Sermon - A different kind of king - Maundy Thursday - Year A)

Maundy Thursday - April 13, 2017                                             Panzer Chapel, Stuttgart
John 13:1-17, 31b-35

(c) Brokenbeleivers.com

Tonight, we see Jesus once again acting against stereotype. We talked last Sunday about how Jesus is a different kind of King. Instead of riding into Jerusalem on a powerful horse, he comes in on a humble donkey, transportation for the poor. And when they arrive at the room for a simple supper, he again acted in an unexpected way.

In the normal order of things, Kings don’t wait on people. So, when Jesus takes off his outer garments and makes things ready to wash the feet of his disciples, they were obviously shocked. Peter finds this all hard to comprehend.

Peter: Lord, you’re not going to wash my feet…

Jesus: Peter, I have to wash your feet.

Peter: well, then, wash my head and my hands also

Jesus: Just your feet, Peter… pay attention, this is not just about being clean.

It was common practice for guests to have their feet washed up entry into a person’s home. Most travelers wore sandals and the roads were dusty and dirty. Cleaning feet was a way of keeping the home clean, but also an act of hospitality for the traveler, to make their visit more comfortable. But usually it was the servants who performed this duty, not the host himself. And so, for Jesus to put himself into that lesser role, it would have been an extremely dramatic and uncomfortable thing for everyone to witness.

Jesus often tried to teach the disciples humility. Sometimes they got the message but often forgot to consider it all in the big picture. Washing their feet was an ultimate act of service. And afterward, he commanded them to continue the practice of serving one another, and not to wait for someone else to service them.

We don’t often wash one another’s feet these days… in fact, this Maundy Thursday service is often the only time that this part of the Jesus story is reenacted. Touching another person’s feet feels very intimate. I have often felt very vulnerable when someone else touches my feet.

Jesus’ actions here teach us some important lessons that should inform the way we relate to other people and live out our faith every day.

1^st lesson – Hospitality is an important manifestation of our faith. Jesus calls us to welcome people into our lives, and in addition, we are called to meet the needs that they have. One of the things that I love about having German friends is the way that hospitality is lived out in many routine encounters. 

When we get together with our German neighbors or friends from our village band, there are certain rituals that are always followed. First, you shake hands or hug every person who enters the group. You great them with a phrase like “Grüß dich!” Or “Grüß Gott!” And then usually a question, “Wie ghets?” “How’s it going?” “Es ghets mir gut” or “Gut, danke” “I’m doing fine.” And then someone will offer you something to drink… which you are not supposed to turn down. And when you leave, you don’t just say goodbye to the host and guest of honor, but to everyone you have had conversation with in this encounter. “Danke für die Einladung – thank you for the invitation” and “Bis bald! – see you soon.”

When we first encountered these rituals, it felt very personal… very intimate… and very foreign. But they have taught me a lot about what hospitality is all about. And what a glad burden it is to be in relationship with other people.

2^nd lesson – This encounter teaches is that no job of service is too lowly for any of us. We applaud people like Mother Theresa who serve in the worst slum of India and think of that as a special calling reserved only for those who are the holiest. But God often calls us to ministry that we feel is beneath us. 

At one church we attended, I felt guilted into helping with the homeless shelter the church hosted every other month. In the end, the small acts of service that I performed, like helping people make up their beds, or cleaning the showers, or preparing breakfast, were incidental to the way I heard people talk about their lives and struggles and how this ministry in our community was giving them a second or third or fourth chance at life. Did I need a seminary education to do this job? No. But it did remind me that ministry isn’t just about teaching theology or biblical study. Ministry is also about meeting people’s needs so that they are ready to tackle discipleship in whatever ways they can.

3^rd lesson - By ritualizing this story and making it a part of our worship today, we are living out the biblical story. There’s this thing called muscle memory. It is our bodies’ way of helping us to do things without having to think too much about them. It’s how we can ride a bike or drive a stick shift, even if we haven’t done it in years. It’s how we get to the bathroom in the middle of the night without having to turn on the light. 

Role-playing is an important part of what worship is all about. We celebrate the Eucharist and remember that Christ is with us in the bread and wine. We share a common meal where everyone sits in equal seats. We leave the table to live and serve in the world, just as Jesus told us to do.

Washing feet helps to remember that we, too, are called to be a different kind of people, ones who gladly receive and serve, as Christ has called us to do.

Washing other people’s feet was the most astonishing act of service that Jesus ever did. He presided over a meal that unites us all at the same table… one bread, one body, one Lord… He was arrested, tried, beaten, stripped and killed as his ultimate acts of service to all of humankind. And because we know the rest of the story, even as we approach the darkness of Good Friday or Karfreitag (Grief Friday in German), we see the resurrection on the horizon and know that Jesus’ ministry was not stopped by his death.

Some people do need to have their feet washed – the elderly, the sick and others who cannot do this for themselves. But the real lesson here is that we should all be humble enough to do for others, serving out of love and devotion to God.

Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love, 
show us how to serve
the neighbors we have from you. 

Amen.

While we go about the ritual of foot or hand washing, please remember that this is a symbolic act of devotion. We will only wash and dry one hand or foot, and no one is required to participate. After your foot or hand has been washed, please follow through by washing the hand or foot of the person who follows you. We have clean water in the bottles that you can pour as needed, and small towels for drying.

We will sing the hymn through as many times as necessary to make it through all of the people participating.

Sermon - Hope for the Future & Hope for Today

Lent 5A – Hope for the Future, Hope for Today                        April 2, 2017

Ezekiel 37:1-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8:6-11, John 11:1-45            Panzer Military Chapel, Stuttgart

This Lenten season we have been reading some of the most familiar biblical stories.
Some of them have been long… not the pithy snapshots that we have come to expect for our Sunday morning worship pleasure. Of course, that puts a lot of pressure on the preacher… if the readings are long, I feel some responsibility to concentrate the message into one that gives us a good takeaway.

As I was preparing, I looked for a common theme in these stories. And the one that immediately surfaced was the core Christian belief in the power of New Life. In the Hebrew Bible reading, we get this wonderful story of dead, dry bones being fitted with new flesh and having life breathed into them, raising a new army for the Israelites. In the Gospel lesson, we hear the story of the raising of Lazarus, a true fore-shadowing of Jesus’ resurrection, pointing to the power of God.

These stories flesh out the reality that Hope is stronger than Despair. In the “dry bones” story, the children of Israel have lost their hope. But Ezekiel is inspired by this vision from God. Hope is not lost. God is still working and able to turn our worst nightmares into something beautiful and mighty.

The same is true in the Lazarus story. Mary and Martha are sure that Jesus can bring change to their situation, but when he does not come in time, their hope is lost. “Lord, if only you had been here…” How many times have we looked at the tragedies and disappointments in our lives this way? “What if?” and “If only…” are common phrases among us. We get comfortable in our everyday lives, and when things take a bad turn, we also ask questions about where God is in the midst of our pain and fear.

When questioned by Jesus, Martha professes that we will be with God on the last day. In everyday terms, she is saying what many of us believe – that even though we don’t understand why bad things are happening, one day, it will all go away. Salvation and resurrection will solve our problems, take away our pain, and we will live in God’s presence and healing love forever. And that is absolutely true.

But for some people, even steadfast believers, that promise does not bring the kind of comfort or reassurance that they want or need. Where is God today? Where is God in the midst of my hurt and pain? Where is God for those who have made difficult, faithful choices and who face negative consequences, often by others who do not value their choices or beliefs? Where is God in the middle of the mess that we have made for ourselves, or the ones that we have gotten caught in, unawares?

Many question the goodness of a God who can intervene, but chooses not to do so. Many question the power of a God who could punish the wicked, but instead allows them to prosper and continue their reign of terror. Many question the people who proclaim a God who will rule at the end of time, but whose kingdom seems only fleeting in the here and now.

Jesus’ response to the sisters is the same as his response to us. We hear Jesus say, “I am the resurrection and the life…” and interpret it as a gateway to eternal life. We claim this verse as our entry ticket into heaven. But this verse is not just about our belief about what happens in the end. It is also about the promise that eternal life is a gift we have now.

What??? I’m sure you’re asking how I came up with that conclusion. And the answer is in all that follows. Immediately after Jesus’ conversation with Martha, she returns to Mary and they follow Jesus to Lazarus’ tomb. Mary’s reaction is perfectly normal… “Lord, if only you had been here, he would have never died.” Mary’s faith in Jesus’ healing powers is unrefuted. But Jesus knew that that was not enough.

And so, when he ordered the stone to be rolled away, and when he called the man Lazarus, dead for four days to come out of the tomb, the glory and power of God was revealed in a new way. Death would not just be defeated at the end of time, but would be defeated on this day as a witness that this Messiah was the one who fulfilled the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible. And while this a pivotal story in the ministry of Jesus, in the long run it’s not the biggest deal. Lazarus does get his life back, but eventually, his fate and that of his sisters and all of the disciples. Physical death came. But that was no longer the last word.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but in John’s gospel there are no miracles. Instead, John calls them signs – pointing to who Jesus really is. In these last few weeks, we have seen some pretty mighty signs. And this week, Jesus shows all of his cards.  It is as if he is saying: you want signs? Healing a blind man? Or restoring hearing to a deaf man? Did you see that lepers who were made clean? And how about the demons cast out from people who had suffered for years? Do you need more convincing? OK, what do you think of this?

Jesus saved the best for last. He didn’t rush to Lazarus’ bedside to cure him. He waited for days, and only when Jesus had been dead for four days did he call him back into life. Our cynical side asks why he didn’t save Mary and Martha a lot of grief by coming as soon as he heard. But as always, Jesus had a bigger lesson to teach. I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Resurrection is not just about life in the hereafter… it is about life in the here and now.

Before Jesus, Death was the grim reaper, stalking the world in search of souls. Jesus changes all of that. In this exchange, Jesus is pushing the message forward… changing the whole focus of the discussion about the meaning of life, real life. Death is not the dreaded conclusion to a meaningless existence. Our fate is not extinction. Death to our old lives is a beginning, not an end, our passage to life that will never end. Death came into the world through sin, but it is conquered by the one who was sinless and who brings new meaning to what it means to be alive.[i]

Each week, we recite together either the Apostle’s Creed or Nicene Creed. The Latin word Credo is usually translated as “believe,” so it is fitting that each section begins with the phrase, “I believe…” In the last 30 years, many people have told me that they have a hard time reciting the Creeds, because they aren’t really sure they believe everything in them. Some things they just don’t have enough information about, and others things are just hard – maybe impossible – to believe.

Writer Adam Hamilton recently wrote about devotional book about the Creed, and in its introduction, he said something that felt very true. He wrote: “Belief is a decision of the will.”^[ii] In the baptismal and confirmation liturgies, we ask parents, confirmands and congregation to reaffirm their commitment to God and Christ by reciting the Creed. In this action, we offer people the chance to take the focus off of what we can fathom for ourselves and to instead focus on what Christians for two centuries before us have confessed. We place our faith in not what we already know, but on what will be revealed to us in the days and years of faithful living.

It makes sense that traditions that perform infant baptisms also see the Creed as a source of inspiration and guidance. God’s grace is not dependent on our abilities or knowledge. It is grounded in the relationship of the Trinity to itself and to us. The Creed is something that we grow into. We flesh it out in our relationship with Christ and with one another.^[iii]

This idea takes on even more meaning when we realize that translators often choose the simplest, pithiest words when bringing Greek, Latin, and Hebrew concepts into the English language... we’ve talked about this before. The Creed becomes more of a living profession if we translate credo as “believe into,” rather than simply “believe.” “Believing into” is about relationship. “Believing into” is about trust and willingness to grow and change. “Believing into” is about not always clinging to ideas just because we have always had them. “Believing into” is the very definition of new life.

So, when we recite or pray the Creed, the real question is not whether we give intellectual assent to the ideas about who God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are, but instead whether we are prepared to entrust our lives to a God who, in three persons united in one Being, does or is like what each article of the creed professes.

When we proclaim, "I am believing into the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting,” What does this statement mean to us, personally? How is it lived out in our own faith journeys? Where are the examples that we live what we believe? Do people know that we are Christians without our every opening our mouths? Do we live as if we believe that Jesus is, in fact, the resurrection and the life?^[iv]

The eternal promises of Jesus’ resurrection cannot be refuted. They are proclaimed in the New Testament writings and the Church has built a foundation of ministry on them for almost 2000 years. But the promise of resurrection is also a story to be lived and believed in the present day. Ministry and mission are not about getting to people to believe and profess faith in the Jesus story. They must also be about living out that story every single day.

What does that look like? The message of Jesus and the good news of the gospel should make a tangible difference in the world now, make things possible now, open up opportunities and options now, transform relationships now. It means that the promises of God are present tense, not just about the future. It means living in the here and now and letting the future promises of Jesus take care of themselves, because God is always faithful.^[v]

When we begin the process of living out our baptismal faith, we never know where that process will take us. And while we often wish that our faith in Christ will protect us from the dangers of the world, we often find that we are heading into unknown places where our trust in God and the promises of new life and resurrection are our only hope. We look at the news and are tempted to see only death and destruction, but if we look deeper, we will see faithful followers of Jesus, wading into muddy, dangerous waters.

As Christians we are called to live into our beliefs… the belief that God created and loves everyone… the belief that speaking truth to power will sometimes make us feel less safe… the belief that our safety is not actually our first responsibility.

Our main text today is often called, “the raising of Lazarus,” but is important to note that the actual sign Jesus performs only takes up just two of the forty-five verse of this story. Maybe that’s because, for John, it’s not the sign that matters most, but instead how Jesus interprets it and how we respond. Lazarus will die again, but in the process, the world has changed. Now we are empowered to be a part of the life-changing process of unbinding and freeing people from the power of death, and if we act on our beliefs – if we believe into our faith, the Church will change the world.[vi]

Sojourner’s Magazine recently highlighted an article, “When Christians Love Theology More Than People,” and this quote made me take a look inside: “You may have the most intellectually sound theology, but if it's not delivered with love, respect, and kindness - it's worthless. The practical application of your love is just as important as the theology behind it. Our faith is evidenced by how we treat others. Does the reality of your life reflect the theory behind your spiritual beliefs?”[vii]

I have seen the amazing ways that people have lived into their belief… stories that live out God’s good news. They are too many to name, but I have been especially touched by those who have stepped outside their comfort zones.  Some have opened up their church buildings or raised money for Muslim, Jewish and Christian congregations who buildings or cemeteries have been burned or damaged beyond repair… Others have offered sanctuary or legal advice to those who are in danger of being deported without a hearing.

Churches are hosting farmer’s markets as a way of gathering the community, and others have taken vacation bible school to the neighborhoods, instead of requiring the children to come to them. Some have even left the comfort of reliable jobs and predictable housing in response to God’s call to be present with people who don’t even know they need Jesus. All of this is living into belief.

God is calling each of us to do the same. When we do, our dry bones become fleshed out, and with Spirit breath, we truly know that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and has promised to give us, not just more life, but life with all the abundance we could never imagine. So let’s go live it!

Peace, Deb

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[i] David F. Sellery, “Big Deal,” This Week’s Focus, 2014

http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dbffd2070718c7bb6a1b9b7e0&id=b558b2495b&e=9d753c1a09

[ii] Adam Hamilton, Creed: What Christians Believe and Why, 2017, Location 116.

[iii] Taylor Burton-Edwards, Fifth Sunday in Lent | Believe! — Preaching Notes, April 2, 2017 (Year A) | Living Our Baptismal Calling Series https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/fifth-sunday-in-lent-believe-preaching-notes

[iv] ibid.

[v]  David Lose, “Present-tense Salvation,” Dear Worship Preacher, April 2, 2014,

http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=3135

[vi] ibid.

[vii] Steven Mattson, “When Christians Love Theology More Than People,” Sojourner’s, January 22, 2014,

https://sojo.net/articles/when-christians-love-theology-more-people

copyright - Deb Luther Teagan 2017

Sermon – The Gift of Second Chances - Lent 2 (A)

Sermon – The Gift of Second Chances - Lent 2 (A)              March 12, 2017

John 3:1-17                                                              Panzer Liturgical Service

I always thought I knew what I wanted from life. I did an experiment in an 8th-grade science class where we learned how to type blood, and from then on, I learned everything I could about the world of hospital laboratories. My singular focus in high school and college was becoming a blood banker… And I was very proud to accomplish my goal and help contribute to the health and welfare of many. But after a couple of years, I realized that I was more in love with the goal than the work. I got more involved at church and started working on youth mission teams in my spare time. I was so committed to the mission, I traded my 1968 Olds Cutlass for a 1986 Mazda B2000 pickup truck because you know, you can’t fit a sheet of plywood in the trunk very easily.

It didn’t take too long for me to realize that I needed commit fully to this new life. So I traded my old life for a new life… cashed in my 401k to pay for my first semester of seminary, worked 3^rd shift at the hospital for four years to pay the bills, and eventually ended up ordained and serving a United Methodist church, back in SC where it all started. A lot has changed in the last 30 years. I can honestly say that my life looks nothing like the one I imagined and that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

Our lives are filled with second chances. In the successful model, we make mistakes, we learn, we fix it, and try again. Sometimes we learn from the mistakes, but don’t fix them or go back to our old behaviors. The good news is that over and over, we are given a second chance to get it right; a chance to do the right thing, to be the people we were created to be.

Second chances come to us because they are a gift. They are a gift from God, a gift from a forgiving boss or co-worker, wife or husband, parent or child, friend or stranger.  Most of the second chances we receive are so small that we barely even notice when they come our way. We may even learn to accept them as a predictable, expect part of our lives. And to most of us, there is nothing wrong with that model, as long as we are the ones on the receiving side of the second chance. But the question arises, are we always so accepting when we are the ones on the giving side of the second chance? Do we have the same feeling of grace when we see a second chance given that we feel is undeserved?

Imagine your own righteous indignation at the second chances you have seen people, maybe even yourself, squander away. It’s hard, isn’t it, to keep always before us the necessity for second chances, just to assure that the morale and function of the community and the family survive.

Today’s gospel lesson models for us the universal temptation to misunderstand the gift of second chances. Most of us remember the story of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus under the cover of night to ask questions and understand for himself the things which he had heard about Jesus. Now, this is a big deal, because Nicodemus was a man of the law. It wasn’t that he was a lawyer in the way we think about the profession. No, his was the business of making sure that every I was dotted and every T was crossed when it came to observing the faith. The Chosen people of God didn’t just live by the Mosaic law… they sought God in ritual perfection.[i]

So Jesus presents quite the conundrum for Nicodemus. “Rabbi,” he said, “you must be from God because no one could do the things you do if God’s hand were not in it somewhere, but...” Jesus gives no easy answer, but actually intensifies Nicodemus’ struggle when he tells him that no one can be a part of the kingdom of God until they are born “anothen.”

I don’t usually throw around a lot of Greek or Hebrew in my sermons, but today I’ll make an exception. It is important for us to understand that this Greek word “anothen” defies accurate translation with only one word or phrase. If you read verse 3 in different translations, you will get two different readings. Some will translate this word “again” or “anew,” while others will render its meaning, “from above.” In most cases, biblical translators have chosen which definition holds the primary meaning and then placed the alternate meaning in a footnote in smaller type at the foot of the page. More recent translations have taken a different position. They understand that the original Greek word was chosen specifically because it transmitted both meanings at the same time. And so we need to hear Jesus say to Nicodemus is, “you must be born anew from above to understand who I really am.”

Nicodemus doesn’t get it. He focuses on the “born again” aspect of knowing Jesus. He sees the disciples, all who have left their previous lives to follow Jesus, the apostolic version of turning over of a new leaf. But Jesus’ words are confusing to him. And so he challenges the literal meaning of the words. “How can this happen?” He asks. “We can’t get back inside our mothers’ wombs. The thought of such a thing is just ridiculous.”

Imagine how weary Jesus must be of these responses. “How can I tell you about heavenly things if you don’t understand about earthly things?” he asks. “Let me make it simple,” Jesus says. “God did not send his son into the world to tear it down or to condemn it, but to save all those who would believe in him.”  In this comment, Jesus tells us so much about our lives and his. The allusion to his own death and resurrection foreshadows the path by which our eternal life will come – through the cross of Jesus.

Jesus was not the Messiah they were predicting. Instead, Jesus was what they least expected… a servant king, not a warrior king… a teacher, not a political ruler… one who lived among the least, the last and the lost. He was willing to die so that others could live, rather than kill so that he could remain in power. The words in verse 16, known to so many all over the world, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life,” really do tell us something important about our Savior and our God.

Our Savior is one who believed in second chances so much that he gave us an unlimited number, so that when we mess our lives up, again and again, we are given another chance to repent, another chance to recommit our lives to him, and another chance to begin again, all a gift of newness from above. Our God is the One who loved the ones created in his image so much, that he allowed the death of his beloved Son to happen, even though he and Jesus both had the power to stop the whole process at any point along the way.

A few years ago I had the chance to do a Lenten study called Animal Crackers. In this study, we saw how service to others is a way of being Christ’s hand and feet and voice in the world. Ministry opportunities like Heifer Project, International, and Habitat for Humanity and youth and adult mission projects throughout the world provide second chance opportunities from above, both for the receivers and the givers. This kind of work reminds us that love is not just a word or a sentimental declaration. Love is action – and bound to the ability to see ourselves and everyone around us as those in need of second chances… over and over again.

John 3:16 is probably one of the most often-quoted verses in the New Testament. And we think of it as a seminal verse for understanding who Jesus was and what he does for us. But did you know that the most prolific writers of the Reformation, Luther, Calvin and Wesley, never wrote or preached about this verse? It’s so easy to reduce this verse to its most basic component – to remind people that Jesus died for us. But it’s so much bigger than that. Jesus gave his life, not just in the end on the cross, but every day that he preached and taught and healed and ate and sat and loved. All of creation is touched by his presence on earth. When I read or see the news, I ask myself, “What lessons have we learned from his life? If the state of the world is reflected in our willingness to be his representatives in the world, not just in the souls who come to him, but in how we take care of the world around us, I’m not sure we have learned these lessons very well.[ii]

God calls us to take second chances seriously. As we look at our own relationships with Christ and the world that needs to know Christ, we must remember that we are not the brokers of our own salvation. We do not decide who is living under God’s grace, or who is in or out of the Kingdom. Our ability to give second chances, in whatever form they take, is always in response to the gracious gift of eternal life given to us through the life and death and cross of Jesus Christ. We may think that we are doing a great thing to be so generous, but those gifts are God’s second chances for us.

I heard a story on the news the other day about an increase in Muslim conversions to Christianity in Europe since the new migration began two years ago. Of course, I checked it out from several sources, because that’s what we do today. And it looks like it’s true. In Germany, England and Austria, many of the churches that have welcomed Muslim refugees have seen record numbers of converts in the last two years. While some outside of the church are skeptical, pastors have seen that only about 10% of people who convert leave the church after baptism and confirmation. Those remaining are busy worshiping weekly and reaching out to others in need of God’s grace, increasing the worship attendance and outreach of the churches in the communities where they live.[iii]

Life is not about form. It is about function. And our function… our purpose… is to embrace God’s love. To rejoice in it. To share it. If we get that right, we won’t sweat the details. Do you know that best way to convince people of who Jesus is? Love them… Love them because that what’s Jesus would do… and because that’s what he calls us to do, too. Orthodoxy (correct thinking) is not what keeps people coming to Jesus… Orthopraxy (correct or faithful practice)… that’s what Jesus is calling us to do… it’s all about love.

David Sellery sums it up well. “Why are we here? Where are we going? How will it all end? Jesus not only has the answer to life’s big questions… he is the answer. In the plainest terms, he tells us: Come follow me. Be born again of water and the Holy Spirit and it’s all yours… the forgiveness of the penitent, the serenity of grace, the joy of the beloved, the eternal life of the saved. Jesus has changed the game. And the Father is waving us home.”[iv]  

Amen.

Peace, Deb

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[i] David F. Sellery,   This Week's Focus -  "The Game Changer"

 http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=dbffd2070718c7bb6a1b9b7e0&id=68d79e2386

[ii] James Howell, What can we say come March 12? Lent 2 http://jameshowellsweeklypreachingnotions.blogspot.de/2017/03/what-can-we-say-come-march-12-lent-2.html

[iii] Harriet Sherwood and Philip Oltermann, “European churches say growing flock of Muslim refugees are converting,” The Guardian, June 5, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/05/european-churches-growing-flock-muslim-refugees-converting-christianity

[iv] Sellery, ibid.

(copyright - Deb Luther Teagan, March 12, 2017)

Sermon - More than just following the rules - Lent 1 (Year A)

1^st Sunday in Lent – Year A                                                      March 5, 2017

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7                            Romans 5:12-19                                 Matthew 4:1-11

You know what I wish? I wish that being a Christian was just about following the rules. Oh, I know, there are lots of Christians out there that will tell you there are plenty of rules to follow. There are specific theologies that must be believed… specific issues on which we need to be united… specific kinds of people that we must declare inside or outside of the faith… Oh, that it was so easy.

Now, let’s be clear. I am not saying that rules are important. Or necessary. In fact, rules and boundaries give our lives clarity and help us to meet expectations. They keep us healthy and safe. They keep us in community with one another.

But today’s lessons tell us that being in or out of the family of God is not just about following the rules. It’s about understanding the principles behind the rules, and sometimes being willing to see the rules in a new way when the Holy Spirit moves us to do so. And at it’s essential core, a life of faith is about living out the Greatest Commandments that Jesus spoke so often of… to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves.

The Genesis reading is well known to all of us. I wouldn’t be surprised if your bible has a topic heading called The Fall. Now let’s be clear – scripture didn’t come to us with paragraph headings. In fact, the concept of the actions of Adam and Eve in this passage are a fall from grace into sin is a Christian theology. Volumes have been written over the last 2000 years about how their actions affect all who follow them. But this week I encountered a commentary on this story which has made me think about this story – and the relationship between sin and faith in a whole new way.

Stanley Hauerwas has been thinking about Christian ethics since he was a Texas farm boy in the 1960’s. He has studied all of the great Christian teachers throughout history and taught generations of Christian teachers and preachers in the last 40 years. Recently, he had a profound realization when preparing to preach on this Genesis text. Eve did what many of us do. She reframed the story to fit her narrative.

What does that mean? In the story, God told Adam and Eve that they could not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden – everything else was fair game. But when the serpent asked her about the tree, Eve added something… she said that God has forbidden them to even touch the fruit, or they would die. It’s a little disconcerting to know that the serpent replied correctly - touching the fruit would not kill them. And by exploiting Eve’s new version of the story, the serpent convinced her to eat the fruit – because it was good – and to share it with Adam. And they did not die. But it did change their lives forever, and death became a new preoccupation in their lives and passed down to us.[i]

So, what if the original sin was not disobedience but instead was legalism – a preoccupation with making faith something difficult to accomplish instead of seeing it as a way of being in relationship with God? Does that change the way we see both sin and faith? Does it make a difference in the way we live? Does it change who is in and who is out of the Kingdom of God? And what does it mean for how we react to temptation?

If we look forward to Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, we encounter some interesting things.

First, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness… He was not abandoned there. The wilderness was not a place devoid of God’s presence. In fact, it was a place where Jesus was able to become finely tuned to what relationship with God was all about. And despite our assumption that he would be weakened by his time away from the comforts and pleasures of the world, it feels like it actually gave him the fuel he needed to combat the rational arguments that Satan provides.

The reason that this feels important to me right now is because I think we have the tendency of thinking that trouble or change or feeling out of control is a place where we are outside of God’s control. But more and more I realize that it’s in those places where we get to choose to trust God. It’s in the wilderness that we learn more about who God is AND we learn more about who we are. In an increasingly uncertain world, I am sure that this is a good thing.

Second, in this story of Jesus in the wilderness, we get to see Jesus experiencing some of the same temptations we confront in our lives.[ii] Understanding how Jesus reacted to his situation can help us figure out how we should respond. Through Jesus:

* We are called to refuse to use power to make our needs more important than the needs of others. The first temptation presented to Jesus was to see if he would put his own needs first. Jesus had been without food and drink for 40 days (which in bible-speak is a really long time). Think about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. It didn’t take long for them to use up whatever provisions they took for themselves. And so, God provided manna, to be collected for their daily needs. If they tried to secret away extra, it spoiled so that they couldn’t eat. It was an exercise in learning to trust God to provide what we need. It’s one of the hardest lessons we have to learn: our own survival does not outweigh the call to follow and trust that God will meet our true needs.

* We are called to refuse to test God or use God’s power in direct opposition of the way it was intended. Imagine being offered the power to do and have whatever you want. The second temptation tested Jesus’ willingness to use the power he had to become the kind of Messiah that the Jews were expecting…not just powerful, but also willing to use that power to serve his own spiritual and political needs. Even craftier, Satan used the words of Psalm 91 to “prove” that this was what God intended for the Messiah. Instead, Jesus refused to give into the power that was rightfully his. Using scripture in rebuttal, he reminds us that we are not to put God to the test. This one is very hard, because testing boundaries is what helps us grow. But it’s also important to realize that there are consequences that may not be experienced until much later.

* We are called to refuse use God’s power to gain power for ourselves. Satan’s last temptation was to try to coax Jesus into raising up an army to enter into the wars and conflicts of the day. But Jesus refused, knowing power can corrupt even before we realize it is happening. This one is especially hard because the world is conflict driven. Our lives are often defined by wars, conflicts, police actions and revolutions. It even seems that peace can hardly settle in before new conflicts arise and the world order is one again rearranged. And if there is not conflict around us, we might be tempted to start one, just to assert our superiority. Every day, this temptation feels close to home, as we worry about our current needs and what our lives will look like in the future. [iii]

Jesus gives us a model for facing the temptations we face very day. Our resistance requires us to understand who God is, who God has called us to be, and how God calls us to live. The season of Lent offers us time to dive deeper than we might on ordinary days, exploring what it means to live out our baptismal promises. Our baptisms are not just defined by what we understand about Jesus, but also how we have become part of a bigger family – the Church – held accountable not just to God, but also to one another. Life in Christ is both/and, not either/or.[iv]

The passage from Romans teaches us that Jesus takes away sin’s power of us. We can’t resist it by ourselves. Adam and Eve’s bad choice – believing that they could be on the same level as God – touched everyone who came after them. But Jesus’ faithfulness to God’s promises for him and for the world gives us access to the kind of life that God always intended for us. The good news is this: the power of God in Christ is stronger than the power of Satan. The power of good always triumphs over the power of evil, even if we don’t see it at the moment, and the power of life—of resurrection—overturns the power of death and destruction every time.

Resisting temptation is not easy… in fact, it often brings us to places where we did not expect to be. But I am convinced that when our comfort and routine are stripped away, we experience the most growth. And when we stop listening to the voice that says, “You failed,” and listen instead to the one that says, “You were faithful,” we become the people God created us to be.[v] Our freedom comes in our relationship with Christ. This is not freedom to do whatever we want, is instead the desire and the will for joyful obedience to God, and satisfaction in living that life.[vi]

I close today reading from Romans 5:20-21, not included in today’s reading, but a fitting commentary on God’s promises, personified in Jesus. 

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end. (The Message)

As we move through this season, let us recommit ourselves to grace, living out God’s mission to fight against the powers and principalities that would seek to destroy not just us, but this world and everything in it. Because God’s grace is everything and gives us all the tools we need to make the Kingdom of God real for everyone.

Peace, Deb

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[i] Podcast: Crackers and Grape Juice, Lent 1, Year A – Teer Hardy and Stanley Hauerwas, February 27, 2017. http://crackersandgrapejuice.com/lent-1-lent-year-a-legalism-is-the-original-sin/

[ii] First Sunday in Lent | Renounce — Preaching Notes, Dawn Chesser

https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/first-sunday-in-lent-renounce-preaching-notes

[iii] Charles Campbell, The Word before the Powers: An Ethic of Preaching. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002., 44-48

[iv] http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/8041/ten-other-things-you-might-give-up-for-lent

[v] Brian Lowery, We are called to be Faithful, Not Successful, Christianity Today, March 2017

[vi] James Howell, What can we say come March 5? Lent 1, http://jameshowellsweeklypreachingnotions.blogspot.com/

Sermon - Living a Holy Lent- Ash Wednesday (Year A)

Ash Wednesday – Year C         Stuttgart Military Chapel          March 1, 2017

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17   Psalm 51:1-17   2 Corinthians 5:20b - 6:10   Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Living a Holy Lent

The other day, someone asked when I was preaching next. When I told them about this service, she was surprised. “I thought only Catholics did Ash Wednesday.” “Well, no,” I replied. It’s the starting day of Lent. “Oh,” she said, “I thought only Catholics did that, too.”

I guess it’s a common misconception. The rise of non-liturgical Protestant Christianity places this service outside the norm of many peoples’ experience. And for several hundred years, it could be said that Roman Catholics had the corner on the Ash Wednesday market. But over the last 100 years, and especially in the last 25 years, the celebration of the Ash Wednesday rituals and the observance of a holy Lent have become especially important and meaningful to Protestant Christians from many traditions.

Whether you have been observing Lent for a long time or if this is your first Ash Wednesday service, it’s important to understand why this time has been set aside for self-reflection. For those of us who regularly observe the ebb and flow of the Christian year, we think of the seasons in the order they occur… Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. But the year developed as the needs of the Apostolic, mostly local, church gave way to the needs of a Church that was quickly growing outside of its original borders.

In the beginning, it was enough to celebrate every Sunday like it was a “little Easter.” But as more people were introduced to Jesus’ mission and his story, one Sunday a year was set aside as a celebration of the historical celebration of the resurrection. In the beginning, the faith was introduced through personal relationships. But as the Church grew in size and in organization, large groups of people wanted to be a part of the Church’s life and ministry. And so, a time of preparation was devised.[i]

The season of Lent was most often the time when those preparing for baptism would study and prepared spiritually to commit their whole lives to Christ. The forty days of Lent echo the great journeys found in scripture… 40 years in the desert, 40 days of rain, 40 days in the wilderness, all reflect the momentous nature of the great journey of Christian faith. Baptism would take place at sunrise on Easter Sunday, and the celebration of the resurrection would be the new member’s first day of new life in Christ.

As time passed, certain penitential behaviors were encouraged – fasting from food, prayer, giving of money to the poor, reconciliation and forgiveness from broken relationships – each of these was deemed important components in observing a Holy Lent. But it’s an interesting tell that when you hear that someone is observing Lent, you might be inclined to ask, “What are you giving up for Lent?”

I wonder if this preoccupation with the requirement to give up something doesn’t keep many from participating? Many of us feel badly enough about ourselves and our choices. We wonder if we will ever get this “faith” thing right. So, what would happen if we turned our thoughts in a different direction and looked at the Lenten season in a different way?

More than anything, I see these 40 days of Lent as a time to reflect on the fragileness of human life. Our relationships with God are not always what we or God desire. Of course, it’s possible that denying ourselves from earthly pleasures will help us to focus more on God. That message is certainly reflected in the Scriptures. Distilled to its bare-bones reality, Psalm 51 helps us to say, "I am sorry for all I have done and thought and said that has not honored you.  I know it is because of your love for me that you forgive me, not because I deserve it."

Over the years, I have come to understand that it is not just our own sinfulness that we have come to confess. We also bring the sins of our own communities and societies. If we are honest with ourselves, we see the pain and despair in the world around us, and we often do little or nothing. There are lots of reasons: self-absorption with our own needs and pain… inabilities to recognize the experiences of others as valid and meaningful… paralyzing fear to step outside our own comfort zones and to enter into to another’s discomfort… and these are just a few.

In fact, services like this put into ritual form the action of confessing our personal and corporate sinfulness.  By receiving ashes on our foreheads, we say, "I know that I am a sinner, and that my life is a mere second in God's time. Thank you, God for the time I have."  By coming together, we ask, “Help us to work together to build your Kingdom, in spite of the obstacles we experience or perceive.” 

My most memorable Lenten observances come when I balance between pious reflection on the state of my soul with how I am living out my faith in the world. I think that’s what Matthew’s gospel is trying tell us. We cannot get too swayed in either direction.

Whatever disciplines we follow for Lent, we have to practice them in the right spirit.  We pray and fast and give to others in service to God, acknowledging God's love for us in light of Christ's sacrifice for us and for the whole world.

We love because God first loved us.  And while none of us is immune to the temptations that separate us from God, we must remember that God's way is our way.  And when we fall or fail, we have to pick ourselves up and be prepared for God to love and forgive us even more. We must never allow our sin to drive us to abandon the way of truth and life in Christ's name. 

Christian pastor Jeff Manion wrote, “A remarkable life is built by taking a thousand unremarkable steps."[ii] Greatness in God’s kingdom is not built by the grand gesture, but by recognizing God's constant presence in our lives, producing in us the ability to live and to love in God's name. 

That is the promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is our joy.  It is our hope. And it’s why we’re here today.

Celebrating a Holy Lent from the words of Pope Francis

* Fast from hurting words and say kind words.

* Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.

* Fast from anger and be filled with patience.

* Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.

* Fast from worries and have trust in God.

* Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.

* Fast from pressures and be prayerful.

* Fast from bitterness and fill your hearts with joy.

* Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others.

* Fast from grudges and be reconciled.

* Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.[iii]

Thanks be to God.

Peace, Deb

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[i] The Christmas cycle of Advent – Christmas – Epiphany did not take root until several centuries into the life of the Church as a way of helping us embrace the fully-human nature of Jesus Christ – in case you wondered.

[ii] http://annvoskamp.com/2017/02/how-a-remarkable-life-equals-a-thousand-unremarkable-steps/

[iii] Pope Francis, Lenten Message, 2015