Mark 10:46-53

“Take Heart, Get Up, He’s Calling You”

October 25, 2009

Pentecost 21

Prayer: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Give us the sight of faith and with your words of invitation and healing, turn our lives toward following you. Amen.

If you had to give up one of your five senses, which one would you be most willing to give up?

This was a question asked in a Bible Study with high schoolers a couple of weeks ago. As the youth wrestled aloud with one another about the challenges of the loss of each sense, one thing was clear. No one was willing to give up their sight. The thought never crossed the minds or the lips of anyone around the table. “It would just be too hard”, they said and “we’d have to depend on others to help us get around,” another one said.

For the vast majority of people who are sighted, it is difficult to imagine life without sight. I have a hard enough time dealing with the fact that my eye doctor tells me that I could use bifocals. Yet, even for those of us who have our sight (even if we are aided by corrective lenses), it is probably safe to say that we’ve all had blind spots in our lives before. Perhaps you are blind to something that you’ve done or not done that has caused a friend has stopped talking to you or you are blind to news that everyone else seems to know about but that you haven’t picked up on or perhaps there is change happening in your life right now and you are blind to how it will impact you in the future.

In Jesus’ last leg of his journey into Jerusalem, he is confronted one more time with an outcast, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. He was seeking salvation from his blindness and mercy and restoration of his life. In Jesus’ day, someone who lost their sight was thought to have sinned against God and therefore it was punishment for what the person had done; whether they knew of their sin or not. The result was a life not only in literal darkness, but it was a life of isolated darkness away from family and friends because of the sin that he was perceived to have carried. He was unclean, outside of the law and undesired by anyone in his community. Bartimaeus was as concerned, if not more about being a part of society again as he was in regaining his sight.

Though Bartimaeus was blind to many things, he clearly saw who Jesus was. Perhaps more than anyone else in the crowd, he was sure that Jesus had the will to make him whole again, and that Jesus had the ability to restore him to the community that he loved, but that had not loved him for so many years.

Bartimaeus was right too. With three short words from Jesus, “Call him here.” The transformation from blindness to sight, from darkness to light, and from isolation to community was starting to take shape. And not only was Bartimaeus going to be transformed by Jesus word, but the whole crowd would be too.

The same people who had been trying to silence Bartimaeus, and take his voice from him as well, were now the one’s who were extending an invitation to him. “Take heart, get up, he is calling you.”

I was a Bible camp counselor for two summers outside of Alexandria, MN. I saw kids come to camp that were sometimes blind to the love of God in their lives; they felt isolated and appeared angry or withdrawn. Sometimes kids came like Bartimaeus, yearning for God’s attention. You could see their hunger for love and attention in their faces and hear it in their voices. One of the boys that came to camp was an 8^th grader named Danny.

I could tell it was going to be a rough start and perhaps a very trying week when Danny came to camp. I had already had to take away firecrackers and a knife from one kid, and the week had literally just begun. As I stood near the registration shack waiting for my cabin group to form, four boys came over toward me, apparently all from the same church and all equally perturbed that they had to be there.

I soon found out that all seven of the guys in my cabin were here for a mandatory week of confirmation camp. Danny was one of the four who had come from one church and he was the leader of the disgruntled campers. Literally, the first words he said to me were, “This week is going to be the worst! I can’t believe the pastor makes us come to stupid places like this.”

Soon we gathered on the lawn outside the chapel to talk about the week and some basic ground rules for how we would live together for the next 5 days. As I talked, I could tell no one was listening. It would have been as effective for me to go talk to the squirrels that were chasing each other across the lawn. Finally, one of the boys chimed in, “I really don’t care what we do this week it’s going to be dumb anyway.” And then another boy complained and finally Danny chimed in again. “I don’t care about any of this; none of it’s going to be fun.”

I realized now that Danny was starving for attention and the only way he could get any was to go with the flow of the rest of the boys. I responded to their complaints by saying, “I didn’t care if they had a good time, but that I fully intended to have fun this week and that they were welcome to join me in having fun too. The best way I know how to do that is to get involved in everything this week and make the most of it all.”

Slowly but surely, the mood and the attitude started to change as the week progressed. Danny started to see that Bible camp wasn’t so bad and God was more interesting than he thought. Danny was taking heart in this new experience. By Tuesday afternoon we were all having a little more fun and our Bible studies started to really speak to the group. Danny was now volunteering to read passages of Scripture and be the first one to do some of the activities. Jesus was at work again giving faith to the blind and reconnecting those who were feeling lost and isolated with a community that gives life.

When Friday morning came around and it was time to say goodbye, Danny’s mom arrived to pick him up. She could tell that he had been changed by his encounter with Jesus at camp. She told me that Danny had never easily made friends and that she couldn’t believe all the people he was saying goodbye to. Then Danny came over, gave me a big hug and said, “This was the best week of my life. I can’t wait to go home and tell my friends about Bible camp.” In the course of a week, Danny had new eyes to see with and heard Jesus voice echoing in his life.

“Take heart, get up, he’s calling you.” It’s your invitation to wonder and wander in the love of God. It is an invitation to be part of a community that is filled with life, even when you are experiencing blind spots. Blind spots of every kind inevitably come. Faith fades to doubt, hope to fear, excitement to exhaustion, yet Jesus does not give up. He reaches out and changes our perspective, gives us new lenses to see him beside us joining us to each other as his body called to follow him because he has given us eyes of faith to see the wonderful works of God in the middle of the uncertainties and challenges in life. Amen.

Power at Play

Mark 10:35-45

Pentecost 20

Sermon for Sunday, October 18, 2009

Prayer: God of power and love, call us to self-giving over selfishness, service over being served, and call us to follow you over following our own ways. Transform us by your word today, through the Word who became human, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I had a history professor in college who reminded his classes that history is most often remembered from the side of power. He’d say that one of the benefits of winning wars is that the victors get to write the history. We only need to look to our own history as Americans to recognize the truth in this statement.

We celebrate the independence that we won from the British over 230 years ago with volumes and volumes of history books and tales from the battle field. You can walk the steps of the revolution in the Boston Area by following a painted red stripe that runs through the city. Yet, when I searched for how the British remember that war, most people say they don’t. It is not taught in schools and or written in books. We humans simply don’t like to remember our defeats.

The same holds true when we look at pop culture and recent history. We celebrate and remember the rich, powerful, and the beautiful, as our society holds these characteristics as winning attributes. Forbes Magazine recognizes the 400 richest people in America, but there’s no cover story out there telling the stories of the 400 poorest people in America; or the 300 million others of us either. Just think how #401 feels. The trouble is that this type of power is limiting. It limits how many people can have it, it limits the reason for people to be recognized to one factor that they may or may not have had a whole lot to do with (just look at the four Walton siblings, heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune). And when you boil it all down, it limits the type of relationships one forms and the type of community one can exist in because one loses themselves in the façade of power and riches.

Now, I realize this list is an extreme example and probably not one of us in this room realistically strives to find themselves on the Forbes 400 list, but we cannot deny that tally keeping like this impacts the way we see each other and view others.

Like James and John, we yearn for glory and power in some shape or another. Like James and John, in seeking this power, we probably don’t know what we are asking for. And like all the disciples, we may also grumble when someone else comes up with a good idea to get ahead of the rest before we do.

Jesus challenges our assumptions. He refocuses our attention on what lasting and true power looks like. Jesus reminds us this tally keeping, one-upsmanship-til-we-are-blue-in-the-face, hierarchical community shall not be so among us. It doesn’t last. The power and glory of this world are so often fleeting, as someone else with more money, more education, new knowledge and skills takes what we once thought was ours for good. To Jesus, this kind of power only serves to show us what power is not.

As followers of Christ, we are not bound by these oppressive rules and this fleeting glory because the one we follow is different. Jesus’ power is found in giving himself up to the world’s power, laying his life down and being raised up so that we may be rescued from thinking that we have the power to save ourselves. Jesus also reminds us that this self-gving way of life shall be so among us who follow him. Though the rest of society may or may not grant us great power and authority in our Monday-Saturday lives, when we gather together as God’s people, we hear the one calling that matters most, it is the calling to serve as Jesus serves. This is the calling that shapes our lives as Christians.

In this calling, we all have power. In this there are not limits on who can have it, no limits on what gifts are valued or who can take part in it. Jesus has gone ahead us through suffering, death, and resurrection. And when we follow his path, the same is ensured for us.

By heeding Jesus call to give yourself to others in service, you have been freed from the grip of the constant question of whether you’re good enough, or smart enough or doggonit “Do people like you?” The money, the talents, the knowledge and prestige that you have no longer hold power over you as a Gentile ruler. Rather they are gifts and resources for you to employ in your service to the world.

I know of a dinner group who meets about once a month. They’ve been friends since college. All of them pursued different career paths and as a result, some made more money than others. On one occasion, sometime during the No Child Left Behind debate, everyone had gathered and was sitting around the table discussing politics and life.

One of the guys, named John, who had become a very successful and wealthy person, decided to explain the problem with education.

He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?" To strengthen his point, he cited the old cliché about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." To stress his point further he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Carol. Be honest. What do you make?"

Carol, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness
replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought
they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental. You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)
I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions. I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything. I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity. I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe. Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can find true success."

Carol paused one last time and then continued.

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant.... You want to know what I make?

I make a difference! What do you make?"

John’s jaw dropped. He went silent.

As I look around this room this morning, I know how many of you give of yourself to others everyday of your lives, making a difference. It is where true power is found. God calls all of us to this way of life. By the power God at work in us we can turn the power that the world values into a power that gives life to others. Amen

NOLA ELCA YOUTH GATHERING DAY 3

Hello All!

Finally was able to get to a computer. I was hoping to be able to blog from my phone, but to no avail.

It has been a jam packed, Spirit-filled amazing trip so far. Yesterday, our group served for 4 hours in the Southern Heat, making it possible for New Orleans residents to return to it's largest park for rest and relaxation. We cleared out invasive species of plants and laid new woodchips for walking trails. We met some great friends from Chicago, Imdiana and California.

Worship each night has been inspiring as it has called us to look beyond ourselves, find our confidence in Jesus and serve our neighbor.

We've had lots of laughs and many new inside jokes have been created. I can't wait to get home and for families to hear the stories.

Today we got to see alligators in the bayou, some even got to pet one in the river. I didn't know that alligators eat marshmallows, did you? after the adventure in the swamp, we had the opportunity to see the struggle of those who live or used to live in the Lower 9th Ward, which was 24 feet underwater after Katrina. There will be some pretty amazing pics to share.

We are all well and God is showing up in big ways this week. I pray that this experience carries our group forward in faith that God is still speaking and acting and calling us to make a difference in the world. It is God's work, but our hands do it.

Peace.

Big Easy, Here We Come!

We are less than 12 hours away from the beginning of our ELCA Youth Gathering adventure! Please keep People of Hope's 8 youth and 2 adult leaders in your prayers.

Alisha
Brianna
Brian
Dan
David
Deb
Jason
John
Maddy &
Peter

We look forward to updating you frequently! Bring on the humidity and the 'gators!

Walking in the Way,
Jason

What do you want with us, Jesus?

Mark 1:21-28

February 1, 2009

Have you come to destroy us? Have you come to destroy us, Jesus, you Holy One of God? In short, yes.

Oh how I wish I could have been there in that synagogue that day to see the confrontation between Jesus and this crafty little unclean spirit! Man, what it show! Can you picture it?

Jesus laying out the truth of God’s Word as one that hasn’t been seen before. The authority that he has has captivated the assembly of 40 or 50 people, and they are feeding out of the palm of his hand. Then out of no where…an interruption breaks everyone’s concentration and this powerful teaching leaps off the page of Scripture and becomes action right into the middle of worship!

And just as Jesus did in the wilderness for 40 days, previous in this chapter, he is confronted again by that power that opposes everything that he is about, namely God.

I don’t know about you, but I find that I can relate more to the man with the unclean spirit than I can with the other people in the synagogue, or Jesus for that matter. Not because I think I am evil, or that any of you are evil, but I relate to this man because there are so many things in my life that get in the way of me putting myself under the power and authority Jesus has to change my life. In fact, I can’t do it alone.

How often do we ask, “What do you want with us, Jesus?”, while at the same time living with the underlying thought that God is out to get us because it seems that life is too chaotic, too painful or lonely. “Have you come to destroy us? Really, tell me, Lord God of the Universe, what DO you WANT with me?”

To which Jesus responds tersely, “Keep quiet, and come out of him!” You see, in spite of our own attempts to confuse or restrict God’s power to change us, we are powerless. Jesus speaks, and the adversary of God is defeated.

What does Jesus want with us?

He wants to release us from obstructions and see with the eyes of faith.

He wants us to stop asking so many questions that attempt to reduce his power and authority.

He wants us to see ourselves and others as the beautiful creatures that God has so lovingly and meticulously made us.

It is too easy to point at something and judge its whole as good or bad without understanding the whole of the situation. Our lives are (sometimes necessarily) based on making snap judgments, and yet we sell God and our neighbor short when we allow our judgments to dictate our relationships.

When I was in seminary, I worshiped in a community with a very diverse population, with people from all over the world and in nearly the entire spectrum of socio-economic classes. One of the guys that I couldn’t figure out was a man who was about 50 years old and always sat in the front pew wearing a white robe. From a distance, he seemed very peculiar, if not just plain weird. He didn’t look any different that anyone else, so it could be assumed that he just thought it was special to wear a robe. He never assisted in worship, or lit candles. Once in a while he would hold the cup with grape juice in it at communion, but he always wore the robe.

Within a couple months of being there I learned that his name was Charlie. He grew up in this congregation and had been there for over 40 years. Charlie was cognitively disabled and when he was growing up the church had very little to do with people who had any cognitive disabilities. Often they were outcast, and their families were sometimes blamed for the “problems” their children had. You could say that the church thought that something “evil” or “unclean” had happened to them. But not this church. There happened to be a number of young people like Charlie at the time and so the pastor modified the confirmation curriculum so that these young people would be able to have the same privilege of being a confirmed member of the church as all the other kids. 40 some years later, Charlie is living his discipleship out through the same congregation that saw what God sees in him, that he is loved as he is and that he has everything that he needs to be a follower of Jesus.

Through the brave and faithful actions of a faith community the evil of isolation and shame were put to death so that others might have life in Jesus name.

Jesus speaks and evil is defeated. When Jesus speaks today it often sounds like your voice or yours, or ours collective as a faith community. And sometimes, in order for evil to be defeated, it takes the collective voice of Christians across our cities and country and even around the world to defeat evil. We hear God speak in our lives and we are set free from obstructions to Jesus and free for serving others.

As people of faith, we are empowered by Christ and the Holy Spirit, to act on the behalf of those whose lives have been touched by things not of God and to show them that the God of hope is present and real.

What does Jesus want with us? He wants nothing less than our whole selves and he goes to the farthest end to claim it for God. He has given us nothing less than his whole self spread out on a cross, which God used to defeat evil and give us abundant life through his death. It isn’t easy or clean. It is God's way of being with us.

At the end of U2 concerts, they often end the show with the song Yahweh. It is a confession of faith and a prayer for the world to be shaped by God. In the chorus, Bono recognizes God's power through suffering and the world's key to following Jesus, that there is always pain before a child is born.

U2 Yahweh Lyrics:
Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, Yahweh
Still I'm waiting for the dawn

Take these hands teach them what to carry
Take these hands Don't make a fist
Take this mouth So quick to criticise
Take this mouth Give it a kiss

Yahweh, Yahweh
Always pain before a child is born
Yahweh, tell me now Why the dark before the dawn?

Take this city A city should be
shining on a hill
Take this city If it be your will
What no man can own, no man can take
Take this heart
Take this heart
Take this heart
And make it break

Through our encounters with Jesus, may our hearts break for those who have been hurt, harmed and lonely and may we be changed all over again by seeing God work a new thing in their lives by the power of Jesus. Amen.

A Ringside Seat to a Christian Argument

Here's the text to my sermon for Sunday, September 7, 2008 based on Matthew 18:15-20

I was talking with some of the other pastors in town this week and we thought it was a cruel trick that the people who put the lectionary together play on us when they know that it is the opening day of Learning Time!

However, I think that this reading is a great reminder for us as we begin a new program year at People of Hope what we are a part of when we live as disciples of Jesus and we get along with each other.

When I was a chaplain intern in a hospital out in Oregon, the summer before I came to People of Hope, I worked with all kinds of different patients and their families and witnessed all kinds of different dynamics within those families. I was so new to being a chaplain though that I hardly felt prepared to bring spiritual wisdom and comfort to people who were often having experiences that dramatically changed the way they saw their lives. The reality was, I was scared. I was scared to approach the room of patients whose charts would say, “Patient has stated they are angry at God.” or “Patient and family have conflicting views for care.” What could I do to make the situation any better?

In these situations, I knew that several things could happen. If a patient was angry with God and I walked in as the chaplain, I could immediately become the target of the problem because I represent the thing that the patient is angry at. On the other hand, it could be a great comfort to a patient to have the chaplain show up and be able to tell someone who cares about God how angry they are about what has happened to them.

On one occasion, I walked into the room of a patient who had been diagnosed with pneumonia. He was in his 50s, married, had a daughter and a granddaughter. As I visited with him, I came to find out he had been a pretty heavy drinker in the past, a gambler who lost more than he won, he hopped from job to job always making enough to pay the bills, but not doing much else to support his family. His daughter was sitting there as we talked and would interject her perspective from time to time, often encouraging him to tell more details of the story and commentary on how his actions affected the rest of the family. I heard how she and her father had grown apart for years and how painful that was to her. I heard how things were getting better, but that this illness really scared her because she wasn’t sure if they’d have enough time to reconcile. I heard how he regretted so many of the things that he’d done in the past, how he thought that there was no way to regain a relationship with her. Without really trying to do anything but listen, I found myself in the middle of confrontation. It was the confrontation of the truth. But it was rooted in a deep desire for a closer relationship.

There are few Bible passages that challenge me more than this one. I don’t know about you, but growing up in Minnesota, I didn’t really learn much about confrontation or gain any appreciation for it…in fact it’s a swear word in some families I know…or so it seems.

We have been programmed in our Midwestern ways to be Minnesota nice, which from my estimation means that we accept what comes to us, nod and smile in agreement, don’t stir the water too much. We may even convince ourselves that everything will be ok over time. But it usually isn’t if left unaddressed.

Instead of talking to the person who’s offended us, we may even go to our friends or family who will agree with us and tell them how offended we were by what was said or done instead of bringing our grievance to the person who has caused us pain. Yet, what good does this do us in the long run? Sure we feel affirmed by the ones we know will agree with us, but there is still a distance growing between us and the one who’s offended us if we don’t go straight to the source to seek reconciliation and acceptance.

I said that I am challenged by Jesus’ words and directions here. This reading seems too legalistic. It has been abused by too many people, especially in the church over the centuries. It appears that this is a method for a power play for breaking someone who has been perceived to have done wrong.

But taking a closer look there is great wisdom here and a faithful way of dealing with conflict that leads to restored relationship instead of isolating dominance. Look at the reason that Jesus tells us to go to the one who’s offended…it’s so that they may be restored to the community.

Unlike many arguments we have in life, where our goal is to be right and for us to win our way, Jesus gives this instruction under the direction that the church, who is God’s family, is not called to argue for one’s own interests, but is called as a community to seek the interests of God.

In order for us to accomplish or even attempt this, we as the church need to be learners of God’s way, together. That is what a disciple is; a learner. As learners, we come humbly to this work of being and shaping the church. We have to assume that we don’t have it all figured out and that we will stumble along the way, but by God’s grace, we have enough figured out to be called the church.

And as God’s family, we know there are ways of living our lives that are more faithful to God than other ways of living. So we strive together toward living God’s ways of generosity, mercy, worship, justice, love, hospitality, and a commitment to God’s mission in the world. There are obviously others, but these are some of the big ones. So, if we agree on how we live together as the church we also agree to be accountable to one another.

If I do something that the church does not think is a characteristic of our Christian community, I hope you will tell me in love and in the interest of our shared commitment to the church.

It’s a like being a part of a family, right? Let’s say a mother brings her son to the park and he is playing on the playground with other kids. Now, little Johnnie starts picking up rocks and throwing them at the other kids. Does the mother show love in not correcting the child’s behavior? If that behavior continues to be allowed, it becomes normalized in that child’s life and by the time their in kindergarten, little Johnnie becomes the most feared kid in his class and soon isolated because he was not taught the rules of the community around him.

Jesus does not wish for us to be isolated or feared as the church in the world. In fact when we read the line, “If he ignores the community, deal with him as you would a heathen and a tax collector”, we may at first blush think this is the harshest and most radical thing Jesus could possibly say. But, then we remember who it was that Jesus chose to be with, the sinners and the tax collectors and we realize that the Jesus’ vision for the church is a place of radical inclusion that takes the process of learning to be disciples seriously.

This is why we have LT, small groups, this is our job as the church to instruct and model the ways of God for younger generations in our homes and in our communities.

Conflict is inevitable, being human is a messy job. We all make mistakes, we all fall short of Jesus’ vision for the church, and the expectations of our family and friends, just like my patient fell short of his family's expectations. As God's people we keep striving with one another toward Christ's vision for the church, lovingly encouraging each other, helping each other live in God’s ways, and seeking reconciliation with those who’ve offended us by accepting each other as fellow learners along the way.

Jesus leaves us at the end of this reading with the assurance that in our reconciliation and acceptance in the community, that when we gather with two or three of our friends of the church, Jesus is present, and ready to guide our actions and decisions, and open us to the mysteries of God and deeper relationships with each other.

Wilderness Wanderings with Good Company

Three weeks ago, my colleague, friend and founding pastor of the church I serve, left for a new call in St. Paul. As the congregation and I have transitioned into this new space and time together, I have discovered that though I may be the sole ordained guy around, that I am in good company in this venture.

I have said to our leadership team a few times, "Here's where I think we need to go, but I've never done this before." And their response is typically, "Neither have we!" There is great comfort in being able to wander in this wilderness together. In my sermon on Sunday, I said that anytime we find ourselves wandering in the wilderness, we better be looking for God. Moses and the Israelites stumbled on God, Elijah found God in the still small voice on the mountain. John the Baptist cried out for the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord, and Jesus feeds more than 5000 in the wilderness on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

It's comforting to know that we are not alone. There's good company in the wilderness. I just find that I'm required to rely on God more when I trip into the wilderness. As I have met with so many now from People of Hope, I am most often uplifted by their faith that we are going to continue to be a strong community of faith and that we are all in this together. I am humbled by their faith and confidence in my leadership, even when I am half some of their ages.

The more I meet with people, the more I realize too that God knows what he is doing in bringing the church made of all kinds of people together and shaping them into the body of Christ. Over and over, I have seen this body broken open and shared with each other and the community. Over and over I am amazed at the vision that God has placed in this community of believers, seekers, cynics, questioners, lovers of God, and bystanders. It's good company for this leg of the wilderness wandering.

Welcome to the big bright world Eliana Audrey

With the wonder of today's technology, we can introduce the world to Ellie. It's like the scene in the Lion King when Rafiki runs to the top of the mountain and presents Simba to the animal kingom, only I don't have to face the hyenas!

Our new family is doing really well, Erica and my eyes could stand to see a little more of the inside of our eyelids, but we're figuring it out every hour.

Pictures of Eliana

When Love Comes to Town After Party

In the Christian tradition, Good Friday is usually reserved for a solemn remembrance of Jesus' death on a gruesome cross. Christian denominations with roots in the 16th and 17th century are well accustomed to feeling empty on this somber occasion. As gruesome a death as Jesus had, it does not compare to the abundant life and love that comes through the cross to Easter, and Jesus' resurrection.

People of Hope and Living Stone Church brought these traditions of somber reflection and God's ultimate act of love together on Friday night in "When Love Comes to Town: An Easter Experience".

If you saw the show, Let me know what you thought by contacting me. If you didn't see the show, but are interested in knowing more, contact me.

Here's a sample of last week's event.

Peace be yours in the Risen Christ!

I can hardly wait any longer!

So it has been 39 wonderful weeks of development and growth for this image we see above and the time for her to come into the world is approaching...but not yet. I can hardly wait to greet this daughter of mine and give her the love that I have been feeling since we first new she was coming. It is not only my wife and I that wait, but family and a whole community of people that anticipate with joy her coming. What a thrill it will be!

When Love Comes to Town

Thirsting for Living Water

I preached this sermon on February 24th, at People of Hope in Rochester, MN. The sermon is based on John 4:5-42

Thirsty?

The woman comes to a point in her exchange with Jesus that leads her to tell others, “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done! He couldn’t be the messiah could he?”

One has to wonder why this woman is so excited about someone who knows everything about her. We know it’s not her shimmering resume or all of her personal and professional accomplishments that she is so proud that Jesus knows about, unless you count having as many husbands as Elizabeth Taylor a success. She is a stranger to everyone in her own town, an outcast because of decisions she’s made and circumstances that have happened to her. She is so ashamed of her life, that she has to come to the well to get necessary water in the middle of the day, when it’s so hot that none of the other women in town would be there.

The unnamed woman in our story this morning is thrilled because unlike anyone else in town, Jesus addresses the truth of who she is with her, not just through a gossip mill around other people. She was thirsty for a drink of that living water that only Jesus could give her. And contrary to what we might think, the drink of truth transformed her from an isolated nobody to the primary evangelist in town!

The truth is until she met Jesus, she really had nothing to be proud of. She was dried up and labored just to get a few drops of attention, even if it didn’t amount to much in the long run. She was the woman in town that everyone talked about, but that no body talked to. Her greatest desire was to be known and loved, but not even her relationships with her husbands could quench her thirst for the love she longed for.

Perhaps her whole life had been like this, longing for wholeness. Perhaps she had never really experienced unconditional love, had never had the opportunity to be known by someone because too often in her life, she had been criticized, abused or neglected. Every relationship up to this point had dried her out. Now in the middle years of her life, someone finally sees her and speaks the truth to her in a way that oddly enough…frees her to be who she has always wanted to be, she all of a sudden can swallow easily and thirsts no more.

Being seen is a powerful thing. To know that another human being has truly seen you, understood you, received you for who you really are: that is pure grace. It is the experience of a fresh cleansing rain. Most of us would do anything for it. And sometimes we want to be seen and understood more than anything else in our lives.

Being seen and understood is pure grace. There’s nothing better than someone knowing your deficiencies, neuroses and sins and loving you in spite of them. The more people know of us the more our cracks and blemishes are exposed. The more people know of us, the more we are vulnerable. Media and culture says that if we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, we’ll end up like kids on the playground, someone is bound to get picked on, knocked down and left crying in the sand. The more you show of yourself; it is possible that this could happen…we don’t live in a utopian world. But the more our cracks and blemishes are laid to bear, the easier it is for that living water of God’s grace to fill us and restore us as well. Grace is delightfully unpredictable. When we see it or experience it, it has the ability to turn us around and see ourselves in a new light. Grace transforms the lost into the found, the scarce into abundance, the broken into wholeness, the ashamed into the proud, and makes the impossible possible.

Five days before the end of the school year of ninth grade, I found myself desperate for grace. I needed to be seen and understood more than anything, because in the course of one evening everything I had known changed. My friend Joe had come over to hang out after school, we were in the basement, and at about 5 o-clock, my dad came to the top of the stairs and said, “Good bye Jason, take good care of your sister.” I thought that it was a strange thing to say, but at the time I didn’t think much of it. When my mom came home, a little later than I had expected her, with tear stained cheeks, I found out that my dad had robbed a store at gunpoint and led a high speed chase down the highway before being caught about 8 miles out of town. Our lives had changed in an instant.

The next morning, I was getting ready for school when my mom came half way down the stairs and tossed the local paper on the floor at my feet. On the front cover was a rather large photo of my dad being detained, face down on the pavement of the highway. My mom gave me the option of staying home from school that day, but I figured I couldn’t just escape. The school was my well, I had to go there. So, I finished getting ready and headed out the door. As I walked into school, I felt like I was no longer known, but I was known about, much like the woman that Jesus met. I felt broken and lost. When I got to my locker, some of my friends ignored me, others talked among themselves, but two friends from my church asked how I was. They had seen me, they looked deep into me and saw me for who I was. It was delightfully surprising grace…it was a refreshing drink of life giving water when I was so thirsty.

As the days and weeks went on, my family was sustained by this life giving water. Jesus was present in those dark days of uncertainty through the grace and generosity of others. When we felt we had nothing, we had more than enough, when we felt we were broken Jesus surrounded us with people who helped us feel whole again, when we felt lost Jesus took our hands and guided us back into community, when we thought we had experienced the impossible, Jesus was there to make it possible to transform despair into hope.

Are you thirsty? Are there people in your life that you long to see you and know you and understand you? Do you see others around you thirsty for life giving water? Perhaps we are all like the woman that Jesus meets at the well, thirsty for something, and we’re holding our water buckets full of burdens, stress, power, fear or unattainable control. These things will not quench our thirst. Let go of your buckets, leave them alone. Jesus invites us to living water that doesn’t dry up. This water of grace and hope, love and acceptance is ours from the savior of the world, Jesus. Drink it up and share it with others. Quench your thirst.

The woman left her bucket because she didn’t need it any more. She was given a new identity a new hope. We have also been given this same gift, as Jesus takes the truth of all that we are and all that we have experienced and pours grace out over us and into us. For Jesus, it doesn't matter that we carry heavy buckets of junk around with us, he just continues to pour grace into the world, in spite of and because we are thirsty without him.
Amen


Throughout the course of the week leading up to this sermon, I deliberated on whether the personal story I use in the sermon was too personal and made me too vulnerable. But as I thought about it, I realized it is vulnerability and honesty that opens us to the work of the Spirit among us in the world. May the Spirit of the living God flow through you and in you today that your life may be filled with the quenching water of life.

Happy New Year!

A new year has dawned and with it new reflections to be had on living life with joy and hope. This year I want to make it my practice to live less frenetically. Those who know me will say, "yeah, right! Fatherhood is going to make you less crazy and scattered?" I accept that my life will change greatly this year as I continue to settle into the life of ministry and the new role as father. However, hear me out. I believe that it is time for me to think through things more fully before taking a position, live with less reaction and more reflection. It will be better for me and for those I care about and love. So, here's to 2008, may it be a year of growth and hope for me and for all of us.

PEACE.

Praying with Honesty

I have had this prayer above my desk at home since I was in seminary. It speaks to the core of faith and doubt and is honest about an unwillingness to completely submit to our Creator and Savior. And you know what...I think that's ok, even with God.


Lord, I want to love you, yet I'm not sure.
I want to trust you, yet I'm afraid of being taken in,
I know I need you, yet I'm ashamed of the need.
I want to pray, yet I'm afraid of being a hypocrite.
I need my independence, yet I fear to be alone.
I want to belong, yet I must be myself.
Take me, Lord, yet leave me alone.
Lord, I believe, Help thou my unbelief.
O Lord, if you are there, you do understand, don't you?
Give me what I need but leave me free to choose.
Help me work it out my own way, but don't let me go.
Let me understand myself, but don't let me despair.
Come unto me, O Lord - I want you there.
Lighten my darkness - but don't dazzle me.
Help me to see what I need to do and give me strength to do it.
O Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief.

AMEN

Wrap your mind around this.

Yesterday I was on my way to work, listening to NPR, like every morning. There was a story about this college student who was doing astronomy research with a prof and caught something quite amazing...a .005 second radio flash located about 1 billion light years away from earth.

It doesn't sound all that amazing, does it? But think about it. They measured something as short in time as a 50th of a blink of an eye that is located in a place that we couldn't get to in a million life times! Wow!

Let me get a little theological, for just a minute. When people who believe in God (I'm one of those) pray to the Lord of the universe and the Lord of all creation, God is present 1 billion light years away from all human experience at the same time that God is fully present in daily life here. Now that's a leap of faith, but one that I am willing to put stock in. Who wants a little God that we can place in our pocket? I'd rather have the God who is creative enough to be here and there and everywhere and has the power to care about my life as much as God cares about other parts of the universe.

Let me take it one step further...if God sent Jesus to redeem creation (read Revelation 20-22), doesn't that mean that the scope of God's redeeming action is far beyond the lives of Christians, even far beyond the live of humanity? What might be the most faithful role the Christians play in the world? Do Christians sell God short when the only concern is the eternal residence of people's lives? Aren't there more positive and productive acts that Christians can do to make the fullness of God's care and realm known to the world that often needs a gracious and redeeming word for their lives today? I'd think so. As a Christian, the call to follow Jesus leads me to believe that there is action to take in order to make the world that God has given us a more gracious and God-shaped place to live, here and now.

Do you have ideas of how to live as a follower of Jesus that makes a difference for the world in which we live? I'd love to hear them. Let's do this together.

Gross!

So, I took my dog for a walk yesterday and when we came back to the house I saw him eat the neighbor dog's poop. I don't get it! What possesses an animal to eat poop? I suppose if we let toddlers play with their poop, they would eat it too. I still don't get it.

Witnessing Hope in the Midst of Unsettled Times

This sermon is based on Luke 10:38-42 and Colossians 1:13-28

Arriving in New Orleans a few of weeks ago, I knew things would be different, I just didn’t realize how different. I had come to this place for fun in past times, but this time, I was with a group of people who had a different purpose. We were on a mission bring hope to people whose lives had been torn apart by Hurricane Katrina nearly two years ago. Yet as the week went on we realized this experience was going to be different than we first expected, it didn’t only involve gutting and rebuilding structures and houses, we had been sent to help people rebuild, restore and renew their lives and witness to the hope that is for them through the love of Christ. What we discovered is that hope had already come and we were but companions on their journey of rebuilding, restoring and renewing what was theirs to begin with.

The 14 people who traveled to New Orleans were messengers and workers who represented People of Hope and ultimately were faithful representatives of Jesus Christ to those we met and befriended there. We were a bunch of Marys and Marthas and Pauls, and throughout the week, we learned more deeply the value of each of these gifts, to serve, to sit at the feet of Jesus and to suffer for the sake of others.

Anytime we serve beyond ourselves, it can be easily overwhelming. As the mission trip group drove through the streets of the now infamous lower 9^th ward, where the water rose high above the houses right after the storm, we saw twisted trees and overgrown grasses that now covered what remained of dilapidated houses. We couldn’t help but think that something was missing, some things were missing…above all else, in this neighborhood the most prominent thing missing seemed to be real hope of rebuilding, restoring or renewing.

We had questions like:

“How, in heaven’s name, is it possible that two years after Katrina, there is no hope in some parts of this once vibrant city? Why wouldn’t people return? On the other hand, how could they return? And how is it possible that the families that we are working with have the strength and vision to believe they can rebuild?”

The rhythm of the week was to pray, work, question, work, and pray some more. Most of the time, these things were happening all at the same time.

As we come into Martha’s house with Jesus, in Luke’s gospel, we see a dispute break out as to what is best to do, serve or sit at the feet of Jesus. Martha is the dutiful host to Jesus, serving her hardest, and her sister Mary appears to be the doting listener of Jesus, unconcerned with the work of the household. When Martha asks Jesus if it’s right that Mary isn’t helping, Jesus’ response is that Mary has chosen the better decision.

Although this story seems simple and to the point, there seems to be much more to this story than a simple right or wrong answer. The answer is not as clear as it seems because right before this story is the better known story of the Good Samaritan.

The order of these stories is not an accident, the scholar of Moses’ Teachings asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, and the man answers his own question by saying that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength and with all our mind and our neighbor as our selves. Jesus responds to him by telling the story of the Samaritan who went out of his way to serve the abused stranger; and at the end tells the scholar to go and do the same.

So how is it possible that Mary has chosen the better option?

Given the way these stories flow, one from the other, Luke seems to be making the point that living as God wants us to live is not an either/or choice; either service or devotion, but rather a both/and kind of life. We both devote ourselves to God through Jesus, and live to help our neighbor.

Now the group from People of Hope spent the week in New Orleans in two different work teams. Equipped with fresh energy and a desire to do good work, one team met Kevin and his family, they worked side by side all week long. Kevin worked 11 PM to 7 AM, fixing other people’s homes so that he could fix his own, yet he was faithful to his family in making this house a home for them again. He had the work ethic of Martha.

The other team worked most of the week at Miss Rosetta’s 130 yr old duplex. She was living next door with her son and working 2 jobs as a social worker and elder care provider while working on her master’s degree at almost 60 years of age. She was trying to get the house back together so that her daughter and family could live next door to her. She was dedicated to having family close. She seemed to have the work ethic of Martha as well.

Although we came to help and to bring hope to these families by working on rebuilding their homes, we found ourselves listening like Mary in the midst of our working like Martha.

I talked to Miss Rosetta one afternoon and asked her where her strength has come from to make it through the last two years, and she just looked me in the eye and said, “God will get me through…God will get me through.” It seemed too simple to me, yet, we were standing on the porch, looking at the guts of her house sitting on the curbside, and her response was, “God will get me through.” In that moment she pointed me to Jesus and to the trust that is ours through faith in all life’s circumstances.

Her mind was not full of anxiety or worry, but it was on the goodness and mercy of God who blesses us with hope. She understood in the core of her being and through the power of her experience that Christ was her source of hope and that a big ol’ nasty storm may change her, but it will not shake her from the presence of God.

In that moment, I was sitting at the feet of Jesus, or at least sitting at the feet of someone who knew Jesus well, being reminded that all material things wither and die, but God has been here from the beginning and God will be here to see us through to the very end. Nothing in our lives has the right, nor the power to separate us from God, who restores, rebuilds and renews us everyday. When we live in this promise we can’t help but recognize Jesus in those that we serve. AMEN

Grace Happenings

I went over to my wife's coworker's house last night. She had some boxes to give us because we are moving next week. While we were there she asked if I would help her try to figure out why her garbage disposal and outlet by her sink wouldn't work. As she was talking I saw a reset button on one of the other outlets and dumbly pushed it. As I did that, she was saying, "See it just stopped work..." at that time she flicked the switched and low and behold the garbage disposal began to grind away, doing its job.

She was elated that it was working again. I thought that she was going to pick me up and spin me around. The look of joy and relief on her face was simply priceless. In that moment, I experienced undeserved grace. Thanks and more thanks came from her mouth. And all I did was push a button, but what she experienced was freedom. One never knows what actions will lead to. Gratitude is amazing. It's infectious and beautiful, and not always expressed as it ought. When one woman is so grateful for her garbage disposal working again, how great it is to be reminded of all the gratitude I have for all the wonderful and unexpected little grace happenings in my life.

Inviting to Community without Distinction

I recently read an article by the leader of a evangelically minded group within the ELCA. (I would hope that we are all evangelically minded.) I am so glad this group exists and is getting positive attention from the wider church. I consider myself a partner with them in raising up the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world beyond the church. However, there are a couple of terms used by groups like this one that I can't seem to buy into: "unchurched" and "dechurched".

I will admit, I have used these terms myself, but the more I think about it, this is yet one more church word that creates "us vs. them" distinctions that divide and shame instead of invite and encourage. These words assume a superiority of class in being "churched" or a member of a church. I have observed that for many of people of faith, and in particular, the upper Midwest (as this is really the only Christian culture I know) we are much more comfortable and conversant in the language of "church" than we are in the language of "faith". It is easier to answer the question, "What's your church doing for your life and in your community?" than it is to answer "What's God doing in your life and in your community?" This is a critique, but one that I make with care and concern for the life of the church, the people.

There are great benefits to being "churched" like having a caring community around you, being prayed for, having a group of people to share in the joys and disappointments in life, being encouraged in one's walk of faith, having a place to ask hard questions, and connecting with God in community, among others. But, I urge those of us in the church to celebrate these things in such a way that we honor and respect those who have yet to experience the benefits and blessings of the living Go.

I haven't heard Jesus calling out those outside of the faith to be indoctrinated, I hear Jesus calling the world to find its uniqueness in the Risen Savior. I would argue that Jesus' hope for the world is not that we all join a church, but that we be the church in everything that we do. I hear Jesus invite those outside of faith to consider the ways of God and to follow them.

We have all been created in God's image whether we are "churched", "unchurched" or "dechurched", therefore are we not all brothers and sisters trying to find our way in the world and in the community of God?

A Mindless Day

Friday is typically the day I take off. Today, I took a mental holiday that would rival any other's. I vegged out so much that I hardly came into the day. Mindlessness and pure emptiness, with interspersed episodes of good intentions to do things, but really never developing was the rhythm of the day. I should feel guilty...nah. Sometimes I think that I can be washed over with the desire for rest to the point that I am numb, paralyzed even. That is kind of how today was. Every once in a while, I think it's ok to be paralyzed by nothingness. It was rest and I will be ready for new experiences tomorrow.