Sermon: Get Ready… Get Set… Wait, But Stay Awake… (Advent 1 Year B)

Advent 1B                                                                                   December 3, 2017

Sermon Text: Mark 13:24-37                                Panzer Liturgical Service, Stuttgart

Get Ready… Get Set… Wait, But Stay Awake…

Think about all the things you’ve had to wait for in your life… vacations, graduations, weddings, the birth of children, reunion after deployment, moving, yes and even dying. Waiting is hard!

And here we are, making you wait again. I know that some of you were hoping against hope that we would sing at least one Christmas carol today. This year, Advent is at its shortest since the 4^th Sunday in Advent is on Christmas Eve, but still, we have to wait a little while. But trust me, we are not waiting in vain. There are things to do during this season of waiting, this time of preparation. It is a time when we get ready for the coming of the Christ child, and at the same time, we’re waiting for Jesus to come again.

I think that living overseas draws out the complexity of Christmas shopping and mailing… the process always needs to start sooner than it does in my house. But one of the best pleasures of living in Europe is the Advent market. A little commercial to be sure, but there are many signs of the season involved… greenery and wreathes signifying everlasting life, lights signifying the defeat of darkness, the gathering of family and friends to enjoy fellowship together.

But Advent is not just about the coming of Baby Jesus. It is a time when we are reminded that Christ will come again, to reign in glory and in power. For a few minutes, let us look to see how ready we are, and what kind of place we are inviting the Christ child, Christ Triumphant, to come and live.

If you were listening to the lectionary lessons for today, you should have noticed something right away. Upon first reading, you might only hear about darkness, fear, doom, and gloom. Today’s gospel lesson seems weird to us because it is not about the baby Jesus at all. In fact, Mark didn’t really care about baby Jesus. That’s why he didn’t write about the birth in his gospel.

What Mark did care about was Christ’s return. The gospel of Mark teaches the people of Christ the need to be prepared when he comes again to reign eternally. Mark wrote to a people who were constantly “ready.” How ready are we?

Of course, we don’t think about Christ’s coming in the same way that first century Christians did. The destruction of the Temple that Mark alludes to has already happened. Most of the first Christians lived while the first apostles were still alive… they followed Peter or John or James. Those who came later were at the very least disciples of Paul and Barnabas, second generation disciples who talked with Peter, and traveled with Mark. These Christians expected that when Jesus promised to return, he meant in their present time rather than later, and they looked forward with great anticipation to the day of his coming.

But like a seven-year-old waiting for Christmas vacation, the people got weary and frustrated in their waiting. They began to doubt it would happen. They began to think He might never come. Some of them reverted back to old ways and gave up on this idea of the risen Messiah. And Mark uses Jesus’ words to remind them of the absolute necessity of always being ready for his coming. “Keep awake. No one knows the time or place. Keep awake!”

How many of you have every worked third shift? These are the hours between “going to bed” and “getting up” time, and there’s a reason why these folks often get paid a little bit more. For over three years, I worked third shift on Friday and Saturday nights in the blood bank at Duke University Hospital to support myself during seminary. And I found that it was hardest to stay awake when there was nothing to do. We thought we wanted nights when we could read a few chapters in the books that we brought along, or looked forward to being able to get a few stitches in on our needlework. But inevitably, those were the nights when we wanted most to sleep. It was actually the work of the job that kept us awake and alert. It was crossmatches and blood typing and getting the hospital ready for the next day’s work that kept us going all night. Those were the nights I felt really needed and necessary to life in the world around me.

And that’s pretty much the same advice that Jesus gives here. Stay awake and ready by doing the business of the kingdom. Be prepared. Do the things that need to be done. Represent the Lord. Don’t get carried away by the hustle and bustle of the outside world, because it will take you to places you do not want to go.

How is this possible, we ask? And how do we translate Jesus’ directions into something meaningful for the Advent of 2017? Bombarded from all sides by “commercial Christmas,” it is sometimes hard to remember what Christmas and even Christian faith are all about. People stand up and say, “Merry Christmas,” but their lives do not reflect God’s grace and love. The Christmas trees and wreaths and gatherings are beautiful, but if that’s all our Christmas celebrations are about, we are missing the point. The presents and shopping and running are exhausting unless we use some of that energy to help others to know some of the comforts, peace, and love that we know.

This passage is often called “The Little Apocalypse.” We think that the word apocalypse means “end times” but it actually translates to “revealing,” Keeping that in mind tells us that this is not a prediction about the end times or a description of the end of the world. Instead, it is a reminder that faith isn’t lived out only on high holy days. I’m sure that every denomination and congregation has C&E members… those who come at Christmas and Easter and feel like they have done their duty. And I’m certainly not saying that Christmas and Easter celebrations are not important. But authentic Christian faith is lived out every time we gather for worship, when we share coffee after service, when we practice our handbells or prepare a snack to share. It is about being ready to recognize Christ in the world around us…To see him in the faces of our neighbors and our enemies. Jesus’ words actually drive us back to the present, where we are called to see our present circumstances as the gift God has given us to serve the Kingdom in the world today.

And while it seems like a strange passage a few weeks before Christmas, there are a couple of things I’d like to highlight about gospel lesson. First, it’s super confusing, because their idea of time and ours are different. We think about nanoseconds… dividing time into smaller and smaller increments. But they thought of time in wide, grand swatches. Our days are marked by appointments on a calendar. Theirs were marked by four key observations of the day  – evening, midnight, cockcrow and day.

Waiting for Jesus to come back wasn’t about sitting and waiting for the end of the world. It wasn’t about shedding day-to-day responsibilities. It is about believing the promise that the Savior is near. David Lose writes, “Mark, in other words, isn’t pointing us to a future apocalypse (“revealing”) but rather a present one, as Christ’s death and resurrection change absolutely everything. For once Jesus suffers all that the world and empire and death have to throw at him…and is raised to new life!… then nothing will ever be the same again. Including our present lives and situations.”[i]

God comes to us as we are, even if we think that we’re not yet good enough, or if we think that we don’t really need him. And he uses us to be the hands and feet of Christ – to share love and peace and grace, even when it feels pointless or fruitless or painful.

I encourage every family to take whatever opportunities are available to give others a brighter Christmas. Take a name from an Angel Tree. Figure out a way to share with people who have need… no gift is too small. Value your togetherness with family. Treasure your friendships with others. Know that the love with which God loved the world when Jesus was born is still alive today, living in each one of us.

I’ve said this many times, even to some of you in sermons I have preached within these walls, but it is the witness I bring. I had a plan for what my life would look like and I pursued it from the time I was in high school. And when I achieved that plan, it didn’t take me long to realize that it wasn’t enough to make me happy for the rest of my life. So, I made a new plan, seminary. And accomplished it, and was sent to my first church to pastor the good folks of SC and figure out how to get my Clemson football tickets back. And then I met this AF guy, and all of my plans went out the window. And it not only changed the way I thought about my career but also about what it means to be a pastor, a Christian and a child of God.

It took about 10 years for me stop grieving about not being someone's pastor, to start thinking outside of the ministry box and taking ministry as it came to me. It took almost 20 years for my beloved United Methodist conference to stop asking, “When are you coming home?” and to start asking, “What can we do to help you be engaged in life-changing ministry wherever you are?” I think that’s the way we should experience Advent. It’s not just about preparing for the coming of the baby in the manger. It’s about experiencing the reality of Christ among us, and Christ working in us, every single day.

In a real sense, Jesus is coming again. And each year, we have the opportunity to be better prepared, to share more love, and to live more joy than we did the year before. But we can’t do anything if we sleep through the season, unaware and unprepared.

One last story: on a South Pole expedition, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton left a few men on Elephant Island, promising that he would return. Later, when he tried to go back, huge icebergs blocked the way. But suddenly, as if by a miracle, an avenue opened in the ice and Shackleton was able to get through. His men, ready and waiting, quickly scrambled aboard. No sooner had the ship cleared the island than the ice crashed together behind them. Contemplating their narrow escape, the explorer said to his men, "It was fortunate you were all packed and ready to go! We would have never made it out alive otherwise." They replied, "We never gave up hope. Whenever the sea was clear of ice, we rolled up our sleeping bags and reminded each other, 'He may come today.'"

Are we ready for the Christ Child to come? Are we prepared for Christ to return in glory? Advent is all about getting ready. Get ready… get set… get ready to wait, but stay awake. For the Lord is coming … again. Amen.

Peace, Deb

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[i] David Lose, In the Meantime… “Advent 1B: A Present-tense Advent,” posted Nov 27, 2017, http://www.davidlose.net/2017/11/advent-1-b-a-present-tense-advent/

Talents are more than what you're good at - 24th Sunday after Pentecost (Year A)

24^th Sunday after Pentecost – Year A                                                November 19, 2017

Matthew 25:14-30                                                     Panzer Liturgical Service, Stuttgart

Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of stewardship campaigns have been designed using this passage from Matthew. I’m betting you wouldn’t have been surprised if I had handed each of the kids at the children’s message a dollar, telling them to go and make some money to bring back to share at church. In fact, there’s a bestselling book, The Kingdom Assignment, which tells the story of Pastor Denny Bellesi and what happened with his church when he came in one Sunday to give out $10,000 in $100 bills to the people attending that morning. There were three requirements for getting one of the bills: 1. The $100 belongs to God.  2. You must invest it in God’s work.  3. Report your results in 90 days.  Those reports were startling:  people made money hand over fist to contribute to the Church, creative ministries were hatched, lives were transformed, people wept for joy – and all of it was reported by NBC’s Dateline. Great story, right? So why does it give me a little bit of the creeps? [i]

This feels like a truly American interpretation of the parable. In our culture, we can be wooed into the practice of investing for the future – even God’s future – and dealing out the results in tightly measured and regulated packets. The truth of the matter is that the majority of us don’t need to be given $100 to invest for God – we have plenty of our own to do that. And we often forget that, in fact, it all belongs to God.

So, let’s begin today with the premise that this parable doesn’t mean what we’ve always been taught it means. It may take us to an uncomfortable place, but hey, that’s what Jesus does.

Redirection #1: A talent in this story doesn’t mean our God given abilities. The CEB translates it as a valuable coin… definitely not a good translation.

In biblical times, a talent was gold equal to the amount of money that a man would earn over his whole adult lifetime – about 25 years. It would weigh over 50 pounds. It wouldn’t be a few coins that someone could slip in their pocket and forget about. Even the servant with one talent would have trouble carrying his treasure away.[ii]

Redirection #2: We should really pay more attention to the third servant than the other two.  The first and second servants are busy while the master is gone, evidenced by the fact that the master had to seek them out when he returned. And it looks like they were ready, because they were able to give an immediate reckoning for their actions. Now this makes sense to those of you who regularly balance your financial accounts, but to those of us who check the ATM to see how much money we have, not so much.

But then again, the third servant was also ready to give an accounting. He, in fact, had chosen conventional wisdom for dealing with the master’s money. This is not the first time we have seen someone burying valuable things for safekeeping … remember the parable of the man who finds a treasure in a field and sells everything so that he can buy the field? The trick, of course, is to remember where you hide it.

So, I don’t think that this is a parable about keeping busy or being able to account for what we’re doing to build or support the Kingdom. Instead, I wonder what happens if we listen to what the third servant says about the master. It’s not very flattering or comforting… “I know you to be a hard man, so I played it very, very safe.” This is all we have. The other two servants don’t give us any clues to what kind of guy he is. And the landowner neither confirms or denies these claims. Instead, he replies with  a simple question: “If you thought I was so harsh, why didn’t you choose another strategy?” It looks like the master’s response is a self-fulfilling prophecy… the third servant got exactly what he was afraid of.

All of this led me to wonder if that’s not true for us, too. When we see God as an enforcer of rules, we get sidetracked on legalism, and instead of worshiping God, we worship the rules. This version of God is stern and judgmental, and before long, we believe that everything bad in our lives is a kind of punishment from God. When we worship that God, we not only experience God’s anger for ourselves, but also expect that God is angry with everyone else, too. Lots of ink and tears have been spilled over this picture of a God who only wants to keep people in line.

But what if we seek God primarily in terms of grace and expectation? I am often surprised and uplifted by the gifts of time, friendship and possibility that are happening all around me. If we imagine God to be a God of love, then it is much easier to recognize and experience God’s love in our own lives and to share that vision of God and God’s love with others.[iii]

Too often we operate under the assumption that “what you see is what you get.” We lift a few verses out of the Bible and pontificate on them as equally applicable to all situations. But in my experience, context is always helpful. Jesus told this story just before he gathered his followers for a last meal, days before he was taken into custody and sentenced to death, and before he died a painful, shameful death. And while it’s classic theology to think of Jesus’ death as a substitution for our own sins, we should also know that its purpose doesn’t end there. The events of Jesus’ last days – the healings, the parables, the meal, the denials, the death, AND the resurrection are a testament as to how far a generous loving God will go to communicate his love for the world.

Jesus spent his life proclaiming and practicing the Kingdom of God. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, offered forgiveness and welcomed everyone who saw through him their need for the love of God. He defied conventional traditions and associated with people who were outcasts. And he called out those who lived only by the rules, those who could not recognize that Jesus was Emmanuel – God with us. And for all of that – he was killed. And just to make sure that we understood how far God can lift us up – from disappointment and tragedy and being stuck in our own expectations – he raised Jesus from the dead on the third day to remind us that life is more powerful than death and love will always win over hate.[iv]

So, yes, this is a parable about using all the resources we have to further the work of the Kingdom. Jesus intends for us to be about that work, always ready and expecting his immediate return. But it is also true that our resources will never be enough. God has this uncanny ability to multiply our efforts in ways that we could never imagine. Our perceived failures are often a witness to the fact that we don’t trust that God has our backs.[v] The good news is that we have unlimited opportunities to get it right... Jesus just wants us to try... to trust that God will bless the efforts we make in good faith that God's way is the best way to participate in the Kingdom of God.

As I was pondering all of this, I was left with two questions, which I ask you to think about this week. I don’t have the answers, only more questions, so maybe together we can come up with some ideas how they might help us grow in faith.

Is it fear that keeps us from taking risks? Are we afraid that our mistakes will be held against us so much that we make safe choices, hoping that maintaining the status quo will be good enough? This certainly seems to be the case for the third servant. He did the minimum required… he did not lose his master’s money. Is that we want for ourselves – just believing or doing enough to stay safe? Or do we want more?

Do we even believe that it’s possible to be adequate representatives of God and Jesus in the world? For all indications, it looks like the first and second servants were very successful surrogates for the master. They made a lot of money for the master, securing a good future for all of them. But mostly they just did what the master asked them to do. They were faithful in representing him in business and in the world. Even if the master hadn’t given them all the profits to keep, they would have been the success their master knew they could be. I’ll bet even if they hadn’t made all those profits, but gave it a good try, he would have been proud of them anyway. How about us?

What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Is it what we believe about Jesus? Or is it about how we live our lives every day? In our children’s moment, we talked about thankfulness, and how it’s a byproduct of knowing that we are loved. Living out that love every day – that’s what Jesus is asking us to do. And in the process, talents are being multiplied. And we are thankful.

Yesterday I read this really amazing quote attributed to Henri Nouwen, a 20^th century Catholic pastor, theologian, and mystic. It was not the quote I was looking for, but it stayed with me so much that I’ll use it to end today. It read: “For Jesus, there are no countries to be conquered, no ideologies to be imposed, no people to be dominated. There are only children, women and men to be loved.”

I want to be that kind of servant… that kind of Christian.

It sounds easy but it’s really hard. Good thing we’re not being asked to do it alone.

Peace, Deb 

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[i] James Howell, November 19, 2017, http://jameshowellsweeklypreachingnotions.blogspot.de/

[ii] Howell

[iii] David Lose, In the Meantime… How Do You Imagine God? http://www.davidlose.net/2014/11/pentecost-23-a/

[iv] Lose

[v] Carla Sunberg, A Plain Account… Proper 28A, http://www.aplainaccount.org/proper-28a-gospel

Becoming Reformation people - 500th Anniversary (Reformation Sunday)

Reformation Sunday (Year A) – 500^th Anniversary                                  October 29, 2017

John 8:31-36      Romans 3:19-28                                                     Stuttgart Liturgical Service

This sermon has a little bit of something for everyone… a little history, a little biblical interpretation, a little application, and a discipleship challenge… yeah! I’ll try not to make your head spin too much…

I hated Western Civilization history class when I was in school. What did that have to do with me? It wasn’t until I was in seminary that I got why all of this history stuff matters. And I think it will surprise you, as it did me, that my church history books are just as important as my bible commentaries when it comes to preaching and teaching in the church. (Good church history resource – www.christianhistoryinstitute.org)

This month I’ve been listening to a daily podcast called, “Here We Stand.”[i] It chronicles the lives of 31 people who were instrumental in the Protestant Reformation, a movement which started two centuries before Martin Luther’s proclamations. Have you ever heard of these fine folks - Peter Waldo (13^th C), John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, or Girolamo Savonrola (14 C)? Each of them expressed some of the same concerns as published in Luther’s 95 Theses, decades before him. These four have something in common. Each of them was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and three of the four were martyred, killed by the church for heresy, with the hope that their followers would get back in line, accepting Catholic doctrine as correct and infallible. In the end, it didn’t work.

It’s very clear that Martin Luther, while still a rebel, stands on the shoulders of preachers and theologians who preceded him. This protest reformation of Christianity began because good, faithful people, saw how far the Church had strayed from the teachings of Jesus. They saw the value of reading scripture themselves instead of relying on a priest for interpretation. Before Luther, John Wycliffe in England and Jan Hus in the current Czech Republic translated the scripture into their vernacular languages and paid the price with their lives. It turns out that an educated laity was a threat to the Church. Luther never intended to start a new branch of Christianity. He just wanted the one that he was a part of to be about faith and relationship with Christ and not mired in following the rules.

There were a few of things that Luther had going for him that those who came before him did not. (See “Why Luther?” by Gene Veith[ii])

1) Right time, right place… The pace of the world was rapidly changing during the 16^th century. The University in Wittenberg had begun teaching the new Renaissance curriculum alongside the classics, and other theologians were great influences on Luther, among them Philip Melanchthon, who is buried across the aisle from Luther in the Schloss Church. The political climate was also in flux. Luther’s patron, Frederick the Wise, Duke of Saxony, protected Luther from the reach of the Catholic proceedings, which sought to removed Luther permanently as a voice for change within the Church and society.

2) The printing press… Guttenberg’s press made quick distribution of information possible. Best known for printing the first German bibles, he was also the largest printer of indulgences (the church’s version of “get out of purgatory at great cost to your loved ones”) which Luther railed against in his writings and sermons. In reality, Luther may or may not have posted them on the church door. But he did send them in a letter to his bishop, and by January 2018 had them printed and distributed to anyone who would take them. It wasn’t Facebook, but pretty momentous for the time.

3) He was a great writer, scholar, teacher, and preacher. It was his gift. It was his calling. But he didn’t let it go to his head. He also believed that every believer was called to a vocation. Becoming a priest brought great honor to a family. But Luther taught that everyone was called to serve God in some way, and all are honorable.

God’s callings are mostly quite ordinary—everyday relationships in the family, workplace, church, and community—in which Christians live out their faith in love and service to their neighbors. But God sometimes works in extraordinary ways as well, and when He does, He works by means of vocation; that is, through human instruments.[iii]

In a sense, Luther was releasing people to their live out an authentic faith, not just follow a set of rules designed to steer people to the heavenly gates. And no matter what Protestant tradition that any of us come from, we are a product of Luther’s work and the ones who came before and after.

Luther wrote volumes on doctrines described in the scripture. He is best known for his writings on salvation by faith alone – His Preface to the Letter to the Romans influenced many, including my own John Wesley. But he also wrote about the role faith has in the lives of Christian believers. It was not enough to confess and believe. Genuine faith is evidenced in everyday living.

In the reading from John, Jesus addresses the age-old (and contemporary) problem of what it means to be free… in the language of faith - of what it means to be saved. Is freedom or salvation about the religion of following the rules? That’s certainly where Jesus and the Pharisees came into conflict, over and over again.

I think it’s what often trips us up, too. Luther asks: Is faith about orthodoxy – right doctrine – or is it about orthopraxy – right living?[iv] Is it about checking off all the right boxes or how we treat our neighbors? Is it about saying we are Christian or living so that people know it without our speaking a word?

“The truth will make you free…” Where does this freedom come from? Is it bestowed on us by the institution or is it a gift from God? Jesus spent a lot of time breaking the rules – for all the right reasons… to help people… to teach lessons. And in the end, it got him killed.

Reformation comes when certainties about who is in and out of the Kingdom of God are in conflict with Jesus’ call to love and serve. Reformation (defined as “the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory”[v]) begins when we realize that life in the world and life in the Kingdom are not the same thing. Reformation comes when we gather our courage and step out in faith that God speaks truth to us all, often replacing certainty of the known, the comfortable, for trusting God in middle of the unfamiliar.

Life in Christ is not just about understanding Christian doctrine, it’s also about living out Jesus’ teachings. Through his study of Romans, Luther reminds us that faith is only truly fulfilled through discipleship.

That’s why Luther’s insistence that people be able to read the Bible for themselves is important even to us. And yet, let’s be honest, are we faithful about picking up the bible and reading it for ourselves? I’d say that many of us, including me, are not. I’ll admit that in the weeks when I am preparing to teach or preach, I am immersed the Word. But many days, I am content to reflect on a verse or two as contained in a small devotional, willing to check that box as “done.”

Here’s a challenge for you. The New Testament book of Mark was the first gospel written and is only about 660 verses. It can easily be read from beginning to end in much less time than watching a college football game. If you’re not up for reading it all in one day, ready it over a week, noting the details that emerge as the story progresses. And if you’re really intrigued, go on and read the gospels of Matthew and Luke – they are a little longer, but not too much. Notice the ways they reflect the book of Mark and the ways that they are different. See which themes run consistently throughout these three books, and see if you can figure out what themes are different. Get a good study bible and the possibilities are endless.

And that’s how it starts. Immersing ourselves in the biblical narrative continues to be the best encouragement for living out faith every day. That’s what discipleship is all about. Does reading the parables of the lost coin and sheep and son change the way we see those lost around us or help us without own depression and anxiety? Does going to church on Sunday make a difference in how we treat people the rest of the week? Yes, but maybe not the first or second or tenth times we read them, but they do have the power to work their ways into our souls and hearts in ways that will change us forever. 

In the passage from Romans, we see Paul connect the idea of faith with justice or righteousness.[vi] Writing to a Church that was becoming increasingly multi-chromatic, he wanted to make sure that everyone understood that law has its place, but relationship with God and with one another turns all of our previous notions about faith and freedom upside down. For Paul’s church, that meant Jews and Gentiles gathered in the name of Jesus to share meals and ministry – they became a new family called Church. In our world, it means climbing over the same tall barriers of gender, race and nationality, trusting that God has called us and will be with us in the midst of our brave new lives.

The biggest challenge we face today is how to be reforming without fracturing into a million splinter churches. It feels like such a fine line to find the truth that sets us free without breaking apart all the ties that bind us together. Too often, we choose between one or the other… truth or unity. No solution to that yet, well, because total trust in God is just hard. Try as we might, we love power and want to be the gatekeepers of truth. Watch or read the news and we’re reminded that it’s a sickness over the whole world right now.

Jesus, Paul and Martin Luther all remind us that there is a solution: that the “we” is stronger than the “me.” It’s the hardest work that any of us will ever do - to acknowledge and then overcome the differences between us, allowing the differences between us to be our strength instead of our downfall. And we will be unsuccessful until we put our trust in God to heal the wounds between us.

People often ask me why a liturgical worship service means so much to me. After all, we are worshiping each Sunday in a tradition that goes back over 1000 years. They ask, “Don’t you get tired of praying the same prayers, and knowing exactly what’s going to come next?” Time and again I am able to say that those are exactly the things that make the experience so worshipful. I am constantly amazed at how a verse in a well-known hymn will speak to me in a way that it never has before, and that while I may have preached on or heard these same texts many times in the past, this week they are made new again by all of the life that has been lived by me and other in the between time.

Reformation doesn’t necessarily mean dumping out everything old from the Church in an effort to take on new things all the time. Reformation means being willing to be re-formed… made new… and trusting that God freedom and righteousness are the gifts on the journey. David Lose, Lutheran pastor and former president of Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia sums it up this way:

Perhaps the best way to celebrate the Reformation is not to celebrate it at all, but rather to repeat it. To remember both halves of Paul’s mighty words, first the difficult truth that “all have sinned and fallen short” in order to hear the blessed news that “all are now justified by God’s grace as a gift.” For here, indeed, is a truth that sets you free. And it is a truth that still has the capacity to change lives, the church, and indeed the whole world. [vii]

May God send us into the world to be a Reformation people.  Amen.

Peace, Deb

[i] Podcast – Here We Stand - https://www.desiringgod.org/here-we-stand

[ii] Veith - https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/2017/10/why-luther/

[iii] Veith - ibid

[iv] Samuel Cruz, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3451

[v] Dictionary.com http://www.dictionary.com/browse/reform

[vi] Jane Patterson, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3448

[vii] David Lose, http://www.davidlose.net/2017/10/reformation-sunday-the-truth-about-the-truth/

Sermon: Let's live like we're lifted up (17th Sunday After Pentecost - A)

October, 1, 2017 - 17th Sunday After Pentecost (21A)                            Stuttgart Liturgical Service

Philippians 2:1-13, Matthew 21:23-32

I don’t know about you, but I need a little bit of encouragement these days. The world seems crazier and more mixed up that I ever remember it, even though the world has often been even more dangerous and unpredictable than now. You cannot read a newspaper or watch television or check social media without getting hit in the face with the reality that, left to our own devices, we can really mess things up.

That’s why we need a story bigger than our own in which to be grafted and grounded. That’s why we read the stories of the Hebrew Bible and Christian scriptures. They tell stories that are not so much factual as they are true. The gospels are like documentaries of Jesus’ life and teachings, each with a particular audience in mind. Likewise, the letters are written to particular communities of believers with particular problems and gifts. These writings were designated as a canon of sacred texts after they had proved to be instructive to the Christian community for several hundred years. Still today, they teach us important lessons about who God is and who we are called to be if we have committed our lives to Christ. Knowing this, what do we do with the words that we have heard today from Paul and involving the events and stories we have heard about Jesus?

This passage from Philippians is very famous and historical. It is called “the Christ Hymn,” and is believed to be part of a hymn from the early church, when Christianity was spreading from person to person, and house to house. These verses are deeply theological, describing not just the behaviors of Jesus, but also revealing Paul’s understanding of his very nature. Deep questions are addressed in this passage. What is the relationship between Christ’s humanity and his divinity? And how does the saving work of his life relate to the work that we are called to in his name? Even better, this passage names the kinds of lives we are being called to live – lives of love, compassion, sharing and sympathy. It sounds like an easy task in the abstract, but in practice, it is agonizingly difficult. Why do you think that is?

One reason could be our status in the world. That status could be defined by our race, our gender, our socioeconomic level, our level of education, the list is endless. I think about the life that I am leading… about where I came from and the resources I have at my disposal, and it’s easy to get caught up in the expectations of the world… to be lured into thinking that I’m doing OK on my own. After all, if my needs are being met, that’s the most important thing. But that’s not true, at least not in God’s world. When trouble comes, personal, emotional, worldly trouble, I am reminded that my own comfort and perspective are far from the life which I claim in Christ.

It is worth remembering that the earliest Christians were considered some of the lowest members of society. The chief priests and elders made that pretty clear in our gospel lesson. “By whose authority are you upsetting our apple cart?” they ask Jesus. And the original “answer a question with a question” man responds by challenging the whole premise of their question. He knew that somewhere along the way they had stopped being followers of God and started being the gatekeepers of the world they wanted to control. Jesus knew that while they thought very highly of themselves, they were also afraid enough for their positions that they wouldn’t pull out the big guns until it was absolutely necessary.

We don’t know exactly why this parable is the one that follows Jesus’ newest encounter with the religious leaders, but we can see that it would be a real puzzle to everyone gathered… no easy answers allowed. Which of the sons honored the father? The one who told him what he wanted to hear, or the one who maybe even begrudgingly did the right thing? I’m guessing that we can see ourselves on both sides of the fence, and I don’t know about you, but it makes me really uncomfortable.

So maybe pairing this passage from Philippians with this Jesus encounter is purposeful enough to allow us to dig a little deeper into not only the nature of Christ but also our relationship with him.

When I look back over my life, I often remember that it’s been at the moments that I have felt most carefree and “together” – when everything was ‘rainbows and unicorns’ - that life got turned upside down, reminding me of why I need Jesus. A few years out of college, I got a promotion at work and a few months later was offered an even bigger job in a different state. And I wanted to be happy – to celebrate my big success with my friends and family… but all I could do was cry. And after prayer and soul-searching and some good pastoral care, I realized that wasn’t the life I wanted, and a year later ended up cashing in all in to go to seminary.

Over and over in my life, just when I thought I had my act totally together, I realized that this was not the act that Jesus had called me to. And I’ll bet that’s true for you, too. This passage from Philippians reminds us that we meet Christ most honestly in the midst of our need for God. Just when we think that we can make it on our own, something happens to remind us that our real strength is found in community… in loving and caring for one another, which most often means putting the needs of others ahead of our own needs.

Today we hear of Christ himself taking the form of a slave, humbling himself even to the point of death by crucifixion -- the execution reserved for slaves and traitors in the Roman Empire. In God’s world, it is Christ’s willingness to give up himself to the powers of the world that gives us our freedom. To become like Christ, if that’s what’s being asked of us (and I think it is), then we begin by hearing how Christ became like us and continues to come among us. Then, and only then, are we ready to hear about how to be "the imitation of Christ."

Jesus’ life is one of both descent and ascent – of coming down to be like us, with us, even though he was in the form of God and equal with God. Relinquishing that, even for a short time must have felt like slavery for him – limited by the frailness of the human body and spirit. During his time with us, he experienced how fickle we can be, and how we are willing to sacrifice much for our own safety and security. And still, he gave himself up for us, obedient to the task at hand, willing to see it through, even though the end would be so painful.[i]

This is both exhilarating and frightening, to see what Christ went through in his faithfulness to God, knowing that we are also called to live that kind of life. Maybe the military community has a special understanding about what that might look like, but still, it takes being training and practice to live up to those ideals.

The best news is this: we are not called to this kind of life alone. God is the one working in us, stirring up in us a willingness to do the things which must be done. When we immerse ourselves in it fully, God’s work is the source of our energy and enthusiasm to serve. And when we find community in the process, amazing, even miraculous things can be accomplished. In fact, because of the language differences between Greek and English, the “you” to which Paul refers is not in reference to individuals alone being called to serve, but to the development of communities, the willing and the working.

Likewise, the salvation that we are working out is not just about who’s going to heaven and who’s not, but about the quality of our corporate life as we work together under the rule of the Savior. How will we know if we are successful in sustaining this kind of life? Paul talks about it in these terms: mutual love and affection, sharing in the Spirit, unity, humility, sacrifice – and doing in all “in Christ.” So, if anyone tries to tell you that faith is an individual, private thing, or that’s it’s all about going to heaven, please direct them to Paul and this letter to the church at Philippi. Faith is corporate and public and even political… after all, Jesus came to turn the world upside down and calls us to do the same.

I don’t know what that means for you, but the place that I’ve started is to listen. There are millions of people in the world who have different life experiences than mine, and rather than assuming the worst of them and trying to make their lives look more like mine, I’m going to put more energy into listening to their pain and disappointment and joy, and to figure out if there is some way that I can be a part of the solution to make life and the world better.

This week on NPR I heard the story of a student who helped integrate a public high school in Tennessee in 1964. All-white schools would often refuse to play there, and if they did meet on the field, many of the black players left the game bloodied from the extra hard hits and no-calls from the referees on the field. Sometimes the police would have to escort their buses as they left town. He described the relief he felt when they got back to the high school safely, seeing his dad there to pick him up, each week escaping the angry mob of mostly white folks who felt like this integrated team was ruining football for them.

Dr. Weaver said, "Normally when you're with a team, you feel like everybody's going to stand together, and I never got that feeling that the team would stand with me if things got bad," Weaver says. "I think a number of the white students who were there with me would say now, If I could have done something different, I would've said something. But that's what evil depends on, good people to be quiet."

Weaver has never been back to West High School since graduating 50 years ago. After hearing a StoryCorps interview that aired on NPR last month, the current principal reached out, and Weaver says he will return to the school in early 2018 to talk to the students about his experiences with integrating the school.[ii] Think about that – over 50 years since it all happened and this is the first opportunity he’s had to go back and share what that meant to him – how it made him the person he is today.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that a good Christian life is all about the grand gesture… although those are always good. The harder thing is to not be silent when a word of love or kindness or support is needed. It’s scary to step out of our comfort zones and say the things we know that others don’t want to hear. But Paul reminds us that the more we act out and speak out the faith we accept in our hearts, the more God will give us the heart and energy and courage to walk that road. In the end, we have to live like we’re lifted up, and God will do the rest.

I’m going to close with the same Philippians 2 passage, but this time from Eugene Peterson’s “The Message.”

^1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

^5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

^9-11 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

^12-13 What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure. [iii]

Peace, Deb

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[i] Susan Eastman, Commentary on Philippians 2:1-13, Preach This Week, September 24, 2011, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1009 (Dr Eastman's reflection was a key inspiration for this sermon.)

[ii] William Lynn Weaver, “What Evil Depends On: For Good People to Be Quiet.” Story Corps: NPR Morning Edition, September 29, 2017.

[iii] Eugene Peterson, The Message

Sermon: Water Walking (10th Sunday after Pentecost – A)

Sermon: Water Walking (10^th Sunday after Pentecost – A)         August 13, 2017

Matthew 14:23-33                                       Panzer Liturgical Service, Stuttgart

Background: My husband retired from 27 3/4 years in the USAF on July 1, and we have been hoping for the last six months find civilian employment in Germany. Time was running out, and less than one day before shipping our first car home, he was called to interview for a position here in Stuttgart. Within 48 hours from first contact, he signed a contact and we were able to cancel car-shipping and house-packing appointments and change over to "We're staying!" mode. That's a lot of drama to surround sermon-writing... here's the result.

In his book, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat, pastor John Ortberg tells a story about an unexpected birthday gift from his wife. He was excited to get a hot air balloon ride for two. When they arrived at the field where the balloons were tethered, he climbed in the basket with his wife, the pilot and another couple, and off they went.

It was a beautiful day, flying high between the California mountains and the Pacific coastline. The majesty of the scene took his breath away. But soon he realized that he was feeling something unexpected… fear.

He always thought those baskets went about chest high, but this one only came up to their knees. He worried that one good wind would be enough to pitch someone overboard. One look at his wife told him that she was even more uncomfortable than he. So, he decided that if he got into a conversation with the balloon pilot, it would make him feel calmer. “How did you get started flying balloons,” he asked.

“Dude, it’s like this.…” Uh oh… it turns out the guy actually didn’t have a job, but was a local surfer who did this a little money on the side. He went on to explain that he got started flying hot-air balloons after he had crashed his truck drunk-driving, injuring his brother. While his brother was recovering, the driver-brother learned to pilot balloons so that he could take his brother for a ride. 

“By the way,” he added, “if things get a little choppy on the way down, don’t be surprised. I’ve never flown this particular balloon before, and I’m not sure how it’s going to handle the descent.”

John’s wife looked over at him and said, “You mean to tell me we are a thousand feet up in the air with an unemployed surfer who started flying hot-air balloons because he got drunk, crashed a pickup, injured his brother, has never been in this balloon before and doesn’t know how to bring it down?”

Then the wife of the other couple looked at John and said, “You’re a pastor. Do something religious.” “You mean, like taking up an offering?” John asked. They were not amused.

In hindsight, he realized that the real question of the day was, “Can I trust the pilot?” You know how it is. We tell ourselves that everything will be OK – a positive attitude makes for a pleasant journey. But in the end, John realized that the real issue concerned the dude who was flying the balloon.[i]

Our gospel lesson today falls immediately after our lesson from last week – Jesus feeding the multitude by the sea. When Jesus hears of the death of John the Baptist, he retreats to a place alone, to pray and I’m sure to wonder about the turn that life has taken. The disciples head out to cross the water in a boat – the kind that they were familiar with, in the same waters where they had fished before. As the small storm buffeted them around, I’ll bet it didn’t feel like anything they had been through before.[ii]

The language of the original text speaks of a storm that “torments” the boat… the disciples did everything they could to keep it from going down. It was then that one of the disciples noticed a shadowy figure walking toward them… on the water. Frightened and amazed, they realized that the closer Jesus gets, the calmer the sea becomes. Jesus’ presence is their port in the storm, even in the middle of the water. His presence with them says, “You can trust me. Your destiny is in my hands and it will be OK.”[iii]

Peter, never one to mince words, blurts out, “If it is you, Lord, then command me to walk on the water to you.” Jesus responds with just one word. “Come.”

Peter, feeling himself sinking, cries out, “Save me, Lord.” And Jesus reaches out a hand, reminding Peter that doubt is often the greatest enemy. We aren’t meant to live this life of faith on our power or instinct alone. We are created to be in relationship with, and walking with, the One in whose image we are created.

This passage is about radical discipleship. It reminds us that Jesus asks us every day to do some amazing, scary things. Often, they make no sense to us. They are outside our comfort zones. They require us to behave in a way that seems unsafe and outside of the world’s expectations. And many times, in the middle of our water-walking, we feel ourselves slipping under, unsure of our path and fearful of the way ahead.

We talk about this as the story of Jesus walking on water. But what if we’re putting the emphasis on the wrong part of the story? What if the lessons to learn come from what happened next?

I’ve spent a lot of years in ministry with military families, and it didn’t take long to realize that some locations are more desirable than others. We have had some great postings, including living in Germany twice, but we have also gone to a few places where people asked, “Who did you make mad?”, usually in a much more colorful way. To many, those assignments are seen as punishment, or as a place to lay low. Many people try to leave for greener pastures as soon as possible.

But those wilderness assignments were some of the best for me. Those were the places where I made the best friends, where people really appreciated the contributions I made to church and community, where people reached out to include me and make me feel loved. And it was in those places that I learned one of the most important lessons of my entire faith journey. And this is it….

We get lured into thinking that we are choosing between two things. In this year alone, for us it’s been, should we take that next assignment or retire and see what’s next? Should we try to stay in Germany or go back to the US? Which one does God want? Which choice has God’s blessing? What happens if we make the wrong choice? Will our future be ruined forever?

More and more, I realized that these are the wrong questions. Because God is down every road. He’s in our going out and our coming in. He’s in Stuttgart and in Grand Forks, ND, in Newport, RI and Altus, OK. He’s in the career choices that worked out well, and in the ones that left a lot of be desired. Here God is, with us, holding out a steadying hand, saying, “Just get out of the boat.” Choose something. Keep moving. Don’t play it safe. Put your trust in me. Believe in me. These are the signs of encouragement along our way. These are God’s promises.

They say that hindsight is 20/20. We see this working in the Bible as God’s story throughout time is told through the eyes of those who see and record how they are connected to the story. In my own life, I can look back and see how God was present in my life, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time. Sometimes the choices I made were difficult and judge harshly by those around me. But time and again, I came out on the other end and said, “I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

As we have shared the news of our staying in the Stuttgart community, many have answered with, “God answered our prayers.” But I am convinced that the answer to prayer was not that we are staying, but that we had become peaceful that no matter what, be it staying or going, it was going to be just fine. I’d say 95% of this sermon was written before we knew how it would all turn out, and the only difference is there are more smiles and fewer tears than if the packers were coming tomorrow.

God never promises us a rose garden… unless you count the thorns as a part of their beauty. If we live life to its fullest, there is every possibility that we will get banged around and be disoriented as life unfolds around us. Jesus is not a ghost from the past, or a miracle worker who comes to take our troubles away. He isn't our guide or life coach. He is the Son of the living God, who is present with us, and whose grace upholds us in the times we cannot stand by ourselves. He's our Savior, the One who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

A faithful Christian life is about much more than having the correct theology. It’s about living a particular and peculiar kind of life. The gospel can never be reduced to just another spiritual self-help recipe, hardly different from what you might hear on TV or read in a magazine. The Jesus who walks on the water in this story not only directs the winds and the waves surrounding the boat, but also death and life as we experience them today. This Jesus wants more than to command our attention; he wants to save our lives. And he has promised to do just that.[iv]

With that salvation, come responsibilities. This morning we prayed for peace in Charlottesville. But prayer is not just about saying words or invoking the name and the power of God to change a desperate situation. Prayer requires us to love more perfectly, to speak truth to power, and to become a part of the solution instead of sitting silently by. Our Christianity is not just about what we do on Sunday morning, but how we love and serve God and one another every other hour of our lives. I’m not saying this to be political – my concern is pastoral… that I model the kind of life I’m asking each of you to follow. 

We see the violence and the attack on peaceful protests in the Charlottesville and we wonder, what can we do about that from over here? Will anything I say make a difference? Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”[v] If you go to the Nordbahnhof station in Stuttgart, you can see what happens when good people say nothing and do nothing. This is the location from where the Jews of Stuttgart were loaded onto trains and transported to camps outside of Germany’s border for “the final solution.” Their names engraved on the walls speak loudly in ways no other words could.

I’ve read a lot of statements from Bishops in the traditions that are represented among us, and they all tell us to take our baptismal vows seriously… to resist evil and injustice in whatever forms they present themselves. But the quote I share to end this sermon come from Rev. Kathy Lewis James, the Director of the Council on Ministries for the UMC in SC and a long-time, trusted friend and colleague.

As a Christian, I believe that we are all on equal footing at the foot of the cross and at the communion table. I cannot follow Jesus faithfully if I am not working to make this world a place where love, compassion and respect for all of God's creation is the foundation for life together in community. 

I confess that I don't know how to combat racism and white supremacists. I do know that I must continue the uncomfortable, painstaking and far too slow work of listening to people of color about their experience, reflecting on and changing my behavior when needed, being intentional about how I relate to people even when no one is looking, and pray, pray, pray. 

I pray for God to open my eyes to what I am not seeing, for hearts filled with arrogance and hatred to be changed, for courage to speak out when my voice is needed, and for peace, justice, and healing in the hearts of people of color. I pray for God to stir the compassion of good, loving people everywhere that we all might care enough to work to make the world better for people who aren't just like us. Lord have mercy on us all. 

Amen.

Peace, Deb

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[i] John Ortberg, http://www.johnortberg.com/the-water-or-the-boat/

[ii] Ben Cremer, http://www.aplainaccount.org/proper-14a-gospel

[iii] John Ortberg, ibid.

[iv] David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=1594

[v] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/29333.Dietrich_Bonhoeffer?page=2

[vi] Kathy Lewis James, August, 12, 2017