Sunday, August 28, 2016

Year C, Proper 17, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16 “For the Love of Money”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen
“Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." So we can say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?"

What can anyone do to me????
Well, quite a bit when it comes right down to it.
                And that is what we fear.

There are very few of us that would want to admit that we have a “love of money”, but the truth is that we devote ourselves and much of our lives to achieving the financial security that money brings. 

We don’t spend a lot of time examining our own relationship with money, until it becomes an issue in our lives, though it dominates much of what we do.  I mean, after all, we live in a cash based economy.  Everything we do, it seems, is dependent in some way on the money that we have.  One of our greatest fears is not having enough money.

Two illustrations come to mind from my own life:
The first is from a conversation I was part of when I first visited Russia a number of years ago.  We were part of a sister congregation program and had begun a relationship with St. Nikolai Lutheran Church in Novgorod, Russia.  A member from one of my former parishes was serving that congregation as a missionary, and a delegation from our congregation in Sandpoint went to Russia to visit with them.

One evening, after dinner, we were having a conversation with them about the different ways of life of our two countries.  A major point of interest was to check out what we had heard about each other’s country, much of which was part of the propaganda of the Cold War era.

There was one question that our Russian friends asked us that really struck home.
“Is it true, what we have heard, that there are poor people in the United States?”
“Yes,” we had to answer, “there certainly were poor people.”

My mind went two different directions.  I wanted to share with them that though there were poor people, even our poor, on welfare, had more than many of them.  That was true.  Between welfare, and food stamps, and programs such as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the “poor” in our country were in many ways far better off than most of the people in Russia.  But then, I also thought about the homeless, those who fell between the cracks, those who lived from handout to handout, who slept under bridges in our cities, and I had to simply admit, “Yes, there were poor people in America.”

“And how can that be?” was their response.
“How can it be that there are poor people in your country that is so rich?”

They went on to talk about the hardships that they had experienced as a nation, and at the time, Russia was in a financial crisis.  They had very little, perhaps a $100 or so a month to live on.  But what they shared was that as bad as it was, they all prospered together or suffered together.  They simply could not understand how there could be rich and poor, living side by side, in our country.  Why didn’t the rich share with the poor?
And so I had to ask myself, is it our love of money that causes some of us to hoard so much, while others go hungry?  It’s a question we probably should be asking ourselves.

And then, the other illustration comes from my own experiences over the last few years.
In 2012, my congregation in Sandpoint allowed us to purchase our own home, as opposed to living in the parsonage, and so for me, this was a dream come true.  I had lived in parsonages growing up, and had lived in a parsonage as a pastor through my adult life with the exception of the early years of our marriage when we rented, prior to becoming a pastor.
We’d never owned our own home, now we did.

But within a few months of purchasing a home, I hit my rock bottom as an alcoholic, and in addition, was in the midst of a major bout with depression.
I successfully completed a chemical dependency treatment program for my alcoholism, and remain sober to this day, but the depression didn’t lift.
It actually became worse.

So much so that I couldn’t continue to work, and both for my sake, and the sake of my congregation, I had to resign my call and go on disability.  The result was a significant drop in income at a time when we were just getting used to having a major house payment to make on our mortgage.  As it turned out, in part because we finished paying off our two cars, and in part because disability benefits were not taxable, we ended up being alright.
But then, suddenly, and without warning, I was told last year that the disability payments would stop.  All of a sudden I was left without any income, and we were faced with having to get by on my wife’s modest income alone. 

I was afraid.
But then, a phone call later, I was hired on at the cabinet shop where I still work, and again, the crisis was averted.

Last spring, with my health having been restored, I was ready to return to ministry and so sat down with Bishop Wells to talk about it.  That’s when he mentioned your congregation.  And as of your decision last week, I’m looking forward to serving as your pastor, and with that, comes the financial security of a salary package that will help, together with my cabinet job, to restore our income to what it once was.

This comes at a time when there are significant changes of leadership at my wife’s place of employment, and with that, questions about how that will impact her.  The uncertainty alone is enough to produce significant fear within me.  That is until I realized that God had already provided adequately for us with my returning to parish ministry.
There will be enough.

My fears, real as though they may be, are unfounded.
“Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you." So we can say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.

What can anyone do to me?"

After these experiences, I’m growing in my understanding of these verses from today’s readings. 
Be content with what you have.
I will never forsake you.
The Lord is my helper.

Through it all, the most important lesson for me has been about, what I would call, the “Grace of Sufficiency”.  God gives us enough.

God doesn’t promise that we will have everything we want, that our every desire will be met.  But God gives us enough.  Be content with what you have, it is a gift, and it is enough.
In contrast to that, if we give ourselves over to the love of money, it is never sufficient.  There simply is no limit to our appetite for more, if we “love” money. 
I got a taste of this over the last few years as well.

Every day as I drive to and from work, there is this big bill board advertizing the lottery.
Have you ever imagined what you would do if you won the lottery?  I have.  My imagination runs wild.  I’ve imagined the house I would buy, the things I would do, the investments I would make (so that I could have even more), and how charitable I would be if only given the opportunity.

My imagination runs so wild, that an interesting thing happens.  Not only do I imagine winning the lottery, but I find myself more tempted to buy tickets when the pot is 500 million dollars, than when it is a mere 50 million dollars. 
If we give ourselves over to the love of money, it is never enough.

What is enough, though, is the grace of God that provides for our every need in a sufficient way.

One of the things we are going to miss as a society in the coming years is the witness of those people who grew up and lived through the Great Depression of the 1930’s. 
Karla’s mom used to talk about that a lot.  She grew up in North Dakota during that time, and North Dakota was clearly part of the dust bowl.  The rains stopped, there were no crops to speak of, and with no crops, there were no paychecks coming in.

But when Becky would remember that time, what she remembered was not going hungry, but rather how much they had.  Even though the rain didn’t fall, they always had enough water to raise a garden, and to keep a dairy cow.  And that was sufficient to keep food on the table. They had no money, but they had each other.   And together, with family helping family, and neighbors helping neighbors, they got by.

There were two things that they had that were priceless:
                The love they shared.
And an appreciation for God’s grace, and these words:
"The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?"

One closing thought.
The book of Job details how Job lost everything, and how he struggled as a result of that.  In response to his loss, he says:
"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

As I think of these words of Job, what strikes me is that if we recognize that we have nothing, then everything is a gift.  We are born with nothing, we will die with nothing.  Everything we have in between times is pure gift.
That is grace.


Amen

Friday, August 26, 2016

Year C, Proper 18, Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Choices

"If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess."

Our God is not a punishing God, but one who in love, shares with us the real and inevitable consequences of our actions.  

There are choices that will lead to an abundant and prosperous life.  And choices that will lead to death.

It is as though God is writing the warning label on products and behaviors.  "Smoking may cause cancer."  It is not that God punishes smokers by striking them down with cancer.  He doesn't.  It's an inherent risk associated with that behavior.  And God wants us to know that.

Drive in an unsafe manner, speeding, running stop lights, driving drunk, and you will die (or perhaps you will kill someone else).  The natural consequences of these behaviors are pretty straight forward.  And God would not have us experience those consequences, and so warns us.  Like a parent who warns their child not to touch the hot burner, God warns us.  Just don't do it.  Trust me, don't do it.

Unfortunately for us, we have this rebellious streak within us that refuses to heed the advice of those wiser than ourselves, opting instead to learn from our own mistakes, if at all.  And God, patiently, persistently, and all too frequently, must sit back and say "I tried to tell you, but you would not listen!"

For all of God's fatherly advice, we are still prone to jump to the conclusion that God punishes for the sake of punishing.  Its like a teenager who ends up in jail for drunk driving and is convinced that their parent called the cops on them.  Rather than accept responsibility for their own actions, they seek someone else to blame.  

Choose life and you will live.  Choose death and you will die.  Sound advice.  But we don't like to admit there are consequences to our actions.

Scientists predict dire consequences for our planet if we do not take action of climate change.  Global warming is directly related to our actions.  But we are deaf to the warnings.  We don't believe the warnings.  We refuse to accept responsibility.  Perhaps when cities like New Orleans and Miami are underwater, we will become believers.  Or perhaps we will simply blame the Core of Engineers.  

Choices have consequences.  And all our loving God can do is warn us of the consequences and hope, beyond hope, we will make the right choice.

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Year C, Proper 16, Isaiah 58:9b-14, Luke 13:10-17, Compassion, Healing, and the Kingdom of God.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’ first words were:
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."
At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, he stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth and read from the prophet Isaiah:
18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

What follows then is Jesus’ ministry in which the primary focus centers on the theme of the Kingdom of God, and doing Kingdom Work.
It was a different sort of campaign, compared to the political campaigns of today.  But make no mistake; it was a campaign, with powerful political ramifications.  In the end he would die, executed by the Roman governor, and the charge for which he was killed and which was written above him on the cross was simply this:
Jesus of Nazareth
King of the Jews
Back in 1976, an evangelical named Jim Wallis wrote a book titled “Agenda for a Biblical People” in which he explored the political and social ramifications of Christianity.  I am not prepared to go into the specifics of his work here, but the title alone makes a significant point, namely, that if we are to follow the Jesus of the Bible, there is an agenda that we must deal with, an agenda that has social and political implications.

As contemporary Christians, living in America, we are most comfortable with a reading of the Gospel that is not political, but rather focuses on the personal faith of the believer. 
We talk about wanting Jesus to be our “personal Lord and Savior” and ironically, fail to recognize that both “Lord” and “Savior” are political titles.  Likewise, the term “Messiah” speaks of God’s anointed, the King, and is a political statement about who Jesus is. . .

Alright, before I go any further, it’s time for a disclaimer.

I have used the “P” word, seven times so far.
The problem for many of us with using the “P” word from the pulpit is that we cannot separate the politics of the Kingdom of God, from the specific political ideologies of today. 
Now, just a reminder, I have not mentioned “THE HIM” of today’s politics, nor have I mentioned “THE HER”.
This is about Jesus’, his ministry and his mission.
It is not about THEM.
So bear with me.

When we look at the politics of today, there is a great divide.  On the one hand you have a group of people who believe that for us to succeed, we must return to the values and status of an earlier age, a time that is looked back upon with nostalgia and, yes, rose colored glasses.  For example, some remember fondly the America of their youth, the America of the ‘50s and ‘60s.  That was the golden age of American life, and the hope is that somehow we might recapture it.

The problem is that we tend to forget a number of things.  There were two wars:  Korea and Vietnam.  There was the Civil Rights movement.  Presidents were being assassinated, riots were tearing apart our cities, and in short, there were simply a lot of things going on that we would not want to return to. 

The other side of the political divide believes in an ideal future toward which we are moving, and we must continue to progress forward toward that end.  The solutions to today’s problems are not found somewhere in the past, but in a bold new vision of the future.

In contrast with both these views, when Jesus proclaims that the Kingdom of God is at hand he is talking about something that is both “now and not yet”.  The Kingdom of God is at one and the same time “at hand”, but also the future toward which God is leading us.
It is at hand, whenever we believe in the Good News and live lives worthy of the Gospel.
It is yet to come in the sense that it will not be fulfilled completely until that day when all the forces of evil are destroyed, including the final enemy, death.

This is the Kingdom of God.

And just as our political candidates of today have an agenda, a platform of proposals about which they are campaigning,
So also, there is an agenda for a Biblical people. Jesus actually had something to say about this world, and what it meant to live under the reign of God.
He had something to say.
And what he had to say is a comfort to the afflicted, and an affliction to the comfortable.
What is this agenda?
What shape does the Kingdom of God take?
What was Jesus about?

Obviously, we could spend a lot of time talking and debating about these questions, much more time than we have here.
But our lessons for today lift up two major themes that dominate Jesus ministry, his life and his teachings.

The first comes from our reading from the prophet Isaiah.
This passage from Isaiah is written at a time when the Israelites had just returned from their exile in Babylon.  The Kingdom was in a shambles.
The temple had been destroyed.
It was a time of rebuilding.
More than anything else, they longed for the glory days of Israel to return.  That time when David was King, when Solomon ruled with wisdom, and when Israel’s enemies had been defeated.

The message that Isaiah brought, however, was not about the glory of military conquest, or the grandeur of the palace and temple.  It was about the poor.
If Israel was to be great again, they would need to tend to the poor.
“If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.”

God has a special place in his heart for the poor and the outcast.
Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 25, where he talks about the final judgment of the nations.
'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. '

And when did we do that?

'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. '

There is a piece circulating around on Facebook these days in which the author declares that THE HIM and THE HER of today’s political campaigns are both making much ado about the plight of the middle class.
Jesus, on the other hand, makes much ado about the poor.
The Kingdom of God will be great, not because King David will be on the throne once again, but because the poor and the powerless will be lifted up, the outcast welcomed, the widow and the orphan cared for. 
The first will be last, and the last first.
This is the kingdom of God.

And secondly, from our Gospel lesson today, we hear the story of one of the many times that Jesus heals the sick.
Think about the life of Jesus and what he chose to do among us, during those years he was with us. 
He healed the sick.  Time and time again, he healed the sick. 
He taught about the kingdom of God, and he healed the sick.

"Woman, you are set free from your ailment."

And with those simple words, life triumphs over death, health over sickness, and the powers of evil, the demons that bind us, are defeated.  "The last enemy to be destroyed is death."  (1 Cor 15:24)

It is a cosmic war God is engaged in, this battle between life and death.  From that first moment that the Word was spoken, and life emerged from the dust of the earth, God has championed the cause of life over death.  It is not only a battle that God has chosen to fight, it is in the end, the only battle.  

And so you have this woman, bent over in pain, suffering for eighteen long years, "bound by Satan", a slave to this disease -- and Jesus takes notice.  That was the battle he chose to fight on that Sabbath.  One of many battles he would fight during his time on earth.  

We are not comfortable with the language of demons with respect to the illnesses that plague us.  Am I, a person who has numerous chronic conditions, possessed by demons?  Is someone, such as this woman, who likewise has a chronic health condition bound by Satan?  Would we classify cancer as an evil spirit?  Surely, we can approach such conditions with a much more scientifically sound explanation.  Our world view is changed.  

But something is lost when we dismiss the demonic in the disease.  We fail to recognize that the struggle we are engaged in is part of the larger cosmic battle between good and evil, life and death, which has been central to God's interaction with the world since the beginning.  

It is not a sideshow, that when Jesus walked this earth one of his primary activities was to cure the sick.  He wasn't just biding his time until that moment that his real work was to be done on the cross.  Such events as this one were not just minor skirmishes.  They were and remain central to the plan of salvation and the cosmic battle which will in the end see life triumph over death.  It's what God does.  It is Jesus mission.

In today’s political arena there is much debate about health care.  What role should government play?  What role should business play?  Is health care a right of every citizen of this country that should be provided by the government?  Is health care a commodity to be sold by businesses to those who can afford it?

In contrast to these questions, is another alternative.  Healing is a gift of the Spirit, and central to Jesus ministry and the ministry we all share in Christ Jesus.

Imagine a world in which neither government nor business was involved in health care because it is provided as a ministry by the Church of Christ. 

Actually, healing ministries have been a part of the Church’s ministry for a long time.
Sacred Heart and Deaconess Hospital are healing ministries of the Church.  Right? 
We sometimes lose sight of that.

It’s not that radical of a new idea that healing ministries be offered by the Church, and for all in need. 
But at the same time, it’s been a long time since the Church established hospitals to extend this ministry of healing, this ministry of Jesus, to all. 
Perhaps that is the Call that we have before us.
Perhaps that is the agenda that Jesus puts before the Church.
I don’t know if it’s realistic.
What I do know is that Jesus cares about the sick.
Enough so that he dedicated his ministry to this healing.

Jesus’ compassion for the poor and outcast,
Jesus’ commitment to heal all those in need,
These are two facets of the Kingdom of God.
And as such they are both our Holy Calling as the people of God, and they are a promise of God given to us.
As a Holy Calling, they are a challenge for us to go where Jesus went, to care for those whom Jesus cared for, and to be the hands of Jesus in our world, working the works that he worked.
As a promise, they are the assurance that no one, not us, not others, will be forgotten in the midst of the struggles of this life.  God cares and will continue to care, for you.

Amen

Friday, August 19, 2016

Year C, Proper 17, Luke 14:1, 7-14, Exercises for the Soul

Do not sit down at the place of honor, but rather wait and let it be given to you.

Do not give to those who will just return the favor, but rather to those who cannot repay you.

What Jesus is talking about is the lost art of gracious living.  Lost to many of us, at least, and to most of us at least some of the time.  

If we live our lives with the attitude that we deserve nothing, then everything that we receive is gift, and gratitude is the result.

And if we live our lives generously, giving to those who cannot repay, graciousness is the consequence.  In both the giving and the receiving, grace abounds and gratitude rules the day.

Two gift giving moments come to mind.  The first occurred a number of years ago as my siblings and I were gathered at my folks home for Christmas.  We were still in the practice of exchanging gifts with one another.  But none of us were particularly adept at making those purchases in advance.  Thank God, for "Land's End".  It was comical.  We basically passed the Land's End catalog around  and each ordered something for the others.  2 day delivery insured a timely Christmas celebration.  

The second celebration was with our own children.  They had expressed a desire to move toward a 'grown up Christmas', with less emphasis on the gift exchange.  I couldn't quite let go of the gift giving tradition of Christmas, but had the inspiration to use the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's "Good Gift" program.  For each of our children, we offered a gift, not too them, but in honor of them.  Farm animals for third world families.  A doctors visit and vaccinations for the less fortunate.  Water purification tablets.  School supplies.  Each chosen because we thought it appropriate for that child, based on their interests.  Giving such gifts simply felt better.

More difficult, though, is this matter of sitting back and receiving as gift from others.  Particularly, when you simply cannot repay.  It's a humbling experience.  Perhaps a better word would be humiliating.  And yet to be touched by the graciousness of others, and to be in a situation in which the only possible response is to say 'Thank you' is good for the soul.  

The importance of such exercises is that life itself, is grace based.  The very breath of life that sustains us is a gift.  Birth is a gift.  Everything is a gift.  And the more we come to appreciate this giftedness of all life, the richer we become spiritually.

Year C, Proper 17, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, The Grace of Sufficiency

It's not that I desire to cultivate a love of money within myself, but I wouldn't mind having the opportunity to develop a deeper friendship. . .

"Maybe we don't want to be rich, but we'd all like to give it a try!"

And then there is this simple fact:  There is a huge difference between that which is desired and that which is needed.  One of the difficult lessons I have learned over the course of my life is to accept as a gift of grace, that which is sufficient, even as I must let go of that which seems so desirable.

Since I went on disability back in 2013, life has been a series of adjustments.  The disability payments were but a fraction of my full salary while working.  Our living arrangements have been both a bane and a blessing.  On the one hand, after having lived in a parsonage for most of my life, my wife and I were given the opportunity to buy our own home, which we did based on the income we had while I was working.  And then in a few short months, my health deteriorated to the point I needed to resign my call and go on disability, resulting in a substantial loss of income.  And then, subsequently, I ended up losing my disability benefits after a couple of years which resulted in my reentering the work force at a wage that was further reduced from the disability benefits.  Having a home to live in was great, but whether we could continue to pay for that home with an ever decreasing income level was another matter.

What never ceases to amaze me, is that throughout it all, there has been 'enough'.  Not a single bill went unpaid, and in fact, major financial hurdles (such as surgeries) we able to cover with cash, not credit.  For that to happen, adjustments had to be made, that is true.  And there may well be other adjustments as we go down the road.  But the life lesson in all this has been that by God's grace we have received that which is sufficient to meet our needs, though not always as much as we would have desired.  The challenge is to receive with gratitude the 'sufficient' gifts of God's grace, while not plunging into resentments over the want of that which we desire.

"I will never leave or forsake you. .  .  The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me."  "Be content with what you have."

The truth is that we have an insatiable appetite for more.  And yet, in a mysterious way, happiness is often found in less.  

Figure that one out and you will have gained a greater understanding and appreciation for the grace of sufficiency.  

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Year C, Proper 15, Hebrews 11:29-12:2, "Stormy Weather"

Year C, Proper 15, Hebrews 11:29-12:2,  “Stormy weather”

August 14, 2016


 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen
We can’t always see them,
                We’re not always aware of them,
                But they are there.
This great cloud of witnesses.
People, who have walked the walk we walk, and who persevered.
They surround us. 
                They came before us.
                They are yet to come.
                There are those in heaven above.
                There are those next door.
And one by one their lives tell the story of faith.
To live by faith is to cling to the promise of God’s unfailing love in the midst of all the stormy weather that is this life.  And stormy it can be.
The passage from Hebrews we have been reading for the last few weeks calls to mind some of those witnesses and the hardships, trials, and tribulations they have experienced, but who through it all, lived by faith.
I wish that the life of faith was one in which we would always experience the good life.  That if we were just faithful, everything would be just fine.  But that is not the case.  The witness of the saints is that by faith they overcame the hardships of this life, not that they were spared from experiencing those hardships.
This cloud of witnesses “conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented-- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.”

Not only did they experience all of the difficulties that life threw at them, but they did so, without receiving the promise.  They were commended for their faith, but did not receive what was promised.  Rather, they were told to wait.  Told to wait until that day when we might all be made perfect, together.
To live by faith, is to lean into the future, and to claim as a present reality, that which is yet to come. 

In the service for Yom Kippur and at the conclusion of the Seder meal, Jewish people recite an ancient phrase that, for me, exemplifies faith.  “Next year in Jerusalem.”  This phrase came to be embraced by the Jewish people during the times that they were dispersed all around the world.  In reciting it, Jewish people clung to the hope of the day when the temple would be restored, Israel reborn, and there on the holy mountain, they might once again worship God.

Next year in Jerusalem.
The thing is that for centuries the Jewish people lived into this promise even though they died without ever having seen its fulfillment.  
Yet that hope sustained them in faith, even through the worst of times.
Imagine, for example, those words on the lips of people in the Nazi death camps during the holocaust.  Next year in Jerusalem. 
Each of us could tell the stories that have shaped our lives.  Stories about the “cloud of witnesses” that surround us.  About all the people who persevered through the difficult challenges of this life, and did so, in faith.
Or we could think about the experience of our nation, and the quest for peace.
World War I was the “war to end all wars.”
And then there was World War II.
And the Korean War.
And the war in Vietnam.
And then Kuwait.
And Afghanistan.
And Iraq.
Now, we fight in Syria.
“Peace on Earth” the angels sang at Jesus’ birth.  It is a promise.  A promise that to this day awaits its fulfillment.
I wish it were different.
I wish that to live “by faith” meant that we would be rewarded in very tangible, delightful ways in the present moment.  Wouldn’t that be great?

Simply put your trust in God and everything will be OK.
You will be richly blessed.
You will experience no hardship.
Just have faith and everything will be alright.
I’m reminded of the lyrics from Jesus Christ  Superstar where Mary Magdalene sings to Jesus:
Try not to get worried
Try not to turn on to
Problems that upset you
Oh, Don’t you know
Everything’s alright
Yes everything’s fine
And we want you to sleep well tonight
Let the world turn without you tonight
If we try
We’ll get by
So forget all about us tonight.
The problem is that everything does not always turn out alright.  Life is difficult at times. 
Elsie was a dear friend of ours and a member of my first parish.  She struggled with numerous chronic health problems.  She endured what was at best a difficult marriage.  One day, she shared her exasperation after having visited the doctor only to find out about another chronic condition for which there was no cure.
“Pastor, if that doctor tells me one more time that ‘I’ll simply have to learn to live with it.’ I’ll give him something to live with.”
Sometimes I feel that way about God.
I want God to make everything alright.
I want God to make my problems go away.
I want God to do all those things for me that I cannot do for myself.
I want to feel good.
I don’t want to have worries.
And I certainly don’t want to suffer.

But what the Bible says is not that if we simply have faith, life will be good.
It talks about “looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
For the sake of the joy that was set before him, he endured the shame of the cross.  And there he died. 

This is the thing.
If I were to stand here and tell you that if you just have faith, everything will be alright,
                I would not be telling you the truth.
                Hardships will continue to come and go.
                And in the end, we will die.
Perhaps we will die with those words “next year in Jerusalem” on our lips, but we will die. 

We will die waiting for the promise to be fulfilled.
That is the truth.

What we can say, though, is that in the midst of all the struggles, we will meet Jesus,
the crucified one,
the one who suffers with us,
the one who loves us.
The last words Jesus speaks to his disciples in the Gospel of Matthew are
“Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Life is difficult.
                But we are not alone.
Life has its challenges.
But nothing so great as to separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus.

I need to remember that.
We all need to remember that.
That no matter what comes, Jesus is with us.
That as difficult as life may be we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses that has walked this path before. 
And the greatest witness of all is the crucified One who has promised to be with us, to lift us up whenever we fall, and to lead us on into the promise that has been given to us.

May this peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen

Year C, Proper 16, Isaiah 58:9b-14, "Lord of the Nations"


Isaiah 58:9b-14

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.

I've never had a parishioner ask me to address political issues from the pulpit.  Quite to the contrary the concern, the desire, is that as a pastor I steer clear of anything that can be considered political.  Just this last week the concern was raised during an interview.  My reaction surprised me.  "If we're preaching about 'little bo peep has lost her sheep' while the Twin Trade towers are smoldering, we run the risk of being totally irrelevant."

An interesting study would be to create a red letter edition of the Bible that highlighted the passages of scripture that had a specific political implication.  If we did that what we'd discover is that, whereas our bias today is to view all religion as a deeply personal matter, the Biblical context was that religion was predominantly a societal matter.  The prophets, for example, most frequently spoke to the nation as a whole, the body politic.  The righteousness of which they so frequently spoke was of the nation, not the individual.

And need I say that the "Kingdom of God", Jesus favorite theme, carries with it some specific political ramifications???

I suppose a rather biting retort to the concern that pastors be apolitical would be to respond, "And so, what you're saying is that you do not want me to preach from the vast majority of the Biblical texts?"

And so, what are we to do with the prophets?  This passage from Isaiah can be read from the individualistic bias of today's world.  But such a reading is simply not the context of Isaiah's words.  He is speaking of "a nation that practiced righteousness" not an individual.  

"Offer your food to the hungry, satisfy the needs of the afflicted".  The Biblical witness is that God has a special concern for the less fortunate among us.  The widow, the orphan, the poor, the sick, the elderly, the sojourner in our land, "the afflicted".  Do Justice.  Show Mercy.  And walk humbly with your God.  

I believe that one of the reasons we are uncomfortable with the political implications of the Bible, is that we do not believe a nation can exist based on the Bible's political premises.  Jesus was a idealist.  The "Year of Jubilee" where all debts were forgiven and all property was returned to the original owner is simply not doable.  Forgive your enemies.  Pray for those who persecute you.  Not so wise for a nation dedicated to its own survival.

But think what we are saying when we relegate the Biblical witness to the individual, and exclude its witness to the nation.  What we are saying is that, in the end, God has a good word for us personally, but knows nothing about politics or governance.  "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe. . ."  That's a political statement about God.  We are more comfortable with accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.  

Could it be that the Ruler of the Universe might actually have some knowledge, some wisdom, and just some plain good advice on how to run a nation?  Radical concept.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Year C, Proper 16, Luke 13:10-17, Healing: A cosmic battle

"Woman, you are set free from your ailment."

And with those simple words, life triumphs over death, health over sickness, and the powers of evil, the demons that bind us, are defeated.  "The last enemy to be destroyed is death."  (1 Cor 15:24)

It is a cosmic war God is engaged in.  This battle between life and death.  From that first moment that the Word was spoken, and life emerged from the dust of the earth, God has championed the cause of life over death.  It is not only a battle that God has chosen to fight, it is in the end, the only battle.  

And so you have this woman, bent over in pain, suffering for eighteen long years, "bound by Satan", a slave to this disease -- and Jesus takes notice.  That was the battle he chose to fight on that Sabbath.  One of many battles he would fight during his time on earth.  

We are not comfortable with the language of demons with respect to the illnesses that plague us.  Am I, a person who is bipolar, possessed by a demon?  Is someone, such as this woman, who likewise has a chronic health condition bound by Satan?  Would we classify cancer as an evil spirit?  Surely, we can approach such conditions with a much more scientifically sound explanation.  Our world view is changed.  

But something is lost when we dismiss the demonic in the disease.  We fail to recognize that the struggle we are engaged in is part of the larger cosmic battle between good and evil, life and death, that has been central to God's interaction with the world since the beginning.  

It is not a sideshow, that when Jesus walked this earth one of his primary activities was to cure the sick.  He wasn't just biding his time until that moment that his real work was to be done on the cross.  Such events as this one, were not just minor skirmishes.  They were and remain central to the plan of salvation and the cosmic battle which will in the end see life triumph over death.  It's what God does.  It is Jesus mission.  And the priority given to such healings trumps all religious niceties such as Sabbath laws.

That being said, what is the Christian's calling with respect to health and healing in our world?  Would it make a difference in our priorities if we all recognized this struggle as a central battlefront in God's redemptive work?  And how would that affect our contribution to the issues of healthcare in our country, and globally?

We can get lost in the political rhetoric of the day, and often as a church remain silent in the discourse, lest we cross the lines and become political, not religious.  A major political question of our day concerns the appropriate role of government in health care.  Related to that is whether providing health care should be a for profit enterprise.  Which of course, means that healing is available to those who can afford it.  But to allow these two questions to shape the debate over healthcare in our country is to defer to others what ought to be a central mission of the disciples of Christ.

One cannot follow Jesus, without encountering the Jesus who took the time to cure the sick and heal the lame.  Healing ministries are not a side show.  Healing is central to the redemptive work that is our calling as disciples of Jesus Christ.  

Imagine a world in which neither business nor government had any role in healthcare.  A situation made possible because the Church was fully engaged in this act of Christian charity.  Imagine a world in which healing ministries were central to the work of every parish.  A world in which we as the followers of Jesus gave the same priority to healing that he did.  

Healing is a spiritual gift that is central to the redemptive activity of God.

"Come, follow me."  

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Year C, Proper 14, Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-15, "From a distance"

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

"All these died in faith not having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them."

"They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain."  (Isaiah 11:9)

To live by faith, is to experience in the present moment that which will one day come.  It is to claim as real, that which is promised, even though we have still so far to go.  

There is nothing so incongruous as to live as a people of the promise in the context of its opposite.  They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain.  And yet they do.  We pride ourselves on being a "Christian nation" all the while living within the context of ongoing violence, hatreds, and disharmony, and, I might add, all the while maintaining the most lethal military force the world has ever seen.  Incongruous.  

Yet we live by faith.  And in faith, we lean into the future, drawn toward that which is  promised.  It is like entering a house, and smelling the aroma of a pie, still baking in the oven, and tasting that which is yet to be.

As a country we live in the promise of a government, "of the people, by the people, and for the people," all the while, knowing that what we have is an oligarchy.

As a Church we live in the promise of the unity we all share in Christ Jesus our Lord, all the while experiencing the disunity of a fractured Body that is the Church.

Leaning into the future, having not received the promises, but having seen them from a distance.  And in the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, the promise becomes the context within which we live.  By faith, we dwell in that kingdom where "they will not hurt and destroy" even as blood runs in our streets. 

What is real?  That which we see?  The end of which is death and destruction?

Or that which we believe?  The end of which is life and salvation?  

To live in faith is to wrap ourselves in the promise of that which is of yet, a reality only within the heart of God.  But it is to live in the conviction that the promise which is in the heart of God is as real as the air we breath.  And that though it is unseen, it gives life.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Year C, Proper 15, Hebrews 11:29 - 12:2, "By Faith"

"The Peter Principle" states that "a person is promoted to the level of their own incompetence, where they remain".  Written in part as satire, in part as management theory, the basic concept is that because people are promoted on the basis of their competencies demonstrated in a current position, they will continue to be promoted until they reach a point at which they are no longer competent, at which point the promotions will stop.  

I offer "Dave's Corollary to the Peter Principle":  People are called to the level of their own incompetence, so that they must live by faith.  Were all things possible for us, given our own abilities and understandings, we simply would rely upon those competencies and trust in our own capacity to get things done.  That's human nature, pure and simple.  And God has no part in it.

"Then who can be saved?", the disciples asked.  "For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible."  (Matthew 19:25-26)

""My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me."  (2 Cor 12:9)

I could think the faith, but I could not write, nor could I speak.  My English 101 professor in college once read portions of a paper I had written to the class as an example of someone who was bright, and had good thoughts to express, but who entirely lacked the language skills to do so effectively.  Public speaking also petrified me.  Of all the academic disciplines, language arts were my downfall.  Mathematics, geometry, these were areas where I excelled.  I struggled to write or to speak. I simply was incompetent in those areas.  And then, I was called into the ministry.

"My grace is sufficient for you."

If faith is anything, it is this:  That confronted with our own inabilities, we trust in another.

"By Faith" begins this marvelous passage from Hebrews.  The entirety of salvation history encapsulated in these two words.  By faith Abraham. . .  By faith Moses. . .  And so this litany of faith begins and continues throughout all time.  In every generation, countless examples of God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.  By faith. . .

And then in the present moment, confronted with that which we cannot do, we hear these words anew, "by faith".  We call to mind the memory of God's gracious work in ages past, and trust that once again, his grace will suffice.  By faith. . .

Friday, August 5, 2016

Year C, Proper 14, Luke 12:32-40, Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16, Sermon: "Fear, Faith, and Courage"

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."

This is a beautiful verse, a favorite hymn is based on it, and it’s a theme that comes up in the Bible time and time again.  Fear not.

The thing is, fear is not a choice but an emotion that simply happens.  And fear serves a pretty important role in our lives.  It helps us to respond to that which threatens us.  Yet, it also can immobilize us from responding at all.

A veteran of the Air Force once shared with me a little tidbit about fighter pilots.  It's not that fighter pilots have no fear.  In fact many a fighter pilot has returned from a dog fight with the enemy, having shit in their pants.  What sets them apart is courage, that is, the ability to act in the face of one's fears.  Courage is not the lack of fear, but the conquering of our fears.

And faith is the foundation of all courage.  It is that complete and total trust that enables us to act with courage in the face of our fears.

Be of good courage, little flock, and trust that it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

The truth is that most of us have lived with fear at some point in our lives.

The hope is that in the midst of our fears, faith abides.

And our responsibility is to act with courage in the face of our fears.


What are you afraid of?

A lot of things evoke a response of fear within us.

In 2002 a doctor examined me, and heard a heart murmur that hadn’t been there before.  Subsequent tests revealed a failed mitral valve in my heart.  Surgery was the only option.  Fear was the reaction.

One of the things I insisted on doing was to give my wife a brief overview of our financial status.  What would happen if I was gone?  How would she manage?  What should she do? I took a friend aside and specifically asked him to help her if needed.  He didn’t want to hear any of it.  I would be just fine.  But, you see, fears are real.

Oh, I had done plenty of research on the surgery.  I knew from the studies that mitral valve repairs are successful 98% of the time.  That’s what I read anyway.  But my response was that there is always that 2%.  And I would muse that if we had a 2% chance of winning the lottery, we’d all go out and buy tickets. 

But it wasn’t just the thought of dying that made me afraid.  It was also the thought of the recovery.  The pain.  The discomfort.  And what would life be like for me after it was all done. 

Fears are real.  They may be nothing more than emotions, but they are real. 

Thankfully, God gave me the faith that I needed at that time. 
·         Faith to trust the doctors.
·         Faith to believe that it would come out fine, even though I was afraid.
·         Faith to cling to the promise that even death would not have the final say.
·         Faith to entrust my wife and kids to the care of another, should I not be able to care for them myself.

Fears are real, but faith conquers fear.

And then there is this matter of courage.  Acting in the face of our fears. 

In this instance, I can look back and affirm that I did what I needed to do.  I acted with courage, in spite of my fears.  Nothing all that heroic.  I just did the next right thing.

For me that involved learning about my condition and the treatment options that were available.

Choosing a doctor.

Showing up.

Kissing my wife before they took me into the surgery suite.

And then, sitting there and watching as the anesthesiologist took a syringe and gave me the shot that would put me under for the surgery.

Obviously, as I stand here some fourteen years later, the surgery came out just fine.

Fears subside.
Faith sustains.
And courage is rewarded.

I haven’t been with you very long.
We’re just getting to know one another.
And I can hardly claim to know all that there is to know about you as a congregation.

But this I do know, because some of you have already shared it with me. 

There is a fear.

Whether it is spoken or not, the fear is real.

It’s probably the strongest, for those who have been here the longest.

Do you know what I’m talking about?

Is anyone willing to say it out loud?

 The fear you’ve expressed is whether this congregation will survive.

Do you have a future?
What does that future look like?
Can you afford a pastor?
Will you grow?
Or continue to decline?
How long do we have left?
What would happen to the building?
Where would you go if Peace Lutheran were no longer here?
Is there anything that we can do?

Part of fear, is that we feel so helpless.  And hopeless.

And sometimes our fears are rooted in a firm grip of reality.  They are not unfounded.

When I had open heart surgery, I was afraid.

The fact is that some people die during that surgery.  It can and does happen.

Likewise, sometimes congregations must close their doors.  It is a reality that simply is.  I can’t stand here and tell you that it never happens, because it does happen, and it MAY happen.  We simply don’t know whether it will happen.

Sometimes the writing seems to be on the wall.
And sometimes we are simply wrong.

And many times our fears simply don’t come to pass.


When I was the pastor in Thompson Falls, MT the bishop asked if I would be willing to serve a small congregation in Hot Springs, MT as well.  Our Savior’s in Thompson Falls was having a hard time supporting me as their pastor, and this might help.

The congregation in Hot Springs was small.  About ten people came regularly to worship.  And they were almost all elderly.  OK, not just older, elderly. 

What the bishop said was that it would probably be a short term solution.  Three or four funerals and the church would be to the point of having to close their doors.

They had very little money.  An old run down building. 

Two stories come to mind about Trinity Lutheran in Hot Springs.  The first has to do with a “Norwegian Bachelor farmer” by the name of Orville in the congregation.

Orville was their every Sunday, one of two men who attended regularly.  And ever since he was a boy, he did what his mommy taught him to do, which is to put one dollar bill in the offering plate each Sunday.  Now Orville was a successful farmer.  He was a bit odd.  Shell shocked from the war, was the word I got.

But he had been a good successful farmer and rancher.  And, as he told me, everything was paid for. 

A number of years before, their pastor had told them that they needed to increase the giving by 25% or the congregation would have to close.  Orville responded.

Every Sunday since then, Orville wrapped his one dollar bill around a quarter, and that was his offering. 

The other story is of Amanda.  Amanda was the grandchild of one member.  One Easter, her grandma asked if Amanda could perform a song for us.  Having no kids or special music, I was delighted to say yes. 

That Easter, the church filled to the brim.  60 to 70 people.  I was shocked.  They had come to see Amanda.

What caught me off guard was that Amanda didn’t sing.  She lip synced and acted out with a dramatic flair Dolly Parton’s song “He’s Alive!”, complete with throwing herself across the floor like an ice dancer at the end.  I had all I could do to keep from laughing.  Something about Dolly Parton’s voice, and this skinny little 9 year old girl, just was too much to take. 

But in the end, what happened at Trinity in Hot Springs is that those 3 or 4 people didn’t die, and the Church didn’t close.  Today they report having only 32 members, BUT, an average attendance of 40 people each week.  Twenty five years after they were supposed to die, they are better off than they’ve ever been.

Yes, they were afraid of dying.
It took faith to go on,
And the courage to do the next right thing.

I also mentioned to you before about the congregation that I served in Ekalaka, MT.

That congregation should never have even started, let alone, succeeded.

Again, perhaps ten people would be at worship when I first went there.  Today, they have a membership of over a hundred people, average worship attendance of about 40, and a new building.  I understand that their “Cowboy Worship” is one of the highlights of their ministry today, drawing a large crowd from the community of Ekalaka.
 
To be clear, it was not that I had found some wonderful solution for either of these congregations.  I was at a loss.

What I do believe is that God had a purpose for them. 
And so, they have not only survived, but grown and thrived.

Dr. Kennon Callahan, a well know Church Growth consultant who wrote “Twelve Keys to an Effective Church” and related materials, says that the most important question every congregation needs to ask itself is this:
“Do you believe that your best days are behind you?  Or ahead of you?”
“Do you believe that the best is yet to come?”

If we ask ourselves that question as individuals, our answer reveals our age.  You see, the young, or young at heart, always believe the best is yet to come.  They look to the future with hope. 

On the other hand the old, or the old at heart, whether they are 90 or 20, believe that their best years are behind them.  That there is little left to hope for. 

There is a truth about the answer that we give to this question.

As you believe, so shall it be.

If you believe you are dying, you will die.

If you believe that God has great things in store for your future, they will come to pass in amazing ways.

As you believe, so shall it be.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."

Yes, our fears are real.
But God invites us to have faith, not in our own abilities, but in his.
And then he calls us to act with courage.

A final word on acting with courage.

This does not mean that we always have to do heroic things in order to succeed.  It means more than not, that we simply need to do the next right thing, and sometimes it’s simple.

·         Get a good website.
·         An active facebook page.
·         “Like” the Church’s facebook page,
o   Or the Pastor’s blog, so you friends might read.
·         Invite a friend to worship with you.
·         Get rid of the weeds in the parking lot, so that we make a better impression to first time visitors.
·         And be truly welcoming to all.

One last story about Ekalaka.

Prior to Christmas each year they used to have an Advent Tea, open to the whole community.  They used it as an opportunity to invite people to worship on Christmas.

One year, a couple of women, known to be Wicca adherents, asked if they could come.  A candlelight service sounded cool to them, and they even inquired whether they should bring their own candles. 

The reaction of the congregation was priceless.  Yes, they were welcome.  No they didn’t have to bring their own candles. 

And about these women being “witches”, well, they too need to hear the Gospel.

There is a reason some congregations grow.


Amen.