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

Year A – Second Sunday in Lent– March 1, 2026

Pastor Megan Floyd

Genesis 12:1-4a

John 3:1-17

Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who came, not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Amen.

***

Can I just tell you… I deeply appreciate Nicodemus.

He is a religious leader among the Jews… a Pharisee… he's a scholar of the scriptures… he knows the law of Moses through and through… the Pharisees were very strict in their law-abiding ways.

He is well known with an excellent reputation… one whom others came to for advice and leadership.

And yet… he is brave enough… he is brave enough to wonder… to ask… what if this man Jesus really is something more?

Nicodemus has the courage to ask if maybe he missed something… he has the strength of character to observe what is taking place around him… and consider that he may have been wrong.

We have all been wrong from time to time… we've all made mistakes… and we know that being wrong is no joke…

…the realization that we are wrong about something… especially something really big… can actually trigger intense psychological discomfort… and sometimes even physical pain.

These feelings can manifest as shame or guilt… and lead to cognitive dissonance in the struggle to reconcile the reality around us with our long-held position on something … and it only becomes more difficult as that reality becomes increasingly unmistakable.

It's why some people will double down on their position… on their interpretation of things… why they will insist that reality isn't actually what we perceive with our eyes, but only what they, instead, insist it must be.

It's all about avoiding the pain of being wrong… maybe they think it makes them look tough… or strong… except… that avoidance is the weaker approach.

Avoidance and refusal to take in new information may protect our psyche in the short-term, but it cuts us off from the potential to learn and grow.

…And in strictly Christian terms, it prevents us from the healing that occurs when we face our mistakes or errors, and we confess them… and change our ways through repentance…

so that we can receive forgiveness with a clean heart… and begin repairing the relationships that may have been harmed.

I've always deeply appreciated Nicodemus… but in these times, when our country is so divided… when the testimonies of our neighbors to what they have seen and experienced go ignored… because their testimony challenges the positions that some will not allow to be challenged…

…well, I find that in these days… I appreciate Nicodemus even more.

I appreciate that Nicodemus is willing to leave room for wonder… leave room for new information… he's willing to allow his position to be challenged, even though his position is one around which he has built his entire life.

Do you know anyone like that? …I do.

I appreciate Nicodemus' strength… what must it have taken for him to come to Jesus to ask… to learn? …I certainly don't fault him for coming to Jesus at night!

I probably would have as well, were I in Nicodemus' place… it was safer for him than to risk everything… to wonder enough to ask.

Also… it's worth noting… because we're in the gospel of John now for the next four weeks…that in the gospel of John, the use of day and night is a thematic revelation of being in relationship with Jesus.

Not to say that darkness is evil, because far too much modern bias has taken that wrong turn… but… Jesus is the light of the world, and so to be in relationship with him… to have an understanding of who and what Jesus is… in the gospel of John… is to be in the light… it is… to greet him in the day.

I want you to hold on to that theme over the rest of Lent because we'll hear much more from John in the coming weeks… you'll find how often it comes into the description of a scene, and gives clues to where they are in relationship with Jesus.

So… Nicodemus… he arrives at night… so he's not so sure… but he can't deny that what he has seen is amazing, and he knows that these wonders could only come from God.

And in his secret conversation… we learn something very important about the nature of God through Jesus.

We learn… that Jesus is going to meet us wherever we are on our spiritual journey… even if it is from a place of doubt.

We learn that Jesus is going to come to us… to meet us in that space… he's going to receive our questions and our doubts with love and compassion… along with some healthy accountability… and he's going to guide us into a deeper understanding of who he is.

It is a journey we all must take… a journey Christ invites us all to take.

We don't hear about Nicodemus again in our lectionary texts, but his story continues… he's one of the few people, other than the disciples, whom we are blessed to return to and catch glimpses of his spiritual growth.

In John 7, Nicodemus speaks up against his colleagues and peers to defend Jesus' right to justice under the law… a position that puts him at odds with those who just want Jesus gone.

And then he shows up again… at the foot of the cross. In John 19, Nicodemus brings myrrh and aloes, weighing around 100 pounds… an abundance… and he, along with Joseph of Arimathea, wrapped Jesus' body with the spices in linen cloth, and buried him in the tomb.

I take Nicodemus' actions to mean… he figured it out… he understood that Jesus was God, who came to save us, and that this salvation occurs through Jesus drawing close to us… and loving us.

Because being in relationship with Jesus is the ultimate goal… not just for Nicodemus, but for all people… for the whole kosmos.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

…it's arguably the most famous verse in the Bible. But it is so incredibly important to hear the context, and to follow it up with the next verse…

"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." John 3:17

God does not desire for us to perish in our unknowing… in our faults… our mistakes… or our sin.

On the contrary… Jesus, in complete love, will make space for us so that we can authentically open our hearts to him… not just for our sake, but for the sake of the world.

So that we, as part of the covenant God made with Abraham, our spiritual father… and in our obedience and devotion to Christ, we might become a blessing to others… shining the light of Christ… the light of the world… to all who need it, wherever they are…

…and sharing our testimony of the Good News of all that Jesus has done.

For God so loved the whole world… and that means everyone.

So as the world around us continues to be fraught with division and violence against those who disagree… and as we possibly face another war in the aftermath of our country bombing Iran… Lord, we ask you to meet us where we are.

Give us the courage of Nicodemus… to question what we are told if it feels contrary to how you call us to live. Let us be brave enough to admit when we are wrong, to stay true in our following of you, and to receive your forgiveness daily with a clean heart.

And Lord, give us your compassion and guidance to meet others where they are… to not hold them in contempt if they are just waking up to the reality we are in, or even if they remain asleep to it.

Help us to hold them in your love, as you love us… and to freely share the grace that you so freely give us. Guide us so that we may be daily reborn and transformed through your Spirit and your love.

We need you now, O Christ… in these challenging times.

Amen

Today, we had a special musical performance of O Love, How Deep, How Broad, How High by the Faith Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

Year A – First Sunday in Lent– February 22, 2026

Pastor Megan Floyd

Matthew 4:1-11

Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who loves us and claims us as his own. Amen.

***

I grew up watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood… Looking back over my life, I'm pretty sure that's what radicalized me.

In Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, you knew you belonged, and that who you were… was good… and that… the other people around you… well, they might be different from you… look different from you… but… they were good, too.

In that neighborhood, there was an overwhelming sense that we belonged to each other… there was shared love and respect for other people, even when they made mistakes.

In Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, each person… or character… was valued… seen… and supported. This is something that everyone of us needs, not just children… and we need this throughout our whole lives.

Mr. Rogers was not just the face and creator of the children's show… he was also a Presbyterian pastor… so it's not surprising at all… that his neighborhood intentionally reflected… the beloved community that we, who are followers of Jesus, work to build.

Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood was a little taste of what God's vision for us might look like when we take seriously the ways of living that Jesus called us to practice.

It was a little sample of living in the promised kingdom of God… for 30 minutes at a time.

Those of us who were raised in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood know that a better, more beautiful, and beloved neighborhood is possible… if we choose to live that way.

Growing up with a show like this… it's no wonder that I feel so strongly that compassion for others is healthy… that empathy can heal divides… and that love and support should not have conditions.

It's no wonder… that I don't want to bend to the unjust power systems in this world… in this country… even though… I could work the system to bend in my favor. I could! …it is, after all, set up for me to do so… it's tempting to take advantage of that.

Case in point… I am a white, cisgender, heterosexual woman, wife, and mother, from a middle-class family… and my husband does not suffer from the delusion that I am merely an accessory to his lifestyle.

I have a world-class education that was mostly achieved without debt, I do not suffer from debilitating diseases like addiction or depression, and… at least at this moment, I am still able-bodied… most of the time.

It is tempting… it's tempting… to sink into the power structures that privilege nearly all of my life's characteristics.

But to do so… would mean to accept an unjust and unequal community… it would mean giving up on the better way that I know is possible… not just because Mr. Rogers showed me that way when I was a child… but because Jesus was super clear about it.

Embracing a privilege that marginalizes others is not part of God's vision for us… for humanity… it does not ask us to become the best version of ourselves… or call us into a more beloved community.

But… when power and privilege are laid out before you for the taking… it's tempting… to reach out and take it, no matter who it harms.

This is, of course… what Jesus himself… faced in the wilderness immediately following his baptism… immediately after hearing the voice of God claiming him as God's beloved, in whom God was well pleased.

The Spirit led him out there… into the desert… where he fasted for 40 days… facing spiritual and physical challenges… he was famished, and weak… and at his most vulnerable moment, the devil stepped in… as the devil is wont to do.

We all have experience with the devil… with the voice of the accuser… whether you believe the devil to be an actual being… or the shadow side of our own human self… it doesn't matter.

In whatever shape it takes on… the accuser… the devil… is the one who whispers lies in our ear… lies about ourselves and others. It's the voice of shame… the voice that isolates and diminishes… That is the voice of the accuser.

God's voice is the one who declares us worthy and loved… while the voice of the accuser, on the other hand… is the one who pulls us away from God's purpose… and from God's vision for us.

The voice of the accuser is the one who would have us forget our identity as beloved… as children of God… and who offers only empty promises.

It's what the devil tried to offer Jesus… he tried to entice him to reject his identity and grasp at empty promises… to wield power that would serve only himself… instead of those he came to serve.

Because… Jesus does have the power to do what the devil suggests… but he chooses not to use it. He chooses not to become an agent for the accuser, because he knows that he is… an agent of God.

And Jesus knows… that empires are not eternal… and nations are not sovereign over God… and earthly power is not permanent.

What the devil offers are false promises and lies, and what is built on false promises will fall… but what is rooted in God's love and in God's vision… will grow.

Jesus, in this most vulnerable moment, holds fast to his identity… and to his purpose… and calls us to do the same, even though it's tempting to follow the lies.

Our God, who was made human in Jesus… knows this temptation we face. God's unconditional love for us is grounded in a personal experience of the temptations and suffering that we experience all the time.

So when we cry out… in our moments of weakness… when we face temptation… whether we falter or hold fast… we remain beloved… we are still washed with grace, redeemed, and claimed as God's own…

We are always being made new and always being called into a vision for a beloved community that is bigger than our own wants and needs… a vision that includes flourishing not only for ourselves but for all our neighbors.

This time in the season of Lent offers us the opportunity for our own spiritual growth… a time for reflection, repentance, and renewal… a time to practice resilience in the face of temptation… a time to remember who we are as followers of our God in Christ Jesus.

This is a time to reestablish our footing… to ground ourselves in God's love and grace and mercy… and in our place of belonging in God's community… God's kingdom… God's new creation that is arriving but not yet here.

It is okay… to be tested… it is okay to face temptation… to face our devils… we all do. It is part of the human experience… there's no shame in it.

The devil will tell you to isolate… to pull you away from others…because when you are alone, it's easier to forget who you are, and whose you are.

But when we are grounded in God's neighborhood… God's loving community… that calls us each to be our best selves… rooted in the body of Christ and committed to living in ways that reflect that love… then we know we will not have to try and overcome those lies alone.

The season of Lent calls us back into God's love… back to that which sustains and supports us on our spiritual journey.

This vision of beloved community that Jesus invites us into… well, it may sound like the land of make-believe from Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, but truly… this beloved community… God's neighborhood… comes a little closer each time we live into God's vision for us…

…each time we honor the inherent value and dignity of all our neighbors, as well as our own… and hold them, and ourselves, with the same love that God holds for us.

It's not the land of make-believe… it is who we are created to be.

Amen.

Today, we had a special musical performance of Heavenly Sunlight by the Faith Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

Year A – Transfiguration– February 15, 2026

Pastor Megan Floyd

Exodus 24:12-18

Matthew 17:1-9

Grace and peace to you from God and the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, who reveals to us God's glory. Amen.

***

In 2012, I had the privilege of leading my congregation's youth group to the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans.

The week was filled with joys and challenges, and stories that still make me laugh. But one of the most incredible, mountain-top experiences I had there… was a story of divine encounter… a story of being washed over by the Holy Spirit.

It was the night of closing worship, so all of the more than 33,000 participants were gathered in the Superdome to sing and praise God, to listen to inspiring speakers, and to hear the word of God proclaimed.

We worshipped each night we gathered, but this one was special… It was special because during the closing worship, we would share holy communion together… as one church… 33,000+ members… one body of Christ.

I don't know if you've ever been inside the Superdome in New Orleans, but it is very steep, so there's really not a bad seat in the house, so long as you don't mind heights.

My youth wanted to sit at the very top of the arena for this worship experience, so we made our way up the mountain of levels and escalators and found some seats where we could take in the entire scene below.

Once we settled in, we were treated to an incredible view… a view of the church… thousands of teenagers and their adult leaders sat below, all eager to begin worship.

The excitement and the buzz were intoxicating… as we watched the tiny people way down on the floor bring us together in song and worship.

Now you would think that communing over 33,000 people would take all day, but… the organizers have this down to a science, and it actually runs quite smoothly and quickly.

Given our location, we watched below as people moved to receive the elements, and then to be anointed… they all received a cross of oil on their foreheads to remind each and every person that they were sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.

I watched this all take place, and at some point, our group moved to receive the elements as well, and to be anointed with oil… and then we sat back down to wait while the rest were served.

And as I sat, I recall feeling a shift in the air… almost like a fullness surrounding me… as when a heavy fog rolls in and you can sense the weight of the space around you.

I recall feeling this shift in the air begin at my feet, and then start moving up my legs… I could feel the new air rising, until it suddenly washed up and over my head, and… I just wept.

I felt so completely surrounded by the Spirit… so completely held… claimed… and loved… so completely assured of God's faithful presence.

It was remarkable… and it is an experience that has stayed with me for all these years. I know… that it changed my relationship with God to one that was no longer distant, but now… more personal… close.

We call these kinds of moments… these encounters… mountain-top moments… moments of encountering God… moments of profound closeness with our Creator and source of everlasting love.

And of course, we call them mountain-top moments… because in scripture, God's people often seem to meet God on the mountain… as with Moses in our reading from Exodus… and, of course, the Transfiguration of Jesus.

Encountering God's full glory is disarming… scary even… and can leave us unsure of exactly how to respond. For me… it left me weeping, which really alarmed the youth.

Peter, James, and John head up the mountain with Jesus, and are witnesses to a dazzling display and blinding light… and Moses and Elijah, together with Jesus…

And Peter… sweet Peter… he thinks this is great, and offers to set up tents for them… he assumes this is a moment they'll dwell in for some time. We can hardly blame him.

And then the voice from God thunders out… with the words we heard at Jesus' baptism.

"This is my son, the beloved… with whom I am well pleased…" …but then God adds… Listen to him. Listen.

Peter… man… stop talking and take in the moment… just absorb the light of God for a second… let it change you… let it alter your understanding of who this Jesus really is.

I understand Peter's desire to stay in that moment… I really do… it's normal. But we don't live on the mountain… we don't get to spend all our time in those incredible moments of clarity with God.

We can, and should, bask in the glory of God's light when it is there, but we can't stay there all the time… life continues… and so… warmed from the light of those experiences, we keep moving…

And yes, of course, we allow our mountain-top experiences to transform us, to shape our hearts, but then we make our way back down the mountain, to live our lives of faith in the day-to-day.

I've asked Raymond to share this photo with you… Last week, I was at a preaching retreat in a little place near Phoenix, and on the property, there was this massive labyrinth.

My colleagues and I joked that walking a labyrinth is to intentionally take the most inefficient path toward a destination… but I suppose that's only if you consider the center to be a destination, and not simply part of the journey.

I spent some time praying my way through the labyrinth and marveling at how each turn gave me a new perspective on my surroundings… pointing me toward new plants and new views… how each path brought me toward a new understanding of the landscape.

In the background, though… was this mountain, with the sun shining so incredibly brightly over it. It felt so present and so close… like I could reach out and touch it… even though it was in the distance… it was an ever-present backdrop for the whole weekend.

As I worked my way around the labyrinth, I was sometimes facing away from the light of the sun and from the mountain, but then I would follow the curve of the path and turn a corner… and suddenly the sun would be shining in my face, blinding me…

and I would continue walking and soaking in the warmth of the light… and the glory of the mountain, and I felt so incredibly close to God.

Peter faced this bright light around Jesus, on the mountain… and he wanted to stay there. We can hardly blame him.

Leading up to that moment, they had been climbing through Jesus' liberating ministry of teaching and healing… it was all so amazing… and then Jesus hits them with the shocking revelation that he must suffer and die.

…and that any who want to become his followers must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow him. They must be prepared to lose their life for his sake… in order to save it.

So yes… I understand why Peter wanted to stay in that glorious moment, soaking in the light and warmth… he was not ready to face the ashes and sorrow that awaited them as they turned toward Jerusalem and the cross.

Are any of us ever really ready for that?

And yet, they must descend… but that is the blessing of this life of faith… we get to carry God's light forward… we get to experience these moments of encounter… of revelation… these mountain-top moments… and carry them out into the world around us.

Remember, you are the light of the world… and it is the light of God's glory with which you shine.

This is what it means to walk with Jesus… to walk in the highs and lows and of this life of faith… we have these moments of profound encounter… like at the Superdome in New Orleans… and like this labyrinth at the foot of the mountain… these moments fill us with God's Holy Spirit and shape our lives around God's glory.

They help us remember who we are and whose we are… and remind us that we are claimed and redeemed through grace and mercy… and they give us strength for the journey, when the journey takes us through ashes and sorrow.

When we find ourselves walking through the shadow of death, these moments help us to keep walking… keep walking… because on the other side is resurrection and new life.

And to stay on the mountain… would mean to miss out on all the ways that God continues to show up.

If we only ever lived for the grand, mountain-top moments… we would miss all the ways that God reveals God's self to us in small ways… the everyday, ordinary ways.

So, we must remember… that mountain-top encounters with God are amazing… awe-inspiring… but we don't need to stay on the mountain…

because the promise of transfiguration is that the glory of God transforms every corner of our whole world… and us… along with it, everyday… and always. Amen.

Today, we had a special musical performance of Offertory by the Faith Chancel Choir at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

February 1, 2026

Faith Lutheran, Okemos

Micah 6:1-8, Psalm 1, I Corinthians 1:18-31, Matthew 5:1-12

Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done, On Earth as in Heaven…

Our Father in heaven, in each moment, in each day we pray your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.

Your kingdom come, your will be done… I been thinking about our sister congregation, Immanuel Lutheran in Grand Ledge. Their pastor, Chuck Forrester, has been on leave from call for several months because of a serious medical condition. For the last five months, God provided Pastor Chrisy Bright to serve Immanuel. Chrisy, a young pastor, most recently served as an assistant to former Bishop Satterlee, and now for at least the next three months is Immanuel's contracted pastor. In this present moment this morning she is preaching the good news of God's love in Jesus Christ to the people of Immanuel. God provided both work for a gifted pastor now without a letter of call, and pastoral leadership for a congregation whose called pastor's return remains uncertain. An answer to most powerful of all prayers: Your kingdom come, your will be done…

One year ago today, Pastor Megan was ordained, and the very next day, she served as our pastor. Surely, in this moment in the story of Faith Lutheran Church, God provided for us a shepherd abounding in compassion and joy in a time in our society when so much is uncertain.

Both Immanuel and Faith have been blessed too with exceptionally wise lay leaders and brilliant musicians, so reassuring during this past tumultuous, fear-filled year in our country when the foundations of our democracy seem very tenuous. In ways we may not have readily recognized, our praying the Lord's prayer week after week did not go unheard. In both congregations, in this fragile time for all of us, signs of the kingdom, signs of the reign of our Father and his Son, signs of God's steadfast, faithful, loving presence… We are so blessed.

[In a Zoom call on Wednesday with three other former bishops, Floyd, Marcus, and Jerry, Floyd proclaimed that, for him. these readings for today from Micah, Psalm 15, I Corinthians, and Matthew were maybe the best ones in all of our three-year cycle of biblical texts. Surely, they all are very beautiful and challenging and powerful as such a time as this.]

Many of us know by heart, or have at least heard these famous words from the prophet Micah, plain-spoken words we are called to live out until we take our last earthly breath:

He [God] has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?

Less familiar, but no less powerful and reassuring are the words of Psalm 15, words for each of us in each moment of each day, for all of us who are daily bathed in God's forgiving love. Please read them with me in their entirety: LORD, who may dwell in your tabernacle…

[vs.4b: They are willing to do the right thing, to stand by their oath even to their own hurt.]

And then these opening words from I Corinthians 1:18 revealing the seemingly contradictory way God has chosen to save us: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us [most of whom are probably not all that worldly wise or powerful] to us who are being saved it is the power of God. How ludicrous to worldly wisdom and worldly power and might to believe that a man accused of treason, who dies on a cross, would thereby takes away the sin of the world. But it is God's wisdom that Jesus' cruel death would be the very way God would save us from our deep brokenness and alienation from each other and from the One who so loves us, so heals us, so day by day rekindles our faith in and hope and love for our Maker and Redeemer and for our friends and enemies alike.

And then, even more, the beatitudes in Matthew 5 as Jesus sat down and to his disciples long ago and to us this morning began his sermon on the mount.

Hear the beatitudes, these blessings in a translation, a rendering by Steve Garnaas-Holmes, a friend of Pastor Megan's:

Blessed are you who have nothing to offer, for you are offered everything. Blessed are you who are broken-hearted for the world, for God weeps with you, and will rejoice with you. Blessed are you who do not seek to dominate, for love dominates your life. Blessed are you who sacrifice for the sake of justice, for you will know victory. Blessed are you who are gentle, for God's gentleness enfolds you. Blessed are you who seek only love, for God will be everywhere for you. Blessed are you who remain peaceful in conflict, for so you reveal God. Blessed are you who are treated harshly, for God treats you to the entire realm of God. Blessed are you who are punished for your compassion, for this is the way of the cross.

These beatitudes are not commands. They are not orders for how we should live our lives. Rather they are promises to us when our spirits are weak and pretty much exhausted, when we mourn the injustices and the acts of violence in words and deeds against our brothers and sisters. The beatitudes are promises that when we hunger for, yearn for, work for respectful, kind, and honest relationships in our own lives and in our communities and in our country, they are promises that already God has begun to fill our hearts with hope. We see God already exposing the abuses of power and the violation of basic human rights so contrary to the way of our gentle Lord, even now calling tens of thousands of protesters to speak up for those who are treated harshly.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done." It is already coming, our Father's will already being done. So, blessed are we, members and friends of Faith, when in each moment and each day, the Holy Spirit moves us to perform simple acts of kindness, simple acts of gentleness, simple acts of mercy. Blessed are we when that same Holy Spirit enables us to see injustices to the poor and to boldly resist in words and actions those in power who would crush and destroy the lives of those the Bible calls "resident aliens." And blessed are we if we "take a hit," if we a maligned for the simple acts of compassion we are called to take for the oppressed in our midst, the acts of compassion we take for Jesus who was maligned for all of us, who will always be our Immanuel, God with us, God in the very depths of our hearts…

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven…in each of our lives, in each of our hearts, in each of our actions, in each moment of each day. Amen. JDS

*or "kindom," the latter word, recently coined and offered in the Apostles' Creed as an understanding of God's kingdom as a beloved community of siblings, all of us as beloved sisters and brothers with Jesus as our Lord.

Today, we had a special musical performance of We Are A Rainbow by the Faith Chancel Choir (with the Congregation as well) at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC

Matthew 4:12-23; RIC Sunday; January 28, 2024 Rich Weingartner

Grace to you and peace from God our parent, Jesus our Savior, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Living in a world where politicians want more and more power. Minorities are treated as "others" and are not safe. Children aren't valued. The hungry are told to fend for themselves. Being judged by where you were born or grew up. Being condemned if you aren't the right religion. Dangerous to hang out with the "wrong crowd." Religious people who seek more power and control. A world where people cry "O God, How Long?!"

Before we look more at that world - let's take a look at our readings for today.

First, the people of Zebulun and Naphtali receive a message of promise and hope from the prophet Isiah. A promise that God will provide a glorious future. To learn more about this promise, if we read a bit further in chapter 9 of Isiah, we find a familiar text starting at verse 6: "For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." This isn't just a message of promise and hope for the people of Zebulun and Naphtali, but for us as well.

Our psalm today is considered a Trust Psalm. There are different types of psalms, like songs of thanksgiving, hymns of praise, prayers for help, and trust psalms. The Lutheran Study Bible says that the "trust psalms express faith and confidence in God amid great difficulties, threats, and dangers." (Lutheran Study Bible, page 776) The psalm is a story of the psalmist expressing desires to God and knowing that God will deliver on the promises.

So far we've had a message of hope and promise, and then a reminder to trust in God. I don't know about you, but these are certainly messages I need to be reminded of on a daily basis.

Today's new testament reading was picked specifically to tie in with today's RIC Sunday's theme of "Celebrating Diversity as God's Children." Once a year we celebrate RIC Sunday to remind ourselves of the public promise and commitment we've made as a congregation through our public welcome statement. Just like God constantly reminds us of God's love, we need to be constantly reminded of our commitment to our LGBTQIA+ siblings, our black and brown siblings, people of every age, marital status, neurodivergent status, political leanings, and people of all abilities. It can be easy to get into a routine and forget about the work we do as a congregation of being radically welcoming and inclusive. I remember back to our Diversity Sunday service when we received official recognition as an RIC congregation. It was so wonderful to see everyone celebrating what makes them unique as a diverse child of God. To be featured as the lead story on the 6 o'clock news and, based on the comments on Facebook, see people get riled up about our radical message of inclusive love. So, in case you haven't heard it today or in a while, here is your reminder. You, yes you, are a vital part of God's diversity - you are a beloved child of God - exactly as you are. You don't need to change to receive God's love - God loves you unconditionally. Through this love you will find yourself changing in ways that bring you closer to the fullness of God's vision for us and the cosmos - the vision of radical and inclusive love. While we may feel lost in the world and not seen as important - remember that God sees us and we will see God's glory revealed.

When I read today's Gospel, I started thinking about how this is the launching point of Jesus' ministry. If the Gospel was a TV show like the shows that had theme songs and images that basically set the scene for the entire series - a quick montage of how it all began, I think this would be the imagery that would be used for the TV show of Jesus. Of course, the TV show "Jesus" would be the much more successful spin off of the prior series "John: Locust Eater".

There are two parts of today's Gospel that I want to focus on. The first is the phrase "fishers of people". A phrase that many of us are familiar with and have heard many times - but have you thought about what it really means? Putting a cookie at the end of a fishing line in hopes that someone will eat it and then you can reel them in? This may be an interesting way to try to bring people to the church, but probably not very effective. When Jesus called his disciples, they weren't people out fishing as a hobby and catching a few fish for themselves or their family, no, they were in the business of fishing, bringing in large quantities of fish. To do this they used nets. When they used nets, they weren't selective in what fish ended up in the net - no, it collected a wide range of fish.

The Lutheran Study Bible shares this comment about this passage: "This odd metaphor plays on the notion of a net collecting different types of fish. These disciples will become founders of a church that 'catches' people of all sorts (that is, attracts people who are diverse with regard to nationality, ethnicity, and social class.)" (Lutheran Study Bible, p. 1526) Sound familiar? It should - it is very similar to our welcome statement about who we welcome, or hope to "catch" with our work as a congregation. We don't want to selectively share the message of God's love to only certain select people - no - we want to share that message with the world as we celebrate the diversity of God's children. This is where the phrase "cast a wide net" comes from - the wider your net, the more fish, or people, you can "catch" or reach to share God's message with.

Speaking of sharing God's message, the next part of the Gospel I want to look at is verse 23, where it states that "Jesus went throughout all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news." The "good news" or looking at the Greek – "gospel". So often we hear "preach the Gospel" or "share the Gospel". After all we are part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - Evangelical meaning to share the Gospel or the good news. I don't know about you - but often when I think about sharing the gospel, I think about sharing the story OF Jesus - about his birth, death, and resurrection. However, here we have Jesus starting to proclaim the gospel, the good news. Now certainly Jesus made references to his birth, death, and eventual resurrection, but that wasn't the core of his teachings. No, Jesus mainly preached the good news of God's inclusive, radical, and counter-cultural love and belonging. That is the heart of the gospel, the message Jesus brought, not about Jesus himself.

So, back to the world I described at the beginning. A world that sounds pretty bleak and depressing. A world that might be struggling and losing hope. A world with downtrodden that are struggling against the government, or as Pastor Megan referred to it last week, the empire. Is this world I describe the world of today? Is it the world at Jesus' time? Yes. And just like back then, we too continue to need the message of Good News that Jesus brings. A message that runs against the norms, a message that brings a unique perspective to the world, a message that provides a promise - a message I know I'm longing to hear and need to hear these days - yes, Jesus' message brings A New Hope.

After events of the past week and yesterday, it can be hard to want to hear a message of hope. I know it isn't easy preaching about hope and good news amidst what is going on in our world, in our country, in Minneapolis and Minnesota. So be assured, that while I'm preaching on the message of hope - that doesn't mean that feelings of anger, fear, despair, and sadness aren't valid - those are valid and know that God is with you in all your feelings. Also know that the message of hope is there as well - just as the message ran counter cultural during Jesus' time - it does now as well.

Back on Christ the King Sunday in November, the service spoke to me and I immediately knew I had to include part of it in my sermon today, as it summarized the message of Christ very well. This was the Sunday when we were taken on a tour of the church calendar, exploring each of the seasons of the church year. We are currently in the Time after Epiphany. Here is part of what was shared about Epiphany and the time after. In Epiphany, we look to that ancient star, and we see that the message of God's love knows no bounds: it is a message for people of every color and every tongue, every race and every nation.

In the time after Epiphany, we remember that because of Jesus, the divisions that you and I create in our lives will someday be erased by God, who comes to make us all one. Love has come to let us know that there is no such thing as a people from the east or west or north or south. There are only people of God, all created by God, all loved by God, all within the realm of God's redemption through Jesus Christ.

The light of the star brought the sages to Jesus, and Jesus is the light that brings God's love to all - to the poor, the lame, the sick, the hurting, the sorrowful, the outcast, those rejected by the world - even to you, in your own joy and sadness, goodness and brokenness, hope and challenges.

That is Epiphany. It is the fulfillment of God's love-filled promise extended beyond all human boundaries. It is the light of God that breaks down walls and unites the human family.

So, like Jesus, we are called to proclaim this Good News. Part of that Good News is that preaching the message from a pulpit isn't the only way to share the Good News. Just as Pastor Megan has shared, and based on what the Bible says, we are all called in our own diverse ways, based on our own diverse skills, to share the Good News in wide diverse ways. Simply being an RIC congregation is a way we show God's radical love - by emphatically stating that God's love belongs to all, to everyone, especially those that society wants to call "other" or "less than". You help proclaim the Gospel by simply being here - as part of a church that proudly proclaims to our queer siblings, our black and brown siblings, and anyone that society calls "others", that God loves them and they are part of the beautiful diversity of God's children. Some of the other ways we declare God's love include filling the micro pantries every day - where people have access to what they need - with no questions asked, no tests to pass - just God's love through food and personal care items. And it isn't just the people who actually put the items in the pantries, but everyone who buys or donates the items, those who package oatmeal to be ready to go out, those who coordinate it all. Everyone who works with the young men in the parish house - you are proclaiming God's good news through your actions. Donating items or money to support them, driving them to where they need to go, providing connections in the community so they can get jobs, praying for them - all are part of being a proclaimer of the good news. When society might want to call them less than or unwanted - we, at Faith, proudly say that they are welcome and are loved by God and are part of the wonderful diversity of God's children.

There are so many ways we all partake in proclaiming the gospel - whether you do it through music, through education, through a hug or a meal to someone who is struggling, through just checking in with people to see if they are OK. So while often, we hear of people doing more noticeable or newsworthy things like being part of a large protest in Minneapolis, skipping school or work, or being clergy that go and take action to bring awareness and end up getting arrested for civil disobedience; we have to remember that all ways that proclaim the radical message of God's all inclusive love and redemption to all people, the message of A New Hope, are not only valid, but much needed in this world that is struggling.

So while "we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed" (1 John 3:2) we strive to continue to live into the message of hope and promise. We work together, as God's wonderfully diverse children, to proclaim the message that Christ shared, until we can all revel in the fullness of God's love revealed to us. Until then, we work together, as fishers of people, to cast a very wide net to proclaim and live into God's radical message of all-inclusive love and redemption for all people.

We do all this through the freedom given to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Since God has declared that we are fully loved and included and nothing we can do can separate us from the love of God, we can boldly be proclaimers of Christ. We must always remember that when the Empire gets us down, we need to cling to the message of A New Hope, and even when the Empire strikes back because of our radical message of inclusion for the entirety of the diversity of God's Children, that in the end, we can rely on The Return of the Jesus to carry us through. Amen.

Today, we had a special musical performance of My Shepherd Will Supply My Need by the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan. Published Under License From Essential Music Publishing, LLC