.

My brothers and sisters, I believe that Jesus living in Dietrich also lives in now each of us. Know that in our restlessness and fear in this troubling time, Jesus is doing battle in and with us against our leanings toward despair and anxiety and cynicism, against our leanings toward disgust and hatred of other sisters and brothers perhaps in all three branches of our government with whom we may have come to increasingly distrust and despise.

I think of the huge budget reconciliation bill now before Congress, a bill affecting countless of the poorest, the most vulnerable among us, a bill negatively affecting our efforts to conserve and preserve the Earth. Members of Congress and we whom they represent could easily give way to what St. Paul includes in what he calls "the works of the flesh": heightened strife, anger, quarrels, dissensions, and factions.

But if it is really true that "it is no longer [we] who live, but rather Christ Jesus who lives in [us]", then our hearts, our words, and our behaviors radically change. Then these beautiful words increasingly become who we are: people of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

But let us make no mistake: as long as we live in a fallen world, we remain vulnerable to speaking and acting badly, even in a congregation so full of love as this one we so cherish. In uncertain, stressful times we could can be nasty or at least indifferent to each other. We could hurt one another even if unintentionally, whether we are young or old, whether new or long-time members.

That was certainly true in the little church in Galatia. Harsh, ill-considered, judgmental words and behaviors toward one another threatened to irreparably break the bonds of love and kindness that held them together, wounds that effectively muted their witness to God's mercy and grace.

The little church in Galatia and our congregation in Okemos, Michigan did have this in common: the same crucified and risen and healing Jesus Christ who lived in the Galatian congregation 2000 years later also lives in us. They were then and we are now the very presence of Christ! Individually and collectively, we are called to be the very presence of Jesus in this time and in this community whenever our love for one another and for our neighbors especially in Meridian Township is clearly expressed.

But when these Galatian sisters and brothers sinned against each other, and if and when we sin against one another, this same indwelling God who spoke plainly and firmly in their hearts through this little letter to them from Paul, now speaks words of judgment plainly and firmly in our hearts. Christ Jesus dwelling in their hearts, this Jesus, through the Holy Spirit who convicted them of their sins, now truly dwelling in our hearts, will convict us of our sins against each other. But Jesus, the Son of God, gave them, and now will give us both the courage and the humility to repent, to put to death our pride and stubbornness, and to ask for forgiveness from those we have hurt.

It has been and it will be a wonderful thing to be part of a congregation where members can courageously acknowledge to one another their lack of kindness or patience or gentleness or self-control. It has been and it will be a wonderful thing when we can say to one another, "Please forgive me" and to hear back, "I forgive you." It is a wonderful thing when we regularly practice confession and forgiveness with one another! This practice may be the most primary, most powerful, deepest witness we can give to our own families, to our neighbors, to a country, to a world so divided, so full of hate.

Confession and forgiveness "levels the playing field." In it no one of us is either higher or lower than any of our siblings. Before God we are all sinners. And in Christ Jesus, we are all saints, truly cleansed and forgiven through Jesus' death on the cross for us. Until we reach our heavenly home heaven, we will always be both sinners who need to repent and saints who have been forgiven.

There is great freedom is this dual reality. We are set free from having to prove how good we are, how much better or better behaved we are than others, how surely "we are right" and "they are wrong."

At the same time, we no longer need to wallow in guilt or remorse for how awful we are, for how badly and stubbornly wrong-headedly we've lived. Christ in our hearts continually sets us free! Jesus through the Holy Spirit struggles in us and with us and for us to name and dethrone the false gods that deceitfully promise a better, happier, safer life if we only we isolate ourselves, cut ourselves off from people with whom we disagree or whom we regard as beneath us.

I want to witness to our life in following Jesus, who is our Life, who day after day resides in our hearts, a life that keeps getting richer and richer. I want to share a little of what that was like in my own life this past week. Just days ago Janet Boyer was on my mind. I called her and rejoiced with her in her gratitude to God for still having her voice after major thyroid surgery performed dangerously close to her vocal cords. Then I think the same day, I was asked to see Jane and her daughter and some close friends. Jane, a member of Immanuel, Grand Ledge, was in hospice care, just hours away from her death. Together we prayed and hugged and commended Jane into God's eternal embrace. Then I privileged to be with a developmentally disabled young man in jail who as I was leaving promised to pray for me as I for him. Then on Thursday evening Phylis and I were with a very crowded church in Grand Rapids, blessed by the presence of Nadia Bolz-Weber, a very down-to-earth, unpretentious ELCA pastor, who testified of the unending grace of God even in and from her mother's womb, the grace of God through years of drug addiction, and to this day sharing the beautiful fruits of the Holy Spirit with countless people who were lost… Nadia sensing even in her darkest hours that Jesus was not far from her. She could echo the words of St. Paul: "It is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me." With her we sang many songs that evening, songs including these two verses of Amazing Grace…

I believe that experiences like those given to in these last few days…expressions of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, given and received, are meant to be experienced by all of us, all of us in whom Jesus dwells, all of us whom Jesus calls to courageously follow him for the rest of our lives.

Please sing with me "Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song" [ELW 808]

Amen. JDS

Today, we had a special musical performance of Holy Manna by the Summer Singers at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Year C – 2nd Sunday after Pentecost; Lectionary 12 – June 22, 2025

Pastor Megan Floyd

Luke 8:26-39

Letter from Birmingham Jail, MLK Jr.

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the source of our liberation. Amen.

***

This past Thursday was Juneteenth… it is the day we honor June 19, 1865, when the last remaining people who were enslaved in Texas were liberated by the US Army… three years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued.

A few of us came together to honor this day by reading and discussing Martin Luther King, Jr's, Letter from Birmingham Jail, from April 16, 1963.

Nearly 100 years after the liberation of those people who were enslaved… we were reminded in that letter… that people of color in this country… were still not free.

They… were still bound.

And 62 years after this convicting letter… 62 years after MLK wrote of his 'hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice would soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding would be lifted from our fear-drenched communities…'

we sat with the pain of knowing that we are still not free from our sin of holding our fellow siblings captive.

We… are still bound.

So many people in our country are committed to their idea of what is right and acceptable, that instead of growing in their understanding of the beautiful diversity of God's creation, they have added to the categories of people who are bound by our prejudice…

People of color still face discrimination from white people… and this now overwhelmingly includes Native Americans, and our immigrant, refugee, and migrant communities.

Additionally, our LGBTQIA+ neighbors face prejudice and discrimination as they have started living more openly as their beautiful, authentic selves…

And yet, the Supreme Court just issued a ruling last week to uphold a state law allowing for the ban of medical care for transgender youth… disregarding the mountain of evidence that this care literally saves lives…

We are bound by our sin… and we cannot free ourselves.

We are bound… but we have before us, our God in the flesh… Jesus… the source of our liberation.

Jesus… the one who comes to release our chains… release us from our prisons and enslavement of our own making.

Jesus… comes to us… to set us free.

If we are willing… if we are willing to be freed.

Our gospel text tells a story of a man plagued by demons… so many demons… he is so burdened… so bound by these demons… that he identifies as his demons…

When Jesus asks him his name… he replies… Legion… for we are many.

This man is literally bound… bound by chains, shackles, and by distance… separated from his society… marginalized… and feared.

For Jesus and his disciples, this man is the most unclean of all the unclean… he is a foreigner… a gentile… he is possessed by demons… he is naked and living among the dead… in the tombs.

For Jesus and his disciples, this man is not just outside of the realm of what they found acceptable… he was in another world.

And yet… Jesus shows up here… because there is no place that is beyond Jesus' reach and authority… but it was here, among these tombs and with this poor man… it was here… that he was needed most.

This man was bound… and Jesus frees him.

Jesus comes to this man because this man needs Jesus… but in going to him, we see, yet again, that Jesus is always challenging the borders and boundaries around the way we think things should be.

Jesus is always challenging us to widen our understanding of God's love for all of God's creation… and when we understand that… we loosen our own bonds and draw closer to Christ.

And yet… living in such a tied up way is what we know best…

After this man is freed from his demons, he immediately wants to be bound to Jesus… but Jesus is not going to trade one form of bondage for another… no.

Jesus tells him… that he is free… and to go and share all that God has done for him.

He is free.

And his neighbors?

…they are still bound by their fear…

perhaps even more afraid now that this man whom they thought was bound up and controlled is now free and living among them… as if he belonged.

They preferred it when this man who was different… was set apart… so they didn't have to think about him… or care for him…

The man is now free… but they are still bound to their sin… and unwilling to be freed.

Thinking back to Dr. King's letter from Birmingham Jail… King writes 'that the greatest stumbling block is not the KKK, but the white moderate… who is more devoted to order than to justice…

Who prefers a negative peace, which is the absence of tension, to a positive peace, which is the presence of justice…'

The people in the country of the Gerasenes… wanted to chain up the one who was different… they wanted a "negative peace" …they wanted him to not remind them that he existed.

They wanted him to remain bound.

White people, after the abolition of slavery, wanted people of color to remain oppressed… they wanted both whites and blacks to buy into the false notion of white supremacy…

…and many today are still bound to this sinful endeavor.

And those who are uncomfortable with the LGBTQIA+ community… really of queerness of any kind… they also want those folks to remain bound, hidden away from view.

They certainly want people who are transgender, or trans-queer, to not exist, and they think they can legislate them out of existence.

They want a negative peace… an absence of tension… rather than a positive peace… which requires shaking off the shackles of sin and working for justice for those we have oppressed.

But Jesus… remember where Jesus went?

…he didn't go to the townspeople to try and convince them that this man was their brother, and they should care for him and provide for his needs.

No. Jesus went to the man who was bound… because that's where he was needed.

And we, who seek Jesus… that's where we need to go, too. We need to go to those who are bound…

Jesus is the source of our true liberation from oppressive forces, both known and unknown.

And when we seek Jesus… we will find him among those we have pushed away… we will find him among those who are bound.

When we seek Jesus… we will find him when we engage in the work of breaking those bonds… the work of seeking justice for those who are oppressed.

A genuine relationship with Jesus and a commitment to the way of the gospel can only compel us to engage in the pursuit of social justice.

For you cannot love your neighbor… if you insist that they remain bound.

If we try… and Lord help us, we try all the time… we find that we are also bound… bound by our sin… bound by our fear of the 'other.'

We are bound… and we cannot free ourselves.

But Jesus… Jesus is our liberation… and Jesus has shown us the way to freedom…

We cannot become free by seeking liberation for ourselves.

We can only become free by seeking liberation for our neighbor.

When we engage in the work of seeking justice and life for our neighbor who is bound by oppressive forces… we, too, will become free…

Seeking liberation for our neighbor… brings us face to face with Jesus…

Seeking liberation for our neighbor… is loving our neighbor… just as Jesus commanded… and engaging in this work… frees us both.

Amen.

Year C – Trinity Sunday – June 15, 2025

Pastor Megan Floyd

John 16:12-15

Athanasian Creed

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is God and the Holy Spirit… the Three-in-One. Amen.

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday… now I have several clergy friends who prefer to gloss over this one, but given how cloudy our understanding of the Trinity is, I thought we should dig in, yes?

So today… Trinity Sunday… is a different sort of festival… in that what we are celebrating is actually… our church doctrine… it is the church's explanation of God's nature as three-in-one… one-in-three… or rather, we should say…

Today we celebrate our almost understanding of God's nature.

I say almost, because… it isn't perfect… no description we can imagine or create will truly capture who God is… and that's also the point.

Nothing we can say about God will fully describe God's being because God is massive and ultimately beyond our full understanding.

God is mystery… and wonder… and awe…

And yet… This massive and mysterious God yearns for a relationship with us… a personal relationship with humanity…

God wanted that so much that God came and walked with us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Our great and powerful God… in a poor and humble human body.

God came and shared our joy and our pain… lived a human life with us… and submitted himself to our most incredibly violent actions… all to show us how much God was invested in this relationship.

And after Jesus defeated death, and was resurrected from the tomb… he continued to share life with us before ascending to heaven, but not before drawing our attention to the Holy Spirit…

Our advocate… the Holy Spirit of God… the very breath of God that fills our lungs and permeates our lives… God who surrounds us… and lives within us.

God, the mighty and powerful creator… Jesus… our humble redeemer and friend… and Spirit… the one who sustains us and saturates our world…

Distinct in their divinity but together as one… one God.

"One God in trinity, and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the divine being… the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, equal in glory, coeternal in majesty."

Makes perfect sense, yes?

As humans, in a relationship, we want to set parameters… we want to understand and know the other person… We like to believe that fully knowing another is actually possible.

For example… my parents have been married for forty-nine years. I'd say they know each other very well… they can anticipate each other's reactions and moods. But occasionally, they still surprise each other…

And my husband and I have been married almost twenty-two years… we respond in unison so often that we suspect we might share a brain.

But we are still – all of us – separate people with different perspectives on life.

Think about your closest relationship… perhaps with your spouse… or a sibling or cousin… maybe a life-long best friend. You know this person through and through… you can describe and anticipate this person's thoughts and reactions…

You have laughed together… cried together… and yet, you are not them… they are not you…

Even the person you know the most is distinct from you in such a way that prevents you from ever fully understanding what it is… to be them…

And your person… the one you have in mind now… is human…

How much more than that is our God?

With God… full knowledge and understanding will always be… just beyond our reach.

And that's ok.

For us to be invested in our relationships with anyone, but particularly with God, we must invest our time in them. We must share our full life with them… laugh and cry together… learn and grow together.

With God… Jesus… Spirit… we dwell in our learning and growing through prayer, worship, and spending time in the Scriptures… laughing together… crying together… giving thanks for God's enduring faithfulness.

In our scriptures, we read and relive God's interactions with our ancestors so that we can be attuned to God's interactions with us. Because God did not stop acting after Revelation was written!

We come together in worship and praise, and we wait for the Lord to come to us… to meet us in our lives… we nurture our relationship with God so that when God shows up, we recognize the one who calls us beloved.

Our doctrine of the Trinity… our best attempt at describing God's three-in-oneness… wasn't handed to the disciples as a list of terms and conditions to accompany the Holy Spirit…

This doctrine… this way of understanding… developed over a few hundred years of faithful followers of Jesus trying to make sense of what happened…

trying to understand how these events fit in with the Hebrew scriptures and laws, and with the writings and teachings they'd gathered since Jesus's death and resurrection…

The Trinity is our best attempt at describing God's divine presence in and with and through all things in all places… for all time and even outside of time.

Our understanding of the Trinity came from those who dedicated their time and attention to their relationship with God… and allowed that relationship to reveal new discoveries about our Creator… Redeemer… and Sustainer.

The Three-in-one… One-in-three.

However, what we celebrate today is not the doctrine itself per se, but that this idea gave us a new lens through which to revisit Scripture… a new perspective to help us understand our interactions with the Divine.

This new perspective helped us realize that God… Jesus… Spirit… have always been… and were always there… and will be until the end of time… eternally together, yet separate… and eternally one.

And so, this doctrine is the lens through which we now hear Jesus's parting words to his disciples… on the night in which he was betrayed.

Jesus knows they cannot fully grasp the meaning of all that is about to occur…

and that they won't fully understand everything he has taught them up until that point, until after he has defeated death.

He knows that they will need to remember his words to understand… but he promises them that they will have help.

God's Holy Spirit will surround them and guide them toward truth… will guide them in their continued living as disciples of Jesus.

God's Holy Spirit will permeate their lives and continue to glorify God… to make God known for them… just as the Holy Spirit continues to glorify God for us.

Jesus says of the Holy Spirit that it will continue to make Jesus known to them… because it will guide them in his teaching… just as Jesus' teaching has made God the Father known.

The inspiration and guidance we receive from the Holy Spirit is not independent of God or Jesus… for the Spirit and Jesus and God are one.

And yet… exactly how it is that God… Jesus… Spirit so saturates our very being remains a mystery that we know is true.

We know it is true because we feel God all around us, we share stories of encountering God, and we do our best with our limited language to describe God's awesomeness… knowing that the full scope of God is just beyond our grasp.

Kallistos Ware was an English bishop and theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and he wrote,

"We see that it is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery. God is not so much the object of our knowledge, as the cause of our wonder."

It is our wonder that keeps us invested in this amazing relationship with our Creator… and it is our awe that reminds us who we are and whose we are…

We seek the triune God who reveals themselves to us as three… and yet one… the source of our life and our salvation…

A divine mystery that we can explore for our whole lives, knowing and accepting that full knowledge is not for us in this life.

And that's ok.

We can celebrate our almost understanding, using the doctrine of the Trinity as our lens through which we read, and grow in awareness of God's story…

Always leaving room for wonder and awe for our Creator… Redeemer… and Sustainer… the three-in-one… and one-in-three.

Amen.

Today, we had a special musical performance from Calvin Kadrofske on Marimba, as he played the song Restless written by Rich O'Meara at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.