On Prophetic Preaching: A Statement

“As a prophetic presence, this church has the obligation to name and denounce the idols before which people bow, to identify the power of sin present in social structures, and to advocate in hope with poor and powerless people. When religious or secular structures, ideologies, or authorities claim to be absolute, this church says, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority’ (Acts 5:29). With Martin Luther, this church understands that to rebuke those in authority through God’s Word spoken publicly, boldly and honestly is not seditious but “a praiseworthy, noble, and particularly great service to God.’”

So says Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective, the first ELCA Social Statement, passed in 1991. Our confessional witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ has always included a political dimension. The Reformation would have been very different if Luther had not been protected by a politician, Elector Frederick the Wise, following his refusal to recant at the Diet of Worms. Luther regularly exhorted the nobility of his day to provide for the people entrusted to their care, regularly providing private counsel and public statements on the issues of his day. The church and the state being accountable to each other and to God from their respective realms of authority has been a mainstay of Lutheran theology and practice for over 500 years. 

Many people have said a lot of things about Bishop Mariann Budde’s sermon yesterday at the National Cathedral. While Bishop Budde is not sworn to the same confessional teachings as I am, being a minister of the Anglican communion, I found her words to be exactly the thing to which the ELCA committed itself over 30 years ago: a bold, honest, public rebuke of those in authority, an act of advocacy on behalf of those who have neither the power nor the means to offer that word themselves. I applaud her courage and I gladly join her in exhorting those in authority, regardless of their party, faith, or any other affiliation, to realize that their words, principles, and policies will affect more than their supporters, and that they have a duty and responsibility to all of the children of God that have been entrusted to their care.  

A Sermon for Christmas Eve 2023 - "In the Mess"

I’ve been a pastor for 20 years, and over all of those years, Christmas Eve services have been and remain some of my favorite worship experiences. Sanctuaries tend to be full, people tend to dress their best (in my case, that only brings so much improvement, but you all look great tonight), and of course, there’s the Christmas hymns that mean the most on this night. 

Sometime during my first few years as a pastor, I came across the option to include a proclamation of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I started inserting it at the end of “Silent Night” for those services. I thought about asking Amy if we could do that here at First this year (because when you’re the bishop you can ask for those kind of favors), but when I read through the text this year, I got stuck in one place. See if you get stuck, too. 

The Proclamation of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ 

The Twenty-fifth Day of December, 

when ages beyond number had run their course from the creation of the world, 

when God in the beginning created heaven and earth, and formed humanity in God’s own likeness; 

when century upon century had passed since the Almighty set a bow in the clouds after the Great Flood as a sign of covenant and peace; 

in the twenty-first century since Abraham and Sara, our parents in faith, came out of Ur of the Chaldees; 

in the thirteenth century since the People of Israel were led by Moses in the Exodus from Egypt;
around the thousandth year since David was anointed King;

in the sixty-fifth week of the prophecy of Daniel; 

in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad; 

in the seven hundred and fifty-second year since the foundation of the City of Rome; 

in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Octavian Augustus, the whole world being at peace, 

JESUS CHRIST, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, 

desiring to consecrate the world by his most loving presence, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, 

and when nine months had passed since his conception, 

was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judah, and was made human. 

This is the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

It’s beautiful, right? Poetic? Sounds a lot like scripture itself? So - where do you think I got stuck? Some of you probably got stuck here, too:  “The whole world being at peace.” Tonight, war continues to rage in Ukraine, Sudan, Israel/Palestine, and other places. Closer to home, our political leaders squabble and accomplish next to nothing of substance while an endless cycle of violence, blame, and arguments repeats, over and over. I’m 49 years old and I don’t think I’ve ever been more anxious about the state of things in our church, our communities, and our world. We are definitely not a world at peace. 

Line all of that up against this proclamation of the birth of Christ, and what appear to be the cultural expectations of the Christmas holiday, and things get anxious. We strive to give the perfect gift, to enjoy the perfect Christmas meal. Christmas carols started on the radio the day after Halloween in some places, and if I’m honest they sort of sound like a nightmare after two months of solid airplay over and over again, particularly in a year like this year when the weather has been unseasonably warm and not the least bit frightful. It would be incredibly easy to lose hope with so much cognitive dissonance and so many failed expectations. Yet, even in this present anxiety, tonight we gather to celebrate a light that continues to shine. 

Your theme here at First this Advent has been “The Light of Grace,” celebrating the 250th anniversary of the hymn “Amazing Grace.” This is one of our most beloved hymns, for many reasons, but one thing you’ve not discussed much is the origin of the hymn itself. Here’s the story: John Newton was a captain of a slaving ship who got caught in a storm at sea, and after some of his crew were washed over the side, he prayed to God for salvation. After steering the ship through the storm all night, morning found Newton and the rest of his crew safe and saved (to say nothing of the "cargo" of course). It wasn' the last time Newton captained a slaving ship, but it did mark a moment of spiritual conversion for Newton, and in time he became an ardent abolitionist. The story doesn’t excuse who he was or what he did for a living, however. John Newton was a person who had made a living from the capture, transportation, and sale of God‘s children. This is not the story of a simple prayer recited out loud in a revival meeting by a person, feeling guilty about cheating on a test or getting caught speeding. Newton was exactly what the first verse says he was: a wretch. ’Twas grace that redeemed Newton because that’s how grace works. Grace doesn’t apply to the deserving or the perfect. Grace is for those who truly need it. Grace shines best when it shines into the what we most want to hide from the world. 

Just this past Wednesday night, many of us gathered in the mission center for a celebration that included a living nativity, and a prayer service here in the sanctuary. It was lovely. There was something of a petting zoo here as well - a camel as well as some sheep, goats, and other animals - and I couldn’t help noticing that they stayed outside. If we really wanted a living nativity that would re-create what it was like when God came to us in the flesh, we would’ve brought the camel and the sheep and the goats and the llamas and the pigs right into the mission center with us. Now, I’m not actually suggesting we do that, mostly because I’m pretty sure your deacon for faith formation (My wife Kristin) would require me to be the one who shovels out the mess afterwards. But I mention it because there are parts of that story of Jesus’ birth that we don’t acknowledge, because they’re messy. They’re inconvenient. To put it bluntly, they smell. We often tell a sanitized version of the story of Jesus’ birth, and the picture it presents is one of perfection: beatific Holy Child Jesus in the manger (which is filled with sweet, clean hay), beaming Mary resting in peace in beautiful, simple clothing which shows no sign of having just delivered her first child, Joesph silently…being there, stars in the sky, humble shepherds coming to worship (and not losing a one of the sheep entrusted to their care in doing so). There is an entire industry centered around this ideal, this perfection of Christmas peace. The unhealthy danger of this is the anxiety it amplifies in us when things are not perfect in our own Christmas celebrations. What do we do when the gifts are a mess, or when there aren’t any gifts at all because it’s been a hard year? What do we do when family is as much a burden as a blessing, or when we’d give anything for that burden of family because we’re alone? When it comes to Christmas, all too often we are most definitely not a world at peace. 

God did not wait until the world was properly, perfectly prepared to become incarnate. God entered the world as it was, into all the mess, in a scene that in its actual happening would not be the sort of thing that fits ever so beautifully onto a Christmas card. If the world was at peace on that night, 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, just a short walk from Jerusalem, it was a peace that had been imposed on the population by Rome, an occupying power from a foreign land. Jesus was born in Bethlehem because the political power of his time told his parents they needed to go to a different city so they could be taxed. Joseph and Mary were refugees in their own homeland; roaming in search of shelter while the world around them was gripped by anxiety and violence. 

This was the world into which Jesus was born on that long ago night in Bethlehem.  

In a stable that smelled of sheep and goats, of hay and dung. 

In the mess. 

Among the wretches. 

In a world that was definitely not at peace. 

Years from now, when I think about Christmas 2023, the image that will live seared into my brain will be this, the nativity at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bethlehem.

  

Yes, this is a statement about the current state of things in Israel/Palestine. 

Yes, that is meant to be rubble of buildings destroyed by rockets and bombs fired by both sides of this horrible conflict. 

Yes, that is the baby Jesus there in the midst of the rubble. 

In the mess. 

Among the wrenches. 

Born into a world that is most definitely not at peace. 

In a minute we’re going to sing “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” It’s one of my most beloved Christmas hymns because of one line: “…the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” Christmas has never been about a perfect Christmas peace. 

Jesus means to meet us in the rubble. 

In the mess. 

In our wretched anxiety. 

 

Jesus knows we live in a world that is not at peace, and to be honest, rarely has been. Jesus meets us there because that’s how you make this wretched world holy: you start in the rubble. In the mess. You shine the light of grace where it is most needed, and the redemption of the world begins. 

Christmas is wherever Jesus meets us, and in meeting Jesus, we meet peace, wherever he finds us. Merry Christmas, friends. May all your hopes and fears be met in Jesus, tonight and always. Amen.

Distinguishing Despair and Depression

Hi. Been a while.

Had an interesting moment after the sermon this morning. I feel pretty good about the sermon - on point, wouldn't take back anything that I wrote or said. But sometimes you get done and you realize that while your first and main point in a sermon is sound and on target, there's the potential for extrapolations from what you've said to lead down some roads you never intended it to take. So I thought I'd take a minute tonight to expand a bit on what I said for the sake of understanding a crucial distinction that wasn't on anyone's radar 500 years ago.

Text Study for November 19 - A Child is Born

Prayer of the Day

God of light, there can be overwhelming obscurity in this world. But you shine your light and increase joy, and for your brilliance we are grateful. Let the light of your grace, which shone through Isaiah's prophecy, shine through us also, that we might radiate your joy in a darkening world. This we pray in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.  Amen.

Reading: Isaiah 9:1-7

The prophet Isaiah brought a message of hope to the people of Israel and Judah in a time of great suffering and sorrow. After the fall of Israel in 722 B.C., many of the people of the northern kingdom were taken into exile in the Assyrian Empire. Isaiah prophesied that the tribal territories conquered by Assyria would one day be rebuilt by the power of God.

A reading from Isaiah.

¹ But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
 ² The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
 those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined.
 ³You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy;
 they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.
 ⁴For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor,
 you have broken as on the day of Midian.
 ⁵For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
 ⁶For a child has been born for us, a son given to us;
 authority rests upon his shoulders;
 and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 ⁷His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.
 The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

COMMENTARY & QUESTIONS

1. What questions do you have about these readings?
2. “…Zebulun and Naphtali” (9.1)
1. Zebulun and Naphtali were two of the original 12 tribes of Israel, alloted lands north and east of the Sea of Galilee (see map). The territories roughly correspond to areas that were taken by Assyrian king Tilgath-pileser III in 732 B.C. Isaiah’s prophesy of redeemed hope and light for these lands would have been heard as the work of God, since they had already been lost to Assyria at the time of Isaiah’s writings here. 
3. “…as on the day of Midian.” (9.4)
1. A direct reference to the victory of Gideon over the gigantic Midianite and Amalekite armies recounted in Judges 7: “…all the people…lay along the valley as thick as locusts; and their camels were without number, countless as the sand on the seashore.” Despite these overwhelming odds, the Lord sent only 300 Israelites with Gideon against them, so that the Lord alone could claim the victory.
2. “The comparison would have been evoked by the similarly long odds of Judah surviving the mighty Neo-Assyrian empire.”  (Christopher Hays. http://bit.ly/2ANBauZ)
4. “Particularly in the light of the history of the interpretation of this text, it is important to clarify the tenses in the poem. Verses 2-5 clearly speak of past events…the verbs in v. 6 are perfects and consecutive imperfects, the normal narrative tense in Hebrew. They must be read as reporting past action or, in view of the passives, possibly as present: ‘A child has been born to us…authority rests upon his shoulders.’…The implications of this analysis are quite clear: the reasons for celebration - release from an oppressor, destruction of battle gear, and the birth of the ‘Prince of Peace’ - are not in the future but in the past. These events form the basis for confidence in the future.” (Gene M. Tucker, The New Interpreter’s Bible, v. 6: Isaiah 1-39. © 1996 Abingdon Press. p. 122. Emphasis mine.)
5. The titles listed in v. 6 would have been a common element for the birth proclamation of a crown prince in the Ancient Near East. Egyptian Pharaohs were particularly well-known for the descriptive titles attached to the names of their children who would one day ascend to the throne. 
1. Keeping in mind this is the past tense proclamation of the birth of a prince, these would not be earned descriptors but a kind of hortatory title - the sort of thing one wishes to be, not what one has already demonstrated. Think more along the lines of "Daenerys of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons” (though some of these titles from the series A Song of Ice and Fire are earned honorifics) and less “Vlad the Impaler.”
6. A few questions to ponder:
1. “…he (God) brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and Naphtali…” Does it disturb you to think of God bringing down the fortunes of a kingdom or a people? Does it delight you? What do you imagine this word must do to the people who are presently suffering? 
2. Most Christians see this passage as a prophetic announcement of the coming of Jesus over 700 years after the earliest time this passage could have been written. However, Biblical scholars are almost unanimous in stating this was not Isaiah’s intent at the time it was written - any messianic connections to Jesus are a later addition to the scriptural tradition. Does this sort of historic analysis of scripture challenge your understanding of the Old Testament? Are you comforted or disturbed by the idea that Isaiah was not talking about Jesus, that it is our interpretation and not his original intent? 
3. Can you hear this text without thinking of the Michael W. Smith/Amy Grant Christmas recordings based on it? (Confession: your pastor cannot. 😀 )
4. What brings you hope from this reading? What would you love to see fulfilled, even if it isn’t a direct prophetic utterance predicting a certain future?

Text Study for Reformation Sunday - Free, Indeed!

Prayer of the Day

God, renewer of life and only reformer, you surround us with a great cloud of witnesses throughout time and place whom you have called into your work, witnessing to your Gospel of liberation by grace alone. Continue now to raise up witnesses for your work of renewal and reform, that we may all grow more deeply into that mystery of communion that is your church. Come now, and sustain the on-going reformation of your church. We ask this all through your son Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Reading: Romans 3:19-28

Paul’s words stand at the heart of the preaching of Martin Luther and other Reformation leaders. No human beings make themselves right with God through works of the law. We are brought into a right relationship with God through the divine activity centered in Christ’s death. This act is a gift of grace that liberates us from sin and empowers our faith in Jesus Christ.

A reading from Romans.

¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. ²⁰For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

²¹But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; ²⁶it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

Reading: John 8:31-36

Jesus speaks of truth and freedom as spiritual realities known through his word. He reveals the truth that sets people free from sin.

³¹Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ³³They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

COMMENTARY & QUESTIONS

1. What questions do you have about these readings? 
2. In case somebody hasn’t heard, this is the 500th anniversary of the start of the Reformation! Anyone throwing a party? No? Just me? Okay, then. 
3. One breakout sitcom from 2016 was NBC’s “The Good Place.” In an episode I just watched with Kristin, a character named Tahani is frustrated because she can never get higher than second to last place on the “rankings” in heaven, no matter how hard she works. At the end of the episode, this heaven’s architect, Michael, sits her down and explains that the rankings had to do with Tahani’s life before death - in heaven, they mean nothing. Once you’re in “The Good Place” you’re free to be what you are without proving anything to anyone.
1. In essence, Luther’s theological breakthroughs in the early 1500s brought this sense of belonging to the Christian faith, and the reading from John 8 for today emphasizes the gift of it all. “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” As Luther understood it, a Christian was perfectly free from any requirement for righteousness or justification once Jesus had declared the Christian ‘free.’ 
2. Romans 3:28 is incredibly important to the faith of the reformers: “we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” It’s important to note that one of the easiest ways to sabotage this is to turn faith into something we do: “All you have to do is believe.”  NO - even belief is a work of God on our behalf, according to Luther.
1. “I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or com to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel, enlightened me with [its] gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith.” This is from Luther’s Small Catechism, and for my money it’s the most important part of the whole thing. God’s Holy Spirit is already at work in me long before I can turn the gift of faith into a work I must undertake to make myself righteous in the eyes of God. In Baptism and Holy Communion God sets us free from such things, and in that freedom we are truly free from requirements, fears, and anxieties about whether we measure up to some hypothetical standard or stand out from those around us. 
3. Why do you think letting go of requirements and rankings is so hard for Christians? What is it about rules and standards that we find so seductive, and what is it about freedom that can be so incredibly difficult?
4. “To make the way smoother for the unlearned - for only them do I serve - I shall set down the following two propositions concerning the freedom and the bondage of the spirit: 

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

1. This quote is taken from Luther’s treatise On the Freedom of a Christian, written in 1520 with an open letter to Pope Leo VIII in hopes that he might understand Luther was trying to help the church become more faithful, not attempting to rebel against the church or break away. The treatise is one of Luther’s most important in what Timothy Lull calls “his most productive year.” In it Luther lays out the central paradox which has defined true Lutheran faith for almost 500 years, even if the Lutherans themselves continue to struggle to understand, incorporate, and embody it.
2. What might it mean for a Christian to be at the same time a free lord and a dutiful servant? How does this particular understanding of Christian faith evolve from the freedom Jesus promises in John 8?

Text Study: The Witness of Stephen

Prayer of the Day

Holy Giver and Receiver of life: your martyr, Stephen, shone with the light of your Holy Spirit. When his opponents took his life, he offered up his spirit to you, and prayed mercy for theirs. Make Stephen an example of faith and courage for all your followers, for the sake of the one who brought light and lie to this world, your son, Jesus, our Lord and Savior. 

Amen.

First Reading: Acts 6:1-6

In the early days after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the church was absolutely certain that a new world was near, and that Jesus would return quickly. Even so, as the new faith began to take root within the Jewish church, there were problems between local, ethnic Hebrews and the Hellenic Jews who had lived in other places and may not have been ethnically Israelite.

¹Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. ²And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. ³Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, ⁴while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word." ⁵What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. ⁶They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

second reading: Acts 6:7-7:2a, 44-60

After a time, Stephen’s witness to Jesus drew the attention of the Jewish authorities, who continued to be very concerned about the Jesus followers in their church. Eventually, Stephen’s preaching brought about a harsh response: death by stoning for blasphemy, and Stephen became the first follower of Jesus to die as a witness to Jesus.

⁷The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. ⁸Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and others of those from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and argued with Stephen. ¹⁰But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke. ¹¹Then they secretly instigated some men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." ¹²They stirred up the people as well as the elders and the scribes; then they suddenly confronted him, seized him, and brought him before the council. ¹³They set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops saying things against this holy place and the law; ¹⁴for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed on to us." ¹⁵And all who sat in the council looked intently at him, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel. 

¹ Then the high priest asked him, "Are these things so?" ²And Stephen replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me…

⁴⁴Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. ⁴⁵Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, ⁴⁶who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob. ⁴⁷But it was Solomon who built a house for him. ⁴⁸Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands as the prophet says,

⁴⁹'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? ⁵⁰Did not my hand make all these things?'

⁵¹You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. ⁵²Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers. ⁵³You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you have not kept it."

⁵⁴When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. ⁵⁵But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶Look, he said, "I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" ⁵⁷But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. ⁵⁸Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." ⁶⁰Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

NOTES & QUESTIONS

1. Glossary
1. Hellenists/Hebrews
1. In the ancient Mediterranean, some Jewish families either moved or were moved away from Palestine to other centers of population. These became known as the Jews of the Diaspora or “Hellenic” Jews, from the Greek H{llhnikovß, (h)ellenikos, meaning “of the Greeks.” These people were also joined by Jews who welcomed, adopted, and adapted Greek culture and customs into their faith. It was the Hellenic Jews (also known as Hellenizers) who produced the Septuagint, the version of the Jewish scriptures translated from ancient Hebrew and Aramaic into what is known as Koiné Greek (a dialect of Greek spoken in the Mediterranean during the life of Jesus). 
2. This is a good moment to think about the fact that these early disputes were not Jewish-Christian disagreements: they were church disagreements. There is no early moment when Christians make a decided break away from their Jewish roots - historians and theologians agree that the split between Judaism and Christianity developed in stages between the death of Jesus around 29 AD and the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD. At the time of Stephen’s death, Christians hadn’t even been named “Christians” yet - they were an apocalyptic sect within Judaism much like the Essenes, the Zealots, or the Sicarii (although without the violent tendencies of the Zealots and the Sicarii). 
2. “synagogue of the Freedmen”
1. This was not a synagogue as modern believers understand it, but an older interpretation of sunagwghv meaning a “group or gathering of people.” It literally comes from the roots a]gw and sun, meaning “go/lead/drive together.” A synagogue, then, is a collection of like-minded persons. 
3. Are there other words or phrases that you didn’t quite understand?
2. Thoughts and Notes
1. “No one pages through the New Testament without repeatedly reading about violent resistance. The story of Stephen gives us much to consider, lest we forget the atrocities that are part of the Christian legacy--those inflicted upon people of faith, as well as those inflicted by them.” Dr. Matthew Skinner, Luther Seminary. http://bit.ly/2pmQ8Vs 
2. “Jesus says we are to love our enemies and pray for them, meaning love not in an emotional sense but in the sense of willing their good, which is the sense in which we love ourselves. It is a tall order even so. African Americans love white supremacists? The longtime employee who is laid off just before he qualifies for retirement with a pension love the people who call him in to break the news? The mother of the molested child love the molester? But when you see as clearly as that who your enemies are, at least you see your enemies clearly too.” Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark
3. Questions to Ponder
1. What is your history with the story of the martyrdom of Stephen? What have you previously heard or learned? What more do you want to know?
2. What disturbs you most about this disturbing story? Is there anything that comforts you? If so, what is it?
3. What other questions do you have about this week’s texts?

"der Leib Christi"

¹⁴When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. ¹⁵He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” ¹⁷Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” ¹⁹Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:14-20)

Sermon for Easter 6, Year C - Unity

A Preaching Quandary

I am in the middle of a theological, homiletical dilemma. Perhaps you can help me out.

I love my kids. (No, that's not the quandary) I spend a good portion of my time thinking about my kids, driving my kids from place to place, picking them up, playing with them, teaching them, cooking for them, etc. I smile when they wake up in the morning (or when they wake me up, if it's at a decent hour) and both Beloved and I breathe a sigh of relief when we get them to sleep, even though they look adorable all snuggled up in their beds.

Anything into which you pour this much energy is bound to affect your thinking, and over the last three years I've noticed that my teaching and preaching are greatly influenced by my experience as a parent. To a certain point this is all well and good, but here's the quandary: how do I keep it from becoming too much? When do those who listen to me reach the point of saturation and stop hearing the good news because of the way my voice puts it?

When I was nine years old, our church back home had an interim pastor who constantly talked about California. He'd been raised there, and obviously had a great love for his home state. After a while, though, it became a joke: whatever the gospel reading was for that week, it would have something to do with California by the time the sermon came around. From what I remember, he was a pretty decent interim but for this one thing. Our new pastor made a great first impression when someone asked him about California in his "welcome" potluck and he said, "I've heard California is the land of fruits and nuts."

I don't want to be that interim, but I'm afraid I'm heading in that direction. My students have already begun to claim the sermon isn't finished until I've made a poop reference. They say it in jest, but we all know that some good jokes are funny because they're also true.

That's just one aspect of the problem. Another is this: how does "God as parent" preaching sound to the ears of those who don't have kids? When I preach about the patience and love required to be a good parent, how do those who don't have kids hear it? How about those who can't have kids, or those who had abusive parents?

The gospel reading for this week seems a text which offers several opportunities to go off the rails into "Daddy Knows Best" territory. That was my first impulse upon reading the text yesterday, but I'm leery of developing things in that direction for fear of the problems listed above. If you'd like to join a good discussion on the texts themselves, RevGalBlogPals has a Tuesday Lectionary post that always offers fruitful discussion. But if you're willing to offer them, I would appreciate your thoughts on this in the comments section. Tell me what you've seen in my blog posts, in my sermons, in places where I've taught: am I going overboard? Can you offer helpful suggestions to keep from doing so?

There's nothing wrong with loving your kids. In my life, the order of priorities is:

1. Child of God
2. Husband
3. Father
4. Son/Brother/Family member
5. Friend
6. Pastor

I'd like my preaching to reflect this ranking of priorities as well. Thoughts?

Grace & peace,

Scott

The Sermon - Yes, I Posted One Last Sermon

People who speak truly for God do so with an acute sense of the audacity of
what they are attempting. They sense the presumption inherent in claiming to
speak for God. Who in their right mind would make such claims given the
combination of human frailty and divine inscrutability? Every sane preacher
has
experienced the dread and adrenaline shock of the preposterous task — in
some
stumbling and bumbling way to speak a word that is true to God.1

Okay, so count me as one of those who shares the fear and trembling with which we approach the work of speaking on behalf of God. Sometimes it feels like these 15 to 20 minutes every week are the height of presumption. And, unfortunately, some of us preachers take that time and make it sound something like this:

So, that's who we want to avoid this morning, right? Do you get the point, that there's no such thing as a magic Jesus? I ask you this because I struggle with that myself. The leap from honest intercessory prayer to the magic Jesus 8-ball is, unfortunately, a short leap. I want Jesus to be someone who heals the people I love. I want Jesus to be someone who repairs the broken relationships in my life. I want Jesus to be a peacemaker, someone who cares about all the things I care about, who hates the things I hate and will do everything possible to solve my problems. And Jesus is indeed all of these things. Except when He's not.

There's a saying that goes around us pastor-types: "you know you've created God in your own image when God loves everyone you love and hates everything you hate." That's one kind of idolatry. Here's another one: you know you've created a magic Jesus God when you expect that every illness you pray about will be healed, and every problem you bring to God will be solved in a manner of your liking.

That's what a lot of preachers are selling these days, and let's face it: when unemployment is at its highest in thirty years, one thing that's going to sell really well is a God who "wants to give you a blessing," usually in the form of success or money or something material. But I'm going to risk being presumptuous this morning and tell you something I believe is true: there is no such thing as a magic Jesus, and the sooner we understand that, the sooner our lives can be filled with something far greater than magic.

Our gospel reading for today contains the first healing miracle in the gospel of Mark. There will be many healing miracles in these first few chapters, and they happen quickly. One word that happens over and over again in Mark's gospel is euquv", or "immediately;" Jesus moves fast and does a lot of good in Capernaum and other cities on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. But look again at the gospel reading for today. Who comes to whom in this story? Does Jesus seek out the man possessed, or do the demons drive the man to Jesus? This story opens with Jesus teaching in the synagogue; the healing, in some ways, seems accidental, something that happened to prove the validity of what Jesus was teaching, and I think our desire for the fantastic leads us looking in the wrong direction. The power of the exorcism described here obscures the story of Jesus teaching, which I think is the far greater point of the story.

Jesus is described as teaching exousiva, or "out of himself." In Jesus' time, rabbis and scribes proved their intelligence and the strength of their teaching through citation: the more learned scholars you could cite, the stronger your argument would be. But Jesus didn’t teach like that. In this gospel reading we hear that the people were amazed because Jesus taught with authority. Some examples of this come from Matthew’s gospel:

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder.’…But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment…

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed lust with her in his heart…

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”

This is the kind of teaching that amazed the people of Capernaum – Jesus taught out of Himself. Jesus made no appeal to precedent in His teaching: His words stood on their own power, and the power of Jesus’ relationship with His Father, and the people stood amazed, because carpenters from Nazareth didn’t have the authority to teach as Jesus taught. To teach like this, a man would have to be possessed. The question is: is it the Spirit of God or an unclean spirit doing the possessing here? For us, the answer seems simple: but we have the weight of centuries, tradition and the Scriptures to point us in the right direction. To be there, on that day, we would have been hard pressed to know what was really going on.

Here is what I believe with all my heart, soul, mind and strength: it IS the authority of the Father that Jesus holds within Himself. Deuteronomy tells us that the authority and power of the Father is a great and powerful thing. Moses asked God to stay hidden, because the people couldn’t stand to see God the Father in all his might and glory – it was too overwhelming. And God promised to do so. As James Healy puts it, “[God] kept God’s word. Inviting obedience to God’s plan, God expressed authority through [the prophets]. At last God sent Jesus, not in thunder and lightning, but in our fragile flesh. And Jesus used authority to liberate and lift up, not to put down; to empower and encourage, not to intimidate and oppress. Forever Jesus’ rightful claim to authority would be his utter surrender as servant of God’s people and his challenge to oppressors. And his perfect act of obedience…would be the ultimate act of freedom.” 2

This is why I don’t believe in a magic Jesus. Jesus' authority comes from his RELATIONSHIP to the Father: close, intimate, unflinchingly honest. It has nothing to do with special powers, and it certainly has nothing to do with providing any sort of ‘blessing’ to those who pray hard enough. That’s not a particularly comforting thought, I know, but I believe it’s true nonetheless. Does Jesus heal? Yes. Does Jesus help us in our fight against the powers that try to hold us captive? Yes. But the fight is ongoing, and sometimes healing can be very hard to recognize.

Why is it that some are miraculously healed while others are not? I don’t know. Why is it I met Kristin when I was 29, while my friend Nate met his wife when they were both 14? I don’t know. Even with every unexplained moment of evil in our lives, every unhealed illness, every broken heart, every wounded spirit, I believe God has created this world out of unfailing love and unending, unbroken promise, and Jesus is the living embodiment of that promise. Did Jesus heal? Absolutely, but more importantly, Jesus loved, and continues to love. There is no sleight of hand here, not flash of gunpowder, no rabbits being pulled out of the hat – love doesn’t work like that. Love has to be real – love has to have flesh and blood – love is shown best when it stands with us THROUGH pain and sorrow and reminds us that we are not alone.

Don Juel wrote a commentary on Mark for Augsburg Fortress in 1990. His title for these verses was “The Battle is Joined.” The Gospel of Mark begins with a fight, and it is a fight for the rest of the way, but that fight is between a God who loves and a people who want a magician. God has called us to listen for the voice of love, to recognize the voice of Jesus healing our hearts and calling us out of the darkness into the light of his presence. Love, not magic, is the name of the game; be amazed at that love, friends, and trust in all that it promises, now and forever. Amen.

1: Clendenin, Daniel. http://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20090126JJ.shtml

2: Healy, James K. © 1994 National Catholic Reporter, March 10, 1994.

Thursday Thoughts: No More Magic Jesus

In reading and thinking about the texts this week, I've been struck off and on by the thought that the last thing Jesus wanted to be was a magician. Unfortunately, we seem to really prefer him in that role: one wave of the magic prayer wand (or one turn of the "Answer me Jesus," I guess) and you get whatever it is you want or need. If you don't get it, of course, "God has something better in store for you."

We would do ourselves a heap of good if we could get past this faulty picture of God. Maybe all the time we've spent in Job this year has colored how I'm looking at things, but it seems obvious to me that in creation God has chosen to act with a certain amount of restraint, in order that the whole creation might be free to interact with itself. Sometimes those interactions have adverse consequences, and maybe that's the frustration we have: on the one hand, God promises great love and desire for the well-being of humanity, but on the other hand, cancer fucking sucks, and it doesn't appear to be going anywhere just yet. That's just one example.

The reason this comes to mind is the man possessed by demons in this week's Mark passage. How do these things happen in a world where God is love? But they do. Worse, even though Jesus stays in Capernaum for a while and heals a lot of people, he eventually moves on - and you know that the day after he moved on, someone else got sick, or fell under the power of demonic forces, and those people didn't get healed.

What does this mean? I'm not sure yet. What I'm sure is that Rowan Atkinson's performance below, while really, really funny, is unfortunately a pretty good example of the false picture we have of Jesus - and I'm terrified that I'm going to paint the same kind of picture if I'm not careful.

The Word in the Moment

You may have noticed I'm not posting sermons anymore. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, a colleague told me a story of how she discovered someone had been plagiarizing her work fairly regularly. While it would be the height of arrogance to think one's own work worthy of plagiarism, I'd still like to avoid the chance it might happen. We preachers work hard at putting together something original each and every week, and frankly, I do have enough selfishness to want to say, "This is my work, and not yours for the taking!" (I also cite my sources when I quote someone else in a sermon, mind you, for exactly the same reason.)

Secondly, I find that my preaching is changing here in campus ministry. While I do still work up a fairly detailed outline most Sundays, there are more occasions when I find myself moving away from the manuscript to engage our community more fully. It seems to me that there is a far greater impact when I can let a student speak the good news through conversational or interrogative preaching. Perhaps I'm merely reflecting the atmosphere in which I'm preaching, but the curious pendulum of my preaching is moving in a different direction at the moment than it did just a year ago. The amount of preparation remains the same: I spend several hours researching texts and working out a theme/thesis every week, and I know precisely where I'm being led on Sunday morning. But the delivery is vastly different than Marty's style pictured above. (The emphasis remains the same, however - both Brother Martin and I are pointing solidly to Christ and Christ alone).

I do hope to begin podcasting my sermons sometime in the near future, but some technical snags are in the way at the moment. A sermon is a curious thing: it is not a story, nor is it a speech, though it bears some resemblance to both. It is a product of its moment in time and in the intimate knowledge the preacher should have regarding his or her hearers. And I use the word "hearers" on purpose: we are more than audience or listeners when we gather for proclamation. A sermon is a doing of God's word, in the moment, and reading a text on the internet is not a sermon. I'm hoping that a podcast might better capture the Word in its moment, doing what it says, and I hope it's helpful - beyond that, I remain a humble servant, amazed that I still get the privilege of preaching God's Word.

Now, since it's after the Sunday morning hustle, and the girls are asleep, I'm off to my Sabbath rest. Peace, everyone.

Scott

E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come

Tonight I asked our students to list the bad news they know about right now. Here are a few items they mentioned: the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe; the ongoing suffering in Mumbai; a double homicide here in Ames (one of the victims had recently finished and moved into her Habitat home, and some of the students worked on the house); the economy; the corruption arrest of the governor of Illinois; the ice coating every surface on campus; the projects, papers and tests looming between tonight and the end of finals next week...

It went on for a while. There's not been a lot of good news lately. It feels like we're waiting for something better. And I wonder if that's what this Advent season is about. Perhaps that's why I don't feel out of place this year: it's not the orgy of materialism and manufactured festivity that usually turns my stomach. Why rail against secular consumerism when no one can afford to buy gifts in the first place?

In his book Loving Jesus, Mark Allan Powell writes,
Somebody once asked me, "What does it feel like to be a Christian?" That seemed like an odd question, but I tried to answer. I said, "It feels like being in love with someone who has gone away." They said, "That can't be very pleasant." Well, no, I don't think it's supposed to be pleasant, but it is pretty powerful. I am in love with my wife, and when she is gone, I think about her constantly. I perk up at any news of her and I am energized by the slightest connection (a letter, a phone call). That's what being a Christian "feels like." Of course, it is a confident sadness..., but for now let's just admit this much: we love Jesus as a bride loves her groom, but our bridegroom has been taken away from us, and that makes us sad. The love can be real and powerful and overwhelming, but the absence is real too. And, sometimes, it's just hard.

As we gathered tonight, we remembered that in this season of Advent, we do more than remember the birth of our Messiah: we also gather in anticipation of the day when He will come again. As good as this life can be (and when there are twenty college students gathered for evening prayer on an icy Wednesday night, it's good indeed), the day we hope is coming will be better still. As Isaiah says, "The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Even now, as our hollow human strength is broken, Isaiah reminds me that we are not alone. Those who heard these words from the prophet were surrounded by the wasteland that had been Jerusalem, but they stood on holy ground: the place where God would begin making all things new. But we pray that the day of remaking may come, soon, that night will be no more. E'en so, Lord Jesus, quickly come. Amen.