Sermon on 1 Kings 19:9-18 (Pentecost 9A, Proper 14)

Hearing God Speak

This past week was Day Camp at Shepherd of Life. We had 4 staff members from Lutherhill ministries with the help of 8 youth helpers that lead 19 kids in bible study, games, songs, arts and crafts and worship. As you can guess it was anything but quiet. Normally it’s just the classes here at Little Shepherd and they are a fairly quiet bunch. Instead, this week the church was full of lots of laughter, singing, music and the occasional screaming and yelling (it was all in excitement though it was still loud). It’s the best welcome gift that I could give to Kim, our new preschool director, as she started this week. Even though it was loud some great things happened. The main thing was that each kid was reminded that they are a child of God who is never alone, beloved by God, gifted, called into community and are called to give love to the world. Those reminders are worth every bit of the noise that happened last week.

This morning we encounter the prophet Elijah in a cave. He is running from Queen Jezebel because of what he did to the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Elijah is running for his life. He’s been sustained by God but at this point he’s without direction. He doesn’t know what to do so he hides in a cave. It’s there that the word of the Lord comes to him and asks “What are you doing here Elijah?” I imagine Elijah almost yelling his answer at God. “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” Elijah is afraid and rightly so. His following of God’s call has brought him into conflict with the most powerful people in all of Israel at the time and they are hunting him. It’s into this that God is going to come and talk to Elijah directly.

After Elijah is instructed to go out and stand at the opening of the cave there is a lot of noise that happens. A great wind blows by that is so strong that it splits rocks into pieces. God isn’t in the wind. Following the wind a massive earthquake and God’s not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire but God’s not there either. Then…the sound of sheer silence. Other translations call it a still small voice, a whisper. That’s when Elijah goes out because the Lord has come. In silence. In a still small voice.

We want to find God in the big things. In the wind that breaks rocks, in the earthquake that shakes things up, in the fire. That’s where we look for God. It is worse when we are going through a time of fear, confusion or a time without direction. We want and pray for God to come and be involved in a big way. Shake things up God! Break down the things in the way to my goal! We can even be guilty of holding up our own goodness. God, you owe me one because I’ve been following your call and doing what you want.

Now it’s time for my old man moment. We live in and with a lot of noise. Everywhere you go there is noise. In retail stores, in restaurants, on the streets people walking with headphones, while we work, while we play, as we travel, everywhere! I’m guilty of it too! It’s easy to tell that we are a culture that doesn’t do well with silence. Some of the noise is beyond our control. There really isn’t anything that we can do about it. We also have a habit of adding to the noise when it really doesn’t need it. This week during meals and snacks, to help create a fun environment, the staff played music while we were in the fellowship hall. I had to tell them a couple different times to turn it down because loud music over kids loudly talking to each other…it was just too much. The music had the potential to discourage or drown out the talking that the kids might do with each other. We strive to drown out and avoid silence at all costs because we’re afraid of what it might bring.

What it might bring is space to allow those doubts to creep in. Maybe I’m not good enough. What if I’m not going the right direction? Maybe I’m not raising my kids right. What if I slip backwards into that addiction? Am I really lovable? That’s what we’re afraid of. In the silence what we fear the most can make itself known. To avoid that we take matters into our own hands and erect walls of sound and noise so that they can’t get a word in. All the while, praying for God to do something huge that we probably wouldn’t even catch because of all the noise.

I’ve gotten better with silence. I’ve let it work more of its way into my sermons. Lauren, my wife has worked with me a lot. I used to just talk and talk and talk without letting others get a word in. Okay, I sometimes still do. Here’s what I’ve learned: silence and space allows others to let their voices to be heard. What’s amazing about God coming in the still small voice or even in sheer silence is that when all of the noise is gone, all we are left with is silence. Underneath it all is silence. Which means underneath, throughout, and in it all God is present and God is speaking. As we listen and leave space for silence we begin to notice the voice of God. We begin hearing God. What is God saying?

I’m going to teach you something that we learned at Day Camp this week. The staff uses a call and response phrase that is different each year to get everyone’s attention at once. I thought this year’s was especially awesome. Whenever they needed to get the whole group’s attention they would shout “Child of God!” and everyone would reply with “That’s me!” Let’s try it. What is the voice of God saying underneath all the noise? What is God saying to us in the whisper or even in the silence? Child of God. Child of God. Child of God. It’s a promise and a reminder. A reminder that even in the silence, though we may hear other voices, God’s voice is the last voice that remains there calling us. Reminding us who has called and claimed us. Reminding us that God is bigger than those doubts that might creep in. Reminding us that our identity is set forever and cannot be taken away. Child of God! That’s you. That’s you. That’s you.

While that promise and that reminder are comforting it also brings some challenges with it. After Elijah explained again to God what he was doing at Horeb God gives him some new direction…and it isn’t easy. He’s to go and anoint a couple new kings and he is also told to find his successor Elisha. He’s to go back the way he came, back into the noise and fear to do what God has asked him. As a child of God we are called to listen and point out the places that God is speaking. We are called to help make room for the still small voice and the silence, to call attention to it. As a child of God we are called to go into the noise, confusion and fear to bring a reminder to everyone. To be a reminder of the voice of God speaking in the silence. What should we say? Let’s echo what we hear from the voice of God. Child of God. Amen.

Sermon on John 10:1-10 (Easter 4A)

Voices

Jonathan Edward Lys. That’s my full given name. Looking at it on paper it has some meaning. My first name was chosen because of how it fit with my last name. AS you can imagine LYS is a hard last name to match with a first name. Also, my dad, who is Robert Lys Jr, didn’t want a Robert Lys the III. My middle name is one that I share with my late grandfather and my uncle. My last name is unique and often mispronounced, because really…how many words have a “y” as the only vowel? On paper, it’s my name and really not too much more. When it really begins to take shape and have identity is when voice is given to it.

It’s amazing how the way that others say your name can really tell you something. I know that when I was growing up if I ever heard my mom’s voice say “Jonathan Edward” I knew that I had better find her as quickly as I could because it was something important. In the same way, if I ever heard mom say “Jonathan Edward Lys!” a chain of events happened. First, I would freeze up and my mind would start racing with one simple question “What did I do?” Then I had a choice, do I wait for her to come find me or do I move as fast as humanly possible to find her. I usually did the latter because that’s the smarter of the two choices. Personally, one of the scariest things in the world is hearing your mom say your full name. I’m pretty sure that’s why middle names where created in the first place.

We are surrounded by voices all of the time. Voices of our family and friends. Voices of those we work with or go to school with. Voices from the media and politics. Voices of those who agree with us and those who disagree with us. Voices that swirl around in our head. There is no shortage of voices in our life. All of these voices tell us different things. Some of the voices are supportive. They congratulate us on the things we accomplish. They say encouraging words when we are struggling. They give us questions and things to think about when our life needs direction. For me, my mom is a voice that continues to be a voice of encouragement, reason, and comfort when I need those words the most. The same voice that was able to strike fear in me as a child is also the voice that has always been there as a comforting presence when I had messed up.

Our Gospel lesson this morning gives us the chance to hear the voice of Jesus again. It also gives us a chance to reflect on how his voice stacks up with all the other voices. The context of this passage in the gospel of John is that it immediately follows the story of the healing of the man who was blind from birth. We often hear the voice of Jesus as one who lays out things in a very authoritative fashion. “This is the way it is” That’s because we see the words of Jesus written in the gospels. When Jesus was speaking these words his audience would have been his disciples, the man who had been healed and more than likely some of the Jewish leaders. He is speaking to them in a personal way. They would have heard the voice of Jesus providing comfort. Teaching them and helping them to understand what they could find in him. Jesus starts with one metaphor that he is probably most known for, a shepherd. I am the shepherd who enters by the gate. The sheep know my voice and they follow me. I go ahead of them and they follow because they know my voice. I lead them out to pasture and look after them. The gospel writer tells us that those who were listening didn’t understand so Jesus tries a different metaphor. I definitely understand this because I have to try different things when I teach. You can ask the Junior High or High School youth and they would tell you  that almost every time I teach I ask , “Did that make sense?” and when I’m met with blank stares I pivot and try again.

So Jesus gives us another metaphor that we don’t talk about all that much. I am the gate for the sheep. This is a different way of talking about Jesus. Now, Jesus didn’t mean that he is shepherd and gate simultaneously, but that he can be seen as both. The gate offers protection and security. The gate helps to control the flow. The gate gives the sheep something to aim for to figure out where they are going. Jesus then says two really big things. “Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Taken out of context that verse could easily be wielded as a weapon. It could be one of those absolutes that we like to hear, but that is when it is taken out of context. In context, what Jesus says brings up a question, saved from what? For the man who was blind, who was healed and listening to Jesus say those words it meant being saved from a life outside the community. A life of begging and surviving. What does it mean for us?

I didn’t mention the other voices earlier. The voices that many people hear far more than any other voice. The voices that say: you’re not good enough, life isn’t as good unless you buy this, you’re too fat, you’re too skinny, you have to do it all on your own, you are in charge of saving yourself, you have to fix it all, it’s all your fault and many, many, many more. Sometimes they are voices that are in plain sight. Often they are really well hidden. Masked with the pretty, seemingly innocent exterior that they are just trying to do what’s best for us. Sometimes they aren’t voices we hear, but rather voices we tell ourselves. We listen to them. They dominate our hearing so we follow along. We try and save ourselves. We buy things that we think will make life better. We strike out on our own because we think we’re the only one we can rely on. We alter our clothing, our hairstyle, our body with a new diet or even surgery because we think that will be what brings us back into good graces. We work and we work and we work to appease those voices. To appease those bandits and thieves who climb in by another way. That’s what those voices are. They are thieves and they are bandits with their only goal being to steal, kill and destroy.

By entering through the gate we are saved from these voices. They don’t have the last say on things. They cannot lay claim to us. This is what Jesus, who is the gate, says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The gate offers protection and security. The gate helps control the flow of the voices that we hear so that the voice that we hear the strongest is the voice of the shepherd. The gate gives us something to aim for…namely the abundant life here and now. That abundant life is a gift. It’s not something that we work for. It’s given to us by the shepherd. Amongst all of the other voices we hear we know that voice, the voice of the shepherd, because it is the one that enters through the gate. It’s the voice that speaks straight to our heart…to our very being. You are mine. I know you. I know your name. I will lead you. Follow me. This is the voice that gives us our identity that cannot be taken away. This is the voice that brings an abundant life that is overflowing with joy, grace, peace and love.

When I was a kid I would go help my Poppa, my dad’s dad, work with the cows and do work on the various pieces of property he owns. One of my standard roles that I had, as soon as I was able, was to open the gate. We would pull up to the gate of the next pasture that we were going to work in and I would jump out of the truck to go unlock it and hold it open as the truck went through. After the truck passed through I would close the gate and lock it behind us so the cows couldn’t get where they weren’t supposed to go. Often we find ourselves in the role of the gate keeper. We are there to help open the gate to others. Just as Jesus can be seen as both shepherd and gate, we can be seen as both sheep and gatekeeper. If you notice, the gatekeeper knows the shepherd. They know the shepherd and open the gate so that the sheep can hear the voice of the shepherd. They are the catalyst for the sheep following the shepherd when he calls to them. We have experienced the voice of our shepherd calling to us. We have experienced the gate that saves us from all the other voices we hear. Having experienced these things we are prime candidates to be gatekeepers. To open wide the gate for the shepherd. To be the catalyst so that others might hear, see and experience abundant life. It’s a part of our identity. Let me tell you, it looks good on paper, but it gets even better when we give voice to it. May you always hear the voice of Jesus louder than the other voices. May you experience the gate that saves us and brings us the gift of abundant life. And may you give voice to these promises as a gatekeeper so that others may experience the gift of abundant life through you. Amen

Sermon on John 20:19-31 (Easter 2A)

The Unwritten Story

My favorite part of my job has to be all the different ways that I get to interact with stories. As a Sunday School teacher I get to teach the bible stories that help form the foundation of our faith. I also get to help the kids and youth connect it to their faith journey. When I preach, I get the chance to dig into a bible story and weave in stories about my past or share the story of others. I will sometimes get e-mails or see pictures of what families are doing to connect the stories that they learn here at church with their own stories. In conversation I also hear stories from parents about how their kid’s faith is changing, growing, stretching and what new things it is causing them to think about. Hands down my favorite stories are when parents are met with a tough faith question from their kids. I love hearing about what the parent’s response is and the conversations that follow.

A couple weeks ago Sarah Wolff shared with me one of these stories. One evening her daughter Evangeline came to her and said “Mom, I want to meet Jesus. I want to see him.” She was ready to hop in the car and go find him. Being the faithful parent that she is Sarah responded “Well honey, you meet him everywhere…in many different places, in many different people and in many different things.” That’s a great answer! That’s how I would have answered. Evangeline though would not be swayed…she was convinced and wanted to go and meet the real Jesus. I haven’t asked Sarah yet how the search is going, but I have a feeling that the original answer is going to have to win out in the end.

In the light of our gospel text this morning Evangeline’s question shows us something: Thomas is alive and well. Now that may seem a bit harsh to say,  given Thomas’ famous and prevailing title of “doubting,” but as we discuss what the gospel writer John is trying to tell us this morning, I think we will find that it’s an okay thing. I’m not calling Evangeline a doubting Thomas, but what I do know for sure is that this story of her desire and conviction to meet Jesus sheds some light on this story.

We encounter the disciples this morning in a locked room. Mind you this is post-resurrection. This is right after Easter! Right where we are now. At this point they have heard the story from Mary who had been to the tomb and encountered the risen Christ. They have heard the good news, “He is risen! I have seen the Lord” Hearing it from Mary apparently wasn’t enough because they are locked up tight in this hidden room so that the Jewish leaders won’t find them and do to them what they did to Jesus. It is into their fear, confusion and grief that Jesus appears through the locked door bringing a message, “Peace be with you.” Jesus shows them his hands and his side. It is only then that the disciples rejoice because they know that it’s Jesus. Then, Jesus empowers them with a new purpose, a new mission. He breathes into them the Holy Spirit which enables them to ignite the fire of belief in others. One of the big themes in John’s gospel is the tension between belief or unbelief. For John, sin isn’t something wrong that you do but rather, at its core sin is unbelief. So forgiving people’s sins are helping to kindle and encourage belief in them. To retain the sin means that they continue in unbelief because they don’t know what to do otherwise.

This is a great point to bring in Thomas. Thomas wasn’t with the rest when Jesus came so they begin to tell him about it. This is their chance to use their new found spirit power to really help Thomas believe! But…Thomas doesn’t. Now you may be thinking to yourself, “C’mon Thomas! These are your friends! You’ve been traveling around with these guys for years. You know them and they know you” So real quick show of hands…who has ever had a friend play a joke on them or kid around? How many of you have some sort of inside joke that only you and your friends would know about? Exactly. Friends kid around with friends all the time. I love my friends, but there are times when I have to really wonder if they are telling the truth or not. Thomas response is not out of bounds though it may be a bit overdramatic. Thomas doesn’t believe because he wants what the other disciples got. He wants to see Christ’s hands and his side. He wants to meet the risen Christ. He wants to see Jesus.

Fast forward a week and we find the disciples back in their locked room. Apparently they didn’t quite get the message about what they Holy Spirit was for the first time around. This time Thomas is with them. Jesus returns again with his greeting “Peace be with you” Then he shows Thomas his hands and his side and encourages him to believe. “Thomas don’t be unbelieving…believe in me” After encountering the risen Christ for himself Thomas makes one of the most deeply personal and profound expressions of belief, “My Lord and My God.” Then Jesus has a blessing for all of us. In the context of the passage it sounds like he is scolding Thomas, but the gospel writer really is giving us some words to strengthen our belief. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” That’s us. Those who believe 2,000 years later.
So that’s great and all, but what about us? We are blessed, but what does that mean? I’m glad you asked! John tells us the purpose for writing all these stories. He essentially says, “I left some stuff out, but these stories are written so that you may believe in Jesus and have life in his name.” There is always an unwritten part of the story. Something that didn’t get put in because of space or time or for the sake of clarity. We are the unwritten part of the story. Christ comes to us in our fear, doubt, confusion and insecurity and speaks a word of peace to us. Not only do we hear that word of peace, but we also experience it through our living and active savior. Christ breaks into our lives through the locked doors so that we might experience him, living and active. Jesus meets us and we meet Jesus. Jesus meets us and we meet Jesus at the table, in bread and wine. Jesus meets us and we meet Jesus in the community of the church, the living and moving body of Christ. Jesus meets us and we meet Jesus in the questions that we have about our faith. Christ shows us his hands and his side so that we may continue to believe. He doesn’t hold anything back. Actually he even takes it one step further. He sends us to do the same. He breathes into us the Holy Spirit so that we might go and tell the story. He breaths into us that we might go out and show people the risen Christ. That we might continue to write the story for others.

It was my turn to do the preschool chapel this week and since I was thinking a lot about my sermon and this story, I thought I would field test some of my thoughts. I brought a fan in and we talked about what a fan makes (wind), then I told them the story about Thomas and we talked about how even though we can’t see the wind, we know it’s there because we can feel it and see its movement. That’s what Jesus encouraged Thomas about when he was unbelieving. Then I told them I had a very important job for them. It’s one Jesus told the disciples there and also he tells us today. I encouraged them to go out and show other people Jesus by showing them love. One of the younger kids responded with “Yeah, but sometimes it’s hard to remember.” No truer words have been spoken.

It is hard to remember. We get afraid of others. We may not know what to say. We may be too busy to take the time. For these reasons and many more we lock ourselves away. Locking ourselves away doesn’t change things. It doesn’t change that Thomas is still alive and well. People want to see Jesus. They don’t want to just hear stories about him…they want to experience the living and active Christ. They want to see his hands and his feet. What they want isn’t unreasonable because it’s the same thing that we have seen. It’s the same thing we have experienced. The living and active Christ breaking into our lives bringing peace. We are called to continue to write the story. Through us the story becomes real and people experience Jesus. In us, people are able to meet Jesus. I want to leave you with a question to think about…how will you help write the story this week? There are people that you encounter this week that are looking to meet Jesus. May you remember that you have been given the holy spirit to encourage belief in others. May you remember that in you people will experience the living and active Christ. He is risen indeed. I have seen the Lord. Alleluia! Amen.

Sermon on Genesis 2:15-3:13 (Lent 1A)

You Can’t Go Back

    During Junior High and High School I did a lot of camping. You may remember this about me, but I was involved in Boy Scouting and camping was a big part of that experience. I also went to Confirmation camp and participated in 3 summers of the LYLE program which is a program designed to help High School youth develop as leaders as they grow in faith. One thing I distinctly remember about these two experiences and how they differed was how the fire was made. It seems silly, but when you go camping you gotta have a fire! How else are you going to cook your s’mores? In Boy Scouts we made our own fires, often unsuccessfully. At church camp, the magical fire fairies did it (That’s a joke). But in all honesty, we never saw the fire being made. As we would walk down to the campfire ring across the big field during early dusk the glow of the fire was already going down at the worship space. It was always there and present. We didn’t have to do anything to make that happen.

Well of course someone had to make that fire. It was the camp support staff who did it. I remember the weeks when I served on summer staff as camp support. Another staff member and I would load up the Gator and drive down the bucket of s’more supplies, wood, bits of newspaper and matches to go start the fire for evening worship. We would joke about getting to play the role of the “magical fire fairies” that helped camp to happen. It was a crucial job because support staff helped to set up, run activities and clean during the week so the other staff could focus on the campers. When you were in this role you had knowledge about what happened behind the scenes because that’s where you worked for the majority of the week. Most of the magic and mystery of camp was now gone because you were making the magic happen for others.

This isn’t the first time this has happened to me nor do I think it will be the last. God seems to be constantly calling me to places where I can’t go back to blissful ignorance. Places where I get involved in what used to be behind the scenes. I want for you to reflect on your own experiences that you’ve had like that this morning. We’ve all had them. Maybe it was that time you signed up for PTA. You have probably experienced in your job once or twice. Perhaps you’ve experienced it at church when you signed up for (or got invited onto) a team. I’ve seen the women’s ministry meeting about their retreat. For those ladies it now isn’t about just simply coming to the weekend to participate. I know that my children’s ministry team or Tina knows way more about the ins and outs of youth and family ministry than before (probably because I over-share).  Knowledge and involvement changes things. When you see things, experience things, get passionate about things you reach a point of no return. Suddenly everything is different and you can’t go back.

During this first Sunday in Lent we read this well-known story from Genesis. This story is a part of the origin story of our faith. We see it everywhere: in art, writing, music and it has been interpreted and misinterpreted through the centuries. It’s everywhere and everyone has thoughts on it. We’re going to visit it anew this morning. God created man from the dust and placed him in a garden with some very important tasks and a command. The man was tasked with keeping and tilling the garden. He is also told to eat from every tree in the garden, EVERY TREE, except the one in the middle that gives knowledge of good and evil (knowledge of everything). God noticed that the man was alone and that wasn’t good. So God created animals, but that just didn’t seem to be quite enough. So God created out of his rib a partner for the man. Adam is elated in his response, “Finally! Someone that is a part of me and is just like me!”   We’re also told that they were naked and not ashamed…an interesting comment but neither of these lasts very long.

Enter the serpent. The craftiest of the creatures that God created. That’s important to note because it means the serpent has been here all along. The Bible doesn’t say it’s evil nor did it ninja its way into the garden. He’s just a crafty bugger. He approaches Adam and Eve with a question: “Did God say you can’t eat of any of the trees?” Eve answers the question correctly, though a bit exaggerated (the whole even if we touch it we’ll die). The serpent then pushes a bit further…” You won’t die. God knows what will happen…you’ll be like God knowing good from evil.” What the serpent does is push a button that is already there. The serpent sets up God to be something different than what Adam and Eve know God to be: controlling, greedy, selfish, wanting to hold Adam and Even back, not wanting the best for them. The serpent sets up a different reality…you’re not gonna die, that’s just silly, but what you will be is more than what you are now. You will know the same things as God and be able to set your own agenda. Adam and Eve want a bit of that reality so they take the fruit and eat it.

Immediately, they die. Not physically, but everything they had known before, everything they had understood before is now gone.  Their eyes are opened and there is no going back. What God had said came true. Death happened. When God comes to walk with them in the garden Adam and Eve are hiding. When God questions them about what happened the Blame Train takes off at rocket speed. It wasn’t me it was her, it wasn’t me it was that thing… it tricked me. Obviously knowledge of good and evil doesn’t give you the courage to admit you’ve done wrong. What has happened is a change, a change that’s difficult to come back from.

There’s an old joke that is built off of a Lutheran stereotype: How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb? Change? Change is that dirty 6 letter word that we shudder to think about. It’s not just Lutherans that have a problem with it, everyone does. We fear change because in our mind change equals one thing…death. If we change things it will kill everything. In one sense we’re right because, like we talked about earlier, when change happens something different happens and we can’t go back. In this case we experience death all the time. Our lives are constantly changing so that we don’t often experience things that are the same. Nothing is static. We’re afraid of the changes because it means we lose something. We can’t go back.
The fear that we feel is the words of the serpent still ringing in our ears. It lives in our minds and in our hearts. Those words still pushing the button inside of us. Words that set up a God who doesn’t care about us. We’re on our own. We can be more, know more, and decided for ourselves. We know better because we have the knowledge of good and evil. We can be the same as God. We believe those words. We listen to them and live in shame and fear. We know we’re naked and vulnerable. We try and cover ourselves the best we can but it just barely works out. God has different ideas for us though.

God wants to determine our identity. It’s an identity that has persisted before the words of the serpent begin to swirl. You are God’s child. God’s reality has always been different. One that speaks differently than the serpent’s. I care deeply for you and want to be with you. I want you to trust me to take care of you. I will take care of you. I want to live in harmony with you. I want to give you what you need. I want to define you. God doesn’t just tell us these things, but shows them to us through Jesus. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God shows us that change doesn’t mean death. Change also brings life. It can be hard to understand, but we see it all the time. Like this year when we decided to do a worship service instead of just a Bible study on Wednesday nights. We’re seeing new people find a welcoming place in our congregation who may not have found our community otherwise. This is just one example. In many ways, everyday God reminds us of our identity. You are mine and nothing can change that.

Special K has been running a pretty consistent ad campaign here recently. The TV ads picture various women stepping on a scale and instead of showing a weight it would show a word such as confidence, strength, joy, pride, etc.  They then ask the question, what will you gain when you lose? I want to pose this same question to you today. What will you gain when you lose? Our faith has a particular answer to this question. We gain a new identity and lose our old one. We become a Child of God. God defines who we are. We lose the fear that keeps us trapped and gain hope in all things. We gain the reminder that God walks with us through every change. We gain a reminder of life and the relationships that are a part of it. Just like when I was a part of support staff at camp our view is changed. We become people who make things happen. We become people who make love happen in others.  We light the fire. As you venture into this week and Lenten journey remember that God is present with you defining your identity. Because of this we walk in confidence of the promise, that love casts out the fear and doubt. The promise that hope is living and active in you. That is the fire that burns inside you. That fire is what makes things happen for others. It’s a change that we can’t go back from.  Amen.

Sermon on Matthew 5:21-37 (Epiphany 6A)

Now it’s personal

I have always been a bit of a rule follower. Anyone else grow up as a rule follower? Maybe it was because I was the first born. Maybe it was just because of my personality. I was a huge rule follower as a kid. I couldn’t quite remember any specific stories to illustrate it so I called the keeper of all the good stories, my mom. She remembered how on the first day of school in kindergarten I was convinced that I was going to be late. I knew what time school started and I was emphatically telling her over and over again “Mom, I’m going to be late”. She gently reminded me of what time school did start and that we would be there with plenty of time to spare. I also remembered the first time I ever had to “turn a card.” In school we had this board on the wall, were everyone in the class had their name with a slot that had three cards in it, green, yellow and red. If you broke one of the class rules or disobeyed the teacher you would have to turn a card to the next color. You didn’t want to get to red because then you were in big trouble. One day during show and tell someone had brought their pygmy hamster and we were passing it around, getting the chance to hold it. When it was my time to hold him…it bit me! Well of course I made noise and it just happened to be at a time when the teacher wanted everyone to be quiet. I had to turn a card to yellow. Needless to say, I was very upset…not only because it hadn’t been my fault, but because my now perfect record of never having to turn a card was ruined! I had broken a rule! Stupid hamster.

Whether you will admit to it or not, we all tend to want to be rule followers. There is a certain satisfaction that we get as humans from doing right and falling on the correct side of the line. We have checklist mentalities that rules help to fulfill. When there is a concrete rule in place we can look at it and say “Okay! Got that done.” Then we can move on to something else and put it out of our brain. We like rules. Rules create order where there would be chaos otherwise. Rules give us something to strive for and complete. Rules allow us to decide who has done well and can be rewarded or who has done wrong and has to pay the consequences.

If you didn’t catch it in our gospel reading Jesus is talking about the rules. (It’s a little hard to miss). In this case a couple of the 10 Commandments (you shall not murder and you shall not commit adultery), a common tradition about when it was okay to divorce your wife, and another common tradition about oaths. Jesus talking about the rules isn’t strange or out of bounds. Jesus was a rabbi and part of the practice of the rabbis would be to discuss the laws listed in Torah. Rabbis would even give pointers about how to live out the rules in different situations. Their thoughts were recorded and are even considered to be a part of the Torah as much as the rules themselves. What Jesus does with these laws is not just give practical advice on how to follow them (though he does seem to do that at some points), but he expands their interpretation. He makes it personal. While we were reading the gospel did anyone else get a slight sinking feeling, or was that just me?

When Jesus expands upon these rules it makes them more difficult to follow. We can’t just go “Well I didn’t kill anyone today, check that off” or “Didn’t sleep with anyone else, check.” The expanding forces us to look at more. There are many different parts and angles to these things. The laws are much deeper than we imagined. Suddenly, we can’t just check them off. Suddenly, we may not be able to check anything off. We’re guilty of something and not following the rule. What this means is that we can’t draw a line between who’s followed the rule and who hasn’t. Whose right and wrong. We’re all guilty of something. We’ve all fallen short. We’re in the same boat.

What the expanding of these rules also does for us is it frees us to focus on relationships instead of rules. People instead of laws. We have the freedom to engage people where they are instead of writing them off for not following this or that rule. Jesus’ words remind us all of our dependence on God’s grace and love. By ourselves we can’t possible check everything off the list. Under our own power we can’t be perfect. It’s by the grace of God that we are made free. God’s love for us frees us to be in relationship, both with God and with each other. God cares about us so deeply that, through God’s son Jesus, by making the list unattainable we turn to God to find life and freedom. God cares deeply about you as a person. God cares deeply about your relationships. God cares deeply about making love, peace, joy, hope, life and freedom come alive in you. When we are so locked into the rules that our faces are turned inwards we miss the life that is happening around us. God can’t and won’t stand by as we focus on the rules and not on each other, our relationships and the people we encounter. That’s why Jesus came. To free us and turn us to God and to each other.

One thing that I always hear working in children, youth and family ministry is “It wasn’t that way when I went through it” This is especially true when it comes to Confirmation. I can’t count the number of stories I’ve heard about sermon notes, memorizing and reciting the catechism, having to attend worship, doing a certain amount of service hours, even nuns with rulers. Essentially, I have heard about a ton of rules that have been around Confirmation. I may be a rule follower sometimes, but as I have grown up I have also become a rule changer. Compared to some of the rule laden Confirmation programs I’ve heard about or seen ours probably seems a bit lax. We sometimes think that rules lead to placing importance on something or making it meaningful. I think our gospel for today is contrary to that. In our Confirmation program we have expectations. There are things that I outline for our families that suggest how to get the most out of the Confirmation years. I actually do the same thing for our First Communion classes (been thinking about that some as that approaches in March). There are things that we expect, but we also leave room for the Holy Spirit to work. On a practical level it also leaves room for life to be…well…life. The end goal is the same as other churches programs…to have our youth experience Jesus and live out faith in him as a disciple. For me, it’s about the goal and doing whatever it takes to get there…not how we get there.

I bet we could also tell some stories this morning about how we’ve been excluded from things because of the rules. Times we haven’t been able to do something because a certain rule said so. When it’s possibly the most painful is when this happens in the church. Beautiful, capable, faithful disciples who have a deep faith and love Jesus turned away from their children or themselves being baptism, participating in communion, their wedding being performed, a funeral being done for a family member, or just serving in worship because of the rules. As people of faith and disciples of Jesus we’re called to be something different. We’re called to be a shelter for others from the demands of life. Jesus came to dwell among us to bring freedom, to bring life. As God works to develop freedom, love, joy, hope, peace something happens that calls us to action. We can sit idly by and let all those things happen and not do anything, sure. But, here’s one way we can interact with all this: We become a shelter where others can find freedom, love, joy, hope and peace. I mean this on two levels. Absolutely, we can be (and do) this as a church for others. Beyond that you can be a shelter in every place you go this week. As you go to school, work, at home, at the grocery store, with your friends, with your family, yes even with strangers you can be a shelter for them. A shelter in which they find the blessings of love, joy, hope, peace and freedom. A place where they can find a break from the rules. A place where it becomes personal. A shelter. That’s you. And you. And you. You can be the place where all the blessings of God become personal. Amen.

Sermon on Jeremiah 31:7-14 (Christmas 2A)

Back to the Future

This past weekend Lauren and I went down to Bryan/College Station to visit and do Christmas with my family. On Saturday we went out to my grandma’s house to celebrate with all of the extended family. Everyone was there this year, including my oldest cousin, her husband and their three daughters. We hadn’t seen them since our wedding when their oldest was just a baby, she’s now 4. It was interesting having little ones around again because it has been a while since that’s happened. Out of all of us “older cousins” the youngest is 19. The three little ones got the chance to explore and experience many of the things that we had growing up. They went with their pawpaw, my uncle, to the plowed field by the house to build clod castles and to see how far they could throw a dirt clod. They went to the barn in the back with great grandma to see the doves that my grandpa raised. Even the old playhouse my grandpa built that we played in was once again enjoyed by kids who could actually fit in it. Watching the three girls run and explore brought back a lot of memories and reminiscing for my parents and my aunts and uncles. Much of it was centered around when we were younger…and cuter. (According to them, I still think we’re pretty cute). Most of the reminiscing was happy, but some of it was a bit sad too as we remembered the ways that my grandfather had touched our lives. Grandpa passed away in March of 2006, but, like with many people we say good-bye to, there are many things that remind us of his legacy still today.

The beginning of a new year brings us to a really interesting place. It’s a place where the past, present and future all come together. It also brings a mixture of emotions. The past year stands in the rearview mirror. There may have been some stuff that went well and some stuff that didn’t go so well. You may have welcomed someone new into your life. You may have lost someone that was close to you. Things may not have gone as you wanted them to, but you’ve grown and changed because of all the experiences. In the preparation for the year to come many of us think back to what happened the past year and wonder, what can I make different this year? In the present we make plans for what is coming up. We make resolutions and action plans to change things about our body, mind, or spirit. We want to mend relationships. We want to forget past mistakes and start fresh. The future is once again bright and hopeful (for the most part). There are things to look forward to. There is time to go out and achieve something new. Time to blaze new trails.

Our lesson from Jeremiah this morning also speaks to and acknowledges past, present and future. Remember that the people that the prophet Jeremiah are speaking to have been in captivity. The people of Israel had been conquered by Babylon and were spread out in exile. This part of Jeremiah speaks of a time when the people of Israel would be brought back into the land that God had promised to them. It will be a joyous, but bittersweet event as a large multitude will return. Everyone will come, not just the strong. Jeremiah specifically names the blind, the lame, those with child and those in labor. Those who would be on the edge of society will be lead back with the great company. The path will be straight and will be easy to travel because it’s beside the brooks of water. They will come back with weeping. Weeping for those who were lost. Weeping for the time in exile. In the midst of the weeping God will provide consolation as all of Israel is rescued from hands that are too strong for them. With God’s help their mourning will be turned into joy and their sorrow into gladness. Everyone will be satisfied with the Lord’s bounty. Their life will be like a watered garden and they will never languish again. It’s a beautiful, picture isn’t it?

I feel like I spent much of 2013 living in the past. When I should have been present in all the things I was a part of, I spent too much time wondering what others were doing. What others were thinking about. I spent a lot of time looking backward. When I reflected on this, then of course I thought about time travel. Have you ever wanted to go back in the past and fix something? When I finally started living in the present I then wanted to go back and reclaim that time I had spent thinking about the past. Man, if only I had a Delorean. Back to the Future is when time travel really became cool in pop culture. It is the story of Marty McFly who was played by Micheal J Fox. Marty gets sent back to 1955 and has to get help from his friend Dr. Emmit Brown to repower the time traveling Delorean to get back to 1985. In the process Marty also begins to rewrite history when he saves his dad and his mom falls in love with him. Back to the Future reminds us that you can’t interfere with the past in drastic ways without radically changing the present. Okay, maybe it’s best that I don’t have a Delorean.

Even if we could go back to the past I don’t think many of us would want to. Most of us are happy to remain in the present and look toward the future. No matter where we are God is present with us. In our weeping and reminiscing as we look at the past. As we make plans for how to change what has happened. As we look toward a hopeful future in which we will be redeemed by hands that are too strong for us. A future in which mourning will be turned into joy and sorrow into gladness. God is the one who is making all things new. God is present in past, present and future. In weeping, in plans, in hope, God is present. Providing consolation. Providing transformation. Providing redemption. And most importantly, providing the promise that you are God’s no matter what. God providing a way home.

So if you’re paying attention you’ll notice that I haven’t talked yet about how Jeremiah speaks to our present. Jeremiah speaks to our present by his call at the beginning of our passage to sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, to proclaim and give praise. One of the ways that we can live in the present of the New Year is to proclaim what God has provided to us. It doesn’t have to be big. Think for a minute about what God has provided you with. For me, I am especially thankful this past week for God providing me with family and friends who care about me. Whatever God has provided you with, by telling others about it and giving God praise for it we point to the promises of God in the present. All of those beautiful pictures that Jeremiah spoke of begin to become a present reality when we proclaim and give praise about the things that God provides. We have a call to be a reminder of those things. To remind each other and remind the world that God is present with us. Leading us back. Turning mourning into joy and sorrow into gladness. May your New Year be filled with the presence of God. May you find a way to proclaim and give praise this week for all God has provided you. And may you remember that God has claimed you as God’s own. Amen.

Sermon on Isaiah 2:1-5 (Advent 1A)

World Impossible?

There is a battle that rages in every household, at least once a week, if you only own one TV. Who gets control of the remote? It takes compromise, negotiating, sometimes some begging, sometimes an overruling, and sometimes even a few tears are shed, but eventually it gets settled. When the dust clears one person gets to watch what they want to and the rest of the family either watches too or finds something else to do. Who thinks they hold the record for their house? I can tell you that I don’t own it in our house. Not because I don’t want to fight for it. It’s usually because I am doing something else. Lauren loves TV though! When we’re at home and doing things around the house in the evening the TV is on. This usually leads to me watching/paying attention to shows that I wouldn’t watch otherwise because she is in control. We don’t follow any certain shows with regularity, but there is a genre that is a go-to for Lauren. I don’t know if it has an actual title or not, but I call them “makeover/competition.” Lauren will fully admit that she typically watches these kinds of shows for the reveal. Sometimes it’s about the process it takes to get to the end result, but usually it’s to see how radically different the change has been. I have to admit that it hooks me in too.
One that we watch on the food network is called “Restaurant Impossible.” It features Chef Robert Irvine who looks like a pro wrestler. He’s about 6 ft 5, huge muscles and a closely cropped haircut. The premise of the show is that Chef Robert goes into failing restaurants and completely redoes them. He challenges the owners to change what they need to, deals with staff conflicts, fixes the menu and completely renovates the interior of the restaurant. This all takes place in the span of a couple days and with a budget of about $10,000. Chef Robert works under impossible conditions with impossible odds to do some amazing transformations.
The word that Isaiah saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem seems impossible for both its hearers at the time and for us today. During the time of Isaiah the people of Israel were conquered by the Assyrian empire. Some of the people were even carried off to Assyria as a result. War was common and peace was uncommon. Into this Isaiah speaks of a time when the temple of God will be on the highest mountain (the highest point out there), people will stream into it to learn about God’s ways. God will mediate between nations and as a result people will beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Instruments of war and destruction being turned into tools for production and peace. Peace will reign and everyone will not want to learn how to fight one another anymore. You can see where the people would have seen it as being impossible. We’re talking a total transformation from everything they had known.
Our world is similar to the world of Isaiah. Every time you turn on the news someone else is dead, another family is hurting, another tragedy has happened. War and famine rage in foreign countries. People are hungry, suffering from illness, have no home, no job, and broken relationships are more common than not. How do we respond to it? Another show Lauren really likes to watch and I have seen more of than I care to admit is Project Runway. Up and coming fashion designers take on challenges and design new garments that are judged by a panel. One of the big names in the show and the shepherd of this flock of designers is Tim Gunn. He is known most famously for his phrase “make it work” When he comes into the workroom to look at the progress of the designers and they are struggling he will give suggestions and then tell them simply “make it work.” It’s actually a joke around our house. Every once in a while Lauren or I will look at the other and just say “make it work” That’s how we all typically approach the things that are going on in the world. We respond by just trying to “make it work” We might look for a real change, but we are mostly left with just trying to make it work. It’s not a full solution. It doesn’t really bring a full peace.
The promise that the people of Israel heard from Isaiah that we hear again today is that God isn’t just going to “make it work”. God will make complete transformation happen. God won’t accept anything less than that. The peace that God will bring can only happen through complete transformation. We see it most powerfully in this image of swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. You have to remember that during this time iron wasn’t in great abundance. You didn’t just suddenly make new tools and you certainly couldn’t go out and buy new ones. Iron had to be reshaped from what it was into what it was going to be. I don’t know if you remember what a hammer striking an anvil sounds like, but this will be pretty close. (At this point I hit a hammer against an old iron hoe from my house). That is the sound of swords being beat into plowshares. (Another hit) That’s the sound of spears becoming pruning hooks. (Another hit) That’s the sound of destruction being turned into production. (Another hit) That’s the sound of transformation. (Another hit) That’s the sound of peace. (Another hit)
We live in a tension of now and still to come. God has brought peace into our lives now through his son Jesus, but yet it’s not as complete as the picture Isaiah saw. We see illness being fought, people find homes and jobs, the hungry find food, and relationships are mended. Even as some find peace there are many more that don’t. We see God at work in our world to bring complete transformation. We are invited into this as well. At the end of our passage Isaiah says “Oh house of Jacob, come let us walk in the light of the Lord.” By walking in the light of the Lord we take steps toward complete transformation. We walk in the way of peace. We begin to beat swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. What does it mean to walk in the light of the Lord? I have seen it.
Monday I went with the Little Flock group to Mission Arlington. We sorted coats in one of their buildings so that they could find them easily to give to people who needed them. I was reminded again about how our families here at Shepherd of Life are committed to teaching their children about a different message than what the culture teaches. They are teaching their children about how to walk God’s way of peace, love and service to others. In the second floor of a building surrounded by boxes of donated clothing as parents described to their children what Mission Arlington was and why we were there…I heard this sound (Another hit). On Wednesday when Mark and I delivered meals to those who needed them with Meals on Wheels…I heard this sound (Another hit). On a dark Thursday night where kids had pizza, cookies and got excited about a bingo game…this sound was heard again (Another hit). On a Saturday at a Habitat house…this sound was heard (Another hit). Even in the future as we start construction on the house for Jodi and Jo’ann… we’ll hear this sound (Another hit). When our Advent journey is complete and we come to the manger in the cry of a newborn baby we’ll also hear…this sound (Another hit). That’s the sound of transformation. That’s the sound of peace. Amen.