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

Have you ever been so passionate and intent about something that you forgot to eat?

Maybe you were so into a project, or having so much fun, time flew right past lunch?

Sometimes when we get into something really great it seems time loses its meaning

Time can stand still or fly by

Without us being conscious of it

Losing our sense of time can be a sign that we're into something incredible,

Tapping into something both within and outside of ourselves

Perhaps on the threshold of transformation

Some call these liminal spaces

Richard Rohr describes this space as, "where we are betwixt and between the familiar and the completely unknown. There alone is our old world left behind, while we are not yet sure of the new existence. That's a good space where genuine newness can begin."

Newness… creativity… passion… transformation

These are also words we use to describe encounters with the divine

/ / /

I invited you to identify with one of the characters in the gospel story today

For me the character I identify most with…

Love, and admire… is the woman

The woman in today's gospel story seems to find herself in a liminal space as she encounters Jesus

We hear several labels for parts of her identity throughout this story

Samaritan

Woman

Unwed

Divorced

And there are other aspects of her identity that are demonstrated throughout the story

Courageous and curious

Believer in Christ

Witness and disciple

But perhaps most importantly for her

And for each one of us

Is her identity as a beloved child of God

/ / /

This story is fascinating because it's so unpredictable

Jesus was a Jew, and Jews didn't go to Samaria

Jews and Samaritans had been strong enemies for about the last 700 years

But Jesus discerned that they must go there / /

Jewish men, particularly teachers, did not talk to unknown women

But Jesus, a Jewish teacher, engaged this woman at the well / /

Jesus didn't need water -- the disciples just left to get snacks

And women didn't usually go to the well for water during midday

It's hot, and they preferred to draw water in the mornings and evenings

Culturally, women also did this together

It was like a social event where they would catch up a bit and support one another.

But this woman goes to the well alone at noon / / /

So just within the first three verses of this story we enter a place of curiosity, wonder and awe as we are transported outside of what is considered common, to a place of newness

Then Jesus asks her for a drink / / /

He exacerbates her confusion of his violation of social norms by then telling her that HE has living water… flowing, fresh everlasting water

But there he sits beside the well

Jesus doesn't even have a bucket, and he just told her that he needed a drink AND he has living water

Anyone in their right mind would smile, step back, and get water later because something strange is happening here

But this is the thing about liminal spaces / / /

They befuddle us, shift our conscious awareness,

Change our ability to perceive reality, and take us to someplace deeper

Liminal spaces seem to shift our consciousness away from what's happening on the surface

toward a deeper place where transformation can occur

/ / /

So in spite of common custom and her best judgement,

The woman stays

She remains curious

She engages Jesus

/ / /

Within the conversation Jesus brings up her marital status,

Not in judgement of her,

but in a way of revealing more of himself

He shows himself as seeing and knowing all things

Deepening the mystery and drawing the woman into relationship with him further

The woman recognizes Jesus as a prophet

And gets to the heart of the conflict between Jews and Samaritans

And perhaps the heart of the conflict we experience within our relationships today

Where is God?

Where can I access God?

Where can I experience God?

If I encounter God here or this way…

then can you encounter God there or that way?

/ / /

Jesus shatters both the Jewish and Samaritan answers to these questions

The hour is coming

The time is near

When worshiping God won't depend on where you are

Or if you do it properly

Worshiping God will depend on spirit and truth

And relationship / /

Jesus' words "God is spirit" changes everything

Because God is unbound to any people or place

Jesus' presence is changing and shifting people's perception of God's presence

God is inbreaking, here, and now

In this liminal space

Through Jesus the Christ

/ / /

As per usual, the disciples return and bring us back to reality

They disrupt the liminal space where Jesus and the woman lost track of culture and regulations and what "should" be happening

But it's too late

The divine disruptive work has been done

the woman has been transformed by this experience

Everything has changed

/ / /

Forgetting the water and her bucket

Forgetting her status as an outcast in her town

Forgetting the social norms she's lived by all of her life

The woman raced back to the city and became a witness

She proclaimed, as the newest disciple of Jesus

"Come and see"

/ / /

Liminal spaces seem increasingly rare within our culture,

We have become proficient in holding expectations and social normative behaviors

As we focus on time

Schedule

The plan and

Productivity

Can you imagine being delayed by two whole days as Jesus and the disciples did in Samaria?

/ / /

Our way of living leaves little room for God to interrupt us

For God to disrupt our busy days

And for us to be transformed

/ / /

Several years ago I started paying more attention to disruptions

I'm a recovering type-A person who had much rigor around schedule and plans

My children have assisted me greatly in breaking this habit J

I hated disruption / / /

until I changed my perspective

I began to see disruption as opportunity

I began to be curious and more open in the midst of disruption

Some people call this "flow" or "mindfulness"

But I realized something incredible within the disruptions in my life

They opened me to a new and transformative space

Beautiful things happened there

These disruptions created space for God to enter my life

/ / /

As you go about your week and continue to reflect upon this gospel and whatever character you resonate with this time

Consider how they experienced disruption

Consider how they remained curious

Consider how they opened themself to something new

And witness how they experienced the presence of God

/ / /

We, like the woman, have many competing identities

May we prioritize our identity as a beloved child of God above all

May we engage our passions in a way that causes us to lose track of time

May we allow disruptions into our lives with curiosity and openness

May we embrace newness and creativity

May this way of being open a liminal space within our lives

May we experience divine transformation in unexpected places and times…and

May we have the courage to witness and proclaim

"Come and see!"

Amen.

This is a special musical performance by the Chancel Choir of Saved By Grace today at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Mother Teresa once said, "The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God." I believe Mother Teresa's words are very insightful. I, too, believe there is a deep yearning and spiritual hunger for God in our country and in our world, a hunger that simply seems to increase with the passing of time.

Today's gospel reading tells the story of a man who has such a deep hunger for God. In this story, Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness, and he is hungry. He comes to Jesus during the night, and he has a spiritual hunger that is gnawing away at his very soul. He has a hunger deep within, a hunger he cannot fully identify. Now, Nicodemus is a Pharisee, so he comes during the night when he will not be seen. Yet, he comes wanting to find out more about Jesus and what Jesus is teaching.

Spiritually hungry Nicodemus does not understand the things Jesus has been telling him, so Jesus references a strange Old Testament story to make his point. This old story by the way would have been very familiar to Nicodemus, good Pharisee that he was. Jesus reminds him of the Israelites who, during their forty-year wilderness wanderings, had sinned. They had grumbled about Moses and had grumbled about God, and they faced punishment. In part, the punishment was being bitten by snakes. The Israelites then cried out to God for deliverance and God used the strangest thing to save them. Moses formed a bronze serpent, mounted it on a pole, and hoisted it upward. When the Israelites looked at it, they were healed, they were saved from death from poisonous snakebites. Strange as it seems to us, the Israelites were instructed to look upon this bizarre symbol of redemption to be relieved of the suffering they had brought upon themselves by their rebellion against God.

Anyway, Jesus then connects this bizarre story to himself as he continues to teach Nicodemus. He draws an analogy between the "lifting up" of the Son of Man and Moses lifting up the bronze serpent in the wilderness. Jesus says that, in like manner, the Son of Man must be "lifted up" so that "whoever believes in him may have eternal life." And, as he attempts to feed the gnawing hunger within the heart of Nicodemus, Jesus speaks words that have become some of the best-known, best-loved verses in all of scripture – John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."

"For God so loved the world…." For God so loved the world? Just think about that. When I think of the world, I see a small planet in the vastness of space. And this miniscule dot of an insignificant planet that is barely even a speck in the vastness of space is our world, and it is so deeply, tragically broken. On this planet, people are daily being shot on our streets. Mass shootings abound as guns have become idols. There is war in Ukraine and unrest in so many parts of this world. The United Nations estimates that 795 million people in the world literally go hungry and suffer from chronic undernourishment. Economic injustice just continues to grow. There is no longer a day that goes by when we do not see some new manifestation of climate change, something we have brought upon ourselves. Hate and division seem prevalent in so many places within our culture. Dysfunction seems to rule in government, in our own communities, in our own families, and within our very selves! The world is so very, very broken! Yet, God so loved the world?

Yes. God so loves this world! And, in the gospel of John the Greek word for "world" refers to the cosmos – to everything! God so loves everything – the entire cosmos, the entire creation, this little, miniscule planet that is hardly a speck in the vastness of space, all the people, the land, the animals, the bugs, the world's goodness, and the world's deep brokenness. David Lose, when blogging about this verse writes, the Greek word kosmos "designates throughout the rest of John's Gospel an entity that is hostile to God. This means that we might actually translate these verses this way, 'For God so loved the God-hating world, that God gave God's only Son…' and 'God did not send the Son into the world to condemn even this world that despises God but instead so that the world that rejects God might still be saved through him.' Really – God's love is just that audacious and unexpected. Which is why, according to Paul, it probably seems both scandalous and a little crazy. And that audacious, unexpected, even crazy character of God's love is probably why it saves!"

When Jesus appears on the scene, Jesus brings us a whole new understanding of the world God loves. God loves broken people. You see, God sent the Son to show us just how much, and to what lengths, God would go to tell us the world is loved with an audacious, transforming love. Yes, the gospel of John tells us God so loves the entire God-hating world so much that the entire creation can find its home in God. God loves this broken world with an immense, immeasurable, redeeming love. This is a love that disturbs us, gnaws at our hearts, creates a hunger for God, unsettles us, grasps us, and draws us into the very arms of God's love where we become forever changed and transformed. And, once we have been grasped by this love, we find it is a love that will never ever let us go. We then discover that our true home, the home of all creation, is in God. Yes, God so loves the world, and it is in turning one's face toward Jesus and looking to the cross where we finally find the love that fills the gnawing hunger in our hearts. There we discover the beloved one whom God gave to the world out of love for the cosmos. There we begin to know the breadth and depth of God's redeeming love for God's people. That is the way of Jesus and that is the message of the cross. And it is God's redeeming love that changes us and causes us to respond to the needs of the world. We, too, then see the world in a different light. When God's redeeming love fills our hungry souls, we are then compelled to work for peace and justice in this broken world.

As we hear Jesus' words today, we so often get stuck on verse 16. However, we really need to hear the words of verse 17 when Jesus says, "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." Here Jesus affirms and repeats that the Son was not sent to condemn this God-hating world. Jesus' message is not about who's in and who's out, as far too many want to claim when quoting these verses. Rather, it is about God's consistent intent to love, save, and bless this whole world…..If God's love is for all, then we who have experienced that love in Christ are called to see persons of other faiths and persons of no faith through the lens of that profound, surprising, unsettling, audacious love. That means embracing not just those who are like us, but also embracing all those we consider other!

In the early days of Jesus' ministry, Nicodemus came by night and had a gnawing hunger within himself. He came to Jesus, seeking to fill a hunger he did not really understand. Nicodemus was invited into the way of Jesus, invited into the love God has for the whole world, the cosmos, and he did not initially get or understand what Jesus was saying. And, quite frankly, far too often we don't get what Jesus is saying. However, it is likely Nicodemus grew in understanding and was transformed because when we get to the end of John's gospel, we find out Nicodemus did not abandon Jesus. It was Nicodemus along with Joseph of Arimathea, who cared for Jesus' body after the crucifixion. He was ultimately captured by the love God has for this world because this is a love he could not escape.

I agree with Mother Teresa, there is a deep, gnawing hunger for love and there is a hunger for God in our culture and in the world. And the good news is that, in the person of Jesus, we discover a God who loves this broken, God-hating world and our very broken selves so deeply that no one, absolutely no one, can escape God's all-encompassing, unconditional love.

This is a special musical performance by the Chancel Choir of Thy Will Be Done with soloist Ryan Thompson today at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Four days ago, on Ash Wednesday, I sent you a sermon about God creating earth creature Adam from the dust of the ground and breathing God's breath into Adam to give life.

And how God's breath, God's Spirit, connects with each one of us

Today we pick up the story of Adam in the garden of Eden with his partner, the woman, and face the first question of evil and suffering in the bible.

We then hear about Jesus in the wilderness and the temptation he faced

These stories take us to the heart of an age-old question about human suffering.

The questions I struggle most with as a hospital chaplain are

Why do people suffer, and where is God in the midst of suffering?

First, I think it's important that we explore the meaning of suffering

Suffering requires endurance or tolerance

It is usually not a one-time experience

But something that is persistently unpleasant, or even painful

Suffering can be imposed by oneself, or by another

Today, and throughout this season of Lent, we explore the reality of suffering as part of the human condition

even Jesus, the Christ, experienced suffering

And through Jesus, God also understands human suffering./ / /

One year ago I was assigned Douglas John Hall's book "God & Human Suffering" for class

I loved his perspective on this question of suffering, and was happily surprised I'd have an opportunity to use his work,

as the scriptures for today align well with Hall's material.

Hall presents that some forms of suffering belong in God's creation of human beings

Some forms of suffering are part of our design as humans

Suffering comes along with our process of becoming. (p. 57)

The creation story and Matthew's gospel both engage Hall's theory that life's struggle, the process of becoming, involves suffering

Hall presents four aspects of suffering that are part of human creation, the human condition

Those are: Loneliness, Limits, anxiety, and temptation

This suffering exists in the midst of us straying away from God's hope for us

The denial of God's presence with us and to us

The denial of God's call to each one of us

As we attempt to have more power and control over our lives

and struggle to allow God to be God within our process of becoming

The key to Hall's entire argument is that suffering and struggle, as part of our human design, must promote meaningful life

So egregious human acts of war, violence, oppression …

These lie outside of what we're talking about today / / /

So let's consider loneliness…

Loneliness creates suffering because by design humans are intended for relationship

Loneliness is the opposite of relationship and love that God calls us toward

In creation God proclaims that it is not good for human Adam to be alone

So God creates animals and a human partner to accompany Adam through life

Experiencing loneliness inspires us to seek meaningful relationships

It's a feeling that tips us off that we we're missing a core part of our being

Which is relationship / / /

Limits: We live in a society that continuously strives to defy limits

Living as though the earth is limitlessly productive and resilient

Living as though our individual lives have no limits

We create a society where we can access anything,

where nothing is forbidden,

where medicine can keep our hearts beating and lungs breathing…

keep us "alive"… long past the time that our living has ended

Hall asks us to wonder how human beings under such conditions

Of limitlessness ever experience awe

Surprise

Or gratitude?

The stories in both Genesis and Matthew today explore limits.

Just after Jesus was baptized and the Spirit of God proclaimed

"This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased"

Jesus went out to the wilderness as many others had gone before him,

The wilderness… where everything is stripped away

Except for himself

In this wilderness the tempter came to push Jesus' limits

Jesus could have turned the stones into bread

He possessed the power to do great and miraculous things

However, Jesus fully embraced his humanness in this place of wilderness

And limited the use of his power / / /

Anxiety: Hall is not talking about chronic anxiety that reduces one's ability to live life abundantly

But he is referring to the human capacity to be aware of our condition

To contemplate the past, present and future of not only ourselves,

But of others, extending beyond our community and into the cosmos…

This incredible awareness causes anxiety as we face choices

And decision-making about how our actions impact ourselves and others

The woman experienced anxiety in the story of Genesis today as the serpent makes her aware of what she might be missing out on

The serpent is not evil, but good, created good as part of God's creation

And knowledge isn't necessarily evil either

But this awareness, this fear of missing out, creates anxiety within humans

As we struggle to make choices

The woman becomes anxious about what she might not see

About a God-like power that she could possess, but may not

And in the midst of this anxiety… she takes a bite / / /

When we move through anxiety, we are able to recognize hope

And experience comfort,

relief,

and even joy

Which is God's call to each one of us / / /

Finally we hear about temptation

The woman is tempted

Jesus is tempted

We are tempted

Temptation challenges us to decide

Temptation brings discomfort, even suffering, as we struggle

to choose righteousness, justice, and truth

And temptation also connects us with our human capabilities of freedom, decision-making, sacrifice, and restraint

Hall states that:

"Without temptation, human beings would lack the challenge that is necessary

for the development both of its rational powers of discernment

and its moral capacities for goodness" (p. 59). / / /

Loneliness… limits…anxiety… temptation

Forms of suffering that guide us in our becoming

I think of them like the bumpers that beginners use in bowling

To help them stay out of the gutter where all becomes lost

As we bump up against these forms of suffering throughout our lives,

perhaps we can consider them from a new perspective

"Life without suffering would be no life at all

As life depends in some mysterious way upon the struggle to be" (p. 60)

Becoming who we are, who we're meant to be, who we want to become

This struggle often brings pain and suffering

Because we are aware, we are conscious, of the vastness of the cosmos

Within this struggle "we become active participants in our life process.

And because of our vast awareness,

We are reminded of God's role in our becoming

We recognize that we can't do it all on our own

As we navigate loneliness

Impose limits

Acknowledge our anxiety

And resist temptation

We create space for God / / /

"the temptation of Everyperson is to have their being

rather than having to receive it,

daily, like the manna of the wilderness or the daily bread of the Lord's prayer" (81)

During this season of Lent

May we fully embrace our created humanness and the suffering of our becoming

May we acknowledge God's loving presence with us and to us

In those spaces of suffering

As we face loneliness, limitations, anxiety and temptation

May we have the discernment and the courage,

Like Jesus,

To say "Away with you Satan"

And allow the angels of God to wait on us

This is a special musical presentation of Minuet by Charles Lloyd with Michael Fox on Clarinet at Faith Lutheran Church.

Matthew 17:1-9; Transfiguration A; 2/19/23 Pastor Ellen Schoepf

As we gather this morning, I am sure most of us are feeling the trauma of this past week and we are grieving. As I have been reflecting on the tragedy at MSU, I have also been thinking about the ways in which moments of grief, anger, injustice, etc., sometimes become windows into the divine and then, in those moments, we become changed. That is what the cross is about and this week we will begin to focus more intently on the cross as we move into Lent. As we begin our Lenten journey this Wednesday, the inevitability of the cross looms before us, and there is nothing we can do to change the fate of our Lord. Yet, as we face the cross, and as we face those moments in life when grief is so present, as we face the horror of this past week, it can become a window into the divine. I know this happens because I have experienced it.

As a pastor, I have the privilege of being with you and walking with you during some of the most difficult times and moments of your lives. Quite honestly, it is in those times that I often find God's presence to us to be palpable, and I am always changed. There are times when these moments are truly transcendent moments, saturated with God's loving presence. And I always realize that in those times, we are standing on holy ground.

One of those moments for me happened a year ago this past December. As I tell you this story, I will mention that Charlotte Rasmussen has given me permission to share it with you. She and Tom were in Florida for the winter when Tom had a heart attack. Tom was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery, but complications ensued. Their daughter Ellen, Charlotte, and I were in touch with each other throughout those challenging days. Tom's condition worsened. It was apparent he would not recover, and he was near death. On Christmas Eve day 2021, they called and wondered if we could do a short service over the phone. I had never thought of doing such a thing and quite frankly I was wondering how this would work out, but I said sure. Charlotte's daughter-in-law was able to connect other family members to our phone call while Ellen, Ken and others were in the hospital room with Charlotte and Tom. In those moments, as Tom faced the end of his life, I led the service for The Commendation of the Dying. And in those moments, in the midst of so much grief and suffering, all of us experienced the transcendent presence of God. We experienced that window to the divine. Even though we were separated by countless miles, we were one in the body of Christ and we all experienced God's presence to us. We knew we were standing on holy ground. I will be honest with you. I was forever changed by that experience of Christ's presence to us on that day.

As I reflect on the events of this past week, the event of Tom Rasmussen's death, and the gospel story we are given today, I know the presence of the Risen Christ often appears in times of deepest grief. We experience a window into the divine and we become changed. In today's gospel reading, we find Peter, James, and John accompanying Jesus up the mountain after Jesus has just told them they are headed to Jerusalem where he will be killed. Jesus has told them about his imminent death. It is only human that in their minds they play out the next few days and weeks. Quite honestly, they probably begin to look for alternatives, desperate for a second opinion, a way to stop time. They want to build a sanctuary away from the world, to be content in the moment, saving Jesus and themselves from the heartache to come. However, they cannot do this, and neither can we. Yet, on that mountain, God breaks into their lives and the grief they are experiencing. In the moment of transfiguration, they experience a window into the divine as Jesus' divinity is affirmed. And in that moment, the disciples are given eyes to see God's light in the chaos to come, the chaos of death, loss, fear, and resurrection, all of which would become the work of the early church. You see, the challenge to the disciples, to the early church, and to us is to live in a world without Jesus' bodily presence. The transfiguration, a word meaning to be changed, anticipates this challenge, inviting us to live our days in "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." As that light shines in our hearts, the incarnate God is made real in the every day of our lives.

In the transcendent moments of life, those remarkable moments and times when we deeply feel the presence of Christ, God prepares us to endure the world and its brokenness, the world of the cross, the world where we experience mass shootings in our own community, the world that has the ability to break us and yet is never beyond God's redemption. And, sometimes, those transcendent moments even happen in the presence of immense grief, as Charlotte, Ellen and I experienced on that Christmas Eve day in 2021.

The transfiguration offered Peter, James and John the paradox that while there is nothing they can do to save themselves from suffering, there is also no way they can shield themselves from the light of God that sheds hope in their darkest moments. That mountain was the way for God to prepare Jesus' human band of companions for the sacred journey that was to come, to offer something to hold on to when they descended into the crushing reality of the world below.

In this story Jesus is preparing his disciples for the cross – it's going to come, so be ready, he seems to say. Jesus knows it's the only thing that's going to transfigure them, to change them. In that moment in the depth of grief, they experience a window into the divine. And the same thing goes for us as well. You see, suffering has this strange and marvelous ability to pull us into oneness and experience the divine. Maybe you've seen it happen in your family, maybe in a moment like the one Charlotte and I experienced, maybe at the funeral of a loved one or some other communal tragedy, maybe even through this past week's tragic experience at MSU, and we discover we are in this together, we are in this together as the body of Christ.

Today's gospel reading marks a pivotal point in Jesus' ministry, and it was a pivotal point in the lives of the three disciples. I dare say that this reading presents a pivotal point for us as we walk through the doorway into Lent. Jerusalem and the cross stand before us. This Wednesday, we will be reminded of our brokenness and our mortality as we are smeared with ashes and begin traveling with Jesus to the cross. The cross – that place of death and sorrow where we discover a love so big it envelops the entire world! The cross – the ultimate window into the divine because it is a place of transforming love, a place that changes us.

As our community continues to grieve and move through the trauma we have experienced, one thing I know for certain is that the God who in Jesus journeyed to the cross, also walks with us and is present to us in our grief. The moment of transfiguration is that point at which God says to the world and to each of us that there is nothing we can do to prepare for or stand in the way of joy or sorrow. However, we also cannot escape the light that God will shed on our path. We cannot escape God, Immanuel, God with us. So, as we still grieve and Lent begins, be open to be changed, be open to be transformed, and be open to be made new. May God richly bless our journey!

This is a special musical presentation of The Servant Song by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church.

This past week was a challenging one for some of us. The incident at Okemos High School this past Tuesday created some real trauma within our community. So, I am ready for some good news! But, as I read today's gospel, we receive words that do not appear to present us with the good news we seek.

I don't know about you, but today I don't really like to hear Jesus' words. Jesus is on a tirade, and he seems to be having an outburst of some kind. Jesus is not messing around and, quite frankly, he seems to have done an about face. He is still preaching his Sermon on the Mount which began with the Beatitudes – those beautiful words of promise and blessing. Then, last week he told us we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And now we get this diatribe of seeming vitriol. What has happened? Why the dramatic change? One could almost think he is having some sort of meltdown as he quickly jumped from telling us that we are salt and light, to this message we hear today. Suddenly Jesus hits us with this eruption of words regarding judgement, murder, prison, divorce, lust, tearing out eyes, chopping off body parts, and being thrown into hellfire of the burning garbage dump outside the city! Frankly, I have to ask, "Jesus, why do you pronounce blessings and then proceed to let loose with this rant? Why are you getting so intense with us when we just want to sit at your feet and learn? After all, we are so hungry for some good news!"

Well, today, Jesus seems to be giving us a heavy-duty dose of the law. He does this by delivering a new interpretation of the law as he addresses some of the more contentious issues of his day. And, as we take an initial look at both the Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy and Jesus' words in the gospel of Matthew, it seems that we are given a hefty prescription of the law including some heavy penalties for disobeying the law. Yet, if we take a closer look, I think we can gain not only a helpful understanding of the law but also a clearer picture of the God we worship.

Martin Luther stressed that the law, specifically the Ten Commandments, is the precious gift of an adoring parent given to beloved children, urging them to treat each other well. The commandments are all about teaching us how to live together as God's beloved community. That was Jesus' understanding of the law, and he begins this segment of his sermon by referencing the Ten Commandments. In doing so, he takes these laws to a new level by broadening them and expanding on their meaning. And he gets intense as he delivers his expanded interpretations. He does this because the God of Scripture is all about relationships – our relationship with God, our relationships with each other and our relationship with our very selves. God cares deeply and passionately about how we treat each other because God loves each one of us so much.

Jesus knows that to live together as the community of God's people and confess that our relationships matter to God means expanding our understanding of the nature and purpose of God's commands. So, as Professor David Lose writes, Jesus doesn't simply heighten the force of the law, he broadens it as he says:

• It's not enough just to refrain from murder. We should also treat each other with respect and that means not speaking hateful words. The reality is words matter.
• It is not enough to avoid physically committing adultery. We should also not objectify other persons by seeing them as a means to satisfy our physical desires by lusting after them.
• It is not enough to follow the letter of the law regarding divorce. We should not treat people as disposable, and we should make sure that the most vulnerable are provided for. And, in the culture of that time as well as in places in our world today, the most vulnerable usually were and are women and children.
• It is not enough to keep ourselves from swearing falsely or lying to others. We should speak and act truthfully in all our dealings so that we don't need to make pledges at all.

As Jesus preaches to us today about the law and its meaning, he makes use of hyperbole. His use of exaggerated language regarding cutting off body parts and burning in hell serve to magnify just how important our relationships are to God. God deeply cares! Now, such an understanding of a God who cares about our very relationships probably runs contrary to most people's perception of God. Quite honestly, for most people I would bet that if we asked them to describe what God, the lawgiver, is like they would probably have an image of God as one sitting some place up there with a perpetual finger raised in warning and perhaps accusation. As Pastor David Lose says, people tend to have a picture of God "captured by a familiar line of that great American folk hymn: 'He knows when you are sleeping; he knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness' sake!' While that may seem funny, many folks do picture God as some stern Santa Claus, always ready to judge us for breaking God's laws."

Jesus' words in this passage are very challenging. And his hyperbolic language can reinforce the stern law giver image of God. But the reality is that God is not so interested in us keeping the law for the law's sake, but for our sake. God is like that loving parent who establishes rules when they tell their child things like don't play in the street, or treat each other well, or don't talk meanly to each other. You see, God is interested in our hearts and in our relationships with one another. As Jesus speaks to the disciples and to each one of us, he wants us to really look at the heart of our actions and look at the root cause of those things we do that are not life-giving. Those are things that break relationships and those are the very places where we need this God of love to be present. Quite frankly, it is our hearts God wants more than anything. God wants to transform our hearts and make us new, and God wants to do this regardless of any mistakes we make or have made. Jesus wants us to look at our hearts and look at the root of our actions, whatever they are, because that is where we need God.

Our God is a relational God. God is all about relationship and mutuality. That is the very point of the Ten Commandments. They are given as gift to help us live together in relationship. And, quite frankly, it is sin that causes us to break our relationships and become separated from each other. It is sin that manifests itself as separation from God, from each other and from our very selves. I like the way Franciscan priest, Richard Rohr, describes this aspect of sin. He writes:

True evil and true sin must be very well disguised to survive. Separation will normally not look like sin, but will often resemble propriety and even appropriate boundary-keeping. "I have a right to be upset!" the righteous soul says.

Well, today, Jesus is again calling us to turn from separation to a life of living in healthy, mutual relationship with God and with each other. That turning is what we call repentance. And God is always ready and willing to bathe us in forgiveness and love. As Richard Rohr talks about this relational way of living, he writes, "Every time God forgives us, God is saying that God's own rules do not matter as much as the relationship that God wants to create with us."

Jesus is not really on a tirade today. He uses hyperbole and goes to great lengths to take us to a new understanding and show us the gift we have been given in the law. He is giving us a deeper understanding of a God who is all about relationships and love, and a God who deeply desires for us to live together as God's beloved community.

Some students once asked Martin Luther, "What is your picture of God?" Luther replied, "When I think of God, I think of a man hanging on a tree." Luther responded with those words because in the cross of Christ we see God's love poured out for the whole world and we are reminded that God will go to any and all lengths to communicate just how much God loves us so that we, in turn, may better love one another.

So, go, be reconciled to God, to one another and to your very selves. Go, and live into love, the love that God showers upon each one of us. This news today IS truly good news!

This is a special musical presentation of This Little Light of Mine by the Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church.