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

This is a special presentation of Down to the river to pray by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir. 

I was ordained on the evening of Thursday, August 30, 2012, at St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Portland, ME.  In that same service, I was installed to serve as Associate Pastor to the people of St. Ansgar.  I vividly remember my ordination, and I vividly remember the weight of the questions Bishop Margaret Paine asked me during that service.  When pastors are ordained and then installed to serve in a congregation, they are asked to promise to teach and to preach according to the scriptures and the theological tradition of the Church.  I remember feeling the awesome responsibility communicated in those questions and the gravity of the promises I made.  The congregation is also asked to hold the pastor to those promises and to question the pastor when it is not clear he or she is doing that.  When talking to the congregation about their roll in receiving a newly installed pastor, I like the comments one Assistant to the Bishop often makes.  He says, “At the same time, the congregation is also to remember that it is not the preacher’s calling to tickle our ears with pleasant things we want to hear; it is his or her calling from God, to rightly preach the word of truth – AND to challenge us to grow in our faith and godly actions.”

His words are fitting as we look at today’s readings.  Today, I am not called to tickle your ears with pleasant things you want to hear, but I am called to speak the truth.  And, the truth often calls us to turn around and be open to change that enables us to grow more deeply in our understanding of faith, to be open to being changed and being made new.  

In our Old Testament reading, the prophet Amos was not thinking about changing the world, let alone changing himself, when his life was suddenly changed. God called Amos to leave his family and friends, leave behind his occupation of caring for sycamore trees, and even leave his country, to prophesy to the people of the Northern Kingdom.  Amos was called to speak truth to power, speak against idolatry and social injustice, and call people to live justly and return to a faithful relationship with God.  He was called to warn the people of Israel that they had not met the standards – the plumb line – God had set for them, and consequently they were going to be invaded and destroyed. Now, war and conflict were not something new to the Israelites – but to lose a war, and their country, and independence, was unthinkable. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, did not like what Amos said, so he created a conspiracy theory and told King Jeroboam that Amos had conspired against the king and the very center of the house of Israel.  Wow!  Isn’t it interesting the way these Bible stories are our stories, even to this day?  Anyway, Amaziah then told Amos to go away and return to his own country.  Amos answered that he was not prophesying because he WANTED TO – he was prophesying because of God’s call, and he was doing what God had asked of him.

God called Amos to address the social injustice in the northern kingdom and call the people to change their ways.  And, in today’s gruesome, grotesque story from Mark’s gospel, we find that God also called John the Baptist to address the injustice present in people’s lives and in the life of King Herod, the reigning Jewish monarch. Through the prophet John, God was calling Herod to turn around, change his ways, and live into a life of faithfulness.  You see, Herod had taken his brother’s wife, Herodias, while she was still married to his own brother, and Herod married her himself. John had been warning Herod that he must change the way he was living – that he must repent and seek forgiveness from God.  Well, this made Herodias livid! She was shocked that Herod would allow someone to say such bad things about him and especially HER – and she wanted John to be killed. Herod on the other hand, was puzzled by John – he did not like what he was told but, at the same time, he was intrigued and wanted to know more. The more he heard, the more Herod was drawn to John and his teachings. However, Herodias ultimately conspired with Herod to have John killed.  Here we have another conspiracy that developed in reaction to truth that was spoken, reaction to John’s words when he had spoken truth to power and privilege.  It is interesting that, when Herod finally had John the Baptist beheaded, “The king was deeply grieved.” It is also interesting that Herod was someone who was truly seeking to know all that John had to say, believing just enough to keep him up at night, but NOT enough to change his way of living.

Both stories today have something in common.  In our story about Amos, we discover nobody wanted to hear him. The priest threw him out of Bethel. The priest threw Amos out of the house of God because the priest did not want to hear the words of truth Amos spoke.  The priest did not want to hear what God had to say, and he did not want to change his way of thinking or his way of living.  And, like the priest of Bethel, Herod and Herodias did not like what John the Baptist said about them either. In what was probably a drunken stupor and rash oath by Herod, with Herodias conspiring and working in the background, John was beheaded because Herod and his wife did not like what they heard, and they were not ABOUT to change. In fact, the very THOUGHT that they might need to change made Herodias extremely angry.

Sometimes WE are not totally happy with ourselves.  We realize that we have “weaknesses” but, for various reasons, do not really make the effort to change. Yet, the truth is that God, out of God’s overwhelming love for us, is always calling us to change, to turn around and turn back to God, to grow more deeply in faith, and to be made new.

There was once a missionary in China whose name was Ellenita Zimmerman.   Ellenita once defined the Gospel this way.  She said, “God loves you just the way you are. AND God loves you too much to let you stay that way.”  Yes, God loves you just the way you are. AND God loves you too much to let you stay that way.

As I remember my ordination and the promises I made and, as I remember the service in which I was installed to be your pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, I also remember that I am not called to tickle your ears and always simply speak words that make you feel good.  Sometimes, like today, the Bible readings call us to speak and proclaim hard truths. Today’s readings, especially the gospel reading, are difficult to hear. However, they call us to turn back to God. They call us as people to let go of defensive, relationship breaking conspiracy thinking. They call us to hard truth, to be truthful with one another, to share our concerns and to call people to live lives of justice in which we truly love the Lord God with all of our hearts and minds and souls, and we love our NEIGHBORS as ourselves.  That means we are always called to make decisions that always show love and care of neighbor over our own self-interest.  Decisions like getting the Covid vaccine so our neighbor can be protected.  Decisions like probably again wearing a mask as the Delta variant grows and becomes more prevalent.

As we begin to regather, I know we are called to have hearts and minds open to being changed and made new.  And, I am reminded that the Bible, the pastor, and each of us as members of the body of Christ, remind each other of these two basic truths – God loves you all just the way you are, AND, God loves you all too much to let you stay that way!  It is when we open ourselves, when we listen with our hearts as well as our ears, when we want and ALLOW ourselves to change, that we are ultimately transformed into the image of Christ.  And, God loves us so much that God does with us that which is impossible for us to do by ourselves. God makes us NEW creatures - changed and transformed from within. God loves us so much that God will never, ever let us go.  Yes, God loves us that much! Thanks be to God!

I mentioned in last week’s sermon that, while I feel joy as we regather, I am also feeling a certain kind of grief and sadness.  I grieve because I know the church is not going to be what it was pre-Covid. This is proving true across the board for churches of all denominations, not just us. As we begin the process of regathering, I am fully aware that the post-Covid church is going to be different.  And, quite frankly, this change can be seen as a bad thing or a good thing.  This can be seen as a real opportunity for the church.  Just maybe, all the challenges the church now faces present a real opportunity for the church to be reborn, reshaped and made new.  Just maybe, God is calling for faith communities to become truly prophetic, to proclaim and live the gospel good news in fresh and innovative ways!  If that is the case, we need to be open to the change, and ready and willing to face the same challenges all prophets throughout time have faced.  And, as always, today’s readings are life-giving for us in this present moment because they speak of three “prophets” – Ezekiel, Paul, and Jesus.  All three of these men were called to stand up on their feet, prophetically call the people to faithfulness, speak truth to power and privilege, speak a word of warning, speak a word of comfort, and proclaim the good news that God’s life-giving power is breaking in and present in this world.  And, as has happened to all prophets throughout time, all three of these figures faced elements of significant rejection.

In today’s first reading, we hear Ezekiel’s call story. God literally picks Ezekiel up off the ground where he has fallen prostrate because he knows his own unworthiness before God. God then prepares him to speak God’s message to the people of Israel.  That preparation includes warning Ezekiel about rejection as God says, “I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.” One commentator summarizes the Ezekiel reading this way:   

Perhaps the people will listen, but perhaps they will not. Ezekiel has the task of speaking the truth without regard to the response…. Authentic ministry speaks the truth regardless of response. God calls us to faithfulness and obedience, not success.

Yes, faithfulness and obedience, not success.  These are simple guidelines, but…they are so counter-cultural for us because we live in a highly success driven culture. Success is our society’s proof of value, and failure is only forgiven after the fact, that is if we can turn it into a life lesson that empowers our eventual success. Every system in which we function elevates winners, and judges everyone else.  We judge people caught in poverty, we judge the uneducated, those struggling with disabilities or addictions, the unpretty, the unloved.  Our success-addicted culture tells us that, if we cannot rise above and find a way from rags to riches, we are not worth much.  And, friends, it’s not just secular culture that communicates this message. The church has also bought into this idolatry of success and power. Ever since the 4th Century, when Emperor Constantine decided to use Christianity as a unifying tool in his empire-building, the golden calf of Christendom has seduced the religion of Christ-followers with the offer and prospect of power. Over 1600 years have taught us to see power, success, influence, and large gatherings of people as the marks of blessing on our ministries, and – conversely – to see any diminishment of Christianity’s central place of privilege as persecution.  However, friends, followers of Christ, disciples of Jesus, were never promised power! We were never promised favored treatment. We were never promised success.

No, we were told that God chooses to be known in weakness. That what we need is NOT success, but rather grace. Because, as Paul tells us today in our second reading, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9) This is the weakness of sometimes having our witness rejected. This is the weakness of the one we follow, this Jesus, the one who hung on a cross.  But, it is in that place of supposed weakness where we truly find the GRACE of God.  Friends, God is not interested in our success because chasing success is the opposite of grace. Success is depending on ourselves to prove our own worth. Grace is about knowing that our worth comes always and only from God.  Grace is not about power, or acclaim, or increasing numbers of people, or “winning” in any of the ways we are taught to think about success. Grace is about knowing the One to whom we belong and receiving the gift of faith that makes God our only benchmark.

This message comes through loud and clear in our gospel reading for today.  The second part of our gospel reading tells us about Jesus sending the disciples out on their first mission assignment to spread the good news. His instructions are very unusual:

Don’t take anything with you – not extra clothes, not food, not money… just a walking stick (because you’ll be doing a lot of walking). You will have to depend on the hospitality of strangers. But don’t take anything that’s not freely given. Some people are going to reject you. They will refuse to take you in or to listen to what you have to say. When that happens, just shake the dust from your feet and move on.

These instructions are NOT very encouraging for beginning disciples!  And, they sound even worse when you consider that they have just witnessed Jesus’ first “failure.”  They sound even worse because the first half of our reading tells us how Jesus, after all the crowd-drawing success in his travels around Galilee, is rejected in his hometown. The people there admit to his amazing deeds of power and his authoritative words of wisdom… but none of this really matters. They know Jesus’ humble beginnings and they get offended by his claims to power and authority. And because their hearts are hard, Jesus cannot do much there. Except for a few healings, he faces major rejection.  And it is after THIS rejection that Jesus decides to send his disciples on a mission to experience some rejection for themselves. I must ask, do any of us who are so focused on success and numbers, see this as a prescription for success and growing the church?  Do we see this as making any sense?  Probably not.

When Jesus sent the disciples on their mission, they were to proclaim a message of repentance. The Greek word for repent in this passage is metanoeo, which literally means “to change one’s mind, to turn around.” This was the message Jesus proclaimed as well. He called the people to repent and believe – to change their minds and trust in the gospel of love and grace – the good news of God’s forgiveness and love. And, with that message in mind, it makes PERFECT sense that Jesus would tell the disciples to go without provision and expect some rejection. You see, they could not preach repentance if they didn’t change their minds first – change their minds about what success looks like. They needed to know the grace that is not about power, or acclaim, growth in numbers, or “winning” in any of the ways we are used to thinking about success. Grace is about knowing the One to whom we belong. Grace is about receiving the faith that is all gift, the grace that makes God the only criterion we need.  The disciples’ mission is not about success. It’s all about grace. It’s about understanding and knowing our true identity as a beloved child of God.

As we begin to regather while facing challenge, we are not competing in this world’s system for measuring success. That’s not our frame of reference. Our identity and our values are grounded in God’s grace. We are loved, and we are called. That’s what it means to be a Christian – a disciple of Christ.  We are loved by a God who does not require us to be successful according to worldly standards, because our worth has never been about what WE do – it has always been about God’s choice to show us grace.  It is about God’s decision to love us while we still were sinners, and to call us to be part of God’s work in this world, with full knowledge that we will sometimes fail. What we are called to do is share God’s GRACE.  Like prophets of old, we are called to stand up on our feet, call the people to faithfulness, speak truth to power and privilege, speak a word of warning, speak a word of comfort, and proclaim the good news that God’s life-giving love is breaking in and present in this world and in people’s lives.  And, yes, we might face rejection. It happened to Jesus, so chances are it will happen to us.  But, that also makes us faithful disciples.

As we adapt to a new normal, while hopefully coming to the end of Covid-19, we are facing yet another challenge, a new form of social anxiety. Over the past year and a half, we were forced to physically distance from family and friends, and many of us spent most of that time in our homes, with video calls and Zoom events becoming the primary means of socializing.  Consequently, many now feel anxious and have a degree of social unease after living through this global pandemic.  Therapist, Leslie Adams, writes, “Dealing with long periods of isolation can increase social anxiety. Even those who would consider themselves naturally more extroverted could be struggling. Being outside our bubble will feel overwhelming because it is a drastic change.  We will notice all the subtle things that we don’t see or hear on video calls. We will feel like we are struggling, like our senses are on overdrive, because they are.”  As my friend, Bill Uetricht, says, “This pandemic has been one of the most anxious times in recent memory for all of us, and anxiety has a way of lingering, affecting our behavior and our interactions with others.  This happens even if it is not fully rational.” 

You see, throughout this pandemic, we have placed boundaries around ourselves and around the way we function.  We have imposed artificial boundaries with the intent purpose of staying away from others. The anxiety some people now face is very real, and it is rooted in a newly developed fear of being with or encountering others. 

Anxieties over crossing boundaries and encountering others are nothing new in human history.  In fact, such anxiety was very real in Jesus’ lifetime.  In Biblical times, the Sea of Galilee was a well-defined geographical boundary.  The Jewish people were on one side of the sea, and on the other side you would find those despicable, contemptable Gentiles in the country of the Gerasenes, those vile “others” with whom the Jewish people did not want to connect.  As we move through Mark’s gospel, we find many of the recorded events that begin in chapter four take place on alternate sides of the Sea of Galilee.  And, the most direct route from one side to the other was across the sea.  In today’s reading, when we hear Jesus say to the disciples, “Let us go across to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,” he is indicating more than just a change of venue.  This is Jesus’ first venture in Mark’s gospel to what would be considered a dangerous, even inappropriate, destination because that is where the Gentiles resided.  Good Jewish people did not go there.  The rabbis did not go there.  Remember, the people on the other side were considered “other.”  Yet, today, early on in Mark’s gospel, we see Jesus deliberately demonstrate his claim that his mission extends beyond the Jews.  And, by carrying his ministry into Gentile territory, Jesus reaches out to strangers, those despised “others,” those who were considered enemies of the house of Israel.

On the way to the “other side,” a place and experience which created great anxiety within them because they would have to encounter those considered “other,” their boat struggles with a great windstorm.  Now, the storm itself is not an unusual occurrence on the Sea of Galilee.  And, the disciples who are accompanying Jesus in the boat, are accustomed to the unpredictable nature of the sea.  After all, several of them were experienced fishermen.  But, the disciples become afraid and, in their fear and desperation, they wake Jesus and cry out, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  Jesus then speaks saying, “Peace!  Be still!” as he rebukes the wind and the waves.  God’s Word, embodied in Jesus, speaks to the chaos and the storm is stilled.  The very Lord who, in our first lesson, told Job that God is the one who conquers the power of the sea, is the same One Jesus embodies as he speaks, and the storm is stilled.

Friends, for the past several years we have been experiencing a raging storm in our culture and, over the past year and a half, a raging storm throughout the world because of this pandemic.  There have been times when it has felt as though we are in a small boat on a stormy sea.  We have seen acts of violence and oppression in this country – political violence, racial violence, and rising gun violence in our communities as the number of mass shootings just seems to escalate.  The evils of systemic racism and white supremacy are plaguing our country. These challenges, in addition to the global pandemic, have at times left us feeling helpless as we attempt to navigate this storm. Yes, we have experienced and are experiencing an intense storm.  And, quite frankly, this storm will intensify as we face mounting threats from climate change. There has been and is much chaos, and I believe many of us have been and are scared.  And, in the depth of the storms we face, the pain and suffering we see causes us to cry out, “God, do you not care that we are perishing?”  I say this honestly – there is a feeling of betrayal as we cry out amid these experiences in the face of what often seems to be the silence of God.

When looking at this gospel story, it is important to note that Jesus never says, “There is nothing to be afraid of.”  He asks, “Why are you afraid?” Jesus’ question is very different from simply saying, “There is nothing to be afraid of.” The storm the disciples faced was fierce, as are the wind and the waves of chaos that threaten us. Jesus’ question does not deny the chaos that is present.  Instead, Jesus asks, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”  And, it is interesting that time and time again, we hear the words of scripture say to us, “Do not be afraid.”  You see, the hard truth is that fearsome things are very real, things like pain, illness, rejection, failure, violence, meaninglessness, losing one’s job, money problems, and death.  As we grow in faith and name such fearsome things as real, we also discover they do not have the last word.  They do not have ultimate power over us, because reigning over this world of fearsome things is a God who is mightier than they.  Time and again in scripture, the word given us is, “Do not be afraid.”  In fact, you might say it is the first and last word of the gospel.  It is the word spoken to a young girl named Mary, it is the word spoken to Joseph, it is spoken to the shepherds, and it is the word spoken to the women when they discover an empty tomb.  “Do not be afraid.”  Not because there are no fearsome things on the sea of our day and our lives, not because there are no storms, fierce winds, or waves, but rather because God is with us!  Like a mother comforting her child, God speaks to us and says, “Don’t be afraid, because you are not alone.  I am with you.”

In times like these, it is easy to forget that God’s all-powerful Word is still spoken amid the noise and chaos of our lives and world.  Like the disciples and like Paul in our second reading, we articulate and list the challenges we face as we look to rediscover our faith in the promise of God’s powerful Word.  And, like Jesus’ word of peace spoken over the raging storm, God’s word still can calm our deepest fears.  As Martin Luther wrote in his great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” one little word above all earthly powers can fell whatever darkness threatens to undo us.  Friends, we cannot navigate the storm alone, but that living Word is with us and in us and God is calling us to live that incarnated Word in our present context.  We may feel fear, but the incarnational Word of God is present in the Body of Christ.  And, the Church – the Body of Christ in this world – is also called to rebuke the storm.

Friends, the deepest truth in life as we live these days – as we again encounter others, as we encounter all those we consider “other,” as we regather, and as we face the storms of life – is a truth that only faith in a God who raised Jesus from the grave can teach us.  It is this:  even though there are real and fearsome things in this life, they need not paralyze us; they need not have dominion over us; they need not own us; they need not have the last word, because we are not alone in the boat!  Present to us in the boat is the One who, with gentle authority, speaks and rebukes that which threatens life. And, that Word gifts us with what we need the most, with what is called for – peace that passes all understanding.

This is a special musical presentation of Didn't My Lord by the Faith Lutheran Chancel Choir.

I do not know the origin of this phrase, but it has been said that “Jesus told so many parables he became one.” Jesus truly embodied everything he taught.  And, those parables, the stories he told, are continually breaking open our understanding of the reign of God.  In his use of parables, Jesus seeks a shift in our imaginations, a shift in the way we see ourselves, see God, and see others. I think far too often we misunderstand what Jesus’ parables are meant to do because we are people who like to solve problems. And, as we look at the parables of Jesus, we often find interpretations of these stories presented as problems to be solved – problems that once solved can offer us “instructions for living.”  However, as Pastor Nadia Bolz Weber suggests, “Parables are not neat little moralisms dressed in narrative. They are meant to be swallowed whole. Parables are living things meant to mess with our assumptions and subvert things we never even thought to question.”  And, as I have mentioned to you before, theologian, Eugene Peterson says, “Jesus’ parables are like explosive, narrative time bombs.”  We hear Jesus’ stories, and they are designed to tick away in our minds as we wonder about their meaning.  We may think we finally understand it, yet it stubbornly continues to tick away and make us ask more questions.  We walk away, but over the course of the next day or so it just continues to tick, tick, tick away.  And then, suddenly, the truth Jesus meant to convey strikes home and kaboom, it explodes in our mind!   The parable explodes, opening new pathways of understanding as we are surprised and almost overwhelmed with its implications.

Well, in today’s gospel reading Jesus is again teaching, using the storytelling device of parable.  Jesus is describing the reality of the kingdom of God, the reign of God, God’s dream for this world, that is unexpectedly breaking into our lives and bursting in upon us.  Friends, God’s dream for this world is very counter to the reality we live as we go about our daily lives within the context of present culture.  And, Jesus knows we cannot really understand what the kingdom is like all at once.  Such understanding takes time.  So, Jesus begins teaching about the inbreaking reign of God by using parables that are meant to be explosive.   His stories challenge the comfortable status-quo, and they challenge our thinking as they turn our thinking inside out and upside down.

Today’s first parable tells of this unusual, weird, bizarre farmer who indiscriminately sows seed upon the ground, throwing it out anywhere.  This action does not really make sense from a rational point of view.  This crazy farmer does not prepare the soil or tend it with fertilizer.  He does not even water the seeds or pull out the weeds.  He just indiscriminately throws out the seed and waits to see what happens.  The emphasis in this parable seems to be placed upon who or what causes the growth to occur after the seed hits the soil because the farmer simply goes about his life of regularly sleeping and rising, night and day.  So, what is this really about?  Well, it might possibly be about the wonder of faith or the need to be ready to bring in the harvest.  Or, just maybe, it is about our complete inability to control or dictate the coming reign of God that unexpectedly breaks in upon us in various ways whether we or others believe or not.  I have to say this possibility leaves us unsettled and uncomfortable because it leaves us in a place where we are not in control.  It leaves us vulnerable, and we don’t like it.  We don’t like it when we see decline in the church, something that is happening throughout the country.  We do not like it when we see only a handful of people attend our new Saturday in-person service, and so our anxieties mount.  We want to build the church, build God’s kingdom, and restore it to what we remember of days gone by, maybe some thirty years ago.  And now, we want the church to be what it was before Covid-19.  We want things to be like they were in February of 2020!  Friends, the truth is, God’s kingdom will come and does come regardless of our efforts and our mounting anxieties. God’s kingdom cannot be manipulated by our attempts to control because God’s kingdom can only be received.  It is all gift!  In a very real sense, the kingdom or reign of God is something that comes from outside of ourselves and grabs hold of us whether we want it to or not.  It is all gift and not dependent upon us or anything we do.  It is God who builds the kingdom, and it is Christ who builds the church.

This is a difficult lesson for those of us in the church who are doers and problem solvers.  It is difficult for those of us who have such a hard time with letting go, for those of us with type A personalities who want to be in control and in charge of what is happening.  Yet, we are not responsible for making the church grow.  That is God’s work.  We are not responsible for making sure everybody “gets saved.”  That is God’s work and, quite frankly, God has already done that!  We are not responsible for making God’s kingdom a smashing success.  No.  Our job, our calling, is to simply plant the seeds and trust God to do the work of growing the kingdom. 

Yes, we live in a world where people are so very afraid of losing control.  We have been taught and continue to teach others that, in order to succeed, we must have a plan with well-defined outcomes and strategies for achieving those outcomes, and we so desperately want to be able to measure our success.  And, quite honestly, our understanding of success always seems to be measured in numbers.  However, this is so very contrary to God’s kingdom of grace.  The work of grace, mercy, compassion, peace, and justice is the work that truly matters in life, and it follows a totally different outline than the plans and strategies we try to impose.  All we are called to do is live God’s grace, live the gospel, and live and share the good news of God’s love for this broken, needy world.

The next parable Jesus tells is about the mustard seed.  Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”  Now, if we really look at what Jesus is saying, we need to think about the mustard he is talking about.  You see, the thing about mustard seeds is that while some varieties were used as spice and others medicinally, in general they were considered at the very least pesky and often somewhat dangerous. Why?  Because wild mustard is incredibly hard to control, and once it takes root it can take over a whole planting area. That's why mustard would only occasionally be found in a garden in the ancient world; more likely you would find it taking over the side of an open hill or abandoned field.

So, knowing this, pick your favorite garden-variety weed – crabgrass, dandelion, wild onion, or those obnoxious thistles that Ken and I are trying to get rid of.  That is pretty much what Jesus is comparing the kingdom of God to – obnoxious thistles!  Oh, and that part about the birds seeking refuge. Maybe it's meant as a comforting image – birds finding shelter from the elements. Or maybe, it suggests that once mustard shrubs take root, all kinds of things happen including the sudden presence of "undesirables."

If we understand this, Jesus' parable is a little darker, even ominous.

As John Dominic Crossan puts it:

The point, in other words, is not just that the mustard plant starts as a proverbial small seed and grows into a shrub of three or four feet, or even higher, it is that it tends to take over where it is not wanted, that it tends to get out of control, and that it tends to attract birds within cultivated areas where they are not particularly desired. And that, said Jesus, was what the Kingdom was like: not like the mighty cedar of Lebanon and not quite like a common weed, [more] like a pungent shrub with dangerous takeover properties. Something you would want in only small and carefully controlled doses – if you could control it (The Historical Jesus, pp. 278-279).

Friends, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like…..”  May these parables mess with your assumptions and subvert things you never even thought to question.  It is my prayer that these parables stick in our minds like ticking time bombs. And, when they surprisingly explode, I pray they continually work to change us and make us ever new, so that we too may embody the inbreaking reign of God in our everyday lives.  o

When my three boys were young children, the middle one seemed to always be getting himself into trouble.  He tended to cross boundaries and do naughty things more frequently than the other two boys.  And, when he did something wrong, he would often hide, or he would inevitably blame his brothers for what happened, for what he had done.  Thankfully, he outgrew these behaviors.  However, I will always remember that if he was blaming his brothers for something that happened, he usually was the one who was responsible for the incident and, if he was hiding, he had probably done something he should not have done.  In fact, I vividly remember calling out to him on multiple occasions, “Chris, where are you?”  Well, today as we hear this reading from Genesis, we hear the words, “Where are you?”  And, these words echo right down through the centuries into our very lives. 

The Genesis story we hear in our first reading is part of the second creation story we find in the Bible.  Yes, there are two very different creation stories in this first book of the Bible.  Today’s reading comes from what is known as the Yahwist narrative.  It is just one among many of the early story threads gathered from multiple traditions that became sewn together to compile the book we now call Genesis.  And, as with many familiar Bible stories we think we understand, we often read into this passage and deduce ideas that really are not there.  You see, this whole slithering, deceptive snake portion of the story likely was originally told to explain the animosity that exists between humans and serpents.  Furthermore, as scholars have studied these writings, theologians now agree that the snake insertion into this story was also likely meant to provide an explanation for the Israelite rejection of the Canaanite goddess Asherah, who was imaged as a snake in a tree.  Asherah was the great Canaanite fertility goddess, so one can detect here a not too subtle polemic against Canaanite pagan religion.  And, yet another aspect that we usually do not grasp is that this serpent who appears in the story is never even identified in scripture as Satan. 

As today’s story begins in verse eight, the serpent has already deceived Adam and Eve into disobeying God’s command, and these two human beings are now engaged in a hiding activity of their own, and the stakes are very high.  As they hunker down in the garden like children attempting to hide while fleeing the implications of their own actions, God seeks them out, fully aware that something has gone wrong.  God goes walking in the garden like the whimsical pursuer.  And, we get to listen as God calls out to them saying, “Where are you?” 

Now, it is fascinating that this is the first question God asks in Scripture.  And, what makes this question so important is that, as in every great story, this question is asked not just of the characters on the page and in this scene, it is a question that is asked of each one of us.  You see, the stories of the Bible are our stories!  The Bible itself is such a great story because it is not so much a story of what happened to our ancestors in faith, but of what happens to each one of us.  This story is no exception.

Notice that God does not accusingly ask, “Now just what have you done?”  No.  God simply and graciously asks, “Where are you?”  This question, a question God is always asking of us, exposes our futile attempt to hide from God.  And, at once, that question assumes an answer, an answer that reminds us we often are not where we should be.  In fact, it causes us to think about asking ourselves, “Where should we be?”  It is also important to notice that when they answer, God just lets the excuses flow on until all the characters of the story have fully implicated themselves and each other.  And, only then does God announce the sanctions.

Friends, this story is a tale about the human predicament - sin.  Something has gone wrong.  We are not where we should be.  You see, we sense that there is an estrangement from our essential, created selves that is rooted in alienation from our Maker, and it gets expressed in behaviors that alienate us from one another.  That is what sin is, alienation from God, from one another and from our very selves.  This story in Genesis is not a literal story of what happened to our first ancestors but the story of what happens to each one of us.  This is a story that addresses our loss of innocence as we grow up and become more aware of the world around us.  It is about our alienation from our fellow humans, from creation itself, about our yearning for independence, and our fear of alienation from God.  This story helps us understand the way in which sin alienates us from God and from one another because the hard truth is that we are sinners.  That does not mean we are rotten to the core.  Sin is the human predicament.  And, even though we try to hide while fleeing the implications of our predicament, God knows where we are.  The truth is that we cannot hide from God.  God knows us through and through and the most amazing thing is this – if grace meets us anywhere, it meets us in our sin!

Notice in this story from Genesis we miss the fact that grace permeates this entire story.   When suddenly, these two earth creatures find themselves exposed, they are worried about not having clothes, and God graciously says, “Well, let me take care of that; I’ll give you clothes, even though I made you to be naked.”  That action of God in this story, just one of many other actions, is a clear statement of grace. 

Yes, it is in the places of deepest struggle, pain, and alienation where grace meets us and where we discover the Good News that God loves us no matter what and that God works through our weakness.  We do not have to hide from God for any reason.  When grace meets us, we learn that God considers us to be a treasure, just as we are, and God works in our lives, even in our deep brokenness.  That is the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul understood this so well.  He had experienced this grace and God’s power in his own life.  Grace met him in the place of deepest sin and transformed his life.  Paul understood that the destructiveness of human sin is resolved finally and only by acknowledging our human limitations, and by placing our total dependence upon the love and grace of God.  In his second letter to the Christians who lived in Corinth, Paul says to his fellow disciples, “What we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive.  Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory:  more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!  So, we’re not giving up.  How could we!  Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.”  (The Message; 2 Corinthians 4:14-16)

In our gospel reading for today, Jesus also addresses the destructiveness of human sin.  The writer of Mark’s version of the Jesus story asks us to take with utter seriousness the power of evil in this world and in life and then, along with all those who do the will of God, trust in the power of God that Jesus so fully embodies.  And, the power of God is always, always shown through inclusive, healing love and unfathomable grace, often at those times when we think we least deserve it.

The Good News is that ours is a God who, no matter where we wander or try and hide, already sees us, and lovingly pursues us.  And, God will take every detail in our life and work through it, using it to our advantage for our good.  We do not have to hide because of who we are or what we have done.  God loves us, and God has already found us.

So, while we tend to be so like my middle son and try to hide if we have done something wrong, God will always pursue us to shower us with grace.  While we may think we are hiding, our gracious God already knows where we are while lovingly calling out to us asking, “Where are you?”  And, this God of grace upon grace, this God of grace and more grace, is always inviting us back to God’s very self.  May we eagerly listen to God’s call and joyfully respond because, the truth is, in Jesus we have already been found by this God of grace.

I vividly remember one specific clergy meeting during my internship days in Richland Hills, Texas.  Area clergy would regularly gather to discuss scripture readings for future Sundays.  On the day of this memorable meeting, we were discussing scripture passages for the Sundays of Pentecost and Holy Trinity.  Everyone was excited about preaching on Pentecost Sunday, but hardly anyone looked forward to preaching on Trinity Sunday.  You see, the doctrine of the Trinity is one clergy would often rather avoid. Anyway, Pastor Phil, my supervisor, joked that the Intern is always given Trinity Sunday as a preaching Sunday.  And, later that day, he jestingly told the Calvary Café crew that this is a test to see if the intern is heretical or not! 

          Talking about the Trinity is not easy!  Have you ever really tried to explain the Trinity?  We say God is one, and yet we have these three, what?  Persons?  Spirits?  Beings?  What is God?  Who is God?  A triangle, a whole, but with three sides?  We say we believe in One God, and then we sing, “God in three persons, blessed Trinity.”  How do we make sense of this and what does it mean?

Quite honestly, Jesus did not talk about the Trinity; neither did Paul.  We find what appears to be an early form of developing theology on the Trinity in Paul’s writings as well as in the gospel of John, but it was not until the fourth century, 300 years after Jesus, that Christian leaders formalized the theological doctrine of the Trinity.  They did it at the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE and the result was The Nicene Creed.  Then, in the fifth century, Christian leaders wrote another creed trying once again to clarify the Trinity for folks, particularly the Jesus part.  That Council resulted in the Apostles’ Creed. 

Over the years, there has been much adversarial, bitter fighting over the concept of the Trinity and throughout history, the church has split because of controversy surrounding this doctrine.  Yes, the idea of the Trinity is hard to understand and nearly impossible to explain.  So, I am not going to try to explain the Trinity, because it truly is all mystery.  However, I am going to attempt to take you deeper into the mystery and the wonder of this One in Three.  

I like to dance, and I love to watch people dance.  Dance is made up of many different components.  Motion, emotion, resonance, rhythm, beat; all of these relate to each other and they come together as one to create a whole when we see people dance. There is something about dance that is like the nature of God.

When we look at the idea of the Holy Trinity, we stand on the edge of mystery, and the model of the Trinity is one of interactive and open relationship.  God’s nature can be thought of as a three-way dance, a dance of relationship and incomprehensible love.  Through the metaphor of dance, we see three distinct movements of Parent, Son, and Holy Spirit, and these movements exchange life-giving energy.  These movements create unity, a perfect unity and oneness.  This dance is one of mutual devotion and shared love, a love that is expansive and generous, a love that cannot be self contained.  It overflows from Parent to Child to Spirit and back again. The love of God, the love that IS God, is like a divine Dance, a dynamic, graceful, and deeply intimate movement.  In this movement, the God who is "I AM" is never alone because the very nature of God is relationship. In the Trinity we see a love that is always selfless, void of ego, and always pointing to the other.  In the Trinity we see a oneness where the three are one in mission.  When we consider the Trinity, we see a God who is all about relationship, community, and unconditional love – pure, untainted, unreserved love.

In this interactive dance of the divine three in one, we also see a coming together of power and majesty, love and tenderness, oneness and movement, joining with the raw and everyday reality of life, the life of the cosmos and our very lives.  In our gospel reading for today, the writer of John’s gospel connects this dance to our lives as we hear that God so loves this world!  And, the word John uses for “world” refers to the cosmos – to everything!  The dance of love God shares is so overwhelming that God’s love spills out on to everything, encompassing 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 even its evil because God’s love is a transforming, redeeming love for all of creation.  You see, God’s love is just that encompassing, immense, audacious, unexpected, and even scandalous. 

In this coming together of God’s love for the cosmos, God gives life, enters our very lives, lives among us, and invites us to participate in the dance of agape love.  And, what is so mysterious and remarkable is that while God, who in this Dance needs no other, chooses to create and redeem a people.  Frankly, 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 dance, into the very arms of God’s love, and we become forever changed and transformed.  Dear friends, God chose to create and redeem you, me, and every individual we encounter so that we might join in this Dance. The invitations to this dance have been sent, and there are to be no spectators, no outcasts, no outsiders.  Friends, we are called by God to see ourselves as God sees each one of us, and thus discover ourselves to be, like the Persons of the Trinity, truly beloved.  

Do you remember the words spoken to Jesus when he was baptized?  The Father, Son and Spirit danced as the Father spoke saying, “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”  Those pulsating, life-giving, creating words danced through creation as a message of divine love.  That creative word danced through life, healing the sick, freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, breaking the chains of slavery, and transforming chaos into wholeness.  When we consider the Trinity, we see a God who has entered the deepest darkness of our lives and walks with us in the places where we think God is most absent.  We see a God who is with us at those times of deepest suffering when we ask, “Why?” and there simply are no answers.  We see God with us because that God, that three in one, danced to the very hill of Calvary, to the deepest place of darkness.  And then, the life-giving, creative dance of love burst forth from a sealed tomb because it could not be contained!

This is the love that invites us to participate in the dance.  God speaks to each one of us saying, “You are my beloved, with you I am well pleased.  Deb, Bruce, Harold, Virginia, Hugh, Marge, every one of you, children of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever, come and join the dance!”   

Friends, the Divine dance continues in us and through us. And, what does the Trinity dance look like in our lives?  We dance with our God when we feed the hungry through our food pantry projects.  We dance with our God when we walk with those who are mourning and grieving.  We dance with our God when we, ourselves, are grieving.  We dance with our God when we take in young refugees and house and care for them in our Parish House. We dance with our God when we participate in the work of our Caring Committee.  We dance with our God when we work for justice and peace.  We dance with our God when we gather to worship.  Created to live in relationship, we move to the beat of divine, incomprehensible love as we dance with God’s very self and with each other.  So, come, dance on the edge of mystery, live into the kingdom of God and join the dance of Trinity!

We have the first fruits of the Spirit

The days are getting longer, the sun rises early with birds chirping, singing a sweet melody into a new day

The powerful energy of the sun warms the earth, opening the leaves of the trees and the petals of the flowers, bringing forth abundant new life and growth

When we step outside we feel the strength of the ultraviolet rays on our cheeks and bare arms as warmth spreads across our skin

Warmth that cannot be manufactured by heating systems, sweaters or down blankets

Warmth that is only available from the sun

The sunlight remains in the sky for hours and hours, until well past 9 PM, offering us many opportunities to see, feel and enjoy its beauty.

These long days and warm sun are bringing forth the first fruits of the year. 

I look forward to my first fresh strawberry

I imagine going to the strawberry farm with my baskets early in the morning

Bending and crouching my body to kneel in the neat rows,

Smelling the straw laid on the ground

Feeling the early sun warm my back, neck and shoulders

As I peel back the large green leaves of the plant, and pluck my first fresh, bright red strawberry of the season. 

The first fruit of the year, the first fresh strawberry lands in my mouth

warmed from the late spring sun and plucked straight from the new growth of the plant

It feels a bit gritty and rough on my tongue at first 

My mouth begins to water as I anticipate this sweet, juicy first fruit of the year.

And I take a bite

We have the first fruits of the Spirit

The first, warm, sweet strawberry is resting in our mouth

Waiting for us to bite down and release its juicy goodness

But it sometimes seems like we don't recognize it

Do we know it's there?

We have the first fruits of the Spirit

And yet we're groaning in labor pains

Groaning inwardly and outwardly

Our attention and energy consumed by what we see around us

Waiting

Waiting for adoption, waiting for redemption

Waiting for something

Something to distract us and shift our attention elsewhere

Perhaps waiting for hope

We're told that the Spirit, the Advocate, will help and guide us

The Spirit helps us in our weakness

The Spirit intercedes and advocates for us

The Spirit connects us to God

Like the warmth of the sun, the Spirit cannot be manufactured

The Spirit is the answer we're given today

We have the first fruit of the Spirit

And yet we're groaning in labor pains

We have so much to groan about

Lost work

Racism

Exhaustion

Injustice

Grief

Isolation

Competition

Uncertainty

We have so much to groan about

And yet we have the first fruits of the Spirit

We're holding this warm, fresh, first strawberry on our tongues

Waiting to take a bite

We have generations and generations of ancestors who have bitten into the strawberry and released the juice of the first fruit.

Moses, a man who begged God to send someone else, bit the strawberry when he led the slaves from Egypt

Sarah, who laughed at God's promise, bit the strawberry when she gave birth to Issac

Jacob, who wrestled with God and limped for the rest of his life, bit the strawberry when he was renamed Israel

Mary, young and unwed, bit the strawberry when she said "Here am I, the servant of the LORD"

Martin Luther bit the strawberry when he uncovered God's promise of grace throughout scripture and nailed his 95 theses to the door

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a self-proclaimed pacifist, bit the strawberry when he plotted against Hitler

Rosa parks bit the strawberry when she refused to give up her seat

Faith Lutheran Church bit the strawberry when they expanded their ministry to include essential workers during this pandemic

We have the first fruits of the Spirit!

We hope for what is not seen

We wait

We continue to groan

meanwhile the Spirit knows us to our core

Meanwhile the Spirit calls our unique gifts out into this world

Meanwhile the Spirit advocates on our behalf

Meanwhile the Spirit gives us courage we didn't realize we had  /          /

It's hard to recognize the first fruit of the Spirit

The first fruit of the Spirit doesn't mean life will be easy

It doesn't mean things will go our way

Sometimes the first fruit feels gritty and rough

Recognizing the first fruit of the Spirit takes intentionality, and practice

Recognizing the first fruit of the Spirit requires us to pause

To pause and look into the eyes of the person on the street corner, and see their humanity  before skipping to the filthy clothes, body odor and dirty hands

The Spirit is in our humanity

To pause and listen intently to a friend who asks for advice, before skipping to your ideas and solutions

The Spirit is in our presence with one another

To pause and wonder when a family member says something you disagree with, before skipping to prove your position

The Spirit is in our curiosity

To pause, and breathe when our anger rises up, before skipping to self justification

The Spirit is in our breath

To pause, and rest in the discomfort of uncertainty, before skipping to controlling and solutions

The Spirit is in the unknown

The Spirit is within each individual person

And the Spirit is collective within communities

Both individual and communal

Unable to be manufactured

Or Contained

We have the first fruits of the Spirit

We are adopted and redeemed by God

We are baptized into the Spirit

We are called by God into this world

To co-create with God

Here, in our time, in our place

Bite the strawberry

Amen

Most of you know one of our sons, his wife, and our grandson, William, live on Grand Cayman Island.  We have gone there to visit them several times and it is such a wonderful escape each time we go.  On various occasions while there, we have done things like watch the annual Batabano parade as people from the island dress in colorful, outlandish costumes, and dance in procession through the streets for a festive carnival celebrating turtles!   We have been there for Pirate Week as people parade through town dressed like pirates.  We have taken boat rides out to Stingray City which is an area of ocean surrounding a sand bar where we were able to get out of the boat to pet and feed dozens of stingrays circling around us.  We have gone on a submarine excursion to view the gorgeous colors of the coral reef.  And, we have had multiple delicious meals as we enjoyed time with our kids.  These times have provided a memorable respite from normal, ordinary, everyday life.  I so miss being able to see them during this pandemic and I realize how such vacation time provides an often necessary, welcome escape from routine everyday experience.  However, not all forms of escape from the real world are beneficial, helpful, or even healthy.

This human desire to seek escape from the real world is as ancient as human history, and this desire is as old as Christian faith.  In fact, religious faith may intensify this desire.  For people of faith, once we experience and begin to understand what is holy, set apart and good about life together within the context of Christian community, we tend to want to avoid the clamor and conflict of the greater world.  We tend to want to escape and often cocoon ourselves within the safe confines of Christian community while staying away from the major issues that face so many around the globe.  For centuries, monasteries, convents, and different types of communal living all testify to this desire to live unencumbered by the world while simply focusing on a faithful, set apart life.

This was the kind of desire John’s community was facing as the gospel writer penned the words of the Bible passage we read today.  Written at the end of the first century, John’s community was facing increasing persecution and conflict with authorities who opposed the gospel message. Many thought that if they could simply stay together and remain in supportive fellowship with each other they would not have to defend their beliefs.  Many felt that by living together in such a community where they would remember Jesus’ stories and sense his presence in fellowship, in the communal meals they called the agape feast, and in bread and wine, they would experience a safer way of life as they faced a growing, hostile world. 

In today’s gospel reading, the disciples, John’s faith community, and each one of us get to overhear Jesus’ prayer for all his followers as he is about to face his own death.  On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus speaks words of prayer and promise for all his disciples, including each one of us.  As he faces his own death, as he faces what John calls his “hour of glory” or his whole purpose for being here, we hear Jesus praying for all who follow him.  And what does Jesus pray for?  He prays that his followers may find God’s support, encouragement, strength, and courage to face the challenges that come from living in the world and bearing witness to the gospel of grace and love that comes from him.  And he prays that his followers may be one in fellowship with each other and with God.

The world was a hostile place for early Christians and, as we have seen so clearly over the past few years as well as throughout this pandemic, the world can be a very difficult, challenging place for us today.  The words we hear from Jesus on this day do not sugarcoat the challenges his followers face.  Jesus speaks words of truth about the world in which we live. 

This is a world where war seems to be a constant.  This pandemic has taken so many lives.  Climate change is looming large on the horizon and is already bringing enormous change to our world.  Conspiracy theories abound and far too many people want to believe falsehoods, not acknowledge known truths, and trust their own uninformed opinions instead of trusting in science and proven scientific fact. Terrorism is an increasing threat right here in our own country.  Poverty is very real and present in our own community, throughout this country, and around the globe.  Thirteen million children are food insecure right here in America, one of the richest countries in the world.  Hunger is a monumental challenge around the world.  We have seen through our pantry projects how hunger is a challenge right here in our own Okemos community.  Over the past few years, our culture has become increasingly dysfunctional as we have experienced extreme polarization in thinking and beliefs.  Racism is present in almost every system and structure.  The rage and anger people feel is palpable.  Yes, the world is a difficult place and Jesus does not deny that.  In today’s reading, we hear him speak words of truth about what the disciples will face.  And, as we move out of this pandemic, begin to again gather, and move into a different kind of normal, we who call ourselves Christian also need to speak words of truth about what we face in 2021.

Jesus’ words provide his followers with no escape from life’s difficulties.  His words to the Father are, “I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.”  He asks for God’s protection and support against all the evils of the world for all his followers.  Jesus does not promise us exemption from the struggles of life, but he does promise and assure us that we are not alone in the struggle.  And, instead of retreating from the world, Christ offers us an alternative model that can empower us to live in the world without succumbing to its values and pressures.  We are to live amid all the knotted complexities without getting ourselves entangled.  Friends, we are enabled to live this way as we immerse ourselves in God’s word, in God’s action through the living Word, and as we are fed with the nourishment of Jesus’ very life through weekly Word and Sacrament.  When we do this, we live into the gift of unity that is God-given!  And, as we live this way, God reorients our yearnings for escape from the world as the truth of God’s word is revealed in and through the very real stuff of the world, the needs of the world. 

As Jesus’ prayer continues, we then hear a great crescendo as he says, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”  This is a very powerful phrase because the words “sent into the world” are the exact opposite of escaping from or “getting out” of the world.  This verse in today’s gospel is patterned on Jesus’ own life and calls the church to follow his example by becoming engaged with the world in all its distorted powers and pressures.

Yes, we do live in a difficult and often painful world.  And, we can at times become exhausted, even feel despair as we view and experience people’s pain and watch ceaseless violence and corruption both here and around the world.  This feeling can cause us to want to stay cocooned within our own homes and our own safe community, not addressing the needs of the world.  However, Jesus’ words today tell us we have been sent to bear witness to the truth that God loves this whole world, broken as it is.  We have been promised Christ’s presence with us and to us as we vitally and faithfully become fully engaged with the needs and wounds of this world, and as we bear Christ’s creative, redeeming Word and God’s healing love to this world.  As we begin to again gather in person and come together as a community of Faith, we come to be made one, to receive God’s gift of unity, and to be energized and fed by the truth of God’s redeeming Word.  And, we are called not to escape but to do the necessary work so that all people might have a more abundant life, a life that truly matters, right here and right now.